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Seib & Wessel: Doomsday Machine of the U.S. Economy
David Stockman, former Reagan budget director, explains why he believes the machinery of government is massively failing, in an interview with WSJ's Jerry Seib.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
the ... on Jerry Sithe Wall Street Journal were joined today with the stock to its former budget director former congressman ... for private equity investor in Dell author of the book of big book ... called the Great Ephraim nation the correction of capitalism in America ... thinks ring with us when to be here ... in this book you are offering a forecast of where the American economy is headed that's dire it ... to say the least ... of your says that they can Claps why and how ... will I call it ... signed on in America and have a reason that he is the machinery of government I believe is massively failing ... in all its branches ... the budget is now so I control its the Fiscal doomsday machine the gap is today ... the inability to generate consensus is so great and I think we're just gonna add trillions and trillions and trillions ... the outlook is far worse than they are telling you it's not ... like that down ... I believe that the artist not on rosy scenario ... economics is on a banana peel heading up ... I think the Fed has become a cereal bowl bubble machine ... way off the deep end and anything that was ever failed to be reasonable or rational or sound historically ... there in so deep with its balance sheet of three point two trillion an expanding at this rate I don't believe they can get out ... all of Wall Street is simply from running with the Fed is doing ... our political parties are broken and failed completely I think they're basically glorified concierge is ... who entered as politicians the money that is acts Casey ... how you get re elected they stand for nothing no compromise everything ... we have had bad policy for a ... break from this inflection points ... in recent years the SEC terrible precedent the bailouts ... into away I think were terrible ... they were almost a coup d'etat ... by Wall Street not in some sinister sense but that retreat was running the thing ... based on BlackBerry's that they were looking out by the second I call it the black prepared to wait ... I think most of that ... was way exaggerated that would've burned out in the canyons of Wall Street I do not think there was a great depression to point older team ... I do not think the ATM Sweden going dark and I try to demonstrate this to payrolls ... we didn't destined in all of the legends that came out of that so now we have a system that leaves legends ... that only a few years all in the dark true ... we have the system is run by people who always thinking it's going to get better tomorrow ... there is a denial of the Rio ... huge problems we're facing ... in this machinery party's budget ... that the fact is all broken in on a very band chorus ... of that so ... that's a broad indictment the ... sink into a specific part of you that central banks ... this is um ... is ... in your view was the cause of the problem you're describing his money at its base at nine pm is not only easy money it's massively drastically crazily easy money ... we have the funds rate setting zero effectively only to awaken their promising to keep it there are ... two to fifteen at six years the zero percent money ... when you have the Fed saying that don't abide massively in the belly of the curve ... carry traders have any in the perfect set up ... by the two percent of the ten year get a one point healed ... he immediately repo at ... ninety eight cents on the dollar pay ten cents overnight hero and ... collect the spread last fall in the bank can sleep like a baby ... because Uncle Ben is basically said the funds rate to stay near zero ... and I mean there is a massive bid ... to keep all the risk assets and even that rate read on ... price up so when you know you can do that ... you're going to get massive carry trade speculation as the only thing that's happening ... that you are inflating for the third time you now in this entry the same bubble we're back to where we were interesting Lee four thousand seven hundred and fifty days ago ... the SNP five hundred is was where he is today ... I do think that was not a liquidity crisis into thousandeight that now there was a bubble that develop massively with too much false unsustainable destructive liquidity under the Greenspan burn Anqi ... policy of ... one percent interest rates from two to two o seven ... and then once he got everyone's speculating like crazy in you have the Wall Street down she stopped and I go through it ... top ten banks investment in the big universal banks ... their balance sheets from long-term capital was three point five to two ... trillion it that day ... eight years later was eleven point five trillion ... last Update ... eight trillion worth of balance sheet expansion ... on a couple hundred billion dollars with an equity all the rest of it was fun ... essentially leverage ... much of the wholesale money I've money ... that was raised not from depositors who are going to stick ... but from ... you know overnight Monday the ... unsecured commercial paper repo and so forth ... sell that set out a massive accident waiting to happen in the only thing that was going on ... is the Mr. market was finally bringing about his raffle ... cleansing ... that needed to happen so that these pyramids of leverage on leverage ... would be liquidated it would have stayed in the canyons of Wall Street ... you what the market forces work that will that we needed to we needed to have a generational a lesson see I would say ... Goldman should have gone down in a Twitter because Morgan Stanley was going down and Blankfein ... called Paulson Paulson admits for Crennel out ... in his memoirs ... that that he was told by John Mack Daddy was told by that point find you've got a say in Morgan Stanley because if you don't they're gonna come after us next ... I wanna say ... the Goldman's ... literally that ... could be a nation gone down because they were vulnerable and Goldman Sachs them would have spawned is a lot of talent there are twelve new firms the guys would afford ... him a firm for the guys would affirm the credit rating firm ... but one thing would be in for his they would all lost a hundred million dollars with the stock ... in the new firms they organize would not have been engaged in the same ... speculative reckless activity ... that frankly they're doing once again today ... you ... would ever move off the coast to make that clear ... your sis isn't moving back to the gold standard fix ... now I think what we need to do is move back to a Federal Reserve ... that is similar to what Carter glass established in nineteen fourteen we know him from class feel really he was a brilliant founder of the Fed ... when the greatest use of monetary and financial matters ever to serve in elective office ... in his idea was a bankers' pay ... in other words the Fed could not buy government bonds there was no open market there was no interest rate manipulation ... it was only a discount window where banks could come with good collateral penalty rate of interest ... floating free market interest rates and liquefy ... trade receivables are inventories ... in order to pay depositors ... that is not central planning ... that is the private market generating its own liquidity ... what we have now is the Milton Friedman model of cakes ever ... you know ... the system from any any poor in terms of a hard asset ... and let twelve guys on the open market Committee become the Politburo around the time the helpers Milton Friedman ... said that they have to be very stingy three percent never do more with less ... but he was naive politically in did not realize the sinner Lady Gaga Greenspan begin to burn Anqi people either have grade ideologies or power drives ... and they would soon be nationalizing ... doing LeBron Anqi Guild which was creating seven hundred million ... of new balance sheet which is new money ... an hour ... in September ... and October ... to allay ... yet his off ... the charts let let's pause for the fiscal side for one second so you say that the Republican party lost its sense of fiscal record rectitude in the Reagan ... era you were the Reagan budget director not briefly before nap years that ... did you ... eliminate fiscal rectitude in the Reagan or in Iran say in Esquire wrote a book read after I left saying the phrase you my book is called the triumph of ... politics and the failure of the Reagan Revolution ... and basically there was a plausible plan in nineteen eighty there was never put to numbers ... that said within view of the defense being cut back and domestic spending ... and ... in additional tax rate cuts what happened in the real world of to and fro of policy and politics ... is a defense budgets or ... enrage Amazon willing to ... even look at it is big government can stop it and was terrible I'm gonna be an awful analysis of that ... the tax cut that into a bidding war that a lot of people don't remember but in the summer of nineteen eighty one the Democrats were given away more revenue ... we were so ... you get an oil depletion allowance will do something to the Sabres in the think it's gonna be in the tax cut doubled in size ... and then we couldn't cut spending even by a third of what was needed we thought ... so by the fall of nineteen eighty one I realize that they had ... come apart the seats we needed a drastic midcourse correction ... we did a little but of late breaking daily reluctantly you raise taxes in the mainstream media for half of the tax ... cut was taken back ... but we never could get spending cuts we never could slow down the defense the war machine ... and as a result of that the Reagan plus bullish who was really just is seen on nominees successor ... in twelve years triple the national debt from one trillion ... over almost four trillion ... and the Republican politicians take away from that was well maybe guesses the matter after all ... thereby repudiating the fundamental tradition ... conservative tradition Republicans the Eisenhower ... balanced budget fiscal rectitude position of Republicans ... and then today after twenty or thirty years and have a whole generation of Republicans to ... basically ... you know wave their arms into deficit ... really don't think it matters last question did a lot of data career for one last test so some of ... the prescriptions that you offer for fixing the problems of the political side hear things like six year ... term limits a whole limits for president ... and for members of Congress ... short ... of that ... election the election seasons of public financing if it does love people say those rosette sleep ... on Democratic proposals ... are you saying that that democracy can handle the complexity of this ... of this fiscal problem that we create for so yes I'm saying we have to abolish incumbency bets with their ... moms too ... you can run for office be a citizen legislator ... spend six years never run your life to never raise and I'm ... never going to a fundraiser giving not getting a hoot about tax ... and K Street and ... whatever your view point his left writers Center go after policy change and then go back to life and you know be a shoe salesman ... for whatever you were before ... now you might say that's extremely takes a pass to school and and and I agree public finance only not one dime of private money not act nothing else ... p We collection ... every two years so a third of ... the system gets re elected but I say it's the only way ... that we can rescue the Democratic machinery ... from the massive barnacles ... of crony capitalism packs ... and money dominated finance otherwise it will never change every program in the budget is a jobs program ... every ... loophole in the tax code is a jobs program ... is Scott Hughes lobbies behind it ... and you see what happens we just drift kick the can ... and the problem gets bigger so I think you would need radical surfing do I think it's possible no ... Minnesota passes Constitution ... but the only reason I bring up is to basically ... established a standard ... to show how far we are from this ... and therefore why when I say send on America and I'm trying to be some Jeremiah ... and praise say he let's let's be honest around here this machinery ... is broke ... and is running towards the wall and in very dangers ... well this but when you made waves had admitted ... thanks for ... making some more with us today appreciate you joining us that ... on Jerry Sithe with a Wall Street ...


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Open Spaces
Speculations on Openings, Closings, and Thresholds in International Public Media
Saturday, March 13, 2010
By Patricia R. Zimmermann, Shaw Foundation Professor, Nanyang Technological University Singapore and codirector, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
Meet Bee Thiam Tan, Engineer and Archivist
"An archive is not a building," contends Bee Thiam Tan, " it is a memory institution."
Tan is the innovative executive director of the Asian Film Archive (AFA) in Singapore. His background is unusual for a film programmer and an archivist: he trained as an engineer. "The engineer tries to solve problems" explains Tan.
The problem: how to create an enterprise based in social entrepreneurial principles that would last 100 years, according to Tan. Another problem: the vibrant, emerging southeast independent cinema has not found a home in any of the national archives in the region and has not reached a wider audience.
The solution: a business model for an archive that both collects and programs works. It follows in the tradition of the European cinemateques in the 1920s. The AFA's business model evokes the current political economy of public media survival in underfunded and financially threatened nonprofit media arts institutions in the US. It can be summed up in one word that functions as both verb and noun: partner.
For storage of works and to increase access, the AFA partners with the National Archives of Singapore. To screen works, rather than building its own theater, it takes advantage of the plethora of theaters not filling up with audiences in Singapore. To find new audiences, it partners with secondary, polytechnics and universities with its Cineodeon program to encourage the development of more cinephiles, programmers and critics.
Asian Film Archive and its Films
Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, the archive was launched by Tan in 2005 to collect films from Singapore and independent, non-studio produced works not archived elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
The archive has collected 1,554 titles from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere in the region. The collection includes works by internationally acclaimed Singaporean filmmakers Erik Khoo, Royston Tan and Tan Pin Pin, Malay classic films, and films from the Golden Era of Singapore cinema in the 1950s and 1960s.Remarkably, it has saved 60% of the films made in Singapore, deposited in the National Archive of Singapore, an AFA partner.
AFA houses key works from the Malaysian new wave, including films by controversial documentarian Amir Muhammed (The Last Communist, 2006). It also has collected banned underground cinema works from China.
The archive focuses on films not archived in the larger national archives, such as the Vietnam Film Archive, the largest in the region.
In the last ten years, accessible digital video has ignited southeast Asian independent work. A festival circuit has emerged in the region to nurture these new transnational and cosmopolitan southeast asian film movements.
However, although many of these films receive accolades at internationally prominent festivals like Oberhausen, Berlin, Hong Kong, Sundance, Rotterdam and Pusan, they survive almost exclusively at film festivals, excised from theatrical distribution and non-cinephile audiences.
Community Building through Outreach
To solve this problem, AFA not only aggressively collects these films, but develops imaginative outreach strategies to get the works out to new audiences. They screen at schools, polytechnics, universities and museums. They partner with other institutions to do programming. And they run a variety of workshops on cinema literacy, archiving, film and culture, the archive's filmmakers, and filmmaking.
Referencing early cinema, the AFA 's Cineodeon project aims to build new audiences by training students to learn how to become programmers through a mentorship program. They appraise the collection, immerse themselves in watching films from the collection, and develop screenings where tickets cost one Singapore dollar (about 70 cents US).
The achievements of AFA as an independent arts organization need context. Pragmatic and business oriented, Singapore does not yet have as developed a nonprofit sector and noncommercial cultural and artistic milieu compared to other global cities like New York, Hong Kong, London and Dubai.
Social Entrepreneurship: Film History meets New Archival Models
Tan's ideas about social entrepreneurship, imaging technologies and search engines drive his unique conception of the role and function of an archive. As an engineer, Tan trained in new imaging technologies, but also harbored a passion for cinema. In 2003-2004, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area to be part of a special program to train entrepreneurs. There, he became intrigued by the idea of social entrepreneurship, the idea of identifying a social problem and deploying entrepreneurial skills to create and manage solutions through synergies and partnerships.
Motivated to learn more about national film archives and their challenges, Tan benchmarked archival practices around the world by backpacking through the US, Europe, China, Hong Kong and visiting major national archives. His goal: to solve the problem of how to develop a nonprofit that could sustain itself and make cinema sustainable for future generations.
Two historical movements in the United States inspired Tan.
The first was Anthology Film Archives, created by experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas. Tan admired that an independent media arts organization could be self-sustaining and attract ardent followers and fans.
The second was the vibrant civil society that defines the Bay area. AFA commingled the ideas of an independent media organization and civil society into an archive that not only collects films but convenes communities of discourse around those films. Rather than building a physical facility for archiving and screening, AFA partners with a variety of organizations in Singapore, such as the National Archives, universities and commercial theaters.
A Business Model for Sustainability
Tan's business model evidences a new vision of a mixed economy for a nonprofit media organization: 30-40% of income is derived from long term projects, 30% by corporate sponsorship, and 20-30% from DVD sales of works in the collection.
Dedicated to making its collection accessible, AFA sells DVDs by Singaporean experimental filmmaker Rajendra Gour, Philippine director Lino Brocka, the Malaysian new wave filmmakers such as Tan Chiu Mui, Singaporeans Roystan Tan and Tan Pin Pin, Vietnamese director Dang Nhat Minh, and collections of shorts from Singapore.
"AFA continually asks what kind of value do we give to filmmakers, to people, to users of the archive, to audiences, to scholars," explains Tan. It's this kind of interrogation of interface with users that caught the attention of Singapore's National Volunteers and Philanthropy Awards: in 2007, AFA was named the winner of its New NonProfit Initiative Award.
Tan's motto is simple: "an archive collects films and good will."

subset: commoncrawl


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Two years ago, fan-favorite novelist/comic book writer Greg Rucka decided to try something new. He embarked on a webcomic with artist Rick Burchett entitled Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether. It's a sublime title to go along with the high-adventure steampunk nature of the webcomic. Recently, with the webcomic still running, Rucka, Burchett, and editor Eric Newsom took to crowdfunding site Kickstarter in order to raise funds for a printed hardcover collection the first five chapters of Lady Sabre. The campaign needed $27,500 in thirty days to succeed; it reached that goal within several hours, and has raised over $100,000 with one week left to go. Rucka has also been busy working on a new creator-owned comic called Lazarus, which reunites him with former Gotham Central collaborator Michael Lark. A look at a future dystopia and the class struggles therein, Lazarus is due out June 26 from Image Comics. Rucka recently took a seat in The Outhouse to talk about his current work, crowdfunding comics, and why going out to dinner has been so important for his career.
The Outhouse (OH): We should start at the Kickstarter. At last check, you were well over 300% funded.
Greg Rucka (GR): Yeah, we're doing far better than our wildest dreams. It's kind of stunning.
The Outhouse: To what have you been attributing the response?
GR: There's me, there's Rick, then there's our editor/webmaster/social media guru Eric. We spent a lot of time on this campaign. If you go back on the site and look, we're asking readers if they thought we should go to a publisher or if we should go to Kickstarter about a year ago. We took a lot of time on the campaign; we really tried to understand what we were going to get ourselves into as well as we could, we really wanted to make sure that we knew going in financially what we needed to achieve our goal. We wanted very clearly for the Kickstarter to state "this is what we are doing, this is what you get, this is how much we are asking, this is where that money will go." I've only got anecdotal evidence, but I'd like to think that that was a huge factor, that we were very straightforward. A couple of people have called us "transparent," and I don't know what I think of that word, it always strikes me as a little buzzword-y, but we wanted to make sure that we were honest and we also understood what we were asking, which was "hi, we would like you please to pledge money to this goal. You don't know us, and the economy's not great, and we recognize that a lot of Kickstarters fail to deliver, even if they fund, and we do not intend to be one of those, and here is the best evidence we can give you to show our intentions are true and we're not a fly-by-night bunch of idiots."
So that I think was a part of it, and I also think we benefitted from the community nature not only of Kickstarter, which is crowdfunding, so obviously there is a community there, but also a relatively small but passionate webcomics community. We've got some dedicated followers, and they...it's great when Warren Ellis says "hey, Greg Rucka's doing a Kickstarter, go take a look," and it's great when Brian Bendis does that, or even Felicia Day for god's sakes, but we've got a couple dozen people who actually went out there and banged on the metaphorical doors of Facebook or Tumblr, and I feel like a lot of what we've done was made possible by them.
It's a long answer because I've been thinking about it a lot.
OH: How much time did you guys spend on looking at other Kickstarters to figure out "this is the way we want to do this?" What were some standouts to you?
GR: We looked at a lot of different Kickstarters, ones that had succeeded and ones that had failed. We also had the benefit of George Rohac, who used to be at Oni, and is now sort of...I'm not sure what you'd describe him as professionally, but he's done a lot of actual academic study on webcomics and fundraising and so on, and we consulted with him. He's very busy, we didn't get to talk to him a lot. There are certain Kicstarters you look at and you're like "there's no way in a million years they're going to hit that," like Dresden Codak, for instance. You're like "yeah, that ain't ever gonna happen." We honestly – and this isn't false modestly – when we entered the campaign, at least Rick and I, I'm not sure what Eric thought, but Rick and I were like "well, if we make it, it'll probably be in the last week." [laughs] We didn't think we'd make it in the first seven hours. We thought it would take three or more weeks to reach our fundraising goal. It's one of the reasons why we kinda freaked out about our stretch goals. All of our stretch goals had been fantasies. I had actually gone so far as to call a printer and quote them because, again, we wanted to be responsible. I actually ran the numbers, but I was like "maybe we'll be able to do two of these." Now we're on our fifth. I'm reluctant to name names, but I will say that there were certain things we saw in successful ones that we thought were very good examples. Communication was one. Clarity is really important. There are a lot of Kickstarters out there where you hit that page and...most people "tl;dr" it. There are a lot of pages out there when you look at people's campaigns and they are difficult to read, they're cluttered pages, they throw a lot of graphics at you, and it is not clear visually what the goal is, and what you get. There is an element of "what do I get?" that needs to be acknowledged, beyond "you get to feel good about helping us accomplish this thing."
I will say one other thing that I think we've been very good about: I think it's clear that we're not being greedy. The basic thing we were offering when we started was a hardcover, 192-page book for thirty bucks, and with that you would get all the digital options. If you go into your local comic book store and you pick up a 192-page hardcover, they're charging you at least thirty dollars. At least. And probably more than that. Normally forty, or forty-five. So I think it was evident that you were going to get a value. This is a good deal. Frankly, where we are right now, because of the stretch goals, you're actually getting three books. You're getting three books for the price of one. You're getting over four hundred pages of material right now. That's pretty good! I'd take that deal.
OH: It stood out to me that you actually had a mockup of what the book would look like on your page.
GR: We saw that on a couple of pages, and I thought that was really crucial, to show people "here's the physical object," or at least "here's a rendition of what the physical object will look like." That helps. It's funny, Eric did those in Photoshop, and the first couple he did, the spine was super-thick. It looked like a six hundred page book, and I was like "that's fantastic!" And he was like "yes, it's also misleading. I will have to make that smaller." Hopefully today, we're talking on a Wednesday, and Wednesday is the day we have our regular conference call, though admittedly lately we've been talking three or four times a week, but Wednesday is our regular conference call day, and hopefully today Rick will have completed the cover mock for a new tier addition we're going to unveil. We had done a limited edition that was all the bells and whistles, like fake leather binding, and slipcase and so on. That was a limited run, and we sold through on those, and it seems kind of like cheating if you say "it's a limited run! Oh, you bought all of them? We'll make more!" Then it wasn't limited, was it? So we got sort of a mid-tier, a nicer edition of the book. Again, this is all stuff we wanted to do at the start, and had been pricing. When we were looking at printer's quotes, we were like "we won't do this," but now it looks like there's a demand for it, and if people want it, then I'm not at all adverse to offering it.
OH: So now you've had your first experience with crowdfunding a comic, though obviously you still have fulfillment ahead of you –
GR: Yeah, there is that part! The part where we need to walk the walk! [laughs]
OH: I didn't mean to gloss over such an important process there.
No, I know. Obviously, you were segueing to another question, I can tell. It's just that I do want to make it clear that it's all well and good to raise the money, but it would be beyond shameful if we could not deliver the fulfillment part of the deal. I've heard people describe this as "the easy part," and one of the things I discovered is that it ain't. I thought you could just start a Kickstarter and click "go" and just walk away [laughs] and you come back thirty days later and you'd know if it had succeeded or not. That's not the case. You click "go," and it becomes your full time job for the duration of the campaign. And that's only the first part. We're going to have to make sure everybody gets everything we promised, and not only that but they get it in the time we've promised, in the way we've promised, and when they open the packages that they're pleased with it. It would suck if we were to take this incredible good will, and lose it because we screwed up on our end.
So yes, you were going to ask a different question. [laughs]
OH: Now that you've been through that part of it, I'd like you to talk about what place crowdfunding has in comics today.
GR: I think it's doing some incredible things. I really do. We could go on for hours about comics publishing. We could go on for hours about what the Big Two do, and how that affects every other publisher out there. I think one of the things crowdfunding allows very clearly is for creators to do their books exactly the way they hope to do them, and to actually engage that process at a variety of different levels. One of the reasons we wanted to do this, aside from the fact that it was important to us to engage the community and to work with our readership and everybody else out there, is that [long pause] I've been in comics for over fifteen years, and I've been publishing novels for twenty. There are things I understand about the process, but there are things I've never known. I've never known what happens from the moment that the editor says "yes, I have the book here," and then it goes to the printer. That aspect of the process has always been one that I've been really, really vague on, and that I wanted to understand. So for us, part of this experience has been really to control the creation of the work from beginning to end. From creating the strip, from writing it to drawing it to sharing it, from creating the book in InDesign, to quoting it, to understand the differences between cover stocks, and paper stocks and printing processes and binding, to the actual running of the presses, and the proofcheck, to the shipping and the distribution. You're talking about the deep weeds for me, and I felt it was long past time I understood those aspects of the industry. And one of the things you get, to get back to your question, is that we've seen creators go to Kickstarter to source funding for the creation of work, but then they will have it distributed through a publisher, and that's perfectly valid. So it allows a more nuanced approach, and it is also potentially and theoretically a meritocracy. If you have never heard of me, but I am presenting material that is of quality, then the opportunity is there to create and campaign a backing that will allow for the creation of said property. And god knows how difficult it is, even in this digital age where you can doodle on a napkin and scan it and "ta-da! I'm doing a webcomic!" There's still an element of – I don't want to call it legitimate publishing – but there is a difference in approaching the market and that range of distribution that does allow for more of a meritocracy, while at the same time catering to a very specific niche in some cases.
OH: What was it that led to the decision to offer Lady Sabre in a printed edition?
GR: Part of it, like I said, was Rick and Eric and I wanted to understand the process. Another part of it was...we had talked to a couple of publishers. A couple of publishers were really interested in distributing the comic. All three of us get hot and bothered over nice books. We're book people. On some level we wanted to make the book we wanted this to be, to really run tight over the quality control. The most important factor was what I said earlier, that webcomics are a community-based medium. We do not charge, and webcomics that charge for acess do not do well, for obvious reasons. You live and die on the strength of the community with your webcomic. If people are willing to come back twice a week or once every month or once every couple of months, that community...the work exists, but if no one's seeing it, that's a problem. So it mattered to us to work with our community base, to go to the people who have been supporting us and say "what do you want? How do you want to do this?" The response was we had people almost overwhelmingly say "we would like to see a Kickstarter for this. We would like to be able to back this. We would like to see you open this up to a larger community."
It's interesting because when you're running [your Kickstarter], you have access to behind-the-curtain metrics, and one of them is a pie graph that will show you where your backers are coming from, and breaks it down from backers who have found you through Kickstarter, and backers who have found you form outside of the Kickstarter portal. That first week, it was four to one from outside vs. inside. It was almost entirely from Twitter, and our site, and other sites. As our campaign has gone on, we've hit this sort of middle period where everything settles, and we've not wanted to oversaturate. We haven't wanted to be jumping up and down and saying "we're still doing this! Look over here!" And frankly, the success of the Kickstarter makes me feel a little uncomfortable. We've so surpassed our goal that, while we now have new goals, I can't help but feel a little bit awkward to go "hey, we're still doing this thing." So now more and more, backers are coming from inside the Kickstarter portal. But like I said, that initial response was the community response, and that was, if not the deciding factor, probably one of the most powerful.
OH: At this point I have to ask: how are you guys going to top yourselves with volume 2?
GR: I suspect that we will do a Kickstarter for it simply because this seems to be, if nothing else, a wonderful method of pre-orders, of distributing the book.
I honestly don't know if we need to top ourselves. What we need to do is prove that we were good to our word on this one. If we can do that, then I think we will be comfortable with returning to the community and saying "hi, we're back, and we'd like to do volume 2, and it's going to be consistent with what you have received. So if you like what happened before, we have it here again." I think we would do certain things the same way. There will be certain tier rewards that we would definitely offer. For instance, we do a bookplate. At a certain level, you get a bookplate that you can only get when you order through Kickstarter, so I know we would do a bookplate. It would be a different bookplate, it would be volume 2 specific, so there are things like that. We will do the Rare and Royal editions again. People seemed to respond very well to the character rewards, being able to appear in the strip, or being able to work with us on things like that. But on the bells and whistles side, I don't know. Right now we have one book all locked. That was the trade. We knew what that was going to look like. We can still make minor alterations to the interior and content, but we have another two that need to be prepped and are still in the design stage. I suspect that's going to be a lot more work than I thought it was. I'm not sure that we would offer those again. [laughs]
That said, I'm one of those guys who loves props. I love prop replicas. I want Deckard's gun from Blade Runner. I like the ephemera. I like being able to hold things from the fantasy in my hand. One of the books you get if you pledge is an ephemera book. It is a book from the story. I would love to do more things like that. I would love to find a cost-effective way for instance to do the Marshall's badge that Miles Drake wears. We looked into that over and over again, but we couldn't find a way to actually manufacture it because Rick's design is so non-traditional that we'd have to do a custom die, and I wouldn't want that to be shoddy. I wouldn't want that to be some cheap plastic thing.
I figure it this way: I don't know if we need to top ourselves, but if we do, we've got at least a year before I have to have an answer to that question. [laughs]
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About the Author - Royal Nonesuch
As Senior Media Correspondent (which may be a made-up title), Royal Nonesuch tends to spearhead a lot of film and television content on The Outhouse. He's still a very active participant in the comic book section of the site, though. Nonesuch writes reviews of film, television, and comics, and conducts interviews for the site as well. You can reach out to him on Twitter or with Email.
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South Dakota's Joe Glenn on Bye Week, Northern Arizona
It's the final non-conference tune-up game for the South Dakota Coyotes this Saturday, as USD travels to Flagstaff, Arizona to battle Northern Arizona of the Big Sky Conference.
The Coyotes were idle last weekend, and head coach Joe Glenn told me that the bye made for a different atmosphere on the practice field last week:
This week's destination is a unique one for USD. The Lumberjacks play in the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, which, when it was built in the late 1970's, boasted the largest all wooden roof of any facility of its kind.
The other factor when teams travel to Northern Arizona, the thin mountain air at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet above sea level.
But Glenn knows all about preparing for games at altitude. He was once on the staff at NAU, and coached against the Lumberjacks when he was the head coach at Montana:
The main goal of the Coyotes defense Saturday will be trying to contain Northern Arizona running back Zach Bauman, who is the all-time rushing leader in school history, with 13 100-yard or more performances in his career.
Coach Glenn says the key to Bauman's success is his running style:
When USD is on offense, they'll be going against a Lumberjack defense that features the Big Sky Player of the Week, linebacker Lucky Dozier.
Dozier was one of two NAU players who picked off passes and returned them for touchdowns in last Saturday's 21-10 win at UC Davis, the same team USD beat 10-7 back in August.
Coach Glenn believes there will be some opportunities to gain yardage against this unit:
Saturday's game is USD's first since a 31-14 loss at Kansas, September 7th.
Coach Glenn says despite the 17-point defeat, there were some positives to take away from that performance on the road:
Kickoff is set for 6:00pm Saturday night in Flagstaff.


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Esti Ginzburg : Israeli Model
Esti Ginzburg is a 22-year-old model from Israel, who is best known for her appearances in the 2009, 2010, and 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. Ginzburg has also modeled for brands like Tommy Hilfiger,Burberry, FCUK, Pull and Bear, and Castro. She made her acting debut in the 2010 Joel Schumacher film Twelve and was recently married to the real estate investor Adi Keizman.


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Member News:
Our Members Have a Lot To Share With You!
Let Us Celebrate By Giving To Those In Need!
Here are just a few of the ways to give this Holiday Season.
Emporium Popups and Emporium Chicago have decided to use the pop-up space at 2367 N. Milwaukee Av. as a hub for charity benefiting those in need across our city and our country. Starting on Friday, November 9th through Saturday, December 2nd, the "GOODBAR" project will operate as a charity driven popup bar and donation drop-off location. The space will be outfitted with multiple receptacles designated for charity donations. Recipient Charities will be Social Works, Toys for Tots and Greater Chicago Food Depository. Goodbar's hours are 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday-Friday, 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Sundays.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository has a great list of opportunities.
For information on "Toys For Tots" and how to donate click here
Logan Square Shop Small Saturday After-Party Hosted by Compass
Saturday, November 24th 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Join us at Rosa's Lounge for a Shop Small Saturday After-Party! Rosa's Lounge is a historic family-owned establishment, currently celebrating 34 years in Logan Square. Meet up at Idealty Chicago, 3206 W. Armitage Av. between 7:00 pm -8:00 pm & we'll walk to Rosa's together!
Cocktails and Condos- Homebuying Seminar
Tuesday, November 27th 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Please join Brooke Vanderbok of @properties and Ben Cohen of Guaranteed Rate at Cocktails & Condos: A FREE class on how to buy a home and how to secure a mortgage. Cocktails and appetizers will be provided. Catch a ride with Lyft $5 credit code: CONDOCLASS18
Pink Squirrel Client Appreciation by Compass Mortgage, Inc.
Thursday, November 29th 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Come eat, drink and connect with us, all while having a fun time bowling!
Redefining Discipline Parent Seminar
Thursday, November 29th 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
This workshop shows you that you no longer have to resort to hard discipline or soft permissiveness to guide your child. There is a better, more enjoyable way. We will show you how to stay in charge of your child's behavior while building his own capacity for healthy self-control. The result is that you will raise a child that grows up to be a happy and successful adult who makes positive and constructive choices in his life.
*Please note childcare not available.
Space is limited – please RSVP to firstname.lastname@example.com
Ample street parking and limited parking in lot behind school, enter via alley off of Belden or Sawyer.
Smart Love Preschool Hosts Toddler Music & Movement Play Time
Friday, November 30th 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm
Join Smart Love Preschool as they offer a music & movement play time in their toddler classroom! Families are encouraged to explore all that Smart Love's toddler classroom has to offer and to enjoy time with their child and others.This play date is geared for children between the ages of 12 and 36 months and is an unstructured and casual event, so share the fun and bring your neighbors and friends!
Space is limited – please RSVP to email@example.com
Ample street parking and limited parking in lot behind school, enter via alley off of Belden or Sawyer.
Smart Love Preschool Open House
Saturday, December 8th 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Come and tour our beautiful new building in Logan Square, meet staff, and learn more about Smart Love!
Smart Love Preschool provides a play-based curriculum for children 6 weeks to 6 years founded on the Smart Love philosophy of child development. We offer baby classes, "Let's. Play. School." for toddlers, Playschool for 2s & 3s, Preschool, and Kindergarten.
Space is limited – please RSVP to firstname.lastname@example.com
Ample street parking and limited parking in lot behind school, enter via alley off of Belden or Sawyer.
Logan Square Pilates November Specials
Logan Square Pilates
Taking a class at Logan Square Pilates + Core comes with perks at your favorite neighborhood spots! This month's #lsqplocalperk is with Saba Italian Bar + Kitchen! Visit LSQP this month and get a promo code to receive 15% off brunch, lunch, and dinner at Saba all month long. (Please note that the discount doesn't apply during other specials, including their happy hour, 1/2 off bottles of wine, and $10 pizza after 10pm.) Ask for the promo code at the front desk when you're in the studio next!
City Lit Books Logan Square's Independent Bookseller
City Lit Books
Book Clubs, special events, recommendations and most of all books!
Check out their calendar
Look Up at the 606 and See What You Have Been Missing
Every day is a great day on The 606, but we hope you'll join us this season for a few special activities—some on the trail, some off, some large, some small—but all designed to connect you to the trail, the parks, and your neighbors.
To see access points and maps click here
To lean about the almost daily events taking place on or near the trail click here
Comfort Station's Year-Round Art, Music and Film Presentations
Comfort Station
A multi-disciplinary art space in the heart of Logan Square hosting weekly music and movie nights, as well as other events.
Check out what's happening HERE
Champagne Dim Sum Brunch at Friendship Chinese Restaurant
Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Some gourmands believe that dim sum inspired the whole idea of "brunch" - the combining of breakfast and lunch into one perfect, mid-morning meal. Now you can enjoy dim sum in Logan Square all weekend. Friendship Restaurant is serving up a Champagne Dim Sum brunch every Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Rosa's Blues Lounge
We are presently celebrating our 34th Anniversary, and we invite you to share in the festivities.
To see the calendar of shows click here
Paint & Sip at Pinot's Palette
Discover a new way to unwind with your friends. Reconnect over your favorite beverages while a local artist guides you through painting your own masterpiece.
For more information and to see the calendar click here
City Lit Books "Story Time"
City Lit Books
Join us every Saturday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am (you're welcome to pop in late!). We'll have sing-alongs and read-alongs!
UIC Business Workshop "Venture Viability"
Upcoming Event
Wednesday, November 1st, 2017 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Wednesday, November 1st 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Illinois SBDC at UIC invites you to Venture Viability, where we will discuss if your idea has staying power. Is your idea really a solid business opportunity? As we discuss customers, product, competition, and profit; you will learn about tools for determining the viability of your new venture. Learn from our experts as you plan.
This will be Part 2 of a series of 4 workshops. We encourage you to attend all 4 sessions to gain maximum value from this series as the workshops will build on each other. Please RSVP for each of the 4 parts you intend to attend.
If you are thinking about opening a new business or want to get a start on a business plan, come learn from our experts.
There is no cost to register for the Venture series.
» calendar
Small Business Center Website
Preview the Small Business Center website, a one-stop destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs, for information on licenses, permits, and additional resources available to small businesses in Chicago. Please send your feedback to email@example.com.
Logan Square Aldermen
Joe Moreno (1st)
Upcoming events
Monthly Business Education Workshops
In the opinion of the Logan Square Chamber this is the most effective investment in time any small business or entrepreneur can make.
The Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) offers workshops every Wednesday and Friday. Workshops will vary each month and are conducted by City Officials, experts and partner business organizations. All workshops are free, and open to the public. Workshops are held at BACP's offices located at 121 N. LaSalle St., City Hall Room 805, Chicago, IL 60602. Facebook facebook.com/ChicagoBACP?fref=nf
BACP is also offering a program designed to give business owners the essential elements in starting and growing a business.
* Attend nine workshops at BACP and earn a Business Start-Up Certificate.
For more information or to register for a workshop call 312-744-5344. or download calendar:
Score Workshops Webinars and Seminars
Get the know-how you need with SCORE workshops
Learn from the experts with SCORE's small business training workshops. SCORE Chicago offers over 200 workshops and seminars annually at either nominal or no cost at multiple locations throughout Chicago.
"Save the Dates" for 2018 City Festivals/Events
Chicago Park District Program Sign-up
Forest Preserve's Schedule
Your favorite Chicago festivals & events are on the horizon. Save the dates for these and more.
September 5-November 21: Dame Myra Hess Concerts
September 7-December 22nd Juicebox
September 8-January 6: Tuned Mass: Jeff Carter, Faheem Majeed & Susan Giles
October 27-March 3: African American Designers in Chicago: Art, Commerce and the Politics of Race
November 16: Christmas Tree Lighting
November 16-December 24: Christkindlmarket
November 16-17: Magnificent Mile Lights Festival
November 16-January 6: Millenium Park Holiday Programs
November 17-January 6: Christmas Around the World at the Museum of Science & Industry
November 22: Thanksgiving Parade
November 23: Wreathing of the Lions
November 23 & 30 December 7, 12 & 14: Caroling at Cloud Gate
November 24-January 7: Zoolights at Lincoln Park Zoo
November 27: Lincoln Park Zoo Holiday Marketplace
November 29-March 7: Skating Theme Nights at the McCormick Tribune Skating Rink
November 30-January 6: Navy Pier Winter Wonderfest
December 1-31: Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo
December 6-9: One of a Kind Show
December 15-16: Randolph Street Holiday Market
December 17-18: So-It-Yourself Messiah
Visit cityofchicago.org/dcase for more information and more special events in 2018! All dates are subject to change.
click here for the Official Chicago Visitor Guide
Employment Opportunities
Dill Pickle Food Co-op has 4 positions available click here for more information and an application
"Be the Change!" Become a Chicago Police Officer
CTA has various job openings to apply please visit transitchicago.com/careers
The Census Bureau's Chicago Regional Office is currently seeking Field Representatives in Cook County to interview respondents.
Bicycling Safe Routes Ambassadors
Connecting Youth to a Successful Future with a Summer Job in Chicago onesummerchicago.org
Humboldt Park among others are seeking seasonal instructors click here for more information
EMT Training Class for Women (Tuition Free)
An EMT is an Emergency Medical Technician. These are the first responders who's duty it is to assess, stabilize and transport patients in a medical emergency. To qualify you must be:
Employment Opportunities With the Chicago Housing Authority
click here to apply
BRIGHT FUTURE: CPD & CFD Recruiting / Info Sessions
Those with sophomore students in high school considering careers of service in the Chicago Police or Fire Departments are encouraged to attend one of several recruitment and information sessions for the Class of 2017 coming up in the next few months.
AT&T is Now Hiring Sales Consultants
Bilingual Employees Needed at O'Hare
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has job openings available. If you would like to see the job listings and want more information, please click here.
Scam and Fraud Alerts
Senior Citizens Alert!
From the Illinois Secretary of State
Corporate Scam Alert— A firm called Corporate Records Service is contacting Illinois businesses in an attempt to collect a $125 fee to fill out a corporation's "Annual Minutes Records Form." The Illinois Business Corporation Act does not require corporations to file a "Minutes Records Form" or pay such a fee with the state or any private entity. Please contact the Illinois Attorney General's Office Consumer Fraud Division at 800-243-0618 to file a complaint regarding this scam solicitation.
From the IRS
The Internal Revenue Service today issued an alert to payroll and human resources professionals to beware of an emerging phishing email scheme that purports to be from company executives and requests personal information on employees. The IRS has learned this scheme already has claimed several victims as payroll and human resources offices mistakenly email payroll data including Forms W-2 that contain Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information to cybercriminals posing as company executives. If your CEO appears to be emailing you for a list of company employees, check it out before you respond. Everyone has a responsibility to remain diligent about confirming the identity of people requesting personal information about employees.
Read more from the IRS here
From the BACP
Know Before You Hire a Tax Preparer
Every tax season unsuspecting Chicagoans fall victim to tax preparation firms that use hidden charges and recommend unnecessary and expensive tax refund products like Refund Anticipation Loans (RALS) or Refund Anticipation Checks (RACS) to make a profit at the expense of citizens' deserved tax refunds. For more information click here
Always Be Alert
The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection protects consumers from deception and fraud in the marketplace. We accept and investigate complaints submitted online or via 311. BACP promotes consumer awareness to help consumers protect themselves.
MasterCard Phone Scam Hits Northern Illinois
Many consumers in Northern Illinois are reporting that they are receiving automated messages stating that their MasterCard has been compromised. The consumer is instructed to call and verify their information in order to get a new card. The Better Business Bureau warns that if an automated system calls asking for credit card information it is probably a scam. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is offering tips on what consumers need to know to protect themselves. If you should receive one of these calls you should: Not return a call from a pre-recorded message. If speaking to a live "operator" ask for his/or her name, department and extension. Then hang up call the number on the back of your card and ask for that person. Never provide personal or financial information to someone you do not know. Feel free to just hang-up. Using the number on the back of your card or on your statement call the credit card company that issued your card if you have security questions or concerns.
FRAUD ALERT: Warning for Property Owners in Cook County
The Cook County Recorder of Deeds encourages all property owners to sign up for notification every time paperwork is filed regarding their property.
ComED Phone Payment Scams
ComEd warns of individuals calling ComEd customers and falsely claiming their service will be disconnected unless payment is made. ComED will never call you to ask you for cash or request that you purchase a prepaid credit card to make a payment on your bill. If you have concerns about the status of your account, please call ComEd Customer Service at 800-334-7661. Visit comed.com/scamalert to learn more.
IRS Warns About Continuing Scam Phone Calls
The IRS is continuing to warning to taxpayers not to be fooled by impostors posing as tax agency representatives. These callers may demand money or may say you have a refund due and try to trick you into sharing private information. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They may know a lot about you, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. If you don't answer, they often leave an "urgent" callback request. If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here's what you should do: If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. The IRS workers can help you with a payment issue. If you know you don't owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 800-366-4484 or at www.tigta.gov. If you've been targeted by this scam, also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their "FTC Complaint Assistant" at ftc.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your complaint. Remember, too, the IRS does not use email, text messages or any social media to discuss your personal tax issue. For more information on reporting tax scams, go to www.irs.gov.
BACP Campaigns to Help Consumers Understand Credit Reports and Avoid Becoming Victims of Fraud
To help consumers stay safe, BACP has launched a campaign to ensure consumers know their rights when it comes to credit and avoid becoming victims of fraud. "The City of Chicago protects consumers from fraud by resolving complaints and taking action against fraudulent businesses," said Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. "We also take a proactive approach by promoting consumer awareness through educational campaigns to help people protect themselves."
The campaign is made up of Know Your Credit Report and Know How to Fix Your Credit Report.
Commercial Real Estate Locator
Commercial Real Estate available for lease or for sale in Logan Square.
Please try visiting the City of Chicago's new Site Selector online program:
You may also try these links to search for available properties:


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Disregard the rushing column for the Vikings
We had 28 total first downs. Wow.
Only 1 sack, go Okung!
We went into the redzone 6 times. We came away with points 4 times.
We were +2 in the turnover battle
We finally had a game we put away before the last drive! Yes!
Only 4 penalties for 49 yards
Percy Harvin only had 2 catches.
Bruce Irvin got a half sack and 2 QB hits!!!!!! YEAH!
We held Ponder to 2.0 yards per attempt.... HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAA
Earl Thomas dropped another INT.......
Had the same number of drives as the Vikings (10) but had 71 total plays (compared to 53), for an average of 7.1 plays per drive.
Bobby Wagner got 10 tackles, 5 solo, a sack, a TFL, and a QB hit. Is he a serious contender for DROY?
Sidney Rice got a perfect QBR of 100.0 lol
You guys notice anything?


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CHARENTON, La. (AP) - Police arrested a man suspected of shooting and killing a police officer and wounding two sheriff's deputies Saturday near a south Louisiana casino.
A Chitimacha tribal officer was pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings near Charenton, while two St. Mary's Parish sheriff's deputies were critically wounded and taken to local hospitals, said Louisiana State Police Trooper Stephen Hammons.
Hammons said the officers were responding to a fire at a trailer home near the Cypress Bayou Casino when the unidentified man allegedly shot them.
The casino is run by the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana. Hammons said the shooting occurred near but not on tribal land.
The names of the suspect and the officers weren't immediately released.
Hammons said firefighters were still trying to extinguish the blaze.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office referred questions about the shootings to the State Police.
"We've got a lot of unanswered questions," State Police Capt. Doug Cain said.
One of the injured deputies was taken to a hospital in New Orleans and the other was taken to a Lafayette hospital, according to Hammons.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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A Novel
Little Bee
A Novel
We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn't. And it's what happens afterward that is most important. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.
- Simon & Schuster |
- 304 pages |
- February 2010
Browse Related Books
Reading Group Guide
Little Bee, a young Nigerian refugee, has just been released from the British immigration detention center where she has been held under horrific conditions for the past two years, after narrowly escaping a traumatic fate in her homeland of Nigeria. Alone in a foreign country, without a family member, friend, or pound to call her own, she seeks out the only English person she knows. Sarah is a posh young mother and magazine editor with whom Little Bee shares a dark and tumultuous past.
They first met on a beach in Nigeria, where Sarah was vacationing with her husband, Andrew, in an effort to save their marriage after an affair, and their brief encounter has haunted each woman for two years. Now together, they face a disturbing past and an uncertain future with the help of Sarah's four-year-old son, Charlie, who refuses to take off his Batman costume. A sense of humor and an unflinching moral compass allow each woman, and the reader, to believe that even in the face of unspeakable odds, humanity can prevail.
see more


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Article Text
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Implication for practice and research
Increasing youth engagement in physical activity may have beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health outcomes.
Further research is needed to examine associations between objectively measured sedentary time and cardiometabolic health outcomes, adjusting for physical activity.
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the effects of sedentary behaviour on children's health, defined as sitting behaviours that require low levels of energy expenditure (≤1.5 METs).1 There is some evidence that sedentary behaviours may be detrimental to children's health, though the majority of associations observed are derived from cross-sectional studies examining television viewing and adiposity.2 This study adds to the literature by examining cross-sectional and prospective associations between objectively measured moderate- to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and …
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by: Lee Pitts
He was one of the best teachers I ever had, and yet we never met inside a classroom and he never gave me homework. He wasn't what anyone would call a professor or a Doctor, and he probably couldn't get hired at the same university today because he lacked a Doctorate. But make no mistake, he was one of the most qualified people I've ever met. I suppose that in a more traditional sense you could say he never was my teacher, so how come I learned so much from him? Although I never called him Mr. Jacobs, he was a father figure to me, even though he was only eight years older. From the age of 18 when I first met him we stayed in close touch and he taught me the entire time. He was simply a man who made things better, whether they be a kid, a cowherd or a ranch. Bill Jacobs was my judging team coach and to all of us who wear the Cal Poly buckle, he was a man to be respected and listened to.
You may have heard of Bill for other reasons, after all, at one time he was the part owner and manager of one of the best Hereford herds in America. After that venture he became the owner of the historic Turner Ranch in Oklahoma, one of the most storied ranches in the country. Bill even made that great ranch better. But what Bill was best known for was being one of the best, if not the best, judges of cattle in the country. Bar none. He could look at one and be more accurate than any computer.
To those of you unfamiliar with livestock judging, here's the recipe: you take some hardheaded, know-everything kids who like livestock, teach them to objectively evaluate them, and hone their skills to communicate and to give reasons in a forceful yet effective manner to justify their placings. Then you put them on a team and win or lose based on what kind of job the coach did. Suffice it to say, Bill's teams won a lot.
And oh, did we have fun! On a Playboy Bunny flight on the way home from Chicago they had to lock the Bunnies in the cockpit we were having so much fun. Another time we told the flight attendants that we were a gospel singing group from Oklahoma City and they asked us to sing over the PA system. I got to see Fort Worth, Denver, San Francisco, Phoenix, Portland, Kansas City, Chicago and other exotic locales for the very first time in my life because Bill took me there with his judging team. And make no mistake, it was HIS team. Bill was notoriously hardheaded and I tried to teach him how to judge, but I can truthfully say the only thing that Bill ever learned from me was how to shoot pool. I was giving him one of those pool lessons when a beautiful young lady walked in with her brother-in-law friend of mine. I told Bill right then and there I was going to marry that young lady and darned if I didn't. And Bill Jacobs stood by my side when I took that wonderful woman to have and to hold, to cherish forever.
One of my little idiosyncrasies is that I absolutely hate talking on the telephone. And Bill knew it. So he'd call me on a regular basis and I'd have to sit and listen for a good hour as he suggested topics I could write about that would get me in trouble with an ever-widening audience. So, quite naturally, I didn't pick up the phone when Delvin called to tell me about the single vehicle crash that took Bill's life.
I have in my possession some items that mean the world to me. They are the buckles I won judging livestock, and the buckle that shows I was a student of Bill Jacobs. Now, I don't usually make it a practice to preach in these little essays but, just this once, please allow me. You see, I'm angry and sad that my mentor was not wearing a seat belt when he was killed. I don't know if it would have saved his life, from the details it sounds like it might have. I do know that this telephone-hating hack would give all the gold buckles in the world to get one of Bill's dreaded phone calls right now.
So, please, next time you get in a vehicle I hope you'll remember the last lesson my friend and teacher gave me: Buckle up. Trust me, it really is the best buckle of all.
Don't forget to
Cattle Today Online!


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GOLD HILL — Jackson County Fire District No. 3 volunteer Kyle Kinser took a rare day off from his post at the agency's Gold Hill fire station on Sept. 8 to enjoy a sunny, warm, late summer day.
Of course, a blaze broke out that afternoon in a home on Maple Lane, just down the road from the empty fire station, which usually is staffed with volunteers and interns eager to learn on the job by attacking a fire.
"That Maple fire just happened on the wrong day," Kinser said, disappointment etched on his face.
The fire burned a garage and the nearby home before it was extinguished by District 3 crews who had rushed to the scene from White City and Central Point.
It took 12 minutes for those crews to arrive. By that time, Archie Powers' home was in ruins, and he was left wondering why there was a fire station in Gold Hill if it wasn't staffed.
What he didn't know is that District 3 is not required by law to keep Gold Hill's station manned with firefighters. It is a volunteer station that is staffed only when there are available bodies.
This is an issue that District 3 Chief Dan Petersen is working to correct. The chief has made it a priority that the agency build a thriving volunteer corps that will keep the Gold Hill station staffed at all times.
This task has been given to Battalion Chief Brandon Mitchell. He was recruited away from a fire agency in the Atlanta area to help with District 3's volunteer and rural fire programs.
"We are determined to increase the reliability and dependability of our responses to the rural areas and Gold Hill," Mitchell said.
Petersen added that even if the Gold Hill station had been staffed that day, the crew might have been on a medical call in Sams Valley when the fire sparked.
"There still might not have been anyone at the station, because they could have been on a heart attack call," Petersen said.
Building a solid volunteer corps is a demanding process. Not anyone can just sign up to man a shift at the Gold Hill station, Petersen said.
"The training and time commitments involved make it difficult for most people to be volunteers," Petersen said.
The federal standard for a volunteer demands that he or she have significant training in fire science and safety, Petersen said. Prospective volunteers have to train for about eight hours a day for a month before they can be stationed.
These standards involve training in medical emergency techniques, wildland fire suppression strategies and proper engine driving.
When the agency implemented these new standards about three years ago, it had to dismiss about half of its volunteer force. They simply didn't meet the federal requirements, Petersen said.
District 3 has since instituted an intern program in which it will pay for a college student's studies in fire science at Rogue Community College in exchange for shift hours at the volunteer station.
Petersen said these interns are go-getters looking to start a career in firefighting.
"They come here and are dedicated and want to learn," Petersen said. "And when they leave here, we have provided them with a great resumé."
Often, these interns are hired by other agencies or are taken on by District 3 as fully paid firefighters, Petersen said.
The agency has budgeted for 14 intern positions and hopes to fill them all. However, finding interns can be difficult.
"They are in a position of public trust and they have to meet the background and character standards for the job," Mitchell said.
Response times to Gold Hill have dipped to about four minutes when the station is staffed with volunteers and interns, Petersen said. Though generally there is someone at the station at all times — including a person who lives there — the department's goal is to develop a schedule several weeks out that guarantees staffing at the station 24/7.
"We are going to see our volunteer force increase significantly," Petersen said.
Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 541-776-4471 or email email@example.com.
A need for firefighters
GOLD HILL — Jackson County Fire District No. 3 volunteer Kyle Kinser took a rare day off from his post at the agency's Gold Hill fire station on Sept. 8 to enjoy a sunny, warm, late summer day.


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Seagate's SSD is new but the components are familiar
Subject: General Tech | May 7, 2013 - 03:44 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ssd, Seagate, LM87800, 600 Pro, 600, LAMD
Seagate has used Link_A_Media's Amber LM87800 controller and Toshiba Type C 19nm MLC NAND along with their own custom firmware to create the Seagate 600 series of SSDs. The components are very similar to Corsair's Neutron series of drives, it seems that the biggest difference is going to be in the functionality of the firmware. The first difference [H]ard|OCP spotted was in the efficiency of the drives, they pulled less power than their rivals and the Pro version sported enhanced endurance and power capacitors which will be very important to enterprise users. Check out the full review to see where they sit in the pack after the benchmarks were all completed.
"Seagate refreshes its line of consumer and enterprise SSDs with a new family of third-generation SSD products. We take a look at the consumer mainstream Seagate 600 and the enthusiast model, the Seagate 600 Pro. Will its LAMD Amber LM87800 controller, custom firmware, and Toshiba Type C 19nm MLC NAND make it a standout?"
Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
- Seagate 600 SSD Review (480GB) @ SDD Review
- Seagate Pro 600 Enterprise SSD @ Tweeaktown
- Seagate 600 SSD ST480HM000 480GB SSD @ Tweaktown
- Seagate 600 SSD 240GB RAID Report @ Tweaktown
- Seagate 600 SSD ST240HM000 240GB @ Tweaktown
- Samsung 840 SSD 250 GB @ techPowerUp
- Seagate Constellation ES.3 4TB Review @ OCC
- Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB Hard Disk Drive Review @ Madshrimps
- iStarUSA BPN-DE340SS Storage Bay Adapter Review @ NikKTech
- Teratrend TS231U Dual Bay USB 3.0 / eSATA Enclosure @ Tweaktown
- QNAP TS-669L 6-Bay NAS @ Tweaktown
- Silicon Power Armor A80 1TB USB 3.0 Portable @ Bjorn3D
Seagate Enters The SSD Market With The 600 and 600 Pro SSD Series
Subject: Storage | May 7, 2013 - 02:27 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: ssd, Seagate, LM87800, 600 Pro, 600
Seagate has officially moved into the solid state drive (SSD) market with two new consumer drives: the 600 and 600 Pro series. The new drives come in capacities ranging from 100GB to 480GB. Both series utilize the Link A Media (LAMD) LM87800 SSD controller and 19nm 2-bit per cell MLC NAND flash from Toshiba. Seagate has not provided pricing or availability dates, but pricing should be in-line with existing drives, and reviews are already available around the Internet.
The Seagate 600 series is the lowest-tier solid state drive. It will be available in 120, 240, and 480GB capacities. Seagate is using 128GB, 256, and 512GB of NAND flash on 2, 4, and 8 channels respectively. In addition to the LM87800 SSD controller (which features custom Seagate firmware) and NAND flash, Seagate is including 1MB of DDR2-800 DRAM per 1GB of NAND flash for a total of 128, 256, and 512MB of DRAM on the 120, 240, and 480GB capacity drives.
The 600 Series is rated at up to 500MB/s peak 128KB reads and 400MB/s writes (limited to 300MB/s on the lowest-capacity 120GB drive). Further, Seagate states that the 120GB drive is capable of 80,000 random read and 60,000 random write (4K) IOPS, while the 240GB and 480GB drives can reach up to 80,000 random read and 70,000 random write (4K) IOPS.
Also note that the 600 series comes in both 7mm and 5mm form factors, which makes it compatible with most laptops. Seagate provides a 3 year warranty on the 600 series.
The Seagate 600 Pro series steps things up a notch by adding overprovisioning, capacitors for power-loss protection, and a longer 5 year warranty. The 600 Pro series will come in 100, 120, 200, 240, 400, and 480GB capacities. The 100, 200, and 400GB versions of the SSD offer additional overprovisioning which gives the SSD controller more space to work with. The capacitores are intended to provide enough power in the event of a PC power loss to write all data to the NAND flash and prevent data loss.
The 600 Pro drives offer the same 6Gbps SATA interface, LM87800 controller, and 1MB-to-1GB DRAM to NAND ratio. The Pro drives do not come in the 5mm high form factor, so laptop compatibility is limited.
Further, the 600 Pro Seagate SSDs are faster drives. According to Seagate, the Pro series offers up to 85,000 and 30,000 random read and write (4K) IOPS on the overprovisioned drives and p to 85,000/11,000 random IOPS on the 240 and 480GB drives. The 100 and 120GB drives are slower than the other drives though due to less NAND flash and channels between the flash and controller. The chart below details the rated specifications for all of the announced drives.
|600 Pro
|600 Pro
|600 Pro
|600 Pro
|600 Pro
|600 Pro
|Random 4K r/w KIOPS
|128KB r/w sustained sequential
|128KB peak sequential r/w
Blank areas indicate that rated specifications were not available.
Fortunately, the reviews available online (such as AnandTech's) do seem to support the new drives as far as performance is concerned. The drives are stacking up nicely versus the competition, which is interesting given the controller choice. For example, the sequential read speed looks promising.
The 600 and 600 Pro drives are looking like solid drives so long as the pricing is competitive. I'm excited to see where Seagate goes from here.
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Maryland's recent slump has not been a total shock to second-year coach Mark Turgeon. When he looked at the schedule before the season, Turgeon saw how difficult the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference slate might unfold for a young team.
"That was a big concern of mine," Turgeon said Monday, before Maryland practiced for Tueday's 9 p.m. game against Boston College at Comcast Center. "No matter how hard you coach young kids, the league's new. The beginning of the league schedule was a big concern to the staff and how we were going to handle it."
Maryland has been erratic, at best, its cold shooting and a lack of veteran leadership of late contributing to three losses in four games. Turgeon is clearly disappointed with the way the Terps came out in the first half of Saturday's 62-52 loss at North Carolina, and he feels even worse about his team giving one away in the second half of a 65-62 loss at home to Florida State on Jan. 9.
"We didn't care of business in one home already, so it puts us even further behind than we were already," Turgeon s aid.
Truth is, as hard as the first half the ACC schedule with games at Miami (17th in the Sagarin ratings and now 25th in the country), and how hard it could be when the Terps go back on the road Saturday at Duke (ranked second in the country and third in by Sagarin), the second half could help Maryland secure its first postseason bid in three years. (I'm saying the NIT looks more likely than an NCAA bid right now.)
Maryland plays Wake Forest (138) at home Feb. 2, at Virginia Tech (134) in Blacksburg on Feb. 7., and after playing Virginia (59) at home on Feb. 10 and Duke six days later in College Park, the Terps play at Boston College (123) at home against Clemson (75) on Feb. 13 then at Georgia Tech (100) and Wake Forest.
Turgeon, whose team is No. 53 in the Sagarin rankings, is trying to get his players to look neither back nor ahead.
Turgeon's theme for the Boston College game is "Next Play."
"We've got guys that will hang their head and never snap out of it. It's like, 'C'mon, next one, next one. Just snap out of it and try as hard as you can," Turgeon said. "A lot of coaches do that, a lot of teams do that [in picking a motivational theme]. That's where we are right now. So you don't think about what's going on and just think about the next play."


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Gym Planning and Design
Gym design is vital to member satisfaction and commercial success. If you are designing a new facility, or refurbishing an existing fitness area, there are some key factors to consider prior to the gym fit out, which include:
- Usage trends, capacity and membership targets
- Age and gender profile of membership
- Footfall and member flow
- Ambience, natural lighting, colour schemes and aromas
- Energy efficiency
- Technology future-proofing
- Floor finishes
- Sustainability, including environmentally friendly fixtures and fittings
- Accessibility
- Flexibility for future equipment rotations or expansion
- Secondary spend facilitation
- Areas for Personal Training instruction
Complete health club design support
Precor is one of the world's leading fitness equipment manufacturers, and our CV and strength machines are chosen by fitness facilities, hotels and individual exercisers in over 90 countries across the world. Accordingly, we take an extremely thorough approach to gym planning and design.
We have decades of experience within the fitness industry, combined with a wealth of Precor-commissioned and independent research. The fitness industry is constantly evolving – never has the market been more competitive and never have customer expectations been higher. Accordingly, we embrace the very latest concepts and principles, focussing upon the creation of varied and stimulating bespoke gym environments.
Precor sees the gym planning process as a collaborative effort, and we work with our customers, project managers, builders and architects to ensure each new or refurbished fitness facility meets all member and commercial aspirations. Precor's health club planning and design services include:
- Complete design and installation project management for new gyms or gym refurbishments
- 2D and 3D Computer Aided Designs (CADs)
- Fully-animated virtual tours
- Audio Visual planning and compliance
- 360 degree photography tours of completed installations
Planning a new gym fit out?
To learn more about how Precor gym designers can assist you, please contact us.


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By: Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
March 28, 2009
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University baseball team hosted HCAC foe Mt. St. Joseph on Saturday, March 28, and the Lions continued their solid play as they completed the sweep with another victory against the Beavers, 4-2. Bluffton fell to 8-11 this season and 3-4 in the Heartland Conference, while the Lions improved to 4-3 in the conference and 11-8 overall.
The Lions tallied two runs before the Beavers' offense came up with their only scores of the contest in the bottom of the fourth. Corey Conn (London) opened with a single to left field. Cody McPherson (Northwood/Millbury Lake) followed with a rip to left center and he took second thanks to a misplay while Conn advanced to third. A sacrifice fly from Tyler Stephenson (Springfield/Northwestern) resulted in Conn racing home. After moving up 90 feet on a groundout, McPherson scored when senior outfielder Chris Bauman (Milford) slammed the ball into right field.
However, four innings later the Lions rallied for two unearned runs to break the 2-2 tie and The Mount held Bluffton scoreless in the eighth and ninth to finish the sweep at Memorial Field.
Matt Perkins (Convoy/Crestview) pitched 7.1 superb innings, but was saddled with his first loss of the season (2-1) as he held the Lions to three runs, two earned, on six hits. Perkins limited MSJ to two walks and he fanned eight batters. Adrian Fritch (Edon) gave up three hits, three walks, and one run in 1.2 innings of relief.
Corey Conn went 2-of-4 and scored once for the Beavers. Tyler Stephenson and Chris Bauman added one RBI apiece.
The Bluffton University baseball team returns to action on Tuesday, March 31, when the Beavers host conference rival Manchester College. The contest is slated for 4 p.m. at Memorial Field.


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Stacy Keibler made looking good look easy last night.
Wearing a form-fitting metallic gold strapless Marchesa gown, the Baltimore native walked the Oscar red carpet alongside boyfriend George Clooney. As Clooney worked the crowd of fans stationed near the Oscar theater's entrance, Keibler stood quietly back and basked in the reflected glow.
"I feel good," said Keibler, who's been a mainstay at Clooney's side as the best actor nominee has stormed his way through the awards season. He'd already won a Golden Globe for his performance in"The Descendants," and he could win his second Oscar tonight.
"This is so amazing," Keibler said as the...


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BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The bomb assassination of one of Lebanon's top intelligence chiefs, a fervent foe of Syria which is widely perceived to have masterminded Friday's attack, has intensified fears the divided country faces another wave of political killings.
As the civil war in Syria, which has long sought to control its tiny Mediterranean neighbor, escalates daily, Lebanese are alarmed that the embattled Damascus regime will seek to destabilize the region.
They worry that means unleashing another bout of bloodletting like that triggered by the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of Lebanon's foremost statesman, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Indeed, there's a long thread running from wiping out Hariri's entire motorcade of five armored limousines nearly eight years ago and killing Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan last week in a crowded Beirut square near his headquarters.
Hariri, a billionaire tycoon and five times prime minister, was, like Hassan, a Sunni Muslim and a staunch opponent of Syria and its Lebanese allies who dominated Lebanon.
They were seen as responsible for killing Hariri and 22 others in a massive suicide bombing in central Beirut after he vowed to end Syria's 29-year occupation of his country.
Damascus denies that. But in June 2011, a U.N.-mandated international tribunal indicted four members of Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement allied to Damascus and Tehran, for the attack. Tribunal officials say another two may be indicted soon. Hezbollah denies involvement in killing Hariri but is widely seen as the culprit.
The assassination of Hassan, who was close to Hariri and played a key role in hunting his killers, follows alleged assassination attempts to kill three other anti-Syrian figures since April and at least one bid to kill Hassan and his chief, Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, the ISF commander.
On Jan. 28, the An Nahar daily -- whose virulently anti-Syrian former Editor Gibran Tueni was assassinated weeks after Hariri was slain -- reported that Hassan's ISF intelligence arm had thwarted a plot to kill him and Rifi.
Security sources later said two hit teams planned to plant two bomb-laden cars on two side streets leading to ISF headquarters in the Achrafiyeh quarter of Christian East Beirut, a couple of blocks from the spot where Hassan was killed Friday.
The bombs were to be detonated by remote control as the cars carrying Rifi and Hassan passed. But Hassan's extensive intelligence network learned about the planned ambush. One report said one of the teams was caught.
There were clear similarities to the Hariri assassination.
Hassan had been extremely close to Hariri, having been assigned by the ISF, a predominantly Sunni force loyal to Hariri, as the head of the prime minister's official security detail, which was separate from Hariri's own security team.
It was Hassan who some time before Hariri's killing became suspicious that Ali al-Hajj, a senior security official seconded to Hariri's security apparatus, was working for Syrian intelligence, which at that time ran virtually all of Lebanon's security apparatus.
Sources close to Hariri say the prime minister, primed by Hassan, fed false information to Hajj, which the Syrians acted upon, thus exposing Hajj. Hajj was removed from Hariri's retinue. But since Syria controlled Lebanon's security apparatus, he was promoted to head the ISF.
After Hariri was killed, Hajj was one of four pro-Syrian Lebanese security chiefs arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder. They were held until August 2009 but never indicted.
Security sources say Hajj ordered his men to remove the hulks of the vehicles from Hariri's motorcade from the scene of the 2005 bombing, seen as an attempt to eliminate vital forensic evidence.
In the 2 1/2 years that followed, 11 prominent anti-Syrian figures were assassinated, all but one by bombs. Three others survived attacks.
Lebanon's president and prime minister have publicly fingered Syria for killing Hassan. Damascus and Hezbollah deny involvement.
But Hassan was clearly a threat to the Syrian regime.
Earlier this year, he uncovered an alleged plot to smuggle explosives into Lebanon for terrorist attacks. It centered on former Lebanese Information Minister Michel Samaha, a longtime ally of Damascus. He was arrested Aug. 9 and reportedly confessed.
Samaha, a Christian, was allegedly taped by one of Hassan's agents discussing the plot with the former head of Lebanon's General Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, one of the pro-Syrian generals locked up with Hajj. Sayyed disputes that.


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WBC Silver super middleweight champion James DeGale MBE steps back into the ring at Glow, Bluewater, on Saturday November 16, live on Channel 5, with an opponent to be announced shortly. The Beijing Olympic Gold medallist, DeGale, will be looking to deliver a "devastating" performance as he continues his march towards world title glory. "I can't wait to get in there and put on the kind of display where people take note and see that I'm ready and willing to fight the best," DeGale said "I'll put on a great performance for the fans." The man, fondly known as 'Chunky', bids to add to Britain's Olympic legacy and his own 2008 success, by becoming our first Olympic and professional world champion. This is the feat James is targeting and his next step towards this historic achievement is a "devastating" display in front of a full house, at Glow, Bluewater. "Bluewater always has a real intensity about it and a real intimate feel, which is something that the boxing fraternity and us as fighters love," DeGale said. "I just can't wait to get in there and give a huge, devastating performance that takes the atmosphere to another level." This will be James' third fight of 2013 after confident and explosive stoppage victories over Sebastien Demers on his Canadian debut and Stjepan Bozic in his last fight at Glow, Bluewater. This fight couldn't arrive at a more telling time - as the super middleweight division is heating up and delivering huge clash after clash. "When you look at the super middleweight division, it really is a great time, as there are no easy fights, no easy world champions," DeGale said. "You'd have to say Andre Ward is number one and then you'd probably have to say it's Carl Froch, but when you look at the list of other fighters in the division, the likes of: Mikkel Kessler, Thomas Oosthuizen, Lucian Buté, George Groves, I think it's very difficult to say who number three is, who number four is.
"It's a really strong division with a lot of talented fighters and I'd say I'm inside the top 10 and very excited to mix it with the best and show everything I've got." One contest at the forefront of James' mind is the domestic scrap between WBA and IBF world champion Carl Froch and title challenger George Groves. "I look at the Froch vs. Groves fight and I know that in the next six months it's likely that I'll fight the winner of that one, so it really is exciting times," DeGale said. "I'm ready and willing to fight anyone and it's time to step up and face the best." James knows that he may be just one or two fights away from such a fight and is now looking to deliver a real signal of intent when a fitter, faster, focussed DeGale erupts on November 16th. "I'm delighted to bring James back to Glow, Bluewater," Mick Hennessy said. "James is a world class fighter and this is a truly world class venue, where we can give the fight fans what they want - a superb fight and show that James is ready for anyone in the division."
© 2000 - 2011 Knockout Entertainment Ltd & SecondsOut.com


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Verizon has published a new video on its YouTube channel, an advertisement for the new Windows Phone 8X by HTC. The title "Ummm/Ohh" pretty much sums up the entire commercial, which we expect to see on the big screen shortly with the launch of the Windows Phone already in full effect.
The advertisement compares the simple, yet intuitive UI of Windows Phone with complicated electronics that consumers may use on a daily basis. Other devices are met with a confusing "Ummm", while the HTC 8X appears on-screen with a greeted "Ohh!". It's cute, but we like cute.
The only issue affecting Verizon's customers is that the HTC 8X itself is indeed delayed until November 27th. We can state that the wait will be more than worth it though.
Source: YouTube


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By: Mark McGrouther, Category: Science, Date: 13 Oct 2010
Can you imagine living without the vertebrae in your neck? Surely no animal on earth has a backbone that doesn't connect with its skull. Think again ...
Larval (baby) fishes have skeletons made of cartilage. As the fish grows the cartilage ossifies (changes to bone). In the vast majority of bony fishes most of the flexible 'spinal support' (the notochord) is totally replaced by bone. It has been known for many years that the stomiid fishes (bearded dragonfishes) have a region of 'spine' behind the head that lacks vertebrae. This region, called the occipito-vertebral gap, is clearly visible as a blue strip* between the skull and the red coloured vertebrae in the top image. In the early 20th century it was proposed that this gap allowed the fish to bend its head backwards to an extraordinary degree, allowing it to efficiently swallow large prey.
Nalani Schnell (University of Tuebingen), Dave Johnson (USNM, Washington) and Ralf Britz (NHM, London) were awarded the Reinhard Rieger Award for excellence in research in zoomorphology for their 2010 paper (see below). They investigated the development of the occipito-vertebral gap by staining specimens to show the bones (red), cartilage (blue) and nerves in different colours. For most bony fishes ossificaton of the backbone starts at the front of the fish and proceeds towards the tail. Surprisingly, in the stomiid fishes, ossificaton proceeds in the opposite direction. Schnell, Johnson and Britz' research confirmed that vertebrae behind the skull fail to form in two stomiid genera (Chauliodus and Eustomias), plus Leptostomias gladiator. Interestingly the bones above and below the notochord (red triangles in the top image) develop but the vertebral centra (the circular 'body' of each vertebra) do not. The remaining 24 stomiid genera also have an occipito-vertebral gap but do have a full complement of vertebrae. These fishes have an extended portion of the notochord, a condition that is highly unusual for an adult fish.
* Despite being stained blue, the notochord is not made of cartilage. For those of you who really want to know ... it is composed of cells derived from the mesoderm and is surrounded by several layers of connective tissue.
Schnell, N. Britz, R., & G.D. Johnson. 2010. New Insights into the Complex Structure and Ontogeny of the Occipito-Vertebral Gap in Barbeled Dragonfishes (Stomiidae, Teleostei). Journal of Morphology. 271(8): 1006-1022. View the full paper.
Tags fishes, ichthyology, backbone, vertebrae, Schnell, Johnson, Britz, Viperfish, Chauliodus,


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ReleasesBack to
Ed Thigpen
Jutta Hipp, a talented German pianist, came to the United States in the mid-'50s and quickly gained some attention. However, she was soon criticized for sounding too close to Horace Silver and, after recording this final Blue Note album, she gradually dropped out of music. Reissued in 1996 on CD with two extra selections, Hipp's boppish music on the set is very enjoyable and swinging. Oddly enough, she does not sound at all like Silver on the date, making one wonder why she soon left the jazz world. Teamed up with great tenor Zoot Sims (who dominates the music), somewhat hesitant trumpeter Jerry Lloyd (who briefly came out of retirement), bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and drummer Ed Thigpen, Hipp sounds excellent on a couple of basic originals and such standards as "Violets for Your Furs," "Almost Like Being in Love," and J.J. Johnson's "Wee Dot." This formerly rare set is well worth picking up by straight-ahead jazz collectors. ~ Scott Yanow


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To improve throughput and customer service during checkout, more than 100
"Customer service is a top priority at Canadian Tire, and self checkout will provide a new and enhanced method to efficiently serve our customers," said Glenn Butt, senior VP, store design and support, Canadian Tire.
The Toronto-based retailer has been testing the units in a proof-of-concept environment since October 2006. Besides delivering positive results, the units will complement the 468-store chain's TeamPoS 2000 M units, also from Fujitsu.
"Fujitsu has been a valuable technology partner, and we are confident that U-Scan will be a hit among our dealers and customers," he said.
Since holidays and special occasions are important to 170-plus-store specialty greeting-card and gifting retailer Papyrus, the Fairfield, Calif.-based company's retail stores often rented outside storage space to ensure that it had ample product available for seasonal peaks. With the launch of its e-commerce site in 2006 however, this practice became less than adequate.
By adding a warehouse-management solution from Milwaukee-based RedPrairie, however, the retailer gained insight into available inventory. "Now we know what's selling, and we leave a lot of product in our forward picks," said Del Duquette, the retailer's warehouse-management-system manager.
Besides enabling Papyrus to embark on just-in-time store shipments, the solution has helped Papyrus' inventory accuracy jump from 85% to 99.5%. Papyrus also credits the solution for reducing overall inventory, better managing warehouse space and gaining insight into seasonal trends.
Outdoor lifestyle retailer Gander Mountain used to rely on its business intelligence tool from MicroStrategy Inc., McLean, Va., for sales and inventory management. To give product managers, planners, allocators, buyers and merchandise assistants more visibility into inventory, merchandise and product sales across its enterprise, the retailer recently merged the solution with its data warehouse from Netezza, Framing-ham, Mass.
"Now we can produce consistent reports that help us to make timely, data-driven decisions," said Kerry Graslewicz, the St. Paul, Minn.-based retailer's VP merchandise planning and replenishment. "The solution's Web-based interface gives our users the ability to easily report on data across essential areas of the business."
Borders to offer free resolution workshops
ANN ARBOR, Mich. Borders said Thursday that it is offering customers free in store events throughout the month of January to help them kick start their new year's resolutions and learn how to keep them through the year. Programs include wellness fairs, yoga classes and diet seminars.
Borders reported that local organizations and community groups will be featured in activities and events at its stores across the country ranging from fitness centers and hospitals to singles groups and retirement centers.
Schulze sells 440K shares of company stock
MINNEAPOLIS Best Buy chairman and founder Richard Schulze sold 440,000 shares of Best Buy stock last week valued at $22.4 million. Schulze sold the stock at prices ranging from $50.71 to $51.18 per share. Earlier this month, Schulze sold 2.35 million shares valued at more than $120 million.
While Schulze's stock sales are considerable, they represent just a fraction of his holdings at Best Buy. He's estimated to still hold more than 68 million shares of stock amassed during 41 years with the company.