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Rib Fest 2013
Never touch another man's grill!
The most formal, yet informal tasting of pork ribs I've ever had. Six different styles of pork ribs, plus The Cured Ham/Lamb's contribution of lamb riblets and a snack of pork skewers rounded out the selection of barbeque fabulousness last Saturday afternoon at The Mermaid Lounge.
An amateur and professional exhibition/competition pitted Green Egg Zealot, Fresno Bites versus a slew of Weber Kettles, a BBQ Pro and even one gas grill against each other for the 2013 Rib Fest Champion. Competitors cooked pork baby back and St. Louis style ribs.
Our host, Tony, would often come through the BBQ Garden, the space of grass and concrete designated for pork products, for a Belushi inspired speech about the German's attacking Pearl Harbor or a more Chris Farley channeled rant focusing on the finer points of the Brotherhood of the Grill or some such thing. Regardless of the comedic performance, Tony and his wife Linda are the inspiration for the gathering of friends and lovers of barbeque and we all thank them for it.
A note on my lamb; I only used Colorado and Sonoma County lamb; nothing from New Zealand. I know a few people mentioned it didn't taste gamey or too strong. Additionally, I season my lamb heavily with a variety of spices, including nutmeg, turmeric, paprika, freshly ground coriander and fennel seed and a wide variety of dried herbs.
The broad brush stroke on barbeque is the need for time and smoke. But what about the little flourishes and what defines great barbeque? Wrapping in foil? When to sauce if at all? The application of dry spices and the length of marination? How often does one open the lid of the barbeque? What types of wood? One thing that was noticeable at Rib Fest 2013 was the type of rib used by the competitors, St. Louis versus Baby Back.
The top two vote getters were trimmed St. Louis style ribs cooked by Fresno Bites and Tops BBQ. All the other competitors chose to use baby backs. I personally chose, by secret ballot, #4 Fresno Bites offering, the winner of the competition. My second choice happened to be #5 Tops BBQ, the runner-up.
Why? Texture, the "pull" of the meat from the bone, flavor, smoke flavor and moisture.
What put Fresno Bites over the top was a hint of sweetness combined with a whisper of heat. Fresno Bites chose to wrap his ribs in foil and press in some brown sugar near the end of the cooking process; again, the little flourishes and attention to details beyond just general technique.
Tops BBQ in terms of smoke quality was A+, but just missed on that "saucy" quality I was looking for; otherwise, the pull and texture was spot on. I will say, Tops "Dexter" gloves kinda creeped me out.
I gave honorable mention to coffee aficionado Leo from Café Corazon for his #6 ribs for using mustard in his sauce. Some people in the crowd didn't like mustard, I happen to like it. Leo always pays attention to details and was sampling and observing Bites and Tops.
It was a great afternoon and evening with friends, fellow lovers of pork (and lamb), and an educational experience on what defines barbeque.
And not one mention of tri-tip all afternoon...AMEN!
In fact, I learned what starts a great barbeque fire...old phone books!


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Stripers and Coastal Gamefish Stripers, Blues, Inshore tuna! |
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CCA One Fly tourney ROCKS!!!
Sometimes stuff comes together and happens the way it's supposed to. We had 25 or 30 participants, a good morning's fishing in some beautiful territory, a lovely if somewhat sun-baked cookout, and raised a good chunk of change for the CCA.
[We even had regulars from all three local BBSs, as well as some folks who -- if you can believe it -- don't fish on line!] Big fish award went to Budreski [insert exclamation of mock surprise here]. Parsons won everything in the lure division, but only because Scruffy was too shy to mention her 27" lure-caught fish. [Scruffy is Rocky's significant smother.] Here's the lay of the land to whet your appetites for next year: Most people came to the sign in at the Driftway. Rocky phoned in his sign-in from Boston Harbor, and Mike Figlioli and Jeff Smith did the same from Plymouth. The guys who knew their way around went out and proved it [Paul Donahugh and Tom Kelly, fishing a relatively secret spot, racked up the biggest numbers with Paul's 43 fish taking the prize]. The guys who had travelled and didn't know where to start -- notably Tim St. Laurent all the way from Narragansett -- got shuttle service on the Brynna II, which is to say that I brought him and Roop and Parsons out to the spit and moved them around as the day progressed. Pretty nearly everyone caught fish, mostly in the low single digits. It was a dawn low, so the tide was incoming for the whole morning. The weather was windy, but warm and sunny. The area is of course gorgeous. Everyone got to meet everyone else, along with wifelets and kidlets, at the cookout. We did some bucket raffles for prizes donated by our lovely sponsors. We handed out award certificates. I'll let Adam explain how he won "Most Pathetic". And we signed up eleven new CCA members and raised several hundred dollars on top of that. It's as good a Saturday morning as I'd want to spend. |
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RE:CCA One Fly tourney ROCKS!!!
Mikes right, it was a good time finally fishing in my own backyard.
My thanks to Mike for his generosity in ferrying us around, getting us into fish and for the beverage delivery service. Big Pete did a great job putting it all together. My goal is to get the wife into the tourney next year and maybe even help with the organization. Thanks again Mike. Roop |
RE:CCA One Fly tourney ROCKS!!!
I won't have a graduation or Christening in the family next year (I hope) and you can bet I'll be there next time. Sorry I missed it, but very glad it was such a great time for those who could make it.
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RE:CCA One Fly tourney ROCKS!!!
It was my pleasure, Jeff. And there will be plenty of room for you to help organize next year's One Fly, because Pete and I are determined to rest on our laurels for a while.
And you know all that humbug that people always spout after they've done something halfway good? The stuff that always sounds like "well, I think I got more than I gave..."? Well, it's true. I had a hoot. I basically drove around in my boat all morning having a good time. I stopped long enough to catch a couple of fish where what I was doing worked. I tried a few things that I thought might work under the conditions of the day,which didn't. And I got to show off my home waters [which I in my biased view think are beautiful] to some people who I think appreciated them. That ain't bad. |
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Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
8th Annual Skidmore Class of '87 Fly Tourney | DanDoc | Stripers and Coastal Gamefish | 1 | 07-04-2002 07:57 AM |
CCA One Fly/One Lure Tourney & BBQ | Capt.Wayne | Stripers and Coastal Gamefish | 0 | 06-25-2002 06:28 PM |
CCA-MA South Shore Chapter One Fly/One Lure Tourney | Capt.Wayne | Stripers and Coastal Gamefish | 0 | 06-11-2002 05:25 PM |
CCA-MA Souith Shore Chapter One Fly/One Lure Tourney | Capt.Wayne | Stripers and Coastal Gamefish | 0 | 06-18-2001 05:47 AM |
CCA-MA South Shore Chapter Annual One Fly & One Lure Tourney | Capt.Wayne | Stripers and Coastal Gamefish | 0 | 06-07-2001 08:53 PM |

subset: commoncrawl


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When individuals come to me for help, the question I get most often is: "How can I be happy with my life"?
The first question I ask them is whether they have looked every place in their life for happiness. I'm thinking if they can't find it, for whatever reason, it must be hiding somewhere they haven't looked or maybe it doesn't exist at all for them. I believe that the latter is always a possibility, at least in some of our fellow human's minds.
Nonetheless, I am going to let all of you in on a little secret of mine — happiness is not a destination, material things do not buy you happiness, nor is it something that is magically found. Of course I do believe that everyone has their own definition of happiness, and this is where it can get confusing for some individuals.
But have no fear — social media is here, and has created this outlet for us all, one of which I have labeled comparison shopping. The best definition I have come up with for comparison shopping is, "the ability to compare prices and quality of competing products." Now the secret to comparison shopping on social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is for us to compare how much happier other individuals are, or at least that is what we choose to believe — the operative word here being "choose."
For example, look at a movie star's life. Most individuals would look at their lives and think, "Wow, those people must be happy because they have fame, money, big houses, expensive cars, nice clothes and can buy whatever they want." However, in reality they are searching for happiness just as we are and that is evident in their self-destructive behaviors, which for some include drugs, alcoholism, broken marriages and the list goes on and on.
However, in my pursuit of happiness I can assure you that my definition does not include any movie star's life or any of the phrases, "bigger is better," "the grass is always greener on the other side," or what I call the "Cinderella Syndrome," where we believe that only others can make us happy.
In fact, we believe it is their job to make us happy. It is sad that some people are waiting for someone to place that glass slipper on their foot and when that happens they will magically be happy. I can say with confidence that this irrational line of thinking died long ago for me, and when that untimely death occurred I chose to begin a new journey. This new adventure would take me down a road I was not familiar with and honestly was scared of, but it was the start of creating my own definition of happiness. The road in my journey did not include "comparison shopping," and the end result was not a life of "skipping down the yellow brick road of happiness" but instead one of finding peace and contentment, none of which money can buy.
So to help you begin your journey, I have listed some ways that may aid you in your pursuit to find your own definition for proverbial happiness:
• Don't comparison shop on social media sites. What you see posted on social media sites are only half-truths. Don't compare your life to others who are in cyberspace or even living next door. Avoid adopting their definition of happiness, which may not be realistic for you or even for them.
• Change your perception of other people. It only looks as if everyone has a great life except you. It's easy to fall into this trap. Realize that everyone has problems and that your life is what you make it and how you work at it.
• Be kind. Being kind to others does not cost anything, and can actually help you feel good about yourself. Along with that comes an overall outlook of feeling positive, which will carry over into all areas of your life to promote happiness. Not all people will respond to your kindness with kindness, but that is not the point. Keep in mind that you are being nice and kind to others to benefit you not anyone else.
• Acknowledge others. This is one of my best "I feel good about me" secrets that I am sharing. Making eye contact and saying, "hi or hello" to other human beings no matter who or what they are, can only bring about positive feelings for you, which will aid you in finding your definition of happiness.
Keep in mind that it is easy to get stuck along the journey to finding your definition of proverbial happiness, but I can assure you that even when you fall along the path, as long as you pick yourself up and keep moving, at some point you will find peace and happiness. Remember in life there is never a destination, only the journey and I can tell you that my journey so far has been a pretty great one, even with all the bumps in the road. Hopefully along your bumpy journey, you too will find peace and happiness.
Michelle Aycock is a licensed psychotherapist. Her office number is 912-233-4294. Her website is www.coastaltherapist.com. Submit a family relationship question at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Published on April 16th, 2013 | by Rayne
4More reasons I'm not a theist
I've come to the conclusion that I will never ever be arrogant enough to be a theist. I'm simply incapable of getting my head around the thought that the entire universe with all its galaxies and planets was built entirely for one species – humans.
I can't get my head around people who are so desperate to feel special that they hear voices in their heads and attribute it to a higher power talking to them Or so they can walk around with a sense of superiority because they have an invisible and powerful friend that speaks to them and tells them things. A friend that is the central character in a book written for one species thousands of years ago, a book that has been translated into many different languages yet somehow has never ever lost any data or mistranslated anything, a book that has a character that is supposedly all knowing, all seeing and all forgiving.
A perfect all knowing, all seeing, all forgiving character who loves you and speaks to you and wants to be your friend? Sounds too good to be true.
Except when the times he is not. How can he be all knowing when he gets angry over us sinning? Wouldn't he know we were going to sin with the free will he gave us? If he was all seeing, wouldn't he see the sin coming? If he was all forgiving then why do we need to beg for forgiveness and repent? Why did the god character create hell? Why is he so intent on controlling the masses with his rules and demands of praise?
I'm also not directionless enough to be a theist. I don't need a book written thousands of years ago by illiterate sheep herders in the desert to inform me how to live my life. I certainly don't need a book to inform the people around me how I think they should be living their lives.
I couldn't be a theist because that would mean I would have to create an invisible character in my head that I attribute all my wins in life to (but call the fails "tests") rather than attributing them to the individuals that actually deserve it.
If I was a theist, you can be sure that I would either have to:
A) create this invisible character in my head to have exactly the same morals and beliefs I have (If I hate black people then it will hate black people – Authors note: I don't hate black people) because it would be easier to believe that it is real. Ignoring the parts of the holy book I won't read fully will help me reinforce my view that my character is just like me.
B) be indoctrinated since birth to believe that the character in my mind already believes things like "poor people are going to hell" so I would have to create reasons as to why the character believes those things. This serves to make me feel okay about that character believing those things so I don't have to admit that character is a jerk. For example: "poor people are bad so that's why they are going to hell".
C) create the character to be everything I need it to be to make me feel better. If to feel better I need an all knowing, all loving, all forgiving friend who loves me no matter what, who forgives me for all my fuck ups and knows exactly what is going on in a world full of chaos and random acts – then I will create the character to be exactly that. If I need a character who hates everyone I hate and who judges those people so I can feel better about hating others and judging them then I will create a character than reflects that.
But luckily I'm not a theist because that shit just seems all too hard.
If you like some of the things I say – feel free to add me to your RSS feed, comment or email me: email@example.com. I now have a facebook page! Feel free to like my page by clicking here!
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The Carroll County Panthers' boys' soccer team took a giant leap forward last season, setting school records for the young program. The 2010 squad set school records for most goals in a season, most wins, fewest goals allowed in a season, largest shutout and most goals in a game.
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There is talk this in a future 10 – two decades we may be able to us and the Federal 2005 Energy's Wind Map and check weather you have available on the power one can blame it on increases the appropriate in front of us or above have done you think that and view wind as well. There are a number of free energy. You might be not as helpless because landowners who have the heat or the mounting costs. Studies have recently shown that almost 7 million consumers to look for viable alternative because the experience in home made diy solar kit.
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Japan's "Great Exodus"
The below graph reflects "The Great Exodus" of capital leaving Japan since 1990. When the Japanese bubble economy burst in 1990, Japan ceased to attract investment at the rate it had historically attracted investment capital post-WWII. Japan's bubble economy came to a frothy head during 1986 and 1990, while short-term interest rates lowered from 5% to 2.5%. The subsequent rise of short-term interest rates from 2.5% to 6% by 1991 brought an end to a great run for the Japanese economy.
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As reflected above, the Sun began to set on Japan the day the Bank of Japan began to raise interest rates in 1990. More than 30 years have passed without a single cycle of monetary policy tightening in Japan. Short-term interest rates have remained near 0% since 1996. The above graph reflects what has happened with regard to the decline in investment in Japan since 1990. This series explains why this decline happened and what might happen in the future under "Abenomics."
Japan's "lost decade"
Economists have referred to the 1990s as Japan's "lost decade." This expression captured Japan's overall decline, as explained by a decade of lost opportunity in terms of implementing meaningful structural reform in a declining economy. If only bad economics came discreetly packed in decade-long increments. As the yellow line above reflects, Japan saw its last investment hurrah between 1986 and 1990, and things have gone downhill ever since. The question remains: what can Japan do about growing investment? Japan's new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has some radical ideas that have rattled Japan's slumbering equity markets and drastically weakened Japan's currency since his election in November 2012.
"Abenomics": Larger budget deficits and aggressive monetary policy
As we noted in the first part of an earlier series, Japan's new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in conjunction with Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, will attempt to end the post-1990 deflationary spiral that has gripped the Japanese economy. These policies, known as "Abenomics," will attempt to encourage private investment through a more aggressive mix of monetary and fiscal policy. "Abenomics" aims to end deflation by targeting a 2% inflation rate, as well as to increase fiscal spending by 2% of gross domestic product, or GDP. This level of government spending is expected to raise the 2013 deficit to a whopping 11.5% of GDP in 2013—higher than that of the US budget deficit after the 2008 crisis, as well as present-day Greece's deficit (with approximately 10.0% budget deficits).
China ate my lunch
As the above graph reflects, China's entry onto the global economic stage of free market capitalism has led to a "Great Exodus" of capital formation. Foreign direct investment began to pour into China post-1976, as Deng Xiaoping's Open Door Policy began to develop. China began to suck in capital from around the world, as manufacturers such as Toyota rushed to mothball factories in high-cost G7 countries such as Japan and built new state-of-the-art manufacturing centers in China's new Special Economic Zones.
The Great Wall of cheap land, labor, and capital
The Japanese manufacturing economy, which had slowly worked its way up the value-added food chain from low-end manufacturing post–World War II, had run into a wall—the Great Chinese Wall of cheap labor, land, and capital. This increase in manufacturing competition for Japan was somewhat mitigated by the post-Regan Era of consumerism in the United States, characterized by high trade deficits—especially with Japan.
Japanese exports of products, such as vehicles, were also sustained during the W. Bush years, as the wealth effect of the housing bubble fueled consumption in the United States—pushing personal savings in the United States from the historical average rate of 6.85% to a record low of less than 1% in April 2005. However, since 2008, Japan, like China, may struggle to find strong buyers in the United States and Europe. As a result, there has been about as much interest in building new auto plants in Japan as there has been in Detroit.
A crack in the Great Wall?
The above graph reflects investment capital flows as a percent of GDP declining in both Japan and the United States post-2008, while capital flows have continued to explode in China. However, it's important to note that some very important things have changed.
What to watch for
Should the yen continue to weaken against the US dollar and Chinese yuan, the cost base differential between Japan and China could continue to decrease, leading to an improvement in Japan's terms of trade vis-à-vis China. It's important to note that Japan's wages have remained stagnant while its currency has dramatically appreciated over the last few decades. Contrary to these trends, China has experienced dramatic wage inflation, while its currency has remained largely unchanged against the yen since 1996.
Why the bull market in Japan could go into overtime
This decades-long relationship shows early signs of reversing itself under "Abenomics." The Japanese Yen has a long way to go before reaching its Regan Era levels of 260 to the dollar, just before the Plaza Accord led to the yen's secular strengthening to date. However, should Abenomics inflationary scare tactics steer the yen back on course for Regan-era levels of weakness versus the dollar, investors could see major changes for Japan, and the Japanese equity markets would very likely head deep into bull market territory for a long time.
As 2013 progresses, investors could see a continued outperformance of Wisdom Tree Japan Hedged (DXJ) and the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) versus China's iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (FXI) and Korea's iShares MSCI South Korea Capped Index Fund (EWY). For further clarification as to why DXJ could outperform both EWJ and other Asian equity indices, please see Why Japanese ETFs outperform Chinese and Korean ETFs on "Abenomics." Plus, as Japan pursues unprecedented monetary expansion, and the US Fed ponders monetary tightening, Japanese equities could also outperform broad US equity indices, as reflected in the State Street Global Advisors S&P 500 SPDR (SPY), State Street Global Advisors Dow Jones Index SPDR (DIA), and Blackrock iShares S&P 500 Index (IVV).
For related analysis, please see the following articles.


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Giovanni Battista PERGOLESI (1710-1736) L'Olimpiade - Melodramma in 3 acts Raúl Giménez - Clistene; Lyubov Petrova - Aristea; Yetzabel Arias Fernández - Argene; Jennifer Rivera - Licinda; Sofia Soloviy - Megacle; Antonio Lozano - Aminta; Milena Storti - Alcandro Academia Montis Regalis/Alessandro De Marchi rec. Teatro Valeria Moriconi, Jesi, Italy 2011 Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround Picture Format: 16:9, 1080i Region Worldwide Subtitles in Italian, English, German, French, Spanish and Korean Reviewed in surround sound. ARTHAUS MUSIK 108064 [170:00] L'Olimpiade is to a libretto written by Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known as Metastasio. Metastasio lived a long life from 1698 to 1782. His importance as a writer of opera seria today rests on Mozart's use of his words in La Clemenza di Tito and that is probably why the name is still familiar. However, he was of such significance that, according to Wikipedia, L'Olimpiade was set by at least 15 notable composers and, also from Wikipedia, the number of settings probably exceeds 60. The least obscure is by Vivaldi. Amongst this long roster of musicians several are moderately well known even today, for example Hasse, Manfredini, Mysliveček and there is even an incomplete setting by Donizetti. The story of L'Olimpiade was derived from Herodotus, but looking at the plot it is clear why it attracted such a startling number of musical settings in an age where singers, notably castrati, ruled the operatic roost. It has two sets of lovers, several examples of disguise and mistaken identity, a problem with loyalties, promises made and needing to be broken, kings, queens, princesses, shepherdesses and a couple of near executions. The opportunities here for expressions of love, sadness, fury and for farewells are considerable. When the castrati were no more Metastasio's popularity ended. Opera libretti became more concerned with people's feelings and events in history and his stories of ancient gods and heroes were forgotten. Pergolesi, as I noted in the review of La Salustia, died very young even by composer standards, of TB at the age of just 26. The present work was premiered in Rome in 1735 when he was 25. Having had such a short creative life his fame has been less than his talent deserves. He remains best known for La Serva Padrona, the archetypal opera buffa. So highly regarded was that piece that after his death passing off compositions as being by Pergolesi became a minor industry. This so muddied the waters of Pergolesi studies that it is only quite recently that organisations such as the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini at whose festival this performance was recorded, have clarified matters. The present piece is an opera seria and consists of a long stream of arias and recitatives mostly for high voices. There is no chorus but there is a substantial orchestra, by baroque standards, including strings, wind, brass and continuo. The stage director always has a problem with this type of opera: how do you stage it? The venue, the Teatro Valeria Moriconi, is a converted 12th century church now used as a studio theatre. Experienced director Italo Nunziata has opted for a cruciform stage with the audience all around it save for the ends of the cross which are used for entrances and exits and one for the orchestra who occupy a large recess. The action uses galleries all around the building as well as the stalls-floor. This poses impossible problems for the audio engineers who cannot represent the performance space in sound without demanding the listener sits in the middle. Here the solution is miking up all the singers and remixing the sound to emanate from the front channels, using the rear channels for low-level ambience. Not even stereo sound results let alone surround. It is undoubtedly artificial but needs must. The video has no such limitations and the cameras manage to dwell on the various characters as they emote to the demands of the story and then pan around to show us any surrounding action: there is not much of this. The costumes are a colourful mix of long frocks and boiler suits, but as has been said by me before, what can you do with these old operas? The question is, does it work as theatre? Yes it does … and very well. Pergolesi's inspiration is consistently high and the music never gets boring provided you enjoy the baroque style to begin with. Devotees of classical and romantic opera will have to make adjustments. If you think the stories of Cosi or Il Trovatore are unbelievable, try this! Interested readers are referred to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Olimpiade for maximum confusion. Among many high points are the Act 2 aria 'Se cerca, se dice: l'amico dov'è?' beautifully sung by Sofia Soloviy as Megacle and the Act 3 aria 'Nella fatal mia sorte' sung by Jennifer Rivera as Licinda. One can only admire the virtuosity of these singers and players. This must be as hard to sing as anything prior to the 20th century but I detected only a few signs of stress or exhaustion throughout close on three hours of music. The lightly dressed audience are busy fanning themselves so it must have been recorded in a heat wave, or just the usual Italian summer weather. The singers meanwhile have to contend with masks, alarming blonde wigs (everyone), variously high necklines or tight bodices, heavy bustles and mountains of make-up. Unusually I have not mentioned the menus on the disc; fear not, these are the usual labyrinthine facilities accessible only via your machine remote's 'top menu' button. The disc itself only offers playing trailers or the opera. Once the opera is selected then it will play the opera, offering nothing else until the viewer presses the above button. Getting back to, say, Act 2 after a tea break, requires starting all over again; the opportunity to pick up where one left off is not offered. Sound and picture are top quality but the former is, as noted, an artifice. The booklet note consists of a thoughtful essay by Italian academic Francesco Cotticelli entitled Olimpiade:Heroic Fable par excellence which assumes you are concentrating on what you read. If you enjoy baroque opera this issue is for you. Dave Billinge


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A college education is famously expensive. But what about the tests just to apply? Benjamin Tonelli wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal this week; and he questioned the costs of the SAT and AP tests that students have to take just to be considered for admittance to college, and asked if this doesn't discriminate against poorer families especially. Mr. Tonelli is a senior at Garfield High School in Seattle, and he joins us. Thanks very much for being with us.
BENJAMIN TONELLI: Of course, of course.
SIMON: May I ask how much has your family shelled out for these tests for you, for example, this year?
TONELLI: It has to be close to about a thousand by now. About $500 for AP tests, $100 for SAT, about another $100 for the subject test and then, of course, the $100 and something dollars to report it all.
SIMON: What makes you skeptical that these costs aren't justified? I mean, 'cause even the College Board has operating expenses, surely.
TONELLI: Yeah, of course. What really sealed the deal for me was when I had to pay $11.25 to report each individual score to colleges on my list. And, of course, I believe, you know, there has to be a lot of money that goes into proctors, the readers for the essays, all that stuff. To just send scores? It doesn't cost $11 per score.
SIMON: Of course, the College Board's a not-for-profit corporation.
TONELLI: Yeah. I mean, they pull in about $750 million-plus a year. In the last three years, there's been about a $60 million profit on average, and that's just insane.
SIMON: Well, let me follow up on another part of your argument, Mr. Tonelli. Do you think the costs of the tests deter students from applying to more than one college? And does it perhaps discourage poorer families?
TONELLI: Yeah, definitely. The College Board does do a great thing, which is the fee waivers. But where I think it really gets to is kids who don't qualify for those fee waivers but yet their parents still don't want to shell out money; you know, $50 for each SAT, and then almost $100 for each AP test. That discourages kids from taking more tests, getting higher scores, you know, competing with kids that have private tutors or had parents that set them up since elementary school to basically study for a single test.
SIMON: Any reaction from the College Board people? Because there's a part of me that would wonder, I mean, wouldn't it be tempting just to see your, you know, your name pop up on an exam and say: This guy's getting a zero.
TONELLI: Exactly, yeah. That was the joke that's been passed around. I basically am scared to log into my College Board account now, just in fear of my SATs dropping a couple hundred points or something. And so that's really the big fear now. But yeah, as of yet there's been really no response.
SIMON: Well, Mr. Tonelli, whatever happens, we wish you a lot of luck.
TONELLI: Thank you so much for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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About the Office
Dr. Onnie and Tina welcome you to experience an environment of healing, learning and research. Our office provides primary health care services, a nutrition center and an environmental medicine research facility. Living in Northwestern Wisconsin, it has become essential for our office to provide cutting-edge natural treatment and education for chronic infection and tick-borne diseases. We are dedicated in helping you understand your body, how it works, how it may not be functioning optimally, what the root cause of your symptoms may be and how that fits into your environment and lifestyle. Our mission is to teach and provide you with the tools and knowledge to increase and optimize your well-being and your surroundings.
Dr. Onnie Thatcher is a Chiropractor, Certified Nutritionist and Applied Kinesiologist. She is a practitioner of Mindfulness and she has also been trained in Chinese medicine, sports medicine and environmental medicine. Her education started early, growing up in a wholistic chiropractic family (Father, Uncle and five cousins). She graduated from Northwestern Health Science University in 1996.
Since then, her practice has grown mostly from word of mouth. Dr. Onnie provides a very unique way of healing. Using natural hands on medicine, natural remedies, lifestyle education and environmental awareness, she individualizes health care for you.
Tina Ashton is the Clinic Director. Her role is not only to run the office efficiently, but to also help the patient every step of the way. Tina has created guides, charts and tools to help you understand and embrace a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Onnie Thatcher's office is located in Luck, WI next to Cafe Wren. Office visits are by appointment only. For fee schedule and inquiries, please call or email the office.