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Actress Emma Stone has gone public with her Twitter.com woes, revealing she has been locked out of her social media site by a hacker, who is trying to stir up a war of words between her and her "The Amazing Spider-Man" co-star Shailene Woodley.
Bloggers, gossips and editors of news outlets have been scratching their heads over cryptic tweets Stone appeared to have sent in recent weeks that suggest she's not happy with her castmate – and how close she is becoming to her real-life boyfriend Andrew Garfield, who plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
But Stone insists the messages aren't coming from her and she's powerless to do anything about them – apart from go public with the fact she's not behind them.
Phoning into Ryan Seacrest's radio show in Los Angeles on Thursday, the actress said, "I've tweeted one time to Seth MacFarlane; I said, 'Me too, oh boy'. And then I've been hacked ever since and they've locked me out of my Twitter so I can't access it, because they changed my email and my password. We are trying to figure out how to delete it.
"I heard the other day they tweeted an anagram about Shailene Woodley, who is one of my favorite human beings on the planet… I heard it was an anagram of Shailene and Andrew sitting in a tree… and then I heard there was a rich history of other things I've tweeted and deleted and I didn't know about any of this happening because I don't go on Twitter.
"I just had a verified account but now I want to get rid of it."


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Home >> Course Descriptions >> College of Education
Early Literacy
Three semester hours.
This course provides an intensive study of language acquisition, early reading and writing approaches and programs. Strategies for selecting suitable literacy materials and activities are examined. Prerequisites: Graduate standing and six hours of early childhood coursework.
Home - General Information - Student Services -
Academic Undergraduate Regulations -
Undergraduate Degrees - Academic Graduate Regulations -
Graduate Degrees - Course Descriptions - Faculty -
Appendix A - Appendix B - Appendix C - Appendix D

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California Surfing Tote Bag | Surfer Gear Tote Bags. Start off your shopping trip right! Check Out our classic tote with a modern twist: all-over-print bringing the basic tote to the next level. In addition, wide cotton shoulder strap and black fabric lined interior makes this bag great for everyday use. Above all, your next shopping trip just got a little more earth-friendly and with our designs goes from ordinary to AMAZING. California Surfing Tote Bag | Surfer Gear Tote Bags, Details:
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Statement on Auditing Standards Issued by the Auditing Standards Board AICPA American Institute of Certified Public Accountants September 1995 7 Amendments to Statement on Auditing Standards No. 72, Letters for Underwriters and Certain Other Requesting Parties ( Amends Statement on Auditing Standards No. 72, AICPA, Professional Standards, vol. 1, AU sec. 634.) Introduction 1. This Statement1 provides reporting guidance when one of the parties identified in paragraph 3, 4, or 5 of Statement on Auditing Standards ( SAS) No. 72, other than an underwriter or other party with a due diligence defense under section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, requests a letter without providing the representation letter described in para- 1 This Statement amends paragraph .01 of Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements ( SSAE) No. 1, Attestation Standards ( AICPA, Professional Standards, vol. 1, AT see. 300, " Reporting on Pro Forma Financial Information"), by replacing footnote 1 with the following: 1 AU section 634, letters for Underwriters and Certain Other Requesting Parties, identifies, in paragraphs .03 through .05, certain parties who may request a letter. When one of those parties requests a letter or asks the accountant to perform agreed- upon procedures on pro forma financial information in connection with an offering, the accountant should follow the guidance in AU section 634 ( see paragraphs .03-. 10, .36, .42, and .43). Copyright © 1995 by American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Inc., New York, NY 10036- 8775 All rights reserved. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of this work should be mailed to Permissions Department, AICPA, Harborside Financial Center, 201 Plaza Three, Jersey City, NJ 07311- 3881. 1234 5 67890 AudS 99 8 7 6 5


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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week proposed officially what many agricultural lawmakers and lobbyists have been expecting for a couple of years: The farm bill could be included in a much larger budget package.
In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Reid suggested that if the House passed the Senate resolution to reopen the government, it could be followed by large-scale negotiations on budget policies. "You and your colleagues have repeatedly cited these fiscal issues as the things on which we need to work," Reid wrote in his Wednesday letter. "This conference would be an appropriate place to have these discussions, where participants could raise whatever proposals—such as tax reform, health care, agriculture, and certainly discretionary spending like veterans, national parks, and NIH—they feel appropriate."
Boehner rejected Reid's proposal, but the next day at a news conference, Reid followed up on his one-word mention of agriculture by saying, "The farm bill's hung up. We'll talk about that."
American Farm Bureau Federation lobbyist Mary Kay Thatcher said she was heartened by Reid's statements. "It appears likely that the farm bill may not be able to pass as a stand-alone bill, so if Majority Leader Reid believes we can get a good bill that combines nutrition and agriculture into one package and can pass by adding it to other bills, that is good news. The sooner we can pass the farm bill, the better," Thatcher said in an email.
Some lawmakers may not be willing to turn the farm bill over to the House and Senate leadership and the White House, but pressure is mounting to pass a new bill one way or another rather than extend the 2008 farm bill again.
A House GOP aide said Republicans still want a regular conference and a stand-alone conference report to be considered on the floors of the House and Senate. "The farm bill has hit snags, but it is not hung up today," the aide said.
Whether the farm bill is stand-alone or in a broader package may depend on what kind of conferees Boehner appoints. Last week, the House sent the Senate a bill that combined its separately passed farm and nutrition bills, and Reid quickly got unanimous consent to reappoint the conferees he had named when the House sent over its initial farm-program bill. Reid then sent the House a message requesting a conference.
The House GOP aide said conferees for that chamber are expected to be appointed shortly, but gave no indication of whether Boehner would follow tradition and tap members of the House Agriculture Committee or would bow to pressure and appoint tea-party Republicans who want to make deep cuts in farm programs and food stamps. Lobbyists expect Boehner to appoint some conservatives, but the real questions are whether he appoints conservatives willing to negotiate or whether he appoints so many conservatives that he would have a hard time getting enough signatures to approve a conference report.
As National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson put it in a letter to Boehner, "The fate of the farm bill is now in your hands. With the budget and debt ceiling discussions looming, the farm bill may be the very best opportunity for any major, forward-looking legislation to pass this year."
The biggest issue, of course, is food stamps, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Over the past two years, the farm bill has gotten more and more caught up in stratospheric partisan politics. The Senate farm bill would cut the program by $4 billion over 10 years while the House farm bill would cut it by $39 billion in the same period; remove several million people from the program in the next few years; and subject SNAP to reauthorization in three years versus the five years for other farm programs. The Senate's comprehensive farm bill passed on a bipartisan basis in June, while the two House bills passed with only Republican votes.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., has said repeatedly that Boehner, Reid, and President Obama will have to settle the size of the cut in food stamps. If the three can agree and farm-bill conferees can accept guidance from on high, then a regular farm-bill conference can work. If they won't, the farm bill may well end up in a larger must-pass package. Then the politicians can say they had to accept the food-stamp cut whether they thought it was too big or too small in order to pass the larger bill.
Meanwhile, farm lobbyists keep talking about another extension, but the prospects for an extension like last year's are dimming.
Last week, a bipartisan group of 20 senators wrote Reid and McConnell that they will not support a farm-bill extension that includes the direct payments. The letter was organized by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and signed by senators ranging from Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. "Without regard to whether we supported the Senate farm bill or opposed it, we all agree that Congress should not consider another extension of the 2008 farm bill that continues direct payments," the senators wrote. "Such an outcome would represent a costly regression in light of the U.S. Senate's bipartisan efforts to eliminate this multibillion dollar subsidy," the letter said.
Pressure is also mounting from outside Congress to pass a new bill. The House and Senate versions of the farm bill include a new cotton program that is supposed to resolve a case against the U.S. cotton program that the United States lost to Brazil in the World Trade Organization.
There is also the issue of the "dairy cliff." The expiration of the extension of the 2008 farm bill on Sept. 30 left farm programs in the same situation they were a year ago, with the Agriculture Department faced with buying milk at high prices under a 1949 law starting next year if Congress doesn't act. Fixing "the dairy cliff" as it was called would require a budgetary fix that would force Congress to look for another program to cut.
But the bigger issue is that the current dairy program isn't working very well and won't solve dairy farmers' long-term problems. And another extension would do nothing for livestock producers who don't have a disaster program, for conservation programs that need updating, for organic and fruit and vegetable producers who need new research programs, or for the farmers' markets that need assistance to help low-income people buy healthy food.
There will, of course, be pressure from the left and right against finishing the bill. Antihunger groups don't want any cuts to food stamps. Heritage Action for America, which caused a ruckus among Republicans because the group urged House Republicans to split the farm bill into two pieces and then opposed the bills, has come out in favor of an extension and against any grand bargain.
Lucas has said conservative groups like Heritage Action and Club for Growth just want to drag debate out so they can raise more money. But Heritage employees have now been banned from Republican Study Committee meetings and their statements could backfire. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., told the United Fresh Produce Association last week that conservative groups had put out inaccurate information and created "challenges" in passing the farm bill. It was one thing to vote on issues, Scott said, another to vote on "how the conservative groups score you."
All in all, the prospects for a new farm bill as stand-alone legislation or part of a larger package have risen even in the midst of the shutdown.
Contributing Editor Jerry Hagstrom is the founder and executive director of The Hagstrom Report, which may be found at www.HagstromReport.com


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Life-Cycle Studies: Diapers
Humans are the only animals to diaper their young (and not all humans do so), and such an unnatural custom ought to invite more comment—yet the first literary reference to the diaper dates only to the 10th century and it had nothing to do with babies' bottoms.
To read the rest of this article, purchase a PDF of the entire March/April issue of World Watch, or subscribe or renew to World Watch Magazine. Current subscribers, log in and download this issue, and past issues of World Watch.
|M-A 07 Life-cycle.pdf


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Morrison & Foerster antitrust lawyers are recognized leaders in the courtroom, the boardroom, and the halls of government. We are trial lawyers who have a knack for resolving complex antitrust cases through dispositive motions, but are capable of taking any case to trial. We are strategic counselors who partner with our clients to develop business strategies to enhance their competitiveness. We are agency experts who draw on a deep well of experience, including service as high-level officials, to obtain successful results in criminal and civil investigations and merger reviews. With leading antitrust lawyers in major business centers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, we provide these services seamlessly to clients doing business worldwide.
We have litigated antitrust cases throughout the country. We recently won dismissals of seven large antitrust class actions in California, Georgia, New York, Oklahoma, and Massachusetts. We are currently representing clients in several multi-jurisdictional criminal and civil investigations. Our merger teams have obtained governmental approval for countless transactions, including two of the largest mergers in the last few years.
We work with clients in every industry sector, from computers to cleaning products, phones to pharmaceuticals, and technology to transportation.
Our clients tell us that what distinguishes us from other law firms is our in-depth understanding of their businesses and the industries in which they compete, our practical approach to problem-solving, our commitment to teamwork and putting our client's needs first, and our ability to provide integrated antitrust representation across the globe.
U.S. News – Best Lawyers® Best Law Firms 2011-2012 Antitrust Litigation "Law Firm of the Year"
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Home > Continuing Legal Education > Program Sponsor
The Erie Institute of Law is the educational arm of the Bar Association of Erie County. Its mission is to plan Continuing Legal Education program opportunities to meet the professional education needs of lawyers in the Western New York community.
A leader and primary provider of Continuing Legal Education, the Institute offers many programs annually to the 3,600 plus attorneys in Western New York. The Institute has also been accredited by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board as a provider of continuing legal education, for both live presentations and non-traditional CLE course formats.
Sponsorship of a CLE program is a highly effective means to reach your market audience. Your company's name and logo will be prominently displayed on all marketing pieces including the program brochure which is mailed out to over 3,600 lawyers, and on program materials distributed to attendees. You will receive verbal recognition at the program. Your company's name will be listed as a CLE sponsor on the BAEC Web site with a link to your Web site. A vendor table will be provided to distribute your company's promotional materials and meet with our attendees.
Please feel free to contact Mary Kohlbacher, Director of Continuing Legal Education at 852-8687 ext. 115 for more information or to take advantage of becoming a CLE program sponsor.


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Men's Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week #6
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jacob Connealy of Benedictine (Kan.) has been named NAIA National Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week and Nathan Martin of Spring Arbor (Mich.) has been tabbed as the NAIA National Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week, the national office announced Wednesday. Connealy and Martin were selected based on their performances from Feb. 11 - 17.
Connealy, a sophomore from Bellevue, Neb., earned two individual conference championships in the high jump and heptathlon at the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Championships Feb. 15 - 16. His 2.00 meters (6-6 ¾) in the high jump was a national qualifying mark and point total of 4,722 points in the heptathlon qualified him for the indoor national championships. In three events in the heptathlon, Connealy set three personal best. He was named the HAAC Indoor Track & Field MVP.
Martin, a senior from Three Rivers, Mich., won both the 5,000 and 3,000-meter runs at the National Christian College Athletic Association Championships Feb. 15 - 16. He also set two championship records with a time of 8:17.16 in the 3,000 meters and a clocking of 14:41.17 in the 5,000 meters. Martin earned the Championship Athlete of the Meet honors.
This is the final award for the 2013 indoor season. For the complete Athlete of the week calendar, click here.
Track Nominees: Sam Atkin, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho); Marshall Hawn, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.); Troy Solly, Carroll (Mont.); Travis Hinton, Oklahoma Baptist; Peyton Wade, Friends (Kan.); Demetryione Singleton, Ashford (Iowa); Colin Morrissey, Concordia (Neb.); Ryan Meyer, William Woods (Mo.); Doug Dawson, Siena Heights (Mich.); Conner Drendel, Southwestern (Kan.); Shawn Peden, Rocky Mountain (Mont.); Ka'imi Scott, Warner Pacific (Ore.); D'Artist Williams, Dakota State (S.D.); Sam Taylor, William Penn (Iowa); Claude Nelson, Loyola (La.); Jake GunderKline, Goshen (Ind.); Alex Alvarez, Grand View (Iowa); Louis Falland , Cornerstone (Mich.); Ignacio Franco, Missouri Valley; Seth Booker, Grace (Ind.); Hunter Swink, Oklahoma City; Dewayne Booker, Wayland Baptist (Texas); DeMarcus Jackson, Central Methodist (Mo.); Doug Benson, Eastern Oregon; Jeremy Gathright, Baker (Kan.); Alec Hernandez, Embry-Riddle (Fla.).
Field Nominees: Lucas Limberg, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.); Easton Padden, Carroll (Mont.); Blaine Bassler, Oklahoma Baptist; Mike Malone, Ashford (Iowa); Darryl Marlow, Indiana Tech; Seth Thompson, William Woods (Mo.); Richard DePalma, Siena Heights (Mich.); Artrail Skipper, Southwestern (Kan.); Tori Brooks, Davenport (Mich.); Lance Maxwell, Grand View (Iowa); Willy Irwin, Concordia (Ore.); Andrew Longboy, Missouri Valley; Rob Keeney, Doane (Neb.); Dilan Simmons, Central Methodist (Mo.); Trevor Barrett, Eastern Oregon; Jeremy Gathright, Baker (Kan.); Mike Edwards, Embry-Riddle (Fla.).
2013 Men's Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week (Field; Track)
Week 1 (Jan. 16): Zack Lindsley, Doane (Neb.); Cordell Baker, Oklahoma Baptist
Week 2 (Jan. 23): Raymond Carney, Siena Heights (Mich.); Doug Benson, Eastern Oregon
Week 3 (Jan. 30): Mauro Parnell, Doane (Neb.); Monte Larsen, Morningside (Iowa)
Week 4 (Feb. 6): Augustus Cowan, Briar Cliff (Iowa); David Walters, Langston (Okla.)
Week 5 (Feb. 13): Darien Moore, Valley City State (N.D.), Gregory Turner, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
Week 6 (Feb. 20): Jacob Connealy, Benedictine (Kan.); Nathan Martin, Spring Arbor (Mich.)


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Envelope printing is available in a coordinating font for save the date and invitation guest addresses, invitation & save the date return address flaps, and RSVP envelopes. Printing is only available in the pictured color.
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SuicideGirl of the Day — Chad [PICS]
Meet Chad, a SuicideGirl who loves making art, hates to see people leave and can't live without her laptop.
Name: Chad
Age: 22
Location: United Kingdom
Into: Making art and getting naked.
Makes me happy: Happy people.
Makes me sad: Upset people and people leaving.
Hobbies: Art.
5 things I can't live without: My Family, friends, my Phone, my laptop and food.
Vices: Tequila, pizza and buying new shoes!
I spend most of my free time: Chilling out with some cool peoples.
1. Motioncity Soundtrack
2. Blink 182
3. Less than Jake
4. Reel Big FIsh
5. Death Cab
6. Thrice
7. The Clash
SuicideGirls is a community that celebrates alternative beauty and alternative culture from all over the world. Since 2001, tens of thousands of models have submitted millions of photos to their website hoping to become SuicideGirls.
Click here to check out the SuicideGirls archive.


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Big List of Giveaways
Monday, April 6, 2009
I'm not sure how I came across this site, but a some point last week I did. The Big List of Giveaways has just undergone a site overhaul so be sure to stop by and check it out! It's a huge listing of contests, online giveaways, and games!
So head over there and get started clicking!


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About Jeff Masters
Cat 6 lead authors: WU cofounder Dr. Jeff Masters (right), who flew w/NOAA Hurricane Hunters 1986-1990, & WU meteorologist Bob Henson, @bhensonweather
By: Dr. Jeff Masters , 8:53 PM GMT on September 06, 2012
Extraordinary melting of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has shattered the all-time low sea ice extent record set in September 2007, and sea ice continues to decline far below what has ever been observed. The new sea ice record was set on August 26, a full three weeks before the usual end of the melting season, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Every major scientific institution that tracks Arctic sea ice agrees that new records for low ice area, extent, and volume have been set. These organizations include the University of Washington Polar Science Center (a new record for low ice volume), the Nansen Environmental & Remote Sensing Center in Norway, and the University of Illinois Cryosphere Today. A comprehensive collection of sea ice graphs shows the full story. Satellite records of sea ice extent date back to 1979, though a 2011 study by Kinnard et al. shows that the Arctic hasn't seen a melt like this for at least 1,450 years (see a more detailed article on this over at skepticalscience.com.) The latest September 5, 2012 extent of 3.5 million square kilometers is approximately a 50% reduction in the area of Arctic covered by sea ice, compared to the average from 1979 - 2000. The ice continues to melt, and has not reached the low for this year yet.
Figure 1. A sunny, slushy day at the North Pole on September 1, 2012. Webcam image courtesy of the North Pole Environmental Observatory.
Figure 2. Sea ice extent on September 5, 2012, showed that half of the polar ice cap was missing, compared to the average from 1979 - 2000. Image credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Why the Arctic sea ice is important
Arctic sea ice is an important component of the global climate system. The polar ice caps help to regulate global temperature by reflecting sunlight back into space. White snow and ice at the poles reflects sunlight, but dark ocean absorbs it. Replacing bright sea ice with dark ocean is a recipe for more and faster global warming. The Autumn air temperature over the Arctic has increased by 4 - 6°F in the past decade, and we could already be seeing the impacts of this warming in the mid-latitudes, by an increase in extreme weather events. Another non-trivial impact of the absence of sea ice is increased melting in Greenland. We already saw an unprecedented melting event in Greenland this year, and as warming continues, the likelihood of these events increase.
Figure 3. August set a new record for lowest Arctic sea ice extent. Image credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Figure 4. Arctic sea ice death spiral as plotted by Jim Pettit using data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Huge storm pummels Alaska
A massive low pressure system with a central pressure of 970 mb swept through Alaska on Tuesday, generating hurricane-force wind gusts near Anchorage, Alaska that knocked out power to 55,000 homes. Mighty Alaskan storms like this are common in winter, but rare in summer and early fall. The National Weather Service in Anchorage said in their Wednesday forecast discussion that the forecast wind speeds from this storm were incredibly strong for this time of year--four to six standard anomalies above normal. A four-standard anomaly event occurs once every 43 years, and a five-standard anomaly event is a 1-in-4800 year event. However, a meteorologist I heard from who lives in the Anchorage area characterized the wind damage that actually occurred as a 1-in-10 year event. A few maximum wind gusts recorded on Tuesday during the storm:
McHugh Creek (Turnagain Arm)... ... ..88 mph
Paradise Valley (Potter Marsh)... ... 75 mph
Upper Hillside (1400 ft)... ... ... ... 70 mph
Anchorage port... ... ... ... ... ... ... .63 mph
The storm has weakened to a central pressure of 988 mb today, and is located just north of Alaska. The storm is predicted to bring strong winds of 25 - 35 mph and large waves to the edge of the record-thin and record-small Arctic ice cap, and may add to the unprecedented decline in Arctic sea ice being observed this summer.
Figure 5. An unusually strong storm formed off the coast of Alaska on August 5 and tracked into the center of the Arctic Ocean, where it slowly dissipated over the next several days. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this natural-color mosaic image on Aug. 6, 2012. The center of the storm at that date was located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Image credit: NASA.
Arctic storms may be increasing due to climate change
This week's Alaskan storm is the second unusually strong low pressure system to affect the Arctic in the past month. On August 4 - 8, a mighty storm with a central pressure of 963 mb raged through the Arctic, bringing strong winds that helped scatter and break up Arctic sea ice. According to a detailed post at NASA Earth Observatory, that storm was in the top 3 percent for strongest storms ever recorded north of 70 degrees latitude. A study of long-term Arctic cyclone trends authored by a team led by John Walsh and Xiangdong Zhang of the University of Alaska Fairbanks found that number and intensity of Arctic cyclones has increased during the second half of the twentieth century, particularly during the summer. Dr. Zhang explained that climate change has caused sea ice to retreat markedly in recent decades and has also warmed Arctic Ocean temperatures. Such changes may be providing more energy and moisture to support cyclone development and persistence. The strong storms of this week and a month ago would have had far less impact on the ice just a decade ago, when the sea ice was much thicker and more extensive.
A sea ice decline double-whammy
The monster Arctic storms like we've seen this year have sped up the rate of sea ice loss, but increased water temperatures and air temperatures due to human-caused global warming are the dominant reasons for the record melting of the Arctic sea ice. A July 2012 study by Day et al. found that the most influential of the possible natural influences on sea ice loss was the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO). The AMO has two phases, negative (cold) and positive (warm), which impact Arctic sea ice. The negative phase tends to create sea surface temperatures in the far north Atlantic that are colder than average. In this study, the AMO only accounted for 5% - 31% of the observed September sea ice decline since 1979. The scientists concluded that given the lack of evidence that natural forces were controlling sea ice fluctuations, the majority of sea ice decline we've seen during the 1953 - 2010 period was due to human causes.
Joe Romm has a more in-depth look at the new Arctic sea ice record and what it means for the future over at climateprogess.org.
Angela Fritz and Jeff Masters
The views of the author are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the position of The Weather Company or its parent, IBM.
Cat 6 lead authors: WU cofounder Dr. Jeff Masters (right), who flew w/NOAA Hurricane Hunters 1986-1990, & WU meteorologist Bob Henson, @bhensonweather


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No. 87,612
1. The Federal Arbitration Act provides that all doubts concerning the scope of arbitrable issues should be resolved in favor of arbitration.
2. Absent some ambiguity in a written agreement, the language of the contract defines the scope of disputes subject to arbitration.
3. In determining whether arbitration is required under the facts of a case, we utilize a two-step analysis. We must first determine whether the parties agreed to arbitrate the claims at issue. If that is true, we must then determine whether legal constraints external to the parties' agreement foreclose the arbitration of those claims.
4. The parties may agree that only certain issues in an agreement are subject to arbitration, leaving other issues to the courts.
Appeal from Johnson District Court; LAWRENCE E. SHEPPARD, judge. Opinion filed April 5, 2002. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
Christopher J. Reedy, of Colantuono & Associates, L.L.C., of Leawood, for the appellant.
Michelle M. Suter, of Commercial Law Group, P.A., of Leawood, for the appellee.
Before LEWIS, P.J., PIERRON and BEIER, JJ.
LEWIS, J.: Butler National Corporation (Butler) sued Gerald T. Kelly & Company (Kelly), alleging that Kelly had agreed to do some accounting work for Butler and had not done the work. Butler sought to recover the payments it had made to Kelly, and it also sought declaratory judgment relief. The trial court held that all of Butler's claims against Kelly were required to be arbitrated and dismissed its petition. Butler appeals from that dismissal.
Butler is a Delaware corporation with its principle place of business in Johnson County, Kansas, and it does business all over the United States. Kelly is a California Professional Corporation providing certified public accountant services.
According to Butler, it received an unsolicited letter from Kelly, offering its accounting services. The parties negotiated on the fee; Kelly reviewed Butler's files and submitted a proposal for audit services for the tax year ending April 30, 1999. Later, Kelly sent Butler another letter estimating the audit work would require 600 hours of professional time at an estimated cost of $50,000 to $60,000. This will be referred to as the 1999 contract between the parties. In addition to the agreement on the fee, the parties also agreed that should a fee dispute arise, it would be submitted to mediation by a third party and to binding arbitration should mediation fail. In April 2000, the parties entered into another agreement, whereby Kelly agreed to observe Butler's physical inventories for the year ending April 30, 2000. Kelly estimated its fee for this service to be $4,100. This will be referred to as the 2000 contract.
Soon, serious disagreements arose between the parties, and Kelly informed Butler it would require another $65,000 in fees for it to complete the 1999 audit, bringing the total cost of the audit to $109,100.
Butler apparently found this to be excessive, and it ultimately filed this action in Johnson County. In the petition, Butler alleged it had paid Kelly in the neighborhood of $40,000 in December 1999 and that it had not seen any bill or statement of work completed by Kelly at that time or at any later time. It further alleged that Kelly wanted an additional $90,000 to complete the 1999 audit. Butler also claimed it sent Kelly the requested $4,100 for the inventory review provided for by the 2000 contract and that Kelly sent representatives to perform the audit who were not licensed to practice public accounting in Kansas.
Butler took the position that Kelly had breached the agreement to perform auditing and inventory review services and asked the court to void the 1999 audit agreement and to determine that Butler was not subject to personal jurisdiction in California or to the jurisdiction of a California arbitration panel. Butler also claimed that Kelly had breached the agreement and that Butler had the right to rescind and should have all monies returned to it.
The prayer of Butler's petition asks for judgment against Kelly for monies paid, for negligently representing the time and cost required for the 1999 audit, and for breach of contract.
Kelly's response was to file a motion to dismiss Butler's petition, arguing the fee provisions in the 1999 agreement required the dispute to be submitted to mediation and then to arbitration. Apparently, the parties had participated in a mediation session, but it was not successful, which left arbitration as Butler's remedy.
The trial court found that the parties intended for any fee dispute to be arbitrated. It also found that the nature of Butler's business and its transactions with Kelly brought the whole matter under the Interstate Commerce Clause and Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The trial court held the contract enforceable and binding, held that Butler's only remedy was arbitration, and dismissed Butler's claims.
We first turn to the 1999 agreement entered into by the parties. Butler argues that this is not a fee dispute issue, that it has raised other claims, and that this lawsuit is not subject to the arbitration clause. This involves the interpretation of a written agreement, and we have an unlimited scope of review. City of Topeka v. Watertower Place Dev. Group, 265 Kan. 148, 152-53, 959 P.2d 894 (1998). The FAA provides that all doubts concerning the scope of arbitrable issues should be resolved in favor of arbitration. Coffey v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 891 F.2d 261, 262 (10th Cir. 1989). Absent some ambiguity in the written agreement, the language of the contract defines the scope of disputes subject to arbitration. Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n v. Waffle House, Inc., __ U.S. __, __,151 L. Ed. 2d 755, 122 S. Ct. 754 (2002).
In determining whether arbitration is required under the facts of a case, we utilize a two-step analysis. We must first determine whether the parties agreed to arbitrate the claims at issue. If that is true, we must then determine "'"whether legal constraints external to the parties' agreement foreclose the arbitration of those claims."'" Via Fone, Inc. v. Western Wireless Corp., 106 F. Supp. 2d 1147, 1150 (D. Kan. 2000) (quoting Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 473 U.S. 614, 628, 87 L. Ed. 2d 444, 105 S. Ct. 3346 [1985]).
The FAA provides:
"[A] contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle by arbitration a controversy thereafter arising out of such contract or transaction, or the refusal to perform the whole or any part thereof, or an agreement in writing to submit to arbitration an existing controversy arising out of such a contract, transaction, or refusal, shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for revocation of any contract." 9 U.S.C. § 2 (2000).
In this case, the fee dispute provision in the 1999 agreement reads as follows:
"In the event of a dispute over fees for our services, we mutually agree to try in good faith to resolve the dispute through mediation by selecting a third party to help us reach an agreement. If we are unable to resolve the fee dispute through mediation, BNC and Kelly & Company agree to submit to a resolution by arbitration. Such arbitration shall be binding and final. IN AGREEING TO ARBITRATION, WE BOTH ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IN THE EVENT OF A DISPUTE OVER FEES, EACH OF US IS GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO HAVE THE DISPUTE DECIDED IN A COURT OF LAW BEFORE A JUDGE OR JURY AND INSTEAD WE ARE ACCEPTING THE USE OF ARBITRATION FOR RESOLUTION."
First, the arbitration clause as set forth above is rather specific. It does not automatically encompass every claim arising out of the agreement between the parties. There is no reason why arbitration provisions cannot limit their coverage to specific types of disputes and leave other disputes in the agreement to the court system. See Alexander v. Everhart, 27 Kan. App. 2d 897, 907, 7 P.3d 1282, rev. denied 270 Kan. ___ (2000). Butler makes a disingenuous argument that its claims for negligent misrepresentation, breaches of the audit and inventory agreements, and for the return of two separate retainers are not fee disputes and are not subject to the arbitration provision which we have quoted above.
Butler's lawsuit against Kelly on the 1999 agreement brings to mind the sage advice about something that "quacks like a duck." No matter how much Butler would like to explain to us why this is not a fee dispute, the fact remains that it is a fee dispute. Butler wants all the money back it paid to Kelly. Kelly thinks Butler owes it more money. If there were no dispute between the parties about the fees, this lawsuit would not exist.
We will not engage in legal semantics to nullify the arbitration clause between the parties. The lawsuit concerning the 1999 agreement, although there are any number of allegations, still amounts to an effort by Butler to recover all fees it has paid Kelly. We hold the trial court did not err in dismissing those portions of Butler's petition which relate to the 1999 agreement. Those provisions are required to be submitted to binding arbitration.
The trial court, while it dismissed Butler's lawsuit under its 1999 agreement, also dismissed Butler's lawsuit based on the 2000 inventory agreement. We conclude the trial court erred in dismissing the cause of action based on the 2000 inventory agreement. The agreement concerning inventory was entered into approximately 6 months after the audit agreement and was reduced to writing by an engagement letter which was signed in April 2000. The engagement letter concerning the inventory contained no arbitration provision and estimated that Kelly's fees for that service would be approximately $4,100.
We see these as two separate agreements; there is no required arbitration clause in the inventory agreement entered into in April 2000, and the trial court erred in dismissing Butler's claims concerning that agreement.
The claims arising out of the 2000 agreement are not subject to binding arbitration, and, on remand, should be tried before the trial court.
Part of Butler's action asks the court to declare that it was not subject to arbitration in California regardless of whether further relief was sought or other claims raised.
The trial court apparently did not address nor did it decide this issue. It found that Butler and Kelly were parties having their domiciles in different states and that Butler "is a corporation that has publicly traded stock and derives its revenue from distribution of products throughout a nationwide market."
In this case, the trial court did not address Butler's declaratory judgment request because it determined all of the claims raised were preempted by the FAA and dismissed the entire petition. Although the trial court has authority to issue declaratory judgments, we are aware of no requirement that it do so. Butler provides us with no citations to show that it was error for the court to decline to rule on the declaratory judgment request.
However, it appears the trial court simply did not address the issue, and we suggest that the issue be addressed and decided on remand.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.


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A place to relax and reflect.
This front yard is our private little abode and our labour of love. When we purchased this new home, there was nothing but grass. So we decided to take on the task of building this garden. Year after year it kept growing and growing. Now it's about five years old and is mostly filled with perennial plans that attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. The majority of the plants were started from seeds that we planted ourselves in the basement under grow lights. The neighbours are always delighted when they pass by and see all the beautiful plants and colors. We enjoyed all the work that we put into building it. We think we've done alright for a mom and her three kids. This is our YardShare. Hope you enjoy the view.
Flower Close-ups Flower Garden Front Yard Garden Medium (1,000 - 5,000 sq ft.)
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Tips for Solving Word Games
Whether you're a game novice or a puzzle pro, you like to challenge your brain with word games such as crosswords, word scrambles, and cryptograms. Keep the following tips in mind to help you solve them:
Use a straight edge to guide your eyes if necessary, and check each row or column for the first letter of the word you're looking for.
If you get stuck on a word scramble, write the letters in as many different orders as possible until something looks familiar.
Look at one-, two-, and three-letter words first, and always use a pencil — you're likely going to make some guesses before arriving at the solution.


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Harder, better, faster, stronger.
It's not just the title of an iconic Daft Punk song. It's also the mantra of the age we live in - where scientists, artists and even do-it-yourself engineers continue to aim high and push the boundaries of their respective fields.
In the latest episode of Geeked Out, we feature some eye-catching examples including a head-spinning homemade multi-copter, Space X's self-landing rocket, a human slingshot and a LED powered bike straight out of "Tron."


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- About the Author |
- Customer Reviews |
- Author Q & A |
- Related Articles |
- Related Education |
- Downloads
Robert Martichenko
Robert began his lean journey working at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana and has over 15 years of lean supply chain and third-party logistics experience. He sits on the editorial advisory board of Logistics Quarterly magazine and is a trained six sigma black belt. A past president of the Cincinnati Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) roundtable, he now serves as a regional advisor to a group of CSCMP roundtables. He recently co-authored the business management book Lean Six Sigma Logistics. Robert also wrote the leadership handbook Success in 60 Seconds and the lean primer Everything I Know About Lean I Learned In First Grade. Robert also teaches global business at Saint Louis University's John Cook School of Business.
Kevin von Grabe
Kevin has focused his career on materials management, transportation, consulting and third party logistics. This experience includes multiple operational launches, including the "green field" start up at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana. Kevin's experience has provided him with several international experiences. These include operational start ups for Jabil Circuit at green field and brown field manufacturing plants in both Hungary and China. Kevin complements his years of logistics experience with a Bachelor's Degree in Logistics Management from Central Michigan University. Born in Detroit Michigan, Kevin currently resides in Kentucky with his wife Jeanette and son Kirk.
A Conversation with Robert Martichenko and Kevin von Grabe, authors of Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream: rethinking your supply chain and logistics to create maximum value at minimum total cost
Download the pdf or read the entire Q&A below.
Q. Why do you use the term "fulfillment stream" instead of the more common term "supply chain"?
Businesses traditionally have referred to this supply and shipping of materials to and from companies and customers as their supply chain. But the idea of a chain suggests something heavy, inflexible, and prone to jamming and kinking. It's a static image, rather than a dynamic one. Within a chain it's easy for managers to lose sight of the flow of value from start to finish, and instead focus on optimizing their one link of control, whether it's a process, department, or even an entire firm.
To capture the lean concept of smooth flow, we prefer to envision a stream of materials flowing to the customer, with the firms and facilities along the way serving as tributaries. We call this flow of parts and products a lean fulfillment stream. It's the flow of items from the beginning of the value-creating process all the way to the end. It includes all of the activities that move raw materials and information from materials suppliers to end customers.
Q. Why is it so important to focus on total cost of fulfillment?
We need to recognize that any business is a system of different departments, functions, and processes. In the absence of looking at the total cost of the system we will no doubt make decisions that minimize costs within a subset of the entire system. If we do not understand the implication of these decisions to the total cost of the system, we will likely sub-optimize and not minimize total cost.
Q. Why do you advocate using the inventory calculation of average days on hand, instead of inventory turns, which is used by many companies?
We use average days on hand as opposed to inventory turns because in order for us to calculate inventory carrying cost we need to understand our average days on hand (ADOH). Also, average days on hand provides us with better visibility to see opportunities. For example, if we are carrying 20 days on hand of Part 6789 but our lead time for this part is five days, it becomes visible that there is an opportunity to carry less inventory but still protect our production lines.
Regardless of the measure, it is important to look at inventory turns or average days on hand at the SKU level. Different SKUs should have different goals relative to inventory levels, different replenishment intervals and different ordering strategies. It might be perfectly acceptable for a low running, highly volatile SKU to have an ADOH of 25 while our goal for a high volume SKU with low volatility to have an ADOH of 3.
Q. What are a couple examples of common wastes in supply chains and logistics that most managers miss?
Trailer utilization: Most supply chain and logistics managers are told either that their trailers are full or "know" for themselves that their trailers are full. Often times they are not being fully utilized. When a trailer does arrive to their dock fully utilized it is typically a result of a "push" supply chain where the last 10% or 20% of the trailer is considered "free" and material is sent downstream regardless of a signal or trigger from the customer.
Q. What's a milk run?
A milk run is a transportation move that uses dedicated equipment but has either more than on shipper or more than one consignee. It resembles a Truck Load move in that it uses a dedicated piece of equipment but is more complex in that it will not contain just one origin and destination. This transportation strategy enables supply chain and logistics managers to increase velocity within their supply chains without using the Less Than Truckload network.
Q. Why do you think companies have applied lean to internal manufacturing processes but been slow to use them in the supply stream?
I think there are two reasons why companies have been slow to apply lean concepts to their supply chains. First there is typically an absolute ton of work to do within the four walls of their factories. They are able to see significant improvement just by focusing on areas that are completely within their control. But, at some point on their lean journeys they will become constrained by their supply chains. In order for them to continue, they will need to apply lean principles to their supply chains and introduce their supply chain partners to lean.
Second, supply chains are complex. Often times we do not have good visibility to what is actually happening day in and day out within our supply chains. Supply chain partnerships are often short in length and agreements and contracts do not lend themselves to collaboration.
Q. In your experience, what are the biggest mistakes companies make when trying to improve supply chain and logistics?
The single biggest mistake that we typically see is making decisions in absence of understanding total cost. Companies often work on projects, initiatives, and blitzes that focus on a small portion of total cost. For example we often see companies focus on transportation costs by shifting modes from LTL to Truck Load without fully understanding their inventory carrying cost, the impact of increasing lead time, and the impact of reduced scheduling flexibility.
- Carl Zeiss brings Lean to its distribution centers
- Q & A with Robert Martichenko and Joel Zeller, of Polaris Industries
An interview with author Robert Martichenko and Joel Zeller, director of logistics for Polaris Industries, describing the progress and pitfalls in applying lean supply chain principals, including how the conversion began, why, key challenges, and the reaction of suppliers.
- Lean Logistics & Supply Chain Networks: 8 Guiding Principles
Featuring Robert Martichenko and Kevin von Grabe
View the Webinar
Download the Slides
- Building the Lean Fulfillment Stream
The workshop highlights the critical elements and "must know" concepts of lean as they apply to the supply chain and logistics, and provides opportunities to discuss what organizations need to do to successfully build a Lean Fulfillment Stream. Beginning with understanding the current condition of your logistics and supply chain networks, this workshop will show how to map your value stream for the extended enterprise, isolate areas of waste and uncover opportunities for cost reduction through the use of lean principles. "Total Cost of Ownership" is a common theme through this workshop, as attendees discuss and dissect the importance of supplier and customer collaboration, cross-functional cooperation, and logistics and supply stream measurement.
LEI Workbook set
Buy all six of LEI's workbooks together and save 15%. Learn how to implement lean at the process, plant, and entire value-stream level with these Shingo Award winning books.


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Out of the Northwest Passage: West to East
|Overview • Detailed Itinerary • FAQ's • Testimonials • Dates & Prices
All prices are currently listed in USD.
Note: There is a single supplement amount applied to the cost of a trip to those who are travelling by themselves and do not wish to share. For our ship based trips this charge varies depending on the tour. Please contact us for more details.
Costing Note(s)Does not include $250 Discovery Fee.
1-800-741-7956 North America • 0808-234-1714 United Kingdom • 416-588-5000 Worldwide


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Everything Basements
- Basement Waterproofing
- Crawl Space Encapsulation
- Basement Finishing
- Mold Problems
Everything Foundation
- Bowing Foundation Walls
- Settlement And Cracking
- Concrete Lifting and Leveling
- Sinking Floors Over Crawl Spaces
About Us
Mike & Gayle Rusk are the owners of Ohio Basement Systems, exclusive dealers for Basement Systems and Supportworks, Inc.
Ohio Basement Systems represents the very best in product innovation, and quality for all the below-grade structures of your home: including basements, crawl spaces, foundation walls, concrete slabs,... Customer service and sales integrity are core factors in the company's culture and are major considerations when selecting partnering businesses and new products or vendors.
Mike Rusk has built his business from the ground up literally starting with basement waterproofing then expanding to basement finishing and foundation and crawl space repairs.
Mike and his wife, Gayle, know from experience that there is a right way and a wrong way to making structural and basement water management improvements to a home. They want to help others make the right decisions and avoid costly mistakes while making homes more healthy and structurally sound. They look forward to hearing from you!
Contact Us For A Free Estimate
For a free no-obligation estimate, please complete the quick form below or call us today at 855-55-Basement!


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InJoyee release free adventurous game Dragon Runaway onto iOS App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch entertainment.
The little dragon's adventure begins as a meteor from the outer space is on its track of hitting the earth, the little dragon who used to live his carefree life now has to run for survival. Through endless deserts, dangerous jungles, tropical islands, and bleak snow mountains, with a bit of help from the hills along the journey, the little tough creature uses his teeny tiny wings to fly away from this imminent danger believing the hope of finding a new home. Is he gonna make it? It is totally up to you!
Highlights of Dragon Runaway:
* Six different backgrounds
* 16 achievements waiting to be accomplished
* 3 different and upgradable props
* Free treats to collect all the way
* Lifelike physics
* Beautiful graphics
* Game Center supported
* Various way to share the game with friends
Device Requirements:
- Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
- Requires iOS 4.1 or later.
- Size: 16.0 MB


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A letter from the president
The company that evolved into Synergy Software began in 1983 on the wild frontier of the computer industry, and I, fortunately, was there to watch. Our business actually started as peripherals, computers and supplies, slightly ahead of the whirlwind in computer software. We were quickly drawn into the vortex and changed our name to Synergy Software. That choice of names always reflected our gratitude for the internal synergy of our talents, but also our thanks for the interest and input from our users. We have always really enjoyed opportunities to talk to our customers about what they do and how we can help. We are very proud of the important work that we assist. Whether you found us, or we found you, we are eternally grateful for your contributions to our products, and for your continued support.
Our Customers
Governmental regulator uses KaleidaGraph to monitor water quality in Washington --more
KaleidaGraph helps researchers discover a key pheromone in honeybees - essential for U.S. agricultural health --more
Researchers use KaleidaGraph to analyze the brain's selection mechanism for preferential processing --more
Non-profit organization uses KaleidaGraph to provide vital information to policy makers in northwestern Montana --more


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Fat Man Tours - 2011
Joao - The Fat Man
"So where's the fat man?" We were routinely asked following introducing ourselves.
"I'm the fat man" Joao always proudly replied, embracing their confused looks with satisfaction.
And he's serious. Sort of. At 5' 8" and no more than 160lbs it's not the simplest thing to understand. He still fits in his Castelli kit. "Yeah, they make it in lots of sizes" He'll tell you. A look at the man's belt displays that he means what he says, however. Every hole shows signs of wear. Extended wear. He has been the fat man and he has come back, cinching his belt up along the way. Thankfully, he still dabbles. Though no longer the 205lbs he once was, he'll still eat with the stomach of his once larger self. Not always of course, but in the autumn, in Lecchi, with his handful of disciples he rarely holds back. And he won't let you either.
Everyone fears the unknown
Brad was sitting on the edge of his bed. Slumped over, elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He was rubbing his cheeks and forehead as if he was going to be able to wake himself up from this.
"I think I'm going to explode" He said through his hands.
We'd just come from dinner. My pants were also unfastened. This trip does require a certain level of fitness. I, thankfully, had some idea of what I was in for. I've known Joao for some time, but his talent is elevated higher still while on home turf. I would modestly estimate that for every hour we spend riding we spend two hours eating and drinking. This may strike some as surprising. But Il Palio di Siena lasts only ninety seconds, and the Sienese party for four days before that, so what's the big deal? Sadly, Brad isn't from Siena. None of us are. Yet somehow we all wake up hungry the following morning, ready to do it all again.
A master's wisdom
Da Vinci was really onto something. If the bicycle was indeed conceived in this area, it makes sense. This is the way riding should be. Or most of it is at least. If asked at a rest stop mid-way through L'Eroica some may weigh the issue momentarily. But L'Eroica happens only once a year and is the sort of event that feels better the further you get from it. The 42x21 gearing, the twenty five plus pounds of cutting edge six speed technology, the recently changed and glue-less tire you're leaning on through the corners, all that discomfort is somehow forgiven and forgotten, melting seamlessly into an unrestrained hope to do it again. Maybe it's the Ribollita (traditional Tuscan bean soup), maybe it's the wine, maybe it's the eighty year old man breathlessly passing you up a climb on his three speed. You simply know you want to come back.
Si, grazie
I finally looked up the Italian word for "no" after about three or four days in Lecchi. I try to arm myself with a few helpful words and phrases when in new places. I'd been lazy here though and hadn't gone through this educational exercise in Italian. I figured it started with an "N" but I hadn't heard it spoken and I hadn't found myself in a position to need it. There simply isn't anything to say no to in Lecchi. Cappuccino? Lasagna? Salad? Vino? Aqua con gas? Si, Paolo, si. Grazie. Bene, molto bene. Grazie, Paolo. Going to Paolo's everyday affords you the false sense of actually knowing Italian. He offers, you agree. No miscommunication. Ever. An enthusiastic nod and quick regurgitation of glad phrases I'd heard from others hadn't led me astray yet, but still, on principle, I thought I should look it up. Not that I was going to change my approach. No, non è una possibilità.
Venturing out
We packed into the Great Wall - Hover 5 (the archetypical made in China automobile) and headed to the Bologna area to catch the 94th edition of the Giro dell'Emilia. It's a classic in its own right, as a list of recent winners quickly showcases – Ulrich, Bartoli, Basso, Simoni, Rebellin, Schleck, Di Lucca, Gesink - but it's also an important part of many riders preparation for the Giro di Lombardia, held one week later. Laurens Ten Dam shared with us over dinner a couple of nights ago that this was going to be his approach. Strive for a good result at Emilia, but with a sharper eye on Lombardia. He'd been with us Fat Men in Lecchi for a few days. He swapped his fork and Lebowski - el duderino tee shirt for a Rabobank bike and jersey and we were anxious to cheer him on. The race did a big loop and then finished with a five laps on a finishing circuit which contained a nasty 2.2k climb at about 15%. Just looking at the hill made us hungry. LTD didn't win, but he looked the happiest of the bunch, so we chalked it up as a victory. Following the race we headed to the Liquigas hotel with another wise pro, Ted King, who had also been sampling the Fat Man life with us for the past few days. He says he didn't gain any weight, but that's bull shit. Teddy picked up a bike from the mechanics and the rest of us looked around. Basso didn't seem fazed by the 200k he'd just done. He looked as though he'd just woken up from a nap and could go for a coffee. We eyeballed carbon tid bits for a while and then set to finding dinner.
The roads are inspiring and tempting. In no time you can feel at home, sliding your bike through tight switchbacks like a jockey ripping around the corners of Piazzo del Campo, bareback on a powerful horse. But unlike Il Palio, should a fellow fat man contradaioli lose his machine or his way, we wait. We set him right and aid him to dinner.
We weren't following the three on one off schedule that the trainer suggested. Nor were we bringing the nutritionist to dinner. I think I caught him wiping away a tear during his power point presentation. Poor guy. We were all sweating, hungrily looking at out watches. It had been a good three hours since our last meal. Lipids? Not now.
I, Fat Man
Siena has seventeen contrade. It was all clearly explained to us by Dario who kindly showed us around the museum of his contrade, that of the Lupa (she wolf). Each contrade has its own neighborhood, building, museum and patron saint. We certainly felt a part of that spirit. Fat Man Tours contrade, located at the Borgolecchi in Lecchi in Chianti. Patron Saint - Joao Miguel da Silva Correia - part Dionysus, part pro cyclist. A chaotic and beautiful union of gastronomic over indulgence and athletic discipline.
Ying and Yang
Jorge rarely speaks. His expression never changes. He wakes, he works, he eats, and he sleeps. Raul never stops talking. I bet that's what happened to his voice - one day he lost it and just talked through it, into that sweet cough his voice has become. Day and night he talks. "The guy should have been in theatre." Joao commented during one of Raul's presentations. Neither Raul nor Jorge speaks English, but Raul's energetic theatrical presentation and George's calm silence transcend spoken language. And besides, even Joao doesn't know what Raul's saying half the time. He just shakes his head "he's talking... talking about... he's just talking."
Ask and you shall receive
Raul and Jorge are a sort of Portuguese pro cycling version of Penn and Teller. Jorge is a picture of professionalism. Every task is met with a soft smile and an understanding nod. Raul differs stylistically. Instead of a smile and a nod, Raul favors wild gesticulations, a terrific spectrum of facial expressions and what is likely a detailed description of all of the gross human rights violations he and Jorge have recently been subjected to. 4am airport runs, cleaning bikes, tuning bikes, stem changes, bike changes, fit changes, departure times, meeting places, bottles, ride food, laundry, six massages... not a problem. If it's met with a smile and a nod, or a performance worthy of a Tony, consider it good as done.
We were driving back from dinner. Raul was our designated driver and he was asleep in the backseat. There was a discussion going on between Jorge and Joao. Every once in a while Raul would stir and slip a few words in. "Raul Strong" Jorge kept saying, with a voice full of energetic conviction. "Raul Strong." We pulled over shortly thereafter. Raul roused and took the wheel. He talked the whole way back, likely cursing us for sticking him with the driving. Conveniently, however, if you don't understand Portuguese, everything Raul says sounds warm and poetic. This gentle man, upset? Impossible. Jorge reassured him the whole way. "Raul Strong." Yes. Raul Strong.
Paolo, Lecchi's paternal overseer, eats faster than anyone I've ever seen. Working from 6am-9pm spurs an appetite. Every morning Paolo, aided by his only employee Samuel, restocks his mother's small grocery and has his cafe open before the rest of Lecchi has set a foot out of bed. He also has some of the largest hands I've ever seen. These powerful mitts serve the fastest and finest post ride ravioli, lasagna and tuna salad you'll ever find. And not surprisingly, these hands can also grip handlebars with expertise. Every once in a while he'll swap his apron for a cycling kit and show you how Italians descend. Of course he goes downhill fast. I wouldn't fear oncoming traffic either had I hands like that. He eats faster than he descends, I would wager, but not by much. And should his meal be at the bottom of the hill, all bets are off.


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Costell - Day N Night (Gay N Tight) [Comedy Parody][Audio]
Costell reports "This is "Not A Diss Record" To Kid Cudi just a funny song about guys that front like their not gay who wear the most extreme tightest jeans (because of a fad) but still claim to be G's Alot of ya'll will find this funny rather than offensive its koo ya'll will probably see a mu fucka like this soon if ya haven't already Either way ya'll be easy man Rock fitted shit or regular shit man let woman be woman fam 1"
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton, who made the Environmental Protection Agency a Cabinet-level department, was honored on Wednesday with the renaming of the EPA headquarters building after him.
Speaking at the ceremony for the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, and surrounded by many of his former colleagues, Clinton rebutted criticism from EPA critics that pro-environmental policies were often job killers, and said they were vital to economic growth in this century.
The event came as the Senate neared a confirmation vote on the nomination of Gina McCarthy as the new EPA administrator. McCarthy, currently the EPA's top clean-air official, is expected to be confirmed in a roll-call vote as early as this week after a months-long partisan battle.
Republican lawmakers held up the nomination while pushing for more transparency about the agency's decision-making process.
The EPA will be at the center of President Barack Obama's recently announced climate action plan. It has been directed to establish rules to limit greenhouse gases from the country's thousands of power plants, which account for more than one-third of emissions.
Clinton, who was president from 1993 to 2001, credited his vice president, Al Gore, for ensuring that the EPA gave business and industry flexible, market-based options to comply with regulations he said shielded them from soaring costs and job losses.
"You can have a growing economy with more jobs and rising incomes and a sustainable environmental policy," Clinton said in a speech.
Carol Browner, an EPA chief under Clinton and a former Obama energy czar, said Clinton empowered the EPA to enact necessary rules at a time of congressional gridlock, which she said would help McCarthy as she takes the reins of the agency.
The classical revival-style building in downtown Washington dates back to the 1930s and became EPA headquarters in 2002.
Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Ros Krasny and Peter Cooney


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I'm using Zarafa 7.2.0 with Outlook 2016. In Outlook i've 2 maps for junk mail (Ongewenste E-mail and Ongewenste e-mail).
Outlook does apparently not see that these are the same maps due the capital E.
Can i somewhere change this.
I've renamed the folders with foldernames.php in to Dutch (nl_NL.UTF-8)


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From inside the book
81 pages matching apothecia common in this book
Where's the rest of this book?
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LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - 2wonderY - LibraryThing
Disappointing. Instead of presenting the various species in a fashion that promotes the different growth styles, they are listed alphabetically. The pictures are not only black & white, some of them ... Read full review
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3-6 cm broad 8/ascus algae apothecia common apothecia lacking apothecia rare apothecia very rare branches brownish Bryoria Cetraria cilia Cladonia closely adnate cm long cm tall collected Collema conifers Cortex and medulla Cortex K+ yellow Culb dark brown deciduous deciduous trees fatty acids foliose fruticose greenish mineral gray Hale Figure hand lens Heterodermia humus Hypotrachyna isidia K+ yellow atranorin laminal Leptogium lichen light mineral gray lobe tips lobulate loosely adnate loosely attached lower surface black lower surface white medulla K+ yellow moderately rhizinate mosses North America open areas open woods P+ orange P+ red P+ red fumarprotocetraric Parmelia Parmotrema Peltigera Phaeophyscia Physcia Podetia primary squamules Pseudoparmelia pycnidia Ramalina rhizines salazinic acid shiny soil soralia soredia sparsely rhizinate species spores colorless suberect Thallus dark Thallus whitish mineral thecia tomentose tomentum trees in open Tuck Umbilicaria Upper cortex upper surface Usnea usnic acid whitish mineral gray wide Widespread Xanthoparmelia yellowish green


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Castleton, Vt. –Krista Ledin (Bridgewater, Mass.) notched her UMass Boston record-breaking 52nd career goal just under five minutes into overtime, as UMass Boston women's soccer outlasted Castleton State College (2-3) 2-1 in overtime Sunday afternoon in the consolation match of the Castleton State College Tournament.
Ledin's third goal of the season helped UMass Boston (2-2) break their two-game losing streak and broke a tie with former teammate Kristin Mulry ('12) for first-place all-time in school history for career goals. The junior forward passed Mulry in the first game of the year in career points (120) and also stands first all-time in school history with her 14 career game-winning goals.
Fellow forward Tayla Andrews (Plymouth, Mass.) finished with a goal and an assist on the game-winner, while senior midfielder Sam Cristoforo (Rockland, Mass.) recorded her first point of the year with an assist on Andrews' goal.
Sophomore keeper Kristen Spain (Quincy, Mass.) was credited with three saves on four shots on goal to move to 2-2 on the season and help the Beacons down the regionally-ranked Spartans.
The Spartans nearly got on the board first when Mallory Costello swiped a pass from a UMB defender and moved down the right flank in the ninth minute. The forward crossed the ball across the goalmouth, but the Spartans couldn't put a body on the receiving end, and the pass went begging wide.
The Beacons got on the board first instead, when Andrews buried a goal in the 16th minute. The senior gathered a pass from Cristoforo at the top of the box and calmly placed it in the top corner to give UMB the 1-0 lead in the early going.
Castleton answered just three minutes later with a goal from Morgan Young. Jessica Phillips crossed the ball from the left side when freshman Dominique Valancius popped it up into the air. Young attacked the ball in the air and launched a half-volley into the side netting to knot the game at 1-1.
In the second half, each team had several opportunities, with Castleton outshooting the Beacons 12-9 in the frame. The Spartans' best chance came on a shot from Jenna Bostwick. The junior launched a shot from the top of the box, but Spain dove to make a full-extension save, turning away the Spartans' chance to take the lead.
In the overtime frame, the Spartans had one look at goal, but couldn't convert. On a counter-attack, Andrews beat a defender and dribbled down the right flank. The forward crossed the ball in front of the goalmouth where Ledin cleaned up the play, burying the ball and giving the Beacons the 2-1 win.
UMass Boston will have three days off, before they take on #25 Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts on Thursday at 4:00 p.m.
Information for this release provided by Castleton State College Sports Information Department


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Three members of a key City Council committee say they oppose Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's proposal to more than double the city's bottle tax — enough to kill the bill.
That has angered supporters of the bill, who accuse Councilman Carl Stokes, the chairman of the council's Taxation, Finance and Economic Development Committee, of holding back public education.
The tax increase is part of the mayor's plan to fix dilapidated schools. Stokes is one of the three council members on the five-member committee who oppose it.
"Councilman Stokes is standing as a roadblock toward improving the quality of our schools for our children," said Bishop Douglas Miles, chairman of the interfaith group Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development. He accused Stokes of "deliberately misleading the public" about the issue.
Stokes — who briefly ran against Rawlings-Blake in the last mayoral election — and fellow committee members Bill Henry and Warren Branch say they oppose the bottle tax hike because they are convinced the plan would hurt city businesses by encouraging customers to buy beverages more cheaply over the county line.
The committee's other two members, Edward Reisinger and William H. Cole IV, support the plan.
Stokes called accusations that he is bottling the bill up in his committee "laughable."
"If they want me to call the vote, it loses," he said.
Rawlings-Blake's proposal would increase the bottle tax from 2 cents to 5 cents in July 2013, a move projected to generate roughly $10 million more in revenue. At least nine members of the 14-member council have publicly stated their support — enough for passage, if the measure could make it out of Stokes' committee.
Reisinger, Rawlings-Blake and Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young met with Stokes recently to try to persuade him to change his position, according to Reisinger.
Reisinger said Stokes should vote the bill out of committee, even if he opposes it, in the interest of giving the full council the final say. Alternatively, he said, the committee could pass the legislation to the full council without a recommendation.
"Stokes is doing an injustice to the council and his colleagues," Reisinger said. "He's being stubborn about it. Sometimes I think some of my colleagues don't want to see the mayor have a win."
Henry said he opposes the bottle tax increase because there could be better options available to raise the money for schools. He has proposed a tax on billboards that he says would raise more than $1 million.
Stokes has proposed charging $5 million in fees to colleges, hospitals and other nonprofits for beds used within the city limits. He also thinks revenues generated by speed cameras could be used to pay for school construction. He also suggested the mayor could completely overhaul the budget, using existing funds for police for the schools.
"We should reorder the current budget," Stokes said. "I think the money is there now."
Branch said he opposes the tax increase because it would negatively affect residents in his district. He fears layoffs if the bill passes.
Henry said the proposal "would not be the first bill to die in committee, and it will not be the last."
Rawlings-Blake wants to combine funds raised from the bottle tax with 10 percent of the revenue from the city's planned slots casino and $12 million in savings from a recalculation of teacher pensions to create a $23 million stream of revenue that could leverage $300 million in bonds.
Rawlings-Blake spokesman Ryan O'Doherty said Stokes has "a number of options to allow the full council to get a full up-or-down vote on a critical issue for funding schools," such as those suggested by Reisinger.
O'Doherty said several of Stokes' alternative proposals either violate existing contracts with institutions or are not viable.
Stokes said he could bring the measure up for a vote as early as June. He said the committee must first analyze the budget to see if additional revenue streams are needed. If they are, he said, the committee will consider the bottle tax along with several other tax increases.
ttle tax along with several other tax increases.


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White House Goes Solar, After All
Looking back a few weeks, we were bitterly disappointed when the White House failed to act on our request that they put solar panels back on the roof.
But in truth, I'm almost happy that they waited. Today's announcement that the Obamas will be taking their showers and cooking their breakfast courtesy of the sun could not have come at a better moment. We're four days away from the start of the weekend's giant Global Work Party, and this is the perfect example of everything that we've been talking about for almost a year: It demonstrates the power of individual actions to carry political impact.
People get that. It's why this weekend's big day of work is looking to be even bigger than last year's rally, which CNN called "the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history." As of this morning, we had 6,227 actions in 185 countries. If you know folks in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, or East Timor, encourage them to round the total out (We've pretty much given up on North Korea). It's going to be an amazing day—sumo wrestlers riding bikes in Tokyo, Filipinos replanting mangrove forests, and the president of the Maldives putting up his solar panel.
Would we rather have comprehensive climate legislation? We would—which is why, on Sunday, people will put down their hammers and shovels, pick up their cellphones, and in all those countries call their presidents, prime ministers, Politburos to say: 'I'm getting to work, what about you?'
And when they call the White House, they'll be able to add: 'Thanks for making a real start."
Last year's mobilization involved more than 5,200 events in 181 of the world's countries. Check out this video:
- for information on planning your own 10/10/10 work party.
- A of last year's historic global mobilization.
- Bill McKibben on .


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CORDÉE SUR LES ARÊTES DE ROCHEFORT IIAbout this photograph
With his passion for mountains, over the years, Jean François Hagenmuller has turned a sporting quest into a quest for beauty and light. Despite his camera being his constant companion on his numerous high altitude incursions, it was only over time that photography took predominance over the sporting side of mountaineering. The intensity of the light in these high places, the aesthetic of the shapes and materials has become an inexhaustible source of inspiration for him, allowing him to brilliantly combine sensations of balance, vertigo and motion: "Mont Blanc is my gem stone, its tawny granite with its powerful oranges and its delicately poised snow ridges, its blue glaciers and turbulent skies. It is a high altitude island, one of the most spectacular in existence, where the natural elements play a game that's sometimes violent, often subtle, caught between shadow and light, calm and storm, the horizontal and the vertical. " J-F. H.Read more Read less
The photographs are carefully packaged in order to ensure their optimal protection during transport.
Jean-François Hagenmuller was born in 1958 in Alsace. He has been a mountain guide and teacher at the École Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme in Chamonix since 1985. Fascinated by Mont-Blanc and the spectacle provided by nature, he turned to his second passion, photography, in order to transpose his impressions of the beauty and serenity of the landscape at high altitude into images. His photographs reflect his intimate and everyday relationship with the mountain, which he knows from its tiniest variations to its most beautiful views. He became a professional photographer in 1995 and contributes regularly to a number of specialist magazines. He also produces books, one of which, Lumières d'altitudes published by Éditions Glénat in 2004, won the World Mountain Image Book Award. Jean-François Hagenmuller is today considered one of the greatest contemporary photographers of the Alpine region.


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Vogue calls diamond engagement rings 'uncool'
If you're dreaming of the day he'll finally "put a ring on it", never mind all that -- at least, according to Vogue. The magazine's website recently published an op-ed by contributor Lizzie Garrett Mettler denouncing the diamond engagement ring as an unnecessary expense. Um, wait. What?
To be fair, the writer does make a solid point. Diamonds are expensive, and there are other things she and her fiancee could have spent their money on. She also touches on the cultural implications of big, fancy diamond engagement rings. When a girl sports one for the first time (or any time, really), she's immediately deluged with quandaries as to where the ring was purchased, how big it is, and how many carats it's made of. The author felt uncomfortable wearing her "supposed economic status" on her finger.
Additionally, her diamond engagement ring was a point of guilt.
"Ostensibly, my ring was a sparkly reminder to my husband of the day he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him, but to me it was a reminder of the debt he went into to pay for it-as a graduate student, no less," Mettler writes.
Mettler thinks she may have identified a shift in thinking towards diamond engagement rings -- a trend steering away from the classic, age-old tradition. "For many of the women whose style I most admire, it seems, diamond rings are just no longer cool," Mettler writes.
We're not sure we're totally buying it. After all, Mary-Kate Olsen got engaged this past January, to the tune of an $80,000 vintage Cartier ring. And of course, we can't forget Kim Kardashian's massive rock. Many women still dream of diamonds, but only time will tell if the diamond ring is truly "uncool".
Click through the gallery below to see a history of celebrity diamond engagement rings.


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Related Resource
International Benchmarking of U.S. Chemical Engineering Research Competitiveness (April 2007)Report in Brief
More than $400 billion worth of products rely on innovations in chemistry. Chemical engineering, as an academic discipline and profession, has enabled this achievement. In response to growing concerns over the future of the discipline, the National Science Foundation asked the National Research Council to conduct an in-depth benchmarking analysis to gauge the standing of the U.S. chemical engineering enterprise in the world, based on measures including numbers of published papers, citations, trends in degrees conferred, patent productivity, and awards. The analysis found that the U.S. publishes more papers than any other single nation, and that 73 of the 100 most cited papers in chemical engineering literature during the period 2000-2006 came from the United States. The report concludes that the United States is presently, and is expected to remain, among the world's leaders in all subareas of chemical engineering research, especially in biocatalysis and protein engineering; cellular and metabolic engineering; systems, computational, and synthetic biology; nanostructured materials; fossil energy and extraction and processing; non-fossil energy, and green engineering. However, U.S. leadership in some classical and emerging subareas will be strongly challenged. For example, Japan and other Asian countries are particularly competitive in materials-oriented research, and Europe is very competitive in the bio-related research.


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One of the very real dangers in the debate on how to fix American healthcare is that women's health will become a bargaining chip, with the GOP and anti-abortion forces trying to frame healthcare reform as an endrun to government 'interference' in our lives by 'mandating' abortion and gasp, contraception. Amanda Marcotte has an excellent post here that deconstructs the root of why they are using this tactic and looks at media complicity in fomenting these blatantly misogynist attempts to derail healthcare reform.
But I suspect that anti-choicers latched onto taxpayer-funded abortions, because they can count on a lot of the public to imagine the government funding female licentiousness.
Planned Parenthood has also issued an excellent press release (that should be read in its entirety) debunking the myths about abortion and healthcare reform proposals that are being circulated,
Singling out abortion for exclusion from plans in a health insurance exchange is both discriminatory and harmful to women's health. With the majority of private insurance plans covering abortion today, any attempt to restrict this coverage in the health insurance exchange would constitute an unprecedented restriction on women - taking benefits away that they currently have today.
The unfortunate truth is that women's health is not a priority in the national discussion about the critically ill state of our national healthcare. As Jodi Jacobson writes,
(Obama's) support for a woman's right to choose and for access to the services needed to prevent unintended pregnancy, stem the spread of infections and ensure all women have primary reproductive health care won't be enough to secure passage of a health reform bill that includes these essential health services.
In fact, both Republicans and conservative Democrats are pushing for restrictions in health reform legislation that could result in the loss of current benefits to millions of women.
Jacobson goes on to explain how Republicans may use abortion and contraception denial as a bargaining chip for their support of legislation and the devastating effect this could have on women's health:
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In order to ensure all Americans are covered, most health reform proposals include options for "insurance exchanges" and other methods through which the federal government might partially subsidize the costs of insurance coverage for those without employer-based insurance, or those who can not afford to pay out-of-pocket for an insurance policy. What the Republicans and the Democrats opposed to continuing current coverage (including current abortion coverage) for women want to do is to eliminate the possibility of coverage from either subsidized or private plans whether or not the federal government is subsidizing a particular person.
This is sort of like applying the "global gag rule" to private insurance plans because even if you are paying for 90 percent of your policy, the restrictions apply both to the federally funded portion (10 percent) as well as to the 90 percent of the policy you pay for. Moreover, some analysts believe the implication is that even in cases where you pay for 100 percent of the policy you choose, if the federal government is involved in any way in that insurance plan by subsidizing others, your coverage would still be restricted.
Martha Burk also points out that age-rating is also a potential bargaining point that would discriminate against people between the ages of 50-65, and " would particularly affect older single women, already lower on the income scale and less likely to have employer coverage. And as we have noted before, there is a gross inequity in the current system that forces many women to pay far more for health insurance than men do.
During the next few weeks, if not the next few days, the U.S. Congress and President Obama will be making decisions that will impact the health of every person in this country. The bottom line is that while a single-payer plan is undoubtedly the best thing that could happen to our collective health, the political chances of that happening are close to nil. And it is entirely possible that the compromises that will be made to placate Republican and anti-reproductive rights votes as well as the insurance and pharmacy companies that give so generously to politicians on both sides of the aisle will leave us with a healthcare situation that is only marginally better and could even become worse for some, including many women.
The time to take action is now. Call or write to your elected representatives. Or better yet, drop by and visit. Tell them that you want meaningful reform that provides for the health of every American. Tell them how much you spend on health care and health insurance. Tell them about coverage and care that was denied. Make it clear to them that the last election really was a mandate for change and that the American public will not abide by the business as usual that is continually selling us down the river. Our lives depend on it.
Addenda: The Urban Institute Health Policy Center has published an excellent analysis of the real financial impact of health care reform which should be read in its entirety. Among the highlights:
- $1.6 trillion is an estimate recently put forth by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the cost of the Senate Finance Committee's health plan.
- While these numbers are indeed somewhat alarming initially, they need to be put in context. One source of confusion is that the $1.6 trillion is a 10-year number. Between 2010 and 2019, the total amount of gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to be $187 trillion, according to CBO.1 Thus, the estimated gross costs of health reform are less than 1 percent of the GDP over that period. And, importantly, the $1.6 trillion is a total or gross estimate. Other government costs would be reduced as a result of expanding coverage so significantly.
- The government costs also ignore the private savings to employers and individuals resulting from reform.
- Absent reform, total health care expenditures, public and private, will total $33.0 trillion, over the ten years 2010-2019.3 The $1.2 trillion that we estimate in net new spending will therefore increase expected health costs by only 3.5 percent. The problem that the nation faces is not the small increment necessary to expand coverage to the uninsured, but the high and growing baseline costs of the system. The high system costs must be addressed through payment and delivery system reforms.
- (F)ailing to enact comprehensive reform carries substantial costs as well. We recently analyzed changes in coverage and expenditures for a 10-year period, if reform was not enacted, using different assumptions about economic growth and health care cost increases. We showed that, absent reform, there would be considerable loss of employer coverage, particularly among the middle class, and a substantial increase in the number of uninsured, from an estimated 49 million in 2009 to over 60 million in 2019. The number of nonelderly people enrolled in Medicaid would increase substantially, from 44 million in 2009 to well over 50 million by 2019, increasing state and federal government costs appreciably. Because of the greater number of uninsured, the amount of uncompensated care that hospitals and clinics would provide would also increase dramatically, putting further pressure on government budgets. We estimate that Medicaid spending would increase over the 10 years by about $800 billion without reform and that the costs of uncompensated care by about $250 billion.
- Without health reform, employer costs would also increase substantially, as would costs to individuals and families from higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs.


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Latest News
LSU crushes Ohio State in BCS championship game
NEW ORLEANS — Too easy.
No. 2 LSU danced, dodged and darted its way into the end zone Monday night, turning the BCS national championship game into a horrible replay for No. 1 Ohio State. It was over early, with Matt Flynn throwing four touchdown passes in a 38-24 win.
Playing at their home-away-from-home in the Big Easy, LSU (12-2) became the first two-loss team to play for the title. Shouts of ''SEC! SEC!'' bounced around the Superdome as the Tigers won their second BCS crown in five seasons. They are the first school to win a second title since BCS rankings began with the 1998 season.
And in a season of surprises, this was hardly an upset: Ohio State once again fell apart in college football's biggest game. A year after the Buckeyes were routed by Tim Tebow and Florida 41-14 in the Arizona desert, they barely did better.
Jacob Hester bulled for a short touchdown, Early Doucet wiggled loose for a touchdown and All-American Glenn Dorsey led a unit that outplayed the top-ranked defense in the nation. Ohio State (11-2) had little to celebrate after Chris ''Beanie'' Wells broke loose for a 65-yard TD run on the fourth play of the game.
Yet while LSU got to hoist the $30,000 crystal trophy, certainly many fans around the country were peering into their crystal balls, wondering if someone else was worthy of the title. Southern California, Georgia, West Virginia, Kansas and Missouri all put on impressive shows in bowl games, and will be among the favorites in 2008.
The final Associated Press poll was to be released early Tuesday.