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Holiday Happenings Square Glass Over The Hill Platter for $14.99
Pfaltzgraff's Holiday Happenings is a fun collection of serving pieces to complete your dining experience. Constructed of high quality fused glass and perfect for casual entertaining or gift giving. Here's a platter worthy of any banquet or celebration. The shape is clean and unique, the size is generous, and the unusual style adds a surprising touch to a table otherwise filled with round pieces. This glass platter is designed to serve and refrigerate food. Not recommended for preparation or serving hot foods. Hand wash recommended. Square Glass Over The Hill Platter measures 15 inch square.


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What are the fighting styles which employ the katana from the beginning of training?
Major categories that I am aware of (expanding slightly on Sardathrion's comment):
Iaijutsu (居合術) and Iaido (居合道) are the art of drawing the sword. Iaijutsu, theoretically, prefers more practical application while iaido is closer to an internal martial art, but you'll find schools under both names that exist along a bit of a continuum.
Kenjutsu (剣術) is actually a bit of a blanket term for traditional Japanese swordsmanship and is literally "the technique of the sword."
Kendo (剣道) can be more sport/sparring oriented than kenjutsu usually is, and has formalized rules, scoring, judging, etc.
These are all essentially umbrella terms for more-or-less what you seem to be looking for: martial arts that teach katana.
Also needing a special mention here is kumdo (검도 (劍道)), which is a Korean derivative of kendo.
My experience has been that aikido dojo vary hugely in how early and how seriously they integrate weapon work, but you can certainly ask if you have an interest in learning aikido along with the sword work. The same is true of a lot of other martial arts: Some of them integrate weapons early, some later, and the only real way to figure it out is to ask at the individual dojo level.
Many ninjutsu and related arts like To Shin Do have weapons classes open to all from the beginning, some even incorporate weapons training into regular classes as well. Look at your friendly neighborhood band of ninjas to see. :)
Kendo the "way of the Sword"
Iaido the "art of Drawing Swords" or " being Consonantly prepared"
Both teach you the ways of using a Katana but don't necessary require the use of the actually blade to learn. They also focus on the mind set that some with practice the blade and learn how to cut with one.

subset: commoncrawl


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Digital Designers
Digital designers use computers tools and software to create artwork, designs, interactive online content, e-books, digital advertisements, and Web sites for corporations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. They manipulate different typefaces, font sizes, colors, images, and drawings for use in Web pages, multimedia, and interactive media.
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text:
I know two generalizations of Hilbert 90, but I don't if there is a statement that contains both:
The first statement
Let $K$ be a field, then $H^1(Gal(K), GL_n(K^{sep}))=0$.
The second statement
Let $X$ be a scheme, then $H^1(X,\mathbb{G}_m)=Pic(X)$.
Is there a nice characterization of $H^1(X,GL_n)$ (where $GL_n$ is treated as a sheaf in the etale topology) for a general scheme $X$?


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MoinMoin Wiki
MoinMoin Wiki
MoinMoin is a wiki written in Python. The current stable release 1.9.x is used at many community sites, in intranets and on local desktop installations.
We are currently mostly working on MoinMoin 2.0 (short: moin2), which is a rewrite of the codebase, quite different internally, much more powerful and easier to hack than 1.x was.
moin developers visiting Noisebridge
Bastian Blank and Thomas Waldmann will be in California between Oct, 12 2012 and Oct, 26 2012.
We'll likely visit Noisebridge between the 22nd and 24th Oct (and we'll be at Baypiggies meeting on the 25th in case we won't meet at Noisebridge).
To find the best date / time, please enter your name and availability there:
We could do a small presentation about moin2:
- what is it?
- what's new? (in general and also recent news from GSOC 2012)
- what needs to be done to release it, how you can help
We could also do some moin hacking, if there is interest.
- Thomas Waldmann (moin core developer and maintainer), contact: tw-public AT gmx DOT de
- Bastian Blank (moin core developer)
- ...
- (please add your name above, maybe add your moin/wiki/python related interests and/or skills, so we can address them)


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Eason keeps on giving
Sereatha's House helps youths focused on college
|Sereatha Eason has established a fund to help Waterbury students get into college. Darlene Douty / Republican-American
It was never much, the Waterbury parishioner of Zion Baptist Church said, just enough for pencils, erasers, maybe a sandwich or two.
But she had always wanted to do more.
Last year, her son, a minister at a church in Fort Washington, Md., helped Eason achieve that goal. He established Sereatha House, a nonprofit corporation that raises money for outstanding high school seniors pursuing a college education.
"I've always wanted to do this, but I never had the money to do this," said Eason, 87, who raised six children in Waterbury. Sereatha House, which will hold its first fundraiser Oct. 27 at Hopkins Street Center, will allow organizers to raise money in her name to establish the scholarship in perpetuity.
"She wanted to give back to the community because she says Waterbury has been good to her and Zion Baptist has been good to her," said her youngest son, Stacy Eason, a minister at Jesus Saved Christian Center, where his sister, Rosemary, serves as pastor. "She thought she'd give a one-time scholarship, but I told her she could set up for longer than that by establishing a nonprofit corporation so we could get donation from the general public. I didn't want this to be a one-time giveback. I wanted it to be something that continued to give in the hope that these young folks would get an education and come back to Waterbury to make Waterbury a stronger city."
Sereatha House was established in 2011.
"The children really need an education, today more so than ever," said Sereatha Eason, who worked at Uniroyal and the Republican-American before her retirement. "I'm retired and I don't have the money, and when I had six kids I didn't have the money. I'd give them a little and tell them they can buy pencils or erasers. But this time it's going to be really a nice gift for them. I hope it's going to last forever and ever."
Neither Sereatha Eason nor her husband Herman were able to finish high school. Herman, who died in 2002, was an Army veteran of World War II, serving as a private first class in Company B, 907th Air Base Security Battalion in Italy. He retired after 40 years from Century Brass.
Sereatha Eason was receiving good grades at Crosby High School and had dreams of being a nurse. But when she discovered that the only way she could attend college was to go south to a historically black college, she left school a year away from graduation, seeing no point.
"She grew up in a time when education was hard to get for a young black woman," said Stacy Eason. "She wasn't able to go to college. She wanted to. She always knew knowledge was power and it always brought people out of bad situations."
Instead, she went to work at Uniroyal and later earned her GED before coming to the Republican-American.
"I always felt like there were two rules for me as a child," said Eason's son, Hardy Eason, a professional musician. "The first one was, 'Don't believe anything that you hear and half of what you see.' Truth was in your household. The second rule was: 'Don't mess up your family name.' That was it. That pretty much covered everything. Ethics, morals, even goal setting."
Hardy Eason said it did not surprise him that his mother wanted to establish a scholarship in her name and that of her husband.
"That's what she's been doing all her life. What I saw my mother and father do as a child I saw them helping them grow up and get on their owns and everything worked. All I saw my mother and father ever do was give."
If you go
A charity fundraiser, "Pathway to Success," will be held on Oct. 27 at the Hopkins Street Center, 34 Hopkins St., Waterbury, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. The evening will include dinner, silent auction and live music by Washington, D.C.'s, Wayne Cabbagestalk. For information on advertising in the souvenir journal or to purchase tickets, which are $24, call 203-558-9434 or 203-437-2200 or visit www.sereathahouse.com.
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- Sorting out the violence
- Mapping out a care plan helps breast cancer survivors thrive in body and mind
- Getting suited up is a cinch
- What if we were the talk radio targets?
- 'Ton of fun' at Flanders
- Social media among threats to greeting card makers
- An upside down approach
- News anchor feasts on weighty issue
- Dancing past the odds
- Eason keeps on giving


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Maya Wiley '89, Founder and President of the Center for Social Inclusion, leads a discussion addressing race, gender and class inequities outside of the courtroom.
Lunch will be served. Hosted by SJI.
© Copyright 2016, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.
For questions or comments, please contact the web administrators.
435 West 116 Street, New York, NY 10027 — 212-854-2640


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6 Supervillains From History That Make The Joker Look Subtle
Look, we're not so far gone that we can't tell the difference between comics and reality. Fiction demands a certain suspension of disbelief, because real-life bad guys understand that dry, drawn-out political subterfuge is much cheaper and more effective than a clone army.
Then, occasionally, some crackpot leaps straight off the pages into our world. These are men with brazen, insane and often ridiculous plans for world domination that grant him comic book supervillain status. Like ...
#6. Otto Skorzeny
First of all, look at him:
Out of frame, he's cradling a white Persian cat.
You could fill a whole article about real-life supervillains from Nazi Germany, but if we're to pick just one to fill our Nazi quota for this article, we're taking Otto Skorzeny, and not just because he looks like every single Bond villain who ever existed. Skorzeny was an "Obersturmbannfuhrer," which is German-speak for "chief ass-kicker of the Nazi SS." He specialized in warfare tactics that even the Nazis considered "unconventional." We're talking paramilitary training, misinformation, deception and other sinister shit designed to kill an enemy from the inside like a Nazi-voting Alien.
Picture this guy goose-stepping out to "Horst Wessel Lied."
Skorzeny led the commando operation that rescued Benito Mussolini from capture, headed a plot to assassinate FDR, Churchill and Stalin at the Tehran Conference and was a key player in a commando operation that operated behind Allied lines a full year after Germany's surrender, code-named Werwolf.
But Skorzeny's career as a lone-gun supervillain didn't begin until after the war. After Skorzeny escaped from his military tribunal, he went into hiding in Spain, where he spearheaded the ODESSA Network, which was for all intents and purposes a slightly less overt version of Bond's SPECTRE organization, and not just because long acronyms sound evil. ODESSA's ultimate goal was world domination, which it hoped to achieve by first rescuing and recruiting all the ex-Nazis in hiding around the world, then creating a kind of decentralized "Fourth Reich" made up of international "Nazi colonies." Any plans for moon lasers or weather machines were, at this point, only theoretical.
And their space station was pretty much just a storage shed.
Skorzeny didn't even stop there. In the 1970s, when the rival world conqueror, the Soviet Union, was at the height of its power, Skorzeny made a grand return to supervillainy that DC comics would have envied. He formed the Paladin Group, which described itself as "an international directorship of strategic assault personnel [that would] straddle the watershed between paramilitary operations carried out by troops in uniforms and the political warfare which is conducted by civilian agents." In short, the real life Cobra Command.
Above: civilian agents.
So did Skorzeny die in a nuclear power plant meltdown, or in a fistfight with Bruce Willis in an out-of-control helicopter? Nope, it was plain old cancer. Considering that his life so closely paralleled the plots of our favorite action movies, we feel kind of ripped off.
#5. Benito Mussolini
You know him as the fascist leader of Italy and Hitler's BFF in World War II. But why is he on this list instead of, say, Hitler? Let's put it this way -- here is Mussolini's lair:
His evil lair. Seriously. That is not Photoshop.
He was also known as "Il Duce," which roughly translates into "The Leader," or simply "The Head." Seriously, this guy's mutant power was having a huge freaking head.
And what a head it was.
So while Hitler was really just a lucky douchebag with little-man syndrome, Mussolini was more or less a real-life Lex Luthor. We mean that in the sense that, just like Luthor, he was a fragile Everyman with a huge head who kept scheming against a near-invincible enemy and got his ass handed to him every time. And of course had that mega-sweet-looking lair.
Mussolini's straight-from-a-comic-book plan was to rebuild the Roman Empire with himself as Caesar, but while Hitler was brazen enough to march into Poland, Mussolini started off more conservatively, by "conquering" Ethiopia, which in terms of military badassery is about one step above conquering Antarctica. After this initial esteem-building victory, Mussolini went on to lose virtually every single war he started, despite employing people around the clock to find places to stick his enormous head.
Which they did.
Mussolini's prescription to these fatal setbacks was always more propaganda, which by the end was so pathetic that it was said his speeches "actually caused demoralization and division among the Italians listening." As an ally, he ended up being an even worse sidekick for Hitler than Bebop and Rocksteady ever were for Shredder, and to this day, he's frequently accused of costing Germany the war just by existing. In the end, he was captured and killed by the Communists, leaving the business of war to men who less resembled cartoon characters.
#4. Francisco Pizarro
The second cousin (once removed) of Spanish conquerer Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizarro always lived in the shadow of his famed relative. After Cortes conquered the mighty Aztec Empire, Pizarro went in search of something else to murder and pillage, just so he could say he did it too. Luckily, there was another empire just down the road that was conveniently unconquered. Pizarro was kind of like the Darth Maul to Cortes' Vader -- not as well-known, but his lightsaber had two blades.
He traded in the bitchin' head tats for a beard.
By the time the Spanish conquest of the Incan empire was complete, he was now not only a self-made governor, but was known throughout the continent as Pizarro the Cruel, Pizarro the Torturer, Pizarro the Despised, Pizarro the Unholy and, somewhat less creatively, Pizarro the White Person.
Also, Pizarro the Fabulous!
But Pizarro's quest for glory came second to his real passion -- the cities of the Inca were paved with gold. So Pizarro's approach to thwarting the Inca wasn't so much a straightforward military victory as it was a campy, Dr. Evil-style extortion racket.
After a friendly meeting with the Incan emperor, Atahualpa, went sour, Pizarro did the rational thing and kidnapped the emperor for ransom. The price he demanded? "A room full of gold." Seriously. While inflation rates have since changed, it's about as close as anyone has ever come to holding an entire country hostage for "one hundred billion dollars."
Because Atahualpa wasn't as attached to his gold as he was to his life, he not only supplied the ransom but included a smaller room filled "twice over" with silver, just as a bonus. It's probably safe to assume that Pizarro hadn't counted on it being this easy, because he just went ahead and killed Atahualpa anyway, by strangling him in public.
Illustrated here. Probably.
Oh, and as if to rub it into every single one of you from beyond the grave, Pizarro remains to this day one of the most successful self-made men in history. Living in a room full of gold tends to earn one a reputation.
And, occasionally, nephews.


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I have a cake recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of sorbitol. I would like to use stevia instead since I am concerned about the side effects of sorbitol. How do I make that substitution? I could just add water to the stevia equivalent for the sorbitol amount to bring the stevia to 1/2 cup of volume. But I don't know if that will have the same effect as using the sorbitol. I know that using unsweetened applesauce will help with moisture retention. Any suggestions?
According to stevia.net one tablespoon of stevia (in powder or liquid form) is the 'equivalent' of one cup of sugar.
Similarly, lowcarbdiets.about.com tells us that sorbitol is 60% of the 'sweetness' of sugar.
Using sugar as a common denominator, 1/2 cup of sorbitol = .83 cup of sugar and so you should use ~.83 Tablespoons of stevia to gain the relative sweetness.
That calculated, I would mix 1 tablespoon of stevia with 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce and then use 3/4 of a cup + 1 tablespoons of the mixture, and then adjust from there.
Conversions like this are admittedly 'imprecise' but this should give you a good approximation to start from...your mileage may vary.
Polydextrose is for the humectant with sucralose for the sweetness
ive not used polydextrose too much, but try a 60/40 polydextrose/sucralose mix to replace the sorbitol by volume (not weight)


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Hybrid View
15 May 2009 5:43 AM #1
Migration GXT 1.2.4 to 2.0
Hi, I decide to change my gxt1.2.4 to 2.0 in my project in order to have new features (Does the column reordering feature in a grid is implemented ?). However, many compilations problems appeared like cast obligations, constructors changing, and some classes disappeared (like TextToolItem) or are stored in another package.
Is there a page which summarize how to migrate from the 1.2... to the 2.0 version ?
Thanks a lot
15 May 2009 6:23 AM #2
I guess you meant to post in the GXT forum?
15 May 2009 6:26 AM #3
Oh yes, sorry, it seems i have posted in the wrong place.


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Historic Span To Get Facelift
GLEN DALE – Although officials said there are no major concerns with the structure, the West Virginia Division of Highways plans to spend about $8.2 million to renovate the historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge.
"The structure is pretty sound at this point. But it is better to do maintenance before you have a problem than to wait until there is a problem," said Dave Sada, bridge engineer for the DOH District 6 office in Glen Dale.
After Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and state Senate President Jeff Kessler announced the project Thursday, Sada said work should begin "sometime over the next year," noting the structure would need to be temporarily closed during the construction. He did not know the specific time for the project or how long the work would take.
The bridge – built in 1849, when Wheeling was still part of Virginia – last saw significant renovations in 1999, Sada said. The bridge spans the main channel of the Ohio River to connect Virginia Street on Wheeling Island with 10th Street in downtown Wheeling.
Sada said the bridge now has a 4,000-pound weight limit and an 8-foot height limit to help reduce stress on the structure.
Specific plans for the bridge include spending $4.8 million for "minor structure repairs" and $1.8 million for lighting upgrades. Cleaning and painting also will be performed, as well as other small improvements.
The 1999 project included cleaning and painting, lighting upgrades, excavation and unwrapping of the cables for repairs. But that was not the first time major work was performed on the span.
An article in the May 17, 1854, edition of The Wheeling Intelligencer describes a powerful wind storm that destroyed the bridge.
"With feelings of unutterable sorrow, we announce that the noble and world renowned structure, the WHEELING SUSPENSION BRIDGE, has been swept from its strong holds by a terrific storm, and now lies a mass of ruins!" the paper stated that day.
The bridge was later rebuilt, with travel over it resuming in January 1856.
"The bridge has a lot of history, and we are going to take care of it," Sada added.
Also Thursday, Tomblin and Kessler officially announced the completion of the W.Va. 2 resurfacing project between McMechen and Glen Dale in the area commonly known as the Narrows.
The price tag for the work was $6.3 million for stabilizing and reinforcing the hillside beneath the west side of the roadway and repaving the 1.9-mile stretch of highway.
"After three or four long years – it was a very difficult job – we have the completion of the Narrows work," Kessler said.
Tomblin said West Virginia has about 36,000 miles of roads. He said DOH workers do a good job repairing roads, as well as removing ice and snow.
"Some people don't realize how much we depend of these people," he said.


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I would like to Know if it is possible to open a Personal Geodatabase of Esri with Openlayer with FileGDB_API_VS2010_1_2
Thank in advance
I would like to Know if it is possible to open a Personal Geodatabase of Esri with Openlayer with FileGDB_API_VS2010_1_2
Thank in advance
It is possible to consume data from an ESRI Personal GDB using OpenLayers, but not by using the File GDB API. The reason is that the Personal GDB and the File GDB are two completely different storage formats, and thus have different programmatic access methods.
The Personal GDB is built inside a Microsoft Access database.
The File GDB is a completely file-based structure somewhat similar to, but far more complex than, an ArcINFO coverage.
Here is ESRI's description of the different types: Types of geodatabases
In order to access the Personal GDB in Openlayers, you may need to make it a multi-step process. It is important to note that this process would be the same when using a File GDB, as the API you are referring to has now been incorporated into the GDAL/OGR tools as well. There are significant limitations to be aware of as mentioned here: ESRI File GDB API
Please note that this is one method, using open-source tools, of accomplishing your task. There are undoubtedly other open-source mthods, as well as ways that utilize ESRI products. Using ESRI products would remove the need for the File GDB API, but would include additional licensing costs.
You can create an MXD from that personal geodatabase and publish it via ArcGIS Server. This will allow you to expose the data in a standardized OGC format (WMS, WFS) so that OpenLayers can read it.
If you are not necessirly after a client-server setup, but just looking for a software tool to inspect and manipulate a personal gdb, check out QGIS desktop GIS. It makes use of the OGR library mentioned before to open the ESRI file format.


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BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi troops opened fire on stone-throwing Sunni demonstrators in the country's restive west on Friday, leading to the deaths of at least five protesters - the first fatalities in more than a month of anti-government rallies. Two soldiers were also killed, apparently in retaliation.
The violence is likely to exacerbate tensions between the Shiite-led government and minority Sunnis angry over perceived second-class treatment and what they see as unfair policies targeting their sect.
Hours after the shooting, police said gunmen attacked an army checkpoint, killing the soldiers, in apparent payback for the earlier bloodshed. At least one army vehicle was set ablaze, and dozens of civilian gunmen were seen roaming the streets before local authorities imposed a curfew in the city.
Friday's protest was part of a wave of rallies that first erupted in Anbar province last month after the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Sunni Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi, who comes from the area. Anbar is a former al-Qaida stronghold that saw some of the fiercest fighting against U.S. forces during the war.
The protesters are demanding the release of detainees and the cancellation of a tough counterterrorism law and other policies they believe overwhelmingly target Sunnis. Many link their cause with the broader Arab Spring and are calling for the downfall of the government altogether.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has done little to crack down on the protests and has released hundreds of detainees in a concession to the protesters' demands. But he has also criticized some in their ranks for seeking to undermine the democratic process and exacerbate the country's sectarian divisions.
In a statement issued after Friday's shooting, al-Maliki urged government security forces to show restraint and avoid the use of force. He also called on protesters not to provoke the army.
At the same time, he suggested unruly protesters were to blame for the incident.
"Today, in a deliberate act, a group of misguided people attacked one of the army's checkpoints. They started their assault using rocks and then shooting followed, and this has caused causalities and a rise in tension that al-Qaida and terrorist groups are trying to take advantage of," al-Maliki said.
Sunni Arabs, who comprise some 15 percent of Iraq's 28 million population, were dominant under Saddam Hussein and formed the backbone of the insurgency that arose after majority Shiites rose to power following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Sectarian violence that once pushed the country to the brink of civil war has ebbed significantly and most American forces withdrew in December 2011.
Sunni cooperation, particularly from tribal leaders in Anbar, was key to the drop in violence. Increasing anger on view at the protests has raised fears of a rise in bloodshed.
Friday's outbreak of violence began less than a mile from a protest area in Fallujah, the birthplace of the insurgency as well as the U.S.-backed Sunni revolt against al-Qaida that helped quell the bloodshed, some 40 miles west of Baghdad, police officials said.
They said demonstrators grew angry after being held up at the army checkpoint, first shouting and then throwing rocks. The soldiers initially shot into the air in an effort to disperse the protesters, who eventually tried to storm the post, police said.


text:
Men's Nike Air Experience Slide Sandals
Buy Online & Pick Up In-Store
Before and after tough workouts and competitions, the Nike Air Max Experience Slide Sandals give your feet the support and comfort they need to recover. The adjustable closure of the synthetic leather upper allows for a secure fit, while the Phylon footbed offers maximum cushioning underfoot. A visible Max Air unit enhances shock absorption, while the rubber outsole has lugs for traction on slippery surfaces.
- UPPER: Synthetic leather
- MIDSOLE: Phylon footbed
- OUTSOLE: Rubber with lugs and visible Max Air unit


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In case you haven't seen it already, http://www.cnprog.com is a straight-up rip-off — in terms of style and functionality — of Stack Overflow, but in Chinese. This may or may not be right/legal; I am not sure what the Creative Commons license on this site covers.
As programmers, do you ever copy someone else's design and functionality like this?
Has someone ever copied your design and functionality like this? What did you do about it?
Is anyone else excited that they've released the source code for their site (which is powered by Django and jQuery)?
To obtain CNProg's source code (requires Subversion):
svn checkout http://cnprog.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ cnprog


text:
Horse-Meat Probe Yields 3 U.K. Arrests
British Police Detain Three People and France Suspends Processor's License, as Investigation Into Cause Widens
European probes into the mislabeling of horse meat as beef intensified Thursday, as U.K. police arrested three men in a fraud investigation and French officials suspended the license of a meat processor after finding evidence of fraud and mislabeling.
The developments came as Europol, Europe's police coordinating body, is stepping in to help with the investigations, which have largely been handled by national food authorities.
Also on Thursday, British authorities said they found the presence of an equine veterinary drug in carcasses of slaughtered horses that may have entered the food chain, escalating the scandal from one of mislabeling to one with potential health implications. While potentially harmful to humans, officials say huge amounts of the drug must be ingested to present a health risk.
The scandal started in Ireland last month, when authorities there found horse meat in some beef burgers sold in large U.K. supermarket chains, but it has now swept across Europe. Supermarkets in the U.K., France, Germany and Switzerland have withdrawn millions of products including frozen lasagnas, burgers and spaghetti Bolognese from their shelves and the scandal has stretched to countries including Sweden and Romania.
European officials are trying to determine whether the mislabeling can be traced back to one scheme or whether passing horse meat as beef is a widespread practice. The price of horse meat can be far less than beef, which could mean big profits for companies that can disguise horse meat.
Officials believe the scandal is the result of intentional mislabeling rather than accidental contamination.
On Thursday, police in the U.K. arrested three men on suspicion of fraud following raids this week at two British meat plants as part of an inquiry into kebabs and burgers that purported to be beef but were in fact horse, according to the U.K. Food Standards Agency.
The unnamed men, age 42 to 64 years old, from Wales and West Yorkshire, are being detained by police, the agency said. Operations at both plants were suspended.
French officials said they were temporarily suspending the license of Spanghero SAS, a unit of French company Poujol. Authorities say the company supplied meat to another French company, Comigel SAS, which made beef-labeled frozen lasagna ready meals for a frozen-food maker that were found to contain horse meat.
Authorities have revealed a lengthy supply chain that traced the horse meat back to Romanian abattoirs, via Dutch and Cypriot food traders.
Spanghero, which has said it was deceived by suppliers when buying beef, said Thursday it had ordered and sold what it thought was beef, "properly labeled as such, in line with European and French regulations."
Comigel declined to comment. The Romanian government has said the food was properly labeled when it left the country.
Also coming under scrutiny is Cyprus-based company, Draap Trading Ltd., which is the Dutch word for horse spelled backward.
Draap sells horse meat out of a Dutch warehouse owned by a company called Nemijtek BV, in Breda, the Netherlands, according to Jeffrey Grootenboer, Nemijtek's director. He said Dutch authorities visited Nemijtek's facilities, from which Draap shipped between 40 and 100 metric tons of horse meat a month, to take samples of the horse meat.
According to media reports, Draap's director was convicted by a Breda court in January 2012 in relation to the mislabeling of horse meat as beef.
A lawyer for Draap's director confirmed in a statement that the executive was convicted in a 2012 case, and said there was an appeal continuing. He said the case regarded another issue, without elaborating.
The lawyer added in the statement that Draap's meat meets all food-safety standards and that "whatever clients order, we deliver to them." The director couldn't be directly reached to comment.
A Europol spokesman said the agency stood ready to assist but its ability to do so would be dependent on national governments sharing information with them.
Europol doesn't have the authority to seize evidence or arrest suspects but, it can help with intelligence analysis and the exchange of information across the European Union's 27 members.
While horse meat is as palatable as beef there has been concern that a veterinary drug given to horses that can be dangerous to humans.
The U.K.'s Food Standards Agency on Thursday said it found traces of drug phenylbutazone, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory known as bute, in eight of some 200 horse carcasses it tested.
It added that most of those eight carcasses had been sent to France and may have entered the food chain and that it was working with French authorities to trace them.
While the drug isn't allowed to enter the food chain in the U.K., British authorities said the risk to those people who may have eaten meat containing it is very low.
"At the levels of bute that have been found, a person would have to eat 500 to 600 burgers a day that are 100% horse meat to get close to consuming a human's daily dose," said Britain's Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies.
She added that the drug also is prescribed to some human patients who suffer from severe arthritis and although as a medicine it can incur serious side effects, those are rare.
"It is extremely unlikely that anyone who has eaten horse meat containing bute will experience one of these side effects," she added.
—Matthew Dalton and Vanessa Mock contributed to this article.


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Not having used sherry before, what is the type used when a recipe just calls for "sherry"? I see cream sherry, dry sherry, and very dry sherry at my local grocery store. Does brand matter much?
Cream sherry is very sweet - likely too sweet for most recipes that don't explicitly mention it.
If a recipe simply calls for "sherry", it usually means dry sherry, as that's the most common kind of available. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen "very dry" around here. So I would definitely stick with the dry.
As for brand, I believe that sherry is the brand (somebody correct me if I'm wrong). If you see several different bottles all labeled sherry, I don't think it matters too much which one you pick - at least if you're using it for cooking and not drinking.
P.S. If you're using this as a substitute for rice wine, the commonly-accepted substitute is indeed dry sherry.
If you are able to buy actual styles of sherry, then fino is the driest, and is the one to go for in most savoury dishes. If you are using it in seafood or fish dishes, then I'd try to get manzanilla which is a kind of fino that is grown on the coast and has a salty tang to it.
For sweet dishes try the really raisiny Pedro Ximinéz (PX) or oloroso, which is usually dry but there are sweet versions.
I would gravitate to the dry sherries eg fino/manzanilla
But! I have used dry madeira, dry white port, and amontillado sherry with Chinese recipes that called for rice wine, all with great results.
The real rice wine Sake (if you have any) always works well with cooking though I find it a nice, buzzy drink and it always disappears quite fast from the fridge!
I would use dry sherry; the brand most popular in ireland and the Uk would be Winters Tale, I've used that in cooking and desserts many times.
Dry sherry is what you want! Cream sherry is a sweeter sherry and more commonly used for sipping. If the recipe calls for sherry, but doesn't designate it as a sweet sherry, then go for dry sherry. You can find it in most grocery stores. I have used Christian Brothers sherry for several years. Although it is not labeled as a dry sherry, I have found it to be a good go-to sherry for cooking (and sipping as I cook!).


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Three out of four basketball teams from Nebraska City posted wins in home games on Tuesday night.
The Lourdes girls' basketball team battled back from down 24-15 with under six minutes left in the game to force overtime and eventually claim a 40-36 win over the Brownell-Talbot Raiders.
Three Knight boys finished in double figures to lead Lourdes past Brownell-Talbot in the nightcap by a final of 55-41.
And the Nebraska City girls' basketball team claimed its second win of the year with a 40-29 decision against Falls City High School. Shady Hollesen had 18 and Andrea Freiling added nine to lead the Pioneers.
The Nebraska City boys' basketball team kept its game against Falls City competitive into the third quarter before falling in a 53-38 decision. With the win, Falls City moved its season record to 19-3. Tanner Breazile led the Pioneers with 25 points.
Location, ST | website.com


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Brees loves playing against Giants
Saints' QB 4-0 against G-Men
By Art StapletonMcClatchy Newspapers
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text:
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Paying Your Rent
The Rent Service opening hours have now changed to 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday
You can now manage all of your housing payments in one place by registering for an individual online account. You can:
- Pay more than one housing account in a single payment
- Check all your account balances
- View and print account statements
As well as paying your council rent you can also pay for the following:
- Council garage rent
- Rent owed from a previous council tenancy
- Housing benefit overpayments.
Please note: to have access to these options, you must upgrade your individual online account through a short verification process. For a full list of accounts you can pay online, see 'Essential Information'.
- How to pay your rent and other accounts by Direct Debit
If you would like to set up a Direct Debit or cancel/amend an existing Direct Debit you will need to have an online account with us, you can set this up by registering an online account.
You will only be able to cancel/amend a Direct Debit on accounts with an up to date balance. If the account has been set up to pay a debt you will need to contact the rent service in order to cancel/amend the Direct Debit.
If you are setting up a Direct Debit and your bank account requires joint signatures, or the Direct Debit is being set up from someone else's bank account, you will need to download, complete and post the paper Direct Debit mandate to us. You will find the Direct Debit mandate at the bottom of the page. See contacts for our postal address.
Direct Debits can be set up either on the 1st, 8th, 15th, 21st or 28th of the month or weekly on a Monday or Friday. You must continue paying your rent until the first Direct Debit instalment date.
You can also pay the following housing accounts by Direct Debit:
- Rent owed from previous tenancy
- Housing benefit overpayment
- Council garages.
- Other ways to pay your rent or other housing accounts
You can pay rent weekly, fortnightly , monthly or any frequency to suit you as long as payments are made in advance. For the payment frequencies for other housing accounts see problems paying your rent or other housing accounts.
You can pay your rent or other housing account charges using the following methods unless stated otherwise:
Credit/debit card:
Using your online account via WorldPay
Using the automatic payment line on 0121 464 2001, 24 hours a day.
At a Pay Zone outlet: You can pay your rent with cash or debit card at a local PayZone outlet. You will need your rent payment card.
At the Post Office: You can pay rent by cash or cheque at a local post office. You will need your rent payment card.
At a PayPoint outlet: You can pay rent with cash only at a local PayPoint outlet. You will need your rent payment card.
Telephone/internet banking:
To set up telephone/internet banking payments you will need the following details:
Payee details: Birmingham City Council - Housing Income
Bank name: Barclays bank
Sort code: 20-07-74
Account number: 33620360
Housing payment card:
Housing payment cards can be used at PayPoint or PayZone outlets, they can also be used at any post office.
The list below shows which housing accounts can be paid using a housing payment card:
- Rent
- Rechargeable repair (repair for damage caused by the tenant)
- Rent account (garage charges)
- Arrears owing at a previous tenancy
- An overpayment of Housing Benefit
- Temporary Accommodation
To order a Housing payment card ring our rent service on 0121 675 2006. You will be prompted to make an upfront payment if you are ordering a rent payment card, to prevent your rent from falling into debt while waiting for the card.
- Problems paying your rent or other housing accounts
If your rent account is in debt and you are not able to clear the balance in full, you should call the Rent Service on 0121 675 2006.
If you want to make a payment of less than £3.00 you must set up a Direct Debit.
Please remember that your rent is a priority debt which means that your home is at risk if you do not keep up to date with your payments.
If you are having problems paying the following:
- Garage rent
- Rent owed from a previous council tenancy
- Housing benefit overpayment
- Court costs.
Call the Rent Service on 0121 675 2006.
Please call Revenue and Collection on 0121 675 2420 if you are having problems paying any of the following:
- Repairs for damage caused by the tenant (Void rechargeable repairs, responsive repairs and urgent repairs only)
- Sundry debt garage (for garages rented by non council tenants)
- Heat lease
- Parking spaces
- Careline alarms (supporting people)
- Warden charges (supporting people)
- Service charge - gas
- Service charge - water
- Service charge – tv licences
- Removal/Storage costs
- Temporary accommodation charges
- Land
- Overpaid Birmingham City Council salary.
- Paying someone else's account
If you are making a rent payment on behalf of someone else, you will need the name and address of the council tenant whose rent you are paying.
If you are paying any other housing account apart from a rent account, a payment reference number must be provided. You will need to use your own credit or debit card to make the payment.
If you are making payments on more than one account, please ensure you have the payment reference numbers.
If you are going to be acting on behalf of someone else please visit our Acting on behalf of page.
- Contacts
Rent Service
PO Box 16564
0121 675 2006
- Birmingham City Council is moving to Barclays Bank
The Council has appointed Barclays Bank to provide its banking services from 31st March, in place of the The Co-op Bank.
If you are a Birmingham citizen, individual or a business who make payments to the Council, you may need to take action, so please take a few minutes to read the following information. If you need to change the bank account information you hold for making payments to the Council, please do this through your own bank, either online or through a branch before 31st March 2015.
If you currently pay the Council by Direct Debit you will not be affected by this change and NO action is required. If you would like to change your payment method to Direct Debit please see the information above.
Payment optionsDo I have to do anything? What will you need to do before 31st March Direct Debit
All direct debits will automatically change over to Barclays bank. Online payment (via the council's website)
You will not need to do anything different when making payments on the Councils website. Online payment (via your own bank)
You will need to amend your existing instruction with your bank, changing it to the new Barclays account details as provided below. Paying In Slip (on the bottom of your bill/invoice/reminder)
Your new bill/invoice/reminder will have the Barclays Bank details printed on it. Please ensure you use this to make your payment. Please do NOT use old bills/invoices/reminders/ paying in slip with The Co-op bank details on it. Payment Booklets
Ensure you use the latest booklet sent to you as this should contain the new Barclays bank account details. If you have not received a new payment booklet by 28th February please contact the 'Payment Enquiries' telephone number as shown in your booklet. Standing Order
You will need to amend your existing mandate with your bank, changing it to the new Barclays account details as provided below.
The new Barclays Bank sort code and account number:
Payment Sort Code Account Number Account Name Housing (including Rents)20-07-74 33620360 BCC - Housing Income
Address for Barclays Bank:
15 Colmore Row
Please note any delay in making the changes by the 31st March 2015 may lead to payments not being credited to your account with the Council in a timely manner.
Important note: In connection with our move to Barclays Bank the Council will NOT contact citizens, schools or businesses through unsolicited phone calls or emails to ask for personal bank account details, other confidential information or to ask for payments to be made into a Barclays or any other bank account. Any such requests should be treated as suspicious and reported immediately to the Council's Corporate Fraud Team Tel: 0121 303 2185.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your co-operation during this time.
- Can I make a payment on more than one of my accounts at any one time?
Yes, you can make one payment and split the amount across a maximum of 10 of your accounts.
- Which cards can I use to pay online?
We accept all cards apart from American Express and Diners Club.
- Why do I need to pay off other debts, before you process my refund request?
Because you owe a debt to the City Council and failure to pay the debt could result in your account being passed to a debt collection agency.
- Why do I have to tell you how I'm going to pay my rent if I cancel my Direct Debit?
You have to tell us how you are going to pay your rent to stop you getting into rent arrears in the future.
- Why would I have more than one housing account?
You may have an ongoing charge for a service such as a Careline alarm or an outstanding debt such as a housing benefit overpayment.
- Can you help me if English is not my first language?
If you do not understand our documents, then please ask a friend or relative, who understands English, to contact us. We will then arrange for an interpreter to speak to you in your language.
- Can't find what you're looking for?
If you haven't been able to find the information that you need, then the link below will take you to a form that you can use to ask us further questions.Service Specific Enquiry - Rents


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How are operations such as the sum, the product, the quotient, exponentiation, etc. of random variables solved or approached?
This question addresses a similar problem but starts one step further: knowing how to find the distribution of a function of random variables. I'm asking for the previous step.
Then, my question is how, in general, all the operations over random variables are handled?


text:
Is the software design process for a game similar to a non-game? Do developers create UML diagrams? I ask because of the iterative nature of game development, I wonder if creating a UML diagram would just be a waste.
UML diagrams have 3 purposes:
Point 1 and 2 are by far the most common.
This mocking is not to say that you shouldn't plan, but your initial plan probably doesn't need so much structured diagramming that a software framework is required.
The most important things for a game I'd say is:
If you do prototyping you'd probably want to first do a quick round of planning, then do the prototype, and then make a more thorough plan.
As the work progresses the plan should continuously be adapted as new knowledge about the game is gained.
@everyone Is there anything else the planning list should contain?
Flamebait disclaimer: UML is a tool, some people regard it as a solution, which is wrong and potentially dangerous. There is noting wrong about UML itself, only the way it is sometimes (mis)used.
Yes, software design for games is very similar to non-games -- which is not to say that game developers create UML diagrams (because not all software design involves UML diagrams).
Software design is a very varied process and the methodologies employed will differ widely between companies and individuals. But at the end of the day, games or non-games, it's all just software. The requirements may differ but the fundamentals are similar.
Most game development teams have been doing Agile since before Agile was a buzzword.
I think game development adds one step to traditional software developent, and that is creating some game art and sounds to demonstrate the look and feel. Since this is much more important then in regular software. In developing regular software you could work with mockups to show wich elements are positioned where and when on the screen, this would work for the gui part of the game, but the overall look and feel is best demonstrated using real art.
Most features in a game could be put in UML diagrams, entity diagrams and a database diagram (i think most games use some sort of internal database system for all the data)
I would say that game development is very different from software development. Mostly because game are artistics, while software aren't.
Actually I think it's closer to an animation movie than a software. Don't forget you're doing it for fun.
But I may be wrong, because I've never worked professionally in any domain.


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One of the most acclaimed and celebrated female athletes in the Buff's prestigious athletic history, runner Kara (Wheeler) Goucher (BS '01) continues to distinguish herself in the sport she loves.
Just seven months after giving birth last September, Goucher ran a personal best for fifth place in the Boston Marathon in April 2011. She finished the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 52 seconds, a little more than two minutes behind the winning time.
Goucher is the World Championship bronze medalist for the 10K and a top U.S. marathoner, and is a member of the Nike Oregon Project for improving standards for distance running. This spring she released her first book, titled Kara Goucher's Running for Women, which details her effort to stay fit throughout her 2010 pregnancy.
During her time as a Buffalo, Goucher became the only two-time winner of the school's Female Athlete-of-the-Year award, for both her 1999-2000 and 2000-01 campaigns, also earning CU-Boulder's Female Career Athletic Achievement Award in 2001.
A seven-time All-American (twice in cross country, five times in track) and an eight-time All-Big 12 Conference performer (three in cross country, five in track), Goucher was a four-time member of the Academic All-Big 12 team and was named an Academic All-American her senior year in 2000, along with NCAA championships in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs. She was the first American woman to win a medal (bronze) in the women's 10,000-meter run at the IAAF World Championships in Japan in 2007. Goucher competed in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics placing 10th in the 10,000 meter final and placing ninth in the 5,000 meter.
"I love running and the way it clears my head," Goucher has said. "It's such a plain thing to do; you just go."


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Reebok Court Victory Pump Men's Athletic Casual Shoes
Buy Online & Pick Up In-Store
The Reebok Court Victory Pump Men's Athletic Casual Shoes are known for their time on the hardwood but when first introduced they spent a lot of time on the tennis court. Worn by tennis sensation Michael Chang, the shoes were first released in 1990, but now they're back in a bright colorway of green and tennis ball yellow. The shoes even come complete with a fuzzy tennis ball Pump. Durable and classic white leather sets the tone on the upper, while teal hints on the side panel, branding, and heel give the men's shoes some pops of color.


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6 Military Fakes You Won't Believe Fooled the World
#3. Wilhelm Voigt Gets a Thrift Store Uniform, Overthrows a City
In the early 1900s, German ex-con Wilhelm Voigt was just out of jail after serving long sentences for theft and forgery. Homeless and without options, Voigt decided to do what any respectable German would do in his position: imitate a member of the military and take over the goddamn town.
Voigt bought items of clothing from the time period's equivalent of military surplus stores and assembled himself an officer's uniform. Luckily, he was already in possession of the most important part of this uniform: a giant manly looking mustache.
Via Wikipedia
All right. Time to knock over the city.
Who the Hell Bought This?
Voigt soon ran into a random group of soldiers and commanded them to follow him to the nearby town of Kopernick. There, with the soldiers as backup, Voigt took over the town hall, personally arrested the mayor, and commanded that the soldiers escort the mayor to a guardhouse in Berlin. Deciding that all of this looked completely legit, the soldiers obeyed.
Via Wikimedia Commons
"Now, you may be asked to punch a few random civilians along the way. Depends on who I recognize."
They also helped Voigt collect the entirety of the town's cash, which he carried away in sacks. It was only after they showed up in Berlin with the mayor and everyone started asking, "Hey, where did that guy with the mustache go?" that the soldiers began to question the motives of the total stranger who had just disappeared with a bunch of money. We told you: a fancy-looking military uniform trumps any degree, job title, or letter of recommendation you could possibly get.
Fellow Germans held up the incident as an example of the blind obedience to military authority that existed in the country at the time. However, considering that it happened in 1906, we guess the lesson took a while to sink in.
Via Lienhard Schulz
Did we mention that he was pardoned for it? And they put a statue of him on the city hall steps?
#2. David Deng Raises a Private Army
So we've had a couple of guys on here pretending to be special forces -- if you're going to fake being in the military, why not go all the way? But there is always another bullshitter willing to take things to the next level.
And so, David Deng bought himself a fancy uniform and pretended to be the commander of a special forces group and went about gathering recruits.
Associated Press via Armytimes.com
Uh ... spoiler alert. Sorry about that.
Who the Hell Bought This?
Taking advantage of Chinese immigrants who'd recently arrived in Los Angeles, Deng "enlisted" over 100 people into the "U.S Army/Military Special Forces Reserve" by promising them that serving in his group would both help their chances of becoming U.S. citizens and also get them some totally sweet ass. Of course, for such services, Deng charged them hundreds of dollars, because obviously the power that comes from having a (albeit low-budget) version of Blackwater wasn't going to buy him a hot tub anytime soon.
Via Asiantown.net
"It's OK, buddy, we've all been th- wait, no. No, we haven't all been there. You're a douche."
To keep up the pretense, Deng converted an abandoned store and decorated it to resemble a training school. Here, each recruit took part in regular drills that Deng had gleamed details of from training manuals, and they were given both uniforms and ID cards, apparently bought from the world's most clueless army surplus store.
In the end, however, Deng's scheme failed because ... it was too good. The "soldiers" were so convinced that they were members of the U.S. military that, when the time came to renew their memberships, they turned up to actual military bases and tried to pay there. Presumably once the real soldiers had regained their composure after laughing their asses off, they contacted the FBI, and Deng was arrested for a crime that he totally committed.
Via Asiantown.net
"But we had both a YMCA and a U.S. flag! How could this have gone wrong?"
#1. Douglas R. Stringfellow Fakes Paralysis, Gets Elected to Congress
Being a war hero has to be by far the biggest advantage a person can have when entering politics. No other group is as universally respected. So maybe it's no surprise that political candidates have been known to fudge the truth on the subject from time to time. They just tend to not take it as ridiculously far as Utah Representative Douglas Stringfellow.
It was 1952, the Cold War was heating up (cooling down?), and the nation was looking for strong leaders who had proven themselves in battle. In walked World War II hero Douglas R. Stringfellow, Silver Star winner.
Via Paranoiastrikesdeep
And apparently every newspaper photographer from every 1950s movie.
According to him, as a member of the OSS (the forerunners of the CIA), Stringfellow was tasked with undertaking dangerous missions behind enemy lines, equipped with only his wits, a pretty lady on his arm, a gun in his holster, and probably some sort of tiny laser on his watch. He claimed that, during a "routine" mission to rescue renowned nuclear scientist Otto Hahn from the clutches of the Nazis, he was captured and imprisoned in Belsen. There, he was tortured endlessly, an experience that sadly left him a paraplegic.
Holy crap, who can dare challenge that story? This guy is so badass, he can probably kick your ass from his wheelchair!
Now, the thing is, the story wasn't complete bullshit. Stringfellow had in fact served -- he was a private in the Air Force and not only saw action, but was in fact wounded by a mine. But the whole bit about the OSS, winning the Silver Star, and, incredibly, the part about being paralyzed from the waist down was a lie. The man could walk and was hoping that nobody would ever figure it out.
Via Uintah County Library Regional History Center
Like this guy sitting beside him who actually is paralyzed.
Who the Hell Bought This?
Utah, apparently, because they voted him in. Stringfellow lasted for two years in power before his rivals discovered the truth and annihilated him. The Church of Latter-Day Saints, of which he was a member, ordered him to make a public confession. Stringfellow was replaced on his ticket just 16 days prior to the next election.
Via Findagrave.com
"Apparently I am not a paraplegic, and none of that awesome stuff happened to me."
The sad thing is that just running on the truth probably would have been enough -- Stringfellow served honorably and was wounded in service to his country. Actually, the sadder thing was that the guy apparently had built his plan on simply never being seen walking again. Ever. For the rest of his life. Was he going to fake a miraculous recovery at some point?
We'll never know.
For more from Adam, visit his site. If you'd like him to write for you, he can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.com.
For more tales of extreme gullibility, check out 6 Retarded Publicity Stunts (That Fooled Everyone) and The Truth Behind 5 'Real Monsters' That Fooled the Internet.


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The 10 Most Obnoxious Cell Phone Callers
#5. The Number Blocker
Every time you get a call from "Restricted," "Out of Area," or "Unavailable," the Number Blocker is ringing, and they dare not divulge their cell number or identity. The Number Blocker insists upon dialing the *67 prefix, since it is top secret that they're calling. Ironically, the Number Blocker is the only person you know who uses this demonstrably ineffective tactic, so it just marks them as unforgivably lame for doing it.
"Are you sure this line is secure, Mr. Black?"
"Cut the shit, Andrew. Are we still going bowling or not?"
Why They Do This:
The Number Blocker is paranoid that revealing their number could be the first misstep on the path to an assassination attempt. They don't know how, but they know that if hackers got their number they would hack it and then hack into their house and hack all of their money. (Note to terrified Number Blockers reading along at home: We are making fun of you.)
Without totally thinking their own motivations through, they only know that they're "not comfortable" putting their phone number "out there," even though "there" is just "the phone of whomever they're calling." Setting aside for a moment the fact that if someone could hack into your bank account based on your phone number they could presumably just as easily hack through your *67 stealth trickery, the Number Blocker also conveniently ignores the fact that they are in no way worth hacking in the first place.
Hacking is no joke.
Alternate Explanation:
They are calling about something extremely illegal.
What They'll Never Understand:
Almost no one is dumb enough to answer calls from blocked numbers. Again, we said almost.
#4. The Lord of the Text
For a brief moment in time, text messaging emerged as a superior method of communication because it allowed people to quickly trade critical info without the hassles of voicemail, phone tag or moving facial muscles. But thanks to the Lord of the Text, that moment is fucking history. The Lord of the Text will bait you into a drawn-out text exchange and do anything in their power to keep it alive--especially when you don't have the time or the patience for it. They will exceed character limits, ask complicated questions, pepper you with more texts before you can reply to previous ones and consistently misinterpret your replies.
They possess the distinct ability to spawn an argument out of thin air. Strangely, they will only text you when a short conversation would be preferable yet only call you when a simple text would do. When you try to call them they won't pick up, and when you try to ignore them they become emotionally devastated. The Lord of the Text not only receives special recognition for making our list without placing a single call but deserves credit for reducing the entire English language to a series of incomprehensible acronyms and abbreviations.
"At work. Please stop texting me song lyrics!!!"
Why They Do This:
The Lord of the Text represents the perfect storm of insecurity, immaturity and illiteracy. They seek constant attention and reassurance from you by sending a shitload of lousy, unwanted texts. They are high-strung, emotional basket cases and they break down over next to nothing. They misunderstand the purpose of texting and use their cell phone to publish their feelings to anyone who mistakenly created the impression that they gave two squirts.
Alternate Explanation:
They are texting about something illegal in secret code.
What They'll Never Understand:
The more texts they send, the less anyone cares.
#3. The Rooster
Somewhere in Hell, an entire VIP lounge has been roped off for the Rooster: That odious person who calls you at some obscene hour in the morning, disrupts your sleep and then ridicules you for still being in bed. The Rooster is also fond of calling you midday and asking if they woke you up, followed by heinous snickering. If you don't take their calls, they'll later suggest that you probably missed them because you were passed out. They appear to find everyone's sleeping patterns as endless sources of amusement and scorn.
"Just got back from my 4am run. Going to do some spreadsheets on my laptop outside of work until it opens. What are you up to?"
Why They Do This:
The Rooster is a smug bastard who has no life or hobbies. They love talking about how tired you seem, particularly when it allows them to segue into their own impressive daily routine. ("You just got up? I don't know how you do it, man, I've already been up for four hours; I worked out, made breakfast, did some light reading, cleaned my apartment and smelled my own shit. There's just not enough time in the day, you know?")
They get off insinuating they are better than you for getting up earlier, which is truly pathetic. They believe that any person who sleeps past 6am is lazy, regardless of when they went to sleep. Since the Rooster has nothing better to do, they usually go to bed super-duper early every night. If the Rooster does have any hobbies, they might include scrap-booking, opening mail or loitering. Overall, the Rooster's existence is inconsequential but painfully annoying nonetheless.
Alternate Explanation:
They are calling from the prison to be sprung for something illegal.
What They'll Never Understand:
People have different schedules, most of which preclude them from going to sleep at 8:30pm.
#2. The Night Owl
The Night Owl randomly calls really late, under the influence, to beg you to hang out at some shady dive bar you had no intention of going to. Even though they know your answer is certain to be "no," that doesn't deter them from calling whenever they're out painting the town stupid. The Night Owl has in fact called on nights when you had nothing else to do, but you'd rather drink alone, and then eat the bottle, than go out and babysit their pitiful ass. Like clockwork, the Night Owl will guilt-trip you a few days later for "never hanging out."
But you remember what happened last time.
Why They Do This:
While it appears they call you randomly, the Night Owl is an alcoholic who starts a new sequence of desperate drunk-dialing every night. So depending on where your slot is in their directory, your rotation will vary. You won't hear from them on late nights if your alphabetic predecessors answered the call of duty and took the bullet instead. Night Owls consider themselves fun and unpredictable while others view them as inebriated and bothersome. In addition, they are incapable of scheduling anything and will only get together with you on their terms--legally intoxicated after midnight.
Alternate Explanation:
They don't know it yet, but it's only a matter of time before they do something illegal.
What They'll Never Understand:
There's more to friendship than spontaneous alcohol guzzling in the middle of the night.
#1. The Voicemail Retard A.K.A. the Dipshit
Have you ever called somebody and tried leaving a message but couldn't because their mailbox was full? Have you ever left somebody an explicit message and they called back hours later and acted like they had no earthly idea why you called? Have you ever received a strange call where the caller says, "Uh, someone just called me from this number..."? Have you ever seen a grown man naked? If the answer to any of the first three questions is yes, then congratulations, you have encountered the Voicemail Retard, also known as the Dipshit.
Some of these fools deliberately avoid checking voicemail while others just never learned how to use it. Still, others forgot their pass codes seven months ago but haven't mustered the energy to resolve the problem yet. Voicemail Retards ensure that dealing with them is nearly impossible at all times. They are so inept with voicemail that it's probably the closest anyone will ever come to traveling back in time.
Why They Do This:
Voicemail Retards are lazy, stubborn, inconsiderate and were probably home-schooled. Much to society's chagrin, they fail to comprehend the role of efficient messaging. Rather than do what would be natural and obvious, they adapt to vital technologies like voicemail by completely disregarding them. Many are obstinate contrarians who must do the opposite of what would be practical and necessary. In fact, a good number of them just recently bought cell phones after years of declaring they did not need one, and then borrowing yours all the time.
Alternate Explanation:
Your messages are about something supposedly illegal.
What They'll Never Understand:
The entire world will soon stop dealing with them out of pure frustration.
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text:
Let $G$ be a locally compact group and let $K$ be a compact group. Let $(\tau, V_\tau)$ be an irreducible representation of $K$.
We consider the space of $Endo_K(\tau)$-valued, compactly supported continuous functions
$f$ on $G$
with $$ f(k_1 g k_2) = \tau(k_1) f(g) \tau(k_2), $$ which is an $*$ algebra under convolution.
What is a good reference for such algebras, especially in the context with reductive group over local fields and the connection to representation theory?


text:
As you can see by the paltry number of posts this month, December has been a pretty busy month in every sense but the culinary. I had all sorts of plans to do baking and post a bunch of ideas for the holiday season, but alas . . . . What is it they say about the best laid plans? I did make Peter Reinhart's stollen recipe (awesome), and I have finally figured out what to make for Christmas dinner. Since I will be feeding vegans and omnis alike, I wanted to make something that could be enjoyed for what it was, and not some imitation of a meat dish. Enter the phyllo! The filling is chickpeas with cranberries and spinach: tasty and also red and green for Christmas.
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 19 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 cup packed baby spinach
- 10 roasted chestnuts, chopped
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pkg phyllo dough
- melted margarine, or oil
Makes 16 Preheat oven to 375 degrees
1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, and celery for 5-7 mins, until soft and translucent.
2. While onions are cooking, pulse chickpeas, cranberries, and spinach in a food processor. Make sure not to process into a paste.
3. Place chickpea mixture in a bowl, then add onions. Add chestnuts, flour, and spices and mix well. Season to taste.
4. Place one sheet of phyllo on the counter and brush with melted margarine or oil. Place another sheet on top and brush with oil. Cut phyllo lengthwise into three long strips of equal width. Place a scant 1/4 cup of filling at the bottom of each strip. Fold like you see here. Brush folded triangle with oil or margarine. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Repeat with remaining filling. Bake for 15-20 mins, until golden brown.
I served mine with roasted mushroom gravy. As you can see, I could not really figure out how to present the dish. On Christmas day I just plan to put them on the plate with all the other veggies and not worry about how it looks in a picture.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Festive Phyllo Triangles
As you can see by the paltry number of posts this month, December has been a pretty busy month in every sense but the culinary. I had all sorts of plans to do baking and post a bunch of ideas for the holiday season, but alas . . . . What is it they say about the best laid plans? I did make Peter Reinhart's stollen recipe (awesome), and I have finally figured out what to make for Christmas dinner. Since I will be feeding vegans and omnis alike, I wanted to make something that could be enjoyed for what it was, and not some imitation of a meat dish. Enter the phyllo! The filling is chickpeas with cranberries and spinach: tasty and also red and green for Christmas.
Posted by Vegan Dad at 10:15 PM
Labels: chestnuts, chickpeas, cranberries, holiday
20 comments:
- Kitchen Witch said...
Those look mouthwateringly good!
I'm just about to start on an xmas casserole with phyllo that these remind me of. Chestnuts! I love it.
- December 22, 2009 at 11:00 PM
- lunchiemunchies said...
This looks great! I bet the filling would be yummy used for stuffing squash or even as a hummus alternative!
- December 23, 2009 at 7:08 AM
- Sarah Goblot said...
Thank you!
My sister has asked me to bring a tourtiere to her place for Christmas Eve supper, but tourtiere is so plain. I'm going to make this instead.I will probably add some millet to make it a bit closer to tourtiere. :)
- December 23, 2009 at 12:19 PM
- The Bad Vegan said...
oooh...chickpeas, cranberries and spinach sounds like such a delicious combination! my (non-veg)family is visiting soon and i've been struggling to decide on the recipes to prepare while they're here. i think we may have to try this one. thanks!
- December 23, 2009 at 8:32 PM
- Vanilla-mama said...
This looks great! How many people does the recipe serve? Thanks, Angela
- December 23, 2009 at 11:01 PM
- Karen said...
Yum! Merry Christmas!
- December 25, 2009 at 5:59 AM
- Stefanie said...
I am going to have to try this one of these days. They look really good.
- December 26, 2009 at 7:51 AM
- AO said...
We made these for a vegan addtion to Christmas dinner, and they were a big hit (with non-vegans too)! The filling reminded me of stuffing, so delicious.
- December 26, 2009 at 7:26 PM
- Erykah said...
Just discovered your blog and we are newly vegan. Vegetarian for over a decade, pretty close to two but newly vegan since our baby is allergic to dairy and eggs. I'm enjoying vegan more than I imagined and thanks to your blog, so are our five (and a half) kids! WTG Vegan Dad.
PS Just made the vegan cajun crab cakes and it was a huge hit! My husband, who is a sympathetic/household vegetarian, LOVED them!
- December 28, 2009 at 6:28 PM
- Monkey's Mama said...
That sounds very good. I don't really like "fake meat" myself so I love a good option that isn't trying to be something else. Thanks!
- December 29, 2009 at 12:41 AM
- pedestal dining table said...
Wow! This is something new for me! I like it! And the sauce is what I crave the most!
- December 29, 2009 at 1:25 AM
- Dirty Kitchen said...
This looks great. I never would've thought of mixing chickpeas with cranberries and spinach. I can't wait to try making this for my family soon.
- December 29, 2009 at 9:33 AM
- shanna said...
hi. i just wanted to let you know i made your seitan roast with wild rice-cranberry stuffing for my mom, sister, brother-in-law, two neices and a nephew--all omnivores and texans to boot. they LOVED it. the 8 year-old neice has now declared she wants vegan food every christmas. i think they have finally stopped thinking my spouse and i are "weird vegans." thanks! :)
- December 29, 2009 at 1:23 PM
- halpey1 said...
Wow, just stumbled on your site... LOVE it and thank you... have you discovered Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook yet? He's got some killer recipes in there. Cheers.
- December 29, 2009 at 9:07 PM
- Millie said...
That looks mighty delicious.
- December 30, 2009 at 9:48 PM
- Little Aspects said...
Oh gosh. These look delicious! I'm pretty sure I'll be popping these on the menu this week.
I love your blog by the way - just love it! I think it's great that you are raising your children as vegans :-) I'm not sure if you've written about it elsewhere, but do you have trouble when your children go to other people's houses? As in, do other people try to feed them meat/dairy etc? Just wondering how you negotiate these things - I don't have children myself (yet!) but when I do, I vaguely foresee this as being a potential issue.
- January 2, 2010 at 4:38 PM
- Vegan Dad said...
Little Aspects,
We live in a very tolerant, understanding, liberal/commie/pinko neighbourhood (with some vegetarians and milk allergies) so it's not much of a problem. The kids always bring their own pizza and cupcake to birthday parties just to make things easier.
- January 3, 2010 at 11:02 AM
- Little Aspects said...
That's fantastic. It must make things so much easier. Thanks for answering my question! Again - love your blog and the recipes. :-)
- January 3, 2010 at 3:53 PM
- anxiety knits said...
You have given me the courage to work with Philo for my first time. I have always given this fragile dough plenty of distance since I have a tendency to mangle delicate things. Surprisingly I didn't make this dish unrecognizable. Thanks for the inspiration.
- February 6, 2010 at 10:17 AM
- hellseyduster said...
I have always been scared of phyllo dough but it's actually pretty easy to use. Thanks for the introduction - I will be sure to use it more in the future.
I screwed up the filling of this dish quite a lot because I could not find certain items this time of year. I used frozen spinach and cranberries and (accidentally) less chick peas than what was called for. Still came out awesome though and lasted a couple of days. Made the gravy too.
- April 22, 2010 at 2:24 PM


text:
No Friends of Palestine: Palestinian threats of action against the upstarts and state-blocks foiling the bid
The pioneers of Palestinian statehood have every right to be a little miffed at those who tried to sabotage their bid to become a non-member of an intergovernmental body. Denying Palestinians their inalienable right to self-determination is rich coming from anybody, but maybe particularly sore when it comes from never-before-heard-of West Pacific floating blobs, the quintessential Banana Republic (not the clothing brand) of Panama and one former Eastern Bloc satellite state.
There are some obvious strategic reasons at play here. The no's spring by and large from the shadows, literally or geographically, of the US: perhaps it was some kind of Monroe Doctrine allegiance at work that tied North America land masses in with each others' destinies?
Whatever their rhyme or reason for saying "I don't think so", the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced before the act that a review process of the relationship with each and every one of the naysayers would start once the vote was completed. Palestine would "study, review and reassess its relationships with all the countries which vote against or abstain from the Palestinian resolution draft at the UN General Assembly in relation to the upgrading of the status of Palestine from an observer entity to non-member observer state status."
Nobody expects the closure of Palestinian embassies in Ottawa, Washington DC or Prague to be too big of a deal, but this does mean that Palestinian diplomats will have less of a chance to holiday near Fiji. Likewise, the Palestinians are seeking to upgrade their representation in all the countries which voted favorably (to recognise Palestine as a non-member state observer state within the 1967 borderline), to embassies. Some, like Max Fisher in the Washington Post blogs, have explored the wider Arab diplomatic ruptures that may arise from the vote by breaking down the chosen 9 'oddball coalition of the unwillng'.
The reasons for the objections are mixed. Canada is umbilically tied to the US, which is itself basically an Israeli colony when it comes to Middle East policy. The same goes for most of the others, some of which, like Micronesia, some people had thought might have already been consumed Montserrat-style by volcanoes. Then of course there was Panama, which people remember for the very successful raid under George Bush I to oust the coke-peddling dictator, and which also hosts a significant and substantial Jewish community, apparently.
Maybe the most disappointing no-vote cast was the Czech Republic's (the only state on the Enlightened Continent to deny Palestinians their statehood) given its recent and not-so-recent history of battling for independence from empires near and far (first the Austro-Hungarian, and later the Soviet). Interestingly, the Czechs have read their own history into Palestine's, and turned up with results the wrong way around. Likening the Palestinians to the Sudeten Germans--ruthlessly pushed out by Czechoslovakia after World War II, after becoming famous for their beer brewing--some Czech politicians even compared the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Hitler, and suggested that all the Israelis need to do is ethnically cleanse them.
Of course, history can be a fool's game if you're living it vicariously, but it seems that the good burghers of Prague will have to wait until they are hated Arab-wide to figure that one out.
Have your say: Do you think "Palestine" proper should be unduly peeved or overly disgruntled by these uncooperative 9 who said No to their status upgrade at the UN? Or should they turn the other cheek and be the bigger player - (considering many of the naysayers make up quite trifling populations)?
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Bawaba's editorial policy.


text:
I have a system with two interfaces. Both interfaces are connected to the internet. One of them is set as the default route; a side effect of this is that if a packet comes in on the non-default-route interface, the reply is sent back through the default route interface. Is there a way to use iptables (or something else) to track the connection and send the reply back through the interface it came from?
The above doesn't require any packet marking with ipfilter. It works because the outgoing (reply) packets will have the IP address that was originally used to connect to the 2nd interface as the source (from) address on the outgoing packet.
The following commands create an alternate routing table via
The other half of the job is recognizing packets that must get the mark 1; then use
I'm not sure if that's enough, maybe another rule is needed on the incoming packets to tell the conntrack module to track them.


text:
I have not intended to hash and rehash the same matter, but just to decide, what to learn first (JavaFX, Flex, HTML5, etc.) I would pull through a kind of survey, especially as the recent similar questions here came out since at least one year.
So, what is JavaFX prospect as a RIA technology for the next couple of years?


text:
I'm having to make the page as it was in the initial state, and this includes having a form reset link or button.
Should the reset be a button or a link?
I'm having to make the page as it was in the initial state, and this includes having a form reset link or button.
Should the reset be a button or a link?
Do you really need a reset option? Is it deleting a draft or just restarting a form? Reset form buttons are pretty universally useless and famous for their frustrating consequences when you press them on accident. See Reset/Cancel buttons considered harmful.
If you do include one (once again, really make sure it's an important feature) absolutely make it a link and generally try to reduce it's visual weight. See The visual weight of primary and secondary action buttons. Rarely used and dangerous controls, if included, should not appear to be the "default" action and should take a little extra effort to find and activate.
The question here isn't really clear without context, however I would encourage you to carry the same style throughout the entire CRM System.
If it were a button to continue I would always encourage buttons over link. Buttons can be styles to give a 3D effect of a physical button which can be pressed (and shadows changed) to encourage the user to "push" the button - however for a reset you don't want to encourage a reset unless the user NEEDS to - in that case they will go looking.
The advatage of a button on the other hand is user familiarity. A link should usually be a hyperlink to another place, as we've come to expect, and a button should run a command (Submit, Save, Reset, Delete)


text:
How can I print each individual element of a list on separate lines, with the line number of the element printed before the element? The list information will also be retrieved from a text file.
So far I have,
import sys
with open(sys.argv[1], 'rt') as num:
t = num.readlines()
Which currently gives the read-out:
Blah, blah, blah
etc, etc, etc
x, x, x
But I want this read-out:
1. Blah, blah, blah
2. etc, etc, etc
3. x, x, x
Thanks for you help.


text:
Kim Kardashian Hairstyle Photos
The "Dancing With The Stars" contestant shows how to rock long hairstyles and sexy updos
Image: Getty Images
SEE NEXT PAGE: Kim Kardashian
Older comments
She has great hair but always looks same to me
by selma Friday, June 24, 2011 at 01:50AM Report as inappropriate
I heart her hair.
by MissPurple Monday, June 13, 2011 at 12:55PM Report as inappropriate
that first picture of her is SCARY!
by lelalu100 Friday, March 18, 2011 at 07:40PM Report as inappropriate
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text:
Communicating Your Primary Prevention Messages To The Community: Strategies For Crafting Effective Sexual Violence Prevention Messages
Sexual Violence prevention is not always an easy subject to talk about! When it comes to communicating our primary prevention messages to our community, we often wonder what would resonate the most with our audience.During this 1-hr webinar we will explore simple and creative ways of getting our prevention messages out to the community. Applying the techniques and strategies of advertising to sexual violence prevention, the speaker will guide us through the process of developing constituency–specific social media messaging, highlight some of the common pitfalls to avoid, and share tips on how to measure the impact of social media campaigns.Whether you are working on a flyer or poster-campaign for your neighborhood community, or creating social messaging campaign for youth on Facebook or Twitter, these simple, easy to follow steps will help you to craft effective primary prevention messages that would resonate with your targeted audience. Participants will find out about :
- Tips and strategies on how to communicate the value of sexual violence prevention to the community
- Messaging tactics designed to resonate with targeted audience
- About successful primary prevention media campaigns
- Simple ways of measuring the impact of their social media campaigns
Presenter : Brad Perry, MS, MA worked at the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance (VSDVAA) from 2000-2011 after starting the first male-focused sexual assault peer education group at James Madison University. In his role as statewide Statewide Prevention Coordinator for VSDVAA, he provided training and technical assistance to primary prevention initiatives throughout Virginia, consulted for the CDC, and edited the Moving Upstream newsletter. He currently sits on the national board of Hollaback!, and has authored articles published in Yes Means Yes, The Prevention Researcher, and Violence Against Women. Brad currently works fulltime as a Strategist at Internet branding agency, Create Digital. To register for this webinar follow the link https://cc.readytalk.com/r/bf2tzu7tazah&eom


text:
An example would be green beans - some recipes call for parboiling green beans before stir-frying while others do not? Is there a reason behind this?
Really, this is just to even out cooking times for vegetables that don't have a surface area to volume ratio consistent with the other things you're stir-frying. If you were to shred those green beans, as is sometimes done, you could put them in at the same time as raw, julienned carrots, and they would finish at the same time.
If you put them in whole, you'll end up with beans that are burned on the outside and raw on the inside, as there's not enough time for the heat to penetrate to the center of the bean before the outside burns. Or, if you fry at a lower heat, you could get the beans cooked, but would have to add the carrots later (which means a lower temperature, too, since the beans are dragging heat out of your pan) in order to have them not turn to mush.
I'm a convenience stir-fryer and won't bother with parboiling. Instead, just use the staggered ingredient method. Green beans do take longer than ingredients like, say, shrimp. So line up all of your ingredients in order of cooking time and stir-fry accordingly. It takes some experience, but onions/garlic then dense starches (potato) then fibrous vegetables (broccoli) then proteins (chicken) then delicates (fresh herbs, lighter greens) is a good framework. I use this method all the time and don't have to bother with multiple preparations.
note: A variation/alternative to this method is to start with your protein, brown it nicely, and then take it out of the heat to be returned later. Especially good with proteins that can easily overcook, like shrimp.
Whilst sometimes you need to do this to cook vegetables which are 'thick' or require a fair bit of cooking to make them edible (beans if they are whole, broccoli unless it is broken up very small), what I prefer to do is to stir fry these bits together (along with some garlic/ginger/chili if i'm using it) at the start and when they have taken on a little colour (a minute or so) I add a few tables spoons of water, turn the heat down and put a lid on the wok.
This allows the veggies to steam and so be sufficiently cooked. Then I take them out and keep separate, cook the rest of my stir fry and add them back in before I add the sauce.
I always blanch before stir frying, which is slightly different than parboiling. Parboiling is boiling for a set amount of time, generally (for green beans) 5-7 minutes. Blanching is faster, 1-2 minutes max at my house, and then dumping into an ice bath to stop the cooking process temporarily.
The benefits I've found are:
1) More even cooking. By starting the beans in boiling water, as Rich said, it allows the centers to start to get cooked whereas with just stir frying I've had raw centers before. When I sauté raw green beans, the result is generally beans that taste very "earthy" and a lot more raw - depending what you're going for, this can be good or bad. My wife doesn't like the taste of raw vegetables, but does like the crisp texture, so by blanching I'm able to begin cooking while still maintain their crispness, and also make them much more palatable to her. When I parboil, I tend to end up with slightly softer/mushier beans.
2) Maintains the bright color, sometimes even enhancing it, very important to me when serving guests as you eat with your eyes first.
3) Enhanced/locks in fresh flavor. I don't understand the science behind this yet, but experience and trial and error have shown me a significant difference between when I do blanch, and when I don't.
I know that 1) will apply to parboiling, and is the main reason you would parboil before stir frying, but I'm not sure if 2) and 3) would as well.


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The 'Major' That Isn't Yet Major
Players Championship May be Big, Bold and Brassy, but It's Still Not a Major
The PGA Tour would love nothing better than for you to refer to this week's Players Championship—just casually, to a pal, without even thinking about it—as a major. The "fifth major" would be acceptable, even though that implies that the Players is not quite up there with the four big boys: the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.
The Tour knows it has to be patient about this sort of thing. It can't shove the "major" concept down anybody's throat. Tournaments evolve into majors over time. They aren't manufactured. Otherwise Donald Trump or some Middle East potentate would already own one.
Still, the Tour has done everything it can to make its flagship event at the TPC Sawgrass course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., major-worthy. The $9.5 million purse is the biggest in golf, 19% bigger than the $8 million purses that the four "other" majors offer. The Players has a stronger field than the majors, in part because of the purse and in part because the Opens invite amateurs to qualify, while the PGA holds open spots for club pros and the Masters intentionally keeps its invitational field small, including amateurs.
All 30 of the world top 30 will be teeing it up at the Players this week, as well as 45 of the top 50 (essentially all those who aren't injured). The nearly 150 participants come from over a dozen countries.
Six years ago the Tour built a massive, iconic clubhouse behind the 18th green—calculatingly iconic, to look impressive on television. At 77,000 square feet, it's way bigger than it needs to be, but that's showbiz. The Players has a few major corporate sponsors, just like the Masters does, and limits commercial interruptions during its broadcasts.
The Players' Achilles' heel, however, is that it is still essentially a PGA Tour tournament. Yes, it invites high-ranked non-Tour members to participate, but the TPC Sawgrass course is never set up as tough as the courses used for the majors.
The water-bordered 18th hole is a notoriously tough finisher and players each year dunk dozens of balls in the lake surrounding the 17th hole's island green (40 balls took a dive last year, 93 in 2007). But the rough is only marginally thicker than at some regular Tour events and winning the Players does not require the same level of skill, high-wire daring and mental endurance that winning a major does. Scrappers can apply.
Over the years, current Hall of Famers—Phil Mickelson, Nick Price, Sandy Lyle and Greg Norman—as well as a Hall of Fame lock, Tiger Woods, have won the event at TPC, where the tournament moved in 1982. But none of those greats won a second time. In fact, no multi-major winner has ever won more than a single Players at TPC Sawgrass. Since his victory in 2001, Woods has managed only one top-10 finish.
This is partly because the winners can come from anywhere. The 2002 champion, Craig Perks, hadn't won on the PGA Tour before winning at the Players—and hasn't won since. None of the winners from 2009 through 2011—Henrik Stenson, Tim Clark and K.J. Choi—have won a Tour event since. Sergio Garcia, the 2008 champ, has won only once on Tour since cashing at TPC.
All of which makes it difficult to produce a reliable performance chart for this year's, or any year's, championship. At the established majors, despite occasional Cinderella stories such as Trevor Immelman at the 2008 Masters and Michael Campbell at the 2005 U.S. Open, the contenders on Sunday afternoons almost always include a few of the game's reigning greats. That's not usually the case at the Players. At last year's event, no player ranked in the world top 20, apart from Luke Donald, finished within seven strokes of the winner, Matt Kuchar.
Kuchar may be as good a bet as anyone to take home this year's trophy, because TPC Sawgrass favors shot-makers like him, not bombers like Dustin Johnson or Rory McIlroy, who has missed the cut in all three visits to Ponte Vedra.
Last week's flooding rains will test the course's recent drainage upgrades, but in general, Sawgrass plays shorter than its official 7,215 yards because the fairways are firm and fast. Long drives just a fraction off skitter through the turns and into the Bermuda rough, which is not long enough to prevent advancing the ball but is certainly long enough to create low-spinning fliers and play havoc with distance control.
Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, the two best players who haven't won majors, are both on their games this season and have just the type of controlled approach that matches well with Sawgrass. So does their fellow Englishman, Justin Rose, a brilliant golf tactician and world No. 4. Also capable of winning are the savvy old-timers Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk. Both are short off the tee, but so were Fred Funk (2005) and Clark when they won.
With a gun to my head, I'd pick Brandt Snedeker, despite his having missed four consecutive cuts at the Players. He's the best putter out there these days and seems to be recovered from his rib injury. With a second gun to my head: Adam Scott, who won the Players in 2004 and the Masters last month. As a dark horse, I'd go with Billy Horschel. He won at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans two weeks ago, has four straight top 10s and lives in the area.
As for world No. 1 Woods, he never quite seems to show up at the Players—not the way he would if it counted as an actual major.
John Paul Newport writes about golf for The Wall Street Journal. Email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.