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Swing states poll: Health care law hurts Obama in 2012
WASHINGTON – The health care overhaul that President Obama intended to be the signature achievement of his first term instead has become a significant problem in his bid for a second one, uniting Republicans in opposition and eroding his standing among independents.
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of the nation's dozen top battleground states, a clear majority of registered voters call the bill's passage "a bad thing" and support its repeal if a Republican wins the White House in November. Two years after he signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act— and as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments about its constitutionality next month — the president has failed to convince most Americans that it was the right thing to do.
"Mandating that you have to buy the insurance rubs me the wrong way altogether," says Fred Harrison, 62, a horse trainer from York County, Pa., who was among those surveyed and supports repeal even though he likes some provisions of the law. "It should be my own choice."
INTERACTIVE: Presidential Poll Tracker
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PHOTOS: 'Obamacare' may be more liability than boon
"It seems like it forces you to take health care (coverage), and you don't really have a say in the matter," says Beth Leffew, 26, a college student from Cincinnati. She says the president "didn't really listen to people" when they objected to the proposed bill. "It seems like he just shoved it right through Congress."
Though the law has avid supporters, especially in the president's Democratic base, the net effect among middle-of-the-road voters is negative for him. What's more, the issue unites the GOP when the party is fractured among competing presidential contenders.
In the poll, Obama lags the two leading Republican rivals in the 12 states likely to determine the outcome of a close race in November:
•Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum tops Obama 50%-45% in the swing states. Nationwide, Santorum's lead narrows to 49%-46%.
•Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney edges Obama 48%-46% in the swing states. Nationwide, they are tied at 47% each.
Romney also has a health care problem: Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in the battleground states, 27% say they are less likely to support him because he signed a Massachusetts law that required residents to have coverage. Just 7% say it makes them more likely to back him.
"If they used Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health care program as a guideline for the Obamacare thing, what's the difference?" says Robert Hargrove, 37, of Sanford, N.C., rejecting Romney's explanation of differences between the state and federal laws. Hargrove, a truck driver for a propane company, scoffs: "It's just a bigger version. They put it on steroids."
The swing states poll of 1,137 registered voters was taken Feb. 14-21. In addition, a national survey of 881 registered voters was taken Feb. 20-21. The margin of error for each is +/-4 percentage points.
By Sara D. Davis for USA TODAY
Robert Hargrove, 37, with his wife, Jeanell and sons John, 2; Matthew, 4; and William, 7; on their property in Sanford, N.C.
The battleground states surveyed include Michigan — where Tuesday's primary has become a critical showdown between Romney and Santorum — as well as Ohio and Virginia, which vote next week on Super Tuesday. The other swing states are Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Health care ranks near the top of a list of concerns for advocates and critics of the law. Nationwide, it trails only the economy and the deficit as being the most critical issues facing the nation, rating a bit higher than unemployment and terrorism.
Lynn West, 58, a retired state education official from Boscawen, N.H., is exasperated that a law she says has been "fabulous" for her family continues to draw so much heat. Under its provisions, her 24-year-old son has been able to stay on his father's health insurance plan after graduating from the University of New Hampshire two years ago. Her 77-year-old mother, who lives in nearby Concord, has seen her prescription costs decline.
"If you say the word 'Obamacare' — Republicans have made that a dirty word," says West, who was among those surveyed.
"If I had to fault President Obama or the people that help him put out his message, I think they need to be simpler. A lot of times it's the catch phrases that catch fire, like when he said, 'Yes we can' " in the 2008 campaign. "That's why the term 'Obamacare' has worked — a simple phrase, and they've been able to put a negative connotation to it. In fact, they ought to be saying, 'Obamacare! Let's rejoice!' "
Bragging and basketballs
Thursday night at the mansion of Dallas Mavericks star Vince Carter in Orlando, Obama bragged about the law to a crowd of about 70 campaign contributors who had paid $30,000 each to attend.
"We were able to pass a health care bill that is already providing 2.5 million young people insurance who didn't have it before, and by the time it's fully implemented, will give 30 million people health insurance," the president told the audience gathered at Carter's indoor basketball court.
Although touting the Affordable Care Act is part of Obama's standard pitch at political events such as that one, at larger presidential events, he is more likely to be focused on proposals to foster jobs or promote education. In the State of the Union address in January, he referred to the health care law in only two sentences, almost in passing.
The Republicans seeking the presidential nomination hammer the law at every opening — at times targeting not only Obama but also Romney.
"Romneycare was the model for Obamacare and the government takeover of health care," Santorum declared at last Wednesday's debate in Mesa, Ariz. "It would be a difficult task for someone who had the model for Obamacare, which is the biggest issue in this race of government in control of your lives, to be the nominee of our party."
Romney replied that the Massachusetts plan differed in fundamental ways from the federal one. Then he tried to turn Santorum's charge back on him.
"The reason we have Obamacare is because …Arlen Specter, the pro-choice senator of Pennsylvania that you supported and endorsed in a race over Pat Toomey— he voted for Obamacare. If you had not supported him, if we had said 'no' to Arlen Specter, we would not have Obamacare. So don't look at me. Take a look in the mirror."
Opposition to the federal law is nearly uniform among Republican voters. In the battleground states, eight in 10 say passage of the law was "a bad thing." Nearly six in 10 want it repealed. Nine in 10 say the law's provision requiring Americans to have health insurance or pay a fine is unconstitutional — the centerpiece of a challenge before the Supreme Court.
The issue is whether Congress can force people to buy health insurance or pay a fine, a mandate that the law's architects say is critical for the goal of expanding coverage and one that has divided judges on federal appeals courts. Arguments before the high court are scheduled to begin March 26, three days after the second anniversary of the law's signing.
Voters in swing states stand overwhelmingly on one side of the debate: Three of four voters, including a majority of Democrats and of liberals, say the law is unconstitutional.
That reaction is almost instinctual, says Stuart Altman, a professor of national health policy at Brandeis University who has joined two briefs supporting the law. "People say, 'The government should not mandate that I have to do anything.' "
He faults the Obama team for not responding effectively enough to what he calls a "torrent" of opposition and misinformation.
"You have this drumbeat of negative comments and almost no positive," he says. "You're relying on the president to do the selling, and he's moved on to other things. The congressional people on the Democratic side are not supporting it. They're either being very quiet or running away from it themselves because they're afraid of getting tarnished."
"That debate will be had," says Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager. When the public is engaged in the general election, "there will be an intensive effort to ensure that families understand how they're already benefiting from the law and what would be taken away from them if Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum has their way. The American people do not want to go back to the days of insurance companies discriminating against you if you have a pre-existing condition or dropping your coverage if you get sick."
That will be a hard sale to make to Hargrove, the North Carolina truck driver. He acknowledges there are provisions in the law he calls "good and needed." His 4-year-old son, Matthew, was born with a hole in his heart, requiring expensive surgery. Hargrove notes that the law's bar on insurers refusing coverage to those with pre-existing conditions could protect kids such as his.
"But the way it was done, passed before it was read and all this other stuff, that's underhanded," he says. "You've got to have it or pay a penalty? That's not the way the country was set up."
Wariness about the future
Gail Wilensky, a top health care policymaker for President George W. Bush and critic of the law, says Americans remain wary of the long-term impact of its provisions, which don't go fully into effect until 2014. At this point, she says, "they are not seeing much in the way of positives, and they are concerned about the negatives it might have."
Eleven percent of voters in battleground states say the law has helped their families; 15% say it has hurt. Looking ahead, they predict by 42%-20% that the law will make things worse rather than better for their families.
A pocket of support: those under 30, a critical age group for Obama in 2008. They are inclined to call the law's enactment "a good thing." Even among them, the share of supporters falls just short of 50%. The older the age group, the more opposition emerges.
Opposition to the law is eroding Obama's support among the middle-of-the-road voters both nominees will court this fall. Among independents, 35% say the law makes them less likely to support Obama, more than double the 16% who say it makes them more likely.
The intensity of feeling among potential swing voters also favors opponents. Among independents who lean to the GOP, 54% say they are much less likely to support Obama as a result. Among independents who lean to the Democrats, 18% say they are much more likely to support him.
Jason Carr, 40, a federal public defender in Las Vegas who describes himself as a moderate, credits the Obama administration with addressing a problem people had been talking about for decades. "You may not like what they did, but they did something," he said in a follow-up interview after being polled. He is likely to vote for Obama in November but would consider Romney if he was the Republican nominee.
Vivian Robertson, 65, a retired nurse from Bangor, Wis., hasn't decided whom to support in the state's Republican primary on April 3, but she knows she won't vote for the author of Obamacare in November.
"I think it's terrible," she says of the law. "It's going to take our medical system, and it's going to go right down the drain."
Posted | Updated


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So HOW MUCH Do the State's Worst 'Toll Scofflaws' Owe?
So just how much do Texans owe in back tolls from not paying for driving on the state's toll roads? The numbers may surprise you.
TxDOT today released its list of 'toll scofflaws,' designed to 'shame' people into paying back tolls and fees, and some of the numbers may surprise you.
The state's number one toll scofflaw is a man named Ronny Williams from Pflugerville. He, at least according to TxDOT, owes more than $236,000 in back tolls.
Okay, so let's figure this out. It costs an average car a little more than $12 to drive to drive the entire distance of State Highway 130 from Georgetown, which is not far from Pflugerville, all the way to Seguin.
Assuming that Mr. Williams drove the entire length of State Highway 130 every day, including Saturdays and Sundays and Christmas Day, it would take him 55 years to rack up that amount in tolls.
TxDOT spokesman Mark Cross declined to discuss the unbelievable numbers.
"These are the chronic people who are using the facility very heavily to have more than 100 toll fees that you haven't paid," he said.
Mr. Williams, according to TxDOT's list, has an incredible 14,358 'unpaid toll transactions.'
"There are people who apparently drive through the toll facilities day in and day out without paying," Cross said.
Obviously, Mr. Williams has not been driving on State Highway 130 every day since 1958. The toll road just opened last fall, and the first toll road in the entire state wasn't opened until the 1980s.
Several cross reference directories list Mr. Williams as an electrician. Two numbers listed for him in various directories both came back as 'out of service.'
16 people on the list of TxDOT's 25 biggest 'toll scofflaws' are listed as owing more than $100,000 in 'unpaid tolls and fees.'

subset: commoncrawl


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This blog accompanies the Stanford Copyright & Fair Use page at http://fairuse.stanford.edu. The site primarily focuses on copyright issues relevant to the educational community. The blog has quick interviews on current copyright issues and points to useful updates on the site, such as charts, tools, and new court decisions.
Last modified Sun, 6 Jun, 2010 at 20:03
Notice: Blog authors are solely responsible for the content of the blogs listed in the directory. Neither the content of these blogs, nor the links to other web sites, are screened, approved, reviewed or endorsed by Stanford University, the Stanford Alumni Association or any Stanford-affiliated entity ("Stanford"). The text and other material on these blogs are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or information of Stanford.


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In a letter date July 12th, the letter expressed strong opposition to the latest House and Senate version of the so-called DISCLOSE 2012 Act, S. 3369 and H.R. 4010, which both the Senate and House may consider in the coming days.
This legislation, like its predecessors in the 111th and 112th Congresses, is designed to chill the political speech of corporations, business interests, and others, while giving labor unions special protections. The bills do not propose genuine reform—the disclosure requirements are transparently political and ultimately


text: To get from Sassuolo to Venice by train you can catch one of the 60 trains that everyday travel between these two cities. The first train to Venice leaves from Sassuolo at 06:20 and the last train departs at 22:10. The trip by train from Sassuolo to Venice last on average 01:25 travelling with high-speed trains (Frecciarossa or Italotreno) If you choose a local train the trip lasts on average 01:24 hours. For your trip from Sassuolo to Venice by train you can choose to leave from one of Sassuolo main stations: Bologna Centrale, Rubiera Tickets price depend on the departure time and train type, the most economic train ticket available this week is from € 12 to € 28. Prices for next month range from € 12 to € 16. The most economic train is Regionale Veloce () that departs at 07:20 and arrives in Venice at 09:18 at € 12. On Wanderio you can compare all schedules, fares and railway companies to Venice and book the best itinerary starting from Sassuolo.


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Browse by year or just scroll down: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, and 2000
The role of water in carbon feed on the surface-guided growth of horizontally aligned single-walled carbon
nanotubes (HA-SWCNTs) was investigated. It is shown that the amount of water can be optimized to favor HA-SWCNT growth, which is proposed to be due to selective etching of carbon deposits at carbon–metal interface. Without water, nanotube–nanotube interaction and carbon accumulation at the interface are disproportionately large compared to the rate of nanotube growth, leading to catalyst deactivation. With excess water, suppression of nanotube growth occurs, resulting in reduced carbon yield on the surface.
Intermediate carbon/water feed ratios achieve cleaner growth with high efficiency.


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By Rikki King Herald Writer
STANWOOD — A 16-year-old Everett boy has survived after nearly drowning in Lake Goodwin on Sunday.
People at the lake took turns performing CPR on the boy until aid crews arrived. One of them was a local soldier who was home on leave.
Joel and Sarah Irwin grew up in north Snohomish County. They're living in Colorado Springs now, where he's stationed as a specialist and military police officer with the U.S. Army.
They took their kids to Lake Goodwin on Sunday to play in the water.
They were visiting family here and wanted to bring their children to the same lake where they made so many memories as kids, Sarah Irwin said.
Everyone was swimming, and Sarah Irwin got thirsty. She headed to shore for a break. About 20 feet away, she saw a teenage boy pulling another young man from the water.
The young man was not breathing. She knew her husband was CPR-certified — he'd just undergone refresher training.
She yelled for him.
"He ran over there as fast as he could," she said.
Joel Irwin and several other people at the scene took turns performing CPR on the young man. When aid crews rushed him away, he was breathing and had a pulse.
The boy survived, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. No additional information was released about him Monday.
The Irwins were supposed to head back on Friday but decided to stay in town a few more days, Sarah Irwin said. She was glad they were there to help the boy.
The scene was crowded and chaotic, she said. People were crying and yelling. Plenty of young children who were there witnessed what happened, including her relatives.
"We were all traumatized," she said.
Joel Irwin said he just followed his training. There wasn't time to think, he said. He'd done CPR before in emergencies, when he was overseas.
"As a soldier, we defend our country 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year," he said. "It's our duty to take care of those in need."
At least nine people have drowned in Snohomish County so far this year, including several children. That's a higher fatality rate than any recent summer, said sheriff's Lt. Rodney Rochon, who leads the marine unit.
"It's been the cold water and the failure to wear a lifejacket," he said.
Puget Sound and local rivers and lakes remain cold, he said. Even when the surface feels warm at 60 degrees, the water just six inches below can be 50 degrees.
The cold water alone lowers the chance of someone surviving a mishap, especially if they're fighting river currents, he said.
An 18-year-old man drowned July 1 in the Skykomish River near Index. His identity has not been made public. The day before, 10-year-old Elijah Gene Spratt died while swimming in the Stillaguamish River at Arlington.
Cooper W. Howat, 8, drowned the week before in Lake Roesiger.
Officials ask people who plan to be in the water to be careful and obey lifejacket laws.
Free loaner lifejackets are available at many county swimming areas. People are asked to return the jackets. Out of the 75 made available on Memorial Day Weekend, 49 already have gone missing. Anyone who's accidentally taken one home still can return it, Rochon said. Other people need the life jackets to enjoy the water safely.
"Just bring them back, and if you can't bring them back, take them to the nearest police station or fire station," he said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; firstname.lastname@example.com.
Safety tips
Everyone should wear life jackets that fit well and meet modern U.S. Coast Guard standards.
Groups also should assign an adult to watch children around the water full time.
For child safety and life jacket rental information, go to www.snosafekids.org. Life jacket rental cabinets at local parks are open.
Never use innertubes and rafts designed for swimming pools on open water.
Know your limits; do not attempt a section of river beyond your skill level.
Pay attention to weather and water conditions. Wear wool clothing or a wet suit and dress for the water temperature. If the water temperature and air temperature combined total 100 degrees or less, wear protective clothing.
Enter cold water slowly.
Avoid swimming near boat ramps or in boating areas.
Avoid downed trees, snags and confluences.
If your vessel capsizes, float on your back, feet together and pointed downstream. If you go over a ledge or drop, tuck into a ball.
If you're caught in a fast-flowing river or rapids, try to float feet first in a half-sitting position. Release your craft only if it improves your safety.
For information about boater education, go to www.boatered.org.


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On the Motion: Motion to Instruct the Sgt. at Arms; To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.
Result: Agreed to (41-37, 22 members not voting, 1/2 threshold)
Details: [click here]
This Month


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I'll be answering ten questions each month...
and if your question is chosen, I'll post a personalized response!
Submit Your Question
- from Carlsbad, NM
Some other icings that you can use to create flowers include: Buttercream, Flower paste or Gum paste, and Modeling paste.
Return to Decorating Techniques questions


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Thursday, February 10, 2011
Writing, Striving, and THE GREAT GATSBY
I don't know any writers this way.
Not that writers have it so bad. Sure, there are stereotypes of the depressive and possibly alcoholic writer, the Edgar Alan Poes, the Charles Bukowskis, the Sylvia Plaths: the tortured artists and souls, a category that seems to loom larger in legend than in practice. Most writers I know aren't that bad off by any means, and in fact you could probably take most of them home to your mom.
But there has to be a pretty intense fire burning inside you to devote the amount of time to write a book that it takes to write one. Spending hundreds of hours engaged in a multi-month mental marathon is not usually an act for the perfectly content at heart.
And that's before you consider the odds.
Writing itself is a form of striving: of striving to be heard, striving for something more than the ordinary life, and, if the writer is honest, there's probably an element of material striving as well, whether for money or recognition or both.
Writing is an act of getting down on your hands and knees and pushing on the ground and hoping the world spins on a slightly different axis. It's the art of not taking life for granted and trying to make something, anything change.
That's partly why we love it, right?
And I don't know if any writer quite wrote and lived the art of writing and striving as F. Scott Fitzgerald did.
Fitzgerald lived the life of a striver. When Zelda Sayre refused to marry him because she was concerned he couldn't provide for her, he got back to work writing and the result was This Side of Paradise, a sensation published when he was just 23 years old. He was always trying to be something more.
Of course, Fitzgerald created perhaps the ultimate striver of them all, Jay Gatsby, someone whose entire life was built on fiction, from his name (nee James Gatz), to his always shifting and unknowable biography (he professed to be from the Midwestern city of San Francisco), to the narrative he constructed around his affair with Daisy Buchanan. His life rested on layer upon layer of fiction.
And like Gatsby, writing itself is built around striving and dreams and a world conjured from thin air in the hope that it's enough. It's that feeling that Gatsby had of being just a few sequences of events away from having those dreams coming true, as close as the green light on the dock, so close you can "hardly fail to grasp them."
But when those dreams recede before us, as Fitzgerald wrote in the greatest page of them all, "that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning — So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
And then we get back to work.
The Great Gatsby is published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS, which is the parent company of CNET, where I am employed. The opinions herein expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of CBS.
72 comments:
- Misha said...
You make a good point. I'm always striving for something. Even though it might not always be better, it might be something different.
Maybe that's why I enjoy writing so much. Never thought about it that way before.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:14 AM
- crow productions said...
My next book should be "Striving of the Non Malcontent." It would be an autobiography.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:15 AM
- Chuck H. said...
I know I read Gatsby but it's been so long ago that all I remember is a description of a mansion, devoid of furnishings with long curtains billowing in the breeze. At least I think that was Gatsby. I could be mistaken. After all, I am OLD!!
Personally, I'm not one of those tortured souls, looking for recognition or money (though I wouldn't turn either down if they came my way). I just enjoy the feeling of putting some words together that evokes an emotion or stirs a memory or just puts a smile on someone's face. That's why I write.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:19 AM
- Mira said...
Beautifully written and very inspiring, Nathan.
Thank you.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:19 AM
- Christopher S. Ledbetter said...
Awesome post.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:22 AM
- Sophie said...
Much the same as Dick Driver, constantly striving, but not quite sure what for...
- February 10, 2011 at 10:28 AM
- Lauren said...
mmmmmnn...Gatsby...Fitzgerald. I love that you made the connection between Gatsby's striving and the striving of writers. I wonder if the connection continues to Gatsby's hunger to go back and re-write the past. Could part of a writer's striving be to take control of the past via a fictionalized (but not entirely)world? Thanks for such a lovely idea to begin my day.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:28 AM
- abc said...
The Great Gatsby has long been a favorite. I think it is a beautiful tale of two outsiders (Nick and Jay) looking in and the destruction that can stem from never feeling enough. I hope that didn't sound too Oprahish. I love Nick Carraway. I love the way he sees the world. I love the hope and sadness and beauty and ugliness combined. It is such an American novel, but you are right, it is also universal. We strive, we fail, we keep striving. We make meaning of the striving. It is the anti-Ayn Rand. Perhaps that is why I like it so much.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:31 AM
- Sheila Lamb said...
And it's amazing Fitzgerald accomplished this so young. I'm only a little jealous ;-)
- February 10, 2011 at 10:33 AM
This post mirrors my ponderings of yesterday. I am forever striving for something beyond my normal life as a stay-at-home mom. Like Gatsby, it is not enough for me to be ordinary. I simply cannot live such a mundane life.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:37 AM
- Liz Fichera said...
Now have burning urge to reread THE GREAT GATSBY. Classic!
- February 10, 2011 at 10:37 AM
- puppy-sariel said...
I've never read it...probably won't. It's just...not my cup of genre.
The unfortunate thing about writing is and always will be that it isn't how hard you strive, how much you want it, or how many times you go back for the kicking.
It's who you are, who you know, and what you have going for you.
Oh, wait. That's how it is with everything. It's High School all over again. My bad...
- February 10, 2011 at 10:37 AM
- Jenny said...
This is why they say that to be a writer you must enjoy the process--the process *is* the striving. Whether it's big like striving to tell a better story, or smaller like constructing a better paragraph...and hopefully we learn something about the world by going through it.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:38 AM
- Cynthia Lee said...
Thank you, Nathan, for mentioning Gatsby because now I'm thinking of the novel and that's never a bad thing.
I'll never get that image out of my head. The image of Jay lifting his arms and the green light on the dock and his sad bright mansion behind him. *sigh* Thanks!
- February 10, 2011 at 10:39 AM
- sheribomb said...
Awesome, inspirational post! Thanks for re-reading The Great Gatsby. ;) I re-read it about every year and, although I am inspired by it as a writer, I hadn't quite thought to be inspired by Gatsby's actions. F. Scott Fitzgerald truly was an big dreamer. It's sad that he died without knowing how great a legacy he would leave, which I hope would have satisfied him.
Incidentally, my Fitzgerald re-reads have inspired this t-shirt, which might give you a giggle: The "I Want To F. Scott Fitzgerald" t-shirt". :)
- February 10, 2011 at 10:41 AM
- Charlie Pulsipher said...
Hammering the representations of sounds into meaningful ideas and stories, shoving them out into the world with the hope that people will like the clever combinations we created for them. Yes, we strive.
Funny Stuff I Write
- February 10, 2011 at 10:48 AM
- Tana Adams said...
What a beautiful and inspirational post, Nathan! Some great truths about writers in there. Now time for me to try and convince the earth to move on a slightly different axis or otherwise known as #amwriting. ;)
- February 10, 2011 at 10:51 AM
- Gretchen said...
There are people who are content with life? I wonder what that would be like. I long to know! This is a question I ponder often, why we seem to always have this need to strive for more as humans, no matter how good we have it.
I ran across this quote in Steinbeck's "The Pearl" the other day:
"For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have."
I can't say I feel very superior, but I do think being a striver is sort of an innate quality of being human. Satisfaction would be so nice though.
- February 10, 2011 at 10:52 AM
- Nancy said...
That was amazing. You hit the nail right on the head! I never thought about the life of a writer before. And prior to a year ago, I was as happy as they come. Then I decided to write. And while the writing itself brings me great pleasure & joy, I've never felt so unhappy. I am striving for recognition, to have my accomplishment validated by an industry whose very nature seems to be exclusion. But I will strive on because anything else is unacceptable.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:06 AM
- Holly LeCraw said...
I was just rereading "The Last Tycoon" the other night--Monroe Stahr being another striver, a saintly striver. He would have been Fitzgerald's most moving creation I think--such a tragedy that this book was never finished. And amazing that even as a fragment, it is so worth reading.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:10 AM
- Maize said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:10 AM
- Barbara Kloss said...
Great post Nathan. Very insightful and encouraging.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:13 AM
- See Elle Oh said...
I agree that striving is at the core of writing. And I think Lauren brings up a great point that some of it may be striving to control the past (or at least make sense of it, make it "fit"). I think a lot of writing is about striving for understanding and connection, with others, the world at large, and, ultimately ourselves.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:14 AM
- February Grace said...
I don't even know if my daughter would want to risk bringing me home to meet her mother.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:20 AM
Gatsby is on my nightstand.
I've read it more times than I can count.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:20 AM
- lora96 said...
Thank you for this.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:21 AM
- Transparent Mama said...
I used to think I wasn't tortured enough to be a writer. But, I keep writing so I must be.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:37 AM
- Lauren said...
Thanks See Elle Oh for articulating my idea better than I did.
Gretchen- What a lovely nod to Steinbeck. I wonder if this human need to strive is more intense right now, or maybe we're acknowledging it more as innovation keeps hurling us faster and faster into technological progress. Perhaps this has given rise to the dystopia trend in YA lit.
Jenny- Have you seen notes from the recent keynote address at SCBWI by Sara Zarr on this topic? If not, you should google it and check it out. Really cool.
Sheribomb- Do you think I could I get away with wearing your shirt as a teacher at a public high school?
- February 10, 2011 at 11:38 AM
- Joanne Sher said...
LOVE this post. A lot. Absolutely.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:54 AM
- Liana said...
the best parts of your blogs are the disclaimer
- February 10, 2011 at 11:54 AM
- Akila said...
Gretchen, I love that Steinbeck quote. Wonderful!
Nathan, great post and very true. Striving is the great joy of writing.
- February 10, 2011 at 12:02 PM
- v.n.rieker said...
Your post on striving has spurred us strivers to strive harder!
Very uplifting and motivating post. Ha... Lennon started playing in my head after reading it.
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."
- February 10, 2011 at 12:05 PM
- Laura Campbell said...
I'm constantly reaching for more and trying harder. Sure I battle with bouts of doubt and frustration, but thanks to apropos posts like this one, I stay on track and avoid the destructive life of legends. Thanks, Nathan.
- February 10, 2011 at 12:22 PM
- Matthew Rush said...
It's funny. I actually went to the same high school as Fitzgerald, Saint Paul Academy. They talk about him there all the time, as if his ghost still walks the halls, but he was expelled.
- February 10, 2011 at 12:26 PM
- PJ Lincoln said...
Great post, Nathan. Writers are, by nature, a different breed. I think we are more in tune with the world around us than the average Joe. We look about the world and see possibilities, we take two or three totally separate ideas and meld them into a story.
There's a creative spark, a drive in every real writer that's not found in any other form of art.
- February 10, 2011 at 12:33 PM
- D.G. Hudson said...
Isn't that what makes life enjoyable? The fact that we can change our life to some extent to better fit our desired state?
It requires a risk-taker to be the 'bug' and not the 'windshield'. There aren't any guarantees that you'll succeed, but you may find what you're looking for in places you didn't expect.
For some reason unexplained by human nature, writers angst feeds the creative spirit. It may be the emotion that the writer is feeling which is poured into their words. We as readers can feel it even after the writer is gone.
Dreams without foundation scatter to the wind, but dreams based on hard work and striving may just come true.
Great post, Nathan. BTW - did the responses from Wednesday answer your question?
- February 10, 2011 at 12:43 PM
- MZMackay said...
This was a marvelous post, Nathan. Inspiring, and truth-laden. We are all striving to be something better.
- February 10, 2011 at 12:50 PM
- Whirlochre said...
Writing is like reading the best book EVER — only when you pick it up there's no plot, no characters, no words.
- February 10, 2011 at 12:52 PM
- Bryan Russell (Ink) said...
Wonderful post. I really have to reread that book one of these days.
And, of course, keep striving. Which is half the fun, anyway. Easy is boring.
- February 10, 2011 at 1:10 PM
- salima said...
Thanks Nathan! I think romanticizing the link between depression and creativity can be pretty destructive, and I'm glad you draw attention to that. :) Have you ever read "Winter Dreams," one of Fitzgerald's short stories? That and Benjamin Button are my faves, I think.
- February 10, 2011 at 1:29 PM
- Mira said...
Liana - I have to agree. Those disclaimers are pretty funny. :)
- February 10, 2011 at 2:16 PM
- the bow lady said...
I think Fitzgerald strives as much as Franzen examines, and as a writer I desire to do both. However, I feel "Doctor Eckleburg's persistent stare" and wonder if I will ever be good enough.
- February 10, 2011 at 2:50 PM
- TERI REES WANG said...
So, here I am straddling the sea between the twin islands of 'Striving' and 'Surviving'.
Cheers!..to getting there.
- February 10, 2011 at 3:09 PM
- Jennifer Jackson said...
"Writing is an act of getting down on your hands and knees and pushing on the ground and hoping the world spins on a slightly different axis."
Incredible quote!
Teri Rees Wang: I definitely know what you're talking about but at least you're not sinking between the islands.
- February 10, 2011 at 3:17 PM
- Naomi Canale said...
Thank you for this Nathan. Beautifully said. I like how Fitzgerald wouldn't take no for an answer and made sure he worked hard to win his woman. Even though I know I'm better than what I came out of as a child, I too feel the need to prove something on the inside. Adversity can definitely kick the curb!
- February 10, 2011 at 4:28 PM
- Jordan McCollum said...
Thanks for this, Nathan. A great reminder why I love this book (and cannot fathom why people don't, especially if they're reading it outside of a high school lit class).
Although I find it interesting that Gatsby's longing seems to be a negative—because of what he's fixed his sights on: Daisy, who is worthless and empty in the first place. I think all the fictions in the world couldn't have fixed that.
(Wow, this is really sad, but I'm suddenly wishing this is what I did my HUM 262 paper on. Um, eight years ago.)
- February 10, 2011 at 4:57 PM
- MJR said...
very true....and Fitzgerald was always striving to make his writing better. I read an editing book recently that showed early versions of GG and then later drafts...huge difference (and not just because he had a great editor).
- February 10, 2011 at 5:29 PM
- Marilyn Peake said...
That is profound, Nathan. I hear the soul of a writer shining through. And I think there are other fields in which people strive in the same way, reaching into thin air to turn the stuff of dreams into reality: filmmakers, astronauts, all the dreamers and shakers who work hard to push the world forward and bring it to a better place. I found an amazing book (unfortunately, only available in paperback) that describes people who have certain types of personalities that compel them to strive for something bigger than themselves: Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults. Reading this book , it became very clear to me that most driven people aren't emotionally unstable, that drive can be a very healthy and productive quality, and that having a personality with certain types of "overexcitability" can be a very good thing.
I thought about giving up writing the other day, came very close ... Actually, found myself coming to the conclusion, "That's it. I quit." ... and then, suddenly, found myself flooded with ideas for how to proceed with the two novels I've been working on. I then wrote productively on both books for hours last night, into the wee hours of the morning, and I realize I'm not quitting writing after all. Sigh.
- February 10, 2011 at 5:56 PM
I once broke up with a girl because I told her she made me feel like The Great Gatsby. It's the only time I've used a literary reference in a break-up.
- February 10, 2011 at 6:21 PM
- Mr. D said...
I remember reading The Great Gatsby in high school, and saw the movie too. Didn't think much of either one. Of course my mind was mostly on girls back then. Didn't get a lot accomplished, but I got to know a lot of girls.
As I think back on it now, I have to wonder what would have happened if I had been writing books instead. Might I now be an accomplished and celebrated author? Hhmmnn, but at the expense of having known a lot of girls?
Well, that explains the depressed alcoholic.
- February 10, 2011 at 6:23 PM
- Raquel Byrnes said...
I'm so glad I found a profession in which my nit-picking inability to leave things alone actually pays off.
- February 10, 2011 at 6:41 PM
- chriskellywriter said...
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
One of my favorite lines in literature.
And then F. Scott went to Hollywood. And hung out with Hemingway at the Ritz Bar in Paris.
- February 10, 2011 at 6:44 PM
- Kristin Laughtin said...
You've written many beautiful things before, but just fyi, this post shows why you have become a published writer as well.
But I agree. You can't write unless there's some sort of yearning inside you, trying to claw its way out. You have to be reaching for something, even if it's just to form the words. Otherwise, there's no passion nor any devotion.
And that particular line of Fitzgerald's is one of the most gorgeous things he ever wrote.
- February 10, 2011 at 7:06 PM
- Ariel Swan said...
So, I am a high school English teacher and I, just today, showed a bio of Fitzgerald. I have been teaching Fitzgerald since I started teaching. Sure he was a striver - and then is the great theme of all his novels - but so is the realization that it is false - this optimism - this belief in the greatest possibilites. You shrug off the miserably destructive writer archetyles at the beginning of your post, but Fitzgerald was destroyed by his habits. After Gatsby, it all went downhill for him and his wife, so far and so fast that the prior years seem just like the lost dreams of Jay Gatsby or Dexter Green. Overly optimistic, propelled by a bit of luck, and then sunk by the ancient truth that fate + choice + flaw = Tragedy. That is the reality Fitzgerald lived. And no - I don't pitch to my students that way. But as a writer - I can not and will not romanticize Fitzgerald. He was a Modernist and the Moderns are all about Disillusion baby.
- February 10, 2011 at 7:11 PM
- Ashley said...
Great post! I just loved it!
- February 10, 2011 at 8:16 PM
Fitzgerald was a human-type person first, a writer second. He was a striver, also a struggler. He possessed all of the foibles and carried most of the crosses of your average humanoid. Early success and a crazy wife probably not the least of them. What he did differently, though, is write an incredible little book that is so perfectly compressed, as well as so magically beautiful, it can only serve as an inspiration to anyone who wants to write. (It's also written in the most difficult POV - first person interested bystander. Don't think so? Try it.)
Lovely post, Nathan.
- February 10, 2011 at 8:47 PM
- Joanna Aislinn said...
Never thought of it as striving but I like the analogy and do agree with it. Just wish I'd strive a little less in some areas, like trying to keep the house clean in the midst of striving to get that next story together.
Thanks for another POV on this topic :)
Joanna Aislinn
Dream. Believe. Strive. Achieve!
The Wild Rose Press
- February 10, 2011 at 9:26 PM
- Terin Tashi Miller said...
Ah, Mr. Former Agent Man: it's posts like this that kept me hoping someday to impress you with a query.
And now, to find out you work for a company related to Scribners, the publishing house by which I always wanted to be published, specifically because of its glorious history as Charles Scribner's and then Charles Scribner's & Sons under editor Maxwell Perkins of publishing the "new voices" of its time, including Fitzgerald who, unfortunately, had financial aspirations far greater than earnings--am currently reading a bio on him and am stunned to hear after Paradise and before Gatsby, he couldn't possibly live on less than $36,000 a year which at the time was tantamount to something like $360,000, with a purchasing power especially in post-war France far greater...
I harken to a great tradition of striving. I truly believe the writer, as an artist, has to go way out, where no one can help him or her, trying to push the edges of understanding yet be able to come back and convey meaning.
I aim to write novels that will be read and understood and hopefully enjoyed 100 years or more from now.
How's that for striving?
Repeating the words of beloved former agent Ray Puechner to me when I was young and hungry and whined about it taking too long in my personal timeline to be published and lauded as he'd suggested I might: "who ever told you this was going to be easy?"
Heck. If it were easy, everybody'd be doing it, right? :-)
- February 10, 2011 at 10:16 PM
'Tomorrow we will run faster.' So THAT'S where your wife got the slogan for her blog!
I haven't read 'The Great Gatsby' for years, so I perhaps remember the movies more than the book, both the faithful Robert Redford version, and the truncated and less well-known Alan Ladd version.
I love observer/narrators. Nick Carraway is possibly the third most famous observer/narrator, after Dr. Johnson's Boswell and Sherlock Holmes' Watson. My WIP's young protagonist is an observer-narrator of others' adventures, along with his own.
Readers may be interested to know Nathan has started a thread about THE GREAT GATSBY in the ALL THINGS BOOKS section of the Forums.
BTW, Nathan, if you're going to continue in this philosophical vein you lack one important thing, which I have. A beard. Trust me on this this.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:37 PM
- Vanessa K. Eccles said...
Enjoyed the post. Very inspiring and very true. Thanks.
- February 10, 2011 at 11:57 PM
- maine character said...
A couple years ago American Masters did a very good documentary on Fitzgerald, "Winter Dreams," which you can watch on YouTube.
- February 11, 2011 at 1:26 AM
- Anthony J Langford said...
Good article Nathan, however I was hugely disappointed by The Great Gatsby. I think it's one of the most over-rated novels in literature.
Americans seem to love it, because it reveals the falsehoods of the Great American Dream but the rest of us already know that life is disappointing and utopia is but a pipe dream.
Give me Tolstoy or Kerouac or Bukowksi anyday. Therein lies the actual truth.
- February 11, 2011 at 1:50 AM
- Tricia said...
Writing is an act of getting down on your hands and knees and pushing on the ground and hoping the world spins on a slightly different axis. It's the art of not taking life for granted and trying to make something, anything change.
Great quote!
- February 11, 2011 at 3:11 AM
- Kathryn Magendie said...
beautiful post . . .
- February 11, 2011 at 8:34 AM
- Ben said...
It is right that we strive for something and I might add that it's something shapeless, but absolute that carries dreams of a better life.
Sir, you understand the struggle of the writing life very well. Better than I.
- February 11, 2011 at 9:50 AM
Writers are always writing,even if only in the constant barrage of words,phrases and story ideas bombarding their minds,awake or asleep.The ideas never stop.
We are always striving for that one perfect idea,the concept that will get us published and propel us into the A list of authors. Maybe it never happens,but do we give up.A true writer can't not write and will continue to write ,hopefully, better stories in the hopes of catching and agent or a publishers attention.
But until that dream is realized,or even if it doesn't a true writer will continue to write and strive for that one great story.
- February 11, 2011 at 4:01 PM
- Cartoonatic said...
Good point, worth mulling over.
- February 11, 2011 at 4:10 PM
- Jourdan Alexandra said...
AMAZING post Nathan! I just finished rereading The Great Gatsby for class, so it was great to read this post with the novel still fresh in my mind. I love how you quoted the closing lines of the novel in reference to writing... very inspiring! So inspiring that I'm going to get back to work, right now.
- February 11, 2011 at 6:22 PM
- Fred said...
I've stopped commenting on blogs to save my energy for my WIP, over which I'm currently obesessing. But this post was too cool for me not to reply. Bravo. Now I'm off to strive to craft the perfect sentence.
- February 15, 2011 at 3:38 PM
- bendouwsma said...
I came to this post from Five Star Friday and you really nailed how I feel about writing. Beautiful post.
- November 11, 2011 at 1:01 PM
- jane ayres said...
I really loved this post! Very timely - have never read the book but saw the film last night. Beautifully expressed thoughts and after leaving the cinema feeling emotionally "cold" it made me think about the story in a different way. The comparison with writers and striving and the human condition also thought-provoking. Thank you!
- June 5, 2013 at 6:55 AM
- Sarah Hipple said...
You made a great point. And thank you for helping me see this book in this light . . . I dislike it a little less b/c of you today.
(But I still don't really like it. I prefer striving for better while actually seeing the world you really live in.)
- June 6, 2013 at 10:08 PM


text: Marcelo ran through everyone except Kron and looked very impressive. Dean Lister was great as well, nobody thought he would be able to do much in the tournament but ended up winning his weight class. Toquinho though was my pick of the weekend. As soon as he got 50/50 or X guard you knew he was going to rip a leg off. Very entertaining.


text:
CS::Physics::Bullet::iKinematicCallback Struct Reference
A callback to be implemented when you are using kinematic bodies. More...
#include <ivaria/bullet.h>
Inheritance diagram for CS::Physics::Bullet::iKinematicCallback:
Public Member Functions
|virtual void
|GetBodyTransform (::iRigidBody *body, csOrthoTransform &transform) const =0
|Update the new transform of the rigid body.
Detailed Description
A callback to be implemented when you are using kinematic bodies.
If no callback are provided then the dynamic system will use a default one which will update the transform of the body from the position of the attached mesh, body or camera (see iRigidBody::AttachMesh(), iRigidBody::AttachLight(), iRigidBody::AttachCamera()).
Definition at line 719 of file bullet.h.
Member Function Documentation
|virtual void CS::Physics::Bullet::iKinematicCallback::GetBodyTransform
|::iRigidBody *
|csOrthoTransform &
| const
[pure virtual]
Update the new transform of the rigid body.
The documentation for this struct was generated from the following file:
- ivaria/bullet.h
Generated for Crystal Space 2.0 by doxygen 1.6.1


text:
DJ Khaled explains features on Tupac & Biggie track
Listen to DJ Khaled on iHeartRadio
DJ Khaled is taking fans behind the scenes of his latest track, "I Feel Like Pac/I Feel Like Biggie." Khaled released the track - which features Rick Ross, T.I., Meek Mill, Diddy and Swizz Beatz - earlier this week.
He tells MTV News that after Swizz Beatz came up with the song's beat, he laid out his vision of who he wanted to be featured on the track. Khaled explains that he had to be selective when choosing collaborating artists.
Apparently, he chose Rick Ross because he's the "biggest" and "hardest" rapper in hip-hop, adding "that's what Biggie and 'Pac was." Meantime, Khaled says he enlisted T.I. and Meek Mill because they both have gone through tough times growing up.
"I Feel Like Pac/I Feel Like Biggie" will appear on Khaled's upcoming album Suffering From Success, which will arrive on October 22nd.
*Warning: Explicit language


text:
| Spikenard
Essential Oil
(Nardostachys jatamansi)
Pure Essential Oil
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From Ananda Aromatherapy, pure essential oil of Spikenard, steam distilled from the rhizome and roots of wild grown Spikenard from Nepal. This is a beautiful, rich Spikenard oil.*
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Having the distinct advantage of being the only college in the Chicago area to offer this undergraduate degree, graduates of the major in logistics and supply chain management study the distribution, material purchasing, warehousing and production operations. With Chicago's status as a major transportation hub, students have exceptional opportunities to observe closely how supplies move from place to place and what systems are necessary to keep them moving. An undergraduate degree, combined with one of Elmhurst's numerous internship opportunities, allows graduates to transition into a career or to further their studies by entering a graduate program.
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BUS 301 Introduction to Logistics and Supply Chain Management
BUS 302 Supply Chain Management I: Purchasing, Inventory Planning, and Upstream Supply Chain Management
BUS 303 Supply Chain Management II: Manufacturing, Distribution, and Downstream Supply Chain Management
BUS 402 Global Business Process Management
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BUS 350 Cultural Diversity in Organizations
BUS 355 Negotiations: Theory and Practice
BUS 357 Operations Research I
BUS 365 Business Law
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BUS 492 Independent Study (in logistics and supply chain management)
ECO 314 International Economics
GEO 207 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
GEO 311 Regional Study of Europe
GEO 315 Regional Study of United States and Canada
GEO 317 Regional Study of Latin America
GEO 413 Economic Geography
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IS 200 Design and Development of Geodatabases
Minor in Intercultural Studies with a Focus in a Business Area
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Results 1 to 12 of 38
Thread: Time for some more perspective
11-19-2012, 11:34 AM #1Steve Flacco, Apparently
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Time for some more perspective
Wow. Reading this forum after a hard fought road win against our bitterest rival is painful. Nothing is good enough anymore.
No one seems to care that we now have tied the NFL record for consecutive division wins.
No one mentions that our "terrible road team" is now 3-2 on the road. (That .600 road winning percentage by the way is better than or equal to 20 teams' home winning percentage, and better than or equal to 25 teams' road winning percentage.) Boy, if that's terrible I'd hate to see dreadful.
Lost in the desire to moan about the ineptitude of our offense is the fact that we are currently fielding top ten scoring units on both sides of the ball. In doing so we have given up the fewest passing touchdowns in the entire league, while scoring the second most rushing TDs.
Anyone know that we have given up the second fewest turnovers? Or that we've forced the 5th most?
Anyone care that even with his tough road games Flacco is on pace to shatter his previous career high in passing yards, yards per completion, and Net Yards per pass attempt?
Or that Rice went over 1000 yards from scrimmage last night? Or Jacoby hit the 1k all purpose yards mark? Or that we're one of only three teams in the NFL with 2 guys with over 1000 APYs right now.
How about our rookie kicker having the 5th best accuracy among guys with at least 20 kicks? Not to mention no misses from 50+ or within 40. Big leg and Stover-like consistency at short range.
Or special teams are verging on historically good right now. Our Special teams DVOA is ahead of the number 2 team right now by a wider margin than the number 2 team is ahead of the number 6 team.
Oh, and once again, a defense that everyone wanted to write off as soft, rose to the occasion on the road again and absolutely stifled an opponent. We can win shoot outs, we can win slugfests. We can't be beaten at home and believe it or not but we're actually one of the league's winningest teams on the road. We're still in a race for the number 1 overall seed and our competition is looking more and more beatable.
I've never been a believer of Super Bowl or bust. Too many things out of a team's control have to go right to get to the big show. But I've ALWAYS believed that the perennial playoff teams were the cream of the NFL and had the best odds to host the Lombardi at the start of each season. We're one of those teams now. People can try to say we're not. They can belittle our road play (ignoring the reality that it's good enough to be better than nearly 80% of the league's teams when THEY hit the road.) But those people are wrong. This is a CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER TEAM. Be grateful that you have one.
Finally, you want REAL perspective. Want to feel for someone who's sitting on the OTHER side of the NFL's proverbial train tracks? Read this/ and tell me we have it bad.My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron
Re: Time for some more perspective
Good thread!
You're right about the Supebowl, there is a ton of luck involved. Look at the Giants in both years they won. Look at the Packers in 2010. Neither of these were close to being the best teams that year, but they won it all because they got hot at the right time, and had things break their way. Long gone are the days when you knew a team like the 15-1 Niners were unstoppable, or the 85 Bears or the last great Cowboy teams. It's all pretty much a crapshoot now, and the teams that are consistently in the playoffs are the truly elite.
The supposed poor road performances are kinda funny. Statisticians keep pointing out that we are a .500 team on the road over the last few years, and a 1.000 team at home, making it like we suck on the road. Few teams are ever much better than .500 on the road, and we are 3-2 this year.
Re: Time for some more perspective
Honestly TC its hard to come on here and read these topics. We are on the verge of sweeping the best division in football for the second straight year and people still want to complain.
People talk about how hard to it to watch us play and I feel bad for them. Boy it must be fun to be a texans fan and watch chad henne tear your defense apart. Boy it must be fun to be a falcons fan and watch matt ryan throw five pics.
Winning is the most important stat and yet people seem to hate winning unless it fits their perfect vision of what a win should be.
People actually found reason to complain last week.360 tag: Ahhhhhhhhnold
Re: Time for some more perspective
Obviously the ultimate goal is to win the Superbowl, but the reality is 32 teams are trying to get there. All things being equal that's a 3% chance of getting there, or 3 wins per century.
However things are not equal, and some teams win far more often. The Ravens want to be one of those teams.
Like teams that have been in the mix every year the Ravens have built themselves into a team that should contend or win year in and year out. They've been a couple plays from being there each of the last several years. I'm good with that. Eventually it will work out, and each year they will continue to contend.
They just played a very good team that most likely would have won if Ben had played. Our team has several key players out, but it really hasn't slowed them down much. I like that.
And for the record, what we've been witnessing this year has been outrageous: the team looked at itself and said "defense oriented teams are nice but they don't win the Superbowl. We need to become an offensive team." Suggs said as much last night after the game.
So they go out and reinvent themselves while staying competitive! That is incredibly hard. To become something completely new while still staying strong is a hurculean task. And of course, while they do it, will at times be ugly.
Of course at times there has been plenty to worry about. But they are 8-2. They have won squeakers, they have had 2 massive blowouts, and there is no shame in the two losses. Arguably better teams have worse records.
Most Superbowl winners go on a streak starting around now and ride it into the postseason. I was happy to see the Ravens struggle midseason, knowing the timing was perfect to grow out of it in time for the end run. Look at the Giants last year and how they pulled it off.
It's football in a competitive league. The same Raiders they beat like rented mules beat the Steelers earlier this year. There's a whole lot of football to be played in the next 6 weeks.
I'll take my Ravens any day, thank you very much.
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Re: Time for some more perspective
Great post man. People are actually questioning the play call that WON the game. This fanbase makes me sick sometimes. There will be plenty of times to bitch in our future because we will lose our fair share of games in the future, every team does. But we are winning right now. Enjoy the W's. Ask the Steelers if they'd trade their L for an ugly W, like ours. To a man they'd make that trade.
I love the fact that we have a team that can go in and win a slugfest and come back the very next week and win a shootout. Do people know just how rare that is? If your a hardnosed team you can't drop 50 points on an opponent. If your a shootout team, your to soft to withstand being hit in the mouth. The Ravens can and do, do both. That's special man.
Re: Time for some more perspective
I think the Ravens Super Bowl chances are better than that for a number of reasons.
1-Cold weather outdoor city (look at the % of Super Bowls won by teams that fit that desciption over the last 15 seasons)
2- Statistically speaking, they have the biggest home field advantage in the NFL, which translates into more regular season wins and better playoff positioning.
3- The Jags, Chiefs, Browns, Raiders, Bengals, Panthers, etc are so inept and so directionless as a franchise that you really have to essentially exclude them from Super Bowl talk from the get-go.
Regardless, what the Ravens have done is incredibly impressive. By the numbers, a team should make the conference Semis once every four seasons (25%). The Ravens have done it five out six seasons (83%) and seven of the last 12 (58%). When you look at a franchise like Kansas City and they are nearly two decades removed from their last visit to the AFC Semis, it puts the Raven accomplishments in a better light.
The Ravens are an elite franchise right now. There isn't a team in the NFL whose fanbase wouldn't be in ecstacy after winning in Pittsburgh, with or without Roethlisberger. It says something about our success level that beating the Steelers on their turf is now ho hum in the bigger picture of our season.
Re: Time for some more perspective
If you want all unicorns and rainbows, maybe you should find a Justin Bieber forum.
Last edited by moose10101; 11-19-2012 at 12:45 PM.
11-19-2012, 12:44 PM #8Steve Flacco, Apparently
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- Sep 2010
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- Pikesville
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Re: Time for some more perspective
My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron
11-19-2012, 12:49 PM #9Regular 1st Stringer
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- Aug 2011
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Re: Time for some more perspective
How about you let people discuss their favorite sports team, the good and the bad, from THEIR perspectives? That's what these forums are for. If not, I'm sure the Bieber forums are vigorously policed, and may be more to your liking.
BTW, you're the one toting the pailful of "impotent anger". No one else has started a thread complaining about people who disagree with them.
11-19-2012, 12:56 PM #11Steve Flacco, Apparently
- Join Date
- Sep 2010
- Location
- Pikesville
- Posts
- 4,300
Re: Time for some more perspective
My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron
Re: Time for some more perspective
Right, you're not angry.


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This course is for Beginning Year 1 Teachers participating in BTSA programs through the Riverside County Office of Education.
This course allows you to obtain 3 graduate credits for participation in FACT activities related to Year 1 BTSA. For course syllabus or questions, please contact Latasha Porter with RCOE at email@example.com
Please note that transcripts are not automatically sent. Transcripts must be requested by the participant. BTSA grades will be available on the transcript after July 1, 2017.
The BTSA credit registration deadline is May 1, 2017.
CONTRACT CREDITThere are no refunds for contract credit classes.
California State University San Marcos333 S.Twin Oaks Valley Rd.San Marcos, CA 92096-0001Phone: (760) 750-4000
© Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved


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Bookmark this site
CT&W featured the latest and greatest products from over 150 suppliers, 16 free interactive and dynamic education sessions, and two memorable keynote speakers, Ric Rhinehart, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association and Mike Dabadie, president of Heart+Mind Strategies.
Gilland said, "There is no question that this was a blockbuster, record shattering event. We had a 15 percent increase in overall attendance, a 15 percent increase in exhibitors, and an astonishing 36 percent increase in operator companies. And as a result of the excitement, there's no question that next year is sure to be even better."
NAMA's Coffee Tea & Water is the place for leaders in coffee, tea and water to gather to see everything that's new in the industry. The event features new coffee equipment, new brewing supplies and products and education sessions designed to help attendees learn how to brew the best coffee and tea possible. This year's event also included the findings from a 2012 research project funded by NAMA and conducted by Heart+Mind Strategies indicating what consumers want from their coffee, tea and water service in the workplace.
During this year's show more than 100 attendees also participated in the New Orleans Port and the Dupuy green coffee facility tour, including several NAMA board members. Said Pete Tullio, NCE, CCS, chairman-elect, "Like a lot of my colleagues, I recognized how important this event is to my business and to the industry generally. I wouldn't have missed it and I urge my friends in the refreshment industry to make sure that they attend next year."
For more information on the CT&W or coffee research, contact Roger Stewart at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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FLORENCE, S.C. – The Francis Marion University athletic department will hold its fifth-annual Chicken Bog Benefit on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Meals will be sold on the lawn in front of the Smith University Center from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Meals will be prepared by Charles "Punk" Poston.
The cost of each plate will be $6. Free delivery will be offered for orders of 10 or more plates. For tickets, call the athletic department at 843-661-1240 (or 1242) or contact any FMU athletic coach.
All proceeds from the event will go toward assisting FMU student-athletes and the athletic programs at the university.


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Staying Competitive, the Google Ventures Way
Access to the top deals and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley has never been more competitive, according to Google Ventures General Partner David Krane–even for a corporate venture arm with a global brand, a lot of resources to throw at portfolio companies and $300 million per year to invest.
Speaking to an audience of corporate venture investors at a conference in Newport Beach, Calif., Krane talked about how Google Ventures plans to remain competitive and why it's structured differently than many other corporate venture arms.
Some of the things that make it unique, according to Krane, are the speed with which it invests, the number of startups in its portfolio (currently about 200, with 80 new investments per year) and its relationship to its parent Google Inc., which funds Google Ventures without regard to whether its investments will benefit Google.
That wall between the parent company and its venture arm means that if Google acquires a Google Ventures company, which happens occasionally, Google Ventures is not involved and may not know about the deal until after it's over, Krane said.
Investing independently of Google's corporate strategy gives Google Ventures access to far more entrepreneurs (those who are developing technology for Google's rival Facebook, for instance) than it would have otherwise, Krane said. Other than a requirement to invest in U.S.-based disruptive technology companies, "I like to believe we have a wide purview."
Google Ventures' eight investment partners have carried interest in the venture arm's funds–meaning they receive a percentage of investment profits as they would if they worked for an independent venture firm–which gives them a financial incentive to see their deals succeed.
Like Andreessen Horowitz, which started at about the same time, Google Ventures offers a lot of resources to its portfolio companies—free on-staff engineers, designers, marketing people, recruiters (although the recruiters hire technical talent because that's Google's expertise) and access to Google staff as well as a co-working space on the Google campus called Startup Lab that offers classes. (Some of the lab content is public).
To maintain good relationships with other venture capitalists and boost returns, Google Ventures frequently syndicates its investments, Krane said.
The venture arm was tutored initially by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers' John Doerr and Sequoia Capital's Mike Moritz, who were early investors in Google (Doerr is still on the board). Its most frequent investment partners now are Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital, SV Angel, 500 Startups and Andreessen Horowitz, to which it sometimes loses deals.
Most investments are seed investments because that's where the big returns are, Krane said, and that's another challenge for Google Ventures—how to keep investing at the same rate as some of its portfolio companies grow and require follow-on investments, which means more money and sometimes board seats for general partners who are already busy.
Being part of Google, though, Google Ventures evaluates its deal flow with as much data as possible, something that Krane said is still uncommon among venture capitalists, although he expects that to change as more firms hire data scientists in residence.
Google Ventures, he pointed out, has six data scientists on staff.
UPDATE: This post was changed to correct the list of frequent investment partners of Google Ventures. Felicis Ventures is not a frequent partner, the firm says, while Kleiner Perkins is a frequent partner.
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A favorite musical moment for me was when black-vest-white-t-shirt-clad Michelle Shocked joined Ric Hordinski's Saturday night Americana Collaboration for "I've Got Some Good News" and did, what I observed as, the most amazing Jagger impression by any living human (including Mick himself). The other great moment was, for Angie and I (Agents of Future), the [Read More…]
Musical Moments! – Todd Fadel
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text:
In Lakes Entrance, a remarkable collaboration took place between installation artist Catherine Larkins and aboriginal artists Lennie Hayes and Frances Harrison. They produced three cross-cultural art works which explore contemporary and traditional understandings of fire and water.
The permanent camp-FIRE WATER-hole installation and the re-locatable FIRE-place and chimney offer a unique view of the modern-day present and the nation's ancient past. The FIRE-place is part of a greater lounge room setting that includes a kangaroo skin couch, a TV screening Aboriginal campfire footage, a dog and an electric 'briquette fire'. The surfaces are transformed into a stunning canvas of stories from Gunai/Kurnai country about the timeless cycles of fire.
The project launched Friday November 26 at 6.30pm at Gippsland Lakes Community Health, 18-26 Jemmeson St Lakes Entrance.
FIRE-place was displayed in the BMW Edge at Fed Square for the week of the Melbourne installation, beautifully juxtaposed with the modern architecture. See the program here: Lakes Entrance program
Get updates via the Illuminated By Fire RSS
Catherine Larkins is a sculptor and visual designer, arts lecturer and a community cultural development activist. She chooses to work in a specifically regional context addressing issues of cultural and geographical remoteness, racial and socio-economic tension and reconciliation. The work is achieved through major collaborations with communities and specialists in diverse and unexpected fields of expertise.
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2nd December 2010
Arts, Community, Cultural Exchange, Education, Environment, Story Telling
More Images from the Lakes Entrance launch - click 'Read More' below!
1st December 2010
More images from the Lakes Entrance Project Launch - click 'Read More'!
29th November 2010
Pictures from the launch in Lakes Entrance! Click 'Read More' below.
26th November 2010
The crew at Lakes Entrance add some last minute touches before the crowd arrives in Lakes Entrance. Click 'Read More'.
22nd November 2010
Images from the final week of preparation at Lakes Entrance.
20th November 2010
Finishing touches at Lakes Entrance!
19th November 2010
Arts, Cultural Exchange, Education, Environment, Story Telling
Artists Gary Belskyj, Lennie Hayes and Catherine Larkins at the 'Water-hole' in the Lakes Entrance Community Complex.
15th November 2010
Arts, Community, Cultural Exchange, Environment, Story Telling
Click here to download your invite to Illuminated by Fire Lakes Entrance (PDF 843k)
More images courtesy of Catherine Larkins (click 'Read More').
6th November 2010
Images of the briquettes being layed from Catherine Larkins.
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LONG BEACH - The time may be right to talk about climate change.
At least that was the opinion of organizers at a two-day forum hosted by the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
"Surveys show that a huge majority of the American people now believe in global warming," said Tom Bowman, a self-described "science translator" who runs Bowman Global Change, a Signal Hill company that helps organizations create green business plans.
He added that with the economy improving, at least incrementally, the population may be willing to talk about and tackle the large issue.
"I think the economy is improving enough, there's been enough wacky weather, we've had two record heat years, in 2002 we had the wild fires, and there have been intense winter storms at odd times," Bowman said.
Global warming, sea levels rising, droughts, and whether we are facing an El Nino, La Nina or neither weather system this winter were all topics on the table at the two-day forum that concludes today.
The forum, called "Preparing Southern California for Extreme Weather-Related Events: A Pathway to Action," brought together scientists and policy-makers to talk about what climate change will look like and what can be done to prepare.
Among those in attendance, there was the feeling that a time of reckoning is upon us.
And, in the words of Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager for the California Department of Water Resources, there are no simple solutions.
The question that hovers is whether this is an issue with which the public is willing to engage.
Bowman said that when discussing climate change it is important to move beyond "polarizing rhetoric" and simplify the discussion.
That is more easily said than done.
To many people, "climate change equals government," Bowman said.
Where one falls along the spectrum in the belief that government intervention is good or bad can color perception, he said.
As a result, "something as simple as scientific results is imbued with (a bias)," Bowman said.
Coincidentally, the conference took on additional import and resonance as it came on the heels of Hurricane Sandy, although event attendees were much more concerned with West Coast issues such as drought and flooding.
Jerry Schubel, president and CEO of the Aquarium of the Pacific, said the seminar had been planned over the past nine months, long before Sandy made headlines.
However, as Schubel noted, "I think (Sandy) underscores how vulnerable we are along the coast."
Dramatic climactic and natural events may be unavoidable and can't be completely planned for, he said.
"We're asking the question, how can we decrease our vulnerability and increase our resiliency," Schubel said. "If we learned anything from Sandy, that's what we should have learned."
Experts, scientists and policy-makers in a variety of broad areas related to climate change and what it will mean to Southern California discussed everything from wildfires to flooding and how they are all connected.
Also discussed was the maddening task of explaining long-term effects in a world with a short-term mindset and building policies against what many say is an inevitable future.
"There's a built-in challenge, because we're predicting things 50 and 80 years out," said Bowman. "Everyone says we'll be fine until then."
Meanwhile, he noted, decisions made today will build toward future results, and "we have to overcome the tendency to say we'll be fine until that sudden day."
In a world where Kelly Redmond of the Western Regional Climate Center admits that forecasting weather more than two weeks out is incredibly difficult and complex and involves a vast array of variables, it's hard to sell short-term confusion against long-term probability.
As a short-term example, Redmond noted that even predictions of whether there will be an El Nino effect this winter, meaning more rain and higher temperatures, are changing without consensus.
"We've been stuck on whether we'd get an El Nino," Redmond said of the weather condition that occurs when tropical waters heat up.
While there had been a forecast of a small one, he said, "that's vacillating, and by now the effects we see (are) the opposite."
While talking about alarming trends in the rate sea levels are rising, Dan Cayan of the Scripps Institute or Oceanography said "we'll see rising rates that will likely eclipse what we've seen historically."
However, he also noted that sea levels in Southern California have been tranquil since the 1990s. If or when a catastrophic event occurs, it is impossible to know whether it will be spurred by storms or an earthquake.
"That's the wickedness of the problem," Cayan said. "We've known for a long time there will be a profound effect and a cascading of systems."
But since scientists can't pin down exactly what will happen or when, communicating the severity of climate change becomes difficult.
"It's a marathon as well as a sprint," Cayan said.
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text: Read a short introduction about this product category or start shopping!NOTE: NO RETURNS for mounted Custom icons (or laminated prints of Custom icons) are accepted unless the problem is a material or workmanship imperfection from our production. All of these products are produced for a unique order and cannot be restocked.DELIVERY NOTE: CUSTOM ICONS ARE 'MADE TO ORDER.' It can take up to two weeks for production though we can generally produce them sooner. If you have a question about delivery time for a custom icon order - call 1-800-814-2667. (Outside USA 608-375-5500)


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Adhesives and Leather Symposium
September 29, 30 and October 1, 2003
Roger Barlee, J. Hewit & Sons Ltd.
Jane Down, Canadian Conservation Institute
Toby Raphael, National Park Service
Roy Thomson, The Leather Conservation Center
Panel Moderator:
Dianne van der Reyden, Library of Congress
About the Symposium:
The Library of Congress Preservation Directorate in co-sponsorship with the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress presented an Adhesives and Leather Symposium.
The three-day symposium focused on adhesives and leather as used in book and paper conservation. The speakers addressed the latest research in adhesives, recent advances in the theory and practice of leather conservation. Participants engaged in practical exercises, lecture sessions and panel discussions defined in breakout sessions. This meeting was hosted by the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education.
Day One's topic was adhesives and bonding with a brief introduction following by CCI's research on polyvinyl acetate and acrylic adhesives (PVAC), the effects of modifiers on the stability of vinyl acetate/ethylene (VAE) copolymer emulsion adhesive and the parameters for adhesives and backings for skin and leathers. The afternoon was devoted to the practical application with Cellulose Ethers and heat-set backings following by questions and a panel discussion.
Day Two was devoted to leather: its history, the science of turning skin to leather, common causes of deterioration of leather-bound books, and the scientific examination of leather. Current research now underway into archival leathers was discussed in addition to examination of currently available leathers, development of objective physical testing, and identification of common species, lesson learned and insights gained as well as current leather conservation practices. The end of the day was devoted to panel discussion.
Due to space limitations, lectures were open to 65 participants, the practicum was limited to twenty-five participants.


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Kerry Washington is feted at baby shower hosted by Shonda Rhimes
It doesn't get much cuter than a pregnant Kerry Washington, now does it?
While we still don't have a word on the gender of her baby, the pregnant "Scandal" star was toasted at a baby shower held at Shonda Rhimes' home in Hancock Park on Sunday.
About 50 guests — a mix of family and celebrity friends — gifted the actress in the backyard of Shonda's house. In attendance were Jane Fonda and "Scandal" costar Darby Stanchfield.
An eyewitness reports to E! News that the ladies-only shower started around 11 a.m. and guests came with present wrapped in pastel colors including blue, yellow, green and pink — no hints of the baby's gender here! — and that the star was gifted with a load of baby clothes, stuffed plush animals, potted flowers and gift baskets.
The theme was a garden party of sorts, and was held on the back lawn under a tent next to the pool. And insider tells the network that the ladies sipped on lemonade and wine, and guests gave toasts to Kerry and talked about her impending motherhood.
Jane Fonda blogged about the event, and said that her longtime friend looked radiant.
"I hadn't seen Kerry since she was pregnant and as soon as I saw her with her gorgeous belly I starting crying," she wrote. "Then Kerry's mother spoke, giving words of wisdom to Kerry and the rest of us about how to raise a baby to be a happy, fully realized, person. I started crying again (and it wasn't because I wanted to go back and do my own raising of my own kids all over again with more wisdom, though that did press in on me)…it was because her words moved me."
Photo Credit FameFly.net


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DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- A judge is ready to sentence a western Ohio adoptive father for his second conviction on child rape charges.
The 40-year-old man Troy man previously pleaded guilty to a count of child rape and one of complicity to rape. The second charge involved allegedly arranging with a Dayton man to rape one of his adopted sons, who was 10 years old at the time. That man pleaded guilty to child rape counts earlier this month and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Katherine Huffman will likely sentence the Troy man to 50 years to life Tuesday if she agrees that he has fulfilled terms of a plea agreement. He has already been sentenced in Miami County to 60 years to life.