text:
As citizen leaders, individual school board members face complex and demanding challenges. They are alternately described as having the most important volunteer jobs in the country and facing the toughest challenge in elected American government. Yet school board members are just ordinary citizens with extraordinary dedication to our nation's public schools.
Their job is to establish a vision for the education program, design a structure to achieve that vision, ensure schools are accountable to the community and strongly advocate continuous improvement in student learning. Yet local trustees sometimes tackle an often thankless job devoid of any glory. Too often we are quick to criticize school board members without really knowing all the details that went into a given decision. Now is the time to thank them for their untiring efforts.
Although they wear many hats in the workday world, school board members put on a collective hat when they get down to the business of leading their school districts. Board members must pull together as a team toward a common goal—helping students achieve.
Too often we forget about the personal sacrifices school board members routinely make. Board members contribute hundreds and hundreds of hours each year leading their districts. The time spent in board meetings represents just a small fraction of the hours school board members spend leading in their districts. They also work hard at seminars and training sessions to keep abreast of the latest trends in educational leadership, are deeply involved in community activities and spend many hours in the schools and at extracurricular events. Their love for learning, and concern and caring for students, staff and community, drives board members' desire to lead so students can achieve.
In recognition of the dedicated service, January is designated School Board Recognition Month. This is a time to show our appreciation and begin to better understand how local trustees work together to provide a better future for our children. In January, join with others from throughout our district and state to salute our Board of Education.
Joe Marckini, President
Jeff Gust, Trustee
Brook Nichols, Vice President
Matt Shoffner, Trustee
Todd Hanson, Treasurer
Shannon Vanderhyde, Trustee
Tim Avery, Secretary


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
$dis = Bio::SearchDist->new();
foreach $score ( @scores ) {
if( $dis->fit_evd() ) {
foreach $score ( @scores ) {
$evalue = $dis->evalue($score);
print "Score $score had an evalue of $evalue\n";
} else {
warn("Could not fit histogram to an EVD!");
DESCRIPTIONThe Bio::SearchDist object is a wrapper around Sean Eddy's excellent histogram object. The histogram object can bascially take in a number of scores which are sensibly distributed somewhere around 0 that come from a supposed Extreme Value Distribution. Having add all the scores from a database search via the add_score method you can then fit a extreme value distribution using fit_evd(). Once fitted you can then get out the evalue for each score (or a new score) using evalue($score).
The fitting procedure is better described in Sean Eddy's own code (available from http://hmmer.janelia.org/, or in the histogram.h header file in Compile/SW). Bascially it fits a EVD via a maximum likelhood method with pruning of the top end of the distribution so that real positives are discarded in the fitting procedure. This comes from an orginally idea of Richard Mott's and the likelhood fitting is from a book by Lawless [should ref here].
The object relies on the fact that the scores are sensibly distributed around about 0 and that integer bins are sensible for the histogram. Scores based on bits are often ideal for this (bits based scoring mechanisms is what this histogram object was originally designed for).
CONTACTThe original code this was based on comes from the histogram module as part of the HMMer2 package. Look at http://hmmer.janelia.org/
Its use in Bioperl is via the Compiled XS extension which is cared for by Ewan Birney ([email protected]). Please contact Ewan first about the use of this module
Mailing ListsUser feedback is an integral part of the evolution of this and other Bioperl modules. Send your comments and suggestions preferably to one of the Bioperl mailing lists. Your participation is much appreciated.
[email protected] - General discussion http://bioperl.org/wiki/Mailing_lists - About the mailing lists
SupportPlease direct usage questions or support issues to the mailing list:
rather than to the module maintainer directly. Many experienced and reponsive experts will be able look at the problem and quickly address it. Please include a thorough description of the problem with code and data examples if at all possible.
Reporting BugsReport bugs to the Bioperl bug tracking system to help us keep track the bugs and their resolution. Bug reports can be submitted via the web:
APPENDIXThe rest of the documentation details each of the object methods. Internal methods are usually preceded with a _
Title : add_score Usage : $dis->add_score(300); Function: Adds a single score to the distribution Returns : nothing Args :
Title : fit_evd Usage : $dis->fit_evd(); Function: fits an evd to the current distribution Returns : 1 if it fits successfully, 0 if not Args :
Title : fit_Gaussian Usage : Function: Example : Returns : Args :
Title : evalue Usage : $eval = $dis->evalue($score) Function: Returns the evalue of this score Returns : float Args :
Title : _engine Usage : $obj->_engine($newval) Function: underlyine bp_sw:: histogram engine Returns : value of _engine Args : newvalue (optional)


text:
HTML Version, FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Report
The below-listed files constitute the HTML version of the 2005 Report. The Report also is available in PDF.
Printed versions of the FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Report Highlights, which include a CD containing the full Report, will be available for public distribution February 2006. If you would like to request a copy of the Report or if you have difficulty accessing the Report, please contact the Office of Strategic and Performance Planning at firstname.lastname@example.com or (202) 647-0300.
Table of Contents
Mission and Values
Message from the Secretary
Message from the Acting Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer
About this Report
Historical Notes on U.S. Diplomacy
Management's Discussion and Analysis
Department of State History
Mission and Organization
Directory of Key Officials and Senior Management
Map of Department of State Locations
Performance Summary and Highlights
Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) Status
The President's Management Agenda
Management Controls, Financial Management Systems and Compliance with Laws and Regulations
Financial Highlights
Inspector General's Discussion and Analysis
Message from the Inspector General
Summary of FY 2005 Performance
Management Performance and Challenges
Strategic Objective #1: Achieve Peace and Security
Strategic Goal 1: Regional Stability
Strategic Goal 2: Counterterrorism
Strategic Goal 3: Homeland Security
Strategic Goal 4: Weapons of Mass Destruction
Strategic Goal 5: International Crime and Drugs
Strategic Goal 6: American Citizens
Strategic Objective #2: Advance Sustainable Development and Global Interests
Strategic Goal 7: Democracy and Human Rights
Strategic Goal 8: Economic Prosperity and Security
Strategic Goal 9: Social and Environmental Issues
Strategic Goal 10: Humanitarian Response
Strategic Objective #3: Promote International Understanding
Strategic Goal 11: Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
Strategic Objective #4: Strengthen Diplomatic and Program Capabilities
Strategic Goal 12: Management and Organizational Excellence
Women in Diplomacy
Resource Summary by Strategic Goal
Milestones of American Diplomacy
Introduction to Principal Financial Statements
Independent Auditor's Report
Financial Statements
Consolidated Balance Sheet
Consolidated Statement of Net Cost
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position
Combined Statement of Budgetary Resources
Consolidated Statement of Financing
Notes to Principal Financial Statements
Required Supplementary Stewardship Information - Heritage Assets
Required Supplementary Information
Supplemental Information and Other Reporting Requirements
Financial Management Plans and Reports
Management of Obligations to the Department
Management of Payments
Management of Audit Follow-up
Justifications for Changed Indicators and Targets
PART Summaries for FY 2005 - FY 2006
Major Department of State Publications
Department of State Locations
Glossary of Acronyms
Acknowledgements and Contact Information


text:
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler and the golden and burnished leaves are starting to fall off the trees.
Autumn in Australia lasts from March to May. I love this time of year because the extremely hot weather fades away and by late April I finally feel as though winter is approaching.
Autumn is my favourite season and I am so happy it has finally arrived.
So, here is today's #TuesdayTune, which was inspired by my favourite season, Autumn!
Thank you my dear friends, for dropping by and visiting today! Wherever you are and whatever your weather, I hope you all have a truly beautiful week.


text:
8 Idols Who Have The Most Tragic Family Past And History
With so much glitz and glam around K-Pop idols' lives, it is hard to imagine what pain they hold behind the smiles. These ten Korean stars have had their hearts shattered because of family, but hid their sorrows well. When they shared their very personal stories, fans couldn't help but fall deeper in love with them for overcoming such difficulties and becoming even stronger.
1. Sunmi
When Sunmi was a mere fourth grader, she decided to become a celebrity. Not only because she had the passion for performing, but also because she believed becoming famous was the fastest way to make money. Sunmi's father, who had been raising Sunmi and her two brothers as a single parent, fell sick with tuberculosis and complications and had to be hospitalized. To afford treatment payments, the young Sunmi wanted to make money.
While her teachers suggested that she become a teacher, Sunmi decided it will take too long to become successful and wealthy as a teacher. At only 12 years old, she began auditioning by herself. By age 14, Sunmi became a trainee at JYP Entertainment. Unfortunately, Sunmi's father passed away three months before she debuted and became a national sensation. Sunmi and her brothers were taken in by another loving family that has been supportive of her endeavors ever since.
2. BIGBANG's Taeyang
Taeyang is now one of the most famous K-Pop idols in the world, but to get to where he is today, he had to face some major heartbreak. When Taeyang was 13 years old, he decided to move out on his own to lessen the burden on his family that was struggling with the harsh economic crisis that hit Korea during his childhood. Taeyang decided to try and survive in Seoul, by auditioning for an entertainment agency.
The agency was casting the younger role for a rapper so I auditioned for that part. I was accepted and that's when I encountered hip-hop for the first time and it made me want to become a trainee.
— Taeyang
From then on, Taeyang, though completely on his own, made his way to becoming a global superstar. Taeyang went from having nothing to being on the Forbes List in 2017, with money he earned from BIGBANG promotions alone.
3. Girls' Generation's Tiffany
Tiffany lost her mother when she was only 14 years old. She "was lost" because of this tremendous loss, and she "found music to be the only solution." She had to convince her father, who opposed Tiffany's pursuit of a singing career, for five days to let her fly over to Korea on her own to begin training. Tiffany had to take on side jobs, like tutoring English, after her training hours so that she could support herself while she survived alone in Korea. At first, Tiffany didn't reveal this family history to her fans, but on Kim Jung Eun's Chocolate in 2009, she shared her appreciation for her mother. Fans didn't know Tiffany had such a painful family history hidden behind her smile, because she was one of the brightest members from the group.
Although you left me already, mom, you gave me eight sisters and I thank you and God for that.
— Tiffany
4. Super Junior's Leeteuk
Super Junior's Leeteuk once said his devotion to his career and desire to succeed comes from his "unfortunate childhood, when [his] parents fought all the time and even physically beat [him]." Leeteuk wanted to find happiness, by making his dream come true and succeeding at what he does. So it broke tons of fan hearts when the news reported of Leeteuk's father murdering his parents and taking his own life. Leeteuk was serving his duty in the South Korean military when he heard the news.
In 1998, Leeteuk's father got divorced and he began living with his parents. When his parents were both diagnosed with Alzheimer's and his mother with lung cancer as well, Leeteuk's father fell into depression while looking after them on his own. Once the financial strain became too much to burden, Leeteuk's father decided to place both his parents in a nursing home. Just a day before sending his parents off to the facility, however, Leeteuk's father took his own life after murdering his parents. Leeteuk's father left a will, stating he is "taking the parents with [him]", hinting that he felt guilty about placing his parents in a nursing home, but he couldn't manage to look after them anymore.
Leeteuk's fellow Super Junior members helped him get through the funeral. This tragedy became quite an issue and stirred up talks of how the government should work harder to protect the senior population who become diagnosed with Alzheimer's and other diseases.
IU's family was doing okay until a debt they had underwritten turned the table and drove them into extreme poverty. While IU's parents fixed the situation, IU and her sibling went to live with their grandmother. At first, the three lived in a small room full of cockroaches. Then, they moved into a relative's house, where IU had to put up with the relative's verbal abuse. This male relative, upon returning home drunk and seeing IU, her brother, and her grandmother, started shouting that IU will never make it as a singer and so she should be studying instead of practicing. IU recalled pretending to be asleep as she endured this verbal abuse. She decided at this point she will try her best to become a successful singer.
Even after becoming a trainee, IU didn't have it easy. While looking for auditions to enter, the young IU was conned into sending a large sum of money to an agency for training and appearing on TV programs. IU was completely heartbroken as the money came from her grandmother who saved up little by little from selling small accessories.
6. TVXQ's Yunho
Yunho and his family faced a tremendous amount of hardship when Yunho's father filed for bankruptcy. Only a 12-year-old, Yunho had to step up and start working to pay off debts and support his sister's education. Yunho's parents would both work multiple jobs to get the family back on track.
I thought my dad was having an affair because he would leave the house at 4AM every morning. One day, I decided to follow him only to realize that he had been delivering newspapers to create some side income.
— Yunho
When Yunho decided to train with SM Entertainment to become a singer, he didn't have any financial support from his family that disapproved of his K-Pop career pursuit. Without any money, the young Yunho had no choice but to sleep in subway stations until he met Junsu who took him in. Regardless, Yunho looks up to his father, "because he had an incredible sense of responsibility." His father motivated Yunho to succeed and give back to his family, exactly as his father did.
7. Yenny (Formerly of Wonder Girls)
Yenny, from Wonder Girls and also known as HA:TFELT, was shocked and panicked when her father, Reverend Park Young Kyun, was arrested for fraud of over $18,000,000 USD. While Yenny's parents split up when she was young and she had no contact with her birth father for years, her father used Yenny's fame and reputation to approach his church's attendees for money. The reverend asked for investments for his new research center built under his church and promised dividends to those who support the funds. When his targets grew suspicious about where the money is going, he convinced them by selling out Yenny's name.
I don't have 18 million dollars to pay back. I don't know what to do.
— Yenny
8. JYJ's Jaejoong
Jaejoong was adopted when he was three years old, without knowing he had different biological parents. His biological mother explained in a magazine interview that she had no other choice.
My husband lost all his money to a fraud. We split up in 1989. I used to serve at a restaurant from 10AM to 11PM. I couldn't take care of Jaejoong. There weren't extended day cares or kindergartens back in the days. And I had to feed him leftovers from the restaurant.
Things were not good. An acquaintance of mine suggested that I give him up for adoption. She had an older brother who had eight daughters and thought that family would take great care of Jaejoong as the youngest son.
— Jaejoong's Biological Mother
By 2004, Jaejoong's biological mother became aware of her son's whereabout as he debuted with TVXQ and tried to reach out. Jaejoong became aware of his family history at this point. In 2005, when Jaejoong tried to enlist in the army to serve his military duty, he had to clear up his family register – on paper, he belonged to both his biological parents and his adoptive parents. So Jaejoong's biological mother had to file a court case to verify that he is her biological son, while his adoptive parents had to respond to the case and verify that they have been in custody for most of his life. While the nature of this case was not hostile, it did stir up a lot of rumors about Jaejoong and his two families. Jaejoong spoke up about the issue and stated he remained unshaken.
I wish to continue living as Kim Jaejoong, as I have always had. I also want my biological and adoptive families to continue understanding and loving each other.
— Jaejoong


text:
*Please contact dealer to verify price, options, and other vehicle details.
MPG Disclaimer: *Based on 2015 EPA mileage and driving range ratings. Use for comparison purposes only. Your MPGe/MPG and driving range will vary depending on driving conditions, how you drive and maintain your vehicle, battery age/condition, and other factors.
The Lifetime Warranty is valid for as long as you own the vehicle – for an unlimited time, unlimited miles.
Get a Lifetime Warranty with ANY New and Select Used Vehicles


text:
Are you there? Please send photos and videos to iReport, but please stay safe.
Story highlights
Hospital is told to anticipate 100 injured, official says
The explosion occurs at a fertilizer plant some 18 miles north of Waco, KWTX reports
A man says he saw smoke then, a few minutes later, heard a massive explosion
A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the small Texas town of West left at least two people dead, sent dozens more seeking medical attention and prompted a widescale evacuation in the community of 2,600 people.
Fire officials fear that the number of casualties could rise much higher.
The blast took place at the West Fertilizer Plant, about 18 miles north of Waco. It sent a massive fireball into the sky
And the danger may not be over.
Residents are being evacuated because officials are worried that another tank at the facility might explode.
State troopers in gas masks were scene rushing to the area shortly after the blast,
Shortly after the explosion, more than 60 patients streamed into Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, suffering from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations," said hospital CEO Glenn Robinson.
While some of the injuries are minor, others are "quite serious," he said.
At least six helicopters are going to fly out those who are injured, Robinson said. Others are being transported by ambulance, and some are getting to the hospital by car, he added.
Two other hospitals in the region were also assisting.
As many scrambled to assist the injured, another danger seemed to emerge Wednesday night.
"What we are hearing is that there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant, and there are evacuations in place to make sure everyone gets away from the area safely in case of another explosion," said Ben Stratmann, a spokesman for Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell.
Photos of the explosion – which reportedly happened around 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET) – showed a huge blaze and flames leaping over the roof of a structure and a plume of smoke rising high into the air.
The West Fertilizer Plant is just north of Waco. A school and a nursing home are among the buildings near the plant, CNN affiliate KWTX reported.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he is aware of the explosion, a spokesman said, and was working to get resources into the area.
Tommy Alford, who works in a convenience store about three miles from the plant, told CNN that several volunteer firefighters were at the store when they spotted smoke. Alford said the firefighters headed toward the scene and then between five and 10 minutes later, he heard a massive explosion.
"It was massive; it was intense," Alford said.
Chrystal Anthony, a nearby resident, said she saw the flames engulf a nursing home and an apartment complex.
"It was an apartment complex that was devastated, the nursing home. The fire was close to a residential area," Anthony said.
"It was like a bomb went off," said Barry Murry, a resident who lives about a mile away from the plant. "There were emergency vehicles everywhere. It has been overwhelming."
West, Texas, is a community of about 2,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sitting about 75 miles south of Dallas and 120 miles north of Austin, West is one of 22 incorporated communities in McLennan County.
Some firefighters at the scene of a fertilizer plant explosion in Texas were concerned Wednesday night about anhydrous ammonia.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anhydrous ammonia is a pungent gas with suffocating fumes that is used as a fertilizer.
When exposed to humans, it can cause serious problems.
CNN's Chandler Friedman, Carma Hassan, Ed Payne, Greg Botelho contributed to this report.


text: General information on Cambodia The Cambodian SOS Children's Village Association was founded in 2000. The organisation first started working with children without parental care in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Due to the high levels of poverty and deprivation in the country, the organisation has continued to grow and now supports children, young people and families in six locations in Cambodia. Landmines still present a threat Traditional musical instruments (photo: A. Halbhuber) The Kingdom of Cambodia is located in South-East Asia. It has boundaries with Thailand in the north-west and west, Laos in the north, Vietnam to the east and south-east and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. Around 14.8 million people live in Cambodia; the capital city of Phnom Penh has 1.5 million inhabitants. Cambodia is still recovering from decades of conflict, which continued well into the 1990s. It is one of the most land mined countries in the world - since 1970, around 60,000 people have died due to explosions, and many more have been injured; the majority of these are children playing in the fields or herding animals. One of the poorest countries in the world Despite improving conditions over the past two decades, Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Between 2004 and 2007, the economy grew by about ten per cent every year. As a result of the international financial crisis, the growth dipped in 2009, but has been on the rise ever since. Around 48 per cent of the population works in agriculture. The main agricultural products include rice, rubber, corn, vegetables and tapioca. Tourism and the export of clothes are also important sources of income. The garment industry employs about five per cent of the population and accounts for 70 per cent of exports. In spite of this recent economic growth, about 18 per cent of Cambodians continue to live below the nationally-established poverty line. Most poverty is found in rural areas. There have been some improvements in health. For example, the infant and under-five mortality rates have improved in recent years. Likewise there has been an increase in the average life expectancy, though it remains relatively low at 61.7 for men and 66.8 for women. However, the high number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS poses a new challenge for Cambodia's fragile health system. Around 76,000 people are currently known to be living with the condition, though due to the lack of testing, it is believed that many more people are not aware that they are affected. The country's basic infrastructure is improving, but further work needs to be done, especially in rural areas. While the vast majority of people living in urban areas have access to improved drinking water, this figure drops to 61 per cent in rural areas. Around 88 per cent of city dwellers have access to improved sanitation as opposed to 31 per cent in rural areas. Financial experts believe that the Cambodian economy has potential to grow further due to mining and the discovery of oil off its shores. However, corruption is a challenge, with the country rated as one of the most corrupt in the world. Human trafficking is also a problem; people are trafficked both internally (from rural to urban areas) and internationally. Many are tricked into thinking they will be working in jobs with good salaries, only to find themselves forced to work for no pay in factories, agriculture, or as domestic servants or sex workers. Children are in need of protection Demographically speaking, Cambodia is a very young country. There are around 5.6 million children under the age of 18. Nutrition programme in Battambang (photo: A. Halbhuber) An estimated 570,000 children live without parental care in Cambodia. Poverty, the years of conflict, migration and the rising number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS are the main reasons why children can no longer live with their families. It is reported that at least 6,000 children are living with HIV, but the figure is believed to be higher and growing - one third of all new infections are transmitted from mother to child. About 36 per cent of children are involved in child labour. Children are found working in agriculture, the fishing industry, in quarries, as domestic servants or are forced to beg and sell on the streets. SOS Children's Villages in Cambodia Strengthening families: Working with local organisations, we support families so that they stay together. In addition to material assistance in the form of money, food and clothes, we also provide social and emotional support for children and parents. Care in families: Children who can no longer stay with their birth families, find a loving home in an SOS family. Brothers and sisters grow up together and are looked after by an SOS mother. Support for young people: Young adults live in special homes where youth leaders guide them on their path to an independent life. Education: Young children are cared for in SOS Kindergartens. Older children can attend schools in Phnom Penh, Angkor-Siem Reap, Kampot and Battambang.


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Bacon and Barbecue Chicken Pizza
A quick and easy thin crust pizza dough, topped off with shredded chicken, slices of mozzarella cheese and chunks of salty bacon.
I'm currently being taunted by random sales and discounts popping up left and right. One second my email is cleaned out and the next second it has at least a handful more discounts and e-flyers. I should stay away from my email for the next month but that's not really very realistic. The discounts do what they should, they get me to the company websites, I want to buy something and then think no I'll wait or I don't really need that. Of course there are also the 'ugh that's hideous' comments from the Mr messing with my mind and wondering if I should or shouldn't. What do guys know? And of course the, oh it's pretty and pink or has pretty lining. You know… things that shine and sparkle and are super pretty, catching my eye that would just be nice to have but can't completely justify when other stuff is going on. The problem is, I know it'll keep happening all month long but especially so this week.
I've so far managed to resist the sales and discounts minus one special new grill pan. Please don't tell me you have one and never use it. I figure it'll be handy when I want something grilled but don't want to deal with the grill… in the awful chilly and frigid New England weather that's already dug it's claws in and made home for the next 4 to 5 months or so. Pretty grill lines in the middle of winter, without the need to stand in the cold. And no sitting and soaking in grease, even though I sometimes advice you to do just that…and with this recipe.
Let's back up a bit. Before the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving week hit, I made pizza. This pizza. I mentioned on Facebook that I combined my two absolute favorite pizzas into one and it was beyond heavenly.
It's glorious. A quick and fairly thin crust pizza loaded with shredded barbecue chicken and chunks of salty bacon. The best part, besides the fact that there's barbecue chicken and bacon… the chicken is cooked IN the bacon grease. Om nom nom. Get your splatter shield or stovetop cleaner ready because you'll need it but you really truly want to make this. The mess is completely worth it.
This pizza is so good that I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to basic bacon or plain barbecue chicken pizza ever again. Like never ever ever.
Make this. Be happy and full.
Bacon and Barbecue Chicken Pizza
Dough ingredients:
- 1 C hot water
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 1/2-3 C all purpose flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Pizza ingredients:
- 1/2 C bacon or roughly 3 slices
- 1 chicken breast
- 2/3 C barbecue sauce divided
- 4 oz fresh mozzarella
- In a small measuring cup, dissolve yeast and sugar in hot water. Allow to sit and poof for 5-10 minutes.
- In a stand mixer or food processor combine 2 1/2 cups of flour, salt and olive oil. While mixing on low, pour in yeast mixture. Mix until a ball is formed and is no longer sticky. Add additional flour if needed.
- Transfer to a lightly oiled large bowl, cover and store in a warm location until at least doubled in size.
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until desired crispness is reached. Set aside on a cutting board. Reduce heat to medium/low, cooking chicken until cooked through and no longer pink. Shred chicken by hand or in a stand mixer. Toss with 1/3C barbecue sauce. Roughly chop bacon and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Lightly grease a sheet pan with olive oil. Shape dough to nearly fit pan. Spread remaining barbecue sauce over dough. Scatter shredded chicken throughout. Top off with sliced mozzarella and chopped bacon. Brush exposed crust with olive oil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve warm.
24 Responses to "Bacon and Barbecue Chicken Pizza"
You totally just distracted me from all the Cyber Monday emails. Damn this pizza sounds good!
Seriously, I'm buying a pizza today. This looks so so so good.
Piiiiiiiizzzzzzzza all day!! Woo hooooo!
This looks amazing. I've never made my own pizza dough before but this is inspiring me to try very soon. I might add some caramelized onions as well.
I don't have a grill pan and it's one of those things I've been meaning to get forever (but I'm just torn on how well it could possibly work on an electric stove). Maybe you need to send those flyers my way? ;)
I always throw bacon on my bbq chicken pizza, so as soon as I saw you post this on Twitter, I was like OH YEAH! Nevermind that it's 9am, I want this NOW. Chicken cooked in the bacon grease? Yes, yes yes. Forget want this–I NEED this.
Oh yep this is totally a combo right up my alley too! I love my grill pan in the winter – so much better than freezing my butt off outside :)
Ohhh I love BBQ Pizza!
bacon. chicken. bbq. oh my favorite combination! This looks awesome! I have a grill pan and love it, I use it a couple times a week at least! Great investment!
Oh, I just can't get my eyes off the screen now. Looks sooo awesome.
You have NO idea how badly i want this right now! So hot and gooey!
My husband loves BBQ chicken pizza. This sounds amazing!
you know i gave into the sales today, hahaha..so bad & no self-control!! bbq chicken pizza is my FAVORITE pizza of all time and i love how thick and pillow-like your crust is!! you had me craving this all morning :)
BBQ chicken pizza is one of my FAVORITES. This looks better than anything i would buy! YUM.
yum! BBQ chicken pizzas is my fav…and of course anything with bacon!
i would really like this for dinner TONIGHT!
This couldnt look any better! I think Im going to make this for dinner tonight! Except with leftover turkey, because it needs to be used up… I can just warm the turkey in the bacon grease… itll still work ;) Looks amazing!
I really have to step it up in the pizza department. Normally I just make your standard pizza fare but this chicken and bacon one has me thinking I should step out of my comfort zone and soon :)
OMG this sounds like pizza perfection! How yummy. Definitely need to give this one a whirl.
This looks scrumptious ! And it was posted on my birthday ! LOL
Hi Rachel, I have to let you know that I enjoy seeing all of your recipes. Tonight I made the bacon and Barbecue chicken pizza. It is one of my most favorite pizzas. This was the first time I cooked with active yeast or made a pizza crust from scratch. It turned out beautifully and was very delicious. I've only ordered a barbecued chicken pizza once and it's unlikely that I will again as your homemade recipe was the best! I made the cheesy garlic Parmesan breadsticks as well for my husband as he's not a fan of the barbecue and bacon chicken pizza. He enjoyed them as well. They were very good! After trying this easy homemade pizza crust I'm excited to make more recipes using active dry yeast. Your recipe helped me overcome my fear of using yeast after seeing how simple it really is to use in a recipe! Thank you for sharing!
I am making this pizza tonight but using your cornmeal pizza dough recipe. I do not have a stand mixer and did everything by hand. I was not sure how long to knead the dough and will this recipe work with the cornmeal dough?
Thank you.


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OCEAN CITY – The Movies on the Beach proposal found few supporters this week as several town officials gathered at the monthly Recreation and Parks meeting to weigh in on the proposal.
The police department, the beach patrol, public works, the City Council, and the Recreation and Parks Department were all represented at Tuesday's meeting. The council had requested that all the key players gather to discuss the logistics of the Movies on the Beach proposal.
Last month, Rob Herting of Sunset Cinemas, Inc., came before the Mayor and Council in an attempt to sell the Sunset Cinema Movies on the Beach idea for the 2008 summer season. Herting explained to the Mayor and Council that Movies on the Beach provides a showing of first-run movies on the beach, on a nightly basis throughout the summer. The movies are projected on a 52-foot, inflatable, drive-in size movie screen with Dolby Digital surround sound. The idea essentially is to bring back the charm of the drive-in movie theatre but in the form of a "walk-in", beach theater. Herting also told the Mayor and Council that Movies on the Beach was in its third season in Wildwood, N.J. and had been met with great success.
Although the Mayor and Council showed support for the idea in theory, they were cautious to put their full support behind the proposal without first examining the logistics and letting other town officials review the proposal. As a result, a gathering ensued on Tuesday morning to look further into the proposal and decide whether it would fit Ocean City as it had fit Wildwood.
Councilman Jim Hall voiced concerns that the project would become too cumbersome.
"It's a project like Sunfest, only it's twice a week," he said, adding that it could end up being more work than anticipated.
City Engineer Terry McGean agreed that the project would only be plausible if it was easily set up.
"My concern is that it has to be something that can be put up and taken down easily," he said.
McGean noted that if the screen could be easily taken off of the beach within an hour, the city should have no problems with the Department of Natural Resources.
Recreation and Parks Director Tom Shuster pointed out the potential competition that it could bring to the boardwalk merchants. Herting is proposing that he sell beverages, candy and food, but maintains that he will allow people to bring outside food with them as well. Shuster said that although outside food would be allowed, he was sure the Boardwalk merchants would not be happy with the outside competition being placed essentially in their backyard.
Bruce Gibbs, superintendent of Public Works Maintenance, weighed in with several concerns. Gibbs pointed out that the proposed location at the Inlet would not be possible for several reasons. First, the noise generated by the pier and by the Boardwalk would make it impossible for people to hear the movie. Second, the Inlet parking lot is already at maximum capacity on busy nights and weekends, leaving no additional space for the trailer, equipment and so on. Third, Gibbs noted that the wind could become quite strong in that area.
Gibbs also pointed out that the movies could interfere with other events on the beach, such as the lifeguard activities and competitions that occur after hours, and the Play It Safe events held in June.
Maintenance was also addressed by Gibbs, who asked who would be responsible for setting up and taking down the movie screen. He pointed out the increase in trash on the beach that would inevitably be left.
"To me this is just another project on the beach, and do we really need it," Gibbs said.
Captain Kevin Kirstein spoke on behalf of the Ocean City Police Department. Kirstein questioned whether the security that Herting says will be provided would be enough. He also questioned how they would control people wandering by and watching the movie without paying admission. It was concluded that sand fencing would be required to control admission which would add to the list of items to be set up. Kirstein concluded that it sounded like a lot of manpower that the city would inevitably have to provide.
From the point of view of the beach patrol it was noted that the equipment left on the beach could become dangerous during the day if a storm came and blew items down the beach towards beachgoers.
"We could commercialize the beach to the high heavens," City Manager Dennis Dare said, noting the numerous requests for beach commercialization that he receives each year. Dare did point out though that special events in Ocean City do draw large crowds.
Despite the potential draw of another special event, the overall consensus was that at this point the proposal seemed too cumbersome. Although there have been no problems in Wildwood, several people pointed out that Wildwood has a much larger beach than Ocean City, which makes the logistics easier for that location.
"I feel like we have enough on our plate right now," Hall said.
All in attendance agreed the city would not move in any direction on the proposal until they gathered more information.
"It just looks like something that right now we don't want to tackle," Hall said.


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Rapper Too Short once said, "It was all good just a week ago." Well, it's been about a month for the Minnesota Vikings.
Rapoport: Week 10 game rankings
Texans-Bears promises to be a defensive showdown. Where does it slot in Ian Rapoport's Rap Sheet Rankings? **More ...**
The Purple People Eaters shocked the NFL community with a 4-1 start before losing three of four games brought them back to earth. Now they're trying to stay in playoff contention with a home game against division rival Detroit Lions on Sunday. A third consecutive loss would put them at the bottom of the NFC North.
"Huge, huge," defensive end Jared Allen told 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. "I'd lie to you if I said it was just another game. It's absolutely not another game.
"We've got to play and we've got to play well. It's at home and it's in our division. We've got to come out and we've got to put up. That's the sense of urgency I feel around here."
The Vikings were actually tied for first place in the division after five weeks. As they trended downward, the Chicago Bears won six straight, the Green Packers four and the Lions two.
"It is definitely one of these games, a pivotal game in the season," Allen said, "to where you lose this one, you put yourself far behind the eight ball with six games left and you're going into a bye on a three-game skid.
It's been a season littered with injuries, but Calvin Johnson says his health is improving as time goes on. **More ...**
"It's an absolute -- I don't (want) to say 'must win,' but it's one we've got to have."
On the flip side, coach Leslie Frazier doesn't want his young team to panic. If the playoffs started today, the Vikings would be tied for the final NFC playoff spot, but they would lose the Wild Card tiebreaker to the Seattle Seahawks after last week's loss.
"When you're in college, every game counts. If you don't go undefeated, then you're not going to be playing for a championship at the end of the year," linebacker Erin Henderson told the Pioneer Press. "But in the league, it's different. All you've got to do is make it to the playoffs, and anything can happen from there. So it's kind of getting them to understand that and getting them to grasp that. But I feel like a lot of young guys don't really know much."
Vikings fans know this much -- they don't want to go from first to worst in the division and that will happen with a loss this weekend.


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5 Questions with Jason Falls @jasonfalls, SVP for Digital Strategy, Elasticity
I first found out about Jason Falls through DJ Waldow. Jason is one of those unapologetic, tell-it-like-it-is, digital marketing experts. His blog is a must for any digital marketing pro. And his books should be required reading for anyone guilty of all buzzword and no substance! First, here's Jason's bio… Jason Falls is a digital... Read More


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Close-packing of equal spheres
In geometry, close-packing of equal spheres is a dense arrangement of congruent spheres in an infinite, regular arrangement (or lattice). Carl Friedrich Gauss proved that the highest average density – that is, the greatest fraction of space occupied by spheres – that can be achieved by a lattice packing is
- .
The same packing density can also be achieved by alternate stackings of the same close-packed planes of spheres, including structures that are aperiodic in the stacking direction. The Kepler conjecture states that this is the highest density that can be achieved by any arrangement of spheres, either regular or irregular. This conjecture was proven by T. C. Hales.[1][2] Highest density is known only for 1, 2, 3, 8, and 24 dimensions.[3]
Many crystal structures are based on a close-packing of a single kind of atom, or a close-packing of large ions with smaller ions filling the spaces between them. The cubic and hexagonal arrangements are very close to one another in energy, and it may be difficult to predict which form will be preferred from first principles.
FCC and HCP lattices[edit]
|The FCC arrangement can be oriented in two different planes, square or triangular. These can be seen in the cuboctahedron with 12 vertices representing the positions of 12 neighboring spheres around one central sphere. The HCP arrangement can be seen in the triangular orientation, but alternates two positions of spheres, in a triangular orthobicupola arrangement.
There are two simple regular lattices that achieve this highest average density. They are called face-centered cubic (FCC) (also called cubic close packed) and hexagonal close-packed (HCP), based on their symmetry. Both are based upon sheets of spheres arranged at the vertices of a triangular tiling; they differ in how the sheets are stacked upon one another. The FCC lattice is also known to mathematicians as that generated by the A3 root system.[4]
Cannonball problem[edit]
The problem of close-packing of spheres was first mathematically analyzed by Thomas Harriot around 1587, after a question on piling cannonballs on ships was posed to him by Sir Walter Raleigh on their expedition to America.[5] Cannonballs were usually piled in a rectangular or triangular wooden frame, forming a three-sided or four-sided pyramid. Both arrangements produce a face-centered cubic lattice – with different orientation to the ground. Hexagonal close-packing would result in a six-sided pyramid with a hexagonal base.
The cannonball problem asks which flat square arrangements of cannonballs can be stacked into a square pyramid. Édouard Lucas formulated the problem as the Diophantine equation or and conjectured that the only solutions are and . Here is the number of layers in the pyramidal stacking arrangement and is the number of cannonballs along an edge in the flat square arrangement.
Positioning and spacing[edit]
In both the FCC and HCP arrangements each sphere has twelve neighbors. For every sphere there is one gap surrounded by six spheres (octahedral) and two smaller gaps surrounded by four spheres (tetrahedral). The distances to the centers of these gaps from the centers of the surrounding spheres is √3⁄2 for the tetrahedral, and √2 for the octahedral, when the sphere radius is 1.
Relative to a reference layer with positioning A, two more positionings B and C are possible. Every sequence of A, B, and C without immediate repetition of the same one is possible and gives an equally dense packing for spheres of a given radius.
The most regular ones are
- FCC = ABC ABC ABC... (every third layer is the same)
- HCP = AB AB AB AB... (every other layer is the same).
There is an uncountably infinite number of disordered arrangements of planes (e.g. ABCACBABABAC...) that are sometimes collectively referred to as "Barlow packings", after crystallographer William Barlow.[6]
In close-packing, the center-to-center spacing of spheres in the xy plane is a simple honeycomb-like tessellation with a pitch (distance between sphere centers) of one sphere diameter. The distance between sphere centers, projected on the z (vertical) axis, is:
where d is the diameter of a sphere; this follows from the tetrahedral arrangement of close-packed spheres.
The coordination number of HCP and FCC is 12 and their atomic packing factors (APFs) are equal to the number mentioned above, 0.74.
|Comparison between HCP and FCC
|Figure 1 – The HCP lattice (left) and the FCC lattice (right). The outline of each respective Bravais lattice is shown in red. The letters indicate which layers are the same. There are two "A" layers in the HCP matrix, where all the spheres are in the same position. All three layers in the FCC stack are different. Note the FCC stacking may be converted to the HCP stacking by translation of the upper-most sphere, as shown by the dashed outline.
|Figure 2 – Shown here is a stack of eleven spheres of the HCP lattice illustrated in Figure 1. The HCP stack differs from the top 3 tiers of the FCC stack shown in Figure 3 only in the lowest tier; it can be modified to FCC by an appropriate rotation or translation.
|Figure 3 – Thomas Harriot, circa 1585, first pondered the mathematics of the cannonball arrangement or cannonball stack, which has an FCC lattice. Note how adjacent balls along each edge of the regular tetrahedron enclosing the stack are all in direct contact with one another. This does not occur in an HCP lattice, as shown in Figure 2.
Lattice generation[edit]
When forming any sphere-packing lattice, the first fact to notice is that whenever two spheres touch a straight line may be drawn from the center of one sphere to the center of the other intersecting the point of contact. The distance between the centers along the shortest path namely that straight line will therefore be r1 + r2 where r1 is the radius of the first sphere and r2 is the radius of the second. In close packing all of the spheres share a common radius, r. Therefore, two centers would simply have a distance 2r.
Simple HCP lattice[edit]
To form an A-B-A-B-... hexagonal close packing of spheres, the coordinate points of the lattice will be the spheres' centers. Suppose, the goal is to fill a box with spheres according to HCP. The box would be placed on the x-y-z coordinate space.
First form a row of spheres. The centers will all lie on a straight line. Their x-coordinate will vary by 2r since the distance between each center of the spheres are touching is 2r. The y-coordinate and z-coordinate will be the same. For simplicity, say that the balls are the first row and that their y- and z-coordinates are simply r, so that their surfaces rest on the zero-planes. Coordinates of the centers of the first row will look like (2r, r, r), (4r, r, r), (6r ,r, r), (8r ,r, r), ... .
Now, form the next row of spheres. Again, the centers will all lie on a straight line with x-coordinate differences of 2r, but there will be a shift of distance r in the x-direction so that the center of every sphere in this row aligns with the x-coordinate of where two spheres touch in the first row. This allows the spheres of the new row to slide in closer to the first row until all spheres in the new row are touching two spheres of the first row. Since the new spheres touch two spheres, their centers form an equilateral triangle with those two neighbors' centers. The side lengths are all 2r, so the height or y-coordinate difference between the rows is √3r. Thus, this row will have coordinates like this:
The first sphere of this row only touches one sphere in the original row, but its location follows suit with the rest of the row.
The next row follows this pattern of shifting the x-coordinate by r and the y-coordinate by √3. Add rows until reaching the x and y maximum borders of the box.
In an A-B-A-B-... stacking pattern, the odd numbered planes of spheres will have exactly the same coordinates save for a pitch difference in the z-coordinates and the even numbered planes of spheres will share the same x- and y-coordinates. Both types of planes are formed using the pattern mentioned above, but the starting place for the first row's first sphere will be different.
Using the plane described precisely above as plane #1, the A plane, place a sphere on top of this plane so that it lies touching three spheres in the A-plane. The three spheres are all already touching each other, forming an equilateral triangle, and since they all touch the new sphere, the four centers form a regular tetrahedron.[7] All of the sides are equal to 2r because all of the sides are formed by two spheres touching. The height of which or the z-coordinate difference between the two "planes" is √6r2/3. This, combined with the offsets in the x and y-coordinates gives the centers of the first row in the B plane:
The second row's coordinates follow the pattern first described above and are:
The difference to the next plane, the A plane, is again √6r2/3 in the z-direction and a shift in the x and y to match those x- and y-coordinates of the first A plane.[8]
In general, the coordinates of sphere centers can be written as:
where i, j and k are indices starting at 0 for the x-, y- and z-coordinates.
Miller indices[edit]
Crystallographic features of HCP systems, such as vectors and atomic plane families, can be described using a four-value Miller index notation ( hkil ) in which the third index i denotes a convenient but degenerate component which is equal to −h − k. The h, i and k index directions are separated by 120°, and are thus not orthogonal; the l component is mutually perpendicular to the h, i and k index directions.
Filling the remaining space[edit]
The FCC and HCP packings are the densest known packings of equal spheres with the highest symmetry (smallest repeat units). Denser sphere packings are known, but they involve unequal sphere packing. A packing density of 1, filling space completely, requires non-spherical shapes, such as honeycombs.
Replacing each contact point between two spheres with an edge connecting the centers of the touching spheres produces tetrahedrons and octahedrons of equal edge lengths. The FCC arrangement produces the tetrahedral-octahedral honeycomb. The HCP arrangement produces the gyrated tetrahedral-octahedral honeycomb. If, instead, every sphere is augmented with the points in space that are closer to it than to any other sphere, the duals of these honeycombs are produced: the rhombic dodecahedral honeycomb for FCC, and the trapezo-rhombic dodecahedral honeycomb for HCP.
Spherical bubbles appear in soapy water in a FCC or HCP arrangement when the water in the gaps between the bubbles drains out. This pattern also approaches the rhombic dodecahedral honeycomb or trapezo-rhombic dodecahedral honeycomb. However, such FCC or HCP foams of very small liquid content are unstable, as they do not satisfy Plateau's laws. The Kelvin foam and the Weaire–Phelan foam are more stable, having smaller interfacial energy in the limit of a very small liquid content.[9]
There are two types of interstitial holes left by hcp and fcc conformations; tetrahedral and octahedral void. Four spheres surround the tetrahedral hole with three spheres being in one layer and one sphere from the next layer. Six spheres surround an octahedral voids with three spheres coming from one layer and three spheres coming from the next layer. Structures of many simple chemical compounds, for instance, are often described in terms of small atoms occupying tetrahedral or octahedral holes in closed-packed systems that are formed from larger atoms.
Layered structures are formed by alternating empty and filled octahedral planes. Two octahedral layers usually allow for four structural arrangements that can either be filled by an hpc of fcc packing systems. In filling tetrahedral holes a complete filling leads to fcc field array. In unit cells, hole filling can sometimes lead to polyhedral arrays with a mix of hcp and fcc layering.[10]
See also[edit]
- ^ Hales, T. C. (1998). "An overview of the Kepler conjecture". arXiv:math/9811071v2.
- ^ Szpiro, George (2003). "Mathematics: Does the proof stack up?". Nature. 424 (6944): 12–13. Bibcode:2003Natur.424...12S. doi:10.1038/424012a. PMID 12840727.
- ^ Cohn, H.; Kumar, A.; Miller, S. D.; Radchenko, D.; Viazovska, M. (2017). "The sphere packing problem in dimension 24". Annals of Mathematics. 185 (3): 1017–1033. arXiv:1603.06518. doi:10.4007/annals.2017.185.3.8. S2CID 119281758.
- ^ Conway, John Horton; Sloane, Neil James Alexander; Bannai, Eiichi (1999). Sphere packings, lattices, and groups. Springer. Section 6.3. ISBN 9780387985855.
- ^ Darling, David. "Cannonball Problem". The Internet Encyclopedia of Science.
- ^ Barlow, William (1883). "Probable Nature of the Internal Symmetry of Crystals". Nature. 29 (738): 186–188. Bibcode:1883Natur..29..186B. doi:10.1038/029186a0.
- ^ "on Sphere Packing". Grunch.net. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
- ^ Weisstein, Eric W. "Hexagonal Close Packing". MathWorld.
- ^ Cantat, Isabelle; Cohen-Addad, Sylvie; Elias, Florence; Graner, François; Höhler, Reinhard; Flatman, Ruth; Pitois, Olivier (2013). Foams, Structure and Dynamics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199662890.
- ^ Woodward, Patrick M.; Karen, Pavel; Evans, John S. O.; Vogt, Thomas (2021). Solid State Materials Chemistry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521873253.


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Sahara Survival
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Blazing sun, blowing sand and blistered souls at the 2012 Marathon des Sables
A field of 854 runners which began the 2012 Marathon des Sables splays across a sandy swath of the Sahara Desert. Photo by Mark Gillett.
A fatigue haze induced by two days and three continents of travel is my filter for this moment—midnight in an African airport—so I have to focus on doing what it takes to end this day: getting a passport stamp from a border-patrol agent, heaving my duffel onto the roof rack of a taxi cab with a sawed-off back end, greeting the hotel manager in a mixture of Arabic and French and discerning the difference between my room's toilet and bidet.
In the morning, the door lock clacks as a housekeeper helps herself inside my hotel room to make it up for the day. "Je dors! Je dors!" I bellow, bounding from bed in surprise. Through midday light flooding the room, she shoots me an alarmed glance and disappears. I sleep more.
When I wake next, I feel human. I open the wood window shutters and a breeze flows over my face. Here is the spread of Ouarzazate, Morocco, an almost-flat city made hazy by fine wind-blown sand. I was too tired to bother with pajamas last night and realize that I'm wearing just a T-shirt and underpants. Morocco's Muslim culture is conservative, so I now understand the housekeeper's shock.
I am here to run the Marathon des Sables (MdS) for the third time. The race, which begins in 10 days, has taken place in southern Morocco every April for 26 years. The brainchild of French race director Patrick Bauer and the granddaddy of all stage races, it
welcomes nearly 1000 athletes for a week of running 150 miles in the Sahara Desert while carrying a pack containing all the food, camping equipment and whatever else one needs for a week of running in the desert. The race administration, a flawlessly tuned orchestra of 400 staff and volunteers, provides runners with water rations, medical care and shade tents.
It's around 85 degrees when I head out for a road run. To repent my earlier sin, I cover up with a long-sleeve shirt, three-quarter-length tights and a ball cap. I give the women in flowing hijabs my best smile, but they triple-take me anyway. Kids stop playing to stare. An ancient automobile burping blue fumes stalls when its driver pays too little attention to driving and too much attention to me. A white girl running—I am a sore thumb in Africa.
I'm now in Zagora, a four-hour drive south of Ouarzazate, at the home of Rachid El Morabity, last year's MdS champion. We sit cross-legged on pillows around a table topped with the biggest tagine I've ever seen. This Moroccan version of a crockpot contains a chicken-and-vegetable dinner prepared by the 30-year-old tour guide.
Around Rachid's table is a hodgepodge group. First, there are brothers Lhoucine, 38, Samir, 31, and Ismail Akhdar, 27. Lhoucine and Samir both have high-ranking finishes at the MDS. Ismail jokes that he is the fat, non-running brother. Aissam Nebchi, a 32-year-old childhood friend of the Akhdars who plays national-level soccer, is also present. Janet Alexander, a 52-year-old Encinitas,
California-based strength and conditioning coach, is too. Janet and I had met some of these guys while running the MdS before and accepted their invitation for a weeklong visit to their hometown prior to the race this year.
Our conversation is chaotic and jovial. We jump between Arabic, French and English. Samir speaks all three languages the best. He garners the nickname "Google Translate."
The group teases Ismail, a self-proclaimed philanderer, about the women he is dating. Relationships between men and women are evolving in Muslim culture, these men all agree, when the dialogue sobers up. They each say they'll marry just one woman. Lhoucine, who is already hitched to a beautiful French gal, jokes, "One is plenty." Lhoucine, Samir and Rachid all work in tourism, which is, according to them, suffering because of political instability in other Muslim countries. We sip mint tea, our host topping off glasses before they are empty.
After dinner, Rachid replaces the tagine with the food he plans to carry and eat during the MdS. The table becomes a pile of pasta shells, rice, spices, gels that Janet and I brought him from the U.S., nuts and dried dates Rachid plucked a couple weeks ago from trees around his home.
"How many calories is this?" asks Janet.
"Just enough," is Rachid's answer, which Samir translates into English from Arabic. Each MDS runner is required to begin the race with 14,000 calories of food, or 2000 calories for each of the seven race days.
Rachid, Lhoucine and Samir ration the foodstuffs into plastic bags, designating individual meals, tie each bag shut with a short piece of string and then trim the extra length of bag. It takes about an hour—during which we joke amply about starvation and stealing each other's food during the race—for the guys to create seven neat piles, the food of a hopeful Moroccan champion.
Our group splinters into several. Lhoucine and I spider onto the flat roof of Rachid's home in Zagora's outskirts, where civilization diffuses into Sahara. The sky is deep blue. I know the night sky of North America well, but the stars are different here. Lhoucine guides me around his sky, and I realize that this is the first time tonight that I have felt like a foreigner.
The MdS begins in 36 hours. Earlier today, we runners were transported to the race's starting line, first by massive bus caravans and second by military trucks, cattle-to-market style. We were assigned to eight-person shade tents. Over 100 of them are staked in a circle about a half-mile in diameter. Called the bivouac and our roving home for the race, this camp is miraculously relocated from each stage's start to finish line by a couple dozen Berber race staff while we run the distance between.
Mohamad Ahansal, the 39-year-old Moroccan who has won this race four times, pokes his head inside my tent. He grins so wide that his teeth fill half his face. We met and became friends when I ran the 2009 MdS. As per custom and even though we've already chatted today, we shake hands, double-cheek kiss and exchange multiple rounds of hello. "Right now, do you want to run?" he inquires. I follow him like a dog tailing its owner.
We are joined by two of Mohamad's Italian buddies. The younger of the two, a chiseled man wearing all spandex and a smile I could get used to, introduces himself as Lorenzo De Ninno and his companion as Mauro. Mauro is a common Italian name, but it's also closely associated with the MdS.
Lorenzo says, "You know of him? He is Mauro Prosperi."
Mauro introduces himself, Italian-style, by pulling the back of my hand to his lips. He is the only man in the MdS's long history who has been lost on course for an extended period of time. Found nine days later in Algeria, more than 100 miles off the race course in 1994, Mauro was evidently not deterred—he continues to run the race regularly. Though I pray to never become so lost in the Sahara that I have to eat bats and drink my own urine to survive, I am like Mauro in the fact that we and so many others are attracted enough to this place and the race that we keep returning.
Mohamad leads us down a wadi made of soft sand and dried mud. We talk sporadically, but a three-language barrier lapses us into more quiet than conversation. From elite Mohamad to survivor Mauro to good-looking Lorenzo, our unlikely friendships make me giddy.
On our return trip to camp, Mohamad breaks right and sprints for a knoll. Like a goat he gallops to the rocky summit, while the rest of us play chase. Low-angle, rust-colored sun beams strike our cheeks at the top, the bivouac about a mile to the north, and the flat Earth almost everywhere else. My brain processes the view as warm, welcoming, but still strange.
We link hands and raise our arms as a referee does with a winning boxer after a match. We wear self-satisfied grins that mean pretty much the same thing in every language.
We're in the Sahara Desert's wilderness, with no other signs of humanity. Tan sand lies underfoot. Vegetation is non-existent, save for dried, waist-high grass growing in bunches every 200 feet or so. The horizon is far—perhaps 100 miles or more—in every direction and our view to it is punctuated by occasional technicolor mountains.
In contrast to the wild silence around us, the MdS starting line is frenetic insanity. We runners are a herd of screaming, hugging, sweating, jumping, fist-pumping, full-on-freaking runners from dozens of nations. I pick my way through this bulge of humanity, stumbling across Chloë Lanthier, a 45-year-old who lives in Revelstoke, British Columbia, and the X-Training School director. She has enormous biceps and a smile that puts me at ease. "Can I stand by you?" I ask and she nods, knowing the impossibility of conversation.
Patrick and his English-speaking translator stand atop a Land Rover, their voices booming over a sound system. A helicopter circles just off the deck, its sandy rotor wash mixing into us. Patrick says it's one minute until go time as AC/DC's Highway to Hell rocks the desert. We flail our arms and bodies to the beat. Patrick yells the magic word, the microphone screeching with feedback. The music gets even louder and we evolve into a moving mosh pit.
A group works together across a pebble-covered flat. Photo by Carolyn Schaffer.
Stage 2 is a furnace of 120-degree heat. I just dive-bombed today's last descent, a 1000-footer that spit us onto flat ground composed of black gravel. I see the red finish-line banner and the black bivouac tents, warped by heat waves. Patrick designs each day's course so that you either can't see the finish line until you are at it or you see it from miles away. Either finish is his final form of daily course-design torment, and today's is the latter variety.
A headwind flips up sheets of grit. I overtake another runner, noticing it is Mauro and giving him a come-with-me wave. He speeds up, steps ahead of me and plays (a totally legal) windbreak. His gesture is sweet, paternal even, and a wave of affection for him flushes over me. When it's my turn to pull, Mauro slides into my slipstream. The wind lets up enough that I hear our shoes simultaneously crunching rocks. The rhythm is hypnotic and familiar.
I became a trail runner because of the repetitive, calming sound of feet on dirt. In 2006, I called myself a road runner and was headed to the starting line of Missoula, Montana's Riverbank Run when my mom telephoned to say that my father had died while they were on vacation in South America. After that, my mother withered into depression and near non-functionality. Though much about the next couple of years sucked, watching my mom suffer broke my heart the most. I was working and living in Yellowstone National Park, and I coped by running trails.
Because friends forced me, I tried to heal in other ways. I visited a therapist, but she focused on the past. "Look," I remember telling her, "your questions only ensure that I see my father's drowned, blue body lying on a beach when I shut my eyes at night."
On the trail, reality was the soft rhythm of shoes hitting earth. The act shut out the past, the future, the present. I ran so much that I dreamed about it, too. This kind of running was reckless and unsustainable in the long-term, but it provided the peace I found nowhere else.
Mauro and I cross the finish line. I thank him until he becomes bashful. "Sì, Sì, Sì, bella," he says. My gratitude is for the 30-minute peloton, the memory of how I began in this sport and the relief of not having to run like that anymore.
With his sun hat, sunglasses, and opaque sunscreen, John Mulligan deflects the Sahara's intense sun. Photo by Kirsten Kortebein.
John Milligan knows how to suffer, I think as my new friend waddles past my tent like an exquisitely uncomfortable duck. He just finished Stage 3. "How are you?" I ask, immediately hating myself for those words. He's clearly unwell.
"I'm going to finish this race," he responds, pointing his finger at the ground as if he is a father lecturing his child. The 42-year-old is a business unit manager for the Vermeer Cooperation from Pella, Iowa. I understand, from the conversations we've shared since meeting each other in an Ouarzazate hotel before the race, John came to the MdS with big expectations. The Sahara Desert has its own plans for him, and it is chewing him up and spitting him out.
We sit in his tent. He removes his sand gaiters, shoes and socks, groaning through the movements. He has developed foot blisters that grow in size every day, and he says that they now cover half the surface area of each foot. At today's finish line, the race's medical staff treated the blisters and covered his feet with white bandages. I can't see the podiatric disaster, and don't want to.
"You're a rock star," says John, referring to me passing him during each of the three stages after he was slowed by those blisters. "You make it look easy." John had hoped to finish among the top 50 runners, but now he says he'll have to suffer much to finish in the top 50 percent. "I left my ego on Stage 1's course. I had to."
I understand that his heart is as raw as his feet and mutter, "I'm really sorry." I mean, there is nothing easy about running 150 miles and otherwise surviving for a week in the Sahara, but what do you say to a man who is doing it without skin on his feet?
Stage 4 is a 50-miler. On this day, the top 50 men and five women begin three hours after the mass start. I am somewhere around 50th-place overall and the fifth-place woman.
After the other 800 runners depart at 8:30 a.m., I have all morning to fortify myself to my fate. Because I start slow and speed up, because European runners are notorious for their blazing beginnings and because I'm among the slowest of the speedsters, I will probably be the last person in this group of 55 for a while. I tuck my compass in my sports bra for fast access, so that I don't end up in Algeria.
About an hour in, I have picked my way up a dry ravine to the top of a ridgeline of gray limestone filled with ancient seashells and other fossil debris. An 800-foot-tall, super-steep, peach-colored sand dune is our means of descending back to flat ground. The act of lowering oneself over this pile of sand is not glissading, not riding, not bounding. Because of the length of time I am separated from the steep dune and because of the soft footfalls, I feel like a lunar explorer as I jump. When each foot hits sand, it is gobbled up to the ankle. Flying leaps and feathery landings, I repeat this process until the dune slopes away to hard dirt.
Starting in the late group means that I catch many of the runners who started earlier and are moving at a slower pace. This is the purpose of a staggered start for the highest-ranking runners: runners of all kinds are mixed up and interacting with each other on course. I trot next to Didier Benguigui, a visually impaired runner from France, and his guide Gilles Clain.
Says Gilles, "C'est la femme Américaine, Meghan!"
Replies Didier, "Allez, Meghan!"
Didier keeps a solid pace on these flats. But he is near the back of the pack, so I know it must have taken him a long time to climb up that ravine and down the dune. My heart rises into my throat for the fact that I thought it was hard and Didier did it without sight.
I finally spit out, "Didier, vous êtes magnifique."
"Merci," he continues, "Mais le monde est magnifique!"
Soon I am rock hopping a stream of moving, pooling, cool, clear water, which is a near-miracle in the desert. I dip my hat in, then use it to splash myself. Runners frolic everywhere and, as I climb the embankment on the stream's far side, a half-dozen folks clap for me. I fist pump in reply.
A few hours later, I see Vince Antunez, 51, a seasoned stage racer from Texas. He wore FiveFingers at the bivouac before the race, and because most of us go large lengths to protect ourselves from the Sahara's sharp things, they and their owner caught my eye. This week, I have learned that the military man has a hard outer shell and is goofy at heart, so I hug him and sprint off. I turn around to see that he has his head thrown back in laughter about my sneak attack. He finally shouts, "The best hug, ever!"
Mohammad Almatar, a speedy, sponsored 27-year-old from Kuwait, and I leave the 50-kilometer water checkpoint and enter a flat dune field together. He's been finishing 15 or 20 minutes ahead of me in the previous stages, so I imagine he's having a rough day. No matter, his sand-running skills are superb, which is appropriate given the volume of it in his home country.
He takes short, quick steps. Fast contact with the sand prevents him from sinking into it. He lands with his whole foot, toes and heel together, so as to spread his body weight over the entire shoe's surface area. He follows the dunes' crests, running on their harder-packed windward side, rather than in a straight line the direction we're headed.
During this fray, I observe: Mohammad is playing. He is the runner version of a child in a sandbox, taking backscratcher leaps off 10-foot dune crests and landing on the soft sand below. And, as we weave back and forth—sometimes taking the same line, but other times running the crests of parallel dunes—we exchange smiles, grunts and even a handshake. His approach and others, from Didi's observations of our beautiful world, to the runners' splashing around in the only water we'll see all week, to Vince's ability to laugh in the middle of a one very long run, are jovial and light-hearted. I can see and feel in them and myself that this joy takes the pressure off of racing.
When I cross the finish line in the dark a few hours later, exactly 11 hours after starting, I jump around like I won the lottery. I shoot fists toward the stars. I grab handfuls of sand. I hug the race official who is minding the timing equipment. And then, because I tend to do so after efforts of this length and difficulty, I barf.
A bird's eye view of Stage 4's massive sand dune shows how steep it is. Photo by Carolyn Schaffer.
We just endured a 12-hour sandstorm and a one-hour thunderstorm. This is the second afternoon of the long stage, which has a day-and-a-half cutoff. Folks who finish the 50-miler in a day are afforded the luxury of a rest day. Many other runners and I have completed the long stage and are recovering in the bivouac. One must use a liberal interpretation of the term "rest day" if we are to describe waiting out this weather as rest, though.
My tentmates and I lie on the ground with our collapsed, wet tent on top of us. I use the Indiglo feature on my watch to see that it's 2 p.m. on the dot. Storm clouds now yield to a turquoise sky, so we work together to raise our tent. I place my belongings in the sun to dry. I survey the bivouac, which looks like a nuclear weapon detonated in it.
Chloë stands next to her tent. Her body is visibly swollen, edema engulfing her toned musculature. She must be retaining five or seven pounds of liquid. Chloë and I spoke at the final water checkpoint last night. She was leaving it at a steady clip and in fine spirits, but said she had struggled with nausea for much of the day.
"You look good now," I told her as we parted ways in the night.
We compare notes on yesterday and, with her eyes wandering among the mess that is the bivouac post-storm, she says, "My mind can make this race harder or easier than it inherently is. I choose to make it easy."
The 2012 Marathon des Sables ends with a crossing of Morocco's largest dunescape, the Merzouga Dunes. This field of cantaloupe-colored sand stretches 15 miles long, north-to-south, and five miles wide, east-to-west. Around the edge of the dunefield, the sand makes 20-foot-tall swells, like those of the high seas. The tallest dunes—more than 1000 feet in height—are located in the center of the dunefield and their crests cut curved lines across today's azure sky.
There is not one thing that is sustainable about these dunes. In fact, the dunes could be one of Earth's most uninhabitable spots. As for the rest of the Sahara Desert, intermittent water, food and shade make surviving a primitive existence. The Berber people who reside in small clusters out here—or Mauro for that matter—could probably articulate this better.
I love these dunes and our ribbon of colorful runners—the intermixing of a wilderness that is harsh, gritty and hot; the gregarious, quirky and loving people who race the MdS and the manner in which this race makes us bigger, bad-er, rad-er versions of ourselves—with every inch of my being. I suppose it is fortuitous, then, that the dunes are tough traveling and this 5.5-mile crossing takes me 68 minutes.
Hundreds of spectators, a combination of locals, foreign tourists and competitors' family and friends, line the last half-mile to the finish. They are the first clean people we've interacted with in seven days and I smell their soaps and perfumes more than I see them. They shake big cowbells with deep-pitched rings and shout, "C'est une femme!"
Patrick waits, just under the finishing banner, to greet every runner who completes his race. When it is my turn, he bear hugs me, kisses my salty cheeks and lowers the finisher's medal over my head. His voice is hoarse from so many days of hard work when he exclaims, "Meghan, again you finish! You still love the Sahara?"
Meghan Hicks is a Contributing Editor for Trail Runner. This article originally appeared in our December 2012 issue.


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The Jacksonville Jaguars came into this season with high hopes for Blaine Gabbert, but the starting quarterback's second season is officially on ice.
The Jaguars placed Gabbert on injured reserve Wednesday, citing the right forearm injury he suffered in Week 11 and the lingering left shoulder pain that sidetracked his season. The team also placed receiver Laurent Robinson on IR with concussion symptoms.
Gabbert said Wednesday he'll know more about the damage to his forearm in the coming days, but his future is wrapped in mystery.
It's possible Gabbert has made his final start in Jacksonville. He was benched in Sunday's loss to the Houston Texans in favor of Chad Henne, who coach Mike Mularkey labeled his starter going forward. That's saying something.
Rapoport: Week 12 game rankings
What's the best game on the Week 12 slate? The worst? Ian Rapoport provides a pecking order in his Rap Sheet Rankings. **More ...**
Gabbert's development has been sluggish and frustrating. After a promising preseason, he displayed too much of the skittish play that characterized his disastrous rookie campaign in 2011. His nine touchdowns to six interceptions hint at fewer mistakes, but not nearly enough production. Gabbert hasn't bloomed into a passer who can spark this offense out of a funk. He's too often the core problem.
Robinson didn't help. He was brought in to duplicate his sturdy play with the Dallas Cowboys of a season ago, but never got on track, with just 24 catches for 252 yards.
This was a critical season for Gabbert to restore the team's faith in his potential. Mularkey inherited this quarterback, he didn't select him -- and change appears certain in 2013.
UPDATE: Gabbert will have surgery on his left shoulder next week, but will not have surgery on his right arm, NFL.com's Steve Wyche reports per a team source.


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At Least 200,000 Tons Of Oil And Gas From Deepwater Horizon Spill Consumed By Gulf Bacteria
Researchers from the University of Rochester and Texas A&M University have found that, over a period of five months following the disastrous 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, naturally-occurring bacteria that exist in the Gulf of Mexico consumed and removed at least 200,000 tons of oil and natural gas that spewed into the deep Gulf from the ruptured well head.
The researchers analyzed an extensive data set to determine not only how much oil and gas was eaten by bacteria, but also how the characteristics of this feast changed with time.
"A significant amount of the oil and gas that was released was retained within the ocean water more than one-half mile below the sea surface. It appears that the hydrocarbon-eating bacteria did a good job of removing the majority of the material that was retained in these layers," said co-author John Kessler of the University of Rochester.
The results published this week in Environmental Science and Technology include the first measurements of how the rate at which the bacteria ate the oil and gas changed as this disaster progressed, information that is fundamental to understanding both this spill and predicting the behavior of future spills.
Kessler noted: "Interestingly, the oil and gas consumption rate was correlated with the addition of dispersants at the wellhead. While there is still much to learn about the appropriateness of using dispersants in a natural ecosystem, our results suggest it made the released hydrocarbons more available to the native Gulf of Mexico microorganisms."
Their measurements show that the consumption of the oil and gas by bacteria in the deep Gulf had stopped by September 2010, five months after the Deepwater Horizon explosion. "It is unclear if this indicates that this great feast was over by this time or if the microorganisms were simply taking a break before they start on dessert and coffee" said Kessler. "Our results suggest that some (about 40%) of the released hydrocarbons that once populated these layers still remained in the Gulf post September 2010, so food was available for the feast to continue at some later time. But the location of those substances and whether they were biochemically transformed is unknown."
Previous studies of the Deepwater Horizon spill had shown that the oil and gas were trapped in underwater layers, or "plumes", and that the bacteria had begun consuming the oil and gas. By using a more extensive data set, the researchers were able to measure just how many tons of hydrocarbons released from the spill had been removed in the deep Gulf waters. The team's research suggests that the majority of what once composed these large underwater plumes of oil and gas was eaten by the bacteria.
Professor John Kessler, recently appointed as Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Rochester, worked with graduate research assistant Mengran Du at Texas A&M University to analyze over 1300 profiles of oxygen dissolved in the Gulf of Mexico water spanning a period of four months and covering nearly 30,000 square miles.
The researchers calculated how many tons of oil and gas had been consumed and at what rate by first measuring how much oxygen had been removed from the ocean. Mengran Du explained that "when bacteria consume oil and gas, they use up oxygen and release carbon dioxide, just as humans do when we breathe. When bacteria die and decompose, that uses up still more oxygen. Both these processes remove oxygen from the water." Du added that it is this lower oxygen level that the researchers could measure and use as an indicator of how much oil and gas had been removed by microorganisms and at what rate.
The work was supported by the National Science Foundation with additional contributions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Sloan Foundation, BP/the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and the Chinese Scholarship Council.
About The University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by its Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery. For more information, visit www.rochester.edu.
Source: University of Rochester


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If you've never seen the work of Bill Gekas, you're in for a treat: The Australian photographer creates gorgeous images that look like classic works of art. The beautiful model is none other than his daughter, Athena, who is now 5 years old.
"Potatoes," by Bill Gekas, posted with permission
Gekas' portraits are part Vermeer, with a dash of Goya and a pinch of Metsu.
"Although the photos aren't recreations of any particular painting," says Gekas, "I try to recreate the overall aesthetic the old masters' works were known for."
He's also inspired by Irving Penn and Diane Arbus.
"The Letter," by Bill Gekas, posted with permission
When Gekas blogs about his images, he goes into minute detail about his technique, the lighting, the tones, and the shutter speed. But a picture is worth a thousand words, and in the portraits, it's clear that this is an amazing bonding experience for father and daughter. Athena is shot lovingly, patiently and beautifully. Gekas, who is self-taught, has won a slew of awards and been published in a smattering of magazines. Despite the fact that her face is appearing in publications around the globe, we don't know much about Athena — and Gekas would like to keep it that way.
"Plums," by Bill Gekas, posted with permission
But just imagine how amazing it will be for Athena to look back on these images when she's older! This is a long way from creased, blurry snapshots. Few of us have such spectacular photographic artifacts from our childhood.
"Feline friend," by Bill Gekas, posted with permission
For more, visit BillGekas.com and Facebook.
"Pleiadian" and "Birdcage" by Bill Gekas, posted with permission