text:
By Dorothy Long / Contributing writer
It's a tradition in Auburn.
Every year museums and other cultural attractions open their doors to the public giving visitors a free peek at regular exhibits or a special seasonal treat.
It happens from noon and 5 p.m. on the second Sunday of December — this year, Dec. 13 — and is called, appropriately, Holiday Traditions.
It began more than 30 years ago when the Seward House held an open house as a token of appreciation to the community.
This year 10 sites will offer visitors a holiday treat.
There is no particular theme, said Jesse Kline, administrator of the Auburn Historic and Cultural Sites Commission. The commission coordinates publicity for the event.
"Everyone does their own thing, depending on the current exhibit," Kline said.
She estimated that every year at least 1,500 people visit at least one of the participating sites.
The Cayuga Museum, at 203 Genesee St., is decorating for the holidays and inviting guests to enjoy two different types of art by Central New York artists.
On the first floor the work of Watkins Glen quilter Sjoukje Schipstra is featured through Jan. 3. Schipstra's traditional style is a nice contrast to the work shown at the annual quilt show at neighboring Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, said Lauren Chyle, curator at Cayuga Museum. On Dec. 12, the day before the open house, Schipstra will be on hand to discuss her quilts with the public.
Upstairs at the museum, the abstract paintings and prints of Ithaca artist Lynne Taetzsch are displayed. It has not been finalized, Chyle said, but there are plans to feature musical performances at the Holiday Traditions open house. The museum will be open from noon to 5 p.m.
The Harriet Tubman Home at 180 South St. is usually open only by appointment during the holiday season, but will be open from noon to 5 p.m. for the Holiday Traditions event.
Back on Genesee Street at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, at 205 Genesee St., there is no admission charge to the 29th annual "Quilts=Art=Quilts" exhibit featuring 89 contemporary quilts by 66 artists. The museum is open from noon to 5 and at 2 p.m. a trunk show by Rochester textile artist Pam Pauly is featured.
One of the most popular sites is the Seward House, at 33 South St. Decorated in Victorian style, the house will look much as it, did for the holidays in Sewards time. Plans are for two or three trees, said David Fregly, outreach services manager. Local singing group Key of C will be caroling to tunes played on the Seward's Steinway piano. Actors in period costume will add authenticity and tours of the home will be conducted from noon to 5 p.m.
Seymour Library, at 176 Genesee St., is rejoining the tradition after not participating for at least five years, said Sheila Mikkelson, its director.
"We are revitalizing the Friends of the Library and they will be giving historic tours of the building," Mikkelson said.
The library is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Genealogy experts will be conducting family history workshops throughout the afternoon.
"You can learn the history of the library and your family at the same time," Mikkelson said. Light refreshments will be served and local musician Christopher Molloy will play the harp.
It's a little more "down home" at the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum, on Route 38A, across from Emerson Park. See what Christmas was like for the country folks of Cayuga County in the 1800s.
Norm Riley, chairman of the board of commissioners, said the afternoon will feature Christmas music and refreshments of all kinds. There will be carolers and horse-drawn wagon rides. The tree will be decorated with old-fashioned, homemade ornaments such as popcorn and cranberries on a string and candles and the gifts underneath will be the old fashioned toys farm children played with more than a century ago.
Festivities are scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. but, Riley said, "It is an unheated building and people don't hang around too long."
At Willard Memorial Chapel, 17 Nelson St., there will be two entertainments, said volunteer Patty Lupien. At 1 and 3 p.m. Sandy McNabb will play seasonal selections on the Steere and Turner Tracker Organ that has entertained at the chapel since 1894. Between McNabb's performances, the newly reformed Purple Lancers marching band will perform at 2 p.m.
Some of Auburn's churches get into the act too. Westminster Presbyterian Church, at 17 Williams St., has long been a participant in Holiday Traditions. Hand-sewn advent banners telling the Christmas story will be on display and there will be tours of the historic church.
"We are getting ready for our 150th anniversary," the Rev. Bill Windsor said. Westminster was formed as an abolitionist church in 1862., he said. It is a musical event at Westminster, with the Cayuga Community College Chorus performing at 2 p.m., and MasterWorks Chorale at 4 p.m.
You can travel even farther back in time at St. Mary's Church, at 17 Clark St., the Rev. Frank Lioi said. Musica Transatlantica will perform medieval and Renaissance music at 3 p.m. Refreshments will be served following the performance.
Finally, St. Francis of Assisi Church, at 303 Clark St., which is celebrating its 102nd anniversary, is hosting an Auburn Chamber Orchestra holiday concert at 4 p.m.


text:
- News
- Calendar
- Blogs
- Sports
- Entertainment
- Business
- Lifestyles
- Community
- Opinion
- About Us
- Classifieds
- Coupons
- Local Savings
- Green Editions
- Legal Notices
- Weekly Ads
- Connect2Classes
Connect with Us
Letters to the Editor
Latest news, top stories, and community events,
Letter | Doubts about Island Crest Way changes
I have serious doubts as to how it will help traffic by changing Island Crest from four lanes down to two lanes with a turn lane in the middle. What is apparent, however, is that paving Island Crest during work days completely disrupts all traffic and adds an hour to the commute from the South end.
Why didn't the city consider doing the paving at night or on the weekends like the state does on all its highway projects?
Ralph Brindley
Latest news, top stories, and community events,
delivered to your inbox.
Trending Stories Oct 18 - Oct 25
We encourage an open exchange of ideas on this story's topic, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. Personal attacks, inappropriate language, and off-topic comments may be removed, and comment privileges revoked, per our Terms of Use. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.
Read the Oct 26
Green Edition
Browse the print edition page by page, including stories and ads.
Browse the archives.
Friends to FollowView All Updates
Local display advertising by PaperG

subset: commoncrawl


text:
MUSKEGON — Michigan counties and municipalities counting on property tax revenues from wind farms received an adverse ruling from the Michigan Tax Commission on depreciation schedules, according to the Capital News Service.
Wind turbines are considered industrial personal property and taxed on their market value, said Rep. Kurt Damrow, R-Port Austin. Formerly each turbine's tax liability was based on 100 percent of its value for the first year and depreciated over 15 years until bottoming out at 30 percent.
But the State Tax Commission changed the tax code in early December so that turbines are now taxed at 80 percent on the first year and that drops to 30 percent within five years, Damrow said.
The loss of tax revenue is significant in counties where large wind farms are under development.
Consumers Energy is in the process of constructing a 56-turbine Lake Winds Energy Park in southern Mason County. The $235 million investment is expected to begin generating electricity next September.
Mason County Administrator Fabian Knizacky told the news service that the county could expect to lose $7.8 million in pesonal property taxes over the course of 20 years. The county had expected to generate $29 million from the Lake Winds Energy Park over those years.
However, Gov. Rick Snyder has proposed, along with Republican members of the Michigan Legislature, to eliminate the state's personal property tax as being anti-business. The personal property tax issue and any subsequent replacement of revenues is expected to be addressed next year in Lansing.


text:
OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP, MI -- The driver of a BMW 330xi was taken to a hospital after driving through a cornfield then coming to a stop in a yard in the 5600 block of Parkview Avenue Tuesday night.
"I was eating dinner and heard wet tires on the pavement and then a big boom," Salina Johnson said.
Johnson, 28, said she ran out into her front yard just before 7 p.m. and saw a BMW had stopped under a tree with the radiator smoking. She said when she approached the vehicle she could see the driver was unconscious, with a large gash above his eye. The doors of the car were locked.
"He clearly came from the cornfield," Johnson said. "Thinking back, what I heard was his car bottoming out in two ditches."
The vehicle appeared to have traveled through a cornfield on the other side of Parkview Avenue, crossed the street and come to a stop beneath a tree in Johnson's front yard she said.
The Oshtemo Township Fire Department and Kalamazoo County Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene.
No further information was available Tuesday night.


text:
Gruff Rhys on Candylion: "Candylion took form in the spring of 2006 over a fragmented 2 week period at Gorwel Owen's Ofn studio in Llanfaelog, Wales. My ears were happily ringing from a few months touring with the Super Furry Animals and I had a batch of mellower acoustic songs I wanted to record quickly and get out of the way before the next speaker-blowing SFA record. Once in the studio, however, I got carried away and found myself in a nostalgic mood, pining for some of the music I grew up listening to."
Candylion was raised by bears in Micronesia. Trained as a chef in Paris and following a City & Guilds diploma in desk top publishing at Tregoedwig polytechnic transformed himself into a card assembly image of his former self and arranged for the kind lady at the post depot to mail him back flatpack to his bear brothers and sisters. Safely back in the palm forest he was given lessons in exotic guitar pickin' by a passing oxymoron. He is currently recording his first album.


text:
Ever wanted to better yourself and mock celebrities at the same time? Ever missed your counseling appointment because a marathon of Pimp My Ride was on? If so, you've come to the right place.
You don't have to sacrifice personal growth because you have a crippling addiction to media. The essence of self-help can be found in every judgy celebrity tweet, every frenemy-based reality show, every raptor-related Internet meme, everything every Kardashian has ever said.
Welcome to Therapop. My name is Kira, and I'll be your therapist.
No articles found.
No columns found.
No videos found.


text:
After suffering their first loss of the season during a prime-time game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Denver Broncos may have fallen back to Earth a bit.
The first six games of the season were filled with high scores and mostly dominant victories. Besides the epic week five shootout with the Dallas Cowboys, (where Denver won 51-48) the closest game Denver played before losing to the Colts was when they beat the Oakland Raiders 37-21.
The Colts definitely exposed some of Denver's weaknesses. While they certainly boast an unreal passing attack, a solid running game and a strong defensive front seven, they are struggling in the defensive backfield. Opposing quarterbacks are able to pass on Denver with relative ease, and with the offensive line beat up, this is making Peyton Manning's job difficult.
The playoffs are almost certainly still in Denver's future this year, yet to win against the best, Denver will need to contain opposing offenses and not rely on scoring more than 35 points every game.
With some of these problems swept out from under the rug, let's look at an updated game-by-game analysis of the Broncos' remaining nine games.


text:
Steffen Peters is so dominant that not only was he in first place in the pre-trial rankings with Ravel, whose sparkling resume excused him from the trials, but he also stood second with Legolas, who topped the Grand Prix at the U.S. Equestrian Team Federation headquarters. Legolas didn't just win during his morning outing; he ran away from the opposition as if it were the Belmont Stakes and he was seeking the Triple Crown.
His score of 76.064 percent bettered by a good margin that of Peters' 2010 World Equestrian Games teammate, Tina Konyot, who scored 72.787 on Calecto V, while Ebeling was third aboard Rafalca with 71.532.
He, in turn, was just a whisker ahead of another WEG team member, Todd Flettrich on Otto (71.149), while Guenter Seidel and Fandango were not far behind on 70.553 percent. Rounding out the top six was Adrienne Lyle on Wizard (70.468).
"We're going into this being so close," said Ebeling, referring to the contest for the other two team spots, since Peters appears to have one slot locked up already.
Peters' convincing test with Legolas was marred only by mistakes in the one-tempi (every stride) lead changes.
"Those are still a bit inconsistent," Peters conceded. Aside from that, the performance was soft, yet assertive, belying the short amount of time that the two have had a partnership.
Legolas, a 10-year-old Westphalian, came to Peters late last year, courtesy of Four Winds Farm. He has been undefeated since his arrival in the U.S. Ravel, also owned by Four Winds, has many of the same strong points as Legolas.
"Both have a wonderful walk," said Peters, adding both are equal in passage as well. There are some differences, however.
"I wish I had Legolas' piaffe on Ravel," he noted, "and I wish I had Ravel's canter on Legolas. You always look for this perfect horse, (but) I think with the average we were able to come into the championships with (on) both horses, I don't think there's any reason for me to complain."
Peters, Ebeling and Seidel all are natives of Germany who are longtime naturalized American citizens and live in California. Both Peters and Seidel are Olympic medalists; Ebeling is working on it.
And he's doing it in the spotlight. Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is one of the owners of Rafalca, who also belongs to Ebeling's wife, Amy, and Beth Meyer. Ann Romney was on hand to watch her horse, yet Ebeling said he doesn't feel pressure because of her presence.
"I think it's wonderful for our sport to have that visibility that this person can give us," he commented.
He has worked with Rafalca for six years, and the 15-year-old Oldenburg is starting to come into her own.
"She's really matured over the years. I know her really well; I think she knows me really well. I think there's a lot more to come," said Ebeling, who gave credit to the help he has been getting from German trainer Wolfram Witting and U.S. Olympic team bronze medalist Christine Traurig.
The Grand Prix counted for 25 percent of the trials score. Today's Grand Prix Special, which begins at 8 a.m., also counts 25 percent. All the contenders will repeat the Grand Prix Friday and the Special Saturday to earn the additional 50 percent of their score. As qualifying for London wraps up, the U.S. is awaiting official notification that it will be able to send a fourth rider to the Games (teams are composed of three members, with no drop score) to compete as an individual. Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany already have been granted a fourth rider.
The trial weekends include national championships not only in Grand Prix, but also in Intermediaire I and a host of other divisions, continuing today and Thursday through next Sunday. Barbara Davis of Whitehouse Station dominated the FEI Pony division with a first place on Poldy 10 and second place on Bohdjan.
Tomorrow through Wednesday, the Paralympic trials will be held at the Pine Meadow portion of the foundation's property.
ON THE RAIL -- The incident in which a flag alongside a cross-country jump impaled a horse who ran into it last month at the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event has prompted introduction of a new U.S. Equestrian Federation rule proposal to make such flags safer. Among other provisions, it calls for "poles to be made of a material that cannot shatter, break or splinter, such as suitable plastic or carbon
The proposal, which will be considered this month by the USEF executive committee, would go into effect Aug. 1 if approved.
Cool Connection, the horse who was injured, has gone home to Virginia after spending several weeks at the New Jersey Equine Clinic in Millstone, according to veterinarian Scott Palmer, who treated the gelding.
Following the accident, Palmer called for improving the flags.
"I'm excited that they acted so quickly to do something definitive about it," he said.
"I think it's terrific. It's a great idea that will save horses in the future from having the terrible type of injury that Cool Connection did," added Palmer, who also cited the death of a horse at the Badminton 4-star in England under similar circumstances five years ago...
The 2015 World Cup finals in show jumping and dressage, which many expected to go to Las Vegas, instead have been awarded to Guadalajara, Mexico, where the Pan American Games were held last year.
This marks the first time the finals have been held outside Europe, the U.S. or Asia. From 2003-2009, the finals were held every other year in Las Vegas and were very popular. Organizers at Las Vegas Events were hoping for another shot at the event, where they pioneered the jumping/dressage combo.
Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson made a presentation to the FEI (international equestrian federation) last month in Switzerland, and was stunned when the last question he was asked was whether his group could run the event two weeks earlier at the Thomas & Mack Center. The FEI wanted to hold the event closer to the beginning of April to avoid conflicts with the European outdoor season.
"What on earth could Pat possibly say, knowing this is the date we've always run the event on on five separate occasions, and this is when the World Cup has always been for years and years," said Robert Ridland, who managed the show jumping portion of the event.
"This date wasn't picked out of a hat; it has historically worked," he continued, noting it has attracted large crowds. "It's beyond explanation," he said. "I'm just flabbergasted at what they did." Ridland also observed that a different date would have an effect on other American shows and their positions on the calendar.
"Maybe it just is the FEI and international politics, but it didn't make sense to us," said Christenson, noting his organization did a year's worth of work preparing its bid.
He noted that one week earlier than the date with which they were working is Easter; two weeks earlier is the basketball Final Four, and they didn't want to run against it. However, if something goes wrong with Guadalajara's plans, his group would consider running the finals in 2015, he said, adding Las Vegas Events would like to stage it every three years. He said his 2015 proposal called for making the Cup the center of a large equestrian event that would involve other venues in the area.
Richard Thompson, an eventing owner, organizer, supporter and announcer, died Wednesday. He was 82. Some of the sport's most decorated horses, including Castlewellan and Biko, were owned by Thompson and his late wife, Vita. He was synonymous with the Radnor, Pa., Hunt Horse Trials, one of the best-known events in the U.S.
James Ligon, a two-time president of the U.S. Pony Club, also died last week. He was named a Pony Club Legend in 2004.
Guenter Seidel and Jan Ebeling are taking a break from competing in the Olympic trials to give clinics at Randy Leoni's Hawk Hollow Ranch in Bedminster tomorrow through Wednesday. All the slots for riders are filled, but auditors are still welcome at $40 each. To register or for information, contact Randy Leoni at (908) 256-9787 or at email@example.com.
A 3-year-old horse from Burlington County was euthanized after contracting the mosquito-borne disease, Eastern Equine Encephalitis. The state Department of Agriculture advises horse owners to make sure their animals are vaccinated, as EEE is preventable.
The horse that contracted the disease had been given only one of two required vaccinations. Horses also should be vaccinated against the West Nile virus, the department advises.
Today: Festival of Champions Olympic Dressage Trials and National Championships, U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation Headquarter, Pottersville Road, Gladstone; Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Driving Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeanstville; Jersey Classic Show, Horse Park of N.J., Route 524, Allentown; Eastern Pennsylvania Reining Horse Association, Gloucester County Dream Park, 400 Route 130 South, Logan Township; Windy Hollow Hunt Dressage and Breed Shows, Sussex County Fairgrounds, Plains Road, Augusta; Woodedge Stable Show, Borton Landing Road, Moorestown; Amwell Valley Hounds Hunter Pace, Sourland Farm, 33 Lindbergh Road, East Amwell (9 a.m.-1 p.m., avhounds.org); Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Driving Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeanstville; Briarwood Farm Show, Pleasant Run Road, Readington; Lord Stirling Stable Adult Show, 256 S. Maple Ave., Basking Ridge; Central Jersey Horsemen's Association English/Western/Standardbred Show, East Freehold Park, Kozloski Road, Freehold; Suddenly Farm Dressage Show, 325 Main St., Lumberton.
Tomorrow: Paralympic Dressage Trials, U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation Headquarters (Pine Meadow area), Fowler Road, Peapack (through Wednesday).
Wednesday: Blue Spruce Farm Dressage Show, 5 Stanley Pl., Jackson.
Thursday: Olympic Dressage Trials and National Championships, U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation Headquarters, Pottersville Road, Gladstone (through next Sunday); Palermo Summer Opener Show, 1555A Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster.
Saturday: N.J. Half-Arabian Show, Horse Park of N.J., Route 524, Allentown (through next Sunday); Monmouth County Horse Show Association Show, East Freehold Park, Kozloski Road, Freehold; Sussex County Benefit Show, Sussex County Fairgrounds, Plains Road, Augusta; Tinicum Park Polo, Tinicum Park, 974 River Road/ Route 32, Erwinna, Pa. (one mile south of the Frenchtown, N.J. Bridge, 2-4 p.m., tinicumpolo.org).
Next Sunday: Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Western and Draft Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeanstville; CJL Show, Centenary College, 12-56 Califon Road, Long Valley; Lord Stirling Stable Spring Junior Show, 256 S. Maple Ave., Basking Ridge; Oxbow Dressage Show, Combined Test and Horse Trials, 39 Orts Road, Hamburg; Gold Clover Dressage Show, Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds, 275 Bridgeton Pike, Mullica Hill.
Nancy Jaffer may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
SOUTH HARRISON TWP. — Joe Campisi hit the ground running in his new position as South Harrison Elementary's new principal, starting just one week before students showed up for their first day of school.
The kindergarten through sixth grade school district was previously headed by Chief School Administrator David Datz, but following his retirement earlier this summer, the position was split into a part-time superintendent and a full-time school principal — which Campisi was hired to fill.
The superintendent position was taken by Kingsway Superintendent Jim Lavender, who will now split his time between the two districts.
Campisi, who attended elementary schools in East Greenwich and is a Kingsway graduate, has worked in elementary education for the past 16 years, both in teaching and administrative positions. And Thursday, as students walked into their classrooms for the first time this year, he was there to greet them.
"The goal is to learn all my students' names in the next two weeks," Campisi said. "It's great to go home and say 'my principal said hi to me today and he said my name.'"
Campisi, whose salary will be $95,000 for the 2012-2013 school year, studied elementary education at Misercordia University, received a Masters Degree at the University of Scranton and finished his Ph.D. in education leadership at Tauro College in New York.
Educational leadership — especially when dealing with elementary-aged students — is about making sure the children are the first priority, Campisi said.
"It's all about the students. You have to be an advocate when you're an educator," he said. "It's more than making sure the lights are on and the paper work is done. It's getting to the heart of your school. It's being the engine inside."
Campisi was one of multiple candidates for the principal job, but his past experience as a chief school administrator at the elementary level set him apart, according to School Board President Debbie Cunningham.
"He had experience running a building where he was the face of the district," she said. "He has a lot of strengths in early childhood education."
The previous position Campisi held was at a school district in Monmouth County. He wanted to find something a little closer to the West Berlin home he shares with his wife and four-month-old daughter. But he also wanted to find a school that would be a good match for his own talents.
"I have the same drive and desire and passion to maximize everyone's potential," he said. "I want every students to want to come here in the morning. I want every staff member to want to come here in the morning."Contact Rebecca Forand at 856-845-3300 or email@example.com.


text:
Session Law
Chapter 69 AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ANNUAL OBSERVANCE OF ARMENIAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH.Prev Next
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Chapter 6 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 15VVVV the following section:-
Section 15WWWW. The governor shall issue a proclamation setting apart the month of April as Armenian-American Heritage Month, in recognition of the significant contributions Armenian-Americans have made to the commonwealth and to the United States. The governor may include such contributions as he sees fit, after consultation with Armenian-American groups, in such proclamation and shall recommend that said month be observed in an appropriate manner by the people.


text:
Donate your car or Truck!
As the organization which holds the conservation easement on the Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden, and wishing to maintain Stanley Rehder's legacy of preservation and educational efforts on behalf of our community's rare carnivorous plants, we are outraged by the recent theft of Venus' Flytraps from the garden. In our role as stewards of the property, we take this easement violation and illegal act of poaching very seriously and are working with the City of Wilmington to create a management plan that will restore flytraps to the garden and implement security measures at the park to discourage the theft of these incredible native plants.
Our friends, supporters, and outraged carnivorous plant advocates from across the world have been vocal in their desire to bring awareness to the theft and to rebuild and protect the home of these beautiful and unique plants. As a result, we are now accepting donations for The Flytrap Fund.
Your tax deductible gift to the Coastal Land Trust's Flytrap Fund will allow us to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the theft of the plants at the Rehder Garden; help restore the flytraps in the garden and provide additional protections; enhance the security at the Rehder Garden and other NCCLT preserves where Venus' Flytraps are found; and assist with our conservation work in southeastern NC on habitats well-suited for the growth of Venus' Flytraps.
To make an online gift to the Flytrap Fund, click here. You can also send your check, made payable to NCCLT, to our main office: NC Coastal Land Trust 131 Racine Drive Suite 202 Wilmington, NC 28403 with "Flytrap Fund" in the memo.
If you have any questions, please contact Vann Pearsall, director of development.


text:
Common Name: Borage
Botanical Name: Borago officinalis
Family: Boraginaceae
Type and Use: Annual herb with edible flowers and leaves
Location: Sun to partial shade
Planting Dates: Spring after the last frost
Planting Method: Seed and transplants
Seed Emergence: 10-14 days
Harvest Time: Any time during the growing season
Height: 24-36 inches
Spread: 18-30 inches
Final Spacing: 18 inches
Growth Habits: Fast-growing, fuzzy-leafed herb that can get a little messy looking unless cut back from time to time to maintain compactness.
Culture: Needs healthy soil with good drainage. Use a basic organic program and spray occasionally with Garrett Juice.
Troubles and Solutions: Grasshoppers occasionally attack the foliage. Control them with hot pepper products, all-purpose flour, and beneficial fungi products.
Harvest and Storage: Cut and use the flowers and foliage any time. Leaves are best when young and tender. Flowers can be candied or frozen into ice cubes.
Notes: The foliage can be used for vinegar, drinks, teas, and salads to add a cucumber flavor.
Search Library Topics Search Newspaper Columns


text:
Happy Friday!
Speaking of Friday, it seems most of the roster-based announcements have been coming out on Fridays after Joe's morning post and before my GirlieView, forcing me to actually report news yet again. Hold your breath, here it comes! (Dave is SO much better at this than I am!!)
The Cubs cut seven more players today:
Jim Adduci (OF)
Darwin Barney (IF)
Robinson Chirinos (C)
John Gaub (LHP)
Jeff Gray (RHP)
Marcos Mateo (RHP)
Bobby Scales (IF)
Some great baseball names in that list. Or adult film stars. Or cable guys. (See Lizzies.)
In other news, Tom Gorzellany and Carlos Silva were named to the starting rotation at least for now. I was hoping for Sean Marshall myself, but I don't dislike Gorzellany. I think I just feel sorry for Marshall. I'll get over it!
Also, LHP James Russell (who? Guess I should have been paying better attention to the farm reports. Hey Joe? What happened to the farm reports? Isn't it humorous how I kind of ignored them when they were here and now miss them when they're gone? I feel bad about that now!) was named to the bullpen for the final spot pending any last minute acquisitions before the start of the season.
All of this was well-covered on Twitter so if you keep up on that you already know it all anyway! So let's move on. Oh, wait, speaking of twitter … Don't forget to follow us on Twitter (VFTB and/or GirlieView) and Facebook (VFTB and/or GirlieView).
GirlieView Quiz/Survey/Contest
Gosh darnit you guys, make a gal's day and take a chance on the quiz will ya? Thank you MoondogKP for being the only one to take part last week. You are the winner just because you played! Course I did enjoy the other commentary. Soooooo …. (see Lizzies.)
I don't really know how to top Joe's thinker from this morning about bar fights and background music, or Dave's interesting debate on dishes vs. laundry on Thursday, so here's some simple Y/Ns for you.
1. Will the Cubs go after Chad Gaudin?
2. Should the Cubs go after Chad Gaudin?
3. Will the Cubs complete a deal for additional bullpen pitching before Opening Day?
4. Should the Cubs complete a deal additional bullpen pitching before Opening Day?
5. Blanco? Millar? Hoffpauir? Tracy? What's your pleasure?
TIA for participating! Meanwhile, let's move on to this week's recap!
- I think I saw an adult movie once in which an actress named "Diamond LaHair" had an affair with her CEO boss, "Wellington Cashner."
- I thought Wellington was the cable guy…
- Kids need to be taught how to lose and how to fail.
- I don't know where this season is going to end up, but I feel like it's starting out in a good place.
- Boof?! Please, God, no.
- "How much for your women? Your wife…the lee-tle girl. I want to buy your women."
- Andres Blanco looked pretty good at shortstop, too. (Just sayin'.)
- They've got strings and straps and all sorts of innards to prevent you from the proper fold.
- I am all about my 'halves' until it looks like an appropriate size for the closet.
- I suggested he tell her that he found front row $700 tickets, and let her say no, look for some thing cheaper.
- see if [Lou] needs a 46 year old Optometrist who can rake.
- Big news coming on Monday.
- You found Sherm?
- Happy hooliganism!
- Hmmmm, y'know, for me – it's a wash.


text:
The Metro New Jersey Region of American Jewish Committee will honor Kevin Cummings, president and chief executive officer of Investors Bank, one of Fortunes "Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies of 2012," with its prestigious National Human Relations Award on Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 6:30 pm at the Hilton at Short Hills.
AJC was founded to prevent the infringement of the civil and religious rights of Jews, and to alleviate the consequences of persecution. From the first, AJC recognized that the well-being of the Jewish people is best assured when the human rights of all people are respected. Throughout its 100 plus year history, protecting human relations has been a cornerstone of AJC's work. In 1948, AJC helped create the framework for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the newly created United Nations. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, AJC led the Jewish community in supporting the Civil Rights Act.
Our work in human relations continues today, and one of the most important aspects of AJC's efforts to promote human relations is to recognize those community and business leaders who have made business leadership, service to the community, and philanthropy an essential part of their life work.
Since 2008, Kevin Cummings and the Senior Executive Management team have been guiding the Bank's strategic expansion and evolution into a full-service community and commercial bank. Under this current Executive Team's leadership, Investors is experiencing significant growth while remaining financially strong and well capitalized. The Bank's outstanding level of performance was recognized as one of the top 25 performing, publicly traded, small-cap banks in the U.S. on Sandler O'Neill's "Bank & Thrift Sm-All Stars" report for three consecutive years beginning in 2011. In addition, Cummings received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2011 New Jersey Award for his success in transforming the Bank into a growth company.
Prior to joining Investors Bank, Cummings had a 26-year career with the independent accounting firm of KPMG LLP. He was an audit partner in the Financial Services practice in the New York office and lead partner on a major commercial banking client. Mr. Cummings also worked in the New Jersey community bank practice for over 20 years serving clients such as Summit Bank, Valley National Bank, Provident Bank and Hudson City Bank.
A 1976 graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont with a BA in Economics, Cummings was the recipient of the Harry M. Fife Award for Excellence in Economics and Athletics. While at Middlebury, he played basketball and baseball, and ended his basketball career as the school's all-time leading scorer. After college graduation he earned a Masters in Business Administration from Rutgers University School of Business. He is a certified public accountant and has been a frequent speaker at seminars on topics ranging from mergers and acquisitions, to income taxes and management reporting on internal controls.
Born and raised in Jersey City, Cummings is one of five siblings. He and his wife of 32 years, Patricia, are residents of Summit. Cummings has served as a Commissioner on the Summit Board of Recreation. He is a member of the Audit and Finance Committee at St. Peter's Prep, a Jesuit high school in Jersey City, former Chairman of the Board and current Trustee of the Summit Speech School, a Trustee of The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children, a Trustee of the Liberty Science Center, and the former Chairman of the Board and current member of the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Bankers Association. He is also a board member of both the Independent College Fund of New Jersey and the All Stars Project of New Jersey. Most recently, he agreed to serve as a member of the Development Leadership Council of Morris Habitat for Humanity.
In his spare time he has coached youth basketball in Summit at the AAU, recreation and CYO level, and has served as the Athletic Director of St. Theresa's of Avila. He and Patricia have four children: Katie, a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, Kevin, a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, Mary, a graduate of Colby College, and William, a junior at the College of the Holy Cross.
AJC thanks Melvin Feigenbaum, President of Ocean Healthcare Management, Joseph Moeller, Managing Director of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, A Stifel Company and Paul Silverman, Principal of SILVERMANfor serving as the Award Dinner Co- Chairs.
The work of AJC is as vital and relevant today as it was at its founding in 1906. Whether building human bridges of mutual respect and understanding among diverse ethnic and religious groups, supporting Israel's right to exist in peace and security, fighting the scourge of international terrorism, anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred and extremism, or defending democracy, religious freedom and human rights, AJC is at the forefront of the most crucial issues of the day.
For more information about the dinner or AJC, please contact the New Jersey office at (973) 379-7844 or www.ajcnewjersey.org/Cummingsdinner


text:
It's not the end of the world, but it's a challenge, and I'm learning. My daughter-in-law and grandson suffer from celiac disease. Both of them were terribly sick until gluten was removed from their diets. For a time I was completely baffled by what to serve for family get-togethers. Over time I have learned how to read labels and cook for them. Thank heavens adapting recipes is becoming easier all the time!
I purchased expensive small boxes of gluten free flour and cake mixes out of pure love. Now I'm saving money by making my own Gluten Free Homemade Flour Mix. There are many recipes out there and this is my favorite all purpose GF mix.
Carefully clean and prepare the area where you will be making up your mix. It needs to be completely gluten free. I have learned to really think about this! For example, I have a mill that would easily grind brown rice, but I grind wheat in my mill, so I can't use it. My Vitamix Blender does a very good job. I blend the rice, then the quinoa, and so on, one at a time. When I'm all through I can place my blender in the dishwasher. Oh, and also be careful not to contaminate your mix by using a spoon or whisk you mixed pancake batter with.
I make cookies, pizza dough, and cakes with this mix. It makes a nice gift for family and friends who can't tolerate gluten. Store the mix in an airtight container. I like large glass jars that keep well in my refrigerator to prolong freshness. Make up a batch and try it. Also, please come back and share how you use it in our comments below. Over time I hope to share more ideas with you too.
There are several wheat-free flour mixes available. I've found them to be very expensive and some are better than others. Try this Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix. On pizza night I make a mean calzone for my GF grandson, Spencer!
- 2 cups sorghum flour
- 2 cups brown rice flour (I use superfine brown rice flour)
- 1 1/2 cups potato starch, not potato flour
- 1/2 cup white rice flour
- 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup amaranth flour
- 1/2 cup quinoa flour
- Sift each ingredient into a large mixing bowl.
- Thoroughly mix all ingredients with a large whisk.
- Store mix in a large container, in the refrigerator or a cool dark location.
- Label the container Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix
When you are putting the mix together, make sure that you are working in an area free of all gluten.
If you want to blend grains, beans, fruit smoothies, you name it, Vitamix TurboBlend 2 Speed Blender is a work-horse in the kitchen. Mine goes through the dishwasher at least once a day…hurrah!


text:
Dismiss NoticeLike to discuss POLITICS? Come join us at PUNNDITS.com!If you like discussing politics and other related topics then your new home (hopefully) for doing just that can be found on Punndits.com! Come join us and help us grow Punndits into a wonderful and safe place to discuss politics with everyone.
Let me break it down for you guys
Discussion in 'Fan Zone' started by CATCH17, Dec 26, 2006.
Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2


text: On Sun, Aug 29, 2004 at 06:30:02PM +0300, Offer Kaye wrote: > > I have a <1GB file that I want to keep in a hash, and work with that hash > > like a normal hash, just keep it out of my memory (on the HDD, probably). > > > > What solutions exist (except for buying more RAM) and what are their > > limitations? > > Array based rather than hash based solution, but good for large data > sets and works pretty much as you described above: > Tie::File If by "works" you mean only "has the same semantics as", then yes; but anything that's going to insert or delete -- or indeed, change the length of an existing record -- is going to be very expensive. Yuval, if I were you I'd do some research on DB_File and maybe SQLite via Class::DBI. Or just chuck the semantic equivalence requirement and bite the SQL bullet: sufficiently different problems tolerate different solutions. -- Gaal Yahas <gaal at forum2.org> http://gaal.livejournal.com/


text:
For the second presidential election in a row, I worked as a poll observer for the entire Election Day. Once again, I was impressed with the cooperation, fairness and problem solving displayed by the poll workers of both parties. If only our elected officials could act as civilly and work as hard as these fellow citizens did. Just think how much this great country could accomplish.
Dan Bonder Orange


text:
The Dolphins traded down to 28 and picked up a second rounder and a fourth. The Chargers moved into that spot to grab running back Ryan Mathews.
Two top defenders just left the board; Brandon Graham and Earl Thomas were plucked by the Eagles and Seahawks, respectively.
I think I can hear Rex Ryan crying in the War Room!


text:
|By qudad on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 01:17 pm: Edit
Which public high school is the best in NYC? Some people told me Stuyvesant High is the best, but other people pointed to Hunter College High. Some people informed me that about one quarter of Stuy graduates go to Ivies every year, but about one third do the same for Hunter. However, Stuy is much better known than Hunter, and many Hunter students have chosen to leave for Stuy. Some people even told me that Hunter high's principal and the staff are not up to the job. So I do not know whether my child should pursue Hunter or Stuy. Would you please give me your honest opinion? Thank you very much!
|By stfan on Thursday, January 30, 2003 - 02:38 pm: Edit
I think Stuy is the best public high school not only in New York City but also in US. It just got three Intel finalists, more than any other high schools.
|By private on Thursday, January 30, 2003 - 07:36 pm: Edit
If you are looking for private look no further then
Collegiate (Boys)
Bearly (Girls)
Horace Mann (Co-Ed)
|By public on Monday, February 03, 2003 - 09:50 pm: Edit
Are there anyone who knows about Stuyvesant High and Hunt College High? A lot people have talked about private high schools, but almost nobody has shown any interest in discussing public high schools. I wonder why. Maybe students in public high schools and their significant others are either too smart to waste any time here or too dumb to find this forum.
|By A Parent on Friday, February 07, 2003 - 04:55 pm: Edit
Public, I have one child at Hunter and one at Stuyvesant (the one at Stuy didn't make the cutoff on the Hunter exam in sixth grade).
The PLUSSES for Hunter: Relatively small school, relatively small average class sizes (<25). Worth Magazine 2002 Survey of "Top Feeder High Schools" to HYP ranks Hunter #26 (the highest for any public HS in the USA). Stuy ranked #120. Excellent in the Humanities. Median SAT: 1420. 32 National Merit Semi-Finalists last year out of graduating class of 180. Diverse: 55% White, 32% Asian, 13% Black and Latino. Close to 50-50 male/female. WEAKNESSES: Small school (more limited ECs and teams), Fewer Electives, Math and Science Not As Strong As Stuy (that's why a handful of rising 9th graders go to Stuy or Bronx Science each year). Building is wholly unimpressive.
The PLUSSES for Stuyvesant: Big school, lots of electives, lots of teams, lots of potential ECs. Beautiful $100MM building. Worth Magazine ranks it #120 as Feeder HS to HYP(that's very good). Best science and math programs. Median SAT: 1400. Diverse: 45% White, 45% Asian, 10% Black and Latino. 60% male. WEAKNESSES: A Big School. Bureaucracy. Weak Humanities departments (English, Social Studies, Foreign Language).
Overall, Public, there are differences, but both schools are fabulous. I withdrew my daughter from a top private school when she got into Hunter.
NYC is blessed to have Hunter, Stuy and Bronx Science (the latter I'd rank a strong third).
|By curious on Friday, February 07, 2003 - 06:27 pm: Edit
A parent, what private did you pull your daughter out of ?
|By public on Friday, February 07, 2003 - 10:10 pm: Edit
Thank you, A Parent. You have given me very good information. You have smart children. I am happy for you.
|By A Parent on Monday, February 10, 2003 - 04:01 pm: Edit
Curious, it was Fieldston.
|By townsend on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 07:44 pm: Edit
if you want a public school in new york city that outranks stuy and hunter, check out towsend harris. it has highet statistics than stuyvesant and send 1/4 to the ivly league. the building is spotless and they have a dining hall instead of a cafeteria. plus there are no bells, they play classical music instead.
|By stuyguy on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 07:45 pm: Edit
www.insideschools.org this site has a review of every NYC high school. townsend out ranks most schools but stuy still rocks
|By Dddaza (Dddaza) on Sunday, April 13, 2003 - 12:52 am: Edit
Stuyvesant is a horrible school in terms of diversity, which I think turns away many minority students. I chose Bronx Science over Stuyvesant because I didn't feel like being one of 90 blacks kids in a school of 3,011 and having to explain everything about black culture all the time because I'm the only black person in all of my classes. Which sometimes happens at Bronx Science anyway, cha...
Besides being much more diverse, Bronx Science attracts kids who LIVE, and aren't slaves to schoolwork.
|By Upenn06 (Upenn06) on Friday, April 18, 2003 - 11:54 pm: Edit
GIRLS: Brearley
BOYS: Collegiate
CO-ED: Horace Mann/Dalton (it's a tie)
TOP PREP SCHOOLS ( i do this in college equivs):
Harvard - Exeter
Yale - Andover
Princeton - Deerfield
any prep school that is single-sex is 2nd tier (no getting around that); they are FAR LESS selective than co-ed boarding schools.
|By Ahfhc2003 (Ahfhc2003) on Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 03:30 pm: Edit
I have heard in most cases that both Hunter High School and Townsend Harris outrank Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant is still a very excellent school, even though they have had problems in the past with teachers inflating GPA's and such. They have one of the most impressive array of AP classes. Both Townsend and Hunter are very small schools, while Stuy is much larger.
In the end, I don't think it matters on whether your child goes to either HUNTER or STUY. As a parent you should investigate in other excellent NYC public schools out there. And there are plenty besides the three. What matters is your child's mindset and how they react and interact in the school.
A downside to Stuy (I'm not sure about these other schools) is that though there is a large body of students, there is a definite lack of diversity. I don't think the students are as cultured either. Do the necessary research and don't limit your child to just a couple of schools that you have heard about. Your child could be better off in a school not mentioned here.
|By Ritok (Ritok) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 10:21 am: Edit
I am a graduate of stuy, 2003 - In 8th grade, i turned down townsend harris to go to stuy. In terms of reputation, outside of new york city, townsend harris is not very well known - it has become a good school just recently. Stuyvesant is reaching its centennial in excellence. I have never doubted my decision beyond the fact that Townsend is 75% girls - hows that for diversity? The average SAT (not median) score at stuy is 1400. Second, if you're child is already in 7th or 8th grade, it is too late for them to enroll at Hunter (consequently, my brother is going into 8th grade at hunter high) In many ways they cannot be compared - they are just different. It depends on how your child works and what he/she prefers.
Think about this - every year more than 20,000 students take a test to get into stuyvesant high, for 750 seats - thats an acceptance rate of LESS than 4%. Harvard and Princeton's acceptance rates by comparison hover around 12%.
As for the rankings, they were unfair - citing only acceptances to Harvard, Yale and Princeton - there are many other fine schools that stuyvesant students consistently get accepted to. Almost 150 get accepted to cornell, another ivy league. The survey fails to take into account other world renowned institutions, Stanford, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, the list goes on.
I personally believe that stuyvesant's humanities departments are VERY STRONG, almost comparable to the strength of the math and sciences.
Although Stuyvesant does not rank its students, I know that I am somewhere in the 15th percentile. I got accepted to duke, dartmouth, columbia, University of Virginia, University of Chicago, and SUNY binghamton, stony brook, albany (safety schools). As you can see, stuyvesants reputation carries ALOT of weight
|By Szetom (Szetom) on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 10:17 am: Edit
hey, i'm class of 2003 too.
i agree that stuy's humanities department is top notch. In fact, I find it even better than math and science.
stuy's physics department isn't that great. I didn't like all the math teachers either, not because I sucked at math, but because they didn't teach all that well. I'd say that the math and sci department were great for the math and science geniuses, but...
english, social studies, and foreign language tho, excellent. I had many great connections with my teachers, and learned how to be more open in the classroom. I also liked the fact that there was always some challenge. However, economics, govt department isn't too great, if you do regular economics.
altho stuy isn't too diverse, townsend is like 90% female, so townsend isn't too spread evenly in gender.
I think stuy is kinda diverse, just not as integrated...but you're gonna have it like that anywhere....
|By Celebtracker (Celebtracker) on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 01:52 pm: Edit
. . . see www.celebrityprepschools.com for more about these schools!
|By Singingbookworm (Singingbookworm) on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 11:49 pm: Edit
I'm a sophomore at Hunter, not a parent, but Hunter�s a very good high school, and I feel that it is the best in the nation.
The building originally was only mediocre, and so we fondly nicknamed it the Brick Prison (its exterior was designed to look like a French armory, but recently the school has spent half a million to successfully improve its structuring and ventilating. We (the student body, the teachers, and the administration) don't feel that there is a problem anymore, though the traditional nickname will stay. ^_^
I'm not sure how Stuy is, but my friends who have left Hunter for Stuy are still missing Hunter. I don't mean to badmouth Stuy or anything, but according to one of my friends there, another student had cut class nearly every day, and the teacher never noticed.
Most of my peers in other schools hate learning, but Hunter makes me adore learning. Although Stuyvesant may be more well known, students from Stuyvesant and Hunter both agree that the typical Hunter student is much more intelligent compared to the typical Stuy student. We're not "nerds" here either, really just normal teens that care about school as well as our other interests.
I love it here at Hunter, and the teachers are more devoted to teaching us well, and they're definitely very good because Hunter only accepts teachers that pass the high qualifications. During class, we actually discuss topics, and share our opinions, rather than just merely taking notes in our classes.
I've been here for 3 years now, (because we start here at 7th grade), and I'm sorry that my time at Hunter will end in 3 more, but I know I'll never forget my time here.
Hunter is better.
|By Pimpdaddy (Pimpdaddy) on Monday, November 17, 2003 - 05:21 pm: Edit
"the typical Hunter student is much more intelligent compared to the typical Stuy student."
Thats garbage.
Hunter and Stuyvesant are about equal. Its like comparing Yale to Harvard. Theyre both great schools with great kids. (yea lets make bronx science tufts in this comparison, HAHAHA!)
|By Kevin4242 (Kevin4242) on Friday, April 09, 2004 - 05:11 pm: Edit
love this topic.
|By Gabriellagp (Gabriellagp) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 06:07 am: Edit
I went to Hunter. It was excellent -- so good that college was anti-climactic.
Here are some other points of comparison between Hunter and Stuyvesant:
-Hunter sits in the middle of the highest concentration of museums in New York and possibly in the world. My friends would play hooky to go to the Met. Stuyvesant, on the other hand, is a block away from the Hudson River estuary. There's a small but graceful park on the rivershore, and the view really is magnificent.
-Hunter, alone among NYC high schools, is under the Board of Higher Education, which means essentially that it's independent. It can hire people without NYS certification if they are otherwise highly qualified. Stuyvesant is under the Board of Education, which means that its administration has less leeway. Often senior teachers from other schools get promoted to Stuyvesant, and they can be terrible (so I've heard).
-After six years Hunter began to feel a bit small. But maybe that's because I didn't take the electives that would have allowed me to meet people in other grades. I met Stuyvesant students in my music school and I found them to be very nice and yes, cultivated. Sometimes I wished I had transferred to Stuyvesant just because it's bigger, on the other hand I don't know how I would have fared in classes of 34.
-The fact that a handful of Hunter students transfer to Stuyvesant shouldn't reflect badly on Hunter. Some do it because Stuyvesant has better labs (I think), and quite a few because they want a fresh start after middle school (difficult years under the best of circumstances).
Report an offensive message on this page E-mail this page to a friend
|Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
|Administrator's Control Panel -- Board Moderators Only
Administer Page


text:
Joan Biskupic
Click here to see the latest stories from
Joan Biskupic
About Joan
"Joan Biskupic is editor in charge, Legal Affairs, for Reuters. She has reported on the Supreme Court since 1989. Her new book is "Breaking In: The Rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Justice.""
Follow Joan
Subscribe to all posts via RSS
What is RSS?


text:
She had admitted that she wanted her great- grandchild to be born before she went on holiday and, yesterday, the Queen was able to start her break at Balmoral having met Prince George of Cambridge.
She flew to Aberdeen with her corgis and was picked up at the airport at 2.30pm. Royal aides carried four dogs off the plane and put them in the waiting car.
The Queen sat in a back seat and one of the dogs pressed its nose against the window.
The Queen is expected to stay at another house for the first few days of her


text:
Richard Samek
Guest of the Opera
Richard Samek was born in Třebíč. He graduated from the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno under the tutelage of Anna Barová. After completing his studies, he studied privately with Natalie Romanova. He is a laureate of several international competitions including the Antonín Dvořák International Vocal Competition and the M. S. Trnavský Vocal Competition. In 2006, he made his debut in the National Theatre Brno starring as Faust (Boito: Mefistofele). In Brno he created many other roles such as Pierre Bezukhov (Prokofiev: War and Peace), Ismaele (Nabucco), Barinkay and Alfred (J. Strauss: The Gipsy Baron and The Bat) and the Prince (Rusalka). In the National Theatre in Prague he has performed as Rodolfo (La bohème), Ismaele (Nabucco), Cassio (Otello), the Prince (Rusalka), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ladislav (The Two Widows) and others. From 2007 till 2012, he in permanent engagement with the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň where he sang the roles of the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto), Jeník (The Bartered Bride), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Nemorino (L'elisir d'amore), Vít (The Secret), Gounod's Faust and recently Max (Der Freischütz). At the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec he created Alfredo (La traviata), Jeník (The Bartered Bride), the Prince (Rusalka), and at the National Theatre Moravian-Silesian in Ostrava he appeared as Kudryash (Katya Kabanova) and Jeník (The Bartered Bride). He guest appeared as Števa (Jenůfa) in Rennes, Limoges and Reims. At the Theatre Magdeburg he sang Don Manuel (Fibich: The Bride of Messina) and he created the title role in Smetana's Dalibor in London Barbican Hall, with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jiří Bělohlávek. Since 2010 he has been a permanent guest in the Staatsoperette Dresden, where he has performed as Barinkay, the Duke of Urbino (J. Strauss: Eine Nacht in Venedig), Jeník (The Bartered Bride) and Lehár's Graf von Luxemburg and Zarewitsch. A dedicated concert artist, Richard Samek has sung at the Czech Republic as well abroad.
Update: January 2016


text:
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Supermarkets committed to general-merchandise offerings are finding the effort is paying off, according to statistics published in a new report by ACNielsen U.S. here. f drug retailers, who, with a 7.7% rise in general-merchandise dollar sales, took a 14.6% share for the same period, according to ACNielsen. Coming as no surprise, mass merchandisers took the biggest chunk of the $31.2 billion category for the period. They registered 70.3% of general-merchandise dollar ...
REGISTER TO VIEW THIS ARTICLE - Register for a Free Account
Why Register for FREE?
Registering for content on Supermarket News will give you INSTANT access to invaluable articles and media content that industry professionals rely on. You will have access to our special reports, feature articles, and industry analysis. It's FREE, easy and quick. What are you waiting for! In addition you will also receive complimentary access to the SN salary survey data tables.
Click here to read the FAQ page if you have any questions (opens in a new window)
Attention Paid Print Subscribers: While you have already been granted free access to SN we ask that you register now. We promise it will only take a few minutes! Or visit your profile and add your print magazine account number and zip code.


text:
Share your key to happiness
What's your instant shortcut to inner peace? Is it meditating in a tranquil garden, taking in a colorful sunset, kicking back with a glass of wine, or enjoying quality time with family?
We want to know your secret to aloha! Submit your tips, and we'll share one of our favorites with our Twitter and Facebook fans every day for the month of January. Be sure to include your name and location so we can credit your fabulous idea, as well as a title for your aloha secret and a brief description.


text:
The Asheville-Buncombe County League of Women Voters announced today that it will hold a public forum in February to discuss the future of Asheville's water system. The forum will be held Monday, Feb. 13 from 7-9 p.m. at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church at 789 Merrimon Avenue in Asheville; parking is available in the church parking lot on Gracelyn Road. From 6:30 to 7 p.m., those attending will have an opportunity to view informational materials and meet individually with some of the panelists and resource persons.
The purpose of the forum is to provide the public with reliable, factual information about the water system, its history, its future options, and the overall legislative process that is guiding its status. The North Carolina legislature has appointed a study committee that is considering future options for the system, chaired by Rep. Tim Moffitt, who represents part of southern Buncombe County.
Panelists will include Vice Mayor Esther Manheimer, the Asheville City Council liaison to the legislative study committee; Rep. Chuck McGrady of Henderson County, a member of the legislative study committee and former Henderson County commissioner and member of the Regional Water Authority board; Dr. Gene Rainey, former chair of the Buncombe County Commission when the Regional Water Authority was established in 1994; and Steve Aceto, board chair of the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County. The director of the Asheville Water Resources Department, Steve Shoaf, and the general manager of the Metropolitan Sewerage District, Thomas Hartje, will on hand technical resource persons. Both will be available from 6:30 to 7 p.m., and during the question and answer period following the panel discussion.
Like all League forums, the Feb. 13 forum will be nonpartisan, free, and open to the public. The forum is cosponsored by the weekly Mountain Xpress and the monthly Urban News newspapers. For more information please contact the League at 828-252-8569.


text:
HOLLAND -- Hope College will put on display its "Judas Bible" and other rare bibles as part of national exhibit celebrating the 400th anniversary of the first printing of the King James Bible in 1611.
Hope is one of only 40 sites nationally and the only Michigan location chosen to host the exhibit, "Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible" which will be on display at the Van Wylen Library from Mar. 2 until Mar. 30.
"This is probably the biggest exhibit we have ever had. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the translating of the Bible into English," Hope Director of Libraries Kelly Jacobsma said.
Along with the exhibit, the Van Wylen Library will also be displaying Hope College's own 1611 King James Bible, along with other rare books.
"Our King James Bible is known as the Judas Bible because in Matthew 26:23 it has misprinted the word Judas instead of Jesus," said Jacobsma, noting the error was corrected in later printings.
The "Manifold Greatness" exhibit tells the story of the origin, creation and impact of the King James Bible, including its influence on English and American literature, culture and society, right up to the present day.
The exhibit includes 14 panels displaying rare and historic books, manuscripts and works of art from the Folger Shakespeare Library and Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford.
Along with the King James Bible exhibit displayed on the first floor of the library, the college in cooperation with Western Theological Seminary and Herrick District Library have planned 10 events and presentations during the tour exhibit.
Authorized for translation by King James 1 and printed in 1611, the King James Bible has become the most influential English translation of the Bible and is one of the most widely read books in the world.
The King James Bible took 47 biblical scholars working in groups at Oxford and Cambridge universities and Westminster Abbey four years to translate from Hebrew and Greek to English. The writing was completed in 1608 and it took a Committee of Review two years to approve it.
The purpose of the new bible was to create one English language translation of the bible that would be used in all churches in England.
The 1611 first edition of the King James Bible was originally titled: The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New. Newly Translated out of the Originall tongues: & with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Maiesties Speciall Comandement.
The title didn't catch on and theologians began calling the new bible the "Authorized Version" but the name the "King James Bible" finally won out as the best-known name.
On display from the Hope College Rare Books Collection during the exhibit will be the College' 1469 Vulgate Bible, a facsimile of a Tyndale Bible printed originally in 1526 and a 1599 Geveva Bible.
"These bibles and other significant books we have were used by the scholars in writing the new King James Bible," Jacobsma said.
King James Bible Exhibit
Free public events:
Mar. 2 - 3 p.m. Lecture on the politics and culture of the times when the King James Bible was written by Hope Professor Marc Baer, Graves Hall, Hope College.
Mar. 2 - 4:30 to 6 p.m. reception and exhibition opening, Van Wylen Library, Hope College.
Mar. 5 - 6 p.m. Presentation on the care and restoration of bibles and rare books, Herrick District Library.
Mar. 6 - 11 a.m. Lecture on misprints in first editions of King James Bible by University of Michigan Special Collections Curator Pablo Alverez, Graves Hall, Hope College.
Mar. 29 - 3 p.m. Lecture on the Bible and Shakespeare by Hope English professor John Cox, Graves Hall.
A full list of events is available online


text:
Wareweb is a rethinking of the ideas behind Webware. Webware is a fairly old framework, written back in the days of Python 1.5.2, and some of the API decisions behind it now show their age. Also, many of the abstractions in Webware didn't turn out to be useful, while some other abstractions are missing.
Wareweb tries to keep the basic model of Webware, while simplifying many portions and adding some new techniques. It's not backward compatible, but it doesn't require major revamping to apply to a Webware application.
Wareweb also requires Python 2.4; as long as we're updating the API, I want to make it as modern as possible. Decorators in particular are widely used in the framework.
Wareweb was an experiment in framework design. It's a fairly stable piece of software, and some code is build upon it, but further development is not planned. The author recommends looking at other WSGI-based frameworks, like Pylons.
A simple paste.deploy configuration for a Wareweb application named MyPackage looks like:
[app:main] use = egg:Wareweb app_name = mypackage package_name = mypackage debug = true
You can create a basic package with paster like:
paster create --template=basic_package MyPackage
You'll have to create a mypackage.web package after. An example that hasn't been updated recently, but may be helpful, is available in the repository.
See paste/wareweb/interfaces.py for a description of the IServlet interface; the online documentation for IServlet is a good description.
Components and Events
There are a couple fairly simple metaprogramming techniques added to Servlet to make it easier to add functionality.
Active Attributes
When you create a class, attributes can be "active". That is, simply assigning the attribute can cause changes to the class.
This is implemented by looking for a special method __addtoclass__ in all new attributes. The dispatchers, for instance, add themselves as "event listeners," so that simply by putting a dispatcher in your class definition somewhere you'll have changed the functionality of the class.
Many methods throw events (with paste.wareweb.event.raise_event). An event is sent to each listener on the object, and the handler can do nothing (returning event.Continue) or can override or respond to the event in some way.
Dispatching objects listen for the end_awake event (called at the end of awake()), and may call an extra method on the servlet based on some criteria (like _awake_ or path_info).
Templating systems can use an event to write a template. ZPTKit overrides start_respond to write the template.
Unpacking Methods
On a per-method basis you can use the algorithms in paste.wareweb.unpack to unpack your request. E.g., something like:
dispatch = MethodDispatch() @public @unpack def edit_item(self, item_id_int_path, name): Item.get(id=item_id_int_path).name = name
This unpacks a request like servlet_name/edit_item/1?name=new_name into the function call. Note that MethodDispatch makes /edit_item call the edit_item() method. @public declares that the method is actually available to the public. @unpack uses the method signature to identify the parts -- item_id_int_path ends with _path, and so will be taken from path_info; and has _int and so will be coerced into an integer.
Automatic Properties
Methods that end with __get, __set and __del will automatically be turned into properties. Subclasses can selectively replace just one of these implementations, while leaving the others in place.
Differences from Webware
This is a rough summary of the differences from Webware. There's lots of little things that are just plain gone; this doesn't enumerate all of them.
No Request And Response
There are no longer request and response objects. There is only the servlet. The servlet contains all the useful methods from these objects.
From the response, several methods:
- set_cookie
- set_header
- add_header
- write
- redirect
From the request, several attributes (note: no methods):
- environ
- config
- request_method
- app_url
- path_info
- path_parts
- fields
For more exact details, see paste.wareweb.interfaces.IServlet
Only One Servlet Class
There's one Servlet for everyone -- no Servlet, HTTPServlet, and Page. All servlets instances are not threadsafe, because they contain information about the request and response in their instance variables. In practice no Webware servlets were threadsafe, nor was there anything to be gained by that.
Also, reusable functionality is not meant to be added with subclasses of Servlet. Subclassing is for the end-developer to add application-specific functionality; there's other techniques for adding reusable functionality.
No _action_ by default
URL dispatching is handled more generically; several dispatchers are available, one which implements the _action_ parsing of Webware. Dispatchers for XML-RPC and JSON-RPC are also possible, and they have their own built-in methods of indicating methods. Other forms of URL parsing are also implemented.


text:
(OTOH, Derrick Rose has a name that says "Portland" and he sounds more like a "Nate McMillian kind" of point guard. But I'm not so sure they'll draft a PG next spring. Brandon Roy could well be the team's PG of the future, with Euro-league MVP Rudy Fernandez coming over from Spain to play #2, next fall. They may target a small forward, instead)
And even without Oden, I'm not ready to concede that the '07-08 Blazers have no shot at a WC playoff berth


text:
Good afternoon, Tigard and Sherwood readers. Here are a few news stories from your communities this Thursday afternoon:
Thomas Murphy named Tigard's 'First Citizen'
The Tigard Area Chamber of Commerce has named Thomas Murphy – known most recently as the leader of the opposition to Ballot Measure 34-210 – as the city's First Citizen.
Murphy, a Downtown Tigard attorney, also chairs Tigard's City Center Advisory Commission and helped establish the Tigard Downtown Alliance.
The Tigard Times wrote a full profile of Murphy in light of the award.
Tigard's Allison Burke named 'Miss Portland'
It wasn't even a year ago that Allison Burke graduated from Tigard High School. Now, she's been named "Miss Portland" and will go on to compete for the "Miss Oregon" title.
Burke, 18, is a classical violinist and currently attends Linfield College, where she hopes to earn a degree in nursing. She graduated from Tigard with an International Baccalaureate diploma and currently serves on the Linfield Student Senate.
Last year, the Chamber of Commerce named Burke the "Student Volunteer of the Year."
Man killed by train in Sherwood identified
The Oregonian's Kasia Hall reported that after two days, authorities identified the man fatally struck by a Portland & Western Railroad train near Sherwood Monday night.
James Yelton, 42, of Tigard, was lying on the tracks around 11:40 p.m. and did not move when a conductor sounded the train's horn from about 150 feet away, officials said.
The case is still under investigation. It's still unclear why Yelton was on the tracks.
-- Luke Hammill


text:
The context is still a little blurry here.
The common method here is to find the mean vector (1x3) the mean of each column and the covariance matrix (3x3) using the standard definition for the covariance between 2 variables.
Hi all,
Just a quick background...I am working on a final year computer science project that performs face recognition. As part of the project I need to perform a lot of vector/matrix manipulation. Below is a small extract from the paper I am following...
The problem I am struggling to figure is out how the mean/variance is calculated from the equation. For example a subject x who has three face images will be represented as a matrix of 3840 rows and 3 columns, where each value represents a colour and each column represents a single image. Now the end result is to get a single value of variance for each subject, however I am struggling to see how to convert this matrix into first a mean value and then a variance value. The divide part of the equation is 1/N where in this case N would be 3, but I was under the impression that to get the average you would divide by the total number of elements?
I apologise for the long-windedness of the explanation, however if you require any further information please ask.
Thanks in advance for and help you can offer
Hi pickslides,
Thanks for your response. Yes I agree with you, as in a different part of the paper I have to do exactly as you outlined, however the way this bit is worded is as if it calculated in a somewhat different way.
I'll see if I can find any additional details that may help.
Thanks for your time


text:
MUSKEGON -- No need to panic. The people you might see Wednesday and Thursday walking around downtown in decontamination suits aren't from another planet. And others who appear to be suffering from wounds incurred by an explosion aren't really injured.
It's merely part of a disaster response training scenario organized by the Muskegon County Medical Authority, along with other local and regional organizations.
The training exercises are designed to prepare firefighters, paramedics, nurses and physicians from across the state on how to respond to community-wide disasters.
The exercises will be staged in and around the Frauenthal Center for Performing Arts and will include evacuating the building. Participants also will learn how to set up and use decontamination equipment during the exercise in the parking lot between Racquet's Downtown Grill, 446 Western, and Holiday Inn Hotel Muskegon Harbor, 939 Third, said Connie Maxim, the bio-terrorism education and project coordinator for the Region 6 Regional Bio-Defense Network.
The event will span two days with lectures on how to coordinate rescue efforts between different agencies, she said, adding that it is important that firefighters, paramedics and hospital staff are all on the same page, so when a disaster happens, rescue and medical workers can tend to victims as efficiently as possible.
Participants also will practice medical skills on high-tech robotic mannequins that simulate actual patient reactions, she said.
Maxim's regional organization is based in Muskegon and is one of eight similar groups across the state that provides information to health care providers, first responders and the public about terrorism preparation, disasters and mass-casualty accidents.
Maxim said about 50 volunteers from the Muskegon County Medical Reserve Corps will be made up to look like burn victims and scattered throughout the Frauenthal Center in order to teach participants how to seek out, sort and triage victims rapidly.
Exercises like these are important, Maxim said, because standardizing the response of firefighters, paramedics, physicians and nurses is a critical step in improving communication.
"If there's one thing we've learned through exercising, it's that communication is the biggest failure," she said.
Email Jordan Travis: email@example.com


text:
MLB.com Pro Blogs of the Day
These are some of the latest PRO posts within the Major League Baseball family. If you have a post of your own you want to feature, make sure to leave a link in the comments below.
- The Giants' Brandon Crawford answers some reader questions in his Brandon & Brandon blog.
- Giants outfielder Gregor Blanco explains how he has two families: at home and the clubhouse.
- Friar Wire posted video of Yonder Alonso's reaction to receiving the silent treatment after a homer.
- The Cutoff Man tells how the Mets honored Derek Jeter in what was likely his final visit to Citi Field.
- MLBPipeline.com's Jonathan Mayo has some tidbits in his blog ahead of the upcoming 2014 Draft.
- Baseball Books has an excerpt from Paul Hagen's article reviewing Bill Madden's new book, 1954.
- MLB.com Fantasy 411 looks at the closer chaos affecting baseball and its impact on fantasy managers.
- The Tigers compiled a list of seven things you might have missed last week at Comerica Park.
- TribeVibe profiles Kyle Crockett, the first member of the 2013 Draft class to make it to the Majors.
- Royals broadcaster Steve Stewart recaps some of the strange weather the team has encountered.
- Twins Pics shared a gallery of Brace Hemmelgarn's photos from the Twins' win over the Red Sox.
- Thursday was Japanese Heritage Night at AT&T Park and SF Giants Photos has the photos.
- Braves Give highlights the organizations 2014 Honorary Bat Girl for Mother's Day, Lori Smith.
- Phillies Insider dips into the archives with an image from the first American League night game.
- A young Pro Blogger put together his scouting report on the New York Mets over at Matt's Bats.


text:
North Brunswick's taps are dry after a water main break has affected parts of town, police said.
Police said they don't know when services will be restored because workers at the American Water company have not located the break yet.
American Water company representatives confirmed police's account and said they are not sure how many people have been affected.


text:
Last night, Anderson Cooper debuted a new pair of glasses while preparing to host his live New Year's Eve show with Kathy Griffin. Like us, Kathy was stunned by his new look.
I love how you clearly got the nerdiest glasses you could because you think you're so gorgeous and hot, that you just have to take it down a few notches for America.
— Kathy Griffin to Anderson Cooper
Since the Silver Fox is getting along in years, he presumably needs glasses and isn't wearing them just to look trendy. As anyone who has ever needed glasses (or who has ever watched Superman) knows, this simple accessory can render you unrecognizable. You can go from looking like yourself, into looking like a geek, a fashionista, a grandma, or a poser. Anderson might look like a (cute) nerd, but how about these other celebrities?
Lindsay Lohan jumps on the hipster bandwagon.
Megan Fox is rocking the seductive secretary look (above the neck, that is). She's been photographed several times wearing glasses, so I'll bet she actually needs a prescription.
Snooki, apparently trying to look smart. When has she ever been taped or pictured with glasses aside from this one set of photos?
Lauren Conrad. Tortoise shell patterns are a classic and she wears hers very well.
Justin Timberlake in his "serious actor" outfit. These glasses were his favorite accessory while promoting The Social Network earlier this year.
Katy Perry. Although I wouldn't wear these glasses, they fit her cute pinup girl persona perfectly.
Joe Jonas. Uh, no. These do not flatter his eyebrows.
Leighton Meester, who looks chic in just about anything, including these slim spectacles.
Demi Lovato. No complaints here, but how do her long eyelashes not scrape against her glasses? I can never wear glasses and mascara at the same time.
Justin Bieber, wearing glasses that look like they came free with a box of cereal. He's a kid, so I'll forgive the fashion faux pas. The memoir, on the other hand….
Do you look better in glasses or without them? Does it bother you when celebrities (or well, even regular people) wear non-prescription glasses?


text:
I need help with presenting info to my aunt. She is a physical therapist in her 50s experiencing some multi systemic health issues. She is open to my suggestions but is also skeptical due to a career of her conventional wisdom training. Are there some free studies available to help me support my arguement?
Primal prevents heart disease
Primal prevents cancer
Primal prevents autoimmune diseases
1. use the search feature on this site to find past blog posts
2. use google and search "paleo heart disease" etc....
3. Buy her Mark's book, let her read it and make up her own mind.
Cordain has a ton of data/studies on his site as well. You can start here: http://thepaleodiet.com/faqs/
Heather and the hounds - Make a Fast Friend, Adopt a Greyhound!


text:
I am not sure if you've seen this incredible giant lie that Obama belched today but I will tell you one thing, It is indicative of the utter contempt Obama has for the truth, the American people and the election laws.
The campaign fraud perpetrated by Obama is on a scale difficult to fathom (well documented here). He believes he is above the law perhaps as a result of his narcissism.
His claim that McCain received excessive donations is laughable. This is how Obama deflects allegations, he just throws them back at McCain knowing full well the media will happily do his dirty work. I wrote of this very thing at American Thinker a couple of months ago.
Obama's bots said, "Analysis of the information ... shows that the McCain Campaign has received 6,653 contributions each of which was at least $1,000 in excess of the applicable $2,300 limit to the primary campaign," - this is a ruse. The standard procedure is to "redesignate" any excess over the $2,300 from the primary campaign to the general election. Here is one quick look at Obama's donations that are over the limit (the Palestinian donation is in there, never returned despite Obama's fabrication that it was - click to enlarge).
Tens of thousands of Obama donations have been over the limit the campaigns simply "redesignate' the funds to a diffferent campaign, another fund, a move from the primary to the general race, Every page of Obama's - sometimes pages on one donor alone - are rife with "redesignations". Here is a long list of "redesignations" on one donor from Geneva - there are hundreds, thousands of examples like "John Blair" (click to enlarge".
Obama notoriously redesignates bucco bucks to his new Obama Victory Fund, created June 2008. There is a 28,500.00 cap per donor since it is a National Party fund. The Obama Victory Fund disbursed a million and a half dollars to "other party Committees" in July.
The Committee for Change, created in mid-July, has become a vehicle for ultra-rich Democratic donors to distinguish themselves from the 3.1 million others who have put $600 million behind Obama's presidential candidacy.
"We kept running into donors who had maxed out to Obama Victory who wanted to do additional money and had the capacity to do it and were eager to do it," said Alan Kessler, a Philadelphia lawyer who recently held a fundraiser for the committee. "They asked if there were vehicles and other ways to do it, and we said yes."
The committee, which has been routing millions of dollars directly to state party accounts and will help fuel Obama's field operations, represents the flip side of the grass-roots fundraising effort that helped turn Obama into the most successful money-raiser in presidential campaign history.(more here)
Obama opted out of public financing despite promises not to do that. BHO became the $600 million man after opting out of the public financing system for presidential candidates, has become Exhibit A for experts concerned that the system is on its last legs. At the least, they say, the massive money Obama has raised ($186 million since Sept. 1 brought his total to more than $600 million) shows why the system is due for a major overhaul. How much of Obama's haul is shady, illegal and foreign is hard to estimate but we have uncovered enormous illegal activity and that's just me and a couple of intrepid Atlas readers. By opting out of the system, Obama has been unfettered by spending limits. By staying in the system, GOP nominee John McCain is limited to the $84.1 million provided by the government.
McCain got $7 million in excess donations: DNC The Post (hat tip Jane)
WASHINGTON -- John McCain received nearly $7 million in 6,652 donations that exceeded contribution limits while seeking the Republican presidential nomination, the Democratic National Committee said Saturday.
This is laughable. They talk down to us. Outrageous.
The DNC listed the figure in a complaint it said it will file on Monday with the Federal Election Commission. The Republican National Committee filed a similar complaint on Oct. 5, alleging Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama had not done enough to weed out illegal contributions.
In a copy of the DNC posted on the Internet, the DNC said on Saturday it compiled its information by examining donations recorded on McCain's campaign Web site.
"Analysis of the information ... shows that the McCain Campaign has received 6,653 contributions each of which was at least $1,000 in excess of the applicable $2,300 limit to the primary campaign," the DNC complaint said. "Nineteen individuals contributed more then $10,000 each to the McCain Campaign — more than four times the limit," said the document. It said the donations included one person who gave $56,047 and overall totaled "nearly $7 million."
Check out the top screenshot of Obama's donors. "Redesignate" - here are the limits on various campaigns, committees, and special limits.
The complaint asked the election commission to investigate the matter. It also accuses the McCain campaign of accepting donations without getting the donors' names and addresses.
This is a blatant lie. Try it. McCain's campaign is clean. You cannot make fraudulent donations like you can with the Obama campaign. John Galt, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Ben Dover all donated without a problem. Further investigations is showing - real people's name are being used to "front" donations they did not make.
A spokesman for the McCain campaign was not immediately available for comment. On its Web site, the New York Times political blog quoted McCain spokesman Brain Rogers as saying the DNC complaint was a publicity stunt to distract attention from Obama's "shady fund-raising practices."
There is an understatement.
Here is a screen shot of the Gazan contributions reattributed and redesignated
UPDATE: Slim guy published a google docs spreadsheet with donation to the Joint Victory Fund that indicates all the donations which have gone over the cap of 28.5k at the end of September: GO HERE
Slim guy makes a valid point: "Was it a single whopper of a check [the McCain donation] one time that came in.
After all look at that lady that the BHO campaign had somebody use another credit card (not hers) and proxy donate 178K in her name.
If a bogus thing comes in Mc just can't ignore it and hope it goes away. Until he can contact the donor he has to report the donation even if they believe it is bogus and they can note that on their submission.
The FEC even allows creation of a separate bank account to put questionable donations in till they are cleared do it doesn't commingle with valid donations."
Slim Guy in the comment sextion on the joint fund limits: "Really makes you wonder what they are doing if people can in a single donation to the Joint Fund with the DNC send in a donation of over 61k when the limit is 28.5k. Not only does that go over the cap for a donation to a Joint Fund but it may go over in a single donation the limits to all party committee donations for an individual."
UPDATE: Pelalusa caught John Batchelor's report on more questionable activity on foreign donations. Go here.
UPDATE: Dear Adolphe ...........Willkommen!


text:
The International Journal for Rural Development
See current issue
Interested to order issue?Interested to subscribe?
Formerly hailed as a "wonder plant", Jatropha curcas appears to have lost most of its mystique. The time is not yet ripe for large-scale jatropha cropping for biofuel production. The participants attending the "Biofuel for development" network meeting at the end of September in Bonn all agreed on this. But the plant has not lost its fascination, and current developments regarding the need for biokerosene for aviation have brought Jatropha biofuel back on the agenda. The private sector also still has a high demand. The meeting's participants addressed this issue and simultaneously analysed the significance and potential of the Jatropha plant in development cooperation. Another point on the agenda was the action necessary in development policy and agricultural research resulting from the research findings now on hand and experiences obtained to date.
Researchers and practitioners presented their findings and experiences. Professor K. Becker, Hohenheim University reported on some twenty years of research in cooperation with private sector companies on potential uses for Jatropha curcas. Sophia Baumert, Center for Development Research, presented the results of her ongoing research work in Burkina Faso. The problems involved in large-scale land purchases for Jatropha cropping were explained by Friedel Hütz-Adams, researcher at the Institut Süd-Wind. GIZ- staff member Raya Kühne presented GIZ's experience with Jatropha in developing countries.
The conclusion drawn was surprisingly unanimous. The time is not yet ripe for large scale Jatropha cropping for export. The plants "good" image was also revised. Research findings show that while Jatropha grows well on marginal locations, without inputs of fertiliser and water profitable yields cannot be obtained. It was also reported that hardly any breeding research has been carried out on Jatropha up to now, which means high yield fluctuations and uncertainties in planning. Scientists consider the plant's toxicity to be an advantage in terms of food security in developing countries, as there then seems to be no competition with food crops.
However, practical cropping shows contrasting results: efforts to promote Jatropha and the anticipated high yields and profits have already lead to increased Jatropha growing on fertile soils, consequently driving out food crops. Jatropha is of very limited use to small farmers in developing countries because of the high expertise and skilled processing necessary before the poisonous Jatropha plant can be used for food or fodder.
Extending commercial Jatropha cropping seems to have been constrained for the time being due to the negative discussion surround the topic of "Land grabbing", not least because of the non-transparent approaches used by investors and state institutions regarding land purchase and land leasing. Many companies seem to have withdrawn from the market in order to avoid bad press. To date, only estimates are available about the amount of land leased or purchased in order to crop Jatropha.
The network participants consider that Jatropha cropping can contribute to income diversification and decentralised power supplies at village and individual company levels, once having detoxified the harvest by removing the poisonous phorbolester contained in Jatropha, The press residue from the production of Jatropha oil could then be used as a physiologically valuable animal fodder. However, this requires the corresponding technical infrastructure.
Participants noted that a positive impact of jatropha cropping is its ability to improve soil properties on marginal areas and on land sensitive to erosion. Another interesting approach that is already being carried out successfully in Egypt is irrigating the plant with waste water. The experts are of the opinion that deeper research and in particular intensive breeding and selection work, sustainable cropping systems and extension services for small farmers are a precondition before further considering the potential of the Jatropha plant as a supplier of energy.
More information is available from: GIZ: Alberto Camacho HenriquezDIE: Michael Brüntrup
Author: Alberto Camacho Henriquez; GIZ
Related article: Jatropha curcas: Curse or wonder plant?
Information: Website | Contact
Information: Website


text:
The Tulane University women's basketball team will look to build on the momentum of a 56-55, come-from-behind win over North Texas in their last outing when the Green Wave return to action Saturday, Feb. 8, when they travel to San Antonio, Texas, to take on Conference USA newcomer UTSA at 4 p.m.
With seven games left in the regular season, Tulane is tied for second in the C-USA standings with a 7-2 conference record and sit at 16-6 for the year. Four of those games, however, will be play on the opponent's home court and Saturday's game against the Roadrunners is the first of a two-game road swing for the Green Wave.
"It's a game that we're excited about," Tulane coach Lisa Stockton said. "We've got two people going home who are very excited about playing in front of the home crowd in Danielle Blagg and Leslie Vorpahl. It's a team that has some dangerous weapons. They've been in a lot of games and just haven't been able to pull them off. We're going to have to play very well."
As a team, the Green Wave head to San Antonio averaging 69.7 points, 41.9 rebounds, 16.3 assists, 8.6 steals and 4.0 blocks per game. Blagg leads four players averaging double figures offensively with 12.1 points per game while junior point guard Jamie Kaplan, junior forward Tiffany Dale and Vorpahl follow with respective averages of 11.8, 11.0 and 10.1.
Dale paces the team with 8.1 rebounds per game each and Kaplan leads the Green Wave with 6.6 assists per contest. Junior wing Adesuwa Ebomwonyi headlines the defense with 1.4 steals per outing while Dale and sophomore center Chinwe Duru share team-high blocked shots honors with 1.4 swats per game each.
Tulane is connecting at a .412 clip from the field, hitting 533-of-1293 shots from the floor, and 113-of-344 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.328), while allowing opponents to shoot .382 overall (496-of-1299) and .290 from 3-point land (119-of-410). Green Wave foes are averaging 62.5 points, 37.5 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 8.0 steals and 2.8 blocks per game so far in 2013-14.
"In the last few games, our offense has been a bit stagnant," Stockton said. "We've got to get to where we're comfortable and work that inside-outside that we've been pretty good at.
"One key to our success is just having that balance. It's been having different players when one player is off, someone else can step up. Courtnie Latham was a huge factor in our North Texas win, and it's nice to see her with that kind of confidence. We're able to rely on a lot of different people, and that makes us a little tougher to defend."
UTSA, meanwhile, enters the weekend 11-10 overall, 2-6 in Conference USA and looking to snap a four-game skid after dropping consecutive contests to Middle Tennessee (60-41 on Jan. 22), UTEP (67-56 on Jan. 25), Louisiana Tech (71-50 on Feb. 1) and FIU (53-40 on Feb. 5).
As a team, the Roadrunners are averaging 59.9 points, 38.1 rebounds, 9.6 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.0 blocks per contest. Kamra King is one of two UTSA players averaging double figures offensively with 14.1 points per game while Miki Turner is next with an average of 10.0.
McKenzie Adams, who has been limited to 11 games this season, paces the Roadrunners with 5.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, Turner leads the squad with 3.1 assists per outing, and King headlines the defense with 2.1 steals per contest.
UTSA is hitting 36.2 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 423-of-1168 attempts, including an 80-of-326 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.245) while allowing opponents to tally a 38.8 field goal percentage (449-of-1156) with a 30.1 performance from 3-point land (82-of-272). Roadrunners' foes are averaging 62.7 points, 39.4 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 6.4 steals and 3.4 blocks per game.
"I think they're really going to try and stall our game out a lot," Stockton said on the Saturday's matchup. "They give you a lot of zone pressure, pressure up on the ball and try to make fewer possessions in the game. We have to come out and be aggressive offensively. That'll probably be the key to the game – our offensive output."
Saturday's game marks the fourth meeting between Tulane and UTSA on the hardwood, and the Green Wave trail in the all-time series, 2-1. Tulane is 1-0 against the Roadrunners under Stockton as the Wave posted a 76-42 win back on Dec. 21, 2007, in the consolation game of that season's Tulane/DoubleTree Classic.
The Tulane/UTSA series dates back to Jan. 31, 1987, when the Green Wave dropped a 69-66 overtime contest in what is now Devlin Feildhouse. The only other meeting between the two programs came on Feb. 16, 1991, when the Roadrunners left New Orleans with a 98-93 overtime victory.
Saturday's game in San Antonio, Texas, will not only mark the first time the two teams will play on the Roadrunners' home court, but also the first-ever contest between the two programs as fellow members of Conference USA.
Following the game at UTSA, Tulane will play at FAU on Feb. 12 before returning home to take on FIU on Saturday, Feb. 15. Tipoff for that contest is slated for 2 p.m.