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|Perl: the Markov chain saw
Re: Perl Certifications and/or Professional Developmentby Maclir (Curate)
|on Apr 08, 2002 at 00:44 UTC ( #157344=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
What type of job would you like? A succession of "programming technician" jobs, interspersed with periods of unemployment while you try to become certified in the next favourite language of the month? Why not get certified in Java? No, VB / ASP . . .wait a minute, .NET will be really hot in a few months, get some certification in that.
Alternatively, if you want a long term career in the information technology arena, designing and developing software, go to a good quality university and get a proper computer science degree. Don't treat it as a meal ticket to a super high paying job when the dot coms take off again. And while you are at university, study material other than just programming. History, english, philosophy, writing, economics, some law and government.
You will notice I have used the (archaic) term University, not college. A university is a place where, among other things, you will learn how to learn. A college churns out the cannon fodder for industries current needs. Of course, not all instutions follow those rules when deciding their title.
There have been many discussions on the Monastery about the benefits of a proper computer science education. But as an employer, I look at paper certifications for entry level tech support people. If I want top quality application developers, designers, analysts, I expect to see a relevant university degree. I would not go to a medical practicioner who did not hold a recognised MB/BS; or a lawyer without an LLB.
In Section Meditations

subset: commoncrawl


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"Draw" (相子, Aiko, Viz: Even) is chapter 624 of the original Naruto manga.
Knowing full-well that their power was more or less evenly matched, in order to gain the upper-hand as the four of them clashed, Butsuma and Tajima — again thinking along the same lines — decided to target Izuna and Tobirama respectively, hoping to use the shock of a parent losing a child before their very eyes as a method to gain an advantage. However, their attacks were stopped by Hashirama and Madara, who had turned in time to see and prevent what was about to happen. Seeing the attack on his brother as an unforgivable act, Madara declared that they had reached an impasse, noting that their pipe-dreams would die there. Determined to fight, Tajima enquired whether or not Madara was prepared to take them on, but Madara noted that Hashirama was stronger than he was and the outcome would not be in their favour. As they prepared to depart, Madara stated that the next time they would see each other was on the battlefield as Uchiha and Senju, activating his Sharingan for the first time. Thus beginning the non-stop battling between the two, and eventually, the two would inherit the leadership of their respective clans. During one such battle, Tobirama fatally wounded Izuna on the battlefield. Despite the fact that Hashirama once again attempted to create peace between the two clans, Madara refused and left the battlefield with his injured brother. In time, the fact that the Uchiha were inferior to the power of the Senju became abundantly clear and defectors began to come to the Senju side. The next time they met on the battlefield, Madara had acquired the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and remarked that his brother had died from the wound Tobirama had inflicted on him. Despite his new-found power, Madara was still defeated, but Hashirama, still seeking peace, halted his brother from killing the Uchiha and asked Madara if the two of them could not settle it like they used to. To this, Madara declared that they had lost his trust and the only way to regain this was if Hashirama were to kill himself or his brother.


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I have grated the tiny bars of soap. I have mixed giant vats of liquid goop detergent. I have even used my pans on the stove to cook (yes cook) soap on my stove. In short readers, I have put in the time and trial and error to test some of the most popular homemade laundry detergent/soap recipes around. And I present to you what I consider to be the BEST...yes THE BEST homemade laundry soap recipe ever. I would love if you would try it out and let me know what you think.
But before I go into all of the details, you may be wondering WHY someone would go to all of the hassle of making their own laundry detergent.
There are many, many reasons...but here are just a few:
1) Making your own detergent is a very easy way to go green.
Most commercial laundry detergents contain phosphates and other ingredients which are harmful to both you and the environment. According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, the average family does 416-520 loads of laundry per year! Think for just a second how much water and energy is used up in this country just through trying to clean our clothes. Seconldy, think about where all of that water is going after it cleans your clothes. Simply switching to a more natural detergent could have a huge impact on the environment....and trust me it is an easy change. (Even I can do it and I am lazy!)
Also, think about how many empty containers you are throwing away each time you run out of laundry detergent. Even if you recycle those containers, think about the energy that is used in that process.
2) Making your own laundry detergent and other cleaning supplies can save you a boat load of money.
We have a high efficiency washer and so every month or so we were spending a TON of money buying Tides HE detergent. (It really is expensive!) This recipe uses a lot of low foaming ingredients so it is perfect for HE machines. Also, you are not having to pay for all of the packaging and marketing that goes into a conventional detergent. And I promise you, the cleaning power of this detergent is fantastic. I have very young children. We get really dirty. (Seriously...look at my blog pictures) And this detergent has been able to clean just as well if not better than our standard Tide HE detergent.
And even if you don't have a HE washer machine, you have to admit that laundry detergent is not cheap. At least not compared to how cheap this recipe is. Using this recipe, you can make an entire years worth of laundry detergent for less than $5. (Prices vary depending on costs in your area...but I know it will be much cheaper than the pre-packaged stuff you are buying now.)
3) When you make your own supplies, you don't have to keep running to the store to pick up more detergent (or windex or "scrubbing bubbles" or any of that stuff!) ---And that is kind of freeing and cool.
See the thing that hangs most people up about making your own cleaning products is the discipline it takes. No matter how easy the recipe is, making something from scratch does take more time than simply opening up a container of commercial product. So the thing that would always throw me off track would be I would a) run out of detergent and then b) be having "one of those days" where the last thing I wanted to do was MAKE laundry detergent. So I would always end up running to the store to pick up a commercial product. However, with this recipe, you only have to spend a couple of minutes one afternoon making it, and then you have a WHOLE years worth of detergent. (If you have an HE machine, you will actually have much, much more than a whole years worth!) This is also a powdered detergent. So, unlike the other homemade liquid forms of laundry detergent (which can sometimes get moldy)--this one will last indefinitely.
4) Using recipes like this is an easy way to give your cleaning supplies a makeover--Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!
Do you open up your cleaning supply cabinet to see a ton of different bottles and boxes? Do you have a bottle for glass cleaner? Another bottle of stuff for cleaning the toilet? Another for the counter tops? Another for the stove? In fact, do you have an entire cabinet full of boxes and bottles claiming to be the 'next best thing' when it comes to cleaning. Chances are that your grandmother (or maybe great grandmother depending on your generation) didn't need to have 50 million bottles and boxes of stuff to get her house clean. She probably relied on a few basic essentials such as vinegar and baking soda to get her whole house clean. So if women have been keeping their house clean and tidy for years with those things....why of why do we spend hundreds of dollars buying all of those boxes and bottles of cleaning supplies? The answer is marketing. We all fall victim to it. (At least I do!) But the truth of the matter is that these simple ingredients used in previous generations still work just as well for cleaning and cost a fraction of the price. Most of them are also better for the environment.
5) Making your own cleaning supplies allows you to customize your scents and blends.
One of the unexpected benefits to making my own cleaning supplies is that I have enjoyed experimenting with essential oils. I can choose exactly what "smells" I want my own special blend of cleaning supplies to have. And to be honest, it makes cleaning a whole lot more enjoyable! Instead of breathing in those toxic fumes like I was before, I am now smelling a faint and lovely "lemon verbena" smell as I wipe down my counter tops. Or--perhaps I might have "lavender vanilla" sheets to sleep on at night. I can even change my scents with the seasons. Last autumn, I made a lovely general purpose cleaner and scented it with Sweet Orange, Cinnamon, Clover, and Ginger essential oils. It made deep cleaning in the fall an almost enjoyable experience. Almost. :) At least it was better than the noxious, over powering smell most commercial cleaners have!
So those are just a FEW of the reasons you may want to consider making your own laundry soap and cleansers.
Making your own Laundry Detergent:
Now, when you start experimenting with making your own laundry soap, you will basically have two different choices: liquid or powder form soap. I typically bought commercial liquid detergent when I went to the store...so the first recipe I tried was for a homemade liquid detergent. The liquid detergent cleaned just fine...but it sort of had a strange consistency which kind of freaked me out. (Its difficult to describe in words, but if you have ever made it yourself, you will know what I am talking about.) I have also read reviews online of mold even growing on liquid detergent if it was stored for long periods of time. That wasn't going to work for me. I wanted a recipe that was easy to make and store...one that would last indefinitely so I didn't have to keep making it over and over again. So I ruled the liquid version out.
The next several versions I tried were for powdered laundry soap. All of the powdered laundry soap recipes out there basically involve some ratio of the following ingredients:
1) Borax
2) Soap Flakes or Grated Soap
3) Baking Soda
4) Washing Soada
5) Oxi Clean
I test several of these recipes out. But the BEST recipe by far was in the book Clean Naturally by Sandy Maine. Ms. Mains book is a great read. She is an authority in soap making, so it didn't surprise me that her cleaning supplies worked so well. However, the thing I enjoyed most about her book is her overall philosophy about cleaning and life in general.
This recipe seems to work fantastically in both hard and soft water. This recipe also doesn't have any of the more expensive or hard to find ingredients (such as washing soda and oxi clean). It smells great. It is low foaming. It is gentle enough for our clothes, yet tough on stains. So the recipe that I use today is a sort of modified version of Ms. Sandy Maine's.
So---Now...without further ado.....here is my FAVORITE laundry soap recipe. (Perfect for regular or High Efficiency Machines).
Simple Washing Powder Recipe
16 cups of baking soda
12 cups of borax*
8 cupts of grated soap**
3 tbsp of your favorite essential oils (optional)
* BORAX Note: You will typically find borax in the laundry detergent aisle of most any grocery store of home goods store. (I know that Meijer's, Walmart, Kroger's, and Giant Eagle all carry it. If you are from another part of the country, please feel free to use the store locator on their website to find it.)
**SOAP Note:
--IF you are making your own laundry soap for environmental reasons, it is best to use a grated castile or glycerine soap. You can buy these soaps at locally at a health food store or online.
--IF you are making your own laundry soap as a means of saving money, I have found that a regular bar of grated soap works just as fine. HOWEVER (and this is important) you want to buy the most plain and simple bar of soap that you can find. Anything that looks like it would be good for your skin will be bad or your laundry. You want to avoid anything with added moisturizers or aloe as they often leave a film on your clothes or laundry machine. I have found that the brands Ivory and Feliz Napa works best.
1) Grind or grate your soap. Yes...you can grate the soap using a cheese grater. But I have found that Ivory soap grates VERY will in a food processor. Cut the soap up into small 1" cubes. (Ivory soap is very soft and easy to cut.) Then place it in your food processor one bar at a time and grind it up. Wash your food processor well after doing this. ;)
2) Mix the grated soap, baking soda, and borax into a large air tight container. (A wire whisk makes mixing very easy.)
3) Add the Essential Oils if desired. (If you are making this for purely budget reasons, you may want to skip the essential oils. It smells great without them. They are just a fun bonus.)
4) To make more of less of this soap, just mix ingredients sticking to the same general ratio of 4 parts baking soda, 3 parts borax, 2 parts grated soap. This recipe yields enough to do aprox 144 loads in an HE machine and 35 loads in a regular machine. I suggest that you make a small batch at first to try it. THEN, later, when you see how much you love it, make enough to last a year.
To use:
Use 1/2 cup for Regular Machines for regular soiled loads. For heavy soiled loads, you can up this to 1 cup.
Use 1 Tbsp for HE Machines for regular soiled loads. For heavy soiled loads, you can up this to 1/4 cup.
For a printable version of these ingredients and directions, click here.


text: Cardiac tamponade is a condition involving compression of the heart caused by blood or fluid accumulation in the space between the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) and the pericardium (the outer covering sac of the heart). Blood or fluid collects within the pericardium. This prevents the ventricles from expanding fully, so they cannot adequately fill or pump blood. Cardiac tamponade is an emergency condition that requires hospitalization.


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The name Teheran (Tehran), as well as the small, radiant flowers in the foreground, indicates that the print is an interpretation of a Persian carpet. The lobed leaves in varying colours are reminiscent of the plant dye colours madder, wild mignonette and indigo. Teheran was designed in the 1940s, but it was printed for the first time in 1991.
Josef Frank's textiles with the 450 linen designation are extra durable upholstery fabrics, which have been developed as a sturdier complement to Svenskt Tenn's 315 linen textiles.
Read more about screen printing in Svenskt Tenn's magazine.


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oh!My Lady
Sporty Wear Sexy Backless Women Push Up Strap Rompers Playsuits
1. Please follow the size chart to select the size, but not select directly according to your habits.
2.Please allow 1-3cm differ, and this item has some elasticity.
3.There is a little color differ between the items and pictures.
Type: Playsuits
Material: Polyester
Material: Spandex
Item Type: Jumpsuits & Rompers
Style: Casual
Fabric Type: Broadcloth
Fit Type: Skinny
Pattern Type: Striped
Gender: Women
Decoration: None
Season: Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter
Description: Backless Yoga Running Playsuit
Color: Blue, Black
Note: Due to the impact of Novel Coronavirus, all the shipping service was not available which caused the shipping delay for several days. No worry, we are trying our best to send items and to you ASAP.
Our goal is to offer you the best shipping options, no matter where you live in. We ship thousands of orders daily all over ten countries, ensuring that we provide the highest levels of responsiveness to you at all times.
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My Great Aunt Dorothy Jean (who just turned 90 on March 1) a few years ago lent Demetrios a book entitled, An Atheist Manifesto, together with a companion volume, Positive Atheism. Demetrios, fascinated, read them both, and concluded that the objections to religion were specifically to Western Christianity. The things the author was discussing simply did not apply to Orthodox Christianity.
"But," he added, and I agreed, "If I thought God were who these people think He is, who your Great Aunt thinks He is, I'd be an atheist, too!" Well, okay, there's a logical contradiction there, but you get the point. It's a false god to whom these atheists rightly object!
That's why we don't feel we have a dog in this fight. Nevertheless, for anyone interested, First Things has published a review of a book purporting to demolish the logic of several of today's prominent and popular atheists, such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Here is the meat of it.
The Irrational Atheist
Posted by Anthony Sacramone
Just when atheists thought it was safe to enter the public square, a book like this comes along. The Irrational Atheist by Vox Day is not a work of Christian apologetics. It is, instead, a merciless deconstruction of atheist thought—or what passes for thought. That's the gimmick, if you will, of the book: Day does not accept a single assertion made by any one of the "Unholy Trinity"—Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens—without first pinning it to a sheet of wax as in a seventh-grade science class, dissecting it until there's nothing left but a case for anti-vivisection legislation.
Day starts off with the charming declarative sentence "I don't care if you go to hell"—this despite being a Southern Baptist, a group not known for complacency in such matters. But the author wants to make clear that he's not trying to convert anyone to Christianity, only to ensure that those readers who are susceptible to straw-man arguments, tautologies, clichés, and urban legends understand that the New Atheists—who are on a conversion mission—are not only guilty of all of the aforementioned but also are seemingly incapable of mustering anything stronger by way of Reason in their own cause.
To take just one of many examples, a common trope among atheists is that religion is the No. 1 cause of wars in history. "If religion were an important element of warmaking, one would expect to find a great deal of text commenting upon it," Day writes. But you don't. After reading the great war theorists, from Sun Tzu to Von Clausewitz, Day found pages and pages about perseverance, spies, geometry, inspirational music—but virtually nothing about religion.
As for the nature of the wars themselves, talk about specific: Day found 123 wars that could validly be claimed to have religion at their heart—a grand total of 6.98 percent of all wars fought. "It's also interesting to note that more than half of these religious wars, sixty-six in all, were waged by Islamic nations," Day offers as an aside.
Of the New Atheists Day examines in The Irrational Atheist, the most irrational, by the author's lights, is the man who started the atheism bestselling craze, Sam Harris. "Harris is an appallingly incoherent logician. He frequently fails to gather the relevant data required to prove his case, and on several occasions inadvertently presents evidence that demonstrates precisely the opposite of that which he is attempting to prove." One quick example: Harris asserts that most suicide bombers are Muslims. Yet, "the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who are not Muslims but a Marxist liberation front that committed 168 of the 273 suicide bombings that took place between 1980 and 200, have historically been the leading practitioners of suicide bombing."
Dawkins doesn't fare much better in Day's analytical meat grinder. Day sics the anthropic principle on him, which Dawkins rejects because any God capable of fine-tuning the universe so as to make possible the advent of DNA is at least as improbable as the universe in question, because he would have to be a being of unimaginable complexity. Day offers as a refutation the existence of the mathematician who calculated the "goldilocks values" (the cosmic fine-tuning that the birth of man would require) in the first place, this "despite being less complex than the sum of everyone and everything else in the universe." Day, who creates computer programs, is well placed to demonstrate how "mass quantities of information can easily be produced from much smaller quantities of information"—as anyone familiar with computer-generated fractals understands.
As for some atheists' resorting to "multiverse theory" in a desperate attempt to answer the probability problem of a human-compatible Earth, "not only is multiverse theory every bit as unfalsifiable and untestable as the God Hypothesis, it is demonstrably more improbable," replies Day.
Day then aims his rhetorical guns at Christopher Hitchens. When the latter states that "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence," the former lays out quote after quote of unsupported and "auto-refutable statements" culled from the pages of God Is Not Great. Needless to say, Hitchens is dismissed rather quickly.
Day is kinder to Daniel Dennett, whom he dubs "the pragmatic philosopher." Despite some of Dennett's more supercilious comments regarding believers' intelligence, he, according to Day, is willing to at least "examine" religion in the light of science. Day nevertheless rejects Dennett's "claims that 'brights' have better family values than born-again Christians," a contention based on George Barna's flawed 1999 study. The fact that "half of all atheists and agnostics don't get married" turns such a charge into an "apples and oranges" error. Day cites the more reliable 2001 ARIS study and finds that atheists are "twice as likely to get divorced and have fewer children than any other group in the United States."
Postscript: Demetrios picked up Hitchens' book one evening at Barnes and Noble and sat down for some 45 minutes perusing it. When he was finished, he expressed disappointment. He had expected some argument worth dealing with, some good intellectual stimulation, and couldn't find any. "I really did not expect a man with such a reputation as an intellectual to turn out to be such a shallow thinker."


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We're back from our hols! It was so good to discover a new part of France, and really feel like we had found our 'place' (we've been tossing around the idea of a French holiday and/or retirement home for years). It had the hills and trees to keep Husband happy. It had the beach for me & DD. It had really interesting (covetable) architecture.
The Basque country in France has the best blend of Spanish/Basque (my favourite) and French (husband's favourite) – even on the road signs!
The weather was glorious, sometimes a little too hot, even in the shade, but that's what the sprinkler park was created for, right?
DD got to practice her French at the epicerie every day, endearing her greatly to the shopkeeper. We discovered some amazing cuisine – and even a gluten-free cake!
We got to start a new sea-glass collection, walking and chatting, jumping in and out of waves. We got to unwind and disconnect and just hang.
Sadly, my body misunderstood the memo, and I'm now battling the start of a cold…time to catch-up on all my recorded TV shows and a scroll through the WordPress Reader. Hallelujah for the bank holiday weekend and no work tomorrow.


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Rift tech runs riot ! At Schloss Wolfenschwanz the evil German Scientists have been creating all sorts of horrific forms of wunderwaffen (wonder weapons)
From slavering werewolves (Schreckwulfen) to the hybrid human/bat/reptile Nachtjaeger to rift-tech weapons and Ubersoldaten.
Even the ordinary doberman was not spared, modified into vicious semi-robotic dogs, they stream out of the lair of Darkness.
A spearhead of Yankee soldiers stumble upon this nest of vipers. Taken aback by the sheer horror of what faces them, they never the less press forward; not shy to put their own rift-tech to the test.
"Crank up the Teslas, Captain!"
American forces advance through a snow storm high in the German Alps
To stumble upon a citadel of evil - castle of Schloss Wolfenschwanz, where German scientists have been meddling with the occult, reanimating dead soldiers, and modifying them to fight the Amis.
Rift tech has also added new impetus to the wunder-waffen program with Kampflaufer (War walkers) now available to most Panzer and panzergrenadier units, making the faithful PzKfw V Panther almost obsolete.
The castle garrison is supported by a Kampflaufer mech sporting an 88m gun and a barrage of nebelwerfer rockets.
The newly equipped units of heavy infantry now avail of Luftfaust (Also known s Fliegerfaust) heavy anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems; and tandem mounted MG 42 guns, giving them immeasurable clout as infantry.
Through the mists loom the first of the American armoured units: Sherman and Pershing tanks modified to carry the new Tesla cannon
Nachtjaeger appear on the castle ramparts, signalling the unleasing of the schreckwaffen (shock/horror weapons)
Undead SS troops, still carrying their weapons
and Schreckwulfen, that stream out of the castle gates, rabid with blood lust
Rift-tech recoilless guns at the ready to take on the Amis.
Who would even have thought that you could some day shoulder an 88!
The Krankenwagen (Ambulance) warms up its engine. The Amis will provide the Herr Professor with many new corpses to experiment on. The next lot will have to face their own undead countrymen!
The German Army as the US has never seen them before. So they thought the war was over...
Lightly armoured Falschirmjaeger
Heavy Infantry with super heavy weapons
Rift tech phasers
Mind you though, the Gods of War have been even-handed. The US has its own rift-tech innovations.
"Tell me about it, Captain!
" Our Firefly paratroopers are about to take flight. They will scale those castle walls with ease!"
"And we have our own walkers, sir!"
"The Jackcal can jump with the fireflies. "
"Imagine their surprise when this baby lands inside their walls!"
"...and we have support from heavy mortars"
"Our special weapons teams bristle with Super-bazookas and flamethrowers.
We'll fry those undead critters"
I am loving how I can now integrate my Dust Tactics figures and armour with my Bolt Action to play Konflik 47. Just relishing it!
Developing a weird war horror castle siege scenario. Looking for 3 more players. I'm happy to play either side, as I have troops for both. Any takers?


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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Hervé Ladsous as the new head of United Nations peacekeeping, tasking the veteran French diplomat with overseeing the efforts of over 100,000 personnel serving in more than a dozen operations worldwide.
Mr. Ladsous replaces Alain Le Roy, who stepped down from his post as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations last month.
"As a seasoned diplomat, Mr. Ladsous brings to the position an extensive experience in the diplomatic field acquired during his service in a variety of countries," Deputy UN spokesperson Eduardo del Buey, told reporters in New York.
"He also brings to the position an acute political judgement, strong crisis-management capacities, especially in the area of peacekeeping, [and] a profound understanding of the challenges facing the United Nations," he added.
Mr. Ladsous was most recently serving as Chief of Staff for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, prior to which he was Ambassador to China.
He has served his country in numerous countries, including Australia, Switzerland, United States and Indonesia.
Source: UN News Centre
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485


text:
Nixon Plans New Spending for Next Budget Year
JEFFERSON CITY - Gov. Jay Nixon's budget director outlined hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funding increases for state programs for the 2015 budget year before the governor delivered his State of the State address Tuesday.
State Budget Director Linda Luebbering said the governor would like to make some new investments because tax revenues are up, consumer confidence has increased and Missouri employers are creating jobs again.
KOMU 8 News has broken down some of the governor's major proposals below. The 2015 budget year begins on July 1, 2014.
General Revenue funds make about roughly a third of the state budget and those funds come from sales and income tax collections. The rest of the money comes from the fuel tax, matching funds from the federal government and other sources.
General revenue funds pay for schools, public safety, mental health and many other services.
The governor's budget assumes tax receipts will grow by 5.2 percent, meaning the state would have about $430 million more worth of general revenue funds to work with under the governor's proposal than it will have in the current budget year.
Before drafting a budget, lawmakers and the governor work on a consensus revenue estimate, except there does not appear to be consensus this year.
Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, told KOMU 8 News before the speech Republicans want to assume a more conservative 4.2 percent growth figure for tax collections. Rowden said Nixon's growth estimate is off by about $140 million.
State lawmakers created the current K-12 school funding formula and put it in place before the 2006-2007 school year. Since it was created, no final state budget has funded K-12 education at the level required by the formula.
In the current budget year, Nixon and lawmakers signed off on a budget that funded schools at a level $600 million below what the formula called for.
Nixon asked lawmakers Tuesday night to approve a $278 million increase in K-12 funding. Nixon has said recently he would like to fully fund the formula before he leaves office. If lawmakers approve a figure close to what the governor has called for by the end of the budget process, Nixon could be halfway to his goal.
Overall, the governor wants to increase spending for education at all levels from Pre-Kindergarten through college by $493 million.
Under the governor's proposal, the University of Missouri system would receive a nearly $441 million appropriation in the 2015 budget year, a roughly 10.5 percent increase over the $395 million budgeted this year.
Fulton State Hospital is the oldest mental health facility of its kind west of the Mississippi River, and lawmakers have been looking for a new source of funding for years to re-build the facility. To do it, hospital officials have said lawmakers need to find about $215 million somewhere.
The hospital is Callway County's largest employer and more than 1,000 mid-Missourians work at the facility, but it has been called one of the most dangerous places to work in the state.
Nixon is proposing that the state set aside $28 million in next year's budget to pay off bonds that will be used to build a new hospital.
The new bonds would be appropriation bonds, meaning they would be paid off with general revenue dollars. Because the bonds are appropriation bonds, Luebbering said the proposal would not need to get voter approval like most bond issues.
Lawmakers would have to agree to the bond proposal in the current legislative session and would have to agree in the future to continue appropriating money to pay off the debt.
Nixon has again called for expanding Medicaid to cover all adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $30,000 a year. The expansion is part of the President's health law, but Missouri is one of dozens of states around the country deciding whether to expand its Medicaid rolls.
The federal government would pay for the full cost of the expansion in the 2015 and 2016 budget year, before the state government would be expected to kick in some of the cost.
With the expansion, Missouri would receive about $1.7 billion in federal funds next year.
Luebbering said Missouri would start saving anywhere from $77 million to $143 million annually because the federal government would help cover the cost of covering some disabled Missourians who currently receive full coverage from the state.
If Missouri decides to expand Medicaid this year, Luebbering estimates Missouri would be required to cover more than $160 million of the program's cost by the 2022 budget year.
Many Republican lawmakers opposed Medicaid expansion in last year's legislative sesison because they said it would increase the program's burden on the state budget. Some also said the state should not enroll more people into a broken government program.
Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, has championed "Medicaid transformation" in the past and will work on the proposal again this year. The transformation would expand eligibility but would also trim eligibility for some and put in new measures to reduce costs, fraud and waste.
Nixon's budget accounted for a "reform savings" if the legislature decides to expand eligibility under a proposal like the one Barnes is pushing.
Luebbering estimates the state could save up to $20 million in the 2015 budget year with the reform savings.


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Bruce Crummy / AP
A fireball erupts at the site of an oil train derailment on Monday in Casselton, N.D.
A mile-long train carrying crude oil has derailed and exploded, triggering a "giant fireball" after colliding with another train in North Dakota on Monday.
A mile-long train carrying crude oil exploded in Casselton, North Dakota near the homes of 2,000 residents who officials are "strongly recommending" evacuate the area as a forecasted shift in the wind could send hazardous smoke over the town.
The Cass County Sheriff's Office said on Monday night that it was "strongly recommending" that residents in the town of Casselton and anyone living five miles to the south and east evacuate to shelters set up in Fargo, which is about 25 miles away. Casselton has about 2,400 residents.
The sheriff's office said the National Weather Service was forecasting a shift in the winds that would push the plume of smoke down, possibly posing a health risk. Earlier, authorities had advised nearby residents to shelter inside their homes.
The freight train carrying crude oil hit another train hauling grain that had derailed on Monday afternoon, causing an explosion and sending flames shooting more than 100 feet into the air. No injuries were immediately reported.
Authorities said local emergency crews responding to reports of a derailment discovered the oil train burning, with up to 10 cars fully engulfed.
"There was an explosion, where a car let loose and there was a giant fireball, hundreds of feet in the air," said Assistant Chief Gary Lorenz of the City of Fargo Fire Department, who was in touch with a crew on the scene.
"It's burning very strong right now," he added. "You can see the plume of smoke for 25 miles."
Michael Vosburg / Forum News Service via Reuters
Smoke rises from a derailed train near Casselton, N.D., on Monday.
The collision occurred at a street intersection just before 2:20 p.m., when the westbound BNSF Railway train carrying grain derailed and was then hit by the eastbound train carrying oil, Cecily Fong, a public information officer with North Dakota Emergency Services, told NBCChicago.com. Both trains were owned by BNSF, she said.
Amy McBeth, a spokeswoman for BNSF Railway, confirmed the collision but said she could provide no additional details.
Fong said the train carrying grain was approximately 111 cars long and crews were able to get the unaffected cars separated from the burning wreckage and moved out of the way.
Fong said the Federal Aviation Administration was putting flight restrictions in place over the area due to the smoke.
Kevin Thompson, a Federal Railroad Administration spokesman, told NBC News that the agency was sending investigators to the scene.
"The Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration have investigative teams en route to North Dakota and will work in concert with the National Transportation Safety Board, the lead investigator, to ascertain all the relevant facts that may have contributed to the accident," he said.


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Enjoy a sharing platter and 2 glasses of grapes for only for only AED 115 net.
Daily from 4pm to 2am.
Grill@25 is a relaxed rooftop bar and restaurant located on the 25th floor of Marriott Downtown Abu Dhabi, with panoramic views of the city. Recently renovated this chic venue offers brunch every Friday from 12.30pm to 4pm and is open daily from 11am to 2am serving drinks and a wide range of dishes from our food menu.
Info & reservations details: 02 304 7777


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1-3-15. Exodus 12:1-28. Commemorate The Redeeming Grace of God-my devotional Exodus 12:1-28 Kevin E. Jesmer Key Verse: 12:13 and 17 1-3-15 "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike […]Read More...
"But if serving the Lord seems undesireable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15
Recent Posts
- The Final Resting Place of The Jesmer Immigrant Ancestor… Louis Laurent Dahaut dit Jasmin
- Louis Laurent Duhaut dit Jasmin and his first wife: Marie Genevieve Serat Coguillard
- Louis Laurent Duhaut dit Jasmin and his first wife: Marie Genevieve Serat Coguillard
- The Jesmer Immigrant Ancestor: Louis Laurent Duhaut dit Jasmin and His Second Wife, Marie Madeleine Ducorps St. Medard
- The Land of the Jesmer's In Greenbush Township MN in 1914
Recent Comments
- Links to other UBF Bible material These are some links to other UBF ministries Bible material
Blogs That I Follow
- Dr John Armstrongs blog site A blog site of a professor building up a missional church
- Photos This is link to pictures of our housechurch ministry


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Holiday Food: Drafting a Winning Lineup
One of the many perks of being an athlete is that when the holidays come around, we don't have to worry so much about a few—or more likely a few hundred—extra calories. First of all, our energy needs are much higher than our friends' whose idea of sport is a particularly cutthroat game of foosball. And secondly, any weight that sneaks on during the holidays is just as easily shed in January when we fall back into our normal routine of eating and working out.
Although the period from Thanksgiving until just after New Years is somewhat of a nutritional black hole, there are actually plenty of foods in Aunt Hilda's holiday buffet that can fit quite nicely into an athlete's game plan. The secret is to draft the best foods for your dietary lineup. Here are some of the most promising players in the typical holiday pool, and some tips for enhancing their performance.
Pre-game Standouts
Shrimp Cocktail. This lean source of protein is also swimming in ]]>selenium]]> , a potent antioxidant. Selenium may boost the immune system and, like other antioxidants, can help reduce the risk for heart disease and ]]>cancer]]> . While some research suggests that marathon runners who stock up on antioxidants are less likely to catch a cold or respiratory infection after a big race, other research has not found this result. Go for the extra point—dip in cocktail sauce, not butter.
Antipasto. The vegetables in this Italian delight—peppers, olives, artichokes, and mushrooms—are filled with phytochemicals, which are plant chemicals that enhance immunity and lower the risk for chronic disease. Nosh on a few pieces of cheese for some ]]>calcium]]> , essential for strong bones. Go for the extra point—savor just a couple slices of pepperoni and focus more on the vegetables in this dish.
Mixed Nuts. Scoop up a handful of selenium, fiber, protein, ]]>vitamin E]]> , and ]]>magnesium]]> . Stored in bones and muscles, magnesium is crucial for endurance performance. And while nuts are relatively high in fat, it's mostly the good-for-your-heart unsaturated type. Go for the extra point—choose dry roasted over oil roasted, and add raisins or dried cranberries to the mix.
Big Game MVPs
Roast Beef. This choice is a solid source of protein, ]]>iron]]> , and ]]>zinc]]> . In the blood, iron carries oxygen to working muscles, and zinc speeds healing and injury recovery. Endurance athletes are often low in these two minerals, but need sufficient levels to perform at their best. Go for the extra point—trim visible fat before eating and go light on the gravy.
Turkey. Carve off a slice and you'll get a good dose of protein as well as some iron with each serving. Dark meat contains more iron than the lighter parts. Go for the extra point—Top slices of turkey with cranberry sauce instead of gravy.
Stuffing. This is the ultimate dish for carbo-loaders. And if it's made with celery, raisins, cranberries, apples, nuts, or any other goodies, you'll get extra fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
Cranberry Sauce. Whether you slice it or scoop it, this rich, tart sauce is excellent on its own or as a topping for turkey, stuffing, or potatoes. It also boosts fiber and phytochemical levels.
Squash. The pilgrim who introduced this beauty to the table was a true nutritional visionary. Dig in to the butternut, hubbard, or acorn varieties and be treated to a mouthful of flavor as well as a whole host of phytochemicals and the potent antioxidant, vitamin A. Go for the extra point—go easy on the butter; often a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg is enough to bring out squash's natural flavor.
Green Peas. These little guys are really legumes who are cousins to black beans, chickpeas, and lentils. More importantly, they provide athletes a shot of protein, carbohydrate, and fiber, as well as ]]>potassium]]> and vitamin A in a mini, bite-size package.
Sweet Potatoes. Vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, antioxidants, carbohydrate… All this and it can satisfy your sweet tooth with barely any calories and no fat, too. You didn't think such a food existed, but think again. If only they made an energy gel out of these tubers.
Overtime Stars
Pumpkin Pie. This is a pumpkin's time to shine, and boy does it shine in this position. Not only does this pie provide the vitamin A and potassium we come to expect from anything pumpkin, it also delivers a good supply of calcium and carbohydrate. Go for the extra point—skip the whipped cream or go for the lighter version.
Apple Pie. Or any other fruit pie for that matter, especially if it's homemade. It's as close as most people will get to eating fruit for dessert, and often slightly lower in calories than other desserts like cakes or pastries. Go for the extra point—top with low-fat frozen yogurt (for calcium) instead of ice cream.
Sugar Cookies. Yes, they're full of sugar, but they're still carbohydrate. Trail runners can get away with eating jelly beans and gum drops, so enjoy a couple of these sweets at the office holiday party. Go for the extra point–eat your cookies Santa-style; a glass of skim milk is a great source of carbohydrate, protein, calcium, and several other vitamins and minerals we athletes need a lot of.
Hydration Team
Beer. Athletes, from the armchair to the gym-rat variety, seem to really like their beer, which may be good news for heart health. Moderate drinking—one drink/day for women and two for men—of alcoholic beverages is believed to decrease the risk for heart disease. Go for the extra point—stick with moderation and alternate with a few glasses of water, since alcohol can lead to dehydration.
Red Wine. While all alcoholic drinks are thought to offer some health benefits, red wine gets an extra healthful punch from the phytochemicals in grapes. Go for the extra point—again, moderation is key.
Hot Apple Cider. In addition to providing the quintessential holiday aroma for your kitchen, hot apple cider adds a few extra phytochemicals—you can never have too many of these.
A Winning Lineup
As an athlete, it is especially important to get enough nutrients, particularly carbohydrate, protein, iron, zinc, and vitamins A, E, ]]>B6]]> , and ]]>B12]]> , to maintain a healthy immune system. Getting your nutrients from food, versus supplements, is always your best bet, and now you see how easy that can be—even during the high holidays.
So, with all these great foods to choose from, bench the scale this holiday season and enjoy your favorites. Just be sure to work in a few runs, walks, or pick-up games in between meals.
American Dietetic Association
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
Canada's Food Guide
Dietitians of Canada
Akerström TC, Pedersen BK. Strategies to enhance immune function for marathon runners: what can be done? Sports Med. 2007; 37:416-419.
Gleeson M. Can nutrition nutrition limit exercise-induced immunodepression? Nutr Rev. 2006;64:119-131.
Last reviewed May 2009 by ]]>Maria Adams, MS, MPH, RD]]>
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © 2007 EBSCO Publishing All rights reserved.


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Heritage Day !
Everyone Have a Go at Bell Ringing Every New Years day at Noon
Winter Opening
Summer Opening
The "Old Church" is open in the summer between Easter and the End of August Sunday between 14:30 - 16:30
Dates for your Diary
On the mountain road between Pontypool and Aberbeeg, set your sat nav to NP13 2AY or call 01495 320367
ST. ILLTYD'S OPEN to visitors on SUMMER SUNDAY AFTERNOONS
Open every Sunday afternoon from Easter - end August 2:30 - 4.30 p.m.
Some dates for your diary...
Everyone Have a Go at Bell Ringing Every New Years day at Noon
June Heritage Walks
An Evening Ramble (St Illtyd's and Cwm Cyffin)
Date: Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
Time: 7.00 pm – 9.00pm
Cost: Free
Starting/Finishing Point – St Illtyd's Church, Brynithel
Distance: 3 miles
Leader: Frank Olding
Booking: 07971 081647 (Frank Olding) or 07968 472812 (Alyson Tippings)
This gentle ramble walk will look at the medieval landscape around St. Illtyd's church and nearby Cwm Cyffin. It will also look at industrial archaeology associated with the growth of the coal industry in the local area.
Walking boots, waterproofs essential.
** St Illtyd Event News **
2011 Christmas Carol Concert
On the mountain road between Pontypool and Aberbeeg, set your sat nav to NP13 2AY or call 01495 320367
Open every Sunday afternoon from Easter - end August 2:30 - 4.30 p.m.
Some dates for your diary...
Everyone Have a Go at Bell Ringing Every New Years day at Noon
Art Exhibition
Saturday 27th, Sunday 28th and August Bank Holiday Monday 29th August 2011
Late morning 11:00-13:00 hrs
Afternoon 14:00-16:00 hrs
Early Evening 18:00 - 20:00 hrs
19:00 hrs
See some of last years heritage day on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNFhCMkq81g
** St Illtyd's Heritage Day **
Saturday, September 27th, 2008 11.00am – 3.30pm
Everyone Have a Go at Bell Ringing Every New Years day at Noon
Also, watch this space for further details on all our activites
"A small but ancient gothic building."
Historic BackgroundThis quaint deconsecrated church is the oldest building in north-west Gwent, and the site on which it stands was no doubt utilised before Christianity came to Britain. Tradition has it that the first Church on the site was a wooden structure built in the fifth century. However, the first written reference to the Church comes from a ninth/tenth century poem. This date ties in with current archaeological thinking which acknowledges the curvilinear church yard as indicative of the pre-Norman period. The existing stone font is believed to be contemporary to this phase. The Church was rebuilt by the Cistercian Monks (an order whose economy relied on sheep farming) in the late twelfth century and much of the fabric of the present building dates to that period. The Church was originally dedicated to Hylledd but why the dedication was altered has yet to be discovered. The Church which is a Grade II listed building underwent some drastic changes in the mid 19th Century when the bell tower was erected and the attractive cradle ceiling was constructed. A second period of renovation followed in 1891 when the original tombstone floor was replaced with intricately patterned tiles.
Recent History
The Renovation The Borough urgently set about a programme of restoration, with financial assistance from Cadw. Specialist architects and builders were employed to carry out the work, and trained archaeologists were brought in to excavate the floor of the Church. This work resulted in the discovery of a brick-built underfloor heating duct (1890); a low stone wall (possibly the base of a rood screen); parts of two inscribed grave stones; a quantity of disarticulated human bones and a number of undisturbed graves two of which were fully excavated (the others were buried at a depth which would not be disturbed by the new floor). All human remains were reburied within the Churchyard. Once the excavation was complete, the renovation work began. It was decided to use traditional methods and materials wherever possible, and when more modern techniques had to be used they were incorporated into the framework of the building in the most unobtrusive manner possible. One example of this is a concrete girdle inserted within the existing fabric of the building to stop the weight of the roof from forcing the walls apart. Now the Church is a focal point for visitors to this, one of the most interesting and intriguing areas of the Borough: for the Church is only part of what is on offer.
St Illtyd, The village
To the south-west of this site is an ancient mound which is on private land but can be viewed from the road. Many theories and stories have evolved to explain its existence; some say it is a Norman motte, others that it is the grave of a warrior or a beacon mound. One legend accredits it to local giant named Ithel who was in the area collecting stones in his apron with which to build a residence at Llanhilleth. As he passed this site his apron strings broke and the stones tumbled to the ground forming the heap. At the rear of Castle Cottages are the remains of two buildings, one circular and one cruciform in shape. These were excavated by Trevor Lewis in the 1920's and he interpreted them as being fortified medieval buildings. The name given to these - Castell Taliorum, probably derived from Castel Tal y Rhun (the castle in front of the head). However, Archdeacon Coxe (1801) imagined the name as being indicative of a Roman fortification. No archaeological evidence has ever been found which supports this claim. Local legend does link the area to the Romans, claiming that they walked along the ridge to and from Caerleon during their attempts to subjugate the Welsh, but this has yet to be proved, or disproved for that matter. Whatever the truth of the above, there is no doubt that drovers have crossed the mountain near to this spot for many centuries, and their tracks form the basis of the many footpaths which explore the mountain spur.
Why not visit St Illtyd ?
The Friends open St. Illtyds to visitors on Sunday
afternoons from Easter to the end of August between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Please contact us in advance, if you are travelling a long distance to visit us, as very occasionally our team of volunteers are not able to cover one or both of a particular Sunday afternoon's sessions.
The building is also available as a venue for concerts and events.
Visits can be arranged for larger groups at other times by appointment.
Want to get in touch ?
or By Post:
The Friends of St Illtyd,
St Illtyd,
Click here to visit Wales tourist board site.


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|System: X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS
|Review Rating Legend
|Dev: EA BlackBox
|1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
|4.0 - 4.4 = Great
|Pub: Electronic Arts
|2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
|4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
|Release: Nov. 18, 2008
|2.5 - 2.9 = Average
|5.0 = The Best
|Players: 1 (8 Online)
|3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
|ESRB Rating: Teen
|3.5 - 3.9 = Good
Second, though races are painfully easy to win, achieving the Domination classification for a given race is a bit more challenging and was a nice idea. The trouble is it isn't nearly challenging enough. I consider myself to be a neophyte racer at best, and I was still able to dominate 75% of all races on the first try. Thankfully, the inclusion of Master Events does up the ante significantly later on. Nevertheless, the idea behind the inclusion of the Domination multiplier is a solid one that I really enjoyed.
Third, Undercover's Tri-City Bay area is a very large racing playground. There a lot of great highways to abuse, streets to power-slide through, and shortcuts to be found. The size and scope of the maps are quite nice and easy to navigate.
Fourth, progressing from race to race is a snap; simply press down to make your selection. Furthermore, if you do get hosed by the frequent, inexplicably cheap civilian collisions or have a savvy cop T-bone you out of contention, you can restart the event in just a couple of seconds; the load times are very minimal, and it's much appreciated. This comes in especially handy when you're trying to dominate every race as you progress; sometimes you'll have to retry the race, and not having to wait through a prohibitive loading sequence is great! Unfortunately, the same can't be said for tuning and car purchasing. The load times whilst hopping between the 55+ cars, custom paints, and varied vinyls and parts are quite slow. As a result, I shied away from truly customizing the vehicles in my garage and instead simply upgraded their performance with the preset packages.
Lastly, the online features such as eight-person Sprint and Circuit races and the all-new Cops and Robbers are quite fun. Cops and Robbers is an event where eight players are divided into two teams of four. Robbers try to make off with loot and drop it at a specific zone before time runs out. Meanwhile, cops try and thwart the thieves by totaling the robbers' vehicles or impeding their progress enough so that time runs out. After one round, the opposing teams switch roles. Domination victories are awarded if one team wins as both cops and robbers. The frantic paint trading and demolition derby that results is truly engrossing.
Visually, the game is appealing but not a knock out. The Tri-City Bay area, while expansive, is devoid of true character. Also, the licensed cars available for purchase look nice and even temporarily deform in interesting ways, but they can't come close to competing with the visual dream that is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Similarly, the car sounds and street effects are pleasant, but they fail to completely impress. Additionally, voice over work, outside of the awesome police scanner, is very poor due to the lack of acting talent during cutscenes.
Need for Speed: Undercover is an arcade racing game that will provide fans of the series with a fair amount of fun. However, one can't help but notice that the franchise has seen better days. Also, simulation racing enthusiasts simply need not apply, as they'll find the experience quite shallow. In spite of its flaws, Undercover does bring an interesting leveling mechanic and some solid online play to the mix, which keeps the package respectable.
Jonathan Marx
CCC Editor / News Director
Game Features:


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Lucky Star is currently available on Funimation. A collector's Blu-Ray featuring all 24 episodes and the OVA is also available here. The series is based on a four-panel comic strip-turned-manga about pop culture and teenaged life.
Okay. I'll be on the level with you.
If you haven't seen this anime.... I seriously don't know what you are doing with your life.
Lucky Star is the quintessential "show about nothing" that defines the Slice of Life genre. While there were other shows similar before it, Lucky Star is the standard by which all others are compared.
Taking place mostly in 2007, the show follows four high school seniors who look about 10 years old.
Konata is the shortest of the group, and has long blue hair and large green eyes. She is a gamer, cosplayer and anime loving otaku who lives with her extra-pervy father in the suburbs. She's usually laid back, but will sometimes make wild outbursts over relatively small things. She ends up working at a maid cafe, and spends quite a bit of time making the local comic shop freak out.
Miyuki is the quiet, voluptuous and shy pink-haired moe cutie, who is clumsy and wears glasses. She's also very intelligent, and does a better job of explaining things than their teachers and parents. She's wealthy, but never really brings that up and is actually pretty humble.
Then there's Kagami and Tsukasa, twin sisters with purple hair and eyes who come from a family of six and work at a Shinto shrine. They have two older sisters who are a bit snarky, so Kagami often finds herself looking after Tsukasa more than their parents and elder sisters do. Kagami is short tempered and a bit feisty, while Tsukasa is timid and childlike. Kagami wears pigtails while Tsukasa's hair is short. Kagami often finds herself at the mercy of Konata's humor.
As the series moves along, we are introduced to more girls attending the same high school. Each episode ends with a hilarious wrap-up segment called "Lucky Channel" featuring Akira, a bi-polar ex-child star who strives to become an idol, and Minoru, an anime-only character based on and voiced by real life seiyuu/voice actor Minoru Shiraishi, who is the butt of many jokes on the show and is constantly at Akira's mercy.
The show is filled with random segments of the teens' lives. They discuss local and pop culture, anime, the otaku lifestyle, video games, sports and more, and each segment is followed by the daily struggles and mishaps teen girls usually face. Even the rare dramatic segments usually end in a lighthearted comedy.
For as much slapstick as the show brings, it's also pretty soothing. Many of the colors are in pastels, and the show has an angelic, Easter Egg sort of feel.
True otaku love this series for how many pop culture references get squeezed in. One minute, the girls could be randomly chatting, the next? Konata is fighting Guile from Street Fighter! The cast of SGT Frog also make appearances, and the show is slopping over with references to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, as all three shows share the same voice cast in Japanese. (The series creator is a huge Haruhi fan.) Looking in the background, it's possible to spot early artwork for Vocaloid's Miku Hatsune, as the show was on the air just as the now world-famous virtual idol was just a newbie. Other background nods can be found for Fullmetal Alchemist and a laundry list of other classic series.
Half of the episodes end-credit segments feature the girls singing karaoke to everything from Dragonball Z to obscure Tokusatsu shows. The other half of the credits are in live action, and show the cast and crew goofing around and singing. In keeping with this, the OVA ends with a live-action Lucky Channel segment.
Lucky Star is a must for the true otaku, and it's also a great start for new Slice of Life fans. No other anime truthfully captures the essence of the anime fan the way this show does, and it belongs in your collection.
Lucky Star
Hackadoll: Your defective Google doll!
Codename Sailor earth
Codename Sailor Earth is a lifelong anime and wrestling fan. IRL she is cartoonist Koriander Bullard, formerly Koriander Ake, a happily married Chicagoan. Her favorite anime is Sailor Moon. A baby in the late 80's, the first anime titles she ever saw were Speed Racer, Voltron and Robotech.
December 2017


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FSF speaks against patent and DRM provisions at Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators' meeting
TPP is being negotiated between nine countries that border the Pacific: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States of America, and Vietnam. While the official text is being kept secret, a leaked draft and other reports indicate that the United States intends to use TPP as another opportunity to spread its draconian copyright and patent laws around the world.
TPP may include several provisions that require member countries to pass legislation that harms or hampers free software development:
expanding the scope of patents to cover any process with industrial applications—likely including software,
making it illegal to use or share software or other information that might circumvent Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) on copyrighted works,
forcing everyone who registers an Internet domain name to provide accurate legal contact information, and
imposing harsh enforcement schemes for these provisions, as well as existing copyright, patent, and trademark law.
The United States Trade Representative hosted a TPP Stakeholder Forum in Chicago last weekend, where interested individuals, companies, and nonprofit organizations made brief presentations to express their concerns and offer policy suggestions to negotiators. I spoke for the FSF to help those negotiators better understand what free software is, how it's been hurt by software patents and the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) here in the United States, and why TPP should not mandate similar rules in other member countries.
I would've been happy to talk further about other problems in TPP, but with only a twenty-minute speaking slot, I needed to focus on the most pressing issues. Thankfully, other speakers addressed many of these in their own presentations. I saw Abigail Phillips from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Krista Cox from Knowledge Ecology International, and James Boyle of Duke University all point out different areas where US law may not be as strict as what's being proposed for TPP, how the public has benefited from even those narrow limitations, and could do better with fewer legal restrictions rather than more.
Of course, the usual proponents for these laws came to make their own case as well. Gary Kissinger from the MPAA gave the presentation before mine, repeating the same sorts of unfounded numbers we've heard from them before about supposed economic harm caused by illegal movie distribution.
I'm hopeful that our concerns are being heard—I fielded some smart questions from negotiators after my presentation—but we're still watching TPP very carefully. At the forum's wrap-up session, US representatives indicated that they intend to continue negotiations behind closed doors, and are bullheaded on copyright and patent issues. We'll keep using opportunities like this to raise our opposition to such terms in TPP and other trade agreements.


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EPALE Community: Share your good practice examples and successful projects on digital adult learning
/en/file/good-practice-examples-digital-adult-learningGood practice examples in Digital adult Learning
As part of our thematic focus on digital adult learning, we want to hear from you – the EPALE community – about any good practice examples and successful projects related to digital learning for adults.
Have you come across or designed an innovative methodology for teaching adults through IT? Perhaps you have been involved in or heard of a successful project that aimed to use digital tools in adult learning? Share your stories, tips, case studies and good practice examples in the comments below between 25-28 February and help to inspire adult learning professionals across Europe.
Don't forget to include links to the resources, projects and project outcomes mentioned, and explain briefly why you consider this resource/project to be a good practice example.
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Dear colleagues,
I am very happy to announce that Timeline Travel is ready for your use: timelinetravel.net
This website and its content are the first intellectual outputs of Erasmus+ KA203 project "Timeline Travel: An Alternative Tool for Architectural History Learning and Teaching". You may use Timeline Travel in order to discover architectural histories of project's two prototype cities, Istanbul and Ravenna, or you may create your own timelines. You can use it during your lectures as a digital teaching companion, encourage your students to use it as an interactive tool, assign them Timeline Travel projects through learning-by-doing approach, or you can even use it for research purposes. More information about the usage of the tool can be found on timelinetravel.net by clicking "?" or you may learn more about the project by clicking "i".
You can also check Timeline Travel e-Learning Platform by following the link on the same page. Though the graphic user interface design of the e-learning platform is still in progress and the whole system will be upgraded soon, you can explore the contents of "Ottoman Architecture in Istanbul" course by enrolling the course with password "testgroup". You can use this free e-learning platform to prepare your own lectures, or you can assign it to your students. As another intellectual output, we are currently conducting test lectures at Gaziantep University's Department of Architecture by using Timeline Travel Tool and e-Learning Platform besides conventional lectures. We will soon share the results of these test lectures with you.
You may watch our lecture videos on our YouTube channel and you may follow Timeline Travel on social media:
Instagram: timelinetravelproject
Twitter: TimelineTravelP
Facebook: timelinetravelproject
You can also visit the project website in order to learn more about the project and the team.
- "Check IT Out" Database: after thorough comparative research, the partners will compile a collection of best practices and initiatives that will enable users to develop a critical approach to news consumption and hopefully trigger their critical sense towards this issue. Research will be conducted in a selection of European countries interested by phenomena such as separatism and rising disinformation, particularly around the time of national and European elections, and will allow future users to design individual strategies to confront disinformation based on what worked best in other countries.
- "Check IT Out" Labs: held by especially-trained adult educators and based on the previously developed database, the Labs target groups of 10+ adult learners in partner countries with the objective of developing their critical and digital skills, bringing them closer to the concept of fake news and ultimately spreading awareness about the topic within their network.
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(first posted 7/3/2014) As the 1950s unfolded, it quickly became apparent that "longer, lower, and wider" was the prevailing design methodology. To power the automobiles that were steadily becoming heavier due to this philosophy, larger displacement engines generating ever more power become crucial to stay competitive. With the displacement of their original overhead valve V8's becoming limited, Ford introduced the FE series in 1958.
The FE series of engine, so named as a contraction of "Ford – Edsel", had automotive displacements ranging from 332 cubic inches to 428 cubic inches with power output from 220 horsepower to 425 horsepower. Used in Ford, Mercury, and Edsel automobiles, this engine was the bread-and-butter Ford V8 for many years and would last in automotive applications until 1971. The FE was used extensively in Ford's light-duty trucks, like its popular F-Series pickups. These will be covered here too, but for medium-heavy duty truck applications, the FE engine was called the FT, and its specific details and many variants are not within the scope of this article.)
Ford's original overhead valve V8 engines, introduced in 1954 and known more commonly as the Y-block due to its deep-skirted block, started life at 239 cubic inches (3.9 l) and maxed out at 312 (5.1 L). While the last version of the Y-block, the 292 V8, hung around until the end of 1962, it was well past its sell-by date. The differences between it and the FE series were many; most notably the FE had hydraulic valve lifters in contrast to the Y-block having mechanical lifters, and the FE's cylinder head was much more conducive to better breathing than the Y-blocks poor porting design. The FE did maintain a deep-skirted block like the Y-block, though.
The FE engine had a wider bore-spacing (separation between bore centers) that the Y-block, with 4.63″ instead of 4.38″. In essence, the FE engine is neither a small block nor a large block engine, but a medium block. Ford's M-E-L and "385" engines, with their 4.90″ bore spacing, were the true big blocks.
The FE, whose introduction coincided with that of the ill-fated Edsel, was a more modern and lower maintenance engine; one that would be able to generate the kind of power needed during the horsepower race of the times.
In its early years, the displacement of the highest output FE series engine changed annually – if not more frequently. So in an effort to best harness all there is to know about this family of very dynamic engines, let's look at them in order of increasing displacement. Even more interesting, let's see in what automobiles these engines sometimes found a home.
Please note the various sources used in the article were focused on the United States market. The known variations have been covered below, however it is possible that others may exist.
332 (5.4 liter) Bore: 4.00″ Stroke: 3.30″
Available only in 1958 and 1959 as a $59 option, this is one of the easier members of the family to overlook. As with the introduction of any new product, there was a lot of ballyhoo associated with the new FE series of engines, with the advertising touting their "Precision Fuel Induction". For 1958 only, the FE engines were advertised as being an "Interceptor V8".
The 332 cubic inch V8 had a 4″ bore and a 3.3″ stroke and was available with both a two and four-barrel carburetor in 240 horsepower and 265 horsepower versions, respectively.
Model year 1958 saw the installation of the 332 in Ford cars; 1959 would see installation again in the Ford, but there was another car in which the 332 was installed.
In 1959, the Edsel engine line was actually expanded from two V8's to three V8's and one six cylinder. The 361 (see below) was retained, and the 332 was now made available in the infamous Edsel for one year only.
Maintenance note: Are you doing work on the heads of your 1958 model 332, 352, or 361? Beware; the early versions of these engines had a dampener spring inside the valve spring. The dampener spring was eliminated later in the model year; both types of spring can be intermixed.
352 (5.8 liter) Bore: 4.002″ Stroke: 3.500″
Introduced along with the 332 in 1958, the 352 is generally remembered as being a two-barrel workhouse powering countless full-sized Fords. While this is likely the most common application of the 352, this engine also was available in a broader range of power outputs throughout its life than any other FE engine used in automotive applications.
The 352 shared the 4″ bore of the 332, but had a stroke increased by 0.2″ to 3.5″. From 1958 to 1960, the 352 was the top retail engine option.
The year 1960 would see the wildest 352 ever built by Ford. For a mere $150 over the standard $177.40 cost of entry for the top-dog 352, one could purchase a 360 horsepower version of the 352, an engine Ford touted as being their first true high performance engine.
Utilizing a regular 352 block, modifications for this very special 352 were an aluminum intake manifold, 10.6:1 compression, cast iron headers, and heavier valve springs incorporating pushrods from a Falcon. Motor Trend magazine described the engine as possessing a "subdued, guttural growl"; they were able to hurl a 4.86:1 geared Galaxie so equipped to 60 mph in 7 seconds flat. Motor Life, using another high performance 352 powered car with an identical 3 speed with overdrive and 4.11 gears, shot through the quarter-mile in 14.81 seconds at 94.71 mph.
Dave Evans of Ford Motor Company stated the 360 horsepower Galaxie "will deliver an honest 150 mph". Ultimately, this would depend a lot upon gearing and other equipment.
A high performance 352 powered Galaxie had a five lap average of 145.4 mph at the Daytona Speedway. A week later at the Ford test track in Romeo, Michigan, the same car reached 152.2 mph. Another test at Daytona had a two-way flying mile of 142.5 mph. As a point of reference, a Chrysler 300F performed the same feat at 144.9 mph.
Sadly, a goof by someone at Ford severely handicapped the ultimate ability of the 360 horsepower 352 on the racing circuit. Due to a failure to list 15″ wheels and 3.22 gears as being available, this combination was banned by the AMA; a Galaxie with the potent 352 at the Daytona 500 had a fastest lap time of only 130 mph.
Production of these engines was quite low, with only 24 having been produced by January 15, 1960. Several complaints about lack of power and valve float above 6,000 rpm resulted in Ford upgrading the distributor and improving the valve springs and retainers on subsequently manufactured engines.
By 1961, the 352 had been beaten back down to a rather pedestrian 2-barrel engine having 220 advertised horsepower. An industrious person could remedy this; Ford touted in their high performance parts catalog that many of the parts one could buy for their 406 or 427 engines would bolt right up to the lesser 332, 352, and 390 engines.
1964 saw Ford reintroducing a four-barrel carburetor on the 352, with an output of 250 horsepower. The 352 continued mainly unchanged until its cancellation in 1967.
Despite production of the 1960 Edsel occurring entirely in calendar year 1959, Ford did make more revisions for this greatly abbreviated model year. One of them was the availability of the 300 horsepower 352 as the top engine for the Edsel.
In addition to the Edsel, the 352 made a two year appearance in the full-sized Mercury during 1961 and 1962. The entry level V8 for these two years was the Y-block 292.
On a side note, 1961 and 1962 were the only two years in the history of Mercury in which one could obtain a six-cylinder engine in the full-sized series of cars.
In all the appearances made by the 352, in only the 1958 to 1960 Thunderbird was it the standard engine. In every other appearance, the 352 was an optional engine upgrade.
Beginning in 1965, the 352 was also available in Ford pickups (F-Series), replacing the 292 Y-block, tuned for an improved torque curve and rated at 208 hp.
Maintenance note: Does your 332 or 352 engine have "B9AE-6090″ stamped on either side of the cylinder head? Take note; these were early production engines and they have had the valves machined an additional 0.015″ further into the heads. Consequently, the valve stems were shortened 0.032". Be aware of this if performing work on the heads.
360 (5.9 L) Bore: 4.052″ Stroke: 3.500″
The 360 cubic inch FE was only used in pickups and other light-duty trucks. There was also an FT version for medium-heavy duty use. It was built from 1968 through 1976, making it and the 390 also used in pickups the very last FE engine built. These were extremely common in F-100 and F-250 pickups; who knows how many million FE engines found their way under the hoods of Ford pickups; quite possibly more than passenger cars. In the 1968-1972 trucks, it was rated at 215 (gross) hp. From 1973-1976, it was rated at 143 net hp.
361 (5.9 liter) Bore: 4.047″ Stroke: 3.500″
The 361 had a short life, but what a life it led! As the standard engine for the 1958 Edsel Ranger and Pacer, the 361 was simply a 352 with its bore increased by 0.05″.
If you ever stumble upon a 1958 Edsel, the 361 engines had a red marking of "E-400" on the valve covers. The "E" is for Edsel with the "400" denoting the peak torque, not horsepower, output of this engine.
While the 361 may seem synonymous with being an Edsel engine, it was not always planted in an Edsel. As Ford did not use the 352 in Canada until 1960, the 361 was the optional upgrade from the 332 in all Canada market cars.
It could be also be said the 361 dabbled in another career path…
It was an option for Ford's police package cars. This availability is intriguing; the 352 was also available in the 1958 Ford police cars, and it was advertised as being an "Interceptor V8". The 361 gave an additional 3 horsepower and 5 ft-lbs of torque over the 352. It was offered in Ford police cars for 1958 only.
390 (6.4 liter) 4.052″ Stroke: 3.784″
It's a shame production numbers of these FE engines have been so elusive; it seems as if the 390 was likely the most produced engine of this series. It certainly powered a broader variety of cars over a longer time period than any other FE, as in addition to the full-size Ford and Mercury it was found in Thunderbirds, Mustangs, Cougars, Cyclones, and Fairlanes.
Introduced for the 1961 model year, the 390 had a 4.05″ bore and a 3.78″ stroke. The standard four-barrel version was rated at 300 horsepower while the simultaneously introduced police version had 330 horsepower.
Also available upon introduction was a 375 horsepower version that replaced the 360 horsepower 352 cubic inch V8 used in 1960. This new 375 horsepower engine had a block with a slightly different casting pattern that provided stronger and thicker bulkheads than found in the standard engine. This engine also had an aluminum intake, improved oil passages, and grooved main bearing journals to aid in lubrication. The blocks were dye tested to find any weak areas and the pistons were X-rayed to ensure they were up to the rigors they would likely face.
The 1961 Pike's Peak climb was won by a Chevrolet with a time of 15 minutes, 6 seconds. However, the new 375 horsepower Ford was only 2.4 seconds behind.
Various sources testing this hot, new 390 realized 105 mph trap speeds in the quarter-mile. At their proving grounds in Romeo, Michigan, Ford testers nudged a new Galaxie to 158.8 mph.
This 375 horsepower engine did not make it through an entire model year before it was replaced with a 390 having three, two-barrel carburetors and generating 401 horsepower. As the highest performance engine, the tenure of the 401 horsepower engine was also short lived, replaced in the performance hierarchy by the 406.
As the 1960's progressed, the 390 could be found throughout the Ford and Mercury line-up. It was the standard engine on full-sized Mercury's from 1963 to 1970, being found in a variety of outputs depending upon year, model, transmission, and carburetor.
The 390 was the base engine in the Thunderbird from 1961 to 1968 and was available in the Mustang from 1967 to 1969. Beginning in 1966, it was an option on the Ford Fairlane and Mercury Cyclone. On the Cougar, it was an available option upon its introduction.
The 390 continued in full-sized automobiles until part-way through the 1971 model year.
Maintenance note Number 1: Do you have a 390 equipped '64 Thunderbird equipped with air conditioning? Does it have a tapping or buzzing sound? If so, it is caused by the crankshaft hitting the dipstick. If you bend the dipstick toward the block about 1/4″ inch, the noise should disappear.
Maintenance note Number 2: Was your 390 produced for the 1963 model year? If so, take note as Ford made a running change in the compression ratio of this engine in 1963, raising it from 10.5:1 to 10.8:1.
In 1967, the 390 also became optional on that year's new F-Series pickups and light trucks. With a four-barrel carburetor, it a was rated at 255 (gross) hp. Starting in 1973, the rating was 164 net hp.
There was also an FT version of the 390 made for heavy-duty truck use, with the same bore and stroke, but referred to as a "391".
406 (6.7 liter) Bore: 4.130″ Stroke: 3.784″
On November 17, 1961, Ford went back to Daytona International Speedway to replicate the testing of the 352 for the new 406. It was a 600 mile test at full throttle speeds.
Introduced shortly after January 1, 1962, the 406 had a 4.13″ bore and a 3.78″ stroke. Coming in either four-barrel or triple two-barrel form, it punched out 385 and 405 horsepower, respectively. Such power allowed the engine to propel the very non-aerodynamic 1962 Ford Galaxie to speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour, which was claimed to be faster than the average speed at the 1961 Indianapolis 500 race.
Yet endurance tests don't always mimic real-world performance.
image source: www.stockcar.racersreunion.com
While a 406 powered Ford won the July 1962 running of the Pikes Peak hill climb, the Chevrolet 409 spanked the Ford 406 in drag racing. On the NASCAR circuit, a 406 powered Ford was the winner in only 6 of 53 races.
With such a lackluster track record, Ford eliminated the 406 shortly after the beginning of the 1963 model year.
The 406 was a $379.70 option on the full-sized 1962 Ford. Using a different casting that provided thicker cylinder walls than the other FE engines, the 406 also had stronger pistons and connecting rods, dual valve springs, and an oil relief valve set at 60 psi instead of 45. A 406 was also the 30 millionth V8 produced by Ford.
Maintenance Note: There was a running change in the manufacture of cylinder heads on the 406, which resulted in the internal valve spring pilot being machined off. So if you are replacing heads, make sure you have sourced identical type heads, as they do not intermix.
410 (6.7 liter) Bore: 4.054 Stroke: 3.980″
Does this sound strange? Introduced in 1966, the 410 only stuck around for two model years.
Standard issue for the Mercury Park Lane, this engine was rated at 330 horsepower . It was optional on all other full-sized Mercury's. Having the same 4.05″ bore as the 361 and 390, it had a 3.98″ stroke that would later be used in the 428.
Specifics about the need for creation of this engine are quite scarce, so your author needs to exercise some deduction. For 1966, the 265 and 275 horsepower 390 in the Mercury (the lower output engine was mated to the three-speed manual transmission) both possessed a two-barrel carburetor. The 410 had a four-barrel and also produced up to 45 lb-ft more torque than the standard 390. This, combined with a displacement that provided a degree of exclusivity for your Park Lane, was likely the rationale for this engine.
Maintenance note: Does your 1966 model 390 or 410 have a vibration between 800 and 1,800 rpm? It is likely caused by the use of an incorrect flywheel. The flywheel on a 390 should not have a balance weight or part number on the transmission side whereas a 410 should have the balance weight and part number.
427 (7.0 liter) Bore: 4.232″ Stroke: 3.784″ (Actually 425 CID)
When Tom McCahill from Popular Mechanix first drove a 427 powered '63 Mercury, he wrote the car had "more hair on its chest than a middle aged yak" and is "as gentle as a barracuda in a fish bowl".
When Cars magazine recorded a 0-60 mph time for a '63 Mercury Marauder of 7.3 seconds (using only first gear), they were quite enthused, saying "could it go for a 4,200 pound car!" This was from a car they stated idled quietly and smoothly at 800 rpm with a normal operating temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
The 427, introduced early in the 1963 model year, was more than a 406 that had been bored out to 4.23″ with the same 3.78″ stroke; it had cross bolted main bearing caps, aluminum pistons, and stouter connecting rods. In short, this was a race engine that was able to be street driven. However, as McCahill also noted, "one wrong twitch and you may plow up to eight cars in front of you."
Ford had derived the 427 from a 483 cubic inch (7.9 liter) experimental engine that broke 46 various records in 1962 and recorded an official fastest speed of 176.98 mph. What they learned from this engine materialized in the 427, an engine that was just right for the various 7.0 liter requirements found in racing.
While this 427 was heavily praised for being a vast improvement over the 406, Ford was now committed to what they were touting as "Total Performance" and they were not satisfied with the initial performance of the 427. Prior to the end of the 1963 racing season, a "Mark II" version of the 427 bowed, having new cylinder heads with larger ports and valves, stronger connecting rods, and a ten quart oil pan. Strangely, advertised horsepower was unchanged with the four-barrel version having 410 horsepower and the dual four-barrel having 425 advertised horsepower.
The stumbles with the 406 powered racers was eradicated with the 427. Starting the 1963 racing season with a win at the Daytona 500, Ford would ultimately capture victories in 23 NASCAR races to Chevrolet's eight. The 1964 season was even better with Ford winning 30 NASCAR races. The 427 had proven its mettle on the speedway and was doing so on the quarter-mile circuit.
Talk about the Ford 427 is full of different descriptors, such as "top oiler", "side oiler", and "cammer". So what is each?
image source: www.wikipedia.org
The top oiler is the original version of the engine as introduced in 1963. In short, oil was routed to the valve train first followed by the crankshaft. The side oiler was introduced in 1965 and it reversed the order in which oil was sent through the engine.
image source: www.wikipedia.org
There is also the single overhead camshaft version of the 427 that appeared in 1964. It was strictly a racing engine and was never installed in regular production cars. This engine was created in response to the Chrysler 426 hemi; the single overhead cam 427 has the distinction of being the only engine ever banned by NASCAR at the time.
Available in full-size Ford's and Mercury's beginning in 1963, mid-sizers beginning in 1966 , and the Cougar in 1968, the 427 was the top dog Ford performance engine until 1968.
Maintenance Note: Ford does not recommend reboring the engine blocks of 406 and 427 engines.
428 (7.0 liter) Bore: 4.132 Stroke: 3.980″
Introduced for 1966, the Ford 428 was a different creature than its one cubic inch smaller sister, the 427. Whereas the 427 had a 4.23″ bore, prompting Ford to recommend against boring the block, the 428 had a 4.13″ bore combined with the 3.98″ stroke used in the Mercury 410. Given the smaller bore sizes, this engine was much less expensive to manufacture than the 427 while still being able to deliver a copious amount of horsepower and torque.
The 428 should not be confused with the Ford 429. The 429 was based upon the Ford 385-series family; the only other car engine springing from the 385-series is the 460 cubic inch (7.5 liter) V8.
Initially available throughout the 1966 full-size Ford and Mercury line, the 428 was the standard engine for the Ford LTD 7-Litre and the Mercury S-55. Initially available in 345 horsepower retail form, it was an engine to help motivate Ford's increasingly heavier cars in the same manner to which people had been accustomed – if not a little better.
Ad copy for the 1966 Ford police car line certainly best insinuates performance, touting the police spec 428 was "a real scorcher that turns out 360 horsepower with top speeds well in excess of 100 mph". How far in excess is a question many are curious about, although the answer may be lost to the ravages of time.
In April 1968, Ford introduced the 428 Cobra Jet. Based upon the regular 428, the Cobra Jet had larger valves and intake ports, beefed up connecting rods, and heads from a 427; getting Ram-Air on a Cobra Jet was optional. Like the 427, these additions oddly made no change whatsoever to advertised horsepower, due to exorbitant insurance premiums on high-hp engines. There is also the 428 Super Cobra Jet, an engine that had a different crankshaft and an external oil cooler. While also referred to as the "Drag Pack", the Super Cobra Jet was intended for racing applications with the internal changes to facilitate added reliability and durability.
The 428 Cobra Jet was a $357 option in the 1969 Mustang Mach I; it was $421 in other Mustang's. In a Mustang so equipped, the sprint to 60 miles per hour could happen in 5.5 seconds. It is estimated that around 13,000 Mustang Mach I's came equipped with the 428 Cobra Jet. The 428 Cobra Jet was also available in Cougar, Torino, and Cyclone models.
Many cars throughout the Ford lineup would be eligible to receive the 428, such as the Thunderbird in 1966 and 1967; the Mustang and Cougar from 1968 to 1970; the full-sized Ford and Mercury from 1966 to 1969; and the Montego and Torino in 1968 and 1969.
Maintenance note: Does your 1966 Ford or Mercury with a 352, 390, or 428 have a metallic knock that sounds similar to a tappet clip? It may be caused by the rocker cover oil baffle touching the rocker arm shaft pedestal support attaching bolt.
The Ford FE engine was replaced by a combination of the Windsor and 385 series. Appearing as anything from a two-barrel 332 in 1959 to a 428 Cobra Jet by 1969, the FE is one of the most adaptable and versatile engines ever to come from Ford. Despite the last FE engine being placed in a passenger car over forty years ago, the continued popularity of the FE series engines is a testament to the intrinsic qualities of this fine power plant.
Related reading: 1966 Ford Galaxie 7-Litre The author's 1963 Ford Galaxie 500: Part 1 Part 2


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Milwaukee sets starters for St. Louis series
CHICAGO -- The Brewers on Saturday announced their starting rotation for their next series in St. Louis. Right-hander Wily Peralta will open the series at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, followed by right-handers Marco Estrada and Tyler Thornburg on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Estrada hasn't pitched since an Aug. 31 start against the Angels, and when his turn comes around Wednesday, he will have had 11 days between starts.
Manager Ron Roenicke doesn't think the longer layoff will affect Estrada.
"I don't think it's that big a deal," Roenicke said. "If it bothers you and mentally you think, 'Oh, wow, I'm going to be out of whack,' it could make a difference. But it really shouldn't.
"You're already in great shape [and] you've pitched through the season. You should come back [from a longer layoff] feeling refreshed. Your arm should feel good, you throw two or three bullpens in between, and it should work out."


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White Devil Vol 1: (published by Eternity Comics)
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