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Judging by the price, this Dessert Gallery should be perceived as being on the same product quality tier as the Continental Selection. When it came to the product presentation, packaging and chocolate craft, I thought this was consistent, and I liked the aesthetic design work of both the box and chocolates, which looked suitably more premium than some of the lower priced Thorntons products featured earlier in the year on the site. The selection came described as 'a collection of dessert inspired chocolates' and 'an assortment of milk, dark & white chocolates'. All eight pieces were portioned twice within the 215.0g box and were easily identifiable through the classy menu featured in the box.
Almond Torte - On the menu this was a chocolate that promised 'shortcake pieces with in it's praline centre' though both proved to be MIA from what I tasted. Despite over promising on it's contents, the milk chocolate cream centre was still tasty, and the wholenut almond topping at least brought the nut element to the taste. It over promised, but it was still a fair tasting chocolate. Standard.
Creme Brulee - Due to their being four of us taste testing, and only two chocolates of each flavour, there were a few arguments as to who got to taste this one as it was universally regarded as the most appealing on the menu. Taste wise I personally thought it was a little disappointing as the wealth of Demera sugar placed on top was portioned too greatly and subsequently dominated the cream based flavours of the centre. Texturally it was spot on, but the flavours were unbalanced. Standard.
Lemon Meringue - Easily the best chocolate in the box. This one not only looked stunning visually, but it backed it up when it came to the taste, with the sweetness of the white chocolate beautifully contrasted by the cream and tart, sour lemon centre. Texture wise the crunchy meringue and thin biscuit layers created the dessert experience wonderfully. I could eat a whole lot of these. Superb.
Tiramisu - This was another piece that over promised and under delivered. Promising 'lashings of brandy, mascarpone, coffee and Italian amarretti', what I actually tasted would be what I would describe as milk chocolate with a very musty, light hint of coffee. This was one of the chocolates I was most looking forward to trying, but it woefully let me down. Poor.
Toffee Mousse - Being an avid toffee lover this was quickly snapped up my by father who subsequently demanded I give it a good rating. His evaluation of it was that whilst the outer dark chocolate could have been thicker, the toffee element was integrated very well with both the crunchy toffee pieces and liquid toffee centre providing a solid buttery caramel taste. I wish I had got one! Very Good.
Kirsch Torte - I don't know if it was just the colour but my mother and sister were both drawn to this chocolate so we will going by their judgement here. Although not quite as enjoyed by sister due to it's sweetness, my mother thought the layers of brittle marzipan and cherry sugar complimented the sour, boozie flavours of the Kirsch filling very well and gave it a big thumbs up. Both commented the chocolate should have been thicker - this was a common thing mentioned about all the 'cup' chocolates. Good.
Summer Fruit Pudding - Not only was this chocolate visually imposing, but it actually tasted nice to :D The red jelly topping was by all means superb as a unique mouth feel experience, though it was soft fruity filling below that delivered the delightful real tasting raspberry flavour burst taste wise. This had the look of 'gimmick' written all over it, but it was sensational chocolate. Superb.
Double Chocolate Pot - From the great to the downright average. If any chocolate in any selection could ever be accused as being a 'filler' offering this has to be it. Whilst the chocolate in my photograph above would go a long way to suggest this piece would of had dark and milk chocolate influences, the taste proved to be totally non-progressive, and it lacked any of the clever textural elements of many of the other chocolates in the box. Sometimes you get those chocolates that you wish manufactures hadn't bothered including - this was one of them. This wasn't an offensive piece, but it was an unnecessary one. Standard.
Overall this Dessert Gallery selection delivered a largely consistent sort of experience than the Continental box in that it was a mixture of both high and low quality. As you will have determined from the ratings awarded above, it was surprisingly the fruit flavoured desserts that came off best, with both the Lemon Meringue and Summer Fruit Pudding living up to stunning aesthetic appeal with their stunning real tasting fruity experiences. Unfortunately like most Thorntons selections (I'm not saying they are alone in their guilt of this!!), the Dessert Gallery also featured some pretty drab offerings, most notably the Double Chocolate Pot and Tiramisu pieces which were almost mirror images of each other flavour wise. If you were to push me towards suggesting either the Continental selection or this Dessert Gallery over one or another, I would edge towards the Continental selection as there were just one or two more chocolates in that selection that were to my liking. Having tried a fair deal of these Thorntons selections now it would appear that they can't compete with the likes of Hotel Chocolat consistently on quality, but price comparator wise, at roughly half the cost they are worth considering.
7.8 out of 10


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The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is a rugged, wild and remote corner of Yosemite National Park. I completed this point-to-point adventure in 2010 and couldn't wait to return this year. In 2010, we did the trip in July, but due to the unusually dry winter season resulting in meager snowpack, the trail was snow-free and we found similar water volume this year in late May as we did in mid-July 2010. Due to the fact that White Wolf campground and lodge were not opened yet, we decided to leave the car at Lukens Lake which added a few extra miles to the trip, bonus over the standard 50k distance (~33 miles total). Complete photo album here.
The first part of the route is gorgeous with great views of the Echo Range and the domes of the Tuolumne Meadows as the Tuolumne River graciously meanders through the grassland and forest. The river quickly transitions to rapids and waterfalls and once in the canyon the views are simply spectacular with granite and water everywhere. There are numerous major waterfalls with the highlight in my opinion being Waterwheel Falls.
What I forgot from 2010 is the arduousness of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. First, while it is mostly downhill from the Tuolumne Meadows into Pate Valley 21 miles downstream, it's impossible to really open up the stride for any significant length due to the rugged, rocky and technical nature of the trail. Moreover, deep inside the canyon the trail becomes faint and difficult to follow at times due to its remote location with blow downs and other obstacles. Finally, and this is the real kicker, once at the bottom of Pate Valley one must ascend 4,000+ ft from the canyon floor all the way up to the rim at White Wolf/Lukens Lake. While this is a point-to-point, the net elevation loss from Tuolumne to Lukens Lake is only a couple hundred feet. The big climb is due to the fact that there is no trail outlet from the bottom of the canyon with the river flowing into the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Thus, the only option is the grueling climb at the end of the day. Fortunately, the weather on this trip was cool which helped immensely, but this climb can be hot, exposed and buggy on a typical summer day, especially the lower portion.
Complete photo album here.


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Dear Shacknews community,
As the clock reached midnight on New Year's Eve, we decided--like many of you may have--to make some resolutions for 2014. As unoriginal as this may sound, we decided that we wanted to get in shape and lose weight. And no, I'm not talking about our staff. (We all have beautiful, chiseled abs. Calendar coming soon.) I'm talking about the website as a whole.
When I controversially said "happy holidays" at the end of the year, I teased that big things were coming to Shacknews in 2014. While I can't reveal our plans quite yet, today marks the first step in our plan to shake things up. We're shutting down FileShack, effective immediately.
Some of you will say "what's FileShack?" Others will cry foul, reminiscing about fond memories of Times Gone By. But, a service like FileShack isn't really necessary in today's day and age. Steam and its ilk have automated game updates, rendering patch download services largely unnecessary. And truth be told, we didn't offer a competitive product with FileShack. There are better places to grab mods, better places to shack files.
By shutting down FileShack, we'll become a much more nimble site, being able to focus on the things that really matter: Chatty and editorial. As our close friend Jillian Michaels would say after berating us and making us cry, "you know when transformation happens? Right now."


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Heat exhaustion starts slowly, but if it's not quickly treated it can progress to heatstroke. In heatstroke, a person's temperature reaches 105°F (40.5°C) or higher. Heatstroke requires immediate emergency medical care and can be fatal.
If your child has symptoms of heatstroke, seek emergency medical care immediately. In cases of heat exhaustion or while awaiting help for a child with possible heatstroke:
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date Reviewed: 14-04-2014


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posted by tenacious phenmonkey at 2:23 PM
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i've been into photography for a while now. yesh, that sounds cliché. i'm self taught...i don't have the true "expertise" and my shots may not be "professional" enough for some, but i do enjoi the process from shooting to editing to final image. my skills are improving, i believe. i now look at things with a different perspective: a camera angle...
View my complete profile


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|Janet Basham Meines
1929 - 1997
|Janet Louise Basham 1947
scanned from William Fleming HS yearbook
The Colonel
available on Ancestry.com
As many yearbook staffs tend to do, quotes were selected for each senior. Next to Janet's photo was this gem: "Thou shalt not wash dishes." In the Class Last Will & Testament, Janet left her bubblegum to another student, Jack Baldwin.
Sometime between graduation and marriage, Janet joined the Navy as a WAVE and became a nurse, specifically Hospitalman 3rd class.
That is probably where she met her husband, Clarence "Clix" Meines.
Following the ceremony, a reception was held at the WAVEs' quarters, US Naval Hospital.


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Collections Vice President
|The Photographic Society of America (PSA) has a collection of more than 4000 vintage and contemporary photographic prints which have been given to the Society since the mid-1940s. A History of the PSA Print Collection is described in an article that was written for PSA's 75th anniversary. These prints are being archived, cataloged, documented, appraised, logged into a database, professionally scanned, and preserved in appropriate storage.
Model Release for Portraits Required
The entrant to this PSA activity must upload a signed Model Release with his/her entry for every portrait image, including all the recognizable likenesses of a human face, which were not taken in a public location. The entrant and model agree to hold PSA harmless against all claims and liabilities arising out of PSA's publication, display, or other use of any portrait image submitted to PSA. Award images will be posted on the PSAweb site and selected images may be published in the PSA Journal/Division Newsletters.
For those who do not have a Model Release, a sample Model Release Form is linked here.
The agreement between the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) and PSA anticipates (1) using the images in exhibitions at a network of museums and institutions around the world; (2) creation of educational materials including publications on photographic art, drawing upon the gallery's experience in producing publications on art and its association with publishers and distributors world-wide; and (3) licensing images to appropriate stock image companies for reproduction to a variety of clients internationally over the Internet. All of these uses will be in fulfillment of PSA's educational mission and are expected to generate revenue for the society.
See Projected Image Collections for a description of PSA's new committee
There will be additions to the collection in the coming years. This may include not only prints, but slides, digital images, and books. The images in PSA's collections which are provided to the gallery and other collected images which will not be managed by the gallery, are planned to be used in ways which will serve PSA members and promote photography generally.
Historic Prints of the PSA Print Collection, in My PSA (members only section - requires login), describes the history behind some of the prints in the collection.


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« Back to people
Jae In LeeAlumni, Class of 2006
Jae In is from Korea but has lived in Canada for 14 years. She wants to develop her skills and techniques in programming, video arts and 3D design. She has worked as a graphic designer for advertising in print, web, and Flash, broadcasting and animation in Toronto, Bermuda and Korea, and now wants to explore different mediums.


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Dell Inc.'s special committee of the board is considering delaying the July 18 shareholder vote on the buyout by founder Michael Dell, seeking a higher bid or time to win support for the $24.4 billion deal, said a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
The committee is exploring a postponement of about a week, said the person, who asked not to be named because the process is private. The group is likely to make a decision by the morning of July 18 if the votes already cast against the buyout are enough to scuttle it, the person said. The June 3 record date, by which one had to invest to be entitled to vote, won't change, said the person.
Adjourning the vote would give buyers Dell and Silver Lake Management LLC time to boost the bid or declare the current offer of $13.65 a share as best and final, said the person. It would also give shareholders, who can recast their votes up until the last minute, a chance to change their minds, according to the person.
"If they've talked to enough shareholders and they're not confident that the deal would pass, they could potentially sweeten the deal from $13.65, but they would need time to make that decision," said Jeff Fidacaro, an analyst at Monness Crespi Hardt & Co. in New York.
The move also would prolong Dell's struggle for control against billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has pushed for months for the founder to raise his bid. BlackRock Inc., which has a 4.4 percent stake in the third-largest personal-computer maker, voted against the buyout, according to the person.
T. Rowe Price Group Inc., which holds 4.1 percent, reiterated its opposition yesterday, saying the buyout doesn't "reflect the value ofDell." To succeed, the buyout needs to win approval from a majority of holders excluding Michael Dell, who has about a 16 percent stake.
David Frink, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, declined to comment. A representative for BlackRock didn't reply to a request for comment. Dell shares fell 1.2 percent to $13 at 12:12 p.m. in New York.
Icahn, now Dell's top outside holder with an 8.7 percent stake, has made at least four attempts to derail the buyout. In his latest effort last week, he pledged to sweeten his offer to acquire about 1.1 billion Dell shares at $14 each by adding warrants that investors could exchange for additional shares. The latest proposal's value to shareholders would be about $15.50 to $18 a share, Icahn said last week.
Icahn previously said he was preparing to exercise appraisal rights in court, and urged fellow shareholders to do the same. Dell holders who don't vote in favor of the deal would be eligible to exercise those rights under the General Corporation Law of Delaware. They would be entitled to receive a cash payment equaling the "judicially determined" fair value of their Dell shares, a process that could leave them with more or less than the $13.65 offer price.
Michael Dell is attempting to take his company private, almost three decades after he founded it, to help transform the PC maker into a contender in tablets and cloud computing. His proposal won key endorsements last week from Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and other influential proxy advisory firms, and it also has the backing of the special committee of Dell's board that's evaluating potential transactions on the company's behalf.
Dell may need years to effect a turnaround if the Michael Dell-Silver Lake and Icahn deals don't come to fruition, and the stock could fall to below $9, said Jayson Noland, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in San Francisco.
"There's substantial downside if these deals were to go away," Noland said. "The stock could go to 8-something or even lower. The PC market is bad and Dell is heavily exposed -- same story."
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Almost all cellphones are equipped with a camera. Although this feature provides many positive possibilities, it can also be used inappropriately. For example, sexting–or sending sexually explicit images through text. Twenty percent of teens admit to taking revealing pictures or videos of themselves and sending them to their boyfriends, girlfriends, and/or peers 1. No parent wants their child involved in this kind of activity. But, children can use the cell phone in safe, positive and constructive ways if parents keep current, keep communicating, and keep checking.
Everything a person posts online contributes to an online reputation, which is both public and permanent. Nothing is private on the Internet. As children begin to explore and express themselves on social networks, blogs, and other platforms, parents should emphasize that clicking "send" means losing ownership and control over an image. Children should understand there is always a possibility of photos being publicized to people other than the intended recipient.
In addition, sending sexually explicit or suggestive images can be criminal. Unless laws are reformed, both the sender and receiver may be prosecuted for distributing child pornography, possessing child pornography, or contributing to the delinquency of a minor for inappropriate "sexts."
In an age appropriate manner, have open discussions with children regarding sexting: ask if they've ever received sexually explicit or suggestive photos, or if it's happened to their friends. Together, decide upon set limits of cell phone usage and establish clear expectations and guidelines for texting and posting pictures.
Explain the negative consequences children will face at school, with the law, and throughout their future if they engage in sexting. Explain how the effects of sexting are long term. For example, the images may end up on Facebook, or become publicly accessible and continually resurface throughout a child's life.
Specifically discuss the legal risks-there are already many instances of teens who have been suspended by schools, or prosecuted by the law for forwarding nude pictures or videos.
Let children know you will be regularly checking sent/received texts and stored pictures. Pay attention to whether or not your child is using his or her cellphone late at night-consider having a "cellphone curfew" which establishes a specific time when cellphone usage is off limits.
Be friends with your child on the social networks they use. Regularly check the photos posted and tagged. Google your child's name periodically to see if photos have been posted on other platforms.
1 ABC News (Producer). (2009, March 13). The Consequences of Sexting [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/consequences-sexting-7080436
2 Decker, Daye. ProNews 7. ( 2010, November 11). Sexting: Should Child Pornography Laws Apply? Retrieved from http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=537850


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Most of us can claim at least one relative or ancestor who has served in the military. Military records provide valuable information on the servicemen and women and often their families too. - read more
Military records can provide birth and death dates, names and addresses of family members, and details of the individuals service. Search through a wide range of military records as well as military histories to learn more about your ancestor and the political climate during their service. We provide searchable databases from all over the North America and the world.
Can't find a collection you are looking for? Try using our Card Catalog to find a collection in Mississippi Military .
Search most popular collections for Mississippi Military databases:
Revolutionary War Pension Records(11,746,958 names)
Service Records of Confederate Soldiers(11,793,114 names)
Revolutionary War Service Records(291,806 names)
World War II Army Enlistment(8,866,786 names)
United States, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946(9,039,379 names)
Click here to view more Mississippi resources.


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Enlarge / Alternate Images
Anesi Parafango KitThe Anesi Parafango Treatment Kit is a comprehensive spa treatment for inch loss, skin conditioning, and cellulite reduction. It is designed to be customized for the unique needs of each client. Customization allows you to optimize the treatment for maximum results. Parafango combines mineral-rich sea mud and paraffin in a powerful restorative body mask that has a geothermal effect. This effect increases the body temperature which then stimulates circulation and lymphatic drainage thus helping the body release toxins and unwanted fat stores from the tissue.Contents:


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What's that old saying about the shoemaker's kids? They go barefoot? Something like that. Yeah, it's been something like that for me. A few months ago my former publisher reverted rights back to me for six of my books. I've been so busy doing projects for others, my personal projects kept being pushed onto the back burner.
To make it extra fun, all these books were written prior to 1995. I was able to recover two off disks. One I had as a relatively clean manuscript (as an experiment I ran the pages through my home scanner–take it from me, unless you have buns of steel to tolerate the hours you'll spend in your chair, this is not the most fun method of file recovery). The others had to be scanned from the actual books. After all that scanning, they still have to be run through an OCR program and cleaned up.
I started with the easiest projects (ha ha), the two files I had on disk. They were final drafts, and required editing. With much help from Julia Barrett and Marina Bridges we managed to eliminate most of my writing quirks, beef up some weak plot points, and even trimmed it quite a bit. I hired the talented Jayne Smith to design the covers.
It's a risk not putting people on the covers of romance novels, but I love the look and I'm willing to risk it. I also made sure to put "romantic suspense" on the cover so I could include it in the title to nudge the search engines a bit.
Need I say, I had fun with formatting.
Small caps!
I recently read a Ben Aaronovitch novel, Whispers Underground. Kudos to publisher, Del Rey, for releasing a very good ebook edition. They care and this reader appreciates it. At the beginnings of chapters they used small caps. It's a small touch, but it looks classy.
That's a screen shot from my Kindle keyboard. Notice the first line. There are many, many ways to start a chapter with a touch to offset the text. The simplest is to not indent the paragraph. Then there are drop caps, bolding, italicizing, or graphics to give it an "illuminated" look. I happen to like small caps.
The Kindle doesn't actually support small caps. If you're using html and use the font-variant, nothing happens. What I did was create a span class with small-caps as the variant, but then set the font-size at 80% (I'll change that for EPUB, which I believe does support small-caps). I left the first letter on the line at normal size and reduced the size of the next few words which I had capitalized. I used a span class as opposed to a paragraph style in the hopes that I wouldn't trigger the Amazon bug that shrinks the font in older Kindles. I had a friend test the book on his older Kindle, and no teeny tiny font. Yay, team!
The code for this particular sample looked like this:
What that did was make a paragraph with no ident, left the first letter normal sized and reduced the size of the next three words.
I also did something that opened a discussion with a friend. I placed the tables of contents in the backs of the books. He thinks they should go in the front of the book. I think that's true in non-fiction where readers peruse the toc for information about what the book contains. In fiction it's merely a navigation guide since in most cases it's just a list of Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc. Also, if a novel has a large number of chapters then the potential buyer who downloads a sample could end up with pages of toc and very little story to sample.
So what do you all think? Table of contents in the front or in the back?
If you want to check out my latest formatting masterpiece the books are up on Amazon right now. (I'll be uploading them to other places soon, but first I have some other jobs to do–you know, shoes…)
The Mirror Images series, Dark Reflections and Light Embraced are available on Amazon.


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Media reactions
You can filter the media reactions by subject and/or by date.
Oxfam's reaction to London Conference on Afghanistan
At the conclusion of the December 4 London conference on Afghanistan, co-hosted by the UK and Afghanistan governments, Oxfam calls for sustained support for Afghanistan development and security.
Oxfam reaction to release of UN Secretary-General Post-2015 Synthesis Report
On the newly published UN Synthesis Report on the post-2015 framework, which sets the global development agenda for the next 15 years: Oxfam is disappointed that the UN has not made far stronger proposals to address extreme economic inequality and climate change in its new report.
Oxfam reacts to UNFCCC climate finance estimates
The UNFCCC report on climate finance says that between $340 and $650 billion in finance for climate action is flowing globally with $40-175 billion going to developing countries each year. This report on climate finance makes one thing abundantly clear: only a small proportion of climate finance is flowing from developed countries to developing countries.
Oxfam response to the WMO announcement that 2014 could be the hottest year on record
In response to the news released this morning from the World Meteor
Oxfam's reaction on WFP food cuts for Syrian refugees
In response to WFP food cuts for Syrian refugees, Andy Baker who heads up Oxfam's response to the Syria crisis said: "Millions of Syrians have left their country to flee war, death and destruction. It is unthinkable to leave them hungry. Rich countries must step up and support the World Food Program."
Oxfam reaction to resignation announcement of UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos
Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima said:
Oxfam reaction to UN assessment that deadline to bring the Ebola outbreak under control by December 1st will not be met
A clear and public plan of action from the UN and governments is needed to respond to the changing nature of the outbreak. This will enable the humanitarian community to effectively marshall its resources to overcome Ebola
World Bank vision for a New Climate Normal - Oxfam Reaction
The World Bank's 'Turn Down the Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal' report delivers a troubling new assessment of the impact climate change is having on food security, water resources and ecosystems. It warns that without action heat waves and other weather extremes that occur once every hundred years, if ever, would become the new climate normal putting millions of people at risk.
Oxfam reaction to Obama administration planned $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund at the G20
Multiple reports this morning indicate that the Obama administration plans to announce a $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund at the G20 in Australia this weekend.
Oxfam reaction to promising US/China climate agreement
In response to the announcement from US President Barac


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AGRM Statement of Faith
The AGRM bylaws state that subscription and adherence to the following statement of faith is a prerequisite for membership.
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, ultimately authoritative Word of God.
- We believe there is one God, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is Deity, that He was born of a virgin, that we are redeemed by His atoning death through His shed blood, that He bodily resurrected and ascended into heaven, and that He will come again in power and great glory.
- We believe that individuals are saved through a direct, personal encounter with the risen Lord, at which time they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whom Christ indwells each believer, enabling him or her to live a godly life of obedience as he or she reaches for maturity.
- We believe the Holy Spirit unites all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and that together they form one body, the church.
AGRM Code of Ethics
While AGRM is not a regulatory enforcement agency, it desires that its members conduct their affairs in manners that are safe, lawful, and God-honoring. In that regard, AGRM asks its members to abide by the standards below.
- We agree to treat every individual who comes to us for assistance with the utmost dignity and respect.
- We agree to exercise the highest level of integrity in all of our fund-raising and financial management practices.
- We agree to adhere to principles of organizational and board governance that will promote realistic accountability to those in authority.
- We agree to create and maintain a clean, safe, and courteous environment for clients and staff.
- We agree to adhere to all local, state/provincial, and federal codes and laws that apply to our organization.
- We agree to show respect toward (and collaborate with when appropriate) other organizations in our area that seek to assist the hungry, homeless, abused, and addicted.
- We agree to follow scriptural guidelines when resolving conflicts.
Note: AGRM offers a certification program to help member missions eliminate deficiencies and attain the highest level of competence and accountability. Click here for more information about the AGRM Certification Program.


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Maria Ryan: Throwing more onto Medicaid would be a mistake for NHBY MARIA RYAN
October 13. 2013 8:51PM
Most people would agree that providing health insurance coverage to more Granite Staters is a worthwhile goal, the benefits of which we all would share. Given that medical costs play a major factor in financial hardships for families, this is an area where we can and must do better.
New Hampshire is ranked the third healthiest state to live in and is ranked eighth for the percentage of people without insurance (11 percent). Considering our relative wealth as the state with the lowest poverty rate in the country, increasing access to health care for those most in need should be an achievable goal.
One option is to increase the number of people eligible for the existing Medicaid program. We must be cautious in pursuing this option, however. Hard-working families who are Medicaid eligible today may become disqualified if they earn higher incomes due to income limits, creating a disincentive to work. Before adding more people, we need to make reforms so we all have collective ownership in the cost of health care and encourage families to get out of poverty.
While supporters of Medicaid expansion often like to gloss over any cost concerns, these are not insignificant. In the midst of a government shutdown and with a federal deficit approaching $17 trillion, New Hampshire cannot and should not depend upon federal funding promises. Medicaid is the state's largest expense today and is a constant funding challenge. Any reduction of the promised 90 percent federal funding levels would likely require an income tax or other broad-based taxes. Can we really afford to trust the federal government when the stakes for our state are so high and other options are available?
Gov. Maggie Hassan attempted to expand Medicaid earlier in the year, but Senate Republicans wisely urged more review through a study commission. Now that study commission is considering Medicaid expansion and is on the brink of making its recommendations, which are scheduled for tomorrow.
Commission members looked at the possibility of moving those who would be eligible for Medicaid onto the health care exchange where private insurance is sold. Insurance Department officials were quick to say that move would not be allowable due to a lack of choice. How is it permissible that hard-working families earning more than 100 percent of the federal poverty level ($23,550 per year for a family of four) and looking to purchase health insurance through exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act will have fewer choices than those who qualify for Medicaid?
Taxpayers paying for their own health insurance should not have fewer choices than those receiving a government-funded benefit. This is not acceptable, and we can do better. New Hampshire should pursue a waiver from the federal government to allow such an option.
New Hampshire should consider ways that help everyone have ownership of the cost of care, their health, and that ultimately help foster healthy and cost-conscious choices. Co-pays and deductibles are just one way to do this, but wellness programs and work requirements are all options that can help foster personal responsibility while also curbing health care costs and improving health.
President Obama famously said that if Americans liked their doctor they would be able to keep him or her. Yet prior to the go-live date for exchanges and amid several delays, Granite Staters were already being denied their doctor in some instances and are facing fewer choices in health care. This includes the exclusion of Cottage Hospital from the Anthem provider network — the only insurance carrier now available to Granite Staters on the exchange. This means that individuals in rural areas who already face transportation barriers will have a hard time finding care in their network. The explanation for the network reduction was to help curb 40 percent increases in health care premiums as a result of Obamacare.
Given the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act, can we really have confidence in expanding an already existing government program? Proponents of Medicaid expansion want to sign up immediately based on the false promise of free federal dollars. Rather than running towards acceptance, New Hampshire should continue to cautiously review ways of providing greater access to health care in a way that makes the most sense.
We can do so in a way that's innovative and will more than likely come from reforming, not expanding, an existing government-run health care program. We can and should develop a New Hampshire solution, not a one-size-fits-all Washington solution. That's the right choice for patients, hospitals and taxpayers.
Maria Ryan is CEO of Cottage Hospital in Woodsville.


text:
Killing daisies refers to having to take a piss while in the backyard at a house party. You're at a house party, in the backyard and the seal needs to be broken. You see the line for the bathroom is long so you find the closest unoccupied space of wall and break the seal.
"Dood! What are you doing?"
"No worries bro, just killing daisies."
"No worries bro, just killing daisies."
by j mingo May 04, 2007
buy the domain for your foodie blog


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Four years ago, when the nation's first African-American president was inaugurated, even conservative editorial cartoonists marked the moment with reverence.
As Scott Stantis, now of the Chicago Tribune, tells All Things Considered host Audie Cornish: "There are times in our history where we can just take half a step back from our partisanship and revel in the history and wonder of something."
Stantis' left-leaning peer, Matt Wuerker of Politico, concurs. "It was a very epic moment. I think that everybody was really suddenly embracing this moment of idealism."
But, says Wuerker: "Four years later, so much of that is gone."
President Obama would not be the first president to suffer a diminishment of his cartoon image over eight years in office. Jimmy Carter, says Stantis, "was diminished to about — he was standing about 3 1/2 feet tall. You had Bill Clinton, who just became this big, doughy, sensualist character." George W. Bush, he adds, "devolved into a demonic Keebler elf."
So what's happened to Obama's image?
Cartoonists were careful at first in their depictions of the president, fearful of racial sensitivities, Wuerker explains. But "Obama is now just another goofy guy that we get to have fun with and play with his big smile and make his ears bigger."
So what to do for Obama's second inaugural?
"I'm still flummoxed," says Wuerker, who won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his work. "What was extraordinary four years ago is ordinary."
This weekend and Monday, when the president is inaugurated again, editorial cartoonists will be sketching and scribbling, trying to decide what story to tell and what symbolism to use, as a president besieged by critics on both sides begins his second four years in the White House.
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
And I'm Audie Cornish.
Four years ago, a group of people known for being irreverent created some unusually reverent drawings. Editorial cartoonists, the jokes and critiques on hold as they mark the inauguration of the first African-American president. Now, four years later, those same cartoonists are figuring out how to depict Barack Obama's second inauguration. And we asked two of them to join us. Matt Wuerker is editorial cartoonist for Politico, and he's the 2012 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. Matt, welcome.
MATT WUERKER: Hi.
CORNISH: And Scott Stantis comes to us from the president's adopted hometown, Chicago, where he is editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune. Hi there, Scott.
SCOTT STANTIS: Hey. Thanks for having me.
CORNISH: So to start, I'm going to ask you both to describe your drawings from four years ago. And, Scott, starting with you, you described yourself as a conservative, not exactly an Obama supporter, but you did draw a cartoon - I have the image here - that is honoring the moment. Describe it to me.
STANTIS: Well, I think there are times in our history where we can just take half a step back from our partisanship and revel in the history and the wonder of something. And this was a cartoon - I actually drawn for USA Today. And it's Uncle Sam looking at a big screen TV, and there is President Obama being sworn in, and Uncle Sam is simply saying wow.
CORNISH: And he has his hat off, and the drawing is still pretty, you know, it's still kind of a caricature image of President Obama.
STANTIS: Yeah. That...
CORNISH: The ears are very prominent.
STANTIS: That's as close as I can come to reverence. I'm sorry. It comes with the territory.
CORNISH: And, Matt, for you, you drew something that is sort of, in a way, depicting the inaugural scene outside the Capitol.
WUERKER: Yes. It's the swearing-in, and it was, again, sort of, you know, it was a very epic moment. I think it's interesting how quickly we moved on from it. But I depicted the swearing-in, and Obama is standing there on the platform and is a cutaway, and you can see inside the platform. And he's literally standing on the shoulders of MLK, the civil rights workers, Abraham Lincoln, abolitionists and all of the people who sort of led to that historic moment.
CORNISH: Though as you kind of look back on your art from that period, what most strikes you about the evolution of the Obama image because his image was such a big part of the pop culture feeling around him? I mean, Matt, what's different this time around?
WUERKER: Oh, boy, it's so entirely different. I mean, four years ago, I think the country was sort of stunned. We are coming out, frankly, from eight years of Bush-Cheney. You know, we forget. The economy was cratering. It was a moment where I think that everybody was really suddenly embracing this moment of idealism. And I think four years later, so much of that is gone for different reasons. And there's just this drumbeat of hysteria, and I think that politically it boxes Obama in, in a way.
CORNISH: But at the same time, if you look at this - and I don't know. Scott, if you want to jump in here, you know...
STANTIS: Sure.
CORNISH: ...the Obama campaign courted this. You know, there was Obama kind of iconography.
WUERKER: Oh, yeah.
CORNISH: There's lots of images and the art of Obama and the pop stars and...
STANTIS: Well, the first...
CORNISH: ...there was a lot of...
STANTIS: He has a logo.
CORNISH: Right. Exactly.
STANTIS: He has a logo, a registered trademark. What I find interesting, as a cartoonist, is the evolution or lack thereof of his images over the last four years. I mean, you look at four years of, well, Jimmy Carter would be one example, where he, you know, was diminished to about - he was standing like three and a half feet tall. You had Bill Clinton who just became this big, doughy, sort of, you know, sensualist kind of character. You had, you know Richard Nixon, of course. And you had George W. Bush devolved into, like, a demonic Keebler elf.
STANTIS: This caricature has not - what's interesting to me looking at my work, looking at Matt's work and looking at work of other cartoonists over the last four years, the caricature - and, Matt, tell me if you disagree with me - I don't think the caricature has changed dramatically from four years ago, has it?
WUERKER: I think it's changed a little bit. I think that one of the changes that happened in the beginning I think the first years of the administration, a lot of cartoonists were very careful about dealing with the caricature of an African-American.
STANTIS: Absolutely.
WUERKER: And it was a minefield that people were tiptoeing across in a lot of ways. And a couple of people stepped on some mines and some - one of our boneheaded brethren drew him as a monkey for Rupert Murdoch or something. And people began to have to sort of, you know, you had to deal with the legacy of some really virulent racist imagery in American cartoons going back centuries. But we got over it. And the cartoon gods work in mysterious ways, just as we're having to grapple with drawing the first black president. The cartoon gods gave us the first orange house speaker so...
WUERKER: And so...
CORNISH: I'm sure John Boehner would quibble with that description.
WUERKER: Well - but it was suddenly, you know, it was like, OK, we're drawing people of color here, so this is fun and...
WUERKER: ...everyone has been having a good time, and I think actually there's this evolution in the Obama caricature that I think is all perfectly healthy and gets back to the significance of the second inaugural in some ways. And what was extraordinary four years ago is ordinary, and I think that the caricature has actually sort of evolved. And Obama is now just another goofy guy that we get to have fun with and, you know, play with his big smile and make his ears bigger and all that kind of stuff.
CORNISH: Yeah. I have to say the ears on Scott's alone in each of his drawings...
CORNISH: ...the ears are a little bit bigger. I'm looking at one where in your art, Scott, it's Obama smoking like four, five cigarettes at once, and he's holding a box of cigarettes that says unfiltered spending, and he thinks to himself I can't seem to quit. But his ears...
CORNISH: ...take up I think fully 40 percent of his head in this picture.
STANTIS: Well, you know, here's the thing. Here's - let me give you a quick...
STANTIS: ...a quick lesson on caricature is what human beings find attractive in each other and this crosses ethnic lines, preference - sexual preference lines, all lines is that we like symmetry. And the fact of the matter is this president is actually a pretty good-looking fellow, except for those big jug handles on either side of his head. And so I can talk to grade schools. I could talk to colleges or rotary clubs. I draw just an outline of his head and if you put those ears on, instantaneously, people know who he is. So, of course, yeah, we're going to jump all over that.
WUERKER: I think that cartoonists have gotten lazy, too, because I mean, in all fairness or in our defense a little bit, I mean, we did the same thing to George W. Bush. I mean, by the end of his administration, he was just Dumbo.
WUERKER: I mean, his ears were just immense.
CORNISH: Now, going into the inauguration then, can you guys give us a preview of what you're thinking of drawing? I know actually on the way in here, Matt, you were doing some sketching in the studio.
WUERKER: I'm still flummoxed. I don't quite know what to do. I'm playing with an idea of everybody on the inaugural standing extremely well-armed with assault rifles and whatnot, and it's something about the way the NRA would like to see the inauguration. But my wife actually had a good idea. I should probably do something ripping off of - remember Aretha's hat at the last inauguration?
CORNISH: Yes, yeah.
WUERKER: I think that there's something about inaugural bonnets out there that would be really fun to do, but I've got to figure that out this afternoon.
CORNISH: And, Scott, for you?
STANTIS: Oh, my gosh, it's not 20 minutes before deadline, so I really don't have anything solid.
STANTIS: But I would go, you know, some of the stuff - I love drawing critters. I mean - so - and just innocuous, almost non sequitur, so I would have like a rhinoceros or a hippopotamus, and, you know, it could be - I think he is still facing - frankly, still facing the same issues he did four years ago. Unemployment is still unacceptably high even though it's going down slightly. We've got debt. We've got war. We've got Guantanamo. We've got civil liberties. We've got all those things, and they were, you know, I'd love having them in the stands, and they're saying, yeah, we're here four years ago.
WUERKER: That's good. I'm going to steal that.
WUERKER: Dang it.
CORNISH: Well, Scott Stantis, thank you so much for speaking with me.
STANTIS: Well, thanks for having me.
CORNISH: And, Matt Wuerker, thank you for coming in to talk to us.
WUERKER: Thanks, Audie.
CORNISH: Editorial cartoonists Matt Wuerker of Politico and Scott Stantis of the Chicago Tribune. You can see drawings by both of them at npr.org, including their cartoons from the inauguration four years ago. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text: Add a bold splash of color to your look with this sumptuous Prada handbag. This red leather tote is finished with a signature Prada ID tag, goldtone hardware, rolled leather handles, and removable and adjustable skinny shoulder strap. Red patterned interior with zip and open pockets. Snap closure. Dimensions: 16"L x 5"W x 14"H; 5" handle drop.


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Home Page Chess Life Online Archives The July Check is in the Mail
|The July Check is in the Mail
|By Alex Dunne
|July 15, 2013
One of the greats in the history of correspondence chess has died. Lothar Schmid finished second in the Second World Correspondence Championship a half point behind Viacheslav Ragozin.
In the Dyckhoff Memorial (1954-56) Schmid had an outstanding result against the best postal players of the day, finishing two points ahead of the field which included Alberic O'Kelly, Max Salm, Mario Napolitano and the USA's C. Fred Tears, with an undefeated 14-1 score.
Lothar had many accomplishments beyond correspondence play including Grandmaster titles in both OTB and correspondence chess. He was the chief arbiter of the 1972 Fischer-Spassky World Championship and also Karpov-Korchnoi and Kasparov-Karpov matches.
Schmid also amassed one of the great chess libraries of the world, an estimated 50,000 volumes.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4
The Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez has largely fallen out of favor since the Karpov-Korchnoi World Championship games of 1978.
6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3
Most modern players play 9. Nbd2 first here, and Black's primary response is 9...Be7. Even when White plays 9. c3, the response 9...Bc5 has become very rare, being almost entirely replaced with 9...Be7, a recent example being Van Embden-Miettinen, ICCF Jubilee 2001: 9...Be7 10. Nbd2 Nc5 11. Bc2 Bg4 12. Re1 d4 13. Nb3 d3 14. Bb1 Nxb3 15. axb3 f5 16. Be3 Qd5 15. Bd4 +=
9...Bc5 10.Nbd2 0–0 11.Bc2
11. Qe2 Bf5 has been known to be equal since Morgado-Toranzo, Internac.Extraord 1966
Black has three other reasonable responses here. 11...Nxd2 may be the weakest. White responds with 12. Qxd2! and transferring the Queen to f4 with attacking chances. White scores 62% in that line.11...Bf5 is the safest, though White keeps an edge after 12. Nb3 Bg4 as in Karpov-Korchnoi, World Championship 1978.
11...Nxf2!? is theoretically condemned, but in practice Black scores an excellent 53%. Remus-Miettinen continued 12. Rxf2 f6 13. exf6 Bxf2_ 14. Kxf2 Qxf6 15. Nf1 Rad8 16. Qe2 Ne5 with complex play.
Taking en passant leads to little after 12. exf6 Nxf6 13.Nb3 Bb6 14. Re1 Qd6 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. Rxe3 = Ivanchuk-Piket, Amber Rapid 1995.
Rybka prefers 12...Ba7 as in Finocchiaro-Baiocchi, ASIG Corres. 1995
13.a4! b4?
Earlier Schmid had faced 13...Rb8 14. axb5 axb5 15. Nfd4 with a slight edge in Schmid-Barda, Dyckhoff Memorial 1954. .Probably best here is 13...Qe7. The problem with 13...b4 is that Black's queenside Pawns become awkwardly jumbled on a6, b4 and c7.
14.a5 Ba7 15.Nfd4 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Bxd4 17.cxd4 f4
White was better after 17...Qe7 18. f3 Ng5 19. Bxg5 Qxg5 20. Re1 f4 21. Bb3 c6 22. Rc1 Rfc8 23. Ba4 Collion-Rouduansky, Corres. 1952.
18.f3 Ng3!?
Black is committed to his kingside attack, but 18...Ng5 is also playable, though White maintains a distinct edge.
The Knight is forbidden. Capturing it could lead to 19. hxg3 fxg3 20. f4 Qh4 21. Rf3 Qh2+ 22. Kf1 Qh1+ 23. Ke2 Qxg2+ 24. Ke3 Bg4 25. Bd2 g5! 26. Bxh7+ Kh8 27. Be4 dxe4 28. Qh1+ Qxh1 29. Rxh1+ Kg7 and the Rook on f3 is doomed.
19...Qh4 20.Ra4!
Black's kingside attack looks stronger than it is, and so White turns his attention to Black's disjointed queenside.
Black can't defend the queenside as illustrated in a later game, Kuhnel-Jablonski, Europe Master Class 1964: 20...Rab8 21. Qe1 b3 22. Bd3
21.Rxb4 g4 22.fxg4 Bxg4 23.Qe1 Nh5 24.Qc3! Ng3
A brave but sad Knight returns with a transparent trap of 25. Bxf4? Rxf4 26. Rxf4 Ne2+
25.Bd3 Kh8 26.Bxf4 Nh1 27.Rf1 Bh3 28.Qxc7 Rxf4
If 28. ...Bxg2 29. Rb7 mates shortly.
29.Rb8+ Rxb8 30.Qxb8+ Kg7 31.Qc7+ Kf8
Or 31...Kg8 32. Qxh7+ Qxh7 33. Bxh7+ Kxh7 34. Rxf4 wins easily.
32.Rxf4+ Qxf4 33.Qd8+ Kf7 34.Qf6+ 1–0
Walter Muir
William Schaffert 12W30 5-1
Matthew Lasley 12W30 5-1
Paul Shannon 12W14 5-1
John Collins
Thomas Morgan 12C02 6-0
Palciauskas Tournament
Louis Biasotti 11P01 5-1
Michael Butler 11P01 5-1
Swift Quad
Kenneth Lopez 13SQ04 5 ½-½
LEARN CHESS BY MAIL ! Lessons given by mail, telephone, ICC – many different ways. I specialize in players rated 800-2100 who would like to improve their game. Contact me for information. Alex Dunne, 324 West Lockhart St., Sayre, PA 18840 or [email protected]
Chess booklet for sale: 2004 Golden Knights Championship -- booklet of the 57th USCF CC Championship -- $10.00 postage paid. 35 pages, 90+ games
is now available at McFarland Publishers and Amazon for $45.00 and also Kindle at $16.49
NEW! 2006 Electronic Knights Championship ebook. 190 games some annotated, all the crosstables, bios of the top three, list of all the finalists, ChessBase format, .pgn notation and Microsoft .pdf format. $4.00 postage paid for the disk, $2.00 sent to you via email. Hard copy $10 postage included.
Matthew Lasley submits this win over William Schaffert to even up the score to tie for first place in 12W30.
Quote: I began to play postal chess. At one point I was playing fifty games at once, using booklets from Chess Review -- pg. 22 of The Stress of Chess and Its Infinite Finesse by Walter Browne
Thomas Feeney of Racine, Wisconsin was born October 14, 1947 and died May 13, 2013. Thomas was a poet, writer, and chessplayer.
This year the 12th North American Invitational Correspondence Chess Championship and the North Atlantic/Pacific Zonal Championship have merged to produce a 17-man Category 6 tournament. A score of 11 ½- 4 ½ is needed for a Grandmaster norm, 10 points for an IM norm.
The line up for the championship has two Grandmasters – Mark Noble from New Zealand and Sakae Ohtaka from Japan; three Senior International Masters, Brian Anderson from New Zealand and Thomas Biedermann and Kristo Miettinen, both from the US; and seven International Masters, three from Canada – Alan Pichaud, Richard Labonte, and Valer-Eugen Demian, two from Australia – Clive Murden and John Paul Fenwick, and two from the US – Kenneth Holroyd and John Ballow.
There are five strong players, hungry for a title, Paul Morley of Canada, Harry Ingersol of the US, Loren Schmidt of Japan, Allan Johnston, of Hong Kong and Juan Gustavo Mercader Martinez of Mexico.
Brent Riggs tells of an opponent he calls Mr. Winatallcosts. Mr. Winatallcosts was winning the game but Riggs was resisting. Then came the postcards saying he should resign as he was losing. Then cards saying Mr. Winatallcosts was ill and please resign before he died. Then a letter from Mr. Winatallcosts wife saying he had only two weeks to live. The Misses was prepared to carry on as he gave his moves from beneath the oxygen tent. His dying wish was Riggs should resign. A victory now would push him over the 2200 mark and he could die knowing he was a Master.
But finally Mr. Winatallcosts won the game. Riggs received a four page letter from Mr. Winatallcosts asking for forgiveness as he had been lying. He was in good health and had used the illness as a psychological weapon. He had hoped his opponents would underestimate him and take him for granted.
One of the most original attacking games --- ever !?
At the end the two passed Rook Pawns triumph.
Black plays the French Offense in this game.
The diagram is reminiscent of an almost surreal Escher print of birds flying south


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Against All Odds: The Budge Porter Story
Randy York's N-Sider Blog
The Official Blog of the Huskers
On Thursday, Oct. 25, Budge Porter and his family were presented the keys to their new Omaha home at an event that was open to the media. The next three days, the fully barrier free and wheelchair accessible home at 13522 Corby Street was open to public tours for a $5 donation or for free to those with physical disabilities because it showcased construction techniques and amenities that accommodate the disabled.
The Budge Porter Project, you see, is just the latest chapter in The Budge Porter Story, and this third-generation Husker, who followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father to play for Nebraska, was more than willing to serve as a model for the handicapped, especially when so many sub-contractors and suppliers supported this grassroots effort to help Budge, a quadriplegic who has been paralyzed for 36 years.
On April 21, 1976, Porter used his speed to tackle fabled Nebraska walk-on running back I.M. Hipp in a spring practice scrimmage. That play was the last day Budge was able to stand on his own, let alone walk. That tackle broke his neck and shattered his dreams, but it did not crush his spirit. Even though the severity of his injury confined him to a wheelchair, he rehabbed hard and regained muscle. In 1981, Porter received a standing ovation when he used crutches and walked slowly to receive his diploma on a stage set up inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Son Bret Porter Named after Husker All-American
Three years later, he met Diane LaBerge when he went to watch his brother, Scott, play for Nebraska in a non-conference football game at UCLA. Five years after that, the two married in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and moved to Valley, Neb., where he was a stockbroker. Times were good, enabling them to pay for expensive fertility drugs that helped produce three children – Claire, 18, a freshman at UNL, and 11-year-old boy/girl twins Bret (named after former Husker All-American and fellow Nebraska City native Bret Clark) and Brooke.
Talk about miracles. Budge and Diane counted their blessings every day, but were unable to meet the skyrocketing medical costs associated with a lifelong disability. Combine that with an economic downturn and an upside-down mortgage, and the Porter family finally was forced into foreclosing on their home and filing for bankruptcy.
Four Men Changed the Porter Family's Lives
For 25 years, Budge survived the grueling challenges of daily living and working in a wheelchair. He drove to his office with hand controls in his car and provided for his family until two lengthy hospital stays cost him both his strength and his job, but not his pride, thanks to four people who went out on a limb to put Budge and his family back on the right track against all odds: 1) Brad Brown, a fast friend who once dated Budge's sister and started the "let's build Budge a house that can serve his needs" discussion; 2) Steve Reeder, the first to step up and donate a lot to give that dream its roots; 3) Sam Marchese, an Omaha business owner who did all the heavy lifting for an August banquet that raised $120,000 for the cause – the perfect complement to Brown's efforts to find builders, suppliers and sub-contractors willing to donate work or provide deep discounts to make the project a reality; and 4) Tom Osborne, who coached Budge and helped draw 425 people to a banquet with a Husker legend at every table.
"Because Tom was behind the project, no one even sent out an invitation," Budge said. "That banquet took on a life of its own. We could have doubled the price, and we still would not have needed invitations. When Tom's involved, the human spirit rises to the highest levels from people in Omaha and all over the country, really."
That includes contributions from Husker fans in Encinitas, Santa Ana and Danville, Calif. "My wife was born and raised in Southern California," Budge said. "She's always heard that there's no place like Nebraska and now she knows why. Coach Osborne has been a very big part of why that's so true."
An Emotional Goodbye … A Hope He Stays Visible
"It was so emotional for me to watch Coach Osborne take that last Tunnel Walk with this year's team and then wave to the crowd after running off the field one last time," Porter said. "When he and his family were honored at halftime (of the regular-season finale against Minnesota), my throat was dry, and I had tears in my eyes, just like every other Husker I know that was there that afternoon.
"I know I speak for every Husker fan that I
know when I say I hope Coach Osborne stays around as long as possible as
our Athletic Director Emeritus," Porter said. "He has the trust of
Nebraskans everywhere … and we all need him."
Send a comment to firstname.lastname@example.com (Please include current residence)
Follow Randy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RandyYorkNsider
Randy's N-Sider Column Archive
Voices from Husker Nation
I went to school with Budge and enjoyed reading about his success. Brad Brown and I played on the same team in Millard through junior high and high school. We graduated in '79 and then both went to UNL. It's nice to see him work for Budge. Thanks for the articles. The make me miss home, Nebraska and the people there. Rev. Brooks Gibson (Arizona Justice Center, Director of Family Counseling), Glendale, Arizona
Thanks for the article and update on Budge. I sent a donation earlier this year after living in southeast Nebraska and competing against Budge in high school. Enjoy reading your articles. Steve Klingler, Marietta, Georgia
Budge is an inspiration. We should all count our blessings. Craig Spiegelberg, Vancouver, Washington


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This OAF only has one specific visual trait, which makes him a stereotypical Oaf. He's large and dumpy. Otherwise he is a completely generic 40s animated cartoon design. He's a big fat Elmer Fudd. Whoops! He has another Oafish trait coined by Chuck Jones - tiny legs supporting the huge dumpy body.
Jones made his proportions funny by using ridiculous contrasts.
Chuck Jones did more specific Oaf designs later with more unique physical traits as he got good at working with the general oaf type.
So what can we learn from an almost generic character? Plenty! If he's drawn phenomenally well.
Specific poses- while the character is a generic design, his poses aren't. They are very specific unto themselves and also specific to Jones' own style. They aren't stock animation poses. Jones is making them up on the spot, custom-tailored to the story. He is doing it with the aid of an extremely good knowledge of animation and drawing fundamentals.
His construction is solid.
The lines of action are strong and clear.
Clear silhouettes and staging.
Hierarchy of details - subject to the larger forms and graphic statement.
Here's an expression that is specific to Chuck Jones. In his world it's generic, because he uses it a lot and expanded upon it later, but compared to most other cartoons of the period it is unique. It doesn't conform exactly to the formula of the Disney studio.
Perspective. The strong perspective of the mallet and the character are used to add humor to the situation. Jones' drawing tools are in service to the story and gags. They aren't used arbitrarily, just to show off that he draws well. (Not till later in his career)
These fundamental cartoon drawing skills are what the schools should be teaching. I wish to Hell artists would come to me who already have all these skills down. It would make it much easier for me to revive the kinds of cartoons most of my visitors expect from me.
If you don't have skill, you will have trouble controlling any visual idea. You will certainly not be able to tailor your drawings to a specific character in a specific scene in a specific story.
You will be a slave to the poor dexterity of your fingers and your small visual vocabulary.
Well the schools aren't going to change their evil ways, so your next best bet is just to study these great old cartoons themselves. Copy the drawings using the techniques I (and a few other blogs) explain to you and you will quickly improve.
Remember, there is a huge difference between general principles and style. You can't be an individual until you understand how things work. These early 40s cartoons are not overly stylish yet, but they are extremely controlled and can teach you a lot.
Back to the cartoon....
...as the cartoon progresses, Jones' poses and expressions become more and more original - or specific.
The gags in this little action sequence are the poses themselves. The guy keeps running then freezing in mid air in funny poses. If the poses were stock animation poses, they wouldn't be funny.
Amazing control! Perspective, construction, dynamics, organic flow; it's all there!
Here is a typical Jones oafish pose mixed with a typical Jones post explosion expression.
This is from 1942, right around when Jones started to find his niche. His cartoons were very experimental for years and you could see him grow from cartoon to cartoon. Extremely fast growth too!
Compare Jones cartoons from 1942 to 1947 to any 5 years of any modern cartoon studio or series. everything today is against growth. The whole system is geared to stop you from learning anything and putting your knowledge to entertainment use.
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Jones played against the type and surprised our expectation of what an oaf should be.
I love the poses of him and Bugs riding in the elevator. Not much animation, but great observant visual humor. Jones did it by understanding the physicality of an Oaf and then drew the character trying to maintain dignified posture against his own physical nature.
Sherm Cohen can help you
Sherm explains some good tips very clearly and you can apply them to any character design.
But don't let that deter you from learning construction!


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By Sharon Sayler
A visual can sure add a lot of impact to a website or your blog. It can give an immediate "ah-ha" to the reader and attract attention to your articles. Adding an image or creative work to your web page or post can make a big difference on the impact of your message. Images do grab readers' attention, but be careful, you can't use just any image... Using a copyrighted image without permission from the creator of the work or the copyright holder is copyright infringement. This article is a short introduction to copyright and creative images. Please check with an intellectual property attorney for more specifics and to answer your specific questions about copyrights and creative works.
You can't just use any image you find and like in blog posts, on your web site or in printed material. The law automatically grants full "copyright" over any creative work a person makes. This includes any creative work such as drawings, photos and text. Copyrights are applied to all intellectual property such as books, websites, blogs, photographs, audio and video recordings, e.g. songs, music and YouTube videos too. When choosing a creative work to use, make sure that it has a creative common license, a full-usage, licensed or granted usage, or is royalty-free. All have limitations and, except for full-usage, rarely grant complete usage rights. Ask for a copy of the usage license rights and restrictions before purchasing or using an image. Many places like Fotosearch.com and PhotoDisc.com have the licenses they use posted on their sites.
Images marked as "All Rights Reserved" are copyrighted and require permission from their creator. Images marked as "Some Rights Reserved" have a creative commons license applied. There are several types of creative commons licenses. Each license imposes different restrictions on how you use the images. There are four main types of creative common licenses, "Attribution," "Share Alike," "Noncommercial," "No Derivative Works." Each of the four categories has a variety of license types for different usages, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ to learn more.
Creative Commons is an organization that provides free content licenses that the person developing the creative piece can apply to their work. ( http://creativecommons.org/license/ ) The artists that choose to use this license are giving people permission to use the licensed piece without having to ask permission, provided they use it in the manner stated in the Creative Common License. Read each Creative Common License carefully as they do vary.
When using an image with a creative commons license, it is important to note the attribution with the image; e.g., Photo by John Smith licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic. Check with the creator of the image or the website that you get the image from, e.g. Flickr, for guidelines. This will ensure you are compliant with copyright requirements and give credit where credit is due.
This article is not meant to be legal advice and you are encouraged to further educate yourself about copyright and the implications to your site. Copyright laws vary internationally.
Sharon Sayler shows people simple, powerful, easy to learn ways they can gain the nonverbal advantage in important situations such as court appearances, job interviews, negotiations... anywhere where the outcome is critical. Signup to get your Communications Success Package including: -- Her popular Tips, Scripts and Must Do's To Create Instant Rapport with Just About Anyone -- A free chapter from What Your Body Says (and how to master the message) -- A special report on How to Avoid the 3 Biggest Body Language Mistakes - in under 10 Minutes! Plus weekly bonus how-to videos and tips to immediately increase your impact and influence.Run over to http://www.WhatYourBodySays.com to get yours now.


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Marilyn Geewax
Marilyn Geewax is a senior editor, assigning and editing business radio stories. She also serves as the national economics correspondent for the NPR web site, and regularly discusses economic issues on NPR's mid-day show Here & Now.
Her work contributed to NPR's 2011 Edward R. Murrow Award for hard news for "The Foreclosure Nightmare." Geewax also worked on the foreclosure-crisis coverage that was recognized with a 2009 Heywood Broun Award.
Before joining NPR in 2008, Geewax served as the national economics correspondent for Cox Newspapers' Washington Bureau. Before that, she worked at Cox's flagship paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, first as a business reporter and then as a columnist and editorial board member. She got her start as a business reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal.
Over the years, she has filed news stories from China, Japan, South Africa and Europe. Recently, she headed to Europe to participate in the RIAS German/American Journalist Exchange Program.
Geewax was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where she studied economics and international relations. She earned a master's degree at Georgetown University, focusing on international economic affairs, and has a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University.
She is a member of the National Press Club's Board of Governors and serves on the Global Economic Reporting Initiative Committee for the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
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Friday, January 25, 2013
Uptown Atlanta
Earlier this offseason, the Braves signed former Ray BJ Upton to a five year, $75 million deal to replace Michael Bourn as their center fielder. Yesterday, they acquired Justin Upton from the D-Backs for 5 players. Now, the Atlanta Braves will the fourth team to feature two brothers as outfield regulars next season. The Upton's will be joining the Pirates of the 30's with Lloyd and Paul Waner(two Hall of Famers), the Giants of the early 60's with Matty and Felipe Alou, and the 1970 Red Sox with Billy and Tony Conigliaro.
With the Rays, BJ Upton had a up and down career. Originally drafted as a shortstop with the #2 overall pick in 2002, Upton was eventually moved to the outfield. He had his best overall season in 2007, when he hit .300 and set career highs in home runs(24) and RBI's(82). Upton has stole over 40 bases three seasons in a row from 2008 to 2010, and stole 31 last year. There were times his effort was questioned earlier in his career, but he has grown up since then. While his skills are there, especially power and speed, his average an on base percentage has taken a hit. He has hit in the .240s range the last four seasons, and is coming off a career worst .298 OBP.
The Diamondbacks have been shopping Justin Upton for the last couple of years. GM Kevin Towers talked about trading him before the 2011 season, but ended up keeping him. Upton responded with his best season overall, finishing 4th in the MVP voting and leading Arizona to the NL West title. Upton is signed to a reasonable deal through the 2015 season. I'm not sure why Arizona was so eager to trade Justin Upton for, but it's a deal that could come back to bite them. They threw in third baseman Chris Johnson with Upton, and recieved Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, and three minor league players.
Of the two brothers, Justin is the more consistent player with a higher ceiling. He hits for a higher average and gets on base more often. Justin also has a mix of speed and power, although he doesn't steal as often as BJ does. BJ is considered more of a enigma, but he has the talent to be a All Star. Along with 2012 Gold Glove right fielder Jason Heyward, the Braves have one of the best outfields in baseball right now. Heyward is only 23 years old and rebounded nicely from a sophomore slump in 2011.
Although the Braves added the Upton brothers, they loss Bourn, Prado, Tommy Hanson, and most importantly Chipper Jones from last year's team. Brian McCann and Dan Uggla are coming off down seasons. However, in their first post-Chipper season, they should be ready to make a run at the postseason. They have a pretty young team and a really good bullpen. I still think the Nats are the favorites for the East, but a wild card in definitely in reach for Atlanta. If things went right and the Nats stumbled, the Braves could push them for the division as well.
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Ecuador's Yasuni National Park is one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. But there's a complication: The park sits on top of the equivalent of millions of barrels of oil.
This creates a dilemma.
Ecuador prides itself on being pro-environment. Its constitution gives nature special rights. But Ecuador is a relatively poor country that could desperately use the money from the oil.
In 2007, Ecuador's president proposed a way around the dilemma: Ecuador would promise to leave the forest untouched if countries in the developed world would promise to give Ecuador half the value of the oil — $3.6 billion.
"He proposed that we want to keep the oil there," says Ivonne A-Baki, who works for Ecuador's government. "What we need in exchange is compensation."
These days, A-Baki is traveling the world, asking for contributions. She chooses her words carefully. Still, the pitch runs the risk of sounding a bit like blackmail.
"The joke we always used to always talk about was, you know, 'Give me the money or I'll shoot the trees,' " says Billy Pizer, a former deputy assistant secretary for environment and energy under President Obama.
Pizer says he'd love to keep the park safe. But he says the proposal worried him as a potential precedent that would encourage other countries to threaten to destroy their own forests unless the world pays up.
Ecuador pressed ahead. In 2010 it set up a fund through the United Nations, and some countries started handing over checks. But so far, there is only $350 million in the fund — a tenth of the amount Ecuador has asked for.
If the country doesn't reach its goal, A-Baki says, it may eventually drill under the park.
There is a place in Ecuador so remote, you have to fly first into a small airport and then, well, let's get's directions from an Ecuadorian.
IVONNE A-BAKI: You have to go in a motor-boat, like an hour and 45 minutes. And then to enter the park you have to go in a canoe for two hours. Because even the sound of the motor and the oil, it will spoil the very fragility of this place.
INSKEEP: The Yasuni National Park is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. There's a complication: Underneath it is a lot of oil. And extracting that oil would require going in with more than a canoe. Ecuador is hoping instead to keep the oil in the ground and get paid for doing that.
David Kestenbaum of our Planet Money Team reports on a novel plan to get it done.
DAVID KESTENBAUM, BYLINE: For Ecuador, the oil under the park posed this very painful dilemma. Ivonne A-Baki, the woman you just heard, works for Ecuador's government. A-Baki does not see herself as an environmentalist. But she says going to the park is somehow transforming.
A-BAKI: You breathe and you see the difference of oxygen you breathe. The life of everything that you could find as animals is there.
You know, it's a big dilemma. What do we do? We keep the oil in the ground or we take it out?
KESTENBAUM: Ecuador prides itself on being pro-environment. Its constitution gives nature special rights. And yet Ecuador also desperately could use the money from the oil.
A-BAKI: We don't have anything. I mean we are a developing country that needs everything. You name it - electricity, education. You need schools.
KESTENBAUM: The oil, worth billions of dollars, was very tempting. But in 2007 Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, proposed an alternative.
PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA: (Spanish spoken)
A-BAKI: He proposed that we want to keep the oil there. What we need in exchange is compensation.
KESTENBAUM: Money. The dollar value they picked, half of what the oil was valued at at the time - $3.6 billion.
It's an interesting idea. Ecuador is basically asking to be paid to do nothing. Ecuador promises not to touch the oil, but it wants to be paid for its inaction.
These days A-Baki is traveling the world, asking for contributions. She chooses her words carefully.
A-BAKI: We're saying we have a unique place that has value.
KESTENBAUM: Just to be clear, do I understand terms of this correctly? Ecuador has pledged it will leave that oil in ground as long as it gets $3.6 billion?
A-BAKI: No, it's not the way we're putting it. I'm not putting it that way. We are saying we would like to be compensated because we need the money and it's an environmental service to the world.
KESTENBAUM: What happens if you don't get the money?
A-BAKI: I don't want to even think about it. I don't want to think about it because I don't want to see this place destroyed. And it might be. It might be.
KESTENBAUM: You might drill under this park?
A-BAKI: We are not going to drill under this park.
KESTENBAUM: You just said it might happen, though, before.
A-BAKI: I said it might. I didn't say it will.
KESTENBAUM: This pitch - it does run a risk, the risk of sounding a bit like blackmail.
BILLY PIZER: Blackmail or extortion, something like that.
KESTENBAUM: Billy Pizer was the deputy assistant secretary for environment and energy under Obama. He's an economist, now at Duke University, and he says he'd love to keep the park safe. But this proposal worried him.
PIZER: You could just kind of imagine anybody that had a valuable ecosystem, a large forest threatening to destroy it unless they were paid some ransom. I mean the joke we always used to always talk about was, you know, give me the money or I'll shoot the trees.
A-BAKI: Ivonne A-Baki says German officials asked her, if we pay you not to extract your oil, what's to stop Saudi Arabia from demanding payment for the oil it hasn't extracted?
KESTENBAUM: Ecuador pressed ahead and in 2010 set up a fund through the United Nations. And some countries started handing over checks.
A-BAKI: The first country to contribute to the fund was Chile. After Chile, Spain, then Italy, Turkey. So many other different - Georgia.
KESTENBAUM: Even Germany found a way to contribute. The U.S.?
A-BAKI: No. The United States, the government, not yet.
KESTENBAUM: How much money is in the fund now?
A-BAKI: We are counting just what we have. Now it's around 350 million, so we have a lot of money.
KESTENBAUM: You have about a tenth of the amount you want.
A-BAKI: Yeah.
KESTENBAUM: Since this effort began, the oil in the ground has gotten even more tempting. Instead $7 billion, she says, it's now worth closer to 20 billion.
David Kestenbaum, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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A Leavenworth woman accused of leaving her baby alone in an alley failed to show up for her trial, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.
A Leavenworth woman accused of leaving her baby alone in an alley failed to show up for her trial, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.
Jury selection for the trial of Elizabeth A. Michaud had been scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday in Leavenworth County District Court. But people who showed up for jury duty were dismissed at 9:20 a.m. because Michaud, who's been free on bond, had failed to appear, according to court records.
"We were ready to go," said County Attorney Todd Thompson, whose office is prosecuting the case.
Michaud's attorney, Elaine Halley, also was present Monday.
Michaud is charged with aggravated endangering a child. She is accused of leaving her infant son alone May 3 in an alley in Leavenworth. Authorities believe she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol the night of the incident.
Michaud also failed to appear in court Monday afternoon for a hearing in a new case that's pending against her. In this case, she faces charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. These crimes are alleged to have occurred Nov. 10 in Leavenworth.
For both of the cases, warrants were issued for Michaud's arrest.
Halley appeared for the defense in the drug case Monday. But she requested not to be appointed as Michaud's attorney in this new case.
"I've had a difficult time in my other case," she said.
District Judge Gunnar Sundby said he would wait to appoint another attorney until Michaud is in custody and informed that Halley has declined the appointment.