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Homebrewing: 3 Ways to Chill Your Wort
Tips and techniques to help you brew better beer at home.
On brewday, chilling your wort as quickly as possible has a lot of benefits. Since it's the last big thing on the brewing schedule, faster chilling means you can finish your brewday more quickly. From a chemistry perspective, faster chilling increases protein coagulation, known as "cold break", which can lead to clearer beer. From a sanitation perspective, the faster you chill your beer and pitch your yeast, the less likely you will get an infection. So it's no surprise that there are numerous methods devised to cool your wort as quickly and efficiently as possible. Here are three of the most common methods for chilling your beer on brewday, with pros, cons, and usage tips.
Ice Bath
The ice bath is the least complicated chilling system, and it's the one that most homebrewers start off with. To use an ice bath, fill a large bucket (larger than your brew kettle), sink, or tub with cold water and ice, and simply soak your kettle in it. The more water you use, and the colder water you have, the quicker your wort will chill to fermentation temperatures. I usually fill a few old milk jugs with water and freeze them a few days before brewing. They're faster to make than ice cubes, and they stay frozen longer, too.
The biggest downside of this method is the amount of time it takes to cool the wort. If you're doing small batches (3 gallons), it will take at least an hour to get your wort below 70°F, and that's with adding ice a few times through the process. If you're doing 5 gallon batches, expect it to take a couple hours and a lot of ice. It's helpful to add a very large amount of ice and let it chill overnight. While the process may be low maintenance, the extended chill time may impair beer clarity and increase the risk of infection in your beer.
Pros: Inexpensive (you need a sink, water and ice). No extra cleaning/sanitization required.
Cons: Increased cooling time, leading to risk of infection and chill haze.
Immersion Chiller
An immersion chiller is a good step up from the ice bath for most homebrewers. An immersion chiller is a long coil of copper tube, from 20 to 50 feet, with hoses that can connect to a sink or a yard hose. To chill the beer, immerse the chiller into the wort, and run cold water through the copper until the beer is cooled. The beer begins to cool quickly, from the bottom of the kettle to the top.
When using an immersion chiller, make sure the outside of it is free of debris before you put it in the kettle. Additionally, you should put the chiller into the kettle 10 minutes before the end of the boil to sanitize the outside of the copper. Throughout the chilling, keep the lid on as tightly as possible to prevent air from contaminating the wort.
If your immersion wort chiller fits just inside your kettle without touching the sides and has enough coils, you should be able to chill your beer within a couple degrees of the water temperature within 30 minutes. If your wort chiller is too small for your kettle, it can take up to an hour for the beer to get to the same temperature. In either case, this is a step up in efficiency from the ice bath method.
Pros: Faster chill time. Easy to clean and sanitize. Inexpensive ($50 to $100, depending on size and quality)
Cons: Uses a lot of water. Doesn't scale up if you move to a larger kettle.
Counter Flow Chiller
A counter flow style chiller cools the beer outside of the kettle, before it goes into the fermenter. A coiled copper tube is surrounded by a larger tube, which can be made out of copper or hose. As hot wort flows through the smaller internal tube, cold water flows the opposite direction through the external hose. These "counter flows" cool the wort very efficiently, since cold water is working on a smaller amount of wort at any given time. If the wort and water flows are balanced correctly you can chill the wort to within a couple degrees of the cool water temperature in a single pass through the chiller, which can be as quick as 15 minutes.
The best way to use a counterflow chiller is to pump your wort with a food grade liquid pump that can handle boiling temperatures. Often times the pump is more expensive than the chiller, so this really only works well if you use a pump in your brewing process already. If you're upgrading, expect to spend at least $150 on the chiller and around $200 for a pump and additional hardware.
Sanitation of a counterflow chiller is a bit difficult, since the cooled wort flows through an interior copper coil. The best way to sanitize is to pump boiling worth through the chiller and back into the kettle for the last 10 minutes of the boil. After each use, I like to pump a gallon of near-boiling clean water through the chiller to remove any hop debris or leftover wort from the inside. Even though the counterflow process is a little more complex, it is efficient and the same chiller can work for any size batch of homebrew.
Pros: Uses less water than immersion chiller. Fastest way to chill. Same chiller can be used for 5, 10 or 30 gallon batches.
Cons: Requires pump. Difficult to clean and sanitize. Expensive.
Tell us: what method do you use you chill your wort?
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Big Blue has launched a third Power-powered Penguin box and pitched it against x86 server rivals.
The machine, called the PowerLinux 7R1, is a single-socket machine that complements the two-socket PowerLinux 7R2 rack and tower server, and the Flex System p24L half-width node for PureSystem modular servers.
Back in April IBM revived its Linux-only variant of Power Systems servers, which are significantly cheaper than the vanilla boxes that run IBM's own AIX or IBM i (formerly OS/400) operating systems in addition to Linux.
The PowerLinux machines also sport a dramatically reduced PowerVM hypervisor, and the combination of cheap iron and a cheap hypervisor makes them competitive against virtualised x86 iron using VMware's ESXi hypervisor and vSphere management stack.
IBM is not crazy enough to think it can take on the x86 server with cheaper Power machines and still keep its revenue stream and profits. Rather, the idea is to pick specific workloads, like Hadoop data munchers and various HPC workloads as well as SAP application stacks, among a few others, and provide a Power server that is hardcoded to only run Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1 and therefore does not degrade AIX and IBM i server sales.
The deeper price cuts may annoy AIX and IBM i shops, of course, and they may demand similar pricing; provided they are important enough, they just might get it. But probably not.
Compare the price tags
The differences in component prices are worth kicking up a fuss about. Take the Power 730 vanilla server and the PowerLinux 7R2 machine that it is based upon. The base server iron using two eight-core 3.55GHz Power7 processors costs 18.8 per cent less when the yellow stripe and PowerLinux label is slapped on it.
Disk drive prices are somewhere between $1 and $2.50 per GB on the PowerLinux 7R2 compared to anywhere from $2 to $3.40 per GB on the Power 730 – and this is for the exact same type, capacity, speed and form-factor drives.
As for memory, the disparity is absolutely huge, with Power 730 customers being asked to shell out just under $200 per GB, compared to just under $29 per GB for PowerLinux 7R2 customers. Your humble Reg hack would be shocked if it weren't for the fact that RISC server customers with proprietary or quasi-proprietary operating systems (as all Unixes have become) have always paid through the nose for components compared to x86 customers. That's why the RISC server revenue base has been cut in half in the past decade.
IBM is convinced that the PowerLinux machines will do more good than harm, and thus is expanding the product lineup.
The PowerLinux 7R2 offered two eight-core processor options: one running at 3.3GHz and another running at 3.55GHz. IBM has other SKUs in the Power7 lineup, but they are not available on the PowerLinux machines – at least not yet.
With the new single-socket PowerLinux 7R1, IBM is only offering one CPU option: an eight-core Power7 chip running at 3.55GHz. These chips were the most expensive ones in the IBM lineup when Big Blue put the Power7 chips first into the field in February 2010, and it stands to reason that it has some extra ones lying around and therefore can offer deals on them.
The eight-core chips also map one-for-one with the current top end parts in the "Sandy Bridge" family of Xeon E5-2400 and E5-2600 processors from Intel, which is what Big Blue is targeting. The IBM chip has 4MB of L3 cache memory per core compared to 2.5MB per core for the Xeon E5s, and this can be important for performance on certain workloads.
IBM's PowerLinux 7R1 Linux-only server
The machine is essentially a Power 730 with one of its processor cards removed, and scales from 8GB up to 128GB of main memory. The base machine has four memory slots and if you want to go above 64GB, you have to buy a memory riser card and then populate that with DDR3 memory sticks.
The Penguin-powered box has six drive bays and can have either SAS disk drives or SATA solid-state drives hot-plugged into those 2.5-inch bays. The machine has four gigabit-Ethernet ports on the motherboard and also has five PCI-Express 2.0 x8 slots. The mobo has an integrated SAS disk and SSD controller card that supports RAID 10 data protection as well as an optional mezzanine card that snaps into the board and provides 175MB of cache for the integrated disk controller and adds RAID 5 and 6 data protection.
The PowerLinux 7R1 server has one GX++ remote IO peripheral slot, which can be used to attach external enclosures to the machine that house disks, SSDs, and other peripherals. IBM is pairing the box with its EXP24S expansion drawer (although it forgot to add the "P" to the name in its own product announcement letter).
The base PowerLinux 7R1 server costs $3,500 and all of the eight cores on the box are activated and able to run Linux. Disk and memory prices are the same as on the PowerLinux 7R2 box. The PowerLinux machines required you to either run the PowerVM 2.2 hypervisor (which is bundled on the two rack servers but is a chargeable item on the Flex System node) or the General Parallel File System (GPFS) if you are building out a storage cluster for a cloud or supercomputer.
With 32GB of main memory, two 300GB 10K RPM SAS disks, the four-port Gigabit Ethernet adapter, and a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 license running atop PowerVM, the PowerLinux 7R1 machine costs $13,221.
The PowerLinux 7R1 starts shipping on July 20. It seems likely that IBM will eventually do four-socket variants, but probably will not go much higher than that in the Power Systems line. ®

subset: commoncrawl


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Hey guys.
New player here.
Started Raja a loooong time ago, but never made it far, but now I've come back.
Currently Zyp, and looking for friendlys
Game is bad playing alone.. lol.
Some of you might of seen me clogging nation chat as Execute or Ethos.
P.S. Want to thank the few guys who've helped me so far, Pampers and Sphers. <3


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I'm not sure where to put this in the forum, so I figured Theory and Questions would be fine. I have a Geometry Question that is related to a JAVA program I am making.
Ok, I am pulling a Map from online (OpenStreetMap). The query to get the online image of the map I want accepts the following parameters:
Longitiude -> Map Coordinate of Center Point
Latitude -> Map Coordinate of Center Point
Zoom -> Closeness of Image
Width -> Width (in pixels) of Desired Image
Height -> Height (int pixels) of Desired Image
Now, the user will provide the program with 2 or more coordinates. The goal of the geometry question is to retrieve a map where all of the provided coordinates are shown.
For example, the user provides:
Coordinate 1:
Longitude: 33.38
Latitude: -84.25
Coordinate 2:
Longitude: 28.25
Latitude: -81.18
The Width and Height of the Desired Map is constant. My problem is figuring out the Zoom Factor. To get the Center Coordinate, I figure I will get the largest and smallest Longitude, and the largest and smallest Latitude and average each together respectfully to get a Center Coordinate. But that doesn't help me if the zoom is wrong.
I'm unsure of too much with the zoom, but here is what I know:
Zoom Factor of 11: ~1 inch = 5km
Zoom Factor of 10: ~1 inch = 10km
Zoom Factor of 9: ~1 inch = 20km
Zoom Factor of 8: ~1 inch = 50km
Zoom Factor of 7: ~1 inch = 100km
Zoom Factor of 6: ~1 inch = 200km
Is anyone able to help me figure out some sort of formula to determine the Zoom Factor based the distance between the two Coordinates? I suspect that 1 inch on my screen is around 100 pixels, but I don't really know right now. Also, the Zoom Factor can be a double. So I guess I need to be able to do two things. 1) Turn Coordinates into Distance (miles or km) and 2) Calculate the Zoom accordingly.
Any help is appreciated. I'll provide what additional information is necessary.


text:
Dad Wears Short Shorts to Teach Daughter a Lesson
Scott Mackintosh of Provo, Utah is the father of a teenage daughter. I have yet to learn how difficult that will be, but he has taught me an important lesson that I will definitely remember 8 years from now.
Scott's daughter was wearing really short shorts one day and he was not impressed. So when the family was going out for dinner, he grabbed a pair of old jeans, cut the legs to an inappropriately short length, and put on his "Best. Dad. Ever." t-shirt.
Then he decided to take the fam out for mini-golf, still with the shorts on. Then they went for ice cream, still with the shorts on. At this point his daughter refused to go in with him.
His wife posted the photo and wrote about it on her blog. He spoke to the local news the other day and told them that the gag worked. His daughter is dressing better now.


text:
Group Activities
Operation Old Course
A mixture of challenges, Operation Old Course tests the teamwork and decision-making abilities of your group. With physical, cerebral and creative tasks, there is something to suit everyone.
Bespoke to individual client needs and branded throughout, this event can help deliver and reinforce conference/company messages in a learning and fun environment.
Highland FIing
Traditional highland sports are mixed in with rather obscure Scottish sporting challenges. Tossing our "soft play" caber, hurling the haggis, and throwing axes are just some of the many options available. Participants compete to be crowned chieftain of the Old Course Clans.
The St Andrews Open
Not the kind of golfing challenge normally played on The Old Course, this riotous romp around the city of St Andrews includes visiting the 18 holes and taking creative photos.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
The fun doesn't just start when you arrive; it starts from home. The journey becomes a team challenge with conundrums to solve, codes to break, and planes to catch.
Contact The Events Team on +44 (0)1334 474 371 or email firstname.lastname@example.com for information and booking.
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Media Jobs
The biggest player and influence in the digital revolution has been social media. While as mentioned above, this has changed the media game, it also has given rise to a plethora of new job opportunities. The types of jobs you can have in social media range from a top level communication executive to a content manager. Because social media is a necessity, jobs incorporating this aspect of media are needed at every type of company.
While many of these positions entail responsibilities outside of social media directly, it has become so important and necessary to the skill set of all the above media jobs. For instance, the VP of Communications leads and oversees the implementation of a company's entire communication strategy but social media is a major part of it. While a public relations director is still looking for ad placement in traditional outlets, they are also in charge of overseeing the entire social media team in engaging with audiences across all platforms.
Social media has had the biggest influence on the flow of information in the digital revolution. And one way that it has flooded the job market is by having a domino effect in application startups. There are over 500K digital startup companies and the Silicon Valley serves as the industry's mecca.
As of April 2016, the digital startups Snapchat and Pinterest were both valued at 16 and 11 billion respectively. Snapchat roughly employs 330 people and Pinterest employs about 500. They are of course the younger siblings to the wildly successful seniors: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These are just a few examples of digital startups that have exploded with growth and job opportunities over the past decade.
So we all can see the media landscape has vastly changed, and for some such as a newspaper journalist, it can seem bleak. But if this is you, don't jump on the express train to doomsville. While traditional roles have narrowed because the manner in which people get content has changed, there are new opportunities that a job seeker with media savvy can be the perfect candidate for.
People generally get their news, updates, and entertainment from blogs, short videos, email newsletters, and social media outlets such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The common denominator is online. People aren't bending down on their porch to grab the good old black and white on top of their doormat. So that just means journalists need to adapt to writing in a shorter fashion with an eye for visual aids.
Most web sites that are labeled as news sites get their information from traditional outlets, such as the Associated Press wire. So the function for news is the same; it's just with a different presentation and the stories are shorter. According to Nielson, on the average web page, users have time to read about 20% of the words on an average visit. Users get their news quickly and then are looking for a way to engage. A good example of how people ingest their news is by looking at how people stayed updated on the Paris attacks - through social networks and video. Readers got the news and then turned to Twitter and Facebook to comment and actively participate in the conversation.
Another big implementation of 2015 that we will see impacting companies for the next few years is the aggregated distribution model. Snapchat Discover, Twitter Moments, Apple News and Instant Articles are good examples of how these social media companies are inviting publishers to create native content for their platforms to reach more users.
If news is your field, the top places to work are the digital arms of traditional news networks or the digitally born news sites such as Buzzfeed and Huffington Post. Here's a look at the top 10 online news entities of 2015 according to the Pew Research Center of Journalism and Media:
- Yahoo-ABC-News Network (http://www.yahoo.com/news)
- CNN Network (http://www.cnn.com)
- NBC News Digital (http://www.nbcnews.com/pages/about-nbc-news-digital)
- Com (http://www.huffingtonpost.com)
- CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com)
- USA Today Sites (http://www.usatoday.com)
- com (http://www.buzzfeed.com)
- The New York Times Brand (http://www.tbrandstudio.com)
- Fox News Digital Network (http://www.foxnews.com)
- Mail Online/ Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk)
As you can see, if media is where you want to work, understanding how to facilitate engagement is the key to right now. People still are getting their facts and ingesting news but it is no longer passively. If constant updating, constant interaction, and constant adapting drive you, then you are well suited to work in today's media market. The phrase, "It's not what you say, it's how you say it," couldn't be more applicable.Here's a look at Hot Jobs in Media for 2016 according to Glass Door:
- Director of Marketing, 3-5 years experience, $90K-$130K
- Creative Director, 3-5 years experience, $100-$150K
- Creative Digital Recruiter, 2-3 years experience, $75-$90K
- Creative Recruiter Resources, 2-3 years experience, $75-$90K
- Creative Marketing and PR/Entry Level Marketing Associate, 0-2 years experience, $50-$70K
- Creative Copywriter, 2-3 years experience, $45-$65K
- Marketing Assistant, 2+ years experience, $35-$50K
- Marketing Manager, 3-5 years experience, $45-$70K
- Marketing Communications Director, $76K (top: $139K)
- PR Manager, 3-5 years experience, $65-$85K
- Vice President of Digital Communications, 3-5 years experience,
- PR Director, 5-7 years experience, $85-$120K
- Content Manager, 3-5 years experience, $45-$90K
- Social Media Director, 3-5 years experience, $50-$85K
- Web Content Manager, 3-5 years experience, $65-$90K
Read More
Search Results
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S k a t e L o g F o r u m
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SKATELOG DOT COM: Web Site | Blog | Facebook |
*** The SkateLog Forum Has Been Replaced by SkateDebate Dot Com ***
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|Beginning Skaters Forum This is the place for beginning skaters to ask questions and share their stories. We would love to hear about your experiences learning to skate. No question is too dumb!
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|March 17th, 2016, 04:26 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Northeastern Indiana
Posts: 1,332
Things you don't know
Funny, .i was skating with one of the Domes best skaters. Rink Rat, related to the owners. So he's much better than me. (One day he came up to me a said watch what I can finally do. An IB spin, totally jelly here). We were side surfing a bit. And I said, now I'll go left and you right. He couldn't do it that way. Like what?
Of course, thers a million things I can't do, or never even thought to do as well.
|March 18th, 2016, 12:25 AM
Sk8 Ninja
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Huntington Wv
Posts: 3,423
For me though its flexibility on that trick. When you can barely make a wide spread V with your feet, your fighting a losing battle. Im sure there is a LOT of figure moves out there that are beyond me as well. For the embarrassing side surfing I can do, it MUST be right leg forward. Left leg forward = INSTANT transition lol.
Some skate patterns for tricks get me too. Theres one that I just could not get, and it really used to piss me off. I had to sit down and study it for ever it seemed. Finally got it but man what a pain in the arse.
Home rink: Roll-A-Rama in Huntington Wv.
"Focus on form and speed is a byproduct, focus on speed and falling is a byproduct." - Matguy
|March 18th, 2016, 10:28 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Northeastern Indiana
Posts: 1,332
I can't do those toe patterns at all yet. And anything that requires pigeon toed work is especially tough for me. I'll still try to learn it, but I doubt I'll ever be great at it.
|March 18th, 2016, 04:45 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana USA
Posts: 512
Things You Don't Know
I can do ANYTHING on skates. Almost.....
I have a million hours of experience in quad indoor and out, artistic couple dance, bounce, line dance, and on inlines I have 2 million hours of speed, hockey, long distance recreational, slalom, frontward, backwards, whatever.
BUT...I DON'T KNOW how to inline skate on ONE wheel. I can't roll even two inches. I can't even get comfortable PLANNING to lift the other skate off the ground to roll on one wheel, front or rear. I see pro slalom skaters go the length of the cone line on one wheel. Hell, I see 7-year-olds doing it. It wouldn't bug me so much if they didn't make it look so freaking EASY too. I see them and say to myself "I can do that". Then I get out there and wonder "How on earth....?"
Also BTW, watching @foot2big videos of aggressive skating here on the forum shows me that there are TONS of things I can't do on skates. Currently, I just don't care about those particular things. It's the one wheel thing that really chaps me.
Also...I don't have a million hours skating. I stopped counting at 25,000 hours about 10 years ago. You would THINK i could do anything given five minutes to figure it out. Nope. Not quite.
2 Inline Skates, 1 Quad Skates, 4 Longboards, 3 Bicycles, 0 Cars
|March 19th, 2016, 12:54 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 432
I don't know more than I know - but I still have fun rolling!
|March 19th, 2016, 10:37 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Northeastern Indiana
Posts: 1,332
Sounds like my IB spin with a one foot entry. Wanted to do it forever. I can get 9 revs on the trainer, but just can't seem to get it on skates. I always feel I'm missing something very basic. I never give up though. Got some more expert advice I hope it helps.
|April 29th, 2017, 11:44 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 14
Secret to getting good.
I thought I'd reply to this old post with a few comments to encourage skaters seeking to expand their skill sets.
Everyone is capable of doing much more than they realize and all it comes down to is will power. It takes a lot of repetitive practice or play as I call it until you realize you have achieved something new.
I skate regularly at the rink and put myself through regular drills focusing on my weaknesses for the fun of it. Many of the 'cool tricks' I can now do I never thought would be possible when I got into skating 2 years ago. When I look back I realize that it is in constantly developing overall skills of balance and flexibility that help you to achieve some tricks.
I am 39. 2 years ago I could barely squat without needing to hang onto something and now I can almost lower and raise myself on on one leg, as I push myself toward shooting the duck. My quad flexibility is another story and this is what I'm working on now, hopefully to the point where I can do the splits.
Skating has done more for my flexibility than yoga ever did and I believe it is because when I skate I am truely at play. When you are truely at play you don't think about it, you just explore. Through the explorations you find out things about yourself.
It is true that young people generally learn faster, and this has a lot to do with their flexibility but also mostly their mindset. Your mind is still capable of thinking the way a child does, you just need to remember what that is like.
So to get good.
1. Loose the ego, and just focus internally not externally.
2. Don't limit yourself.
3. Be patient.
4. Always have fun, and loose the feeling of frustration.
5. Your body will go where you lead it.
6. Watch others and pre-visualize certain moves.
7. Don't be afraid to look like a Wally. People who judge others negatively because they don't look cool are not worth your time. Attract those that see and appreciate the fact that you are playing and are focused on the fun of it and not how you look.
8. Overtime all these things will contribute to your own style and your own style can only be seen as beautiful and amazing.
You will know when you are at work trying to achieve your goals when your wife or partner gives you crap about your skating when attempting stretching or footwork in public in your regular shoes.
So have fun, enjoy and be obsessive about rolling because it is so amazingly awesome!
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Score 24: Hook snares many journo prizes
The Hook solidified its position as Charlottesville's most award-winning weekly newspaper, as it was honored by its peers in the newspaper industry by winning 24 prizes from the Virginia Press Association–- including two entries named "Best in Show."
The awards were bestowed Saturday, March 20 at a banquet at the Association's annual conference in Roanoke. There, the announcer lauded as "riveting" the Hook's account ill-fated Piedmont Flight #349, a commercial airliner which crashed near Crozet in 1959. Bestowing the top statewide writing prize among specialty publications, the judge wrote, "I felt like I was on that plane."
The Hook's other Best in Show award went to Allison Sommers for her design. "It's a pleasure to look at," the judge commented, "and a pleasure to read."
The awards, for content created in 2009, marked a personal best of sorts for the Hook, which has now garnered 95 awards since 2003. The prizes cover writing, photography, and design–- everything except advertising (which is judged later in the year). The winners include long-time Hook journalists such as Courteney Stuart, Dave McNair, Lisa Provence, Jen Fariello, and editor Hawes Spencer. Others recognized include Stephanie Marie Garcia, Laura Parsons, Anne Metz, Clay Caricofe, Janis Jaquith, Skip Degan, Jay Kuhlmann, William Walker, Mitchell Jarrett, and former staffer Lindsay Barnes.
Notable wins include Lisa Provence's first place for "No option?" a story about a couple's mysterious death near Gordonsville, a prize for "Off the Face of the Earth ," one of the Hook's many Morgan Harrington stories, and an award for Dave McNair's stories about the government lawsuit against recycler Peter Van der Linde.
The Daily Progress, judged among dailies, also garnered a trove of awards, winning 21 including such familiar names as Jerry Ratcliffe and editor McGregor McCance.
In other action at the weekend event at the Hotel Roanoke, retiring University of Virginia president John Casteen accepted the Virginian of the Year Award, and Miller Center director Gerald Baliles–- one year after announcing his quest–- presented his findings on the threats to democracy from the shrinkage of the media industry.
VPA Awards
2004 - 9 awards
2005 - 15 awards
2006 - 22 awards including top prize
2007 - 16 awards
2008 - 9 awards including top prize
2009 - 24 awards
–last updated 1:43pm Monday, March 22
–year denotes year the work was published
18 comments
"Best in Show", is still best in show. The Hook took two of them- no one else did.
Foghorn 68-
Never compared the VPA awards to the Pulitzer- you pay to enter both- get it?
I meant "mute" point- get it?
Perhaps your "beef" should be taken up with the VPA.
Perhaps you should read something else, like the Daily Progress- oh sorry, they won a lot of awards too, not your style- get it?
Look, all I'm saying is that it seems a little silly to gloat over such an award. It is kind of like the Parade of Homes. Winning "Best Kitchen" doesn't mean you have the best kitchen. It just means that you had the best kitchen in your price range based upon the number of paid entries. Sometimes there's only one kitchen in each bracket.
My opinion is that it puts a bad taste in my mouth to see a company (the Hook or otherwise) gloat like this.
Allison Sommer's designs are fantastic !
Congratulations to the Hook for all the well deserved awards. Thank you, for all you do to keep our officials honest. While many other local news outlets have resorted to reporting statements from our local officials as facts, with no follow up, or fact checking- I have never seen this done in the Hook. Real news is fast disappearing from our society, and I appreciate what you do to keep it alive and well. Good luck in the coming year and may we all support you in any way we can, in the service you are performing for our community. A first class operation from top to bottom !
I hope you will do some award winning journalism in covering the ever challenging project that is known by many names - the Meadowcreek Parkway; or in its parts as the McIntire Road Extended, Meadow Creek Parkway, and Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road.
In recent weeks there have been article in other press outlets on actions by VDOT, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, various historic preservation organizations, members of City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, the Charlottesville Area Chamber of Commerce and the clerk of the Virginia Supreme Court, and others. I would welcome an expanded effort by the Hook in exploring what is going on in this controversial project.
GMan and WhoCares, did this story annoy you for any particular reason?
Harry, please don't insult the literary community by comparing the VPA awards to the Pulitzer Prize. That's almost the most ridiculous comment on this page.
Secondly, the phrase is "moot point," not MUTE point. I assume the people who work at the VPA aren't mutes, are they?
I agree with really?! who cares... Calling something "the best" only means something and is important when there is some context. Speaking of context, please keep your generalities to a minimum. For the record, "every periodical worthy of print" being a VPA member is a matter of opinion, not fact, and again there's no context for your comment.
Anyone who believes that the Hook deserves to win the "Best of" anything awards is probably the same person that sees viability in the ridiculous Dateline crime reporting that's on Friday nights on ABC and Danielle Steele novels.
If your little Biff or Buffy won a few awards I am sure I would hear about for a week at work. So STFU and let them have their moment in the sun.
gman, you have some dirt on the hook's "media members"? Do tell!!
"The Daily Progress, judged among dailies, also garnered a trove of awards [...] including such familiar names as [...] and editor McGregor McCance."
I'm not sure how the DP managed to snag awards in terms of editing....? (or how the editor managed to snag an award?) There's always editorial mistakes galore in that paper. Stories that are supposed to continue onto another page but don't, just disappearing into oblivion. Grammar errors, awkward sentences. When I used to work there there were always calls from readers pointing out the myriad of editorial mistakes. I'd never seen a newspaper with such glaring editorial issues until picking up an issue of the DP....
What a joke! VPA gave out nearly 780 awards! Follow the link in this article and see for yourself - if you have the time to go through the 52 pages of awards!
what a joke, the smallest corp. run news team i have ever seen, be nice if you would print have the trash of the lives your media members live.
omg dont know where to start, but lets just say they live a type of live the average person doesnt, and wouldnt, a good start would be to look at there criminal history. you might be surprised. besides that they dont seem to mind trashing others, but the are a usefull diversion when you need the focus off something
The Pulitzer Prize is a paid entry contest as well.
The Hook did not say that no one else won anything, did they?
The fact that you have to be a member of the VPA is a mute point, as every periodical worthy of print in Virginia is a member.
Entry fees are usually used to pay for the awards, administration and management of the organization and the awards ceremony.
Last time I looked you pretty much had to pay to be a politician too......
That's bringing them down a notch foghorn. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back then start telling others why they are not good enough to exist in your world. Smuck.
Congratulation to the Hook! Spencer always does a really thorough job on any topic. He asks questions no one else will or does. He does not drop the ball and really goes after the truth like no one else does in this town. Investigative journalism will never die as long as he is writing. The other Hook writers are wonderful and excellent in their fact finding and thoroughness. I read the Hook and Cville but always know that the real, hard stories will be covered in the Hook. I listen to him on the Coy Barefoot show and he is always knowledgeable about local topics. The Hook deserves the prizes and I hope they keep up the good work.
Hmm...The Hook won awards in a contest that is restricted to VPA members only and where you have to pay to submit entries. On top of that, the DP also brought home a slew of awards, which arguably kills all credibility that this award process has.
Something seems pretty fishy about this story. This whole thing kinda sounds like me being voted coolest person ever by my group of friends (which is newsworthy, by the way).


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We spent some time over the weekend getting to know EVGA's GTX 680 Classified a bit better and the review is finally ready. The GTX 680 Classified has ultimately produced the highest overclock we've managed on a GTX 680, but only after using the EVBot to overvolt the card. We were still a bit disappointed in general as the GTX 680 didn't fully meet our expectations, and you'll soon see why.
Before we move on, we'd like to inform our dear readers, who think that we intentionally left out AMD's fastest cards, that we're expecting Sapphire's HD 7970 VaporX in our lab, so we'll include it in the tables as soon as possible. Besides, our mission today is to show the GTX 680 Classified in all its glory, rather than engage in red vs. green debates.
EVGA GTX 680 Classified is much different than the reference design. The company added 10 additional phases for the GPU, bringing it up to 14-phase power. The company used a wider and longer PCB with a cooler that was also made bigger, whereas the memory capacity was doubled. The last detail is the EVBot connector, which can be used for sensor readouts as well as overvolting.
EVGA selected only the best GK104 chips. Naturally, OC results greatly depend on quality of graphics chips, since not all will handle extreme clocks. Still, even though all graphics chips aren't equal, you can bet that the chips running GTX 680 Classified cards will work better than average. The GTX 680 Classified comes with a factory overclock, where Base GPU clock ended up at 1111MHz. So, although the GTX 680 Classified is EVGA's fastest air-cooled card, 1111MHz won't earn it the title of the fastest factory overclocked GTX 680.
The memory was left at reference clocks, meaning 1502MHz (6008MHz effectively), whereas the capacity is up from standard 2GB to 4GB. Although the card's memory was doubled, it wasn't overclocked so the bandwidth stands at 192.3GB/s.
EVGA threw in two 6-pin-to-8pin power cables that look great but what we'd really like to see is something along the lines of gift EVBot device.
The GTX 680 Classified is bigger than the reference card, but is designed to take up two slots in width. At the same time, this allows enthusiasts to chain up to four GTX 680 Classifieds in Quad SLI. The Classified's cooler is a touch up of the reference (GTX 580) cooler, where EVGA extended the heatsink and replaced the 6.5 fan with an 8cm one.
Many of Nvidia's partners have gone with dual fan coolers in order to keep thermals in check. In fact, thermals tend to be the biggest limitation in overclocking GTX 680s, so some companies threw in three or more fans. Naturally, such cards are wider than two slots, so you can forget about Quad SLI.
The fan has a speed limit and it won't go faster than 55%, i.e. more than 3240 RPM. Although factory overclocked, the GTX 680 Classified was a bit quieter than the reference model, in other words – it's quiet.
On the back you see GDDR5 memory modules that were added to double the capacity to 4GB.
The plastic shroud isn't difficult to take off, especially since the cooler is very similar to the reference one.
The fan is taken off easily, which should come in handy come cleaning time.
EVGA made the heatsink wider and once we took it off, we saw that the GTX 680 Classified uses Vapor Chamber technology (reference GTX 680 cards come with regular, copper blocks). The cooler also has a Vapor Chamber heatpipe that helps with heat distribution. All in all, the cooler looks much like the one on GTX 580 cards.
The memory is cooled by a large heatspreader, which spans the entire PCB and does a good job of reinforcing it. The power components are easy to spot and you can count 14 phases yourself. The Classified packs a 14+3 phase VRM, whereas the reference card has 4+2 VRM.
Overclocking and overvolting requires power, so the card comes with two 8-pin connectors. Factoring in the power it gets via PCI Express, the Classified can draw up to 375W. Note that reference cards come with one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector, allowing for 300W.
Among the features that make the Classified stand out is the EVBot connector, which is right next to the power connectors. Note however that the EVBot is purchased separately. We hooked it up to the card via a 105cm long cable and used it to boost the voltage beyond 1.175v (advised at 0.0625v increments).
GTX 580 Classified's EVBot connector was on the I/O panel, but we like the new placement as well. Besides, most new cases come with watercooling holes, which can be used to route the cable from the back.
The GTX 680 Classified isn't short on interesting features, and the BIOS switch next to the EVBot connector is one of them. The switch offers Normal, OC and LN2 BIOS', LN2 mode disables some power protections for extreme overclocking. Unfortunately, it didn't help with extreme overclocking as the cooler quickly turned out to be the choke point.
Voltage monitoring header gets quite handy when overvolting, and you'll find it next to the BIOS switch (EVGA will make a small adapter separately that will make voltage probes able to attach easily).
The I/O panel holds standard HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, as well as two dual link DVI outs, just like on the reference GTX 680 cards. EVGA made the I/O panel air exhausts bigger to improve airflow but one part of the cooler will stay behind. Unfortunately, this means that some of the hot air will remain in the case.
Motherboard: EVGA X79 FTW
CPU: Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 3820 (3.6GHz)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright HR-02 (Thermalright-Europa Distri www.PC-Cooling.de).
Memory: 8GB ADATA DDR3 1600 XPG Gaming series
Harddisk: OCZ Vertex 2 100 GB
Power Supply: CoolerMaster Silent Pro 1000W
Case: CoolerMaster Cosmos II Ultra Tower
Operating System: Win7 64-bit
Nvidia 304.79-desktop-win7-winvista-64bit-english-beta
AMD 12-6_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc.exe
Overclocking results for the GTX 680 Classified that you see in the tables were scored at 1161MHz (max boost 1238MHz) / 6008MHz. However, we could've scored the same without using EVBot at all.
3D Mark 11
Crysis 2
Overclocking results for the GTX 680 Classified that you see in the tables were scored without overvolting at 1161MHz (max boost 1238MHz) / 6008MHz.
Aliens vs Predator
Metro 2033
Unigine Heaven
We split the OC part into two sections because we used PrecisionX software and EVBot overclocking device. As we said earlier, EVBot is purchased separately, one more reason to take a closer look at it. Users who don't have EVBot will have to resort to software tools, but note that we couldn't overvolt the GPU without the EVBot.
EVGA didn't mess with GPU voltage on the Classified, which means that the maximum is set at 1.175v. Nvidia cited security reasons behind its insistence on specified values, claiming that it guarantees only for cards and GPUs operated within the specified voltage limits. This means that a product will not pass "NV green light" when OVed, as it will exceed the maximum power consumption and maximum heat dissipation. This is why EVGA didn't launch an OVed Classified, but rather went for the EVBot, which can boost the voltage all the way up to 1.850v. Also warranty is not impacted by using EVBot.
Using only PrecisionX tool and not the EVBot, we overclocked the Base GPU clock by +50MHz. Although this may not seem impressive at first, the card is already overclocked to 1111MHz, making ours quite a decent result of 1161MHz (Max Boost clock at 1238MHz). It's also important to note that no two GPUs will overclock/score identically. It appears as if we weren't particularly lucky with our GPU, because we expected more. In comparison, we overclocked our GTX 680 Signature to 1185MHz.
The memory isn't overclocked, so we're talking 1502MHz (6008MHz effectively). The GTX 680 Classified comes with 4GB of memory distributed across 16 chips.
Overclocking the memory spells more bad news for the maximum GPU clock, even more so for cards packing 4GB. Memory also gets hot and consumes power, which may result in hitting maximum TDP and thermal limit faster. We'd still advise you to overclock the memory, especially if you're interested in gaming performance. In fact, increasing the bandwidth occasionally yielded bigger performance boosts than the same card with only its GPU overclocked.
4GB cards come with a realistic chance that one of the chips won't be in the "mood" for overclocking, making its clock the limitation for overclocking. The maximum memory clock without overvolting was at about 6800MHz.
EVBot's last firmware version includes support for overclocking the GTX 680 Classified and Classified SR-X motherboard. You can tell whether your hardware supports the EVBot by looking for the 5-pin EVBot connector. The user manual is a bit unclear as it only lists options, without detailed descriptions. Of course, users can always find more info on EVGA's portal, here,, but it should be said that EVGA aimed EVBot at experienced users that know what to do.
If you want to order the EVBot, we'd first recommend checking whether it's running latest firmware that recognizes the GTX 680 Classifed. If not, you can flash it via any EVGA motherboard with an EVBot connector, otherwise it will be useless for the Classified.
The EVBot connects to the card via a 105cm cable. It can run three graphics cards and one motherboard simultaneously.
EVBot allows for overvolting NVVDD (GPU voltage), FBVDD (memory voltage), PEXVDD1 (PCI-Express voltage #1), PEXVDD2 (PCI-Express-voltage#2) and OCP (Over-Current-Protection with Normal or Extreme settings).
Overclocking without overvolting wasn't quite phenomenal – we only managed 1161MHz (max. boost clock 1238MHz). EVbot managed 1250MHz (max. boost clock 1329MHz) at 1.268v. Running at these clocks, Boost clock was pretty maxed out. At higher clocks we encountered occasional downclocking.
It seems as if the cooler was what kept us from improving our results. We noticed that the card downclocks as soon as it hits 79°C. Unfortunately, this critical threshold is easily hit at clocks above 1350MHz (boost clock), such as by playing a more demanding game. We replaced the reference thermal paste with GC Extreme and knocked a few °C.
We also noticed that the Classified isn't happy with voltage beyond 1.3v, because it again started downclocking.
It can be said that the thermals are good. As long as the card runs at its factory clock of 1111MHz, GPU temperature won't go over 72°C. Although we've seen some better performing GTX 680 coolers so far, we can't take away from the fact that the Classified ran quietly both when gaming and idling. However, overclocking required us to increase the fan RPM.
The fan is limited to about 3240 RPM / 55%. The fan won't go past this limit, which is most likely down to EVGA's effort to keep noise down. Indeed, the fans got loud at these RPMs. We measured 63°C after our voltage-free overclock to 1161MHz (max. Boost 1239MHz) and the fan was running at its max.
After extreme overclocking over 1350MHz (boost clock), it was time for thermal throttling. We hit 80°C in no time, simply by playing more demanding games.
Although the GTX 680 Classified has 4GB of memory and is factory overclocked, it consumes only about 10W more in average than the reference version. Overclocking and overvolting aren't helpful in this respect either, and the maximum consumption we measured on the Classified was occasionally 50W higher than on the reference design.
EVGA GTX 680 Classified is made and aimed at enthusiasts and overclockers. This is why the card boasts an EVBot connector, the name that symbolizes EVGA-flavored overclocking. In fact, EVBot allowed for lighting fast overvolting of the GPU and memory. The card boasts 14+3 VRM design with two 8-pin power connectors. The cooler is large as well and the entire package suggests great fun.
Well, we had no shortage of fun – we can say that much. We spent a lot of time trying to hit 1300MHz (unless stated otherwise, GPU clock means Base GPU clock), but in vain. Perhaps we simply weren't lucky enough to get a GPU that is capable of such a feat.
Part of the problem with overclocking limitations is the cooler itself. Namely, the cooler runs and cools the factory clocked GPU just fine, but extreme overclocking is a whole new ballgame. The GPU comes overclocked to 1111MHz while the memory was left at reference clocks. During our testing, we measured GPU Boost clocks up to 1211MHz. The cooler remained quiet after long sessions of Crysis 2 and temperatures didn't exceed 72°C.
EVGA opted for the largest blower fan we've tested so far. EVGA replaced the reference 6.5cm fan with an 8cm one but although it looks quite powerful, its maximum RPM is locked at 55% / 3240 RPM. Although it's not too loud at this RPM, you'll hear it well. We think that Nvidia asked for the fan to be "restrained" and keep the card quiet. The cooler takes up only two slots, meaning that Quad SLI is possible.
The Base clock of 1260MHz quickly pushed the card to 80°C, which then triggered the downclocking to factory clocks. It's no coincidence that Kingpin went for LN2 to overclock the GPU to 2GHz (boost clock).
EVBot is purchased separately and will set you back about €60. We must say that it would be phenomenal if EVGA gave away EVBots with its GTX 680 Classified cards. Nvidia doesn't' support overvolting and, as such, isn't too anxious to give a green light on sales of overvolted cards. There's no need to worry because, regardless of whether you use EVBot or not warranty is not impacted by using EVBot.
The factory overclock itself may not stand out. But the card should be looked at for its overclocking ability, and over voltage using EVBot (advised at 0.0625v increments).
We'd normally advise average users to look elsewhere, unless they're really bent on spending big. Indeed, EVGA as well as other Nvidia's partners offer many quality graphics cards that are €100+ cheaper.
EVGA's GTX 680 Classified packs 4GB of memory, which handled overclocking quite well. Although the 4GB of memory may not cater to everyone, e.g. those who focus on GPU overclocking, it can still help in squeezing out maximum performance. We've noticed that extreme overclocking of the GPU alone doesn't yield as significant performance improvements as possible when the memory is overclocked as well.
EVGA's GTX 680 Classified currently goes for €662 or $660. Going by the price alone, the card ranks among the priciest water cooled GTX 680 cards, which seems about right considering what the card aims for. If overvolting and overclocking aren't your cup of tea however, then you're probably better off picking up Point of View's GTX 680 TGT Charged Edition 4GB, which is pretty much identical except for the cooling and that €107 that will stay in your pocket. As for the GTX 680 Classified, quality tools always cost a pretty penny and ordinary prices are best left for ordinary cards. EVGA's GTX 680 Classified is a great product if you like overclocking and have the right tools for the job, better cooling included.


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The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has honored DOL staff members for going beyond their job duties and making outstanding contributions to traffic safety.
Tana Cochran, manager of the Driver Training School Program, won in the category of Young Drivers. She has made major improvements to the parents' guidebook for teaching youth driving skills, coordinates a large yearly driver education training conferences for driver training instructors and has developed new ways to gather and analyze DOL data to help minimize teen driver collisions.
Bruce Chunn and Haiping Zhang's Predictive Model Research Project won an award also in the category of Young Drivers. The project was created to research and create a predictive model for at-risk drivers. The project researched Washington driving records looking for a predictor of future collisions and correlation between traffic violations not including a collision, and the increasing probability of collisions. The project concluded that an individual who recently received their first traffic violation is twice as likely to have a collision, and 16 to 19 year-old drivers have approximately twice the risk of older drivers. As a result of the project's conclusions, DOL has expanded the use of warning letters as an early intervention system for 18 to 19 year-old drivers who receive their first traffic violation.
Tony Sermonti and Mark Horner and their work with the statewide Text-Talk-Ticket campaign won in the category of Distracted Driving. Lead by DOL and the State Patrol, the campaign was a public awareness campaign preceding the new 'primary offense' cell phone law. The campaign designed and presented a new logo and slogan for distracted driving, Talk-Text-Ticket. The campaign included well-attended media events, a Seattle morning news show tour by DOL director Liz Luce, a video public service announcement, driver training school outreach and a tour of high schools and the Puyallup Fair with a vehicle involved in a fatal distracted driving collision. The kickoff message on April 30, 2010 reached more than 600,000 households, and the public service announcement received more than 500,000 unique visitors per month.


text:
Train Conductor Apologizes 500 Times for Accidentally Lying
Some people on #MetroNorth still care. @Shawdogs65 left commuters an AWESOME letter this AM #thelittlethings pic.twitter.com/WkIA2cxA9Y
— Ashleigh Smith (@ashm_smith) February 24, 2014
A conductor on a Metro-North train who goes by the name Michael "Shawdog" Shaw personally apologized to his passengers this morning after telling them that the express train they were waiting for would eventually come. Twist—it never came.
@Shawdogs65, who is also the president of the conductors union, typed up a letter to passengers with explicit detail regarding the foible, explaining that he was "shocked & furious" that such a thing could happen. He signed, sealed, and delivered the notes with a kiss, leaving them on the 500 seats of the train, like little presents waiting for his babies on Christmas Day.
A Chesley Sullenberger-style press anointment has yet to set in, but apologies are currently very on trend and Shaw is responding well to the publicity.
Crazy day today. Everyone has been very nice, yes even metronorth. Never thought apologizing 4 something I did wrong would be press worthy.
— Michael Shaw (@Shawdogs65) February 24, 2014
Good Morning America, your move.


text:
Taken from Two Week Wait Which BTW is a very nice board full of interesting info and chats. Check it out! I just selected a few, but you can read them all if you click on the link.
What Nobody Told You About Trying to Conceive...
That your sex life would start to resemble a science experiment.
That one day you wouldn't mind checking your CM or CP to see if it is your fertile period.
That I would splash urine on my face while taking apart an hpt in the hopes there really was a 2nd pink line hiding in it.
That I would know more about the female reproductive system and menstrual cycle than most of the doctors I go to.
That it is insensitive to ask people when they are having a baby!
That I would be happy to see abundant cervial fluid and tell my DH about it.
That a group of "strangers" who I will probably never meet, have now become my "best friends" when it comes to ttc.
That I would resent someone who has been trying less time than me telling me "I know how you feel..."
That people would pity you and feel sorry for you.
That having AF show up makes you cry, no matter who's bathroom you are in
That talking about sex with fellow TTCers would be so easy.
Do you have any more you would like to add?
Friday, August 28, 2009
What Nobody Told You About Trying to Conceive...
Taken from Two Week Wait Which BTW is a very nice board full of interesting info and chats. Check it out! I just selected a few, but you can read them all if you click on the link.
Posted by Making Babies at 9:47 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Taking Supplements (or any TTC advice)
I think the one thing that irritates me about TTC is that people tend to only look for a quick fix. They read about a product or a technique and figure they will give it a shot and hopefully fall pregnant too. I'm just as guilty of trying certain supplements once or taking someone's advice for one cycle. Only to throw it out the window the day AF arrives. Cursing that it never worked for me that month.
But the reality is…. With all supplements you need to give your body at least 3 months before giving up on it and moving on. You can compare it to taking antibiotics. You know your doctor insists that you finish the course of meds. You take the meds for the whole duration, otherwise it's not going to make you better.
It's the same with TTC supplements or products. I was reading an International based TTC forum yesterday and noticed how many people were just giving up after one cycle. You can't just start taking a supplement and then just because you haven't noticed anything different or pregnancy achieved decide that it isn't going to work for you. You need to keep at it. Tone your body and let the supplements work for you. Even if it does take 3 months! (Not that it's guaranteed to work in 3 months either, could take a little bit longer. Sorry had to throw that disclaimer in there before I get bombarded with emails.)
It's the same with taking your Basal Body Temperature (BBT). You can't give up after one month of charting. You need a few charting months to get to know your body. I remember when I started charting way back when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth. I seriously thought I was PG the first month charting. Everything pointed to being PG. Only after a few cycles charting, did I realize that my body was going through it's own pattern. Every month without fail. I could rely on my charts to ease my heart towards the end of the 2ww.
I get frustrated when people give up after one month on a certain "plan of action". Yes I understand your frustration because you want to be PG right now. But you really need to give your body time to absorb the supplements and WORK. I have had clients fall pregnant the first month using supplements, but the general trend is only after a few cycles once their bodies have adjusted.
Especially the men supplements. Remember sperm take 70 days (or so) to produce. Any changes (positive or negative) you make today will only affect the boys who come into play in 2-3 months time. You can't really do anything about the sperm that is already waiting in the side lines. They have already matured and getting ready for action.
Now, if you have been taking supplements for 6 months or more. We need to start looking for reasons why it isn't working. Are you timing your ovulation and BD correctly? Have you had your partner's sperm tested? Have you investigated the possibility that you could have blocked tubes? Go see your doctor. :)
I apologize for the sort of vent session. But I just don't want people giving up. Don't GIVE UP. I see so much heart ache daily, but when someone gets their BFP, we all rejoice and bounce up and down. I want to be excited for each and every one of you.
Posted by Making Babies at 8:37 AM 2 comments
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Fertivor Review
(Sorry everyone, I'm having major internet connection issues. Wanted to do some interesting research for you all, but with this connection it's impossible.)
Strangely enough I have been getting quite a few requests about how to improve cervical mucus. (CM). Weird how I get these "waves" of questions. One week it's all about sperm issues, then there will be three days of Fertile Focus microscopes.... and now today almost every email or call is about CM.
The more "natural ways" to improve your CM are:
Drink lots of water (through out your cycle)
A cup or two of Green tea from day 1 to ovulation day. If you are like me and cant drink the Green tea. It makes me want to gag, then consider taking it in a pill form.
Evening Primrose Oil – EPO Taken from day 1 to ovulation. (1500mg to 3000mg per day.) Do not use EPO after ovulation since it can cause uterine contractions. Some woman have reported having bad headaches and an upset stomach while taking the EPO.
Eating raw baby carrots. I don't have a recommended dosage, but I'm sure a handful twice a day will do the trick. If you start turning orange, I suggest you stop. LOL
Grapefruit Juice. Two cups a day up until O day. This one I've actually tried myself and it does work! Although it always just made my CM more watery and actually EWCM (egg white cm)
Guaifenesin, this is found in cough syrup. If you want to go this route, then make sure you get a cough syrup that only contains guaifenesin. You don't want it to contain any other ingredients since that will dry up your mucus. Guaifenesin thins out your mucus. Benylin Wet Cough Syrup contains 200mg of guaifenesin. This is usually taken twice a day with a glass of water from CD8/10 up until O date. Remember this doesn't help produce CM, just helps with thinning it out.
I have tried all the above methods. There is one product that I'm able to say 100% worked to help my body to produce that all important EWCM. The super fertile cervical mucus. Ask any of my forum girls, how proud I was of the EWCM I got while using the Fertivor. So proud I almost took photos for all to see. LOL
FERTIVOR is a nutritional fertility supplement integrating several key ingredients that safely and naturally promote the production of cervical fluids, support the 'thinning' of mucus, increase hydration of the mucin, as well as promote proper mucus alkalinity. In addition, the same ingredient that supports CM production (L-Arginine as nitric oxide precursor) has also been shown to induce endometrial secretion (creating a healthy uterus lining) during implantation time.
I absolutely love this product. Visit my website for more info and ordering :)
Posted by Making Babies at 8:16 AM 0 comments
Labels: fertivor
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Luteal Phase Defect (LPD)
Your luteal phase (LP) is the time between ovulation and when your next period (AF) is due. Your LP should be between 12-16 days, with the average being 14 days. Although there is some sites that say anything between 10-17 days is normal. Some doctors believe that if the luteal phase falls under 12 days, then it could cause a problem falling pregnant.
If you think about it, implantation occurs anything between 6-10 days past ovulation (dpo). Now if you have a LPD, and your LP is less than 10 days. Your body isn't giving the fertilized egg enough time to successfully implant. Your uterine lining will start to break down causing AF to unpack her bags and make you miserable at another failed cycle.
So what causes this LPD?
Mostly LPD is due to low progesterone. There are three main causes however; all are linked to the lack of progesterone. Poor follicle(egg) production leads to the premature break down of the corpus luteum (after ovulation). The corpus luteum in turn produces low levels of progesterone which then causes your uterine lining to not prepare itself for implantation.
How do you know if you have a LPD?
You need to monitor your cycle. Determine when ovulation occurs and count the days between O and AF. The easiest way to do this is confirm your ovulation by charting your Basal Body Temperature.
How to treat LPD?
1) Vitamin B6 can be taken daily for your whole cycle
2) Progesterone Supplement, which is then given after ovulation has been confirmed. (Remember that if you are on a Prog Supp that you continue taking it if you fall PG, until your doctor says it's safe to stop.)
3) The use of Clomid. Clomid will in turn produce better quality eggs which will kick off the cycle of better corpus luteum and better progesterone levels.
So treating a LPD is pretty straight forward, and should definitely be looked into if you suspect your luteal phase is too short!
Posted by Making Babies at 8:55 AM 4 comments
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Great Special on Arouse 24 Caps and Gel
Just because I love you (and my supplier LOVES you too) I'm able to give you all a great special on the Arouse 24 Caps (60) - that is one month's supply. With every order of Arouse 24 Caps (60) you get ABSOLUTELY FREE ~ the Arouse 24 Gel. That is an awesome saving of R 140.00!!
Please visit Making Babies for more product info on Arouse 24 Caps
The Arouse 24 Caps (60) sell at R 175.00 inc VAT excluding Shipping costs :)
Posted by Making Babies at 12:55 PM 0 comments
Monday, August 17, 2009
Getting The Swimmers Where They Need To Go!
After ejaculation, sperm have to be able to swim through the cervix to reach the Fallopian Tube where fertilization of the egg occurs. However, the interactions of sperm and cervical mucus that allow this migration are often disrupted in fertility patients. It is thought that at least a third (if not more) of subfertile couples have some disruption of sperm-cervical mucus interactions that limit sperm transport to the tubes.
There are a few ways that you can ensure that your cervical mucus is friendly towards sperm. You can make use of either Conceive Plus or Pre~Seed lubricant. Both of these lubricants are sperm friendly and actually aid in helping the sperm's motility and survival in getting to where they need to go.
The Conception Kit is another awesome product that actually places the sperm right over the cervix opening. This way the sperm won't have to travel that distance to the opening. The Conception Kit is designed for couples who want to enhance their opportunity to conceive in the privacy of their own home.
The corner stone of the Kit is the cervical cap. The cap is placed right there at the cervix opening, enabling the sperm to come in direct contact with the opening. The cap can be left in for up to 8 hours. Then the sperm swims up to the fallopian tubes to that awaiting egg for hopeful conception.
The kit is specifically made for women who have the following issues:
1) Tilted Cervix
2) Hostile Vaginal pH
Obviously the kit will not help if the female has blocked fallopian tubes or having ovulation issues like non ovulation or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (unless Fertility drugs are being used to induce ovulation). If you are ovulating every month and can track ovulation (using the Ovulation Predictor Kits that are in the Kit) you can time when you will need to BD and use the Cervical Cap.
The Kit for men addresses the following:
1) Low sperm count
2) Low sperm motility
Since the sperm is place directly at the cervical opening, it lessens the "stress" put on the sperm that would normally have to "swim" up to the cervix opening. Of course healthy sperm will even better your chances.
See our website on how to order The Conception Kit, or your Conceive Plus/Pre~Seed
Posted by Making Babies at 9:59 AM 0 comments
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sleep: The Key to Conceiving?
** It's fun trying something new. So please bare with me while I figure out how to keep business and personal stuff separate. I opened my personal blog, so feel free to go read (follow) there: Picking up the pieces **
Sleep: The Key to Conceiving?
I read an interesting article the other day with regards to sleep and making a baby. You can read the full article here on Conceive Online
But what it basically boils down to is that a lack of sleep disrupts a woman's circadian rhythm. (I didn't even know we had one LOL). It's the 24 hour internal clock that helps regulate all the bodies systems. Studies suggest a link between sleep and fertility. Research has also shown that 80 – 90 percent of ovulation occurs between Midnight and 4am.
So technically you should be sleeping while your body is trying to ovulate? If you aren't sleeping well, does that mean that you are preventing your body from ovulating like it should, thus hindering your chances at conception? You see, if you aren't sleeping well your body is rather going to use the energy it has to take care of the necessary functions like supporting your immune system. Than popping out an egg. Selfish circadian rhythm.
Remember if you are stressed out from lack of sleep, you are going to cause stress on your cycles. Which in turn is going to delay your ovulation, which can totally throw off your timing when you thought you were going to O. So don't miss the O boat, get enough possible shut eye in!
Posted by Making Babies at 9:04 AM 0 comments
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Some changes.....
Due to some personal issues which are busy being dealt with, I'm slightly changing this blog into a "everything TTC related" blog. I will fill in the details as we go along. I know I've acquired some new followers in the process reading about our TTC journey. But for now "our TTC journey" has come to an end. I can't explain now, how or why.
I've set up another blog where I'll post about personal issues and family news etc. So this Making Babies blog will just be about Fertility/Infertility issues. And of course be a business blog with latest news and developments. Is news/developments the same thing?? :)
It's with a sad heart that I hang up my TTC shoes :(
I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you girls (and guy) that have supported me the last 3 years. I don't know how I would have gotten through this infertility journey without you all.
I have met the most wonderful friends through this, so I won't say that my journey was a waste. ;-)
I just ask that no one asks why what or how. Some personal issues have crept in and I don't see it viable to carry on TTC. Maybe one day I will be back on this wagon. But for now, my mind (heart will take a little longer) I'm closing the TTC chapter of my life.
Baby dust to you all. Hey, at least now you can all divide my share equally.....
Posted by Making Babies at 11:49 AM 4 comments
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Specials Specials Specials
I had this whole angry self pity post written out. Took me most of the morning to put it into words, but it still didn't sound right after reading it over and over again. So I'm rather going to bombard you with specials that Making Babies is running at the moment. That is more constructive hey?
First up we have Pregnavor Now selling at R 80.00 inc VAT (exc shipping)
Pregnavor is not only for our Pregnant Fairies. :) If you are trying to conceive and looking for a great multi-vitamin. I strongly suggest Pregnavor.
Liberator FF - My DH loves this product! (and so do I *wink wink*)
Normal pricing for Liberator FF is R 80.00 inc VAT (exc shipping) For this week only it is selling at R 70.00 per bottle. :)
And while we are on the topic of Libido enhancers. I have a lovely little gel, which I personally use and LOVE. Arouse 24 Gel Of course I don't suggest using this gel around O time (well not internally) Although it's all natural, I would prefer that you use the Conceive Plus during O time. But the Arouse Gel is great to use during your cycle.
Normal pricing for the Arouse 24 Gel is R 140.00 inc VAT (exc shipping) For this week only it is selling at R 130.00 per bottle :)
All you need to do in order to qualify for the special is be a part of our Making Babies community! (or pop me a mail and ask really nicely LOL)
Posted by Making Babies at 11:21 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
It was fun while it lasted...
I was enjoying basking in the light of being a winner... But I thought maybe the fact that I was based in South Africa might be a problem in claiming my prize. (Shipping and all that). Darn, but it's totally understandable.
Guess I'll keep on trying and entering other comps. :) Now I feel silly for bragging about my luck....
Posted by Making Babies at 4:08 PM 1 comments
This is a first......
My DH is always the one with the luck. He will enter comps left right and center, and most of the times he wins. I've always been so envious of him until now.... This morning I opened my mail box and there was an email. FOR ME. I WON!!! I'm super excited.
Behind the scenes today is going to be a really crappy day. (sorry no details allowed) But I'm hoping that this little win of mine is a sign that today is going to be OK. Please let it be OK.
So what did I win :) Check out this blog - TTC Connections She has some awesome giveaways and just found out that she is PG against odds from her Doc. Amazing huh. :)
Today feels so odd. Keep having to remind myself that it's Tuesday and not Monday. Some times these public holidays can really mess things up. Just slightly.
Could I ask that you please keep me and DH in your thoughts today? Hopefully the outcome won't be so bad, and things can just return to normal. Please.
Posted by Making Babies at 9:21 AM 5 comments
Monday, August 10, 2009
A camping we will go...
Hey everyone. Just popping in real quick. We are still enjoying our "long weekend". Today is Women's Day here in South Africa. So to all you awesome women, big thumbs up to all that you do!
National Women's Day is an annual public holiday in South Africa on August 9. This commemorates the national march of women on this day in 1956 to petition against legislation that required African persons to carry the "pass", special identification documents which curtailed an African's freedom of movement during the apartheid era.
This past weekend we also celebrated our dear friend Mathi's 35th birthday!! There are quite a few pics, so if you want to go have a look, click here to see them.
We camped out at Monateng Safari Lodge ~ Located in a serene and tranquil environment on a exquisite bushveld property, conveniently situated 30 minutes from Zambezi drive in Pretoria, this RCI Gold Crown Resort is an idyllic venue to get away for the weekend or spend a tranquil holiday.
Monateng Safari Lodge offers guests a pleasant Africa bushveld experience with a noticeable abundance of birdlife and game while relaxing in a peaceful atmosphere.
We had such a great time. I'm not the out doors camping type. But this lodge/caravan park was just great. We set up tent on Saturday, and with a heavy heart made our way home late last night. Can't wait to go back in the summer. There is a gorgeous pool there. Taking a dip this weekend was out of the question. Even though most of the kids were splashing around, I tend to think us adults weren't as brave to face the icy waters.
It always amazes me how quickly kids make friends. We hardly saw McK this weekend. She was either playing in the park with other children, riding bike or jumping on the trampoline. Funny how us adults are quick to judge fellow campers and roll our eyes or snicker. Kids, they just fall in line and play.
The big attraction there was the Super Tube. McKenna really wanted to go, and I
forced got her father to oblige. Up they went all enthusiastically. McK even climbed up by her self, waving at me every now and then. I was standing at the end of the slide, with camera in hand. They came down just to quick, my clicking finger wasn't as quick. Of course there wasn't going to be an opportunity to take a second shot. Madam screamed the whole way down top volume. I burst into tears. Can't believe I made my baby go on such a scary tube!! LOL But she survived. Daddy loved it, and went down a couple more times.
Wish I was still lazing in my camp chair, sipping on an ice cold beer. Come on Summer.......
Posted by Making Babies at 2:53 PM 1 comments
Friday, August 7, 2009
In love
**warning, if you are my father/mother/grandmother/any family member. You can just skip this entry. ;-)
I might just be in love with Conceive Plus. When I was first approached to market Conceive Plus, I got this "good vibe". I somehow knew already just by reading the product info that I was going to love this new lubricant. I'm pretty good with going with my gut feel. And I was not disappointed.
I started investigating and reading endless information and the more I read, the more I just felt that this lube would be awesome for couples who are Trying to Conceive. It aids in enhancing sperm motility and viability. It is formulated to match the pH balanced of fertile cervical fluid and semen. So what does this mean to you? Well it's all about enhancing your chances to conceive. I think this is an awesome product for those who have sperm (male fertility) issues as well as women with cervical mucus issues. The lube counter acts these problems and creates the best environment for the sperm to survive in the cervical mucus and female body.
Enough with the product jargon. So how does it feel? ;-) You want to know the details.
With the Conceive Plus you can continue with BD without having to plan ahead. No inserting lube before hand. You can still have spontaneous BD, grab the lube when needed and continue. No need to break the "romance". Come on you know what I'm talking about. We try so hard to keep sex exciting as possible while trying to conceive. With the Conceive Plus you can continue in the throws of passion without making it feel like you are only having sex to make a baby.
I loved the feel of it. It was very natural and I almost want to use the word "yummy". But I can imagine my father's eyes bulging right now if he is still reading this. DH was very impressed too. The lube can be applied to both you and your partner. Which I love. You know you sometimes need that bit of lubrication. We have been TTC for so long now, I do sometimes find that we are drier at times. Probably due to stress and pressure from "having to make this work now" issues. So this lube is fantastic to replace that natural lubricated feeling.
I had a friend ask me if the lube has any smell. LOL. And I'm glad to report it doesn't. If any smell, it's a clean hygienic scent. It goes on well, and feels great. It's not as slippery as other lubes, just natural. Plain simple words, I love it! I'm sure you will too!
Posted by Making Babies at 8:47 AM 4 comments
Labels: conceive plus
Thursday, August 6, 2009
I was hoping to give you all a review on the Conceive Plus but unfortunately the Post Office conspired against me. So the review will only be featured tomorrow. :) Don't forget if you still want to qualify for the special on the Conceive Plus that Making Babies is running at the moment see this post for further details.
I'm super excited about this new product and the interest shown already in it.
And while I'm busy plugging Making Babies. If you are looking for a entertaining (yet educational) read, wonder over to my site and check out my eBook - Baking Maybe's
We are going camping this weekend. Provided of course we can find a tent. It's our best friends birthday weekend. We were going to just go through for the day. But being the responsible adults we like to be, we think it's a better idea to camp over for the night as well. Things may get rough. :)
Posted by Making Babies at 10:05 AM 1 comments
Labels: conceive plus
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
eMail issues....
If there is one thing that irritates me beyond anything it's having eMail issues!!! Especially when I'm expecting important mail orders to come through. It's like the world is against me, when I'm finally excited about something.....
Hopefully it will be sorted out in the next few hours. If you are sending me mail to firstname.lastname@example.com and it's bouncing (which it will) please send the mail to ......... (never mind we have managed to fix the problems.) But yes, if you did send me mail today and it bounced, please resend it :)
Cycle news... LOL.... you know I can't help myself. I think I only Oed last night to be exact. MoFo cramping went on, sure I popped 10 eggs out at once. LOL. Are we covered? ........... of course...... ;-) As you can see I'm handling this "on a break" stuff much better these days. LOL
It's picture day at school today. I braided McK's hair. Hope it holds. Hope she smiles for the camera, and none of those dorky grins. :)
You can expect a cool review tomorrow of a certain new product. Watch this space.
Posted by Making Babies at 11:50 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Conceive Plus
I'm always on the search for new products for my Making Babies members. I've found a great lubricant - Conceive Plus. What do I like about it? It can be used as a normal lube while BD. No need to insert lube before the time. Some times we just need that little bit of extra lube, and why not use one that is sperm friendly:
Conceive Plus......
Enhances sperm motility
Enhances sperm viability
Formulated for couples trying-to-conceive
pH balanced to fertile cervical fluid and semen
Electrolyte balanced to match natural fluids
Contains Calcium and Magnesium Ions
Promotes egg fertilization
Sasmar Conceive Plus™ is a scientific formulation designed to assist your path to pregnancy.
Conceive Plus exclusively contains Calcium and Magnesium ions formulated to match fertile cervical liquid and semen to create a conception-friendly environment that feels completely natural.
NOW AVAILABLE only for Making Babies Members at R 200.00 (plus shipping R 30.00) * Unfortunately only valid for members living in South Africa
Orders need to be placed and paid for by FRIDAY 7 August 2009 in order to ship early next week. Please send email order to firstname.lastname@example.com
Click here for more info on this new exciting product. * You will need to register on the Making Babies Network in order to view this page :)
Posted by Making Babies at 8:43 AM 1 comments
Monday, August 3, 2009
Hi Ho Hi Ho
It's off to O I go! LOL.... Yeah it's that time again folks. O time. Will she? Will he? They are still on a break, but will the heavens open and the big man upstairs decides now is the right time. Who knows.....
I've come to the conclusion that my TTC journey is pretty much like playing the Lotto. Chances of me winning the winning the millions are about the same as conception. LOL :)
Hope you all had a great weekend. I'm just glad the sun is shining down on us today.
The August MB Newsletter is available, you can CLICK HERE to view it.
That is about all the words I have for you today. :)
Oh do go check out fellow blogger: Other Everyday Stuff, very cool giveaway going on there :)
Posted by Making Babies at 12:13 PM 1 comments
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Someone didn't get the memo
We are having crazy weather here! It's the 1st of August (gulp) and this weather is unbelievable. Not only are we FREEZING
our asses off. But it's hailing and raining. It's so not typical for this time of year and this country!
Probably about the closet we will get to "snow" LOL
Cycle news. Seems that this 43rd cycle is going to be more or less like cycle 42. I have loads of EWCM. Which is so "murphy's law", you know I take a break and get beautiful fertile cm. *rolls eyes*. CD10 same as last cycle. Guess I'll be Oing within the next 2 days. Same as last cycle. Yes, I'm paying attention. Just every so slightly. A girl can dream right?
I see our ticker to the right says 1 more month until we start TTC again. But I think we will only start late September, so that is more like another 2 months or less.
Flu wise, I think we have a break through. Still sitting with the sore throat and stuffy nose, but at least I feel human again.
I'm waiting patiently for 2 of my friends to go into labour! Kelley who doesn't blog hehe, and Krissy. Also a sister of another good friend. So that is 3 babies who will be entering the world over the next few days.
We also received the news of our 4th Making Babies baby, little Andrew was born on Thursday 30 July!!! Congrats Marshall family.
Anyway, let me go try and warm up...... Have a good weekend everyone! x
Posted by Making Babies at 2:00 PM 1 comments


text:
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – If Colorado Rapids president Tim Hinchey has his way, the team that started 2012 as the second-oldest in MLS will be one of the league's youngest squads in just a few short years.
Hinchey and the Rapids are placing extra emphasis on developing young players to build "competition and consistency" and a long-term perennial contender at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
"This is a group that is working hard to go and value the college/MLS Draft, and that was one of the criteria for the coaching search [last year]," Hinchey told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday. "We need someone that values the MLS college draft system because that's an important part of our acquisition strategy."
MORE: Rapids hold 6th pick in 2013 SuperDraft, seven total
Hinchey feels that drafting and developing young players was neglected in previous years. Of the Rapids' past 13 draft picks dating back to 2009, only three are still on the roster today: midfielder Tony Cascio (2012), forward Andre Akpan (2010) and goalkeeper Steward Ceus (2009).
Colorado selected Cascio 14th overall out of the University of Connecticut with their only pick in 2012. The 22-year-old went on to appear in 29 of 34 regular season matches in his rookie year, tallying three goals and adding three assist. His 1692 minutes were 733 more than the combined minutes of the 16 draft picks that made the team in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 during their first year. The minutes were also the most by a Rapids rookie since Nat Borchers in 2003.
With three projected picks in the top 30 of January's SuperDraft, the team sent every member of their coaching and scouting staff to a different college championship earlier this month, and the Rapids have also begun fostering relationships in England and will send four of their younger players (Akpan, Cascio, Chris Klute and Martín Rivero) to Derby County of the English championship in December.
"If we can grow and have better younger players, we have two things: We're growing players to get better experience to be there if our first team players or our starters can't be available," Hinchey said. "Second, we could be growing assets, so we can acquire young, talented players from not just Homegrown, but wherever we need to get them, whether it be through the draft system.
"And this year we want to take care of that," he added. "Our cupboard's been bare the last couple years because we moved all those draft picks for a win-now mentality."
MORE: College scouting complete, staff shift scouting overseas
The team had considerable progress on the youth and development front in 2012, including the MLS debuts for their first two Homegrown players: defender/midfielder Davy Armstrong and midfielder Shane O'Neill. The Rapids also produced three US U-20 players in 2012, and the team hopes more are on the way, not just to provide a young backbone for the team, but to create competition at every position as soon as possible.
"We want 18 on the bench every time that are pissed that they're not in that [starting position]," Hinchey said. "Then we want that next group, which is the reserve team, and the academy, we want that whole line."
Chris Bianchi covers the Colorado Rapids for MLSsoccer.com.


text:
Ken Boyd bows out of chair race
After a Daily Progress article revealed that he wanted to retake the chairmanship of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, Republican Ken Boyd–- who is also seeking his party's nomination to become the challenger to 5th Congressional District Representative Tom Perriello–- has announced via press release that he's taking his name out of consideration.
7 comments
Ken Boyd is the best candidate to beat Tom P. next November, hands down. He should fight for that nomination until the last dog dies. Only Ken's own cowardice or laziness can keep him from that nomination.
It's up to you Ken. Play your cards right and you're in. Don't let us down.
Ken Boyd in Daily Progress article on why being chairman WOULD NOT distract from his Congressional campaign:
ââ?¬Å?In fact, that's what my campaign people [asked]: ââ?¬Ë?Well, how much more time is that going to take you away from our campaign?'" Boyd said. ââ?¬Å?I'm willing to put in that extra time to do it."
Ken Boyd in his press release on why being chairman WOULD distract from his Congressional campaign:
"Recently the Republican Party decided to nominate their candidate in a primary rather than a convention. This will involve signiï¬Âcantly more time on the road meeting the people of the 5th district. While I look forward to meeting old friends and making new ones, the primary will reduce the time I would have to be Albemarle's Chairman of the Board of Supervisors."
Hey Ken, schizophrenic much?
Press release...
"It is unfortunate that this entire process has played out in the press and that some have tried to politicize the process."
Poor Ken. It's a shame when an informed citizenry gets in the way of a bald-faced power grab.
Hey Ken, maybe it's time to bow out of the Van der Linde lawsuit as well; don't think the people in the 5th will see suing a private businessman, with public dollars, to prop up a failing government agency as a plus, for a Conservative Republican resume.
Ken Boyd has not done anything lately except use his good ole boy roots, Lawerence Verga is the person who needs to lead us in the 5th and bring us back
If you think a California Real Estate developer is going to get a lot of 5th district votes, it's no wonder you would believe that Al Groh is the man to lead the Cavaliers to the promised land. We need a "good ole boy" in the 5th district.
Verga is going to bring us back??? to where the west coast,
That guy is just a rich developer who is trying to buy a seat in Congress. Verga is exactly who Periello wants to win the primary.


text:
Economic benefits in immigration reform?
Q: Are there economic benefits to San Diego in the proposed immigration reform proposals before Congress?
Panel's answer: Yes 8 , No 0
Marney Cox, San Diego Association of Governments
Answer: YES
Most Americans agree that the current U.S. immigration system requires fixing. Less clear are the effects new immigrants have on wages, jobs and the economy. Studies suggest that "over time" immigrants raise the overall standard of living of American workers by boosting wages and lowering prices, primarily because new immigrants and U.S.-born workers generally do not compete for the same jobs. But what about during times when the economy is expanding slowly, the unemployment rate is high and residents are leaving the labor force, frustrated that they cannot find a job? To ensure success, fixing the immigration system should include strategies to prevent the current below trend economic conditions from becoming worse.
Kelly Cunningham, National University Systems
Answer YES
If immigration reform means establishing a fair and workable system of legal immigration, then San Diego substantially benefits from the tax revenues of newly legalized immigrant workers lawfully employed and contributing to society. Allowing foreign nationals, often educated here, to fill professions under employer-sponsored H-1B programs will benefit San Diego technology companies unable to find skilled workers to fill such positions. An equitable way to deal with illegal immigrants without sending a message that America's laws can be broken with impunity is also critical. Achieving legal status should not be easier not following rules rather than by following legal processes.
Alan Gin, University of San Diego
One aspect of the proposal calls for improved border security, which would mean more jobs for border agents and a boost to San Diego companies specializing in security technology. Also helping the local economy would be the proposal to increase the number of green cards issued to immigrants who earn advanced degrees in the U.S., including our local universities. That would allow more of those degree holders to stay and contribute to the economy, particularly in areas such as science and engineering. Finally, the pathway to citizenship would lead to those taking the path becoming income tax payers, in addition to providing more social stability.
James Hamilton, University of California San Diego
It would certainly benefit those individuals who are given an easier path to citizenship, enabling some of them to get better-paying jobs. To the extent they become more productive as a result of getting citizenship, there are benefits to all of us, for example in the form of higher taxes collected and a broader consumer market for goods and services. On the other hand, it also means more competition for the jobs for which many people who are already citizens are also looking.
Gary London, The London Group Realty Advisors
ANSWER: yes
Our proximity to Mexico means that San Diego disproportionately benefits from reform. First-generation immigrants, in particular, are the hardest working, most motivated members of the work force. They benefit their communities and the economy. If they come out of the shadows then they also pay taxes, contribute to Social Security and Medicare in a positive way because they are mostly young. On the skilled side of the equation, because San Diego is the home to large high-tech clusters, immigration reform would mean that highly skilled (and paid) jobs would be filled so that the foreigner whom we educate would be motivated to stay. It is right to correct the system and offer up the American dream to today's immigrants.
Norm Miller, University of San Diego
San Diego and California will benefit greatly from an expanded and legalized guest worker program as the vast majority of all agricultural workers are currently illegal, while the industry is totally dependent on these workers. Other industries also depend heavily on illegal workers such as roofing contractors, cleaning services, landscape services, and even hospital cleaning staff, all hired through subcontractors. The greatest benefit would be the lessened risk of injuries or death trying to cross or stop border crossings in unsafe ways. The path to citizenship program would have less immediate benefit, but is the right thing to do.
Lynn Reaser, Point Loma Nazarene University
Immigration reform would strengthen San Diego's economy in many important ways. Visa reform, allowing graduates with vital science, technology, engineering, and math skills to remain here would provide critical talent to many of our key industry segments. Giving a clear path to citizenship to those who have been living in the shadows would allow them to more fully participate in the economy by becoming homeowners, for example. As full citizens, they could become integral parts of local communities, supporting schools and other activities. It is time to erase the fears and uncertainties which for too long have weighed on our region.
Dan Seiver, Reilly Financial Advisors
While comprehensive immigration reform is in the country's best interest, the most important benefit for San Diego would be a proposed reform package that includes a sharp increase in H-1B visas. These science and technology visas are capped nationally at 65,000, which is far below the demand by science and technology firms, given that the U.S. is not producing enough "home-grown" STEM graduates. If the H-1B visas were doubled or tripled, science and technology firms in San Diego and the nation could increase staffing, produce more innovative products and services, and perhaps hire the next Sergey Brin (cofounder of Google, who was born in the USSR)!
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