text:
The late Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh once said that if he had slain all his political enemies yesterday, he would have no friends today.
It's another way of saying that nothing is permanent in politics. And that especially holds true in California's elections, where the newly-numbered list of November ballot measures looks strangely familiar.
Take heart, voters. The list of 11 propositions numbered by Secretary of State Debra Bowen isn't the longest ballot they've faced.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
There were 13 propositions in November of 2006 and 16 in November of 2004, for example.
But a number of measures this fall are the equivalent of asking voters to re-do their homework.
Interest groups and a small but vigorous initiative industry ensure that some measures simply get recycled.
Proposition 32 is a prime example.
It would ban labor unions and corporations from collecting dues for political purposes. It's a major threat to union political muscle and ensures labor will spend big to defeat it.
It's also a road we've been down before.
Voters rejected a similar measure, Prop 75, in 2005 as part of a drubbing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took that year as his reform measures were killed.
Voters rejected another version, Prop 226, back in 1998.
Another example this year is Proposition 36. It would modify sentencing requirements of California's Three Strikes law aimed at career offenders.
Voters rejected a previous effort to modify the law, Prop 66, in November of 2004.
Proposition 39 this year is another effort to raise corporate taxes. It would undo a previous agreement on a tax formula used by multi-state corporations.
Voters voted to keep that same agreement in November of 2010, just two years ago.
The upcoming vote on California's death penalty is more of a long-term question.
Back in 1978, voters approved Prop 7, which expanded use of capital punishment. This year, Prop 34 asks voters whether their views have changed so fundamentally that they believe the death penalty should be abandoned altogether.
And of course there's the big enchilada..the issue of taxes.
California voters rejected Prop 1A, a package of temporary taxes in the May 2009 special election.
This year, Gov. Jerry Brown has Prop 30, a package of temporary taxes he says is needed to avoid deep cuts in public education.
It's fair to expect that, as circumstances evolve, voters are asked to weigh in on familiar topics. But there's also a sense of deja vu.
Voters are on a road already well-traveled.


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How to Turn Trips to The Store Into Adventures for Your Kids
Are your errand days excruciating, with kids complaining and nagging about going from store to store?
Do you rush through your shopping, trying to finish before the kids melt down?
Tired of hearing, "are we done yet?"
What if there was a way to get your kids excited about running errands? To make them beg to go out shopping?
In this article I'll teach you how to turn your weekly chores into a fun challenge game that will hold your kids' interest until you get home.
It may even help with their math skills and teach them to be smarter consumers, but we'll keep that between us!
Why Play an Errand Day Game?
Running errands is just one of those things you have to do—a necessary part of life. When your kids complain and fuss, the chore becomes even worse.
I'll teach you how my family was able to transform a day of drudgery into a fun filled family day of play with a simple game and how you can do the same.
You'll still have to get your shopping done, but when the kids are happy, you'll be happy, too, and the task will be much more pleasant.


text:
Praise for Tuf Voyaging
"A rich blend of adventure, humor, compassion and all the other things that make being human worthwhile."—Analog
"A new facet of Martin's manysided talent."—Asimov's
Praise for George R. R. Martin
"Of those who work in the grand epic-fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best. In fact . . . this is as good a time as any to proclaim him the American Tolkien."—Time
"Long live George Martin . . . a literary dervish, enthralled by complicated characters and vivid language, and bursting with the wild vision of the very best tale tellers."—The New York Times
"I always expect the best from George R. R. Martin, and he always delivers."—Robert Jordan


text:
July 29, 2008
Gammons Unleashes More Vitriol
Following up his comments to WBZ's Dan Roche, Peter Gammons unloads double barrels of venom and vitriol on Manny Ramirez in his latest ESPN column.
Gammons assassinates Manny's character, calling him out as a coward who shrinks from facing certain pitchers and uninterested in anything and anyone but himself and his bulging wallet. Even if some (or even all) of what he says about Ramirez and his teammates is true -- Ken Rosenthal reported that Manny had told several teammates he was considering sitting out the entire nine-game homestand (Yankees, Angels, A's) -- Gammons's indignant and angry tone is highly unusual for a supposedly detached journalist.
But Gammons has never thought highly of Ramirez -- calling him an "overpriced DH" with "the worst contract in baseball." Manny came to the Red Sox thanks to Dan Duquette, a man for whom Gammons has made no secret of his hatred and disgust. Back when Duquette was the Red Sox GM, no Gammons column was complete without a gratuitous swipe at Duquette.
The question is: How much fire is there amid all this smoke?
In my post from yesterday, I wondered if there were any extenuating circumstances around the 12 games that Ramirez has not started this season. Adam Hart at Boston Score did some fine research.
I was reminded that Manny met with his agent Scott Boras on Friday, July 18 when the Red Sox began their road trip against the Angels. Boras told the Globe's Nick Cafardo: "We'll have a discussion about Manny's future." Manny's unhappiness with Red Sox management was reported by Rob Bradford either later that day or the following day. (Also, Bob Lobel's comments about Manny tanking against Rivera were aired on the morning of the 18th.)
34 comments:
- allan said...
Here is Gammons's column (part of ESPN Insider):
Manny's all about the money
Monday, July 28, 2008
Everyone in the clubhouse knows the names. Joba Chamberlain (twice), Felix Hernandez (twice), Edinson Volquez, Justin Verlander -- pitchers that Manny Ramirez didn't feel quite right to face, be it a knee, a hamstring, his contract or the pitcher's velocity, and those he left for someone else in the Red Sox "family" to face.
Everyone knows what this latest soap opera is about. It's about Manny being only about Manny -- not the team that will have paid him $168 million when this season's over, not "teammates" he leaves to answer for him, not winning or any competitive motivation.
No. Manny being Manny means Manny wanting money. He doesn't want to wait for the Red Sox to exercise the right he gave them for the first $168M, the right to decide at the end of the season whether to pick up his option for 2009 at $20M. The Red Sox fulfilled their end of the contract; now he doesn't want to fulfill his obligation, the same way he watched his teammates fade in 2006.
He knows that this winter -- when he's 36, turning 37 next May -- he has a better chance of scoring the four-year, $100M deal he has told teammates he can get than he will after the 2010 season, when he'll be 38 turning 39. He doesn't want to have to sweat for two years at a measly $20M, and everyone knows that he couldn't care less how he gets that $100M, even if it means sitting out and leaving "family" fighting it out without him.
Manny is right. The Red Sox are tired of him. They are not going to pick up the option for 2009 and spend one more year as his prisoner. What he wants is to go to another team, on which he can put up big numbers for two months and either get that new contract, or go out on the market. Rationally, one would think he could do that in Boston -- first help the Red Sox into the postseason, then hit the market.
But that assumes rationality is in play.
Scott Boras intervened and helped the fine/anger-management solution after Ramirez shoved traveling secretary Jack McCormick. And Boras right now is trying to help Manny understand that it is in his best interest to, in Boras' words, "fulfill his current obligation," and put up the free-agent numbers here in Boston, where he has David Ortiz to take the heat Manny ignores, with five All-Stars in the lineup around him.
Oh, we all hear the analysis of how much the Red Sox need him. That is, if he doesn't bag it, which he was willing to do until John Henry and Tom Werner joined with Theo Epstein and Terry Francona on Friday, enraged at him for skipping Chamberlain, and forced him to take an MRI for the knee affliction known as Felix-Joba-itis.
But over the weekend, when they had one of those rare important series, with the Yankees charging on the outside, Red Sox management and players got a taste of what the series, the pennant and winning mean to him. Manny is right: Enough is enough. But management has to worry that if he gets booed he'll quit. Or that if Manny is criticized, he'll sit.
They are trying to get other teams interested. In the clubhouse, they talk about maybe getting Pat Burrell from the Phillies and reuniting Manny with Charlie Manuel. The Sox have let teams know they'll take care of Ramirez's remaining money if they'll provide young talent, which, considering what Manny can do for the Mets or Phillies or Dodgers, is a nice free-home demonstration; he won't have had time to "tire" of owners who pay him as much as the entire Florida Marlins team.
Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Alex Cora and other players are trying to help Manny focus and play in Boston; he works out with Lowell and Cora regularly, and some days he listens as they try to get him to connect the dots between the concepts of performance and pay. Maybe it'll work, and even if they do not win the World Series, they can rationalize that what they got for eight years and $168M was a pair of world championships and years of sellouts. They can rationalize that Manny essentially was The Fens' version of "Damn Yankees," and they'd probably say it was worth it to sell their souls to end that 86-year thing. But the interest rate on those payments of $20M and their souls is getting a tad steep.
Then the Red Sox move on and try to find another left-field bat. In the meantime, they may have to spend the rest of the year wondering if Manny Ramirez cares to play, whether the opposing pitcher is on his wish list.
Manny clearly has decided that he has already fulfilled his obligation to the first eight-year contract, and wants the next $100M right now. In the real world, this is a form of blackmail. In the clubhouse, where Francona and his teammates have allowed him to live by his own rules knowing that his production is Cooperstown material, many are exhausted by his disdain for the game, for winning and for any form of authority.
What Henry, Werner and Larry Lucchino should do is call a press conference and announce extensions for Francona and Epstein for all they have had to swallow because Manny Ramirez can hit. Then they can watch and see if a 36-year-old DH whose production in 2007 and 2008 has fallen below his 1998-2006 levels will go out and prove he's worth four years and $100M and ride off into the sunset snubbing his nose at the people who paid him $168M.
If he doesn't understand that these two months are vital to his next $100M, fine. If there isn't a reasonable trade to be made, fine.
After years of his public defenders rationalizing that the Red Sox can't win without him, if they can't win with him, so be it. At least the Red Sox can feel clean and sober.
A group of Red Sox watched the Yankees take early batting practice Friday, and they complimented the way Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu and Johnny Damon show up every day. "Say what you want about A-Rod," said one, "but he plays every day and he plays his behind off."
Rodriguez opted out of his contract after an MVP season. What Ramirez is doing is trying to opt out in the middle of his contract during the season.
What the Red Sox hope is that he listens to Boras and his teammates and fulfills the obligation he signed. And then there's a train, either way, leaving every day. And buyer beware of a man who chooses to be judged by numbers and salary, with no regard for character or integrity.
- July 29, 2008 at 6:48 AM
- allan said...
SoSHer 5belongstoGeorge:
"The last time Gammo was that mad it was when Canseco ratted out some 'roid users and basically told the world that Gammo, the rest of the media insiders, and every single baseball executive sat on the biggest baseball story in the past 20 years to protect their sources and their paychecks. ... Selective integrity is annoying."
- July 29, 2008 at 6:48 AM
- allan said...
More for the discussion:
SoSHer jodyreeddudley78:
"One thing that Gammons has made clear over the last twelve months is that the one thing that truly gets him angry is the when he observes what he deems as a slight against the "code" or unwritten rules of the sport. The two other examples that jump to mind are his take on the PED issue (he seemed to aim his ire at the loss of clubhouse confidentiality, the "code" if you will, rather than drugs as a threat to the integrity of the sport) and the anger he aimed at the A Rod opt out situation during WS game 4 (which apparently violated the unwritten rule of not upstaging the WS). I can't help but think that for Gammons Manny personifies a violation against the "code", whether it be real (doesn't always hustle, clubhouse incidents, opting out of games) or imaginary (head case, doesn't care, only in it for the money). It seems to me that is where the venom comes from."
- July 29, 2008 at 7:06 AM
- papa sime said...
who knows what is really going on here, and it is close to impossible to decipher amidst all the people shouting their stories, but as a fan of the sox, here is the excerpt that I think is the biggest issue:
"management has to worry that if he gets booed he'll quit. Or that if Manny is criticized, he'll sit."
- July 29, 2008 at 7:21 AM
- tim said...
I'd like to think that after 8 years in Boston, it's pretty obvious that fans do like Manny and realize that he is one of the greatest hitters in the game.
I keep wanting to believe that the casual non-blog reading fan is smart enough to see through the crap that's smeared on most of the sports pages in New England, but clearly these hacks (sorry, "journalists") have been getting through to some people as shown by the booing of Manny last Saturday.
Seriously, wtf? How could you possibly boo him - first of all, after everything baseball-wise he's brought to the city, and secondly - the fact that the reasons why he's being booed are no more than petty myths perpetuated by the Boston sports media (which, has a grand history of exacerbating these sorts of things, especially with one Manny Ramirez)
This season started out so well with Manny, and I knew it was only a matter of time before things returned to their equilibrium. Leave it to CHB, Gammons, Lobel etc. to bring it back to equilibrium. I, for one, enjoyed the new Manny. I guess just because he didn't conform to the "code" this shit is happening.
This situation is going to have the exact same end as every other Manny situation in the past 8 years. He's going to speak out and put everything to rest, and the season is going to continue without issue.
...then they'll go on a huge tear, winning 18 of 20 to take a commanding lead in the AL East en route to World Series 2008!
- July 29, 2008 at 8:15 AM
- Jack Marshall said...
1) I don't understand where all Gammons' anger is coming from. Manny has been a known quantity from the beginning, and no one has ever suggested he is bad guy. Some of his conduct would be sinister coming from someone else, but Gammons knows better.
2) I'm pretty sure that factually, most of this is correct. Gammons has to have good sources in and out of the clubhouse. I'm sure team mates get frustrated with Manny from time to time. Not a big deal. Gammons tone is unfair. It's personal.
3) Is Manny capable of being irrational, emotional, or clueless about how he's coming off to others? Sure. Everyone is. Professional athletes probably a bit more. Manny a bit more than the average professional athlete, I'd say.
4) The Sox played well without Ortiz in the line-up, and they would not be doomed if Manny "packed it in." It would be tougher to win without him than with him, which is why the brass won't trade him as long as he's playing. But the Sox got to the Series without clean-up hitter Jim Rice in '75 and without clean-up hitter Tony C. in '67---it's happened. The only person Manny would definitely hurt by tanking would be himself, and Boras. I presume Boras has enough self-interest to keep that from happening. For once, the Sox may benefit by having one of their players represented by him.
4) I agree with the 18 of 20 tear scenario. I think that is very likely how the East will be settled.
- July 29, 2008 at 9:07 AM
- Pokerwolf said...
Tom Verducci thinks that trading Manny is a bad idea.
He also has some neat stats on Lester.
- July 29, 2008 at 9:07 AM
- Jere said...
When Gammons says Manny has a "disdain ... for winning," it makes me wanna pull out the plug on his life support.
This news of Manny being booed on Saturday is news to me. I wasn't around...I was at the game! Where I heard the following response for Manny: "yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhh", with the howl of what sounded like one man booing beneath it--and you can never judge the home fans' reaction when the rival's in town, because OF COURSE Yankee fans are gonna boo. And that one boo I heard came from the region where a group of Yankee fans were sitting.
- July 29, 2008 at 9:13 AM
- allan said...
I agree completely with pretty much all of this:
SoSher fletcherpost (from here):
Throughout all this crap I've been thinking - I wish Manny had a good PR guy he trusted. I wish he knew how to play the PR game just a little bit. ...
He is in decline as a player. I don't know how slow that decline will be. Manny's playing days are closer to the end then the start. We all know this. Forgetting the riches he has earned...he will soon no longer be All Star Slugger Manny Ramirez. I reckon it's tough for any player to start facing up to that. But it's the nature of the beast. And the higher you are, the further you have to fall. ...
I dunno how Manny sees himself but in the business of baseball he is seen as a commodity, one that is losing value. All this other crap is not good for his value. ... beyond 2008 - what is best for Manny is no longer, it seems, best for the Red Sox. This is sad but I don't pick the team, I just root for the team. Baseball is a business. The media needs column inches and ergo the media is there to use and be used. I can't quanitify who is using who and by how much. I really can't.
I hope Manny sees out the season as a Red Sox. When he is gone, this will all blow over and we'll have other stuff to read about and watch on TV. As time passes I think his playing colleagues who have World Series Rings to polish will remember their playing days with Manny rather fondly. This is the last days of a marriage. A very public marriage. And the divorce will be just as public. I hope all sides can start showing some real class and common sense. There's a World Series to be won...or did i miss a meeting, is that not the main goal here?
Nothing Gammons has written or will ever write will be of as much value or give us as much pleasure as what Manny has done on the field in a Red Sox uniform. I love Manny. I think he's got some issues to deal with. But I love the player. I don't know the man. I hope for the sake of the team that the off the field stuff has minimum impact on their play. But they're pros, they ought to be able to deal with it."
- July 29, 2008 at 9:24 AM
- tim said...
This news of Manny being booed on Saturday is news to me. I wasn't around...I was at the game!
Alas, I should have known better. Extra Bases mentioned that he received a mixed reception, implying that its because of this story. Here I am chiding people for believing this shit, while I just became a sucker myself. Although the cheering on Fox wasn't nearly as loud as it seems to be normally. Then again as Jere said - MFY was in town.
And if Fox operates their baseball games in any way like their "news" network...well it'd just be foolish to believe anything you see on it.
- July 29, 2008 at 9:25 AM
- allan said...
"Say what you want about A-Rod," said one [Red Sox player], "but he plays every day and he plays his behind off."
Games played in 2008:
Rodriguez - 85
Ramirez - 98
- July 29, 2008 at 9:29 AM
I keep wanting to believe that the casual non-blog reading fan is smart enough to see through the crap that's smeared on most of the sports pages in New England
This is a little difficult, especially for those of us who do not live in the New England area.
It was hard to not get extremely angry at the way Manny is being portrayed. They do make it sound convincing. Those of us outside of the Boston area, and for a time outside of the blog-osphere, tend to give credence to what the reporters are saying. After all, they are closer to the source than we are. (I am of course speaking only for myself.)
Either way, through the media or the blogs, it is all hard to decipher. I, like I am sure most of you, wish for this to come to an end soon. I am tired of all of the games, whether on ESPN or NESN being taken up by Manny talk. (Granted, I have watched the last two games on mute.) It's hard to not get suckered in.
I'm still not sure I'm not angry at him, I really think he should keep his mouth shut and play baseball, but then, don't we all?
- July 29, 2008 at 9:51 AM
- TGTfan said...
cherry-picking, redsock. Slappy was (legitimately, demonstrably) injured.
- July 29, 2008 at 9:55 AM
- allan said...
Slappy was (legitimately, demonstrably) injured.
Hey, look everybody, it's Doctor B. Fool!
Apparently, he has treated both Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez this season and can therefore pass absolute judgment on which man was "legitimately" hurt.
I'm honoured to have a medical professional such as yourself taking time from what must no doubt be a busy schedule of seeing patients to stop by my humble blog.
- July 29, 2008 at 10:42 AM
- tim said...
It was hard to not get extremely angry at the way Manny is being portrayed. They do make it sound convincing. Those of us outside of the Boston area, and for a time outside of the blog-osphere, tend to give credence to what the reporters are saying. After all, they are closer to the source than we are. (I am of course speaking only for myself.)
I'm nowhere near New England either. While yes, they are closer to the source, I watch/follow the only thing that matters, the games.
When this season is all said and done, the only thing that can be proven in all of this is the Red Sox record, and how many games ahead they are come Sept 28.
It all comes down to the games, all this other stuff is fluff. (heh) So I say screw it - watch the games and enjoy the season. Everything else will work itself out.
- July 29, 2008 at 10:58 AM
- Jere said...
"I really think he should keep his mouth shut and play baseball,"
The media ripped this guy constantly (as they did Pedro) because they did exactly what you want: they didn't talk.
And even now that he does answer their questions, they take what he says and twist it to read however they want it to. Screw the media. I think THEY should shut up.
- July 29, 2008 at 11:05 AM
- Jack Marshall said...
Redsock: I agree that the post by fletcher is fair, persuasive and wise. Thanks for running it.
Ramirez will never make my list of favorite Red Sox players, but he's near the top of my list of the greatest Sox players I have had the privilege to watch, and he managed to play a major role in accomplishing what Foxx, Ted, Yaz and Fisk couldn't. Nobody can take that away from him, and I agree that he has earned the benefit of the doubt, by that accomplishment alone.
- July 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM
- allan said...
Back in Septeber 2006, I linked to and quoted from an article by Terry Nau of the Pawtucket Times. In it he cI should have posted it awhile ago, but forgot. Sorry.
Headlined "Baseball Writers Should Meet Manny Halfway", Nau discussed language and how sportswriters should learn some Spanish (or some of another language) in order to communicate with foreign-born players, just as those players have learned English.
He also discussed how Roberto Clemente was portrayed in the media. Worth a second look.
- July 29, 2008 at 12:09 PM
- Unknown said...
While it's certain that Manny has been portrayed unfairly in the media, I think it also may be possible that the front office, Peter Gammons, a large number of red sox fans, and just about everyone who hasn't been as gung-ho about Manny as possible is getting treated a little unfairly here.
Okay, most of the people here like Manny a whole lot. Fine. That's awesome, and it's what being a fan is about.
But this:
"Besides the questionable accuracy of what Gammons is saying, I can't help but feel Old Hickory is doing some of the FO's dirty work here."
is exactly the sort of conjecture that you are (rightfully) upset at the media for putting out there. It seems like you're suggesting the FO is intentionally sullying Manny's name through parrot-like reporters.
And stuff like this:
"coincidentally, their [the fans'] complaints about Player X sound very much like CHB's latest column"
makes it sound like there is no possible reason to be upset with Manny. But still, a)he pushed down an old man and got in a fight with a teammate, b)at least some of his teammates are upset enough to tell Ken Rosenthal that he plans to take a week and a half off and c) his public comments led the normally reserved John Henry to call himself "personally offended."
At the very least, you need to be open to the possibility that he may be somewhat culpable for the negative reaction by the media, and some of the anger towards him, though obviously not all of it, is warrented.
Also, I never got the chance to respond to something from about a week ago, and I figure I will clarify it, at least in brief. I don't really mind if Manny doesn't hustle down to first base. Few players do, and the difference between running at full effort to first and jogging is maybe one or two outs all season long.
However, his baserunning in terms of taking extra bases, (first-to-third or second-to-home on singles) is pretty poor. I don't have a prospectus subscription any more, but I remember his numbers being pretty abysmal. And it's not just because he's slow. Ortiz is slow, as well, and his baserunning numbers were very respectable. Manny is a poor baserunner.
He is also an abysmal fielder. Last year, Manny's revised zone rating (which is park adjusted) was .684. To compare, Alfonso Soriano was at .872, Josh Willingham was at .836, Carlos Lee was at .827, even Barry Bonds was at .831. Manny was orders of magnitude worse than even poor fielding LFers like Willingham, Lee, and Bonds. He takes poor routes to the ball, is slow, is not sure handed, and doesn't always seem to try his hardest to get to the ball. He does have an above average arm, but it doesn't come close to making up for his poor fielding. And some commenter said he should win a gold glove! Is it possible that maybe there's a little bit of overcompensation coing on here? That maybe you are rightfully upset at the unfair treatment he gets and aren't willing to look at some valid criticism?
- July 29, 2008 at 12:41 PM
- allan said...
It seems like you're suggesting the FO is intentionally sullying Manny's name through parrot-like reporters.
Yes, that's what I am suggesting.
At the very least, you need to be open to the possibility that he may be somewhat culpable for the negative reaction by the media, and some of the anger towards him, though obviously not all of it, is warrented.
I believe I am open to that. The very first words I posted about this mess were: "Something is going on with Manny Ramirez. But once we filter out media bias and sundry shitstirring and concentrate on confirmed facts, it's impossible -- right now -- to figure out what."
I admitted that "The reporters know much more about what is going on than I/we do" but added that "they have rarely put their cards on the table in a way that could erase my skepticism".
And today I asked: "How much fire is there amid all this smoke?"
I did not wade through my comments to the posts, but I think I have certainly conveyed that there could be -- and quite likely is -- some amount of fire.
I am pro-Manny but willingly admit that he could absolutely have done stuff that, in the level-headed eyes of the FO, warrants his termination from the Red Sox.
My dealings with Manny are almost always during a game -- and I am usually sitting hundrerds of miles away. I have no serious issues with him at those times. People who are around him 10+ hours a day might rightly have a different view.
But barring people speaking honestly and on the record, there is no real way to prove 98% of what has been reported.
We know Manny has knee problems, we know he skipped a couple of games, and we know he is playing now. Beyond that, I cannot trust either side.
- July 29, 2008 at 12:59 PM
- 9casey said...
Manny said this on Feb 21, 2008;
"It's up to them to say, `OK, we're going take (the option). It's not up to me to go into the office and demand a four-year deal, whatever," he said. "No, I'm going come here to play the game, finish my year. If they want me to come back, I'll come back."
"I want to wait and talk to them (about) what they want to do, after the season," Ramirez said. "I want to play the game, finish my year, and whatever happens, happens."
OK great ....what the fuck happened....he said what he said , he should stand by it....but instead he said this about 10 days ago:
"I want no more (expletive) where they tell you one thing and behind your back they do another thing," Ramirez told The Herald. "I think I've earned that respect, for a team to sit down with me and tell me this is what we want, this is what we want to do."
- July 29, 2008 at 1:33 PM
- 9casey said...
Whatever Gammons or CHB or Masserotti or Eades says I give two shits...But what comes out of Manny's mouth, Theo , Tito , Henry and whomever affilated with the Red Sox I have to take somewhat seriouslly.
- July 29, 2008 at 1:34 PM
"And even now that he does answer their questions, they take what he says and twist it to read however they want it to. Screw the media. I think THEY should shut up."
I, perhaps erronously, think that if he is quiet the media will be too.
Beyond that, I cannot trust either side.
As long as he plays, I'm fine. The problem becomes, for me, every time he misses a play, I'm going to wonder, did he do that on purpose.
Is there a way that this could all have been done without being played out in the media?
I didn't pay as close attention in '04, did the Nomar situation go down the same?
- July 29, 2008 at 1:49 PM
- allan said...
Manny said this on Feb 21, 2008;...OK great ....what the fuck happened....but instead he said this about 10 days ago:
That's what I was referring to in my first post. SOMETHING happened to get Manny riled up. We still have no idea what it was.
- July 29, 2008 at 2:15 PM
- allan said...
But what comes out of Manny's mouth, Theo , Tito , Henry and whomever affilated with the Red Sox I have to take somewhat seriouslly.
For the record, then, re the Fruitbat PH:
John Henry: "It's ridiculous and incendiary for anyone to suggest that Manny would purposefully make an out in any game. Ridiculous."
Larry Lucchino: "I'm not going to dignify that with a response. This is Boston and this is the big leagues. A lot of things get created out of whole cloth, and we've got to appreciate that things like this happen from time to time."
- July 29, 2008 at 2:18 PM
- allan said...
Forgot the link!
- July 29, 2008 at 2:19 PM
- allan said...
I, perhaps erronously, think that if he is quiet the media will be too.
Manny did not talk to the media for several consecutive seasons. It did not matter. The slander and selective memories/reporting went on.
Some writers seemed so annoyed at Manny's refusal to talk to them that they (knowing Manny would not challenge them) felt free to whip up sentiment against him.
Now that he has spoken, they say he should shut up. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Manny cannot win.
- July 29, 2008 at 2:24 PM
Manny cannot win.
I agree.
Why does Papi not garner attention in such a way?
- July 29, 2008 at 2:39 PM
- Jack Marshall said...
"Why does Papi not garner attention in such a way?"
Oh, come ON! You're kidding, right?
I agree that Manny gets criticized for things that slide right under the radar for other players, but my god, don't act as if this is all random drama! Ortiz does his job, happily, professionally traditionally and well. He is Brooks Robinson, Dwight Evans, Al Kaline. Now, if he carried a fish up to the plate instead of a bat, if he gave interviews saying that he hoped to play for the Yankees, if he batted out of order or ran the bases the wrong way after a home-run, or did other out-of-the-box things season after season after season, then he would polarize the press and fans, he would be the object of unfair attacks (and justified criticism), and as his abilities faded and the balance between his non-conformity and his performance became harder to maintain, then debates would start over whether he was worth the trouble. But Papi (and Lowell, and Tek, and others) is NOT Manny. Babe Ruth was Manny. Ted Williams was Manny. Rogers Hornsby and Barry Bonds and Bill Lee and Curt Schilling and Reggie Jackson were Manny. They, like him, brought both attention and criticism (fair and unfair) on themselves by not being like everybody else, and sometimes making it clear that they knew they were special, and expected to be treated that way.
Trying to keep Manny from being run out of town by the press is one thing. Pretending that he's just a bystander and that this could happen to anybody is absurd.
- July 29, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Pretending that he's just a bystander and that this could happen to anybody is absurd.
I was in no way trying to suggest such a thing.
- July 29, 2008 at 3:51 PM
- Jack Marshall said...
Ok...then you know the answer to your question.
This stuff doesn't happen to Ortiz because he doesn't behave like Manny, never has and almost certainly never will.
- July 29, 2008 at 3:56 PM
- Unknown said...
I have no problems with Manny, personally, either. I work at the park, and have interacted with him a couple of times, and he's always been very nice. He seems like a warm person, at least when I've seen him interact with others.
But on the whole, I think it might be best if his time with the Sox comes to an end.
- July 29, 2008 at 7:22 PM
- tim said...
But on the whole, I think it might be best if his time with the Sox comes to an end.
I fail to see the logic in this.
Are people really this willing to see a major wheel removed from the 2008 World Series steamroller just because of the media's exaggeration of this man?
- July 29, 2008 at 8:46 PM
Manny did great things in Boston. There is no arguing that fact. I'm sure Gammons will agree, but what he did in the name of money will tarnish his memory. Boras orchestrated this departcher. He needed to get Manny out of the last two years to make any money off him. It would be harder to command a huge contract two years from now as it would be next season.I'm sure Gammons knew what was going on. After all Gammons is pretty well conected in the baseball scene. Gammons is not paid to be unbiased. Also Gammons is paid to give an opinion. Everyone knows he is a Boston homer, so to act like he should be unbiased is kind of foolish. I think Gammons as a fan was angry with what he was hearing and I also think as more of the story comes out most people will be just as angry. The bottom line. Manny was gone after the end of this season no matter what. The question is would he have helped the team until then or hurt the team. I think the things he said and how they escalated answers that question very well. Manny is gone and it's time to move on.
- August 2, 2008 at 2:05 PM


text:
by Jordan Bass
May RUMPUS 2002
Maybe once, you lied about your age, or your weight, or your location the night your unfaithful boyfriend was stabbed to death. Maybe you lied about your criminal record when applying for a job, or your sexual history when donating blood. Little things. Everybody does it, right? What's the harm? Maybe your slight deviations from the truth even give you a little thrill, a mild buzz gained from subverting the truth and risking discovery. You're a badass, right?
Buddha say: Never met him, but this guy sounds like a real wack job.
Aleksey Garber, who has been accepted to the Yale class of '06, is not impressed. When you're a guy who tells the truth about as often, and with the same reluctance, as the average person goes to the dentist, you've got no regard for those who dabble in tall tales. You're too busy being Gatsby, constructing a fantastical faux-existence for yourself, running a little business on the side, impatiently turning away reality at the door as if it were trying to sell vacuums. Or, if you're Garber, you storm into Yale jabbering about being the second-best fighter in the world, enjoying employment by both the Mafia and the CIA, and teaching a few philosophy classes at Columbia in your spare time. You're a real badass.
This reporter was lucky enough to host Aleksey Garber during Bulldog Days, that Bacchanalian mixer of pre- and post-frosh where the best of Yale -- you know, the Purple Crayon, Sigma Nu, psych lectures -- is paraded before the chosen few. The first thing Garber said to me was some sort of vaguely racist remark about the tennis coach at Columbia, where he claimed to be enrolled as a freshman, and a member of the tennis team. An hour later, he was still talking about the same thing, and I was still really not interested in hearing about how Rajeev Emany was unfairly given a higher place on the squad. But never mind one man's lack of interest. Never mind that Garber is not listed in the Columbia directory, in the freshman facebook, or in the tennis team roster. Never mind that Bid Goswami, the Columbia tennis coach Rumpus contacted under somewhat Garberian pretenses, remarked, "He lies like a dog. I've never heard of him." Garber's got a story to tell.
And he's happy to tell it, in the form of a marathon spoken memoir that doesn't adhere to conventions like internal consistency or believability. It starts, as all good stories do, in Uzbekistan, where Garber whiled away the first four years of his thus far quotidian existence, doing whatever Uzbek infants do -- I don't know, knitting? Anyway, it's a fairly mundane period, not yet thoroughly plumbed by Garber scholars. But at age four, things got going, says Garber. Yes, our boy escaped from a life of post-Soviet drudgery to a Tibetan monastery, still in Uzbekistan, where, Garber recalls, slowly beginning to throw his sturdy frame against the constricting walls of likelihood, he was educated in the ways of Buddhism by the very same, undoubtedly quite aged, monks who taught the Dalai Lama. Maybe you were still crying because your mom was trying to drop you off at preschool while Garber was absorbing the eightfold path courtesy of a few hotshot Lamas, but why let your own sense of inferiority limit your ability to unquestionably accept things like this? Loser.
And why, if you're already a budding Buddhist being taught by the best, stop at the still conceivably possible two degrees of separation from the man himself? Why not claim that the Dalai Lama confirmed that you were a reincarnation of an older Lama, and then "returned" some prayer beads to you that you had worn in that previous life? Why not walk around wearing those very prayer beads? And, if ol' DL's such a buddy, wouldn't he have written you a letter of recommendation when you applied to colleges? Sure he would have! Maybe your letter came from an eleventh-grade chemistry teacher who described you as studious, rather than a spiritual leader willing to vouch for your previous existences, but why let your own lack of achievement interfere with your openness to that of others? Don't be a hater, you know?
But I'm digressing, right? Let's tell this story chronologically to give it some semblance of historicality. So Garber chills in the, ah, Tibetan monastery, in Uzbekistan, until he's eight, when -- wouldn't you know it? -- his father up and joins the German Mafia! Stupid parents, right? Always embarrassing us by joining Teutonic criminal rings! Jeez, Dad! In a somewhat hazy instance of causality, Garber Sr.'s new career precipitates a departure from the monastery by Garber Jr., who being the enterprising Uzbek that he is, starts a freelance tennis court construction business. The clay ones. He builds those. It's no lemonade stand, sure, but a kid's gotta make those Uzbek Soms somehow, right? As far as I could understand, things went on like this until Garber was about eleven, when the family moved to America. Dad's still running guns for Deutschland's answer to Al Capone, so he's not home a lot, which means that Garber has no choice but to make ends meet by giving tennis lessons to celebrities. Name a star, and Garber can tell you how good their backhand was. Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Harrison Ford -- they all came to the Roosevelt Island Racquet Club to take lessons from Garber. So did Russian Mafia members, who got him an apartment on 34th Street and a job forging passports (Garber has five, himself) and diplomatic identifications. So did one of hte presidents of Goldman Sachs, a shadowy figure whom Garber describes as owning something like 40% of the seats at the New York Stock Exchange, and who also found a position for Garber within the firm. And why limit your professional life to tennis lessons, investment banking, and document forging? That could get boring, right? Luckily, a solution came in the form of the CIA, which hired Garber to hack their website. He did, of course, with the help of his Russian hacker friends, and earned the right to fire off his M-22 at the CIA firing range in New York City. What did you get from your job -- a Christmas bonus? And, goddammit, why stop there? Why not seek employment as an orthopedic masseuse, with the help of some business cards designed on the Internet? (See graphic, left.)
Look! He's legit! a REAL business card ...
... that he got off of the Internet. Oh well.
You may notice that his card boasts of yet another occupation -- Martial Arts. Yes, way back in the monastery, Garber picked up a working knowledge of "Tibetan Sacred Arts," which, from his descriptions, seems to be a mix of Shaolin and Street Fighter II. If you ask him nicely, he might tell you about the secret tournament held to determine the greatest fighter in the world, held every few years in Woodstock, New York. There's a monastery there, too, you see, on a hill, and beneath that hill is a system of caves unknown to the public, and in the deepest of those caves the Lamas gather to shoot beams of chi at each other and break concrete blocks. Garber, in an uncharacteristic show of modesty, claims that he did not win the tournament but only won second place. Along the way, he treated one Lama to a compound fracture and was incongruously slapped with a lawsuit in return. But no problem! Garber teaches tennis to "the best personal injury lawyer in the nation," and managed to get off scot-free.
Eventually, Garber started taking classes at Columbia; this is a period of his life about which he is resolutely uninterested in providing a stable set of details. A typical exchange would go like this:
Rumpus: So what classes are you taking right now?
Garber: I'm majoring in Eastern philosophy and finance.
R: OK, but what classes are you taking?
G: ... I don't really follow.
R: What classes are you taking?
G: Oh. I'm taking a biology class, two biology classes, an English literature class, an eastern philosophy class, a chemistry class, a finance class, an economics class, and a religions class.
R: Wow. That's a lot of classes. So, wait, two biology classes ...
G: Yeah, and an American fiction class, a physics class, an English class, a statistics class, some others.
R: Wow. What's your English professor's name?
G: Um, Charlie.
R: Charlie?
G: Yeah, Charlie.
What can you say to that, rally? This is the man's life, as he tells it. Is any of it true? Well, what is truth? Isn't it just a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms? In short, a sum of human relations which were poetically and rhetorically heightened, transferred, and adorned, and after long use seem solid, canonical, and binding to a nation? Maybe it's just a bunch of illusions about which it has been forgotten that they are illusions, worn-out metaphors without sensory impact, coins which have lost their image and now can be used only as metal, and no longer as coins. In the end, all we can really say is that "Truth" is to be understood as a system of ordered procedures for the production, regulation, distribution, circulation and operation of statements, and if you look at it that way, then it's all true. We who have encountered him should feel privileged that Aleksey Garber has deigned to include us in the epic adventure that is his life. I know I certainly do. And I'm sure the Nietzscheans and Foucaultphiles in the Admissions Office feel the same way. After all, they let in a kid that some people might describe as a pathological liar so ashamed of his numbingly regular existence that he seeks solace in the type of imaginary life a twelve-year-old might dream up. But don't we need a few more of those here at Yale?


text:
With NASCAR�s 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup beginning Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, it�s money time for the sport�s top drivers.
With that in mind, let�s take a look at the contenders, sleepers and pretenders who comprise the Chase.
Matt Kenseth
Why he can win the title: The 2003 champion has already matched a career-high with five victories this season and has made a mostly smooth transition to Joe Gibbs Racing, a team with a series-high nine wins. Kenseth is the definition of consistency. And 11 of his 29 career victories have come at the tracks in the Chase.
Why he might not: Martinsville isn�t Kenseth�s favorite track. While he has won often, Kenseth has just six top-five finishes and three DNFs in 2013.
Kyle Busch
Why he can win the title: Busch won twice in the final five races before the Chase. He has a Sprint Cup-best 11 top-fives and is tied for the most top-10s with 15.
Why he might not: Busch has never finished higher than fifth in the standings and actually was 10th when he won a career-best eight races in 2008.
Jimmie Johnson
Why he can the title: The man has hoisted the Sprint Cup trophy five times (2006-10). Johnson boasts 64 Sprint Cup victories. His team usually steps into overdrive this time of year. He�s the definition of a contender.
Why he might not: His last four finishes are 40th, 36th, 28th and 40th. He hasn�t won a championship since 2010, quite a dry spell by his high standards.
Carl Edwards
Why he can win the title: He carries momentum after his Richmond victory. Edwards has experiences in championship battles. He has finished third (2005), second (2008), fourth (2010) and second (2011). He�s hungry to come through on the sport�s biggest stage.
Why he might not: Edwards hasn�t found a way to get over the hump for the title yet.
Joey Logano
Why he could surprise: Only two drivers have more top-10 finishes than Logano�s 14. He finished in the top 10 in 11 of the final 15 regular-season races, including a win at Michigan.
Kurt Busch
Why he could surprise: The 2004 champion has won a title under the Chase format. Busch thrived on the pressure of making the Chase down the stretch of the regular season, with eight top-10s in his last 11 races.
Kevin Harvick
Why he could surprise: Harvick has finished in the top four of the standings five times, including third in 2010 and 2011. He is a master of finishing surprisingly strong in races and seasons.
Kasey Kahne
Why he could surprise: Kahne drives for Hendrick Motorsports and is about as apt as anyone on the circuit to get on a hot streak. Can he do it long enough to be in the mix in November?
Greg Biffle
Why he will fold: Biffle hasn�t had a knack for winning and being consistent enough to be a factor in the Chase since his third-place finish in 2008.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Why he will fold: Earnhardt has four Sprint Cup victories since the start of the 2005 season. His highest points finish is fifth (2004 and 2006).
Ryan Newman
Why he will fold: While it�s good that he made it into the Chase after the penalties for Michael Waltrip Racing, Newman is still hitting the home stretch with Stewart-Haas Racing. It�s tough to chase a championship in that lame-duck scenario.
Clint Bowyer
Why he will fold: The distraction created by his spin trying to get teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the Chase will be too much to overcome. Otherwise, he would have been a serious contender after finishing second a season ago and being second in the points in recent weeks.


text:
Arrant Destiny
Arrant Destiny is a mud based on the RPG from TSR. We have tried to weave the broad game into Arrant Destiny. If you are a player of Greyhawk then some of the areas will be familiar to you. For those that are not familiar,
you will have an exciting time learning about the World of Greyhawk. When you play in Arrant Destiny, you join in the weaving of a tapestry of which you are a vital part. Role-playing is an important part of playing
Arrant Destiny, it involves you playing your part to bring the story alive. It will be bigger than you are but you can become one of its great Heroes. That will be the essence of Arrant Destiny's Greyhawk's Mud history.
It enfolds, informs and connects every part of the mud setting and all who play here of any length of time.
- Game: Host: admud.comPort: 1999
- Build: Host: admud.comPort: 1996
- Code: Host: admud.comPort: 1990


text:
Again, this is a homer post. Again, I don't care. It's my blog, I do what I want with it.
Like I wrote on Thursday and had posted on Friday (internet problems again? Really?), I was too excited about the Mizzou-Oklahoma to even think about anything else, except a few Blues games.
So mostly for my own records, I'm going to recount my 36 hours or so, just for when Mizzou does eventually lose I can come back to this and remember just how perfect things really went.
Filed under: NCAA Football | Tagged: College Football, College Gameday, Faurot Field, Football, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Missouri Tigers, Mizzou, Mizzou Tigers, NCAA Football, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Sooners, Upset | Leave a comment »


text:
Discipline is a process that is designed to improve performance or change behavior. The first definition of "discipline" in most dictionaries is to teach or train. The word "disciple" certainly is thought of as someone who studies and learns from a "master". Think back to your upbringing or ask a child to define discipline and you'll likely hear "a time out," the denial or removal of certain privileges or freedoms, "spanking," etc. In fact, the definition of the word "discipline" has all of these meanings, but socially and particularly in an employment setting, employees and bosses most often think about discipline as a punishment.
Discipline is a tool for both improving performance and changing behavior.
When a boss tries to improve performance, it can take the form of training (i.e., outside seminars, educational courses, technical courses, etc.), giving an employee more responsibility in order to expand his or her capabilities. Improving performance can also take the form of defining and achieving the results that the business requires, and the employee's role in making sure that his/her efforts contribute to or achieve the desired result (i.e., making a specified number of sales calls and achieving a new customer sales-order rate expressed as a percentage of those same customer calls). Likewise, in the training/teaching mode of discipline, changing behavior can be expressed as "how" a specific result is achieved. Usually this takes the form of how one employee completes a task that is needed by others in the work-flow process (i.e., her/his sales reports are complete and contain the information necessary for the "fulfillment" business-function people to ship and invoice a customer). Another example is how an employee interacts with others in the business, for instance his/her willingness to help when a fellow employee is inundated with work to the point that business performance is affected and more "temporary" resources are needed to help meet customer requirements or needs (i.e., more orders to process today than it is possible for the "normal" process to handle).
Discipline can also be punishment where, after being warned that either performance had to improve significantly (consistently achieving minimally acceptable results) or a behavior had to be changed immediately (too many tardies, last minute call-ins for absences, getting too many traffic tickets while operating company vehicles, etc.), a negative consequence is applied. When discipline is punishment, it is usually after the more positive teach/training attempts at discipline have failed to achieve the desired result/behavior. In the relationship of boss to employee, "punishment" discipline usually takes the form of a conditional consequence: "If you do it again, then this will happen" (reprimand, pay reduction, suspension, demotion, termination). Of course, depending on your Human Resource Policies and company values, there are some behaviors where there is no disciplinary process because such behaviors will result in immediate termination (theft, falsification of information, doing bodily injury to a fellow employee, being under the influence of drugs/alcohol on the job or when operating company vehicles, sexual harassment, etc.).
In most discipline situations, "consequences" may be applied to achieve the desired performance or behavior. Consequences can be either "positive" or "negative." Positive consequences can take many forms-too many to list-and can be as simple as a "thank you" to as complex and material as a promotion, pay increase, and/or an achievement bonus. Negative consequences usually take one of these forms in the workplace: reprimand, job re-assignment, pay reduction, suspension, demotion, or termination.
Usually, positive consequences are more effective in achieving the desired improvement to performance or behavior. Negative consequences should be considered as a last resort-the final attempt to get someone's attention and let them know that things must change, or else.
Any "punishment" disciplinary action that you initiate (especially a termination) is subject to review by a third party, so it is wise to follow the disciplinary process carefully, as it provides the basis for a defense against any claim by an employee that their treatment was unfair, illegal or discriminatory. In addition, how you treat the employee with whom you have commenced a disciplinary process will be carefully watched by other employees as they will form their own conclusions about how fair you were as the boss in your treatment of their fellow employee.
So why do you have to apply discipline so carefully? Your employees and the outside world will be watching to make sure you are "fair, consistent, reasonable and legal" and that the reward or punishment is not a surprise.
Who are third parties likely to become involved in a claim of "unfair" discipline, including discharge? Even though most states are "employment-at-will" states, anyone who is discharged may make a claim of "wrongful termination" which may be filed in the appropriate state court. Essentially, wrongful termination actions claim that what the employee did (or didn't do) was not so egregious as to warrant the ultimate employment punishment-discharge. Or, the discharged employee claims that he/she was not treated equally in that another of your employees committed the same "offense" and they were not discharged (unequal treatment). Or, the discharged employee asserts that you, the owner, told her/him something that implied he/she would be employed for a long time (e.g., "the customers love you so much I don't ever want to you to leave-thanks for the great job") claiming this verbal "contract" essentially negates the employment-at-will laws, (don't ever use language that implies anything about how long you want someone to work for you). Because plaintiff attorneys know that small business owners usually do not have the time or resources to defend against such a legal action, a lot of wrongful termination suits are filed solely to force an out-of-court settlement that provides compensation to both the discharged employee and his/her legal counsel; plaintiff attorneys believe most small business owners want to avoid the cost and hassle of a court hearing.
If you are forced to defend yourself and your company against a wrongful termination legal action, it is more likely than not that your defense will cost you five figures (over $10,000) or more, and a lot of time and aggravation.
Further, the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has jurisdiction (even over small business owners) in employment matters where discriminatory treatment is claimed (based on race, sex, religion, national origin, age, etc.). Any employee (or former employee) can file a written complaint of discrimination with the EEOC, and the EEOC must either investigate it and make a finding or issue the employee a right to sue letter so that the person who made the claim can engage an attorney to file a legal claim in federal court. If the claimant can find a lawyer to take the case on a contingency basis, then you, as the small business owner will have to mount your own legal defense and answer the pleadings filed in federal court, including a very comprehensive discovery "laundry list" of information, files, and people they want to interview.
The point to be made is apparent: to position your company and yourself in the best possible way, it is highly advisable that you meticulously follow a disciplinary process that either convinces your employee that he/she has been treated fairly (in which case the employee simply moves on to "greener pastures"), or provides you with a solid defense for the action you have taken (in which case a contingency lawyer might simply decide not to vigorously pursue the matter).
Let's set forth lay out the Discipline/Discharge process and then end this article with a discussion on how to handle terminations. There are some things in life no one likes to do or wants to do and it is human nature when you don't like or want to do something that you procrastinate or don't do it. This statement is true for almost all bosses and especially small business owners, who want to run their businesses, make their customers happy and make a profit. Doing performance or behavior counseling can be stressful and not fun, so a lot of bosses say to themselves, "What the heck, so-and-so will get with the program sooner or later," and walk away from their responsibility to improve performance or enforce acceptable standards of behavior.
Telling an employee that he/she has to change/improve is something that we just hate to think about doing-"I'd rather have a root canal." But, "Pay me now or pay me later" sure applies here, so get it over with and do a good job.
Step 1 - Clearly and Specifically Communicate What You Expect.
While "common sense," or your employees' business cycle performance plans, or your human resource policies define many of your expectations for either performance achievements, undesirable behaviors, appropriate work behaviors, etc., in either a positive or negative reinforcement mode, you will want to be very specific and repetitive in defining for an employee what needs to be improved or changed. For example, being "pleasant, courteous and helpful to customers in all circumstances" could be a desired work behavior. But no one knows this is your expectation until you communicate it. Don't assume people know exactly what you want-assume that they don't and then carefully and completely describe for your employees what you want and expect. This can be done as a group process (i.e., your article on Human Resource policies describe some of the things that you don't want and/or your business cycle performance and business plans express what you do want the business to achieve and the role that each employee has in the work-flow process) or it may have to be done individually.
Step 2 - Informal Individual Counseling ("Teaching/Coaching")
When an employee is NOT achieving or doing what you want, it is time to have a "coach's" discussion with him/her. This is best done in private. Start the individual counseling session with a broad statement about your concern (i.e., "I've noticed that there seems to be a problem with some of the sales reports you've submitted, so I thought it would be good for us to talk about it."). Continue by asking the employee to tell you, in his/her opinion, what is going on by asking, "Do you think there is a problem with the reports?" and then listen attentively. If the employee acknowledges there is a problem, ask, "Why?" If the employee cannot provide an answer to the first "why" question, then you need to go back to Step 1 for this person and explain the specifics in terms of what you want and expect. Once you have done this, ask if the employee thinks your expectations are reasonable and achievable. If the employee answers "no," then you need to probe further by asking "why" a second time. Again, at this point in the counseling session, use your best listening skills to hear the words and determine what is behind the employee's "it is not reasonable/achievable" response to your stated expectation. Following his/her explanation, you will have to decide if there is any merit to his/her concern or not. If there is merit, you will have to appropriately modify your expectations. For example, your expectation is that all sales orders are submitted at the end of the workday they are received, and the employee has pointed out a resource issue ("It takes me all day to make the sales calls and whenever I get a minute to write-up the sales order, I get a customer service call where a customer has a problem that needs my immediate attention, so I deal with it. I've been taking work home and doing the sales orders online after dinner and I hardly get to spend any time with my family. I just don't seem to have the time to do everything you want me to do."). The solution to the performance issue may not be within the purview of employee-you may have to add resources or change the work-flow process. If you agree that there are mitigating circumstances, then buy some time by saying you want to think about this new information and you will get back to him/her for a further discussion. Give the employee a reasonable timeframe for this follow-up discussion. Do your homework, and then have this meeting and let him/her know what you are going to change so that he/she can be successful.
If the employee answers "yes" to the question about your expectations being reasonable and achievable, then ask the employee to tell you what he/she must do differently to meet your expectations. After hearing the self-assessment about the employee must do differently, you will either agree with the assessment or achieve agreement by modifying it (tacitly disagreeing with something the employee has proffered as a solution or by adding other things that you want the employee to do to be successful). Once this dialogue has reached a conclusion, clearly reiterate your expectations in terms of the employee, his/her role, the work to be accomplished or the behavior that needs to change and let that employee know what you are going to do (if anything) to help his/her successfully meet your expectations.
After this informal counseling session, make it a priority to circle back with the employee to make sure he/she understands what you expect, that he/she is doing what you want, and to publicly praise him/her (positive reinforcement) for the progress he/she is making or for a specific achievement. In short, "find the employee doing something right" and publicly tell he/she so.
Step 3 - Formal "Improvement" Counseling Session
If you have given Step 2 a reasonable chance to succeed but the improvement to the business results or the behavior still falls short of your expectations, hold another counseling session. Repeat the process in Step 2 and conclude the formal counseling session by telling your employee that you will record this discussion through a written memo to him/her, you will schedule a follow-up discussion on a set date, and then verbally spell out what the consequences will be, either positive or negative, if the expected improvement is not achieved (i.e., "I will expect you to take a course, provide you with online training, meet with you after hours to tutor you on how to do better, or have to demote you and find someone else to do this job," etc.).
Document this "Formal Improvement Counseling Session" Step (use the sample documentation format shown at the end of this article). Give a copy to the employee and have him/her sign it. Keep the original in your permanent files.
When correcting specific behaviors, the next time the employee behaves inappropriately, act immediately. When correcting behavior, always use specific data ("You were late again by 15 minutes this morning") and immediately follow through with the consequence: "Your pay will be reduced by 5% for the next three months. It will be restored if you are not tardy during that time. If you are tardy again, the pay reduction will be permanent." Also let them know what will happen next if they repeat the inappropriate behavior (i.e., if you are tardy a second time during these three months, you will be____________).
ALWAYS CORRECT AND COUNSEL IN PRIVATE, NEVER IN PUBLIC. If you find someone doing something right (having counseled them previously or not) tell them so immediately. ALWAYS PRAISE IN PUBLIC.
STEP 4 - Be Consistent
When using discipline as a punishment or a negative consequence, be consistent. If you punish someone for being tardy and several weeks go by and that person is tardy again, you must punish the repeat behavior. Don't procrastinate. Call people on inappropriate behavior as soon as it happens. If you don't, the signal you're sending is that you weren't really serious about improving the behavior. Also, in being consistent, you must treat everyone the same. For example, if you have another employee who has been tardy as many times as someone else and you have not applied a similar negative consequence (i.e., a temporary pay reduction of 5%), you are putting yourself at risk for a legal challenge.
(Author's Note: I cannot count the times I've been told that a supervisor treated one employee differently than another because… {you complete this sentence}. The "mitigating reason" given for differential treatment usually is not defensible in the eyes of an outside reviewer of the "facts".)
Don't Correct or Counsel When You Are Angry
When you are angry you may say or do something you will later regret. Never correct or punish when you are angry. Talk through the situation with someone (cool-down period), and ask them what they would do. Don't let your emotions control the information you share - be objective when giving the facts. Make sure you are in control when you correct inappropriate behavior.
Step 5 - Termination
The punishment must fit the crime. Discipline must be consistent. Some behavior may call for immediate termination - fighting or striking another employee. Some behavior is an annoyance which needs correcting - tardiness. Some behavior needs improving - better phone manners with customers - and may simply require training and letting your people know what you expect.
Probationary and temporary employees are different. You may not want to take the chance of being unsuccessful in improving the behavior or performance of a probationary or temporary employee. If the person is still on probation, termination is usually appropriate rather than trying to coach improvement.
A critical step in terminations is clearly communicating what you expect in terms of specific behavior or performance AND making sure you have identified and communicated the consequences if the behavior is not corrected or the performance does not improve. Also, make sure that the person to be terminated has received this information in writing.
Terminating someone is a difficult decision that has the potential to affect many people. You need to be certain: (1) the employee was given an opportunity to tell he/she side of what happened (or didn't happen); (2) the person understood what was expected; (3) he/she was given adequate opportunity and time to improve but was not successful; (4) the employee knew the consequences if the correction was not made, and received written notice of what would happen if correction/improvement was not achieved; (5) he/she was given more than one opportunity to correct/improve; and (6) the punishment the employee received fit the uncorrected behavior or unsatisfactory performance.
Negotiating a Termination Settlement
If you have done a good job throughout the disciplinary process, when a termination "judgment day" arrives, it should be no surprise to the affected employee. In fact, in a robust labor market, an employee may start a job search (and find a new opportunity) before you have to actually terminate him/her. For all concerned, this is an ideal outcome of the disciplinary process and one of the main reasons viewing terminations as a process with multiple steps (in most cases) is a good business perspective and practice. In a weak labor market, you may not be as fortunate in that the "to be terminated" employee won't be able to secure a new position before the termination action.
Depending on the individual circumstances (i.e., there is no reason to immediately terminate someone-the final decision/action can wait for a reasonable period of time), another step in your process could be to arrive at an amicable separation. To determine if this step is something that will work for both you and the employee, have a private conversation that goes something like this:
"We've both tried to make this work, but we haven't been successful, so I'm at the point of making a final decision about terminating you. Before I do that, I want to know if we can reach an agreement on how to make this transition more manageable/easier for you."
Once the clear message is delivered ("You are going to be terminated"), invoke the "pregnant pause"-a long pause where you maintain eye contact with the employee until he/she begins to talk. Here are some of the things you are likely to hear:
- Is there anything I can do to change your mind?
- It's not fair!
- Won't you please give me another chance?
Do not waver. You have to remain firm in your resolve. Tell them:
"I'm sorry, but I have made the decision to terminate you. That's final. However, I do want to take the opportunity to see if there is anything that I can do to help make this transition easier for both of us. What would make this transition easier for you?"
What you need to do is get the employee to talk and put something tangible on the table. Here are some things you hope to get the "to be" terminated employee to say:
- I think a month's severance pay would be fair.
- I really need medical coverage for a couple of months because I have a medical issue that may take that long to resolve and I can't afford to pay for the coverage myself.
- I started a job search sometime back and I've got a final interview next week. I'd like to be able to say I'm still employed, so can you keep me on for a couple more weeks?
- If you terminate me, what will you tell people if they call for references?
There are usually some things people want and if you agree to give them something that they suggest (negotiate), then their feelings about the action are a lot more reasonable and, if fact, you have initiated a step towards reasonableness in handling a very difficult situation. If you can get the employee to suggest something, then you are about 80% of the way to achieving a mutually acceptable and non-acrimonious parting of the ways. Separation settlements are cheap insurance against potential litigation.
Tell the employee that you want some time to think over what they have suggested and say,
"If we can agree on something, I will need to put that agreement in writing, and as a part of that written agreement, you will have to agree not to contest your termination in any way. Will that work for you?"
(Note: A Their verbal answer to this question is not a contract. If you get this far, you will need to consult with a local labor attorney to craft a written separation agreement. Once you have done this in the state in which you operate, the same written agreement can be used as a template for any subsequent terminations in which you have been successful in negotiating a separation agreement.)
FYI, any employee signing a separation agreement with a "release clause" that waives the employee's right to file a lawsuit or complaint with an administrative agency must be given a period of time following the signing of the agreement to reconsider and potentially withdraw the agreement. A sample separation agreement is at the end of this article for your information only. IT SHOULD NOT BE USED UNTIL YOU CONSULT WITH LOCAL COUNSEL.
Finally, What Do You Tell Your Remaining Employees?
A terse statement like: "'So-and-So' has decided to leave us and his/her last day will be ________. I wish __________ all the best." It is deadly to tell your folks you fired the no good "So and So" because… Don't beat your chest. You probably hired the person in the first place so this was just as much your fault as theirs.
Sample Only
Counseling Documentation
SUBJECT: Required Improvement
As we discussed on ___________________, I expect you to make the following improvement in your behavior and/or work performance:
We will review your improvement progress on (date)
If you have another incident of the above behavior or fail to make the required improvement by our next improvement review session, the following consequence will occur:
Signed: __________________________
I acknowledge I have received a copy of this document and understand it.
Employee Signature: _____________________________
Date: ______________________________
(Sample Only - Not to be used without consultation with an attorney)
This Settlement and Release Agreement is dated as of this _______ day of ________, _______ and is between ____________________ (the "COMPANY") and ________________ (the "EMPLOYEE").
WHEREAS, the EMPLOYEE has had an employment relationship with the COMPANY; and
WHEREAS, disputes among the parties have arisen in connection with EMPLOYEE's employment; and
WHEREAS, the parties desire to compromise and settle any and all disputes that have arisen upon the terms hereinafter set forth.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises of the parties and other valuable and sufficient consideration, and intending hereby to compromise and settle any and all such disputes, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. EMPLOYEE's employment with the COMPANY will terminate as of (date), and he will perform no services for the COMPANY thereafter.
2. (A) In settlement of any and all possible claims that arise or might arise, the COMPANY will pay EMPLOYEE such compensation and provide such benefits for EMPLOYEE as follows:
- For purposes of the COMPANY's benefit plans, EMPLOYEE will no longer be an "employee" as of (date) .
- On or before (date), EMPLOYEE will be paid for any accrued and not used vacation time and one floating holiday.
(B) As consideration for the release of claims by EMPLOYEE in paragraph 5, hereof, the COMPANY will pay EMPLOYEE the following that are over and above what is otherwise required:
- Severance pay of $x,xxx.xx, to be paid beginning _______ and ending _______.
- During the period EMPLOYEE is receiving severance payments he shall be provided with group health benefits as if he were still an "employee."
3. Except as described in paragraph 2 of this Settlement and Release Agreement, EMPLOYEE expressly admits, acknowledges and agrees that no other payments shall be made by the COMPANY to him and that he has no entitlement to, or any right to make any claim for, any additional payments by the COMPANY of any kind or nature or under any circumstances whatsoever.
4. This Settlement and Release Agreement is revocable by EMPLOYEE for seven (7) days after it is signed by him. This Settlement and Release Agreement shall not be effective or enforceable until the period for revocation has expire.
5. As a material inducement to the COMPANY to enter into this Settlement and Release Agreement, EMPLOYEE hereby releases, for himself and for his heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, the COMPANY and its current and former parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, partners, stockholders, and their current and former officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, successors and assigns, from any and all liabilities whatsoever, including, but not limited to, any claim for any compensation or benefits specifically arising directly or indirectly out of his employment relationship with the COMPANY, and from any rights, claims in law or equity for wrongful discharge, discriminatory treatment under any local, state or federal law, regulation or order (including without limitation the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA") the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, all State of __________ Human Rights and Opportunities Laws, the Employee Income Security Act of 1974, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1992, and the National Labor Relations Act), personal injury, contract breach, defamation, mental anguish, injury to health and/or personal reputation and any other claim arising out of his employment with the COMPANY or the termination of his employment or under any other facts or circumstances whatsoever. The release of claims in this Settlement and Release Agreement shall extend to claims of any nature whatsoever, including claims that are known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected.
6. EMPLOYEE agrees and covenants not to initiate a lawsuit or commence any sort of action or proceedings against the COMPANY or its current and former parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, partners, stockholders, or their current and former officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, successors and assigns at any time in the future based on any right or claim that arose or could have arisen on or before the effective date of this Settlement Agreement and Release.
7. EMPLOYEE recognizes that during the course of, and for the purpose of his employment by the COMPANY, he was informed of or helped originate proprietary information, some of which was confidential; and that the COMPANY considers at least the following types of information to be confidential and the property of the COMPANY: proposed inventions, engineering designs, new product plans and market studies, prices and pricing strategies, profit margins and financial performance reports and financial performance targets, names and addresses of suppliers, customers and consultants, and customer problems, preferences, needs and complaints. EMPLOYEE also recognizes that there may be other types of confidential information, such as that which is proprietary to others and provided to the COMPANY under a secrecy agreement. The EMPLOYEE agrees to immediately return any such confidential information in his possession to the COMPANY; agrees to hold and protect in strict confidence and to not use or disclose for any purpose or to any person who is not then an employee of the COMPANY, any of the COMPANY's confidential or proprietary information; and further agrees not to cause or assist any other person to use, publish or disclose any of said information, except, however, such of the foregoing information as shall have become generally available to the public without any action, cause or fault of the EMPLOYEE.
8. EMPLOYEE agrees that during the period in which severance payments are being received EMPLOYEE will not: (a) offer, perform, or attempt to perform services for any other person, firm or corporation if any of those services would use or disclose or cause disclosure of any of the confidential or proprietary information described in paragraph 7 above, and thereby would assist or benefit competition against any line of the COMPANY's business; (b) cause, assist or encourage any solicitation of a customer of the COMPANY for a sale in competition with the COMPANY, and (c) cause, assist or encourage any recruitment of any employee of the COMPANY to become employed with another company. In the event that during the severance period , EMPLOYEE engages in any of the conduct proscribed by this paragraph, EMPLOYEE's severance payments will cease, and Employer will take such legal action as authorized by law or equity.
9. This Settlement and Release Agreement shall be governed by and construed under the laws of the State of ____________.
10. The provisions of this Settlement and Release Agreement are severable, and if any part of it is found to be unenforceable, the other paragraphs shall remain fully valid and enforceable. This Settlement and Release Agreement shall survive the termination of any arrangements contained herein.
11. EMPLOYEE acknowledges that he is entering into this Settlement and Release Agreement knowingly and voluntarily, that he fully understands all of its provisions, and that he has been advised of his right to consult with an attorney prior to signing this Settlement and Release Agreement. This Settlement and Release Agreement constitutes the entire understanding of the parties, and cannot be modified except by a writing signed by both parties.
12. EMPLOYEE agrees that, except as permitted or required by applicable Federal, State, or Local law, he will maintain the confidentiality of this Settlement and Release Agreement and make no voluntary statement or take any other action that might reasonably be expected to result in disclosure of, or any publicity concerning, the terms hereof or the consideration paid to him by the COMPANY.
13. EMPLOYEE and the COMPANY also agree that in the event of a breach of this Settlement and Release Agreement by either party, the prevailing party shall be entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs for enforcement of this Settlement and Release Agreement.
14. This Settlement and Release Agreement shall not in any way be construed as an admission by the COMPANY that it has acted wrongfully with respect to EMPLOYEE in connection with his employment with or termination of employment from the COMPANY.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have executed this Settlement and Release Agreement as of the date first above written.
_______________________________________ _________________________
By: ____________________________________ _________________________
____________________________________ Title


text:
After giving notice on her longtime gig as Dunder-MIfflin's Kelly Kapoor on "The Office" to launch her own self-created, self-starring sitcom on Fox, actress Mindy Kaling opens up the files on "The Mindy Project" to reveal the inspirations behind the new sitcom.
On digging into the rocky romantic life of a busy career woman:
"I'm someone who loves romance. I always have loved it. Most people who grew up as nerds – as I was, surprisingly – have loved romance. So as a comedy writer, it's like on 'The Office,' so much of the show is kind of disguising your true feelings and your romantic feelings because it was a documentary, a mock documentary. And so in a lot of ways, it's like a reaction to that, because I just wanted to explore love and romance, but with people who are legitimately busy and have busy lives. Especially with women my age, too – I think if you have a career, you're thinking, like, 'When is this other side of my life going to click into place?'"
On the meaning of Mindy's project:
"The really fun thing about this character – which is not unlike Michael Scott in some ways – is that she wants to just be a better person, so much a part of her life. In some ways, she's a great doctor, kind of hyper‑educated, but wants to be a better catch, wants to be a better friend, wants to work out, wants to actually read books instead of magazines and things like that, which is something I also strive to be a little bit. The 'Project' is with this woman who's not 21 or 22, kind of getting her life together."
On her place in the increasing profile of Indian actors on television:
"There's a saying that I really believe in, sort of in terms of my Indian-ness, which is that I try not to rely on it nor deny it. When it comes up organically in my writing, we can address it. And in 'The Office,' about five years ago we wrote this episode called 'Diwali,' which seemed like an organic way of using it. I mean, it's really exciting with Danny Pudi and Aziz Ansari in their shows and 'The Good Wife' and things like that. I don't think about it all the time, [but] it is a cool time for Indian actors."
On where the choice of her character's career came from:
"I picked a doctor because my mother was an OB/GYN, and it was just a job that I had done a lot of research on, kind of accidentally, throughout my life, and weirdly her hours are really similar to my hours as a writer/performer. I could call her in the middle of the night and she would be awake, and she lives in Boston, so yeah – it just seemed we have the same sleep‑deprived schedule."
On why it wasn't the real-life career path for her:
"My parents would have loved for me to have been a doctor, but I was bad at science. And actually, I wasn't like a theatrical kid. I wasn't really encouraged to be one of these – like, I didn't do plays or anything. I was largely silent until I was like about 15 or 16 years old, but I was always a comedy nerd: a silent comedy nerd – stay up late, sneak downstairs, watch 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Kids in the Hall' and things like that. So very early on, my parents realized that I wasn't going to be an engineer or a doctor. I just don't have those inclinations at all."
On her major shift from writer and supporting player to full-on creative force:
"Every day I wake up and I'm like 'Oh – I'm the star of my own show that has my name in it and I get to write it and hire people, actors that I've loved for such a long time.' It's amazing. I'm going to turn into a monster. Like, I can't handle it."
"The Mindy Project" airs 9.30 p.m. ET on the Fox network.


text:
My Sea Salt soap, or 'Spa Bar' that is.
Although it's got a funny name, I love this fragrance! It's juicy, fresh and summery.
After a nice afternoon at the beach you feel rejuvenated, energized, maybe even healthier; but why? One reason is that the sea salt you are swimming in is full of great minerals such as magnesium, zinc, calcium, and potassium, among others.
I poured these big, 6+ ounce, mineral-rich, sea salty bars back in May, so they are cured for two months as of right now. Salt soaps only get better with age,
so the longer they cure, the more divine they become.
I had never even heard of Salt Soap or Spa Bars before I started making soap at home. Now, it's my favorite kind of soap. I love to make it and I love to use it.
My showers are longer these days, but I conserve in other areas, I swear that I do..
Salt soap makes you feel extra clean, it lasts and lasts, and as an added bonus, never gets gooey in the soap dish!
Ye old saltydog speaks the truth.
Daily Archives: July 14, 2012
nicely aged monkey farts.
My Sea Salt soap, or 'Spa Bar' that is.


text:
Splitting CHP
Riddle Me This
Q: When is a library not a library?
A: When it's two, or three.
The CHP library has been growing progressively larger, and I have noticed something about a lot of the recent additions: several of them are entire modules that import Control.Concurrent.CHP. That is, they are extensions that build upon the existing library without requiring any access to the internal details of the library, and without being used or exported by the core of the library. This means that there is now a significant chunk of the library that I can safely break off and make its own library, titled chp-plus, that depends on the public interface of the chp library.
The Split
At first, I was resistant to the idea of splitting. I think it is more appealing to new users to have everything in one library rather than split between two; the latter suggests unwanted complexity. However, it is perhaps nice to have a smaller core library to offer, with further capabilities set aside — this was something that came up when comparing CHP to CML. The split delineates the core basic API (channels, barriers, enrollment and parallel) from the more sophisticated constructs that can sit on top of these (connectable, behaviours, and so on). The split also makes maintenance a little easier, by reducing the amount of functionality in the core library, and means that the core should develop slowly while the chp-plus package will likely develop more quickly. It also allows me to trim down the set of dependencies of the core library; CHP no longer depends on QuickCheck, for example (chp-plus does instead).
I decided to go ahead and make the split. I have taken the opportunity to remove the deprecated BroadcastChannels module, and the Utils module — the latter having been generalised and superseded by the Connect module. I have bumped up the chp version number to 2.0.0 as part of the change, and have released chp-plus 1.0.0 (as usual, all this is on hackage and can be installed using cabal). I suspect that chp-plus will fast outpace chp; aside from anything else, chp-plus can add new features without affecting chp, but any major changes to chp would probably require a chp-plus change too. For users, there should be little change required. Where previously you put "chp" in your build-depends field in cabal, you should now put "chp == 2.*, chp-plus == 1.*" or similar. You will need to transition from using the Utils module to Connect — most of the old operators are now encompassed in the new single <=> operator. Put a comment below if have any troubles.
The Third Package
Alongside these two packages, I've also split off a very small piece of functionality that has always been out of place in the CHP library. The LoopWhileT monad transformer adds simple easy looping support on top of an existing monad. You can place your whiles at the beginning of a block (generally known as a while loop), at the end (generally known as a do-while loop) and anywhere in the middle, including multiple times (generally known as do-while-do, and sadly lacking in almost all imperative languages). Each time a while is reached, the test is made, and if it fails the loop is broken, otherwise execution continues around the loop. This is all packaged up and documented in the loop-while package on Hackage if you're interested in it, and is totally stand-alone. CHP now depends on it, mainly in order to provide a useful MonadCHP instance, but with cabal install this shouldn't be a problem. I don't expect loop-while to change much so you should only need to install it once and not worry about it.
CHP has now become two packages, chp-2.0.0 and chp-plus-1.0.0, with a side release of loop-while-1.0.0. I realise this will be slightly irksome for the existing users of the library to switch, but I hope that in the long run the split makes things easier for everyone. Not much code has been changed, only the library organisation, so the main thing you will need to adjust is your build system — and any use of the Utils module. I've also fixed some problems involving GHC 6.12, by using the deepseq library instead of parallel (as, confusingly, I only needed deepseq in CHP — for the strict send commands) because the release of parallel-2.x confused things a bit. This may cause problems if you are still using GHC 6.8, but I think it may be time that I stopped worrying about supporting GHC 6.8. If you have any troubles installing on GHC 6.10 or 6.12, just let me know.
January 30, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Just a thought… You might want to update the tutorial, which still refers to the old Utils module.
January 30, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Also in the tutorial: newChannelWithLabel (p9) needs to become newChannel' $ chanLabel
January 14, 2010 at 1:39 pm


text:
Johnson backs same-sex marriage
South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson, one of the last Democratic senators to oppose same-sex marriage, changed his position on Monday.
"After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation," Johnson (D-S.D.) said in a statement. "This position doesn't require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets; it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom."
( PHOTOS: Pols who evolved on gay marriage)
Johnson is the latest lawmaker to reverse positions on the issue: last week saw senators including Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) do the same. Johnson announced last month that he was not seeking reelection in 2014.


text:
BOSTON (AP) Kevin Garnett scored 19 points, Jeff Green added 16, and the Boston Celtics won the back end of a home-and-home with Philadelphia, beating the 76ers 92-79 on Saturday night.
Paul Pierce finished with 13 points and Rajon Rondo dished out 11 assists and collected nine rebounds, one night after his first triple-double of the season. Rondo had just seven points.
Thaddeus Young led Philadelphia with 22 points and Evan Turner scored 13. The 76ers have lost three of four.
Philadelphia won Friday when Turner hit the go-ahead basket in the lane with 3.9 seconds left in overtime and Rondo missed a game-ending shot after he slipped along the left baseline.