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As elections near, green hopes wilt
Two years ago environmentalists were flying high following the election of President Bill Clinton, Al Gore and a cadre of Democrats in Congress. Surely this was the time to reform grazing and mining on public lands, designate millions of acres of new wilderness, toughen laws protecting water and wildlife.
But the brief window of opportunity has slammed shut, and environmentalists are gingerly nursing bruised knuckles with hardly a significant victory to speak of. Grazing reform limps along an administrative path and Congress has backed down again on wilderness and revision of the century-old mining law.
Even the California Desert Protection Act, which was seen as a sure thing, passed only in the waning moments of the session, following an attempted Republican filibuster.
"The atmosphere for environmental issues in Congress is as bad as I've ever seen it," says Jim Lyon, Washington director of the Mineral Policy Center. "With the exception of the California Desert Protection Act, we're in a defensive mode. At least under Reagan, the Democrats held together."
There may be no need to pine for the Reagan years, when things looked so bad that environmental groups were able to rally widespread support and at least mount successful holding actions. An emboldened wise-use/property rights/Christian Coalition movement, bolstered by an electorate sick of politics and angry with regulation, has raised candidates and initiatives that could change government at all levels Nov. 8.
Republicans are positioned to harvest the alienation, while many of the Democrats swept into office two years ago are trying to distance themselves from the Clinton administration.
Nowhere is the backlash against government-as-usual more obvious than in the 10 mountain and desert states covered by High Country News, and no target is feeling it more than Washington state's Tom Foley, often cast as the West's most prominent - and to some environmentalists, traitorous - Democrat.
In a September open primary, the House speaker won just 35 percent of the vote while three Republican contenders split the remaining 65 percent. Foley's opponent in November, Spokane attorney George Nethercutt, is the happy recipient of a flood of Republican PAC money from around the country, and recent polls put him ahead by as much as 20 points.
In Arizona, Republican candidates for governor and both U.S. House and Senate seats are using environmentalists and their causes as whipping boys. Gov. Fife Symington, R, who once proclaimed himself an environmentalist, recently told the American Mining Congress that the Mexican spotted owl shouldn't get federal protection because the owl is smart enough to survive on its own.
"There isn't one spotted owl on earth that's worth losing a job over," he said.
Symington, up against perennial Democratic outsider Eddie Basha, is backing Proposition 300, a ballot initiative that claims to protect Fifth Amendment property rights. The proposition requires the state government to produce lengthy and costly property-rights compact statements before issuing new regulations; some environmentalists say the vote on it will indicate just how far the wise-use movement has come.
In Arizona's largely rural 6th Congressional District, freshman Rep. Karan English, a Democrat, is campaigning as if she were an independent candidate, running away from Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt as if they were the plague.
Her list-of-achievement sheet on natural resources touts her opposition to the administration's rangeland reform proposal, as well as her efforts to free federal timber for logging and relieve copper mining companies from some reclamation requirements - even though support from environmentalists enabled her election two years ago. Her opponent this time is J.D. Hayworth, a popular Phoenix sportscaster who says the Endangered Species Act goes too far.
In neighboring New Mexico, Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman is fighting a challenge from rancher, oil company owner and banker Colin McMillan, whose fiery rhetoric leaps straight from the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s.
"This campaign is about the attack on the Western way of life. Let's get rid of the killer Bs - Bingaman, Babbitt and President Bill," he recently told party faithful.
"Two years ago our job was to distinguish between two candidates who claimed to be environmentalists," says Rob Smith, Southwest regional director for the Sierra Club. "But the environment isn't a litmus test anymore. Candidates are running openly against the environment. Anti-environmentalism is being couched in terms of anti-tax, anti-government, anti-regulation. It's an attempt to cast the environmental movement as representative of all the things people don't like."
Rancher Jack Metzger, former federal lands director for the National Cattleman's Association, says the election will be payback time for environmentalism run amok.
"People are saying 'we can't live with the sky is falling all the time,' " says Metzger. "The environmental movement has stubbed its toe."
Ironically, environmentalists sick of status quo politics are making their moves in two states.
In New Mexico, the Green Party has placed a full slate of candidates on the ballot. Green gubernatorial candidate Roberto Mondragon, a long-time New Mexico politico who once served as lieutenant governor under current governor Bruce King, D, is running strongly in the largely Hispanic northern parts of the state, including Santa Fe.
In Montana, an environmental activist and artist, Steve Kelly, is making a bid for the state's lone House seat. Running as an independent candidate, Kelly favors the creation of a five-state wilderness bill. Democratic incumbent Pat Williams has tried unsuccessfully for years to pass a smaller, Montana-only bill.
Some environmentalists and Democratic leaders label both Kelly and the Green Party as spoilers who can't win but who could tilt the balance toward right-leaning Republicans.
In Montana, the Republican congressional candidate is Cy Jamison, who directed the Bureau of Land Management during the George Bush years. In the New Mexico governor's race, the Republican is Gary Johnson, a political newcomer aligned with People for the West, which backs unregulated mining, logging and grazing on public lands.
But the long-shot challenges might better be seen as a protest against a two-party system mired in gridlock. "I'm providing Montana voters a choice for the first time in 54 years," says Kelly. "Nobody is satisfied with the job Congress is doing. Maybe an outsider can do it."
Democrats will likely give ground in both the House and Senate in November, and in the West, Democratic incumbents are vulnerable to Republican challengers in a dozen races.
In the state of Washington, a virtual Democratic sweep in 1992 gave Democrats eight of the state's nine House seats. Republicans predict they will gain a majority of the seats this year.
But nothing in politics is a sure thing. Foley could stage a last-minute comeback and win. And a slate of more moderate candidates representing the changing demographics of the West could prevail throughout the region. Certainly, such candidates have emerged, especially in the high-growth states of Colorado, Montana and Arizona, and new coalitions have formed in several states to counter the organizing of the right wing.
Here's a look at some of the region's key races.
NEVADA: The governor's race, between Democratic incumbent Bob Miller and Republican challenger Jim Gibbons (a state legislator from Reno) has become a race of extremes. Gibbons has aligned himself with the newly formed Nevada Freedom Coalition, composed of anti-tax, anti-gay, pro-gun, and anti-environmental organizations. The coalition supports candidates at all levels of government, from school boards to the U.S. Senate, pushing an agenda that includes the return of all federal lands to Nevada.
Environmentalists say Miller has been no friend when it comes to grazing and mining reform, but he has fought for regulation of toxic pollution. "Compared to Miller, Gibbons would be a real disaster," says Sierra Club activist Marjory Sill.
Countering the "freedom fighters" at the state legislative level is the Nevada Progressive Coalition, which formed last May and includes environmentalists, women's groups and labor unions. State director Bob Fulkerson says it hopes to elect candidates that better reflect the booming state's new ethnic diversity.
"Nevada's Hispanic population grew by 130 percent between 1980 and 1990," says Fulkerson. "It's a huge new political force."
MONTANA: No fan of environmentalists, Republican Sen. Conrad Burns is sweating a tight race against Democrat Jack Mudd, an attorney and former dean of the University of Montana's law school.
Burns is a vocal opponent of efforts to reform grazing and mining on public lands. He introduced a wilderness bill written by the timber industry, which killed the chances of a more moderate bill introduced by Rep. Pat Williams. This could hurt Burns, says Sierra Club northern plains director Larry Mehlhaff, because Burns campaigned in 1988 saying he would solve the wilderness issue.
A Great Falls Tribune poll in September showed Burns with a slim lead of 46 percent to Mudd's 40 percent, with Mudd attracting young and college-educated voters.
The House race between Williams, Republican Cy Jamison and independent candidate Steve Kelly has divided conservationists. Some fear if Kelly wins just 5 or 10 percent of the vote, he will siphon support from Williams, who has a decent environmental record, and help Jamison.
"It would be a shame if Kelly defeated Williams and elected a James Watt clone," says Sierra Club political director Dan Weiss.
Kelly admits he is frustrated with the Montana wilderness logjam and blames Williams for some of it. But he says his candidacy represents a much broader dissatisfaction with government and money's role in politics.
"Environmentalists were tricked" into thinking that the election of Clinton and the 103rd Congress would help them with their agenda, he says. "And these are the same ones calling me a spoiler."
WYOMING: Malcolm Wallop is stepping down from the U.S. Senate and the big question is: Will the conservative, anti-environmental Republican be replaced by someone much like him - Rep. Craig Thomas - or by the more moderate Democrat Mike Sullivan, who is giving up the governor's seat to run?
Though no environmental champion, Sullivan has the support of many activists in the state who say he is an intelligent consensus builder. Thomas has tried to paint Sullivan as a close friend of the Clinton administration and one of those waging "War on the West," criticizing him for working on a federal grazing reform model for Wyoming.
But Sullivan has won kudos from some ranchers for his efforts to bring environmentalists and agricultural interests to the table. He has lashed back at Thomas and Wallop for being critical bystanders.
"Talk of genocide, divide and conquer, not only contributes nothing to the debate, but acts as kind of a bugle call for ... resentment and hatred," he recently told the Casper Star-Tribune. "I wonder when people talk like that if they are trying to destroy all possibilities of constructive resolution of these issues."
Wyoming voters have clear choices in two other statewide races. State legislator Barbara Cubin, R, who is trying to win Thomas' vacated seat, has the support of the wise-use movement and the Christian Coalition.
"She's worse on 'War on the West' than Craig Thomas, if you can believe it," says the Sierra Club's Mehlhaff.
Cubin's Democratic opponent, attorney Bob Shuster, has done pro bono work to protect wilderness areas in Teton County from oil and gas development.
The Wyoming governor's race pits popular Secretary of State Kathy Karpan, D, against Jim Geringer, a state legislator who has pushed takings legislation. Karpan has worked to slow the sale of state trust lands and opposes the proposed Noranda gold mine near Yellowstone. She recently charged Republican leaders with trying to scare her out of the race by threatening to accuse her of being a lesbian - a charge she says is baseless and irrelevant. Geringer claimed in the Casper Star-Tribune that sexual preference is not an issue, but "to some people that will make a difference ..."
Wyomingites also will vote on a ballot initiative that would give counties the ability to allow gambling if a majority of their residents approve.
COLORADO: The House of Representatives race for Colorado's 3rd District, which covers the western half of the state, is a showdown between the Old West, in Rep. Scott McInnis, R, and the New West, represented by state legislator Linda Powers.
Powers, a former councilwoman from the ski town of Crested Butte, has pushed hard at the state level for new subdivision rules to slow the effects of growth on agricultural lands. McInnis has gone to bat for developers and the traditional extractive industries using the public lands.
"I think McInnis' support is a mile wide and an inch deep," says Carmi McLean, executive director of the Denver-based Clean Water Action. "Our polling shows that the wise-use/takings people are out of step. Most people like zoning and regulation because it will protect their property rights." McInnis, however, has enjoyed strong support in previous elections.
In the governor's race, incumbent Roy Romer is running for a third term against Republican oilman Bruce Benson. Romer, who has been campaigning on the issue of "smart growth," has a big lead over Benson, who has suffered from "character" problems relating to two arrests for drunken driving in the early 1980s and a messy divorce. Romer has aligned himself strongly with Babbitt's grazing reform.
A James Watt protégée, state Attorney General Gale Norton, faces a challenge by Democrat Dick Freese, a lawyer who formed the Rocky Mountain Center on the Environment in the 1960s. Norton, who worked in Watt's Interior Department and as counsel for the conservative Mountain States Legal Foundation, supported takings legislation and has shied away from prosecuting corporate polluters, environmentalists say.
IDAHO: Attorney General Larry EchoHawk, a Democrat, leads the race for the governor's seat vacated by Cecil Andrus. EchoHawk, who is both a Mormon and a Pawnee, has strong appeal among Republican moderates and Mormons and is expected to defeat Republican Phil Batt.
Environmentalists say EchoHawk will not be the feisty fighter Andrus has been on the salmon issue. But they say the lawyer who brought the state's successful lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service has the right philosophy and would hire good people to keep pushing for fundamental changes in the Columbia River hydro system.
As for Gov. Andrus' pet project to expand the bombing range in the Oregon desert, "EchoHawk will let it die," predicts John McCarthy of the Idaho Conservation League.
Rep. Larry LaRocco, D, faces a colorful challenge from arch-conservative Helen Chenoweth in the state's 1st District. Although LaRocco has been no friend of environmentalists - he has called for salvage logging and recently fought to allow hunters in areas proposed as a national park in the California Desert - the "War-on-the-West" spouting Chenoweth would be a disaster, says McCarthy.
Attending a late-summer Sockeye Festival and Feed rally in Stanley, Chenoweth told a crowd of farmers, "It's the Anglo-Saxon male that's endangered today. The courts ... are elevating the rights of animals and plants to the level of humans."
NEW MEXICO: Gauging the effects of the Green Party dominates headlines in this state. Democratic leaders are particularly concerned that gubernatorial Green candidate Roberto Mondragon will hurt the chances of Bruce King, a Democrat seeking his fourth term. Polls show Republican newcomer Gary Johnson is mounting a strong challenge.
Environmentalists have split camp. Saying Mondragon is unelectable, the statewide Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club has endorsed King, a rancher with a weak environmental record. But the endorsement has spawned an uprising within the chapter. Activists Susan Schock and Pat Wolff, who is also the Green Party candidate for state land commissioner, won seats on the chapter's executive committee with backing from those who opposed the King endorsement.
The state's other environmental PAC, the New Mexico Conservation Voters Alliance, has not endorsed anyone for governor. Its literature notes that Mondragon, who specializes in social issues, "has a ways to go to demonstrate he can effectively move the environmental agenda forward," and King "has broken a long list of written promises."
ARIZONA: Voters in Arizona have clear choices. The seat held by retiring Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D, is contested by two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Sam Coppersmith and Republican Jon Kyl.
Coppersmith has the best environmental record of anyone in the Arizona delegation and is a member of the Grand Canyon Trust. Kyl, a lawyer who once served on the board of the Mountain States Legal Foundation and as a lobbyist for the Salt River water project, has one of the worst environmental voting records in Congress, says Sierra Club staffer Rob Smith. Kyl also has amassed a huge war chest, something that Coppersmith, who had to endure a lengthy vote recount in a dead-heat primary, may have trouble overcoming.
The races for the seats vacated by Kyl and Coppersmith are also studies in contrast. In Kyl's 4th District, Democrat Carol Cure, a lawyer, faces another lawyer, John Shadegg, whose campaign slogans include "Protect your property rights' and "Protect your hunting and fishing rights." And in Coppersmith's 1st District, environmentalists are supporting Chuck Blanchard over Republican Matt Salmon, another property-rights advocate.
The Navajo tribal election is scheduled for the same day as the general election, which bodes well for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eddie Basha, whose Navajo support gave him the victory in the primary.
But there could be a hitch. Tribal President Peterson Zah, who is up for reelection, decided to include a last-minute ballot initiative on whether the tribe should pursue gambling. The election board may move the tribal election back a few weeks if it can't print new ballots in time, which could reduce Navajo turnout for the general election and hurt Basha, says Tom Arviso, publisher and editor of the Navajo Times.
The delay could also help Zah's opponents in the tribal presidential contest - lawyer Albert Hale and Larry Curley, a health and social services expert who hopes the election board approves him as a write-in candidate. Hale, who has worked closely with Zah in redesigning tribal government, is mounting the strongest challenge, says Arviso.
Some observers view Zah's decision to put the gambling issue to a vote as a smart political tactic that will not risk the tribal leadership's interest in bringing gaming to the Four Corners area reservation. Arviso says a series of public meetings held earlier this year showed that the majority of Navajo people want gambling.
UTAH: Two House races in Utah have distinct environmental significance. In the state's 2nd District, Democratic freshman Karen Shephard, a 100 percent environmental voter who has fought the Army's plan to shoot missiles over Moab, faces two opponents: Republican Enid Greene Waldholtz and Merril Cook, who is running as an independent. Cook has run for a number of Utah offices, including governor and state school board, and has wide name recognition; Greene Waldholtz wears the conservative banner.
In the 1st District, Republican Jim Hansen is fending off a challenge from Bobbie Coray, an economic development consultant from the Cache Valley. Hansen adamantly opposes new wilderness in the state. Recent polls show Coray, who has the support of the Sierra Club, trailing, but several national political reports say Hansen is still vulnerable.
WASHINGTON: Republican PAC money from all over the country is flowing into the state's 5th District, where Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley confronts the toughest race of his 29-year congressional career. That money, including a chunk from a group called De-Foley-Ate Congress, has bought advertisements in every media market of the district, including one television spot featuring Foley's face superimposed on President Bill Clinton's.
Some environmentalists say they would be glad to see the man who has long supported logging and aluminium interests in the Columbia River Basin lose to George Nethercutt, a former aide of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. But others fear a Foley defeat would leave a region needing pull in Congress without its strongest player.
A number of Foley's fellow Democrats in the House, including Jolene Unsoeld and Jay Inslee, are also in trouble. Unsoeld, whose district includes the timber country of the state's southwestern forests, barely won more votes in the September primary than last-minute write-in Linda Smith, R.
"It shows you how well organized the Christian right is," says Beth Doglio, director of the Washington Environmental Political Action, noting Smith's support from the Christian Coalition. Inslee, a freshman who ran as an environmentalist two years ago, was outpolled in the primary by Republican Doc Hastings, a state legislator with a Reaganite bent.
On the local level, the Growth Management Act is the hottest issue, says Doglio (HCN, 9/5/94). Property-rights advocates are supporting county commissioner and state legislature candidates who want to weaken the law, which requires comprehensive plans that protect wetlands and other natural resources. Doglio says her organization is helping pro-planning candidates in several counties, though not in the right-wing strongholds of central and eastern Washington.
OREGON: Oregon voters face a daunting list of 18 ballot initiatives. Among them are the latest incarnation of an anti-gay initiative, a ban on bear-baiting and hunting bear or cougars with dogs, and a measure requiring mining companies to backfill their pits. The latter was put together by environmentalists trying to keep a mining company from opening the first cyanide heap-leach gold mine in the state.
Democratic Gov. Barbara Roberts is stepping down from office, and former Republican Rep. Denny Smith is coming out of retirement in hopes of taking over. Smith, whose environmental voting record was perennially among the worst in Congress, is opposed by Democrat John Kitzhaber, a former state legislator who was a board member of the Pacific Rivers Council.
Although Kitzhaber has been attacked by Smith for his environmental bent, the Democrat is known for his ability to bring opposing viewpoints together, as he showed when he crafted the state's progressive health plan, says Anna Goldrich, director of he Oregon Conservation League.
In the House, two progressive Democratic women are facing conservative Republican men for two open seats. In the state's rural 2nd District, Sue Kupillas is running against Wes Cooley for the seat vacated by conservative Republican Bob Smith. The 5th District contest for Democrat Mike Kopetski's seat features Catherine Webber against Jim Bunn. Both Bunn and Cooley have been endorsed by the Oregon Citizens' Alliance, which put the anti-gay measure on the ballot.
And in Oregon's 1st District, freshman incumbent Elizabeth Furse, D, is facing the most conservative Republican backed by the Alliance, Bill Witt. In a New York Times article on the rise of the Christian right in Oregon, Furse said, "We used to be known for things like land-use planning - the bottle bill, for God's sake. We are a progressive state and yet Oregon has become a real test case for the radical right. If they can do it here, they can do it anywhere."
Paul Larmer is HCN's associate editor.
The following sidebar article accompanies this feature story:
- Native Americans move ahead politically


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Producer-rapper Swizz Beatz says he wants to release a series of singles — or "memorable moments" — instead of a follow-up album to 2007's "One Man Band Man." With the growing trend of top pop acts selling millions of singles, but falling flat in album sales, Beatz said releasing songs is the best route for him as a known artist.
"I think that it's a better lane for me," said Beatz, who has produced hits for Jay-Z, T.I., Beyonce and Drake. "I'm able to give the fans something to focus on that's consistent instead of promoting this, promoting that."
His current single, the high-energy party anthem "Everyday Birthday," features Chris Brown and Ludacris. They performed it at the American Music Awards earlier this month and so far the song has peaked at No. 44 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart.
Though Beatz is focusing on singles, fans shouldn't worry; he says he already has an entire album finished.
"I just don't feel that the people want an album from me that bad, yet. But when they do, I can definitely put something together," he said.
Beatz is still in the studio creating music for others. He said he's working with Beyonce, Drake and Rick Ross, and will soon reunite with Nas and Jay-Z. He's also a producer on wife Alicia Keys' new album, "Girl on Fire," out this week.
Keys, who has been mostly mum about their marriage, recently gushed to the press that Beatz and their 2-year-old son, Egypt, bring balance to her life.
"It's a surprise because she's so private about everything," he said. "It's great to see her open up a little bit and share some of that."
Beatz, who has partnered with Reebok, Lotus Cars, Christian Louboutin and the New York Knicks, made headlines recently for alleged tax debt problems. While he brushed off commenting on reports in 2010, the entrepreneur acknowledges past problems, but denies reports of recent troubles.
"I work superhard for that not to be an issue," he said. "When people look at me as a businessman, I'm involved with serious companies doing great things and you know, it's just something that, you know, I can't have going across these corporate desks."

subset: commoncrawl


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Amtrak New Orleans Service Restoration Continues Following Isaac
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Most Amtrak service to and from New Orleans has been restored following Hurricane Isaac, but the City of New Orleans' service in Mississippi and Louisiana, remains suspended through Friday.
The City of New Orleans, a daily service between Chicago and New Orleans, will continue to terminate and originate in Memphis, Tenn., rather than in New Orleans, at least through Friday.
Meanwhile, the Sunset Limited, which runs three days a week, is restored with departure of the west bound train from New Orleans beginning Wednesday. The eastbound train from Los Angeles resumed departures on Saturday.


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PARIS (AP) — Georges Moustaki, an Egyptian-born composer, singer and poet who wrote songs for Edith Piaf and other French stars, has died at age 79.
Marie-Ange Mirande of Moustaki's Paris-based production house said Thursday he died at his home in Nice overnight after a long illness. A memorial ceremony is planned Monday at the famed Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Tributes poured in from France's political and cultural leaders for Moustaki. Among songs he wrote for Piaf was "Milord."
Moustaki told French radio RTL in December that he wanted to be buried in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was born in 1934, and where "there is a cemetery that is the cemetery of free thinkers, and it is there that I want to rest for eternity."


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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
WP: D. Moseley (2-0): Angels 9, Tigers 8
It is a peculiarity of the rules that Dustin Moseley should get the win for having been the last man standing at the top of the tenth. A strange game, and a strange man to come out with the win. The Angels will take it, blood and all.
And, hey, nice offense, guys, especially from the New Kendry On The Block.
What really kills me, though, is that I gave away my tickets to tomorrow night's game, with Edwin Jackson as the probable starter for the Devil Rays. Man.
Recap • Yahoo Box, which has Sean Casey homering in the top of the 10th, yet the line score shows a zero in that frame for the Tigers. Go figure.
Labels: angels, recaps, tigers
Escober started off magnificent striking out the side in the 1st inning. But it almost seemed like the heat got to him later in the game.
Tigers gave this one away courtesy of Jones and Ivan.
I'd say, you can't call this outing mediocre from just looking at the linescore. Escobar largely looked great. Had his defense been a little stronger, he might've lasted through seven.
And there was some rather fun small ball at the end. Vlad actually executing some decent baserunning for once, Jose an effective sac bunt, and a contact play that brought Willits home from third. It doesn't work much these days, so it's enjoyable to watch it when it does. A real chess match at the end between Scioscia and Leyland.
And that's a good Tigers offense. The runs they scored off of Speier and Shields weren't cheap. The hitters looked inspired...the story of this game really wasn't bad pitching. It was little defensive miscues combined with a lot of offense. Nevertheless, the Angels defense executed three double plays and left 20 Tigers stranded in the game.
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AMSTERDAM, December 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Biopharmaceutical company Kiadis Pharma announces today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted its product Reviroc(TM) Orphan Drug Designations (ODD) for the treatment of two types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). One ODD has been granted for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and the other one for the treatment of follicular lymphoma. Reviroc(TM) is under development for the elimination of cancer cells from an autologous graft in bone marrow transplantations for end-stage blood cancer patients.
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About Reviroc(TM)
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English release is provided by Kiadis Pharma. Equivalent translations are from a third party.
For more information please contact: Kiadis Pharma B.V., Eefje Simpelaar, Director Communications, Email: email@example.com, Tel: +31-20-3140250, Mob +31-6-10829344


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Skin Diseases Research Core Centers
Request For Applications (RFA) Number: RFA-AR-05-002
Part I Overview Information
Department of Health and Human Services
Participating Organizations
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov/)
Components of Participating Organizations
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), (http://www.niams.nih.gov)
Announcement Type
This is a reissue of RFA-AR-03-003, released on November 21, 2002.
Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:
Due Dates for E.O. 12372
Not Applicable
Additional Overview Content
Executive Summary
• For profit or non-profit organizations
• Public or private institutions , such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories
• Units of State and local governments
• Eligible agencies of the Federal government
• Domestic institutions/organizations
For further assistance contact GrantsInfo, Telephone (301) 710-0267, Email: email@example.com.
Telecommunications for the hearing impaired: TTY 301-451-5936A concise description of the funding opportunity.
Table of Contents
Part I Overview Information
Part II Full Text of Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
1. Research Objectives
Section II. Award Information
1. Mechanism(s) of Support
2. Funds Available
Section III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
A. Eligible Institutions
B. Eligible Individuals
2.Cost Sharing
3. Other - Special Eligibility Criteria
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Information
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
3. Submission Dates
A. Receipt and Review and Anticipated Start Dates
1. Letter of Intent
B. Sending an Application to the NIH
C. Application Processing
4. Intergovernmental Review
5. Funding Restrictions
6. Other Submission Requirements
Section V. Application Review Information
1. Criteria
2. Review and Selection Process
3. Merit Review Criteria
A. Additional Review Criteria
B. Additional Review Considerations
C. Sharing Research Data
D. Sharing Research Resources
Section VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices
2. Administrative Requirements
A. Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award
1. Principal Investigator Rights and Responsibilities
2. NIH Responsibilities
3. Collaborative Responsibilities
4. Arbitration Process
3. Award Criteria
4. Reporting
Section VII. Agency Contact(s)
1. Scientific/Research Contact(s)
2. Peer Review Contact(s)
3. Financial/ Grants Management Contact(s)
Section VIII. Other Information - Required Federal Citations
Part II - Full Text of Announcement
1. Research Objectives
Research in skin diseases is at a stage where a number of areas are making broad advances that can be effectively fostered by research core centers. Examples of these areas include, but are not limited to:
The choice of research area upon which the SDRC would focus is made by the principal investigator and collaborating currently funded investigators. However, research focused on advanced skin cancers, including metastasis and treatment, is not in the NIAMS research mission and should not be the research base for an SDRC. Any questions with regard to cancer relatedness should be directed for clarification to the Program Director.
The SDRCs will provide support for:
An Administrative Core should be proposed to coordinate the Center and administer the program enrichment activities. Two or more research cores must be proposed. A research core is a facility shared by two or more Center investigators that enables them to conduct their independently funded individual research projects more efficiently and/or more effectively. Cores generally fall into one of four categories: (1) provision of a technology that lends itself to automation or preparation in large batches (e.g., histology and tissue culture); (2) complex instrumentation (e.g., electron microscopy); (3) animal preparation and care; and (4) service and training (e.g., molecular biology, biostatistics).
A pilot and feasibility study program provides modest research support ($20,000 - $50,000 direct costs yearly) for a limited time (1 to 3 years) to enable eligible investigators to explore the feasibility of a skin diseases-related concept and amass sufficient data to pursue it through other funding mechanisms. The initial set of pilot and feasibility studies must be part of the application. In addition, a plan for program management of the pilot and feasibility program will also be reviewed. The plan will include review of future pilot and feasibility applications during the tenure of the core center.
An investigator is eligible to be a principal investigator of a pilot and feasibility study only once every 5 years in a core center. Eligible investigators include:
1. New investigators without current or past NIH research project support (R01, P01, or current R55) as a principal investigator to engage in innovative research. However, a new investigator may have had funding through a pilot grant. New investigators should be clearly independent and have a faculty appointment higher than that of postdoctoral fellow or research associate. Note that a new investigator is not just an investigator without previous R01, R29, P01 or R55 support as a principal investigator. A new investigator is someone who has not had extensive research experience and who has potential to be a productive investigator.
2. Established investigators with no previous work in research related to the focus of the Core Center who are willing to test the applicability of their expertise on a problem related to skin disease; and
3. Established investigators in the Core Center with a proposal for testing the feasibility of a new or innovative hypothesis that is related to the research focus of the Core Center, but represents a clear and distinct departure from the investigator's ongoing research interest.
Applicants from institutions that have a General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) funded by the NIH National Center for Research Resources may wish to identify the GCRC as a resource for conducting the proposed research. Details of the interactions of the SDRC staff with the GCRC staff and research personnel may be provided in a statement describing the collaborative linkages being developed. A letter of agreement from the GCRC Program Director must be included with the application.
See Section VIII, Other Information - Required Federal Citations, for policies related to this announcement.
Section II. Award Information
Although the financial plans of the IC(s) provide support for this program, awards pursuant to this funding opportunity are contingent upon the availability of funds and the receipt of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. Fiscal and administrative costs are not included in the direct cost limitation, see NOT-OD-04-040.
Section III. Eligibility Information
Any institution or consortium applying is expected to have an active program of excellence in both basic and clinical biomedical research in skin diseases.
Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply.
1.B. Eligible Individuals
Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research is invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH programs.
2. Cost Sharing
There are no requirements for cost sharing, matching, or cost participation for eligibility.
3. Other-Special Eligibility Criteria
Any institution or consortium with an active program of excellence in both basic and clinical biomedical research in skin diseases may qualify for support through a Core Center. Only one application may be submitted per institution.
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Application instructions and materials specific to the P30 grant mechanism are available at http://www.niams.nih.gov/rtac/funding/grants/sdrcwww.htm.
3. Submission Dates
Applications must be mailed on or before the receipt date described below (Section IV.3.A).
3.A. Receipt, Review and Anticipated Start Dates
Letter of Intent Receipt Date: April 26, 2005
Application Receipt Date(s): May 24, 2005
Peer Review Date: October/November 2005
Council Review Date: January 2006
Earliest Anticipated Start Date: March 1, 2006
3.A.1. Letter of Intent
Prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:
Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.
The letter of intent is to be sent by the date listed at the beginning of this document.
The letter of intent should be sent to:
Alan N. Moshell, M.D.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Extramural Program
Skin Diseases Branch Chief
6701 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 800, MSC 4872
Bethesda, MD 20892-4872
Telephone: (301)594-5017
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
3.B. Sending an Application to the NIH
Applications must be prepared using the PHS 398 research grant application instructions and forms as described above. Submit a signed, typewritten original of the application, including the checklist, and three signed photocopies in one package to:
Center for Scientific Review
National Institutes of Health
6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040, MSC 7710
Bethesda, MD 20892-7710 (U.S. Postal Service Express or regular mail)
Bethesda, MD 20817 (for express/courier service; non-USPS service)
At the time of submission, two additional copies of the application and all copies of the appendix material must be sent to:
Alan N. Moshell, M.D.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Extramural Program
Skin Diseases Branch Chief
6701 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 800, MSC 4872
Bethesda, MD 20892-4872
Telephone: (301)594-5017
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Using the RFA Label: The RFA label available in the PHS 398 application instructions must be affixed to the bottom of the face page of the application. Type the RFA number on the label. Failure to use this label could result in delayed processing of the application such that it may not reach the review committee in time for review. In addition, the RFA title and number must be typed on line 2 of the face page of the application form and the YES box must be marked. The RFA label is also available at: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/label-bk.pdf.
3.C. Application Processing
Applications must be received on or before the application receipt date listed in the heading of this funding opportunity. If an application is received after that date, it will be returned to the applicant without review. Applications will be evaluated for completeness by CSR.
Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by the CSR and responsiveness by the NIAMS . Incomplete and non-responsive applications will not be reviewed.
The NIH will not accept any application in response to this funding opportunity that is essentially the same as one currently pending initial review, unless the applicant withdraws the pending application. However, when a previously unfunded application, originally submitted as an investigator-initiated application, is to be submitted in response to a funding opportunity, it is to be prepared as a NEW application. That is, the application for the funding opportunity must not include an Introduction describing the changes and improvements made, and the text must not be marked to indicate the changes from the previous unfunded version of the application.
Although there is no immediate acknowledgement of the receipt of an application, applicants are generally notified of the review and funding assignment within eight (8) weeks.
4. Intergovernmental Review
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
5. Funding Restrictions
All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. The Grants Policy Statement can be found at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/policy.htm (see also Section VI.3. Award Criteria).
6. Other Submission Requirements
Application instructions and materials specific to the P30 grant mechanism are available at http://www.niams.nih.gov/rtac/funding/grants/centers_programs.htm#P30 .
Plan for Sharing Research Data
The precise content of the data-sharing plan will vary, depending on the data being collected and how the investigator is planning to share the data. Applicants who are planning to share data may wish to describe briefly the expected schedule for data sharing, the format of the final dataset, the documentation to be provided, whether or not any analytic tools also will be provided, whether or not a data-sharing agreement will be required and, if so, a brief description of such an agreement (including the criteria for deciding who can receive the data and whether or not any conditions will be placed on their use), and the mode of data sharing (e.g., under their own auspices by mailing a disk or posting data on their institutional or personal website, through a data archive or enclave). Investigators choosing to share under their own auspices may wish to enter into a data-sharing agreement. References to data sharing may also be appropriate in other sections of the application.
Applicants requesting more than $500,000 in direct costs in any year of the proposed research must include a plan for sharing research data in their application. The funding organization will be responsible for monitoring the data sharing policy (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing).
The reasonableness of the data sharing plan or the rationale for not sharing research data may be assessed by the reviewers. However, reviewers will not factor the proposed data sharing plan into the determination of scientific merit or the priority score.
Sharing Research Resources
NIH policy requires that grant awardee recipients make unique research resources readily available for research purposes to qualified individuals within the scientific community after publication (NIH Grants Policy Statement https://grants.nih.gov/archive/archive/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/index.htm and https://grants.nih.gov/archive/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/index.htm#_Toc54600131). Investigators responding to this funding opportunity should include a plan for sharing research resources addressing how unique research resources will be shared or explain why sharing is not possible.
The adequacy of the resources sharing plan and any related data sharing plans will be considered by Program staff of the funding organization when making recommendations about funding applications. The effectiveness of the resource sharing will be evaluated as part of the administrative review of each non-competing Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590, https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/2590.htm). See Section VI.3. Award Criteria.
Unique research resources may be generated in a core of the proposed SDRC. If this is anticipated, include a resource sharing plan in the core proposal.
Section V. Application Review Information
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process.
2. Review and Selection Process
Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by the CSR and responsiveness by the NIAMS . Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
Applications that are complete and responsive to the RFA will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened by NIAMS in accordance with the review criteria stated below.
As part of the initial merit review, all applications will:
3. Merit Review Criteria
The goals of NIH's supported research are to advance our understanding of biological systems, to improve the control of disease, and to enhance health. In their written critiques, reviewers will be asked to comment on each of the following criteria in order to judge the likelihood that the proposed research will have a substantial impact on the pursuit of these goals. Each of these criteria will be addressed and considered in assigning the overall score, weighting them as appropriate for each application. Note that an application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact and thus deserve a high priority score. For example, an investigator may propose to carry out important work that by its nature is not innovative but is essential to move a field forward.
1. Significance. Does this study address an important problem? If the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge or clinical practice be advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?
2. Approach. Are the conceptual or clinical framework, design, methods, and analyses adequately developed, well integrated, well reasoned, and appropriate to the aims of the project? Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics?
3. Innovation. Is the project original and innovative? For example: Does the project challenge existing paradigms or clinical practice; address an innovative hypothesis or critical barrier to progress in the field? Does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools, or technologies for this area?
4. Investigators. Are the investigators appropriately trained and well suited to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers? Does the investigative team bring complementary and integrated expertise to the project (if applicable)?
5. Environment. Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed studies benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, or subject populations, or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there evidence of institutional support?
3.A. Additional Review Criteria:
In addition to the above criteria, the following items will be considered in the determination of scientific merit and the priority score:
SDRC Leadership:
Do the Director and Associate Director have the leadership and research qualifications to lead a Center? Does the leadership team (Director, Associate Director, and executive committee) have the collective expertise to assure focused development and implementation of high quality and meaningful clinical research projects?
Research Base:
Is there a substantial productive and funded research base? Is the research base sufficiently broad to foster new research? Will the proposed cores enhance the research base? Is there a definition of who will be a Center investigator and what this designation might mean?
Institutional Base:
Is there evidence of a supportive institutional environment for the proposed Core Center? Will the Core Center add an important research element to the institutional environment? Does the proposed Core Center utilize available resources well? Is there support and commitment from the institutional authorities?
Applications Seeking Competitive Renewal:
Does the progress report reflect significant accomplishments that were derived from the Core Center, especially as reflected in new grants and publications?
Pilot and Feasibility Program Management:
Is the management proposed appropriate for reviewing and mentoring investigators in pilot and feasibility program?
Administrative Unit:
1. Significance: Does the proposed Core Center document coordination of ongoing research between the separately funded projects and the Core Center including mechanisms for internal monitoring? Is there a plan for the establishment and maintenance of internal communication and cooperation among the Core Center investigators, core leaders and an executive committee? Are there plans for outside review and input?
2. Approach: Is the management proposed appropriate for 1) fiscal administration, procurement, property and personnel management, planning, budgeting, etc.; 2) Are the Core Center budgets appropriate for the proposed and approved work to be done in core facilities, for pilot and feasibility studies, and for enrichment in relation to the total Core Center program?
3. Innovation: Is there a plan for the establishment and maintenance of internal communication and cooperation among the Core Center investigators and for an enrichment program that provides outside review and input?
4. Investigators: Is there scientific and administrative leadership, commitment and ability, and adequate time commitment of the Core Center Director and Associate Director for the effective management of the Core Center program?
5. Environment: Have institutional lines of authority and sanction been documented for the Core Center?
Research Cores:
1. Significance: Will the core have utility to the Core Center research base (minimum: two independently funded investigators)?
2. Approach: Is the quality of services high? Are there procedures for quality control? Is the core cost effective? How is cost reimbursement proposed?
3. Innovation: Will the core likely promote interdisciplinary research? Are unique services offered?
4. Investigator: Are the personnel appropriate?
5. Environment: Are the facilities and equipment adequate? Is there institutional commitment to the core?
Pilot and Feasibility Projects:
1. Significance: Will the proposed work likely yield meaningful preliminary data leading to a research proposal?
2. Approach: Are the experimental approaches adequate?
3. Innovation: Is the research topic one that promotes innovative new research related to the Core Center?
4. Investigator: Does the investigator meet one of the criteria for P&F investigators? (If not, the project should not be considered further.)
5. Environment: Is the project appropriate to the research base of the Core Center? Does one or more of the cores offer needed materials/assistance?
After the review of the individual components of the application, an application may be judged non-competitive and not scored, or may be discussed and assigned an overall priority score. This score will reflect not only the individual quality of the cores, administration and pilot projects, but also the quality of the research base and how the proposed Core Center will enhance the research base. The overall score may be higher or lower than the average of the descriptors based on the assessment of whether the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The following elements will be evaluated for the overall priority score:
1. The scientific excellence of the Core Center's research base as well as the relevance and interrelation of these separately funded research projects to the central themes of the Core Center and the likelihood for meaningful collaboration among Core Center investigators. Existence of a base of established independently supported biomedical research of high quality is a prerequisite for establishment of a Core Center.
2. The application must convey how the proposed Core Center will enhance significantly the established research base of the host institution. In a competing continuation application, the application should document an impact of the Core Center. This includes the qualifications, experience, and commitment of the Core Center investigators and their willingness to interact with each other. This also includes efficient and effective use and/or planned use of enrichment funds including the contribution of these activities in enhancing the realization of the Core Center concept.
3. The appropriateness, quality and relevance of the proposed cores, and the modes of operation, facilities, and potential for contribution to ongoing research.
4. The proposed management of the pilot and feasibility program and the scientific merit of the pilot and feasibility projects for which funds are requested from the Core Center grant. The effectiveness of the proposed program will serve as a basis for recommendations concerning the level at which pilot and feasibility studies will be supported throughout the project period.
5. The overall environment for a Core Center. This includes the institutional commitment to the program, including lines of accountability regarding management of the Core Center, and the institution's partnership with the Core Center, and the institutional commitment to individuals responsible for conducting essential Core Center functions. This also includes the academic environment and resources in which the activities will be conducted, including the availability of space, equipment, facilities, and the potential for interaction with scientists from other departments and schools.
Protection of Human Subjects from Research Risk: The involvement of human subjects and protections from research risk relating to their participation in the proposed research will be assessed (see the Research Plan, Section E on Human Subjects in the PHS Form 398).
Inclusion of Women, Minorities and Children in Research: The adequacy of plans to include subjects from both genders, all racial and ethnic groups (and subgroups), and children as appropriate for the scientific goals of the research will be assessed. Plans for the recruitment and retention of subjects will also be evaluated (see the Research Plan, Section E on Human Subjects in the PHS Form 398).
Care and Use of Vertebrate Animals in Research: If vertebrate animals are to be used in the project, the five items described under Section F of the PHS Form 398 research grant application instructions will be assessed.
3.B. Additional Review Considerations
Budget: The reasonableness of the proposed budget and the requested period of support in relation to the proposed research. The priority score should not be affected by the evaluation of the budget.
3.C. Sharing Research Data
1. Data Sharing Plan: The reasonableness of the data sharing plan or the rationale for not sharing research data may be assessed by the reviewers. However, reviewers will not factor the proposed data sharing plan into the determination of scientific merit or the priority score. The funding organization will be responsible for monitoring the data sharing policy. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing
3.D. Sharing Research Resources
NIH policy requires that grant awardee recipients make unique research resources readily available for research purposes to qualified individuals within the scientific community after publication (See the NIH Grants Policy Statement https://grants.nih.gov/archive/grants/policy/nihgps/part_ii_5.htm#availofrr and http://www.ott.nih.gov/policy/rt_guide_final.html). Investigators responding to this funding opportunity should include a sharing research resources plan addressing how unique research resources will be shared or explain why sharing is not possible. Unique research resources may be generated in a core of the proposed SDRC. If this is anticipated, include a resource sharing plan in the core proposal.
The adequacy of the resources sharing plan will be considered by Program staff of the funding organization when making recommendations about funding applications. Program staff may negotiate modifications of the data and resource sharing plans with the awardee before recommending funding of an application. The final version of the data and resource sharing plans negotiated by both will become a condition of the award of the grant. The effectiveness of the resource sharing will be evaluated as part of the administrative review of each non-competing Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590). See Section VI.3. Award Criteria.
Section VI. Award Administration Information
4. Reporting
Awardees will be required to submit the PHS Non-Competing Grant Progress Report, Form 2590 annually (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/2590.htm) and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. New pilot and feasibility studies must be included in the non-competing grant progress report.
Section VII. Agency Contacts
2. Peer Review Contacts:
Yan Wang, Ph.D.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Extramural Program
Acting Chief, Review Branch
6701 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 800, MSC 4872
Bethesda, MD 20892-4872
Telephone: (301) 594-4952
Email: email@example.com
3. Financial or Grants Management Contacts:
Michael Morse
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Extramural Program
Deputy Chief, Grants Management Branch
6701 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 800, MSC 4872
Bethesda, MD 20892-4872
Telephone: (301) 594-3535
Email: email@example.com
Section VIII. Other Information
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
Department of Health
and Human Services
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892


text:
|2012-03-31, 14:25
|Link #482
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: In the distortion of space and time..
|2012-04-01, 05:32
|Link #484
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: In the distortion of space and time..
|2012-04-01, 08:49
|Link #485
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: In the Mix
Age: 36
I for one am still cautiously optimistic about SotM's future. At least I'll wait for the official announcement.
BTW rather than complaining about it how about taking initiative. Solace has been organizing the SotM in the past but I wonder how much he'd mind if someone else took over or at least did some ground work for the possible SotM reincarnation... I'm sure a few volunteers could be found around here to take care of the workload.
|2012-04-01, 08:53
|Link #486
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: In the distortion of space and time..
I will stay optimistic as well! Only thing we can do is hope that it will rise again!
|2012-04-01, 09:19
|Link #488
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: In the Mix
Age: 36
That being said my schedules permitting I'd be glad to help out.
|2012-04-01, 14:36
|Link #489
Senior Member
But how are you to organize a competition without moderator rights? Well I guess it's possible to some extent but hm .. I do really wonder if Solace would just let someone else '' take over '', even though the contest is pretty much dead as it is now.
|2012-04-01, 15:18
|Link #490
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
Solace becomed a moderator not before but after he started to organize the SOTM, so I think than we don't need a moderator to organize a competition, it might help because they can give more easiely visibility to the contest than the average member but otherwise.
|2012-04-01, 16:30
|Link #491
♪ ~ ♫
I don't want to sound like a downer, but...what do you guys expect the attendance to be? I mean sure, go ahead if there's interest, but this thread was dead for almost 3 months.
Solace won't bother organizing this if there's a blatant lack of interest. If you want to take over, try to get a poll working, see how many people actually want SOTM back (+it gets newcomers interested).
|2012-04-01, 17:21
|Link #492
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: In the Mix
Age: 36
I personally would count 20 or so entries as a success. If there's less it might need a bit more time to simmer. I've been more or less gone from the forums for a year and I do have to admit the activity of the whole Fan Creations sub-forum seems to be down from what it used to be but then again a bit of a headlining event might help to rejuvenate the FC as well.
Anyway resetting the theme cycle will probably help as will the new technical regulations. I know that there are a few already used themes I'd love to have another stab at and looser regulations are an added bonus as well.
I believe I'm not alone.
|2012-04-02, 03:35
|Link #495
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Age: 27
Hey, I'm a regular member and I'm permitted to run the writing competition around here. Sure, it's nowhere near as popular as SOTM, but it runs in a similar fashion nonetheless. With that said, if you're truly dedicated to making signatures, a forum competition should only be a side project; one can continue to create signatures and improving their skills regardless of the contest being active or not. I'm sure Solace isn't one to just have all the free time in the world to throw at this competition, and we've been promised that it WILL continue.
Now if Solace was unable to run it anymore, that's a different story. I'm sure a member could run it just as easily as long as they had the right idea on how to organize the details. However, I think everyone should be patient and avoiding pressuring Solace to the point where he actually doesn't want to do it anymore. Nothing worse than constant annoying poking from the community, after all. Or maybe it'll be the people giving up on it that brings it to a true end. If you want a medium to create and receive opinions, set a theme for yourself and post something to your personal threads or collaborate between each other for tips and criticism, and always show interest in the potential that it can continue. When it's actually dead, there WILL be an announcement, and then everyone can feel sad about it.
With that said, looks like Solace does have plans to continue. Nice banner, I'm looking forward to it myself. I still find it kind of funny that as soon as I find the ability to compose the most basic of signatures and even consider entering something, the contest takes a sudden hiatus. Unlucky timing, I guess.
|2012-04-02, 03:59
|Link #496
♪ ~ ♫
|2012-05-01, 21:02
|Link #500
Join Date: Mar 2006
Indeed! So let's make a new announcement. Looking at my priorities for the rest of the year, running a contest full time is not among them. This isn't a sign of ending or abandoning the contest, but I want to get this going and unfortunately my free time is too random to do what I had been doing in the past. As such I'd rather delegate the duties of the contest to individuals who will be interested in helping out with the SOTM for the foreseeable future. It's a passing of the torch, basically, which should help keep the contest going as people come and go from the forums.
Here's the overall duties required to run the contest:
1. Timely creation of Entry and Voting threads.
2. Ensuring that every contestant understands the theme and follows the rules
3. Ensuring that each entry meets the standards of the theme and the rules
4. Ensuring that entries are collected for the Voting thread
5. Ensuring that voting is done according to the rules and as accurately and fairly as possible
6. Tallying the results and posting them when the voting period expires
7. Working with the winner(s) to ensure the next theme is ready for the next month
8. Rinse, repeat.
Ultimately, I am going to retain the role of "moderator" for the contest. This means I will work to ensure the integrity of the contest remains intact, and that the rules for the contest and the forum are followed. All major decisions about the contest, as always, are discussed and deliberated with the community.
As they are now, the rules are set. The only thing that needs updating is the new entry rules regarding what signatures are allowed. These will be as follows (updated to follow the new forum signature rules):
So drop me a line and let me know who is interested. I will choose from the volunteers and let everyone know so we can get the contest restarted again.
|contest, signature, sotm
|Thread Tools


text:
Red Bull's troubles seemed to have carried over from Jerez, as Sebastian Vettel struggled to get up to speed in the troubled RB10 on Wednesday. Two weeks after the Jerez calamity, the reigning world...
Red Bull's troubles seemed to have carried over from Jerez, as Sebastian Vettel struggled to get up to speed in the troubled RB10 on Wednesday.
Two weeks after the Jerez calamity, the reigning world champions are back on track in Bahrain with designer Adrian Newey and Renault's fixes in place.
However, over four hours into the first day of the second official pre-season test, German Vettel had not even turned a lap.
"The car was still being assembled," said German correspondent Michael Schmidt.
"New parts were still arriving from England," he told Auto Motor und Sport.
It is becoming clearer that many of Red Bull's problems are not engine supplier Renault's fault. On Wednesday, Renault-powered runners including Caterham and the Lotus were busily collecting laps.
The first public glimpse of the unique double-nosed 2014 Lotus, which also features an asymmetrically-positioned exhaust, can be seen in the included photos.
"I'm not saying that we have solved all of our problems," said Renault Sport's Remi Taffin, "but we should have a firm grip on what held us back at Jerez.
"We now have a base on which to build. Bahrain is our first test.
"Yes we could still have some problems, but we should be able to build upon this basis," he added.
Even Red Bull's always-blunt Dr Helmut Marko was on Wednesday not pointing the finger of blame in Renault's direction.
"Even if there had been no problems with the power unit," he said, "we would not have been running much in Jerez.
"It was our fault. Under the cover it was getting too hot, so we have brought two solutions here to Bahrain, which should help us."
At about 2pm Bahrain time, Vettel emerged from the pits for an installation lap, and he soon followed it up with an initial run of four laps.
Meanwhile, a photo of former Lotus boss Eric Boullier in McLaren grey in Bahrain can also be seen in the attached photos.


text:
hey,i recently caught some new spyware on my comp and this ones pesky.Ive used :
-Spybot 1.3
-Adaware 1.06 se
-Coolwwwsearch remover
-Hijack This 1.99.1
-looked under msconfig
-didnt find any suspicious registries in regedit cmd
It pops up on my comp two ways.
A dialog box with a red x in that makes a annyoing noise that scares the hell out of me when i listen to music which usually do at a high volume.It said Warning: Firewall has detected surspicious activity.and says do you want to learn how to protect your comp? with yes or no buttons which lead to some spyware bloker site.It has to be spyware because it had like links to car rentals and viagra and stuff.
The other is a popup box in the system tray that says:
Your comp may be at risk ur virus protection is bad spyware activity detected Click balloon to fix this problem.
Any suggestions,advice or links would be greatly appreciated.
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text:
Rory wrote a post about strong
AI and whether we should spend money there rather than going back to the moon.
I started writing a comment for his blog, but then decided to write my own entry.
I don't know if you were around during the 80's, but there was a big push towards
AI during that decade. The buzz was that the Japanese were going to "eat our shorts"
(though I'm fairly sure that phrase was yet to be invented) in this area.
There was a lot of money spent there (perhaps not $15B, but my guess is that it might
have been $1B), but very little result.
I think it's because AI is just a very difficult problem.
To comment on the space side, scientific exploration aside, I think the best goal
to push for is solar power satellites. There are some PR issues (with microwaves),
but the technology is well understood, and once they were there, using them as a source
of power would have very little environmental side effects (though waste heat would
still seem to be an issue). I don't see how the developing countries can become developed
without huge increases in total energy consumption, and the only other reasonable
option is nuclear. Nuclear has very low environmental impact and is cheap enough if
done well (and we know how to do it well, though we haven't yet), but is a very hard
political sell, both from the "no nukes" perspective and the prospect of further nuclear
proliferation. On the other hand, if a country like China (which already has nukes)
wants to build reactors, I think we should do our best to help them build good ones
(like this or this),
and we should consider whether we can make a reactor proliferation proof. But, back
to the space topic...
Indirectly, I do think that building SPSs makes an argument for going back to the
moon. The big problem with SPSs is the huge expense in building them. The issues are:
- Photovoltaics are expensive
- Launch costs are astronomical (pun intended).
There are starting to be some approaches to #1 that may yield lower cost cells, but
they aren't quite there yet. You could use something else for #1 (like a solar furnace),
but that seems more finicky to me.
The second problem is harder to solve. You can like get a 10x reduction over current
expendables if you go simple and you launch all the time. You might get a lot more
with a space elevator (assuming that you can truly build one). But the simplest way
is to not lift from the earth, but to mine lunar materials, and build the SPS components
either on the lunar surface or in space.
Problems? Well, you would have high-tech with people in an extremely remote and expensive
place to get to. That would require some very smart planning.


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26 U.S. Code § 741 - Recognition and character of gain or loss on sale or exchange
In the case of a sale or exchange of an interest in a partnership, gain or loss shall be recognized to the transferor partner. Such gain or loss shall be considered as gain or loss from the sale or exchange of a capital asset, except as otherwise provided in section 751 (relating to unrealized receivables and inventory items).
2002—Pub. L. 107–147 struck out "which have appreciated substantially in value" after "inventory items".
Written determinations for this section
These documents, sometimes referred to as "Private Letter Rulings", are taken from the IRS Written Determinations page; the IRS also publishes a fuller explanation of what they are and what they mean. The collection is updated (at our end) daily. It appears that the IRS updates their listing every Friday.
Note that the IRS often titles documents in a very plain-vanilla, duplicative way. Do not assume that identically-titled documents are the same, or that a later document supersedes another with the same title. That is unlikely to be the case.
Release dates appear exactly as we get them from the IRS. Some are clearly wrong, but we have made no attempt to correct them, as we have no way guess correctly in all cases, and do not wish to add to the confusion.
We truncate results at 20000 items. After that, you're on your own.
- Deductions For Losses : 2010-01-15
- Property Used in the Trade or Business and Involuntary Conversions Capital Gain v. Ordinary Income Treatment : 2010-01-15
- Interest on Certain Deferred Payments : 2007-06-01
- Unrealized Receivables and Inventory Items : 2007-06-01
- Qualified Stated Interest : 2007-06-01
- Contingent Payments : 2007-06-01
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- Installment Method Available v. Not Available : 2007-06-01
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Inaugural Address
Benedictines and the Liberal Arts
Good afternoon and welcome to Saint John's and to this gorgeous part of central Minnesota. You are sitting in the Abbey Church, one of architect Marcel Breuer's masterpieces which, despite its modern feel, just celebrated its 50th birthday last year.
I'd like to extend a special welcome to three of my predecessors joining us today: Fr. Hilary Thimmesh, OSB, trustee Dan Whalen (our true first lay president) and Fr. Robert Koopmann, OSB. Each of these men left Saint John's a better and stronger place than they found it. I am exceptionally blessed to have these three men as sources of wisdom and support.
We also remember with gratitude Brother Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, Saint John's 11th president, who in many ways re-made the university during his 17 years of service prior to his untimely death in 2008. He laid the groundwork for the important transitions the university has undergone during the past year. His efforts made it possible for a lay president in a stylish fuchsia robe to be standing here today. I hope he is smiling down on us today.
I'd also like to extend heartfelt greetings to the delegates from over 40 universities and colleges from across the country. Thank you for coming to Collegeville today and reminding us that we are linked to many other individuals and institutions around the world as we pursue our educational mission.
We also warmly welcome our dear friends from closer by - literally just through the woods. President MaryAnn Baenninger and her colleagues at the College of Saint Benedict are an absolutely essential part of our past, present and future.
Elizabeth, Cameron and I offer a special thanks to our family and friends. Your presence is a powerful reminder of the many blessings we have in our lives.
We in higher education are living in interesting times, and facing many challenges.
There are numerous criticisms, but the primary concern focuses on what is often called "the value proposition in higher education." Simply put: do the benefits of higher education merit the substantial and increasing costs? The short answer is a resounding, "Yes," but to do true justice to this question might require an economics lecture - and no one wants that to happen!
I want to shift the focus of this question slightly and examine the benefits of a college education.
Most current discussions of this value question take a very narrow view of benefits and make the purpose of higher education purely instrumental. Specifically, benefits are defined only in economic terms: job prospects, career opportunities and lifetime earnings. Now you might wonder, "How could an economist object to that?" Well, if you are a Benedictine-trained economist, you instinctively recognize that not all benefits are pecuniary!
Of course I care deeply about the economic returns that a Saint Ben's and Saint John's education provides, but, as Harvard President Drew Faust said in her inauguration address five years ago, "...just as we need jobs and seek education to better our lot, so too we as human beings search for meaning. We strive to understand who we are, where we came from, where we are going and why."[1]
Faust was articulating an educational objective that has been around for as long as men and women have sought to educate themselves. Saint John's Dean Robert Spaeth, channeling Socrates, rephrased the goal for entering freshmen, telling them: "Discover thyself."[2]
Thomas Jefferson included another educational objective, namely character development, among his the goals for the University of Virginia. He described two of his primary goals as follows:
- to develop the reasoning faculties of our youth, enlarge their minds, cultivate their morals, and instill into them the precepts of virtue and order;
- to form ...habits of reflection and correct action, rendering them examples of virtue to others and of happiness within themselves.[3]
So a full accounting of the value of an education must include the search for meaning and the character development that have always been part of a fully realized undergraduate education.
If we acknowledge that these non-pecuniary benefits matter, the next question is how education helps individuals "discover themselves" and develops character. I would argue that there are three important ways education contributes to self-discovery and character development.
First, and most obvious, is through the academic experience and interactions with faculty members. The liberal arts curriculum is designed to expose students to new ideas and broaden their minds. As former Dartmouth President James Freedman writes, liberal education produces "an opening of the mind and spirit to a symphony of different persons, cultures, traditions and languages." [4] This process of discovery takes place at every educational institution where curious students meet committed teachers.[5]
I would argue that the second important builder of character and promoter of self-discovery is more specific to residential liberal arts settings. This component is the extra-curricular part of the undergraduate experience. These learning experiences can take place on playing fields, in practice rooms, on stages, in newspaper offices and any number of other settings. Through competition, practice, self-discipline, winning and losing, entertaining and working with others, students find meaning and build character beyond the classroom. This is an underappreciated aspect of residential education and is almost completely absent in discussions of the pros and cons of alternative educational models. But all good residential liberal arts colleges provide these experiences.
There is, however, a third aspect of self-discovery and character building that takes place at Saint John's which is unique to this place. This feature is the Benedictine Catholic nature of the institution.
Now I want to be careful about what I am claiming for the Benedictine Catholic tradition. I am certainly not claiming that other fine educational institutions do not have their own cultures, histories and unique characteristics that aid in self-discovery and character building beyond their academic and extra-curricular programs.
I am making a simpler claim: the Benedictine Catholic tradition at Saint John's University exerts a powerful influence on students during their four years here. The degree to which students find meaning here and develop praiseworthy characters is due in no small part to the monks and the abbey, and the ethos they create on campus.
As I reflect on my own experiences, on many conversations with alumni, faculty and staff, and even observations from those outside the community, I think there are three aspects of the Benedictine tradition that make an education here unique and special.
- Vocation. The first lesson from living with monks is about vocation, in the broadest sense of that word. College is, ideally, a time for reflection and self-discovery, a time for young men and women to examine their values and to make choices that will often affect them for the rest of their lives. On a daily basis, at Saint John's students encounter monks who have thought long and hard about their vocation. Monks have, in the most obvious fashion, made a vocational choice that is counter-cultural and very hard. To give up the material pleasures of our rich 21st century, to choose celibacy and to submit to an abbot may appear to be the height of folly to the average undergraduate. Yet it is nearly impossible not to respect that choice AND not to take your own choices a bit more seriously. To think just a little longer and harder about the purpose of one's own life. To seek your own calling.
- Hospitality. The second lesson one learns among monastics is about how to treat others. One of the most well-known chapters in the Rule of Saint Benedict begins, "Let all...be received as Christ."[6] This, of course, is not a theological injunction but rather a profound statement about hospitality and the respect due to all persons - friends and strangers alike. Students sense this warmth and welcome almost from the first minute they are on campus and respond in kind. This past week three different visitors to our campus commented to me on the warmth and friendliness with which they have been greeted by students. While we trust that Benedictine hospitality on campus is often reinforcing what our students learned from their families, this response to others, ideally, becomes habit and carries into their lives and interactions long after they have left here.
- Community. The third lesson of Benedictine life is the importance of community. In some ways the role of community is obvious to students. We quite naturally refer to "the monastic community." There is community prayer four times a day, the monks eat and live in community. But for non-monastics in our community, the Abbey is a subtle reminder of the value and need to look beyond ourselves, to find a meaning and purpose that is bigger than our own desires. Students learn over their four years that a monastery is not just one big happy family with Abbot John as father. It is a complex social organization filled with imperfect men, yet it continues to work after nearly 1500 years because each member knows they must, as The Rule reminds them, "serve one another."[7] Students come to realize that though few will be serving their confreres in a monastery, they will have their own communities to serve: families, workplaces, churches, local communities and even the world. Students don't leave Collegeville completely denying their own needs and desires, any more than monks do, but rather they have absorbed the Benedictine lesson of community: that one has obligations and responsibilities to others, in addition to oneself.
Vocation, hospitality and community: through the subtle and quiet influence of the monks of Saint John's, young men leave here knowing themselves better and are prepared to continue that life long journey of self-discovery. They also go into the world exemplifying a more Benedictine character than when they arrived in Collegeville four years earlier.
As we go forward into this new era at Saint John's, I pledge, with the support of many others, to continue to help our students take a bit of the Saint John's "Benedictiness" with them as they go into the world to lead productive and meaningful lives.
I began this address acknowledging the criticisms of higher education. Of course, education must change and adapt over time - pedagogy changes, subjects are transformed, new knowledge is created and discovered, and new models of education are offered. Yet, through this change, the values of a Benedictine, residential, liberal arts education not only endure, but are essential.
Nearly 60 years ago Abbot and our longest serving President Alcuin Deutsch, OSB, described the mission of the university. "It has...been our aim to not merely impart intellectual training, but also to develop character...and build habits which are the mark of a Christian gentleman."[8] I affirm this mission and the values that support it - liberal arts, residential, Benedictine. This foundation defines our identity, guides our decisions, and will determine our destiny. I enthusiastically embrace my new role, and I ask for your help and support as we move forward together.
Thank you.
Michael Hemesath
20 October 2012
[1] "Installation address: Unleashing our most ambitious imaginings," Harvard University, 2007. (http://www.harvard.edu/president/installation-address-unleashing-our-most-ambitious-imaginings)
[2] Robert L. Spaeth, Exhortations on Liberal Education, A Dean Speaks His Mind (Collegeville MN: Office of Academic Affairs, 1988), p .15
[3] The Portable Thomas Jefferson (New York: Penguin Books, 1975), p.334-35
[4] James Freeman, Idealism and Liberal Education.(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press 1999), p. 63.
[5] See for example Freedman, 1999 or Martha Nussbaum, Cultivating Humanity (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997) or James William Roche, Why Choose the Liberal Arts? (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 2010) or Robert Coles, The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989).
[6] The Rule of Saint Benedict (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1982), p. 73.
[7] The Rule, p. 57
[8] Colman Barry and Robert Spaeth, eds. A Sense of Place: Saint John's of Collegeville, (Collegeville, MN: Saint John's University Press, 1987) p.45.


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Robert Pattinson
Arguments for:
-ItΓÇÖs Twilight Week. ItΓÇÖs perfectly timed. You give it to him, the Twi-Hards jizz all over the newsstands, instant major cash. Pattinson is almost an automatic. ItΓÇÖs the ΓÇ£of courseΓÇ¥ selection. HeΓÇÖs made the final 3. I would not be surprised.
But if I were safeguarding this brand...
Arguments against:
-The average age of the Sexiest Man Alive is 39. ThatΓÇÖs almost 15 years older than PattinsonΓÇÖs 25. And thereΓÇÖs a reason for this. The key word is MAN. The last time PEOPLE named an SMA under the age of 30 was Tom Cruise in 1990 at the age of 28. Before that, the youngest ever PEOPLE Magazine SMA was JFK Jr at 27. Pattinson would set at a new record at 25. ItΓÇÖs been 20 years since PEOPLE has dipped under 30. Do they risk it for this kid?
-The SMA wins votes on both sides from ladies and from dudes. I think we can all agree that Robert Pattinson isnΓÇÖt exactly the ManΓÇÖs definition of a Man, right? Not yet. HeΓÇÖs 25. Give him time.
-The SMA is arguably PEOPLEΓÇÖs most well known brand. ItΓÇÖs a big deal. You donΓÇÖt f-ck around with the legacy. Like, Jude Law back in 2004 was a dicey choice. And Jude Law is infinitely less dicey than Robert Pattinson. ThereΓÇÖs tradition at stake here. ThereΓÇÖs history. You donΓÇÖt toss that aside for a passing phenomenon.
-HeΓÇÖs British. That would make it back to back non-Americans after Ryan Reynolds last year. If Pattinson is chosen, heΓÇÖd not only be the youngest SMA ever but also the first time itΓÇÖs gone consecutive outside the USA. How do you think that goes over in the USA? That not only is he not American, but heΓÇÖs a non American 25 year old dandy with tea pouring hands? How about waiting 10 years, letting him develop some calluses? One day itΓÇÖll be his. Just... heΓÇÖs not ready. HeΓÇÖll grow into it.
(Like I said, heΓÇÖs in the final 3. He could very, very, VERY well take it. IΓÇÖm just saying, if they do give it to him, IΓÇÖm not sure if thatΓÇÖs a smart long-term decision.)
Odds: 5 to 1


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From 4-6 February, 2013, the IUCN Environmental Law Centre held an informal seminar on marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The meeting brought together a group of 15 international legal, scientific and policy experts, including members of the Oceans Specialist Group of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, to prepare for the 2013 meeting of the UN Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (UN BBNJ Working Group), and in particular its Intersessional Workshop on Marine Genetic Resources that will be organized for 2-3 May in New York.
According to the recommendations coming from the 5th meeting of the UN BBNJ Working Group, two intersessional workshops will be organized in May 2013, one focusing on the issue of marine genetic resources and the other one addressing the issue of conservation and management tools for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction. The purpose of these two intersessional workshops is to improve the understanding of certain issues related to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and to clarify key questions as input for the 6th meeting of the UN BBNJ Working Group in August 2013. To successfully produce options for the Working Group to consider, both intersessional workshops will largely depend on the provision of scientific, technical and legal input by independent experts.
Issues that were discussed during the meeting included:
• Meaning and scope,
• Extent and types of research , uses and applications,
• Technological, environmental, social and economic aspects,
• Access-related issues,
• Types of benefits and benefit-sharing,
• Intellectual property rights issues,
• Global and regional regimes on genetic resources, experiences and best practices, and
• Exchange of information on research programmes regarding marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
As an output of the IUCN seminar, a series of background documents will be prepared in order to inform the UN process.


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Posts Tagged 'nutrition'
VicHealth- Good Health for All
Posted in Models, RDAG by Virginia on May 4th, 2009
The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) is a statutory authority with an independent chair and board of governance established by the Victorian Parliament as part of the Tobacco Act 1987.
VicHealth works in partnership with organisations, communities and individuals to promote good health and prevent ill-health. VicHealth funds local councils to improve access to nutritious food and to influence the cultural, social, economic and environmental barriers poor and disadvantaged communities face in eating healthily.
In terms of landuse planning, VicHealth and the Planning Institute of Australia have also established the Planning for Health and Wellbeing project to advocate for planning systems to promote economically, socially and environmentally sustainable communities.
For more information about the Planning for Health and Wellbeing project see http://planning.org.au/vic/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=68.
To find out more about VicHealth's Food for All project visit http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/en/Programs-and-Projects/Healthy-Eating/Food-for-All- Program.aspx.
This is from "Social Innovations in Victorian Food Systems", case studies by Ferne Edwards.


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Passionate about food? So are we – priding ourselves on the quality of our food, we offer a great range of seasonal dishes, as well as several classic pub favourites, with a modern twist. Our range of dishes, fresh ingredients, a passionate kitchen team and personal attentive service from our service teams all work towards creating that more refined dining experience.
Offering a great selection of cocktails, shots, bombs, spirits and mixers.
Have a look at our menu below so you know exactly what to order when you get to the bar!


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Bank robbed in Thomasville, man wanted
Bank robbed in Thomasville, man wanted
Police are looking for a man suspected of robbing a bank Friday morning.
The incident was reported around 9:45 a.m. at the Bank of North Carolina at 831 Julian Ave.
A man demanded cash from a teller and left with an undisclosed amount of money, Thomasville police said.
The suspect left in a vehicle heading toward N.C. 62, police said.
The suspect vehicle was described as a dark blue or black model sedan. Police did not have a detailed suspect description.
Anyone with information on the incident or possible suspects is asked to call Thomasville Police at (336) 475-4286 or Thomasville Crime Stoppers at 476-8477.


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We've got 7 signed up, drafting tonight is good.
My buddy Eric is out but I haven't heard from my other buddy Lonnie yet. He's probably out too, but we should be set for a decent league regardless.
I can pretty much guarantee he's out. We drafted last night.
Quote from: Dressel Rebel on October 25, 2013, 10:08 AMI can pretty much guarantee he's out. We drafted last night.You didn't hear about the expansion draft? He gets to pick 3 players from your team, and everyone else gets to give him one player of their choice.
I'd take that bet. Bench Rose, Davis, and Leonard and let's see if you finish anything other than dead last.
I have Davis in my other league that I joined this year. I took over for some other jackass who sucked and Davis was the only decent keeper I had going in. That season is just about over.
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