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This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. You can soon add US Airways to a long list that includes TWA, Pan Am, Eastern, Western, Braniff and so many others. US Airways will merge with American. The new American Airlines will be the world's largest, and after decades of consolidation, one of just four major airlines in the U.S.
So who wins, and who loses? Today a look at what consolidation means for the industry, its employees and for us passengers. But we particularly want to hear from those of you who work in the business. Mechanics, pilots, flight attendants, reservations clerks, how does this change things? Our phone number is 800-989-8255. Email us, firstname.lastname@example.com. You can always join the conversation on our website. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.
Later in the program we wrap up our Oscar Docs with reviews from NPR arts critic Bob Mondello. But first, winners and losers in the airline merger, and Marilyn Geewax joins us here in Studio 3A. She's senior business editor for NPR News. Nice to have you back on the program, Marilyn.
MARILYN GEEWAX, BYLINE: Hi, Neal.
CONAN: And we have to begin by noting that, well, it's not a done deal, we have to get approval for this merger.
GEEWAX: Mergers are always complicated. You have to get the approval of the Justice Department to make sure there aren't antitrust violations. You also need FAA to look at some things and sign off on it. So you need regulatory approval. Congress always finds a way to stick its nose in one way or the other.
CONAN: And there's a bankruptcy judge for American too.
GEEWAX: And then you've got - and that's even in just a traditional merger. But when you're in bankruptcy, now you've got creditors, stockholders. I mean there are just all sorts of constituents, not the least of which are unions, customers, frequent flyers. There's just a whole lot of people that have to get cooked into this stew before you can serve it up.
So airline mergers tend to take a long time. They want this one to move along as quickly as they can. They're talking about closing the deal in September. It's very likely that the Justice Department will go along with it. It seems like the courts are onboard. The unions have already sort of worked out deals. So it's likely this will move as quickly as possible, but still these are complex deals and they take a long time.
CONAN: And as you look at winners and losers corporately, it looks as if though it's going to be American Airlines in name, it's going to be US Airways running it.
GEEWAX: Yeah. If you take a look at sort of the exterior, it will look like American Airlines. It will have their colors, their logo. It's the eagle with a red wing and a blue wing and all that. But inside, who's really running the place? Actually, the emerging leader is the CEO from US Airways. And Doug Parker will be the person who's going to actually take control of this merger flight, and he'll be trying to get it up off the ground.
CONAN: Nevertheless, headquarters will also be at American's old headquarters, that's in Dallas-Fort Worth, and not in Phoenix, where US Airways is based.
GEEWAX: Right, they are going to have the - as I say, the brand name American Airlines is really well-known globally. It's been around a long time. It sort of has a better brand than US Airways if you're trying to be very global.
CONAN: Neither of those brands is - at least, you know, red hot.
GEEWAX: But they have a lot of flights to Latin America. So the name American has a little bit more resonance in this hemisphere. So they're going to stick with that, and it's a bigger operation at the Fort Worth, Dallas area. So Phoenix is going to come out. If you're talking about winners and losers, the Tempe, Arizona, Phoenix area will probably see about - there's about 750 headquarters workers there.
Now, I don't know how many might still last in Arizona, but an awful lot of them will be going to Texas. And you'll also probably lose some flights there because American already has big hubs in Dallas and Los Angeles, and if you just sort of look at a map of the United States, Phoenix looks a little redundant, stuck in the middle between two big hubs.
So you would have to think that, although they won't say this up front, over time the Arizona operation will probably be downgraded a bit.
CONAN: And you say the unions are onboard. Nevertheless, any byproduct of any merger has always been, well, there's going to be fewer people working in this new company.
GEEWAX: This is going to be a huge company. Now keep in mind, this will be the biggest of the big. There are going to be about 100,000 employees. But one of the things that they have to do to make this deal work is to cut costs by - they want some kind of savings on the order of about a billion dollars a year to trim their costs and try to get a little bit more profitable.
Now, why would workers go along with that? Well, because it's better to work for a stronger merged carrier than no carrier at all, which is a possibility. I mean American is in bankruptcy. US Airways has done two round-trips to bankruptcy court in recent years. It's not great being bankrupt, especially if you are heavily dependent on pensions and you want to make sure that you're working for a company that will exist well into the future.
This is a better of the two options. Merge or die was really what so many analysts had said. So this, one hopes, will result in a carrier that is stronger, has a more robust route structure. It stretches from coast to coast. You can fly from Maine to Los Angeles down to Latin America, over to Europe. This is a big, big company, and it should be more pleasing to frequent flyers and especially to business travelers, who will have more options now.
CONAN: Yet more options but fewer airlines. We're now down to just four real big ones.
GEEWAX: You know, one thing, if you look at where they fly, they don't overlap like all that much. I mean, of course they do in some markets, but for the most part US Airways is very strong on the East Coast, and it contains within it the old America West, so it's also strong on the West Coast.
But American Airlines is kind of right up the middle. I mean, you're talking Dallas and Chicago. So if you put it all together, now you've got a lot of presence on both coasts, and you've got a big strong center. So that's pretty good. That's a nice fit that shouldn't take all that much competition out of the air.
CONAN: We're talking with NPR's Marilyn Geewax, and we want to hear from those of you who work in the airline business about what all this consolidation means for you, 800-989-8255. Email us, email@example.com. We'll start with Tim, and Tim's on the line with us from Cedar Rapids.
TIM: Yes, I'm an airport director here in Cedar Rapids, and we see this as a positive for our market here because typically US Air was not a Midwest carrier. We have American existing now, but this could open up opportunities for connections to Philadelphia, Charlotte and possibly the nation's capital.
CONAN: So you think you're going to get more business?
TIM: Absolutely.
CONAN: And when you say that American operates there, is it American or one of its subcarriers, the regional carriers?
TIM: We have Eagle flying to Chicago and Dallas.
CONAN: So - and they then connect, but they fly an American livery.
TIM: Yes.
CONAN: All right. And how much difference do you think it's going to make?
TIM: Well, again, we've been petitioning US Air for years to try to get flights to the East Coast from this market, and I believe this will open up that opportunity for us into those hubs in the East.
CONAN: Marilyn?
GEEWAX: You know, this is a good example of the winners and losers here. This is a good story for many cities. On the other hand, it's fair to point out that for some people it will be a losing proposition. As I say, Phoenix may see some cutbacks in service. Maybe the hub in Philadelphia will see some reductions in service. And there are places like, say, for example, in Raleigh, North Carolina, there's a direct flight to London.
Well, you know, American - there are other - or rather American goes from North Carolina to London, but you also have flights from Charlotte to London. Well, do you really need that many flights to London out of North Carolina? So probably one or the other of those will get trimmed back.
So you're going to see some cutbacks where there's overlapping or so close to each other that really you can drive to one airport or another, and in those cities they're not going to like that. You don't want to lose flights. But overall for most people this will be an advantage.
CONAN: Tim, thanks very much for the call, good luck.
TIM: Thank you.
CONAN: And he mentioned the American Eagle, these regional carriers that feed into the airlines. Is this going to be a boon, or is this going to be bad news for them?
GEEWAX: Regional carriers are having a tough time in general. Gosh, I think that overall it's going to strengthen the system in general, it'll be a more robust carrier. So when you have an airline industry that is more financially stable, with a broader reach, that's probably good. But you know, for flights that are less than 500 miles, people are sort of fed up with the whole TSA thing, take your shoes off and take your belt and put your cell phone - oy, you know, you just want to get in the car and go.
I mean so for a lot of those shorter-haul trips, there are an awful lot of Americans who say, you know what, honey, let's just pack the trunk, we're good.
CONAN: Let's get Ed on the line, Ed's with us from Columbia in Tennessee.
ED: Good afternoon. I just wanted to call and say that I'm a charter pilot, and it ties right in with those shorter flights, especially, that we see this as an absolute boon. Ticket prices are absolutely expected to increase, and as they do, the charter option looks more and more attractive.
CONAN: So you think as we're going to be asked to pay more for commercial flights we'll see, well, maybe we can just charter a plane and do it ourselves?
ED: Absolutely, especially if you're talking about a group and on short notice. When you're paying full fare for an airline ticket, the charter option is - there's no TSA to deal with, at least not in the concept of going through a terminal building, and you've got the flexibility of smaller airports. So we're - we see this as a good thing.
CONAN: Ed, thanks very much, I hadn't thought of that, appreciate the phone call.
ED: Good day.
CONAN: And he raises a point. Whether it's good or not for charter flights, Marilyn, prices going to go up?
GEEWAX: There already is a lot of upward pressure on airfares. That's because oil prices are pretty high, and you know, it's - we're sort of out of this recession, the slow recovery thing. As travel picks up, you would think that we're going to see higher prices. Now, whether or not this specific merger - remember, I said it's complicated and it'll take a while to fully phase in, but once it is in place, yes, I think you could say generally speaking it will increase upward pressure on fares.
But keep in mind there are a lot of different factors when it comes to fares. During the worst of the recession, in 2008 and '09, prices actually ticked down because travel fell off. There was a lot of consolidation in the in the industry; yes, there were fewer carriers, but at the same time oil prices fell, travel declined, so prices went down.
And actually, you look at the government CPI, from 2001 through this year...
CONAN: That's the consumer price index, but go ahead.
GEEWAX: Yes, I'm sorry, yes, consumer price index, the government tracks inflation. And what it finds is that over that period of time, since the terrorist attacks in 2001 that shook up the industry so much, prices are really less than the overall rate of inflation. It's about 28 percent up. Inflation in general is up about 32 percent in that period of time. So it's a little bit less than inflation.
When you think about how tough it is to be in that business, what it costs to have to pay for oil, you know, for the jet fuel, it's amazing they've held prices down as much as they have.
CONAN: We're talking about the proposed merger between American Airlines and US Airways. If you work in the airline industry or on the tarmac, out onboard or in the terminal, tell us: How do mergers change things? 800-989-8255. Email us, email@example.com. Stay with us. I'm Neal Conan. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
CONAN: This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan. If the announced merger between US Airways and American Airlines goes through, it will become the world's largest airline. The current title-holder is United, which merged with Continental in 2010. The two carriers have had a tough time integrating, there have been issues with reservations, with the websites, delays, stranded passengers. That's to be expected.
Major mergers often come with major headaches, at least over the short term. In the long term, they can be a boon to investors, employees and passengers. So if you work in the airline business, on planes, in planes, in airports, how does a merger change things? Our phone number, 800-989-8255. Email us, firstname.lastname@example.com. You can also join the conversation at our website, which has no problems whatsoever. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.
NPR senior business editor Marilyn Geewax is our guest, and joining us here in Studio 3A is Darryl Jenkins, chairman of the American Aviation Institute and longtime consultant to the airline industry. Good to have you on the program.
DARRYL JENKINS: It's nice to see you, young man.
CONAN: Thank you very much.
CONAN: Now American is, well, I guess still in bankruptcy, just beginning to emerge. This seems to be absolutely critical for them.
JENKINS: Well, this is a very big deal. We've had three major mergers before this, Delta, Northwest. Then we had United, Continental. Then we had Southwest, Air Tran. As networks get bigger, the ability for them to capture the business traveler, who sits at the front of the plane and pays the highest fares, becomes more and more important.
And these business travelers, you might have 10 percent of your travelers in an airline might account for as much as 40 percent of your total revenue. So to be able to compete in these large networks, you, too, have to be a large network. And it's even more than a large domestic network. We're talking about three or four large airlines now.
What we should be talking about is worldwide and move kind of away from the airline metric and go to the alliance metric. So worldwide, we have Sky, we have Oneworld, and we have Star, and it's the big alliances that are going to be the players in the future.
And as we go forward, what we're going to see is that more and more of these are getting antitrust immunity on certain routes, which gives them the ability for two airlines to get together and actually act like they were one company. It's a virtual merger. And so they can talk about and coordinate prices and schedules, which otherwise would be an antitrust problem. They get antitrust immunity to cooperate.
And on these routes on which they're cooperating, they're sharing revenue. So they're having a joint P&L. So we see these large virtual mergers taking place in the airline, and we need to start thinking way outside of the United States. And American, United and Delta, we need to start thinking of alliances and where we're going globally. Then you have...
CONAN: Let me just follow up on that.
JENKINS: Yeah, go ahead.
CONAN: Marilyn mentioned earlier that between them, American and US Air have pretty good routes to Latin America, to Europe, weak, though, in Asia. Is their alliance system going to solve that problem?
JENKINS: Well, see, that's the whole purpose of alliance. Nobody has enough planes and enough money to fly everywhere in the world, and you have so much government regulation and treaties on these that it's impossible. So the necessary element for being able to compete in a global economy are these large airline alliances.
CONAN: Marilyn, as you look at this worldwide situation, all of a sudden the necessity for creating these four bigger companies seems to make more sense, but this is something that's been going on for decades. We've seen - we had that list of just a few of the airlines that have vanished over the years, but there were dozens, it seems, just 20, 30 years ago.
GEEWAX: So many, and, you know, a lot of them started out - like Delta was a crop duster in, you know, the Mississippi Delta kind of thing. I mean, these companies started small because the world of aviation was small. People went on little kind of puddle-jumpers from here to there, but over time, we've become really a globalized market where this merger between Delta and Northwest has turned out to be pretty brilliant because that gave a lot of opportunities for Delta to expand into Asia because that's the old Northwest Orient, where they used to fly in Asia.
So they picked up a lot of ability to get into the world's fastest-growing market, and I think U.S. carriers, these days you just have to think on a larger scale. Those days of short hops from here to there just - it's just not where you can make any money. And in some ways that fits in with this larger vision for transportation, where the president keeps talking about high-speed rail to connect cities in ways that maybe are a little bit more efficient than actually going to an airport to fly.
And these city buses, you know, here in D.C., if I want to go to New York, I don't go to the airport, I go down to a bus, and for 30 bucks, you can get right into Manhattan...
CONAN: And you don't go to the bus terminal, you go to a parking lot somewhere.
GEEWAX: Right, you just stand out on the street, a bus picks you up, and the next thing you know, you know, you've got wireless, and you can sit there with your computer and do some work, and a couple hours later you're in Manhattan.
CONAN: I've taken those buses. Next thing you know, you've got a headache. But anyway, let's see if we can get another caller in on the conversation. Let's go to Chet(ph), Chet's on the line with us from Jacksonville.
CHET: Hi, the mergers are actually pretty good from the standpoint - I'm a pilot with United. The airlines are now, as the call, as they use the phrase too big to fail. A lot of pilots have jumped from airline to airline as their old airlines have basically gone bankrupt. But the pilots are still trying to recover from basically losing half of their pay and all of their pensions during the bankruptcy years.
And these mergers take away the possibility of a strike because during the Clinton years, American, although it was smaller, American pilots tried to strike, but Clinton basically said you cannot because we cannot lose the service that you offer.
CONAN: So this new situation, you feel like at least all of these companies are now going to survive and maybe even thrive?
CHET: I think they'll survive, but for pilots trying to get back what they've lost in a bankruptcy, the possibility of a strike, which is still part of the negotiating process, that's gone. They don't have that anymore because airlines cannot stop for any length of time to achieve, you know, what they're going to try and achieve.
CONAN: Well, let me ask you, Darryl Jenkins, is he right? Are the - is the days when the pilots were lords of the sky gone forever?
JENKINS: I don't think so. We recently had a kind of an historic event. First of all, what he was saying was true, and I was listening very carefully to that. Pilots took an enormous hit during all of this, both in pay and especially United retirement. And a lot of these guys who are out there flying are my age, which means they're older than Methuselah, and they want to quit working and retire and enjoy life, which they thought they were going to have. So there's no doubt that the pilots took an enormous hit through all of this.
What we saw through all of this, though, was a historic event, which I never thought would happen, and it happened at Delta Airlines. And this is why I consider to be the best-managed airline out there. For the first time in the history of the deregulated industry, we saw an airline come to an agreement with its pilots before the previous contract was over.
And it was a very generous pilot in terms of pay and benefits to the pilots, and at the same time you gave up a great deal of productivity to the company, where both sides got what they wanted. Now this was kind of interesting for a couple things. One, in the Delta merger, you had two of the brightest people in the world on opposite sides, you had Lee Moak, who was head of the union, and you had Richard Anderson.
And Richard Anderson's genius was listening to Lee Moak, and it was basically get the pilots onboard, and let them work out their problems first, and that way when we go into the merger, some of your biggest problems are behind you. And basically they had probably one of the - they had, let me tell you, any merger has problems, and any merger has headaches, and Delta-Northwest had their own integration problems, thousands of which customers never saw and a dozen or so which they did see.
So I'm a little bit optimistic that if we have union leaders that are as bright as Lee Moak and CEOs who are bright as Lee - or Richard Anderson that we can see a new model. So we have a very generous contract out there for the pilots who are flying at Delta now, and how they did that really should be the model for everybody else, how we run this industry.
CONAN: Marilyn mentioned some of the glitches in other mergers. We saw some glitches for sure in the United-Continental merger. They're still going on. There have been days when the whole computer system shut down.
GEEWAX: Several times last year. There were problems as they tried to put their computer systems together, where you had thousands and thousands of people stranded at airports, just absolutely shut down because the computers didn't get together. So that's why I say, you know, like...
CONAN: And there will be people, including me, who will complain they never did get my frequent flyer miles right.
GEEWAX: Exactly. You know, it's a tough experience flying. You know, you've got to go through the security thing, you have to get there early, everything seems expensive. You've got your $10 hamburger waiting with, you know, getting your $3 newspaper. It seems frustrating. You can't believe you're going through this. It's very off-putting, and a lot of people don't want to fly anymore because it's so tough.
But when you look at it from the airlines' point of view, they just don't make any money. They really suffer. It's tough to be an airline. And they've got these tough problems like merging online systems for reservations. They've got to figure out the internal workings of their computers so that everything gets together.
The equipment is very expensive, it's complicated, and your labor force needs to be super well-trained. I know when I get in a plane I want a pilot who knows what she or he is doing, and I would like them to be well paid and pretty happy and well rested.
Well, try and get that to all come together: the labor cost, the computer cost, the equipment cost. And dealing with airports is not particularly easy. They're often run by - cities' airport authorities can be tricky to work with. So it's just an awfully hard industry to pull it together.
CONAN: It sounds like you're describing that old Yogi Berra line: Nobody flies anymore; the planes are too crowded.
GEEWAX: Exactly.
CONAN: Yeah. Let's see if we can get Carrie(ph) on the line. Carrie is with us from St. Augustine.
CARRIE: Hi. Hello. Yes. I was, you know, I was going to make a couple of points. Actually, I'm with - I was a flight attendant from - with USAir. I started with Piedmont Airlines. And when USAir bought Piedmont, they had also bought PSA, and we went through this training. Back then we had three days of training to sort of incorporate us into, you know, their airline and how our new airline was going to be, and I just think that was very helpful. And, you know, we acquired America West. USAir acquired America West about five years ago, and we're still not merged totally.
JENKINS: Yeah.
CARRIE: And, you know...
GEEWAX: Right.
CARRIE: ...I think that management - I think old management was - were really big airline people and love the airlines, and that's why, you know, it was really good. And now the CEOs of these companies, now aren't necessarily airline people, and they're, you know, they just are number crunchers, and they may do a good job with that, but, you know, I feel like we're lacking in some of our customer service areas and, you know, things like that. Like we used to just be very good at it, so we, I don't feel, are as good as we used to be, you know? And, you know, I'm old-school.
CONAN: If there was...
CARRIE: I like good customer service, you know? And I - yeah. I don't know. I just - so I'm kind of anxious about this merger. It's going to be a very big airline, and it's, you know, it'll be interesting to see how it all, you know, comes out. But...
CONAN: And do you - are you afraid that being a very big airline, it's going to be very impersonal, not just to its customers, but to its employees like you?
CARRIE: Yes. Yeah. Yes, I do. I think, yeah, I think that that could definitely happen now.
CONAN: Well, thanks very much, Carrie. Good luck in the merger.
CARRIE: Yes. OK. A little bit. Yeah, thanks. Bye-bye.
CONAN: We're talking with NPR's Marilyn Geewax. She's our senior business editor. And Darryl Jenkins is with us, chairman of the American Aviation Institute. We're talking about the proposed merger between US Airways and American. The result would be, $11 billion combined, the largest airline in the world. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
And let's get Michael(ph) on the line, Michael with us from Maryville in Missouri.
MICHAEL: Yes. I do want to echo the young lady's remarks. Before having been through a merger myself, I'm a longtime retired TWA avionics engineer, and, of course, our concern is American Airlines bought TWA around 2000 or in that period of time. And those of us that were already retired became a bit of a legacy issue for American.
Our retirement fund had already been taken over by the PBGC, but the medical, travel benefits, quote, unquote "employee benefits" were retained by American. So we've recently, during all these talks, have had letters forthcoming saying, American Airlines is dedicated to maintaining your retirement benefits and medical benefits. However, we reserved the right to change them.
CONAN: Ouch.
MICHAEL: So we're all sitting a little bit - well, I say all. I'm certainly sitting a little bit on the nervous side about that.
CONAN: And, Darryl Jenkins, just let me interrupt by saying there's nothing more pejorative word in the airline industry than legacy.
JENKINS: I certainly agree with that. Well, he brings up some very good issues, and a lot of us have been around this industry for a very long time, and we've seen these things happen. And when you have something like this, it does create uncertainty, especially for the legacy employees and especially for someone like a TWA. So I assume if I were in his shoes, I would probably be feeling the same way.
CONAN: Michael, when do you get your next letter?
MICHAEL: Well, I don't know. I'm wondering about that. I'm thinking I'll rush into the house and get on the computer. And let me hasten to say that American Airlines has been terrific to us, and while they're offering their caveat, they've been really, really good.
But to the young lady's point, if I might add, we purchased Ozark Air Lines back in the '80s, and that was a Missouri airline like TWA, only they operated out of St. Louis. And as an engineer, I took on a lot of the avionics equipment for the aircraft and stuff. And I have to tell you that the merger really never got down to the work-a-day Joe level. There was always a certain amount of attention, you know, in the framework. Well, we never did it that way before.
CONAN: I see. Yeah. All right. Well, Michael, good luck. Thanks very much for the call.
MICHAEL: You bet.
CONAN: And that raises another point, which is, Marilyn, the technology. Airlines, whether - they have to change rather rapidly, because otherwise you're going to be innovated out of business.
GEEWAX: You know, it's not just the plane itself, and that's a big deal. You have to update that technology so that you're more energy-efficient, less polluting, and the whole industry has to move towards more modern aircraft. But also on the inside, the passenger experience. People want Wi-Fi. They want to be able to book flights on their smartphones.
There's just a whole lot of technology that goes into travel these days, or people will choose other alternatives. As I say, they'll take those buses or the high-speed trains or whatever other options they can think of, unless airlines learn to compete in a technologically savvy way. And I want to make this one other quick point about technology, there's one other possibility for how to ruin an industry and that's Congress. Yes, I said Congress. They are in-charge of the FAA budget. The FAA needs to modernize the air traffic control system. There's this whole system called NextGen, next generation of air traffic control, that they are trying to roll out. That's a pretty tough thing to do when you're always facing government shutdown. You don't know what you're funding's going to be. So the FAA is trying to advance technologically, as well. A couple of years from now, we may be in a much better era where if we can get that all straightened out and that mergers go through and the industry sort of stabilizes and modernizes, or we could really blow this opportunity by failing to update the things that need to be updated.
CONAN: Marilyn Geewax, as always, thanks very much for your time.
GEEWAX: You're welcome.
CONAN: NPR's senior business editor, Darryl Jenkins, nice to see you again.
JENKINS: And you too.
CONAN: Darryl Jenkins, chairman of the American Aviation Institute. They were both kind enough to join us here in the studio 3A. When we come back, we'll put the cap on this year's series on the best feature documentaries. We've been speaking with all of the filmmakers over the past couple of weeks. NPR's arts critic, Bob Mondello, will join us with reviews of the five films nominated for the Oscar. Stay with us. I'm Neal Conan. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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by Gayle Squires, Kosher Camembert.com
I found this recipe in the The Southwest (Williams-Sonoma New American Cooking) cookbook when I was planning the menu for a Mexican/Tex-Mex dinner, complete with vegetarian empanadas, guacamole, and salpicon. The original recipe calls for whole squash, but it's a lot easier with pre-cut and peeled squash chunks. I made enough for 10 as a side dish but this recipe is just a guideline – make as much as you want. If you have an immersion blender, this is the time to take it out. I unfortunately no longer have one: midway through this squash, mine hit its inevitable fate when the motor stripped the internal plastic gear. I had to complete the recipe by hand. And that's why it's called a "mash" rather than a purée.
3-4 lbs butternut squash chunks or 2 good sized butternut squashes
3 heads garlic
1 red onion
3 Tablespoons + 1 Tablespoon + 3 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
Prep. Preheat oven to 375ºF. If using whole squashes, cut them in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with the first 3T olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place, cut side up on a parchment-covered cookie sheet . If using pre-cut squash, toss in a big bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Slice the tops off of the garlic, drizzle with 1T olive oil and salt, and wrap in aluminum foil. Also, cut the onion into about 6 chunks and separate the layers. Mix onions with balsamic vinegar and the last 3T olive oil. Set aside.
Roast. Put the squash and garlic in the oven. Roast the squash until soft, about an hour (sometimes more) for a whole squash and about 45 minutes for squash chunks. The garlic takes about 30-45 minutes. Check both every 15 minutes or so, especially the garlic because it's pretty easy for it to burn.
Keep roasting. Around the time you take the garlic out of the oven, put the onions on a second parchment-covered cookie sheet and put them in oven. Roast for about 15 minutes until the onions start to brown and crisp up. If you can time it right, they should come out around the same time as the squash. But that's a big if.
Purée (or mash!). Get your immersion blender ready. If you roasted the squash whole, scoop it out of the skin into a bowl. If you used pre-cut squash, also scoop it into a bowl. Squeeze the roasted garlic from its skin and add it to the squash. Use your immersion blender to purée the squash and garlic. If your immersion blender decides to poop out just before using it, a potato masher works almost as well, but it won't be as smooth.
Mix it up. Add the onions and any remaining balsamic and stir with the squash.
Eat. Serve warm.
Recipes: Side Dishes, Squash, Parve, Kosher

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The housing recovery continues:
Average home prices rose 7.3 percent from December to January in their 10-city composite index and 8.1 percent in a broader 20-city list, according to the data crunchers who produce the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
The biggest year-over-year gains were in Phoenix, where prices were up 23.2 percent from January 2012.
Tuesday's report is just the latest in a string of positive signs about the housing sector, which began a long slide in 2008.
Later this morning, the private Conference Board is due to release its March consumer confidence report. We'll update when that happens.
Update at 10:15 a.m. ET. Confidence Drops:
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 59.7 in March from 68.0 in February, the business research group says.
Lynn Franco, the board's director of economic indicators, says in a press release that "this month's retreat was driven primarily by a sharp decline in expectations, although consumers were also more pessimistic in their assessment of current conditions. The loss of confidence, particularly expectations, mirrors the losses experienced this past December and January. The recent sequester has created uncertainty regarding the economic outlook and as a result, consumers are less confident."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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May 09, 2013 | |
Wearable robots getting lighter, more portable |
(Nanowerk News) When Michael Gore stands, it's a triumph of science and engineering. Eleven years ago, Gore was paralyzed from the waist down in a workplace accident, yet he rises from his wheelchair to his full 6-foot-2-inches and walks across the room with help from a lightweight wearable robot. | |
The technology has many nicknames. Besides "wearable robot," the inventions also are called "electronic legs" or "powered exoskeletons." This version, called Indego, is among several competing products being used and tested in U.S. rehab hospitals that hold promise not only for people such as Gore with spinal injuries, but also those recovering from strokes or afflicted with multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. | |
Still at least a year away from the market, the 27-pound Indego is the lightest of the powered exoskeletons. It snaps together from pieces that fit into a backpack. The goal is for the user to be able to carry it on a wheelchair, put it together, strap it on and walk independently. None of the products, including the Indego, are yet approved by federal regulators for personal use, meaning they must be used under the supervision of a physical therapist. | |
In this May 6, 2013 photo, Michael Gore, center, who is paralyzed from a spinal injury, walks with the use of the Indego wearable robot under the supervision of physical therapist Clare Hartigan during a meeting of the American Spinal Injury Association at a downtown hotel in Chicago. | |
Gore, 42, of Whiteville, N.C., demonstrated the device this week at the American Spinal Injury Association meeting in Chicago, successfully negotiating a noisy, crowded hallway of medical professionals and people with spinal injuries in wheelchairs. | |
When he leans forward, the device takes a first step. When he tilts from side to side, it walks. When Gore wants to stop, he leans back and the robotic leg braces come to a halt. Gore uses forearm crutches for balance. A battery in the hip piece powers the motors in the robotic legs. | |
"Being able to speak with you eye-to-eye is just a big emotional boost," Gore said to a reporter. "Being able to walk up to you and say hello is not a big thing until you cannot do it." | |
The devices won't replace wheelchairs, which are faster. None of the devices are speedy enough, for example, for a paralyzed person to walk across a street before the light changes, said Arun Jayaraman of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, who is testing a number of similar devices. | |
"None of them have fall prevention technology," Jayaraman said. "If the person falls, they can hurt themselves badly. If you fall down, how do you get off a robot that is strapped into you?" They need to be even lighter and have longer-lasting batteries, he said. | |
Still, Jayaraman said, the devices might help prevent pressure sores from sitting too long in a wheelchair, improve heart health, develop muscle strength, lift depression and ultimately bring down medical costs by keeping healthier patients out of the hospital. | |
Companies in Israel, New Zealand and California make competing devices, and all the products are becoming less bulky as they are refined. The Indego was invented at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and tested at the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta. It's now licensed to Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corp., which makes precision engineered products like aircraft wheels and brakes. | |
Like many other research participants in clinical studies, Gore receives a stipend for his participation from Vanderbilt University. | |
It's unclear exactly how much the devices will cost if they become available for personal use. Some technology news media reports have said $50,000 to $75,000. Indego's makers want to bring the cost below that, said co-inventor Ryan Farris of Parker Hannifin. Experts say it will take years of research to prove health benefits before Medicare and private insurance companies would consider covering the expense. | |
Paul Tobin, president of the nonprofit advocacy group United Spinal, said wearable robots present an exciting opportunity but that patients should keep their expectations realistic. | |
"It's going to be critical that people have a thorough medical evaluation before trying something like this, especially if they've been injured for some time," Tobin said. "It won't be appropriate for everyone. For some people, it will be a godsend." |
Source: By Carla K. Johnson, Assoiated Press |


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Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Ruthless enough for a startup?
In all the cases, these startups did things that I probably would not have been willing to do. It makes me wonder how ruthless you have to be to have a successful startup.
Facebook, for example, "had access to the e-mail addresses of Harvard students" and "blasted e-mails to Harvard students to let people know about the site." The site, which allows people to list information about themselves and meet other students, largely seems driven by social interaction, dating, and self-promotion.
Similarly, MySpace "had a database of ~100M e-mail addresses" which they spammed to announce their launch. MySpace is broader than Facebook, but also largely seems driven by social interaction, dating, and self-promotion.
BitTorrent, a P2P filesharing network, launched after "[Bram] Cohen collected a batch of free porn and used it to lure beta testers". The site soon collected "long lists of pirated content" including full length movies and pornographic material.
HotOrNot started as a way to "settle an argument" and soon turned into a popular and lucrative website that is "serving some basic human psychological needs around social validation, ego, and voyeurism" and allows people to "enjoy the voyeuristic aspect of checking people out."
The YouTube founders, when they first launched, "figured the best thing would do would be to get hot chicks involved". Later, they implemented a feature that allowed "one-click emailing to spam a friend about a video." I suspect it is also true that YouTube succeeded where many other video startups failed largely by being less vigilant about purging copyright content and soft porn, all easy to find on the site.
Skype's founders originally created Kazaa, a filesharing network that encouraged illegal trading of copyright content. Skype is a clever iteration from Kazaa. It follows a similar theme of giving away stuff that used to cost money for free, but this time it is legal. Like Kazaa, it uses other people's resources (especially those who are blessed with the privilege of being a supernode) to provide the service.
There seem to be some dismal lessons in these stories. It appears the ideal startup will give away something that used to cost money for free (preferably copyright material and porn), use other people's content and resources, appeal to the baser human instincts (especially vanity and sex), and spam massive e-mail lists at launch.
And this makes me wonder, am I ruthless enough? In Findory Video, for example, the system tries to automatically filter the soft porn that appears quite popular on both YouTube and Google Video. Is that a mistake? Findory has never spammed anyone. Findory keeps well within fair use for copyright material. Findory directs traffic to content providers to help them earn revenue from their work. Are those mistakes?
Is ruthlessness the key to success for Web 2.0 startups? Are you ruthless enough to succeed in the same way these others have done?
Update: Yahoo just acquired Bix, a website that features "hot or not and other contests" and "launched barely three months ago". Yet another example.
26 comments:
Don't forget the iPod, which had its demand fueled primarily by copyright infringers.
Another interesting post would be to identify those hyper growth entities that have succeeded on the back of a principled existance. - November 14, 2006 at 1:10 PM
I would wager that most iPods (like mine) contain primarily legal content.
Most people I know fill their iPods by ripping their CD collections, downloading podcasts, and by purchasing music from iTunes. None of which infringe copyright. - November 14, 2006 at 1:30 PM
I don't have an answer. But I just want to say I sympathize with your pain.
- November 14, 2006 at 3:25 PM
I can see the argument, but it doesn't seem universal to me at all. In the web 2.0 category, flickr, del.icio.us, and 37signals don't seem to fit the pattern. Outside that category, I can think of plenty of examples that didn't start by being ruthless. Did Amazon?
- November 14, 2006 at 3:25 PM
Just went to Findory, and the top ad was 'Confessions of a Video Vixen'
Was followed by books on AdSense and Google Analytics. - November 14, 2006 at 3:53 PM
- Greg Linden said...
Hi, Marc. Those are great examples, but are tiny compared to the others (with the exception of HotOrNot, I guess).
I cannot think of any examples of new, recent startups that have hit it big without being ruthless, but that might just be a failure on my part.
Certainly Amazon, Netflix, and Google are pretty big companies that avoided the less pleasant areas I talked about, but they also are older and had slower growth than blockbusters like YouTube. - November 14, 2006 at 3:54 PM
- Greg Linden said...
Hi, Anonymous. Yeah, that's a popular book on Amazon, as it turns out, and gets surfaced by the Findory advertising engine.
Not great, I admit, but it is hard to filter those out. - November 14, 2006 at 3:55 PM
- Ned Batchelder said...
At Tabblo we struggle with the same issues: how aggressive do we want to be to attract users? I like to think we're principled (opt-in emailing, no nudity in the public areas, etc). My high school graduating class may not agree after I invited all of them to a tabblo!
- November 14, 2006 at 5:01 PM
- burtonator said...
Craigslist is also an interesting one.
While it's done a good job in a lot of other legit areas they drive a lot of prostitution and other nefarious activities.
Bittorrent is certainly the biggest offender in my book. Their early growth was literally 100% warez and porn.
I'm in the wrong business man :-P - November 14, 2006 at 5:11 PM
Netflix certainly owes a bit of their popularity to people renting porn. It was a rather large competitive advantage against the local Blockbuster.
Google too benefits from things like pornography and gambling. Google Image search? Obviously not the the extent of some of the highlighted companies, but IMO this issue exists with a LOT of companies.
Varying degrees all but one could make a case that at least a portion of the success of these companies is attributable to these kinds of topics. - November 14, 2006 at 6:37 PM
- Rick Burnes said...
It's an interesting question, but I'm an optimist on these issues. The examples you cite are all products. Cheap/ruthless tricks may work for a product, but I don't think they help you create business/institution. Are there similar stories for Amazon, Google, Yahoo, Ebay?
- November 14, 2006 at 7:23 PM
You can track the source of some ruthlessness for ad-supported services by following the revenue stream up to AD:TECH. I can think of a lot of legal ideas to get rich fast, but I don't have the passion to execute, or the desire to share any of them. Sometimes I wonder if the money would compensate for the dissatisfaction of not personally believing in what I create. Crap on the world now; make up for it later?
- November 14, 2006 at 7:32 PM
I think you should do what you believe in. From your decisions so far, I don't think you want to spam people or do things you consider "wrong".
I think you are wondering how things would have been different if you had chosen a different path...
As I have never worked in a startup or been in your position before, ... - November 14, 2006 at 11:24 PM
- Sheamus J. said...
Greetings from Canada!
Lovely to have discovered your blog this morning (with thanks to Sig's Forthcoming Blog).
Geeking with Greg is now on my daily read list, and over time, I will also review your blog archives in some detail.
Now to address your post!
The heading is a tad provocative in that you "set up" one frame of reference i.e., a context (and possibly, which may not be entirely useful relative to the intention for your post).
The concluding paragraph then "sets up" further frames of reference as follows... "Is ruthlessness the key to success for Web 2.0 startups? Are you ruthless enough to succeed in the same way these others have done?"
First... I address your questions as follows:
[a] Based on my 35+ years as a successful entrepreneur in the knowledge world... ruthlessness is not "the key to success" for Web 2.0 startups, and
[b] Your second question includes at least three presupppositions (e.g., ruthless, enough, in the same way) which (in my view) are not useful relative to Web 2.0 startups achieving meaningful contribution and success.
Second... during the process of addressing your post I began wondering "What is Greg really seeking to accomplish? I wonder what Greg really wants to learn, accomplish, do?" - November 15, 2006 at 3:25 AM
- toyg said...
Welcome to mankind! If you behave well, if you follow all the rules, you won't "succeed"... because the rules are made by people on top, and their real target is for them to stay on top.
Microsoft encouraged piracy to become a de-facto monopoly, then moved to "zero tolerance" policies for warez. Political activists make large use of rioting and illegal behaviour before being officially recognised as entities, and once in power they obviously have an interest in cracking on those practices to avoid being challenged. Companies often grow thanks to public money, and then decry the practice once it's used by new competitors.
Unfortunately, it's got nothing to do with "web 2.0" or tech startups in particular. Some of the biggest crooks in this world are well-respected and "successful" businessman (Ken Lay anyone?). It's a bad world out there. - November 15, 2006 at 5:07 AM
Findory pick contains two video that have been withdrawn and have the hentai tag on it :
(for ex: Fooly Cooly - 1 Fooly Cooly)
they are all from Broccoli International USA - November 15, 2006 at 6:11 AM
I wonder how much time and effort you put into those filters that you could have been using to improve traffic to and usablility of your site? Just a thought
- November 15, 2006 at 7:09 AM
Hi Greg,
Thanks for reading Startup Review - I saw that you referenced a couple of the case studies in your blog post. I have been thinking a lot about what you said in your blog post recently, and here are my thoughts.
I came to the conclusion that to get big really fast, you need either a very social product that gets a lot of word of mouth, or a product that is a great fit for SEO (natural search). I think that there are enough examples of success out there that indicate you don't have to be "ruthless", but you need one of the two of the above going for you. On the word of mouth strategy, it needs to be something that people understand they will derive more value from if other people know about it. This explains the success of Skype, Xfire, Facebook, MySpace, etc. Companies that lack this from a product perspective, need to get a lot of traffic from SEO - look at Digg, Rotten Tomatoes, Zappos, etc.
That's my two cents.
P.S. I don't know if you remember, but we spoke a long time ago when I was working at Sierra Ventures. I hope that things are going well at Findory. - November 15, 2006 at 10:28 AM
Behind every great fortune, there is a crime -- Honore de Balzac
- November 15, 2006 at 5:39 PM
- amckinnis said...
Greg - great post and some interesting thoughts. As with all issues, nothing is black or white. Some people like their email boxes filled with "offers" and personal letters from Africa about dead oil ministers (but I digress). There is a huge gray area, one that is address by your own personal guideposts. As James Allen wrote in his classic "As A Man Thinketh"...
Circumstances don't make the man, they merely reveal who he really is.
Keep up the good work with Findory!! - November 16, 2006 at 5:40 PM
This post(er) uses an unhelpful definition of "success".
If "making lots of money" = "success" then these cybervandals have been successful.
I recommend you acquire and use a different definition. - November 17, 2006 at 2:16 PM
Cultivate Virtue in your self,
And Virtue will be real.
Cultivate it in the family,
And Virtue will abound.
Cultivate it in the village,
And Virtue will grow.
Cultivate it in the nation,
And Virtue will be abundant.
Cultivate it in the universe,
And Virtue will be everywhere.
Do your part my friend. Thanks for Findory. - November 19, 2006 at 10:14 PM
I would have to say you are definately not ruthless enough if you thought that Facebook's move to email all the Harvard Students about the site was over the top. That doesn't sound bad to me at all. I can live with that, however a good example of overly ruthless is Eric Bauman's website Ebaumsworld.com. Bauman has put the Ebaum's tag on videos that weren't actually first provided on Ebaum's world. He's a deceitful bastard.
- November 30, 2006 at 4:29 PM
You should give yourself some credit. You are not selling blue pills or pumping penny stock, but providing real value (congrats on the recommender system btw, it seems to work really well). Of course, any startup would claim the same thing, but your growth figures show you are giving a valuable service. I am sure I would not have minded receiving a findory ad in my mailbox...
I have a related question: how do you plan on competing with google if you can't track page views outside your web site ?
The anonymity default is great, but wouldn't some sort of findory firefox extension give interested users even better recommendations ? - December 13, 2006 at 12:32 AM
Though youtube might have been hugely successful especially after google buying it out, what is the probability that companies like youtube are always successful.
According to me, the probability of success is more if you approach the problem in the right way(without spamming etc...), the profits might be less but the rate of success is higher. But on the other hand, if tricks are used, then profits might sore to new heights but success ratio is less. The reasoning could be the ease of using the tricks like spamming etc...
success = num of companies in the domain that were successful using a particular path BY total num of companies using that particular path
I dont have data to prove it. I have always believed in this and hope it is true :) - December 13, 2006 at 3:59 AM
- Greenhill said...
Some say that its the number of eyes you have on your product that counts. We easily assume that quality comes over quantity, but unfortunately thats not always the case.
First of all I have to admit that I don't have serious experience about marketing Web 2.0 applications or sites, but I am under an impression that you need to overcome the critical mass before your site or product starts a life of its own. After that the quality counts. - November 10, 2010 at 2:55 PM


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Ankara, AP—Turkey's prime minister has threatened drastic steps to censor the Internet, including shutting down Facebook and YouTube, where audio recordings of his alleged conversations suggesting corruption have been leaked in the past weeks, dealing him a major blow ahead of this month's local elections.
In a late-night interview Thursday, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told ATV station that his government is determined to stem the leaks he insists are being instigated by followers of an influential US-based Muslim cleric. He has accused supporters of Fethullah Gülen of infiltrating police and the judiciary and of engaging in "espionage," saying that the group even listened in on his encrypted telephone lines. The Gülen movement denies involvement.
"We are determined on the issue, regardless of what the world may say," Erdoğan said. "We won't allow the people to be devoured by YouTube, Facebook or others. Whatever steps need to be taken we will take them without wavering."
Asked if the steps could include shutting those sites down, Erdoğan replied: "That included. Because these people or institutions are (using social media) for all kinds of immorality, all kinds of espionage and spying."
But President Abdullah Gül, who carries moral authority in Turkey, dismissed Erdoğan's idea on Friday, saying shutting down social media was out of the question.
Erdoğan this week acknowledged some of the leaked recordings, including two where he is heard meddling in a court case against a media proprietor and in a tender for the construction of warships. He has rejected as "fabrication" recordings purported to be of Erdoğan instructing his son to dispose of large amounts of money on the day when prosecutors and police carried out raids on the homes of three former ministers' sons as part of a corruption and bribery investigation.
Erdoğan, claiming to be a victim of a Gülen-orchestrated plot, has taken a series of steps to stall the corruption investigation, including removing hundreds of police officers and prosecutors and expanding government controls over the judiciary and the Internet. The Internet restrictions sparked violent protests in Istanbul.


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Marriage Economy: 'I Couldn't Afford To Get Divorced'
Lindsay Reynolds lives in Waterloo, Wis. Even before the recent economic downturn, Reynolds and her husband struggled to make ends meet. They quarreled, especially over money.
"We never had enough income to pay bills, to pay rent. We were constantly late on rent," Reynolds says. "He always wanted to go do things. He wanted to go buy things. And I said, 'No, we can't. We have to be fiscally responsible.' "
Reynolds says that after her husband returned from serving in the Iraq War, he found it hard to find work. They kept moving. Each time, she had to uproot herself and start all over again. Increasingly, as the economy turned sour, it became impossible for her to find a decent job. She says the quarrels intensified.
"The last year of our marriage, it was basically two different people living in the same household," Reynolds says. She was in bad shape: losing weight, down from her usual 135 pounds.
"I got down to 90 pounds," she says. "It wasn't something I chose to do. It's not like I purposely starved myself. This was, 'I could not afford to buy food.' " She felt she had to get out of the marriage. There was only one problem: Filing the paperwork for even a basic divorce cost a few hundred dollars.
"I couldn't afford to get divorced. It wasn't an option because I didn't have the money," she says.
Economic Effects On Marriage
Reynolds finally saved up enough to file for divorce in 2009. The divorce came through this year. She says she's more stable now, but her experience perfectly illustrates new research that finds the bad economy has had two effects on many marriages.
From The NPR-Kaiser Family Foundation Survey
Has being unemployed changed your relationship with your spouse or partner for the better, for the worse, or has it not really changed your relationship?
Do you feel your current employment situation has had a negative impact, a positive impact, or no real impact on your spouse or partner's overall health and well-being?
The NPR-Kaiser Family Foundation survey found the nation's high unemployment rate has caused rifts within many families: More than a fifth of all Americans who have been out of work for a year or more report that relationships with intimate partners have changed for the worse. More than a third say their economic situation has negatively affected their partners' health and well-being.
Simultaneously, a new paper in the B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy shows that as unemployment rises, the divorce rate goes down: For every 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate, the divorce rate goes down by 1 percent.
So losing a job makes many couples unhappy, and when people find themselves out of work, it becomes harder to get divorced. Experts say there is strong historical precedent for these effects.
"Economic distress leads couples who may have unhappy marriages and may have been considering divorce to pull back from divorce, to think, 'This would not be a good time to start a major change in our life,' " says Stephanie Coontz, who studies the history of marriage at Evergreen State College in Washington state.
Unemployment Increases Risk Of Domestic Violence
The combination of these two forces — more unhappy marriages and more unhappy couples trapped in marriages — is cause for serious worry.
Philip Cohen, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says that multiple studies have found that the marital distress that comes from money problems and feeling trapped is strongly associated with an increased risk of domestic violence.
One study, for example, looked at women who showed up in hospital emergency rooms for injuries that were both intentional and non-intentional.
"When you compare the women who were injured intentionally and women who were treated for other conditions in the emergency departments, they found that those who were injured intentionally were more likely to have experienced recent unemployment in their families," Cohen says.
There is no conclusive evidence that the current economic downturn has produced an increase in domestic violence, but the numbers are staggering: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that as many as 1 in 4 women nationwide say they've been physically hurt by their husbands or boyfriends.
At the same time, however, Cohen says the overall rates of domestic violence have generally been on the decline. But what's clear, he says, is that unemployment increases the risk of domestic violence.
"I'm quite confident from the research on couples — and what drives violence within couples — that among the people who are experiencing economic shock or dislocation or unemployment, there is an increased risk of violence," he says. "And I would not expect that to be any different during this recession."
Explore the full results of the NPR/Kaiser survey seeking to describe the experiences of the long-term unemployed:
'I Would Divorce Him'
One woman we spoke with says that describes her own situation. NPR is not using her name, because of concerns about her safety.
"I've been looking steadily for employment and even for menial-type jobs — basic holiday retail; I haven't been able to get hired on that," says the mother of two who currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She says she's struggling to make ends meet.
The woman is living with her husband — except they're separated. In fact, she moved away from Utah some years ago. When she found that she couldn't work and supervise the children on her own, she and her ex came to an agreement: She'd move back to Salt Lake City, and he would help with the kids.
"The original plan was that he would continue living with his family, where he had been living for the last three years, and he would come over and be a proactive part of our family, but only on a very part-time basis," the woman says. "And it's turned out to be the very opposite — he, he doesn't go home."
Just to be clear: There's no question in the woman's mind that the marriage is over. This is not a trial separation.
"There's not just any way for me to go back. Too much damage has been done," she says.
The woman says she wants to be on her own, but she can't afford a divorce. A lawyer has told her it will cost a few hundred dollars to move a divorce through the courts, assuming everything goes off without a hitch.
"If I were able to stand on my own economic feet at this time, I would divorce him," she says. The woman told NPR she's worried her ex may be unstable; he seems depressed. "He's trying to break his thumb. [It] is his thing right now — he keeps trying to injure himself."
She also worries about her safety and that of her kids.
"There have been absolutely no threats, emotional or physical," she says. "But if he's trying to hurt himself and he's being vocal about it, you know, I'm not sure what else he'd be capable of doing if he slipped further into his depression."
'Divorce Provides A Safety Valve'
Historian Coontz says she's seen the same patterns over and over again in the last century. During the Great Depression, the divorce rate went down and domestic violence went up. In the 1970s, when states began to permit no-fault divorces, it had an immediate effect on domestic violence.
"In the first five years after the adoption of no-fault divorce, divorce rates did indeed rise, but domestic violence rates fell by about 20 to 30 percent, and wives' suicide rate fell by 8 to 13 percent," Coontz says. "So we know that divorce actually provides a safety valve."
And women were not the only beneficiaries: "It's also reduced the rate at which husbands are murdered by their wives," Coontz says, "so it's been a lifesaver for some men as well."
Coontz predicts that when the current downturn ends, we will see exactly what happened after the Great Depression: "Couples that have postponed this or even one individual in a couple who has postponed seeking a divorce because of the financial recession is going to feel much more enabled to get that divorce afterwards," she says.
As the Great Depression lifted and more people found jobs, history shows the divorce rate went back up.


text:
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text:
I've lost the battle, yet again, about how our merry little band is celebrating.
My plan was to dress in my favorite costume (a Cloak of Indifference), sit on the couch and stream old episodes of Acrylic Intervention with Clara Parkes on Netflix. (The one where she gets knifed at the Methodist church bazaar while counseling the lady who can't stop knitting toilet roll covers is scary enough for two Halloweens.)
In the event, I was outvoted 231 to 1 (stupid traitor sock yarn colony) in favor of Dolores's plan that we make an appearance at the Bottom Dollar Lounge's "Haunted and Humpy" party in a group costume.
It could be worse. The first idea on the whiteboard was that we all dress as the Human Centipede, with Dolores in front. After much spirited debate, she's going as Slutty Barbara Walker and the rest of us are going to be swatches and top-down sweaters.
I'm still finishing my Slutty Baby Cable costume, so I hope you won't mind re-visiting an Occasional Piece I wrote several Halloweens ago but which has never actually appeared on the blog. It's an homage to one of the great American masters of horror literature, and was created for Brenda Dayne's Cast On podcast; if you'd rather listen than read, it's available (with pipe organ accompaniment) in her archives.
And yes–I know Slutty Baby Cable is in questionable taste, but my first choice (Slutty Moss Stitch) seemed way too obvious.
Anyway, here's the poem.
by Franklin Habit, d'aprés E. A. Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I knitted, weak and weary,
On a lumpy Aran sweater that was truly quite a bore,
While I cabled, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping–
As of hoofbeats gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis the maintenance man," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door.
Only this–and nothing more."
Ah, distinctly I remember I was knitting for December
For a boyfriend who stretched six feet from his temples to the floor.
Eagerly I wished it finished, yet the skeins were undiminished–
Though I knit 'til I was crippled and the sweater was a bore–
Though that lumpy Aran sweater was a never-ending bore.
So I sighed–and knit some more.
When at last the row at last had ended and the stitches dropped were mended,
"Sir," I said, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore.
But the fact is, I was counting and my agitation mounting
When so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you."–here, I opened wide the door;
Darkness there–and nothing more.
As I stood upon the doorstep, suddenly I heard a sure step,
And in walked a fluffy Romney ewe I'd never seen before.
Without a word or nod, across the welcome mat she trod
And lighting up a Camel cigarette, she perched beside the door–
Perched beside the bust of Barbara Walker near my chamber door;
Perched, and smoked–and nothing more.
Then, quoth the Romney, "Knit some more."
Much I marveled this unruly sheep to hear command so truly
In my native tongue an order rendered in a tone so sure.
"Tell me, madam," I addressed her, "Why am I the one you pester?
Why not Mabel, Midge, or Esther?" Questions did not interest her.
She just rolled her eyes and flicked some dying ashes to the floor.
Quoth the Romney, "Knit some more."
And the Romney, sitting primly in the hallway, smoking grimly,
Those words only ever said, and those words only–nothing more.
So, into my armchair sinking, I resumed my fruitless tinking,
Working on the Aran sweater 'til my fingers all were sore.
And the sheep said, "Knit some more."
And that Romney, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting,
Near the bust of Barbara Walker just inside my chamber door.
And she smokes, and drinks, and titters while I try to knit with jitters
On the lumpy Aran sweater that is as it was before.
Though Decembers pass away upon this sweater, every day,
I shall be knitting–evermore.


text:
Archiv:Devops Meetup
Devops Meetup | |
Status: | active |
Thema: | closing the gap between software development and operations |
Gestartet: | 2010 |
Organisator: | Michael Renner japhy Hannes Schaller |
Email: | email@example.com |
Treffen: | http://lists.metalab.at/mailman/listinfo/devops |
Zuletzt aktualisiert: | 2016-10-19 |
A regular meetup of people interested in DevOps.
DevOps is kind of a new sysadmin buzzword for ways to close the gap between software development and operations; it's what happens when agile development spreads to the server room. We meet to discuss culture, processes, tools and trends that contribute to this field.
DevOps — slides from introductory lightning talk at Metaday #36
There is a mailing list for announcements and discussions, and an experimental meetup.com page.
Next meetup
Tue., 2013-03-18, 19:00, Metalab Library
Presentation/topic propositions for future
If you have something to present, discuss, show, or ask around about, but don't want to commit to a date yet – here's the place to do it. If you want to hear about something specific, add it here too - maybe there's someone here who can tell about it.
- A comparative analysis of Linux HA Solutions by Bernhard Miklautz
- Monitoring with Icinga (or other Stuff That Is Not Nagios)
- …
A list of all users for quick reference
- Maciej Pasternacki AKA japhy - @mpasternacki - <email@example.com>
- Michael Renner - @terrorobe - <firstname.lastname@example.com>
- Hannes Schaller - @cyberkov - <firstname.lastname@example.com>
- Stefan Schlesinger - @stsonoat - <email@example.com>
- Oskar M. Grande <musha68kBRACKETAPEgmailPUNKTcom>
- David Gabriel <b2c AT dest-unreachable net>
- Christian Hofstädtler <email@example.com>
- Tobias Dostal <email@example.com>
- Lukas Fittl <email@example.com>
- Dietmar Hofer <email@example.com>
- Aaron Zauner - @a_z_e_t - <azet at azet.org>
- Michael Friedrich - @dnsmichi - <michael.friedrich at gmail.com>
- ... you? :>
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOps
- http://www.jedi.be/blog/2010/02/12/what-is-this-devops-thing-anyway/
- http://dev2ops.org/blog/2010/2/22/what-is-devops.html
- http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-engineering/making-facebook-self-healing/10150275248698920
- Automated installation & configuration
- Opscode Chef Ruby-based automated system configuration
- Puppet Another Ruby-based automated system configuration
- Fai Fully Automated Installer
- Cobbler Rapid deployment system, script/pluggable infrastructure, python-based
- The Foreman Provisioning and external Node classification for Puppet
- Cloud
- Eucalyptus Open-source cloud platform
- Ubuntu Cloud
- OpenQRM Datacenter Management Platform
- Deployment and control
- Capistrano Remote multi-server automation tool (deployment)
- MCollective Framework to build server orchestration or parallel job execution systems
- Vertebra [1] Another job execution system, XMPP-based
- ControlTier cross-platform build and deployment automation framework (job automation / infrastructure orchestration)
- Continuous Integration & Testing
- Documenting infrastructure
- OCS-ng Inventory system + GLPI Asset Management
- Ohai Detecting information (facts) about system
- Facter Detecting information (facts) about system
- puppet + facter + puppet-dashboard
- SICE Kit A set of tools and templates designed for MediaWiki to aid people who maintain systems and infrastructure
- Interpreter "sandboxes"
- virtualenv Python
- rvm Ruby
- perlbrew Perl
- Misc
- Grml Debian-based live CD
- Mongrel2, a language-agnostic Web server
- Augeas, a parsing config file editor
- IT Cockpit, a user-friendly UI for configuring Nagios
- fail2ban, banning malicious hosts based on log-file entries
- A bit about Foreman
- A bit about Postgres 9.2
- Odin Authenticator - a cookie-based single sign-on system for Apache - japhy
- A short potpourri of tools which proved useful when working in a large & rather homogenous infrastructure. Will include war-stories. pssh, graylog2, puppet & facter, lldpd, pt-query-diag, etc. - Robe
- From OpenVZ to LXC - Michael Renner and Stefan Schlesinger
- Aaron Zauner is going to talk about fail2ban abuse automation (see: http://pastebin.com/PvBWAhSM)
- Maciej Pasternacki has some notes about how other industries ensure reliable operations (slides, notes and links: https://lists.metalab.at/pipermail/devops/2012-June/000123.html)
- Michael Friedrich will talk about the Icinga past, present and future (notes and links: https://lists.metalab.at/pipermail/devops/2012-June/000122.html)
- Continuous Integration Packaging with FPM -- japhy
- Code snippets with comments for the build system: https://gist.github.com/2823575
- Vagrant, a convenient command-line tool for running VirtualBox virtual machines (VMs): http://vagrantup.com/
- FPM (Effing Package Management), the main actor: https://github.com/jordansissel/fpm/
- Buildbot, the continuous integration server: http://trac.buildbot.net/ (alternative for open source, Travis CI: http://travis-ci.org/)
- Articles about setting up Buildbot by Jacob Kaplan-Moss, creator of Django:
- Runit, a sane reimplementation of Dan J. Bernstein's daemontools under BSD-like license. A tool for managing long-running services (I'd say "daemons", but they don't daemonize – they are managed by runit when running in the foreground): http://smarden.org/runit/
- LXC - Linux Containers, a lightweight userspace virtualization for Linux (may be used for real clean builds or for testing the packages): http://lxc.sourceforge.net/
- The Debian Policy Manual: http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/index.html#contents
FPM is a command-line tool that converts between different package formats (from: local directory, ruby gem, php pear, python module, node.js npm package, deb, rpm; to: local directory, deb, rpm, solaris, tar). The "local directory" pseudo-format allows for easy creation of quick-and-dirty packages that Just Work, short-circuiting all the layers from the Debian Policy Manual all the way up to dh_make with one quick script call. FPM doesn't care about actually building your stuff (as in: unpacking, configuring, compiling, etc). It just takes directory you put it into, and turns it into a package. To prepare the compiled files and put them in the right place first is your job. So is specifying the dependencies - there are no automatic dependencies on dynamically linked libraries.
Workflow for the continuous integration using bits & pieces from the gist:
- On developer's workstation, "vagrant up" command brings up new VirtualBox VM with clean Debian and sets up a clone of the "packages" repository with a local branch
- "vagrant ssh" to the VM, go to the packages repo, prepare or modify new package, test it
- "git push" from the VM to the "develop" branch on the host server
- "git pull . develop" on the host server's master branch to merge
- "git push" to central git repo
- buildbot (continuous integration server) picks up the commit
- buildbot builds changed package and adds it to the apt repo
- new package is available to clients via apt-get within minutes from the push.
- ?
- Velocity EU recap by Michael
- Tier1 Hardware (Dell, HP, IBM) show & tell Michael
- We're going to look at a Dell R200, HP DL380G5 as well as a IBM x3650 M3 and see how they fare in regards of hardware maintenance, configuration, out of band management and general pain points.
- What hardware should I get anyways? General thoughts on performance evaluation, capacity planning, daily operations and other pitfalls.
- git-flow, a successful branching model – japhy
- Bullshit Bingo: Cloud strategies (how to make cloud work for you) - japhy
- Monitoring systems, capacity planning, trending, etc. discussion
- NexentaCore 3 ZFS Presentation & Workshop - David Gabriel
- What's new in Perl 5.14? (Daxim)
- Opscode-hosted Chef stuff demo: cookbook repository, platform, … (japhy)
- Kanban in operations by Tony (Datei:Kanban and Devops.pdf)
- 5 Years Metalab discussion
- Time management - basic ideas – japhy (based on the Time Management for System Administrators book)
- The Foreman - cyberkov, Provisioning and external Node classification for Puppet (Presentation from FOSDEM)
- Mongrel2 introduction by Lukas Fittl
- Grml fly-by by Christian Hofstädtler (slides)
- Plat_forms - The web development platform comparison
- A 10 minute PostgreSQL crash course including Q&A for operations-relevant Stuff - Michael
- A hopefully short and functional live presentation of my company's infrastructure User:b2c
- Overview: puppet+dashboard, vmware, storage
- live server deployment
- automated tests
- Free talk, show&tell, …
2010-11-23 Bootstrap meeting
- WTF devops? (lightning talk, japhy)
- WTF this meetup? (discussion)
- Achieving Fully Automated Provisioning (whitepaper review and discussion, japhy, sauce: http://blog.controltier.com/2009/04/new-whitepaper-achieving-fully.html and http://dev2ops.org/blog/2009/11/2/6-months-in-fully-automated-provisioning-revisited.html)


text:
Winning against all odds
Just Bearing
Sing to determine the "will" of "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name":
Pujari Pralaya I AM THAT I AM
What? Sri Ranganatha.
Ray, email@example.com, became MI-6 Chief, by righteous conquest. A corrupt internet, backdoored at the core, shall be replaced. By Letters Patent, Queen Elizabeth the Second, made him, by the grace of YHVH, His Majesty. Queen Elizabeth the Second is very much alive.
Ray, firstname.lastname@example.com, MI-6 Chief, C, Joint Intelligence Chief, c/o Global Isles Court of Record, Windsor Castle, London.
Manage ChangeIn times when sudden and unexpected changes are occurring on a daily basis, Rayservers is driving that change toward both the common and individual good. Trade with confidenceClosing a large contract? As every significant player world wide knows, deals fail when bank transfers fail. We participate in a settlement platform can ensure that payments and contracts happen without rude interruption from Caesar. Common Law, cryptography, a voluntary Gold Standard, functional programming languages, network encryption and global secure communication are essential to liberty, security and property rights. We help ensure the Rule of Law without distinction of people and nations. Are you satisfied with your Government, Bank, Lawyer and Accountant?Let us also not forget to ask if you are happy with your Internet Service Provider, your mobile phone company, your computer, your email system and your Travel Service Assistant (TSA)? We have our own encrypted voice, data, payments and mobile network. We decided to get happierWelcome to Rayservers, where every product, service, solution we offer was created because we needed it. We have a special for small business Entrepreneurs! The right tools for the jobWe pride ourselves in using the right tools for the job and using the Keep It Simple principle. Our application server can integrate modules written in any language – Lisp, Haskell, C, Java, Perl, Python, PHP included, and access data on servers running different operating systems. More... Rayservers serveWe The People, Entrepreneurs, networked groups & via affiliate packages and White Labels. We are proud to host the best London map.
Making newsWe operate on the understanding that privacy, protection of private property and freedom of speech is pivotal to companies that wish to thrive. Our blog features inspiration, breaking news from the forefront of law and money, as well as technical notes.
SSL/IMAP/POP email, PGP, VPN, SIP, Voice over IP, privacy, secure chat, private conferences, Encryption, AES, all platforms, secure messaging, robust, scalable, responsible support, multiple servers, logs, autonomous access, ASN, BGP, tier1 bandwidth, co-location, hosting, systems, toughbook, equipment, cloud, custom, mobile, Common Law, Gold Standard. |
Internet for this generationAt Rayservers we understand trade. Your net real property rules. We want you to make money today, make money in the long term and keep the money you make. Real money, not the money created or stolen by Caesar. "Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God" even as Father Benedict XVI preached in his Christmas message of 2012. We want you to enjoy privacy and zero spam email because without privacy you will not protect your liberty and thus protect your money and your life. Global secure communication is our raison d'être. Our software and network consulting will identify exactly where financial and network security related vulnerabilities exist. In the initial conversations and as part of our service, we can provide clear reason as justification for every design choice. We can assist with your choices regarding technology, jurisdiction, incorporation and payment systems. More... Global secure communicationNetwork Layer Privacy - get real world protection you can trust using encrypted tunnels also known as a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for voice and data that results in a private internet that is outside the reach of warrantless spying. Learn more about what is a VPN? ...
With this system, all internet traffic is protected and you have the option to secure your wireless networks to extend coverage.
We are proud to host the Global Isles Court of Record. We believe that Common Law and a voluntary Gold Standard shall prevail. The Court shall establish integrity, trust in the word, certainty in contracts and the Rule of Law. |
The founders of Rayservers are at the forefront of practical Common Law and a deliverable, voluntary Gold Standard that is reclaiming the liberties that spread the English civilization to the ends of the Earth.
We have created Truledger and Loom and an advanced multi-os distributed agent application web server for programmable markets. Our vision is one of a peer-to-peer internet that cannot be disrupted.
Probability markets that harvest the natural arbitrages that occur in the fulfillment of contracts will create efficiencies never before seen in trade.
Imagine all that power to your elbow - and of course the ones you talk to.Why Rayservers
Rayservers is an Internet presence provider, specialized in Geographically Redundant Networks, load balanced and multi- homed architecture. We routinely design sophisticated network architecture to optimize data safety and lower operational cost. Sensitive data alone can be placed on redundant encrypted servers in different jurisdictions.
Rayservers provides architecture needs assessment and custom consulting services to businesses wanting to leverage the latest technology.
Contact us to learn how our technology can be used to harvest arbitrage opportunities in probability markets!
Connections, Connections, Connections !
The kinjō tennō 今上天皇, The Shinto 神道, LORD God shinto 神道 WHAT? Idomoo 挑む kamisama 神様 bun 文
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 6:5 And thou shalt 💕love💕 the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 神道.
The King James Bible : The Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy.
The Court of Record has defeated the Church, the Roman Curia and the State. All the world's black magicians, Jesuits, Doctors of Evil, Superweapons, Navies, Armies, Rapists, Voodoo and whatnot.


text:
The T.C. Williams Titans officially opened their 2011-12 campaign with a solid win Saturday night, but questions about the team's identity remain.
The Titans bowled past the Wakefield Warriors for a 69-58 victory in the annual Parker-Gray game inside the Gerry Bertier Gymnasium, at times showing the fast-paced, aggressive style of play made famous by the squads of previous years
But ask coach Julian King or any of his players and they'll describe it as an ugly victory.
"It was a bad win," King said. "We didn't play the right way … We were lucky to come out with a win."
A hallmark of last year's 24-6 team — lackadaisical starts —was on display Saturday night. Though T.C. went up early, they let the Warriors hang around and even take the lead for a few short minutes in the second quarter.
The Titans pulled away and enjoyed a 39-22 lead at halftime, but the Warriors came storming back late in the fourth quarter. Had a few shots gone wide, the Titans would have walked off Earl Lloyd Court with their first defeat of the season, King said.
How well this iteration of the Titans will fare remains debatable. Just three players returned from last year's celebrated squad, which enjoyed a deep playoff run before L.C. Byrd knocked them out of the state championship tournament in the semifinal game.
King expects seniors Daquan Kerman, a point guard, and T.J. Huggins, a small forward, to lead the largely inexperienced team, but the duo was noticeably quiet during the season-opening matchup. Teammate Jordan Byrd provided the night's standout offensive performance with 17 points before the end of the third quarter.
Even he was displeased with the team's performance. They've got to back to the drawing board, particularly when it comes to their defensive play, the senior shooting guard said.
"I'm not happy with the intensity," Byrd said. "Toward the end [Wakefield] came back; they shouldn't have come back. We've got to play through four full quarters."
If King was unhappy with the majority of his squad, he had kind words for Byrd. The 6-foot-1 senior rose to the occasion, he said.
"He had a pretty good night," King said. "He played very well. He had a couple of clutch baskets and took charge."
When Byrd wasn't stealing the show, the Titans' bench availed themselves as well. Newcomer Malik Smith, a freshman point guard, made his presence felt despite his youth and short stature.
But early concerns about leadership and experience have proven well founded. T.C. will need more explosive play from Kerman and Huggins in the coming weeks as they try to break the Titans reputation of slow starts.
"This is the way we've started every year, we're slow getting out of the gate," King said. "It's scary. You know these guys can play better."
T.C. looks to polish their play against South County on Thursday before welcoming Edison to Alexandria for a Friday night matchup.


text:
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text:
Hispanic American are an increasingly important consumer demographic to woo. That's according to a new study from the market research firm Nielsen. The report says that most of today's Latinas are the primary decision makers when it comes to household spending.
But marketing to them is a real challenge, as NPR's Shereen Marisol Meraji reports.
SHEREEN MARISOL MERAJI, BYLINE: Welcome to the home of the contemporary Latina consumer.
PAMELA MARIA WRIGHT: Hi.
MERAJI: Hi. How are you?
Good. How are you?
WRIGHT: Good. I'm Pamela.
MERAJI: I'm Shereen, nice to meet you.
Meet Pamela Maria Wright. She has kids - Nico and Rita. She's bilingual and hopes they will be too.
WRIGHT: (Foreign language spoken)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: (Foreign language spoken)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: (Foreign language spoken)
WRIGHT: (Foreign language spoken)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: (Foreign language spoken)
WRIGHT: (Foreign language spoken)
MERAJI: She has a masters degree, is a working professional, and tech savvy.
WRIGHT: You know, we all have smartphones, I have an iPhone, I have an iMac, MacBook Pro.
MERAJI: But still, very traditional and family oriented. As if on cue, her dad makes a surprise visit.
WRIGHT: Oh, hi, this is my dad, how much more Latino can you get? Hi, daddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Hey, mamma.
WRIGHT: How are you?
MERAJI: She consumes her media in English - and some in Spanish. She also buys groceries bi-culturally. Whole foods, for...
WRIGHT: My organic milk and my Greek yogurt and kale.
MERAJI: And the Mexican family-owned grocery chain Northgate Gonzales for...
WRIGHT: (Foreign language spoken) That you definitely can't find in an American store.
MONICA GIL: So Latinas are definitely relating to two identities. I see it as they have two sets of instruments to pick from.
MERAJI: Monica Gil is the author of Nielsen's report on the modern Latina consumer. She says if brands want to stay relevant, they need to get to know this ambi-cultural shopper.
GIL: When Latinas choose to be more Latina or more American, and under what circumstances, what influences her and her purchasing behaviors.
MERAJI: The Latina consumer is younger, a growing demographic, and they're making the financial decisions in their households. Eight-six percent of the Latinas Nielsen surveyed said they were taking the lead on money matters including big purchases like cars and homes.
So, how are marketers wooing this valuable consumer? I asked one.
VERENA SISA: Verena Sisa, Chief strategy officer for Conill Advertising.
MERAJI: Conill specializes in marketing to the Hispanic consumer and has been doing it since the late '60s. But, Sisa says it's a challenge to advertise to the modern Latina. She's on different media platforms, in two languages. She's traditional in some ways, cutting edge in others. And you still have to deal with cultural differences based on region. Is her background Mexican, Salvadoran, Puerto Rican?
SISA: She has become the most fragmented consumer out there.
MERAJI: Sisa says its important to find commonalities when marketing to this fragmented Latina consumer and motherhood is a great place to start. One of the ways she sways more Latina and less American is when it comes to raising kids. Passing down Spanish and cultural traditions becomes a priority.
SISA: And one of the core elements of culture is music.
MERAJI: Sisa says her client Pampers threw a concert last year for expectant Latinas and their kids in Miami.
THALIA: (Foreign language spoken)
MERAJI: Latin Pop star Thalia hosted the event and stressed the importance of passing down Latino culture to the next generation. And the concert was promoted on the Pampers Latino Facebook page as a part of its Mi Musica, Mi Herencia ad campaign. That's my music, my heritage.
MERAJI: An orchestra played Latin American children's songs like this one, "Los pollitos dicen Pio pio" to a crowd of babies, toddlers and pregnant moms.
Over the top? Sure, but Verena Sisa says this kind of marketing works. Slapping a mariachi band or chips and salsa in an ad, says Sisa, doesn't.
MERAJI: Shereen Marisol Meraji, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Today's Names to Know: NBA, Joe Torre, Kevin Garnett, Brett Favre to Greg Jennings, Tony Romo, Kellen Clemens, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Joe Girardi, Alex Rodriguez, Trinity-Millsaps video and More!
Torre reportedly to be hired by Dodgers (and taking Mattingly with him): Now THIS is a big "F-You" to the Yankees and a huge splash for relevancy by the Dodgers (who could use some). What a way to steal the spotlight from the Yankees' own managerial search.
New NBA Season Starts Today: Lots of intrigue. How will the Celtics' "Big Three" do? Is this the Suns' year to finally break through to a West title? How good can Kevin Durant be right out of the box? Where (if anywhere) will
That's all in play as the season tips off tonight. I'm picking the Spurs over the Celtics in the Finals (though if I had my choice, I'd much rather see the Suns than the Spurs in the Finals, given last years Finals debacle).
So if the Question of the Season is: How will the Celtics do with their new "Big Three" lineup, my answer is: Matching the hype.
I think they'll finish with one of the best records in the East and, more importantly, win the East title behind league MVP Kevin Garnett. (How has his name not come up more often as a candidate? I see this as a slam-dunk.)
Here are the rest of my picks (* = Div Champ):
East: 1. Wiz* 2. Celtics* 3. Bulls* 4. Pistons
5. Cavs 6. Raps 7. Heat 8. Bucks
East Finals: Celtics over Wizards
West: 1. Suns* 2. Spurs* 3. Mavs 4. Nuggets*
5. Jazz 6. Warriors 7. Rockets 8. Blazers
West Finals: Spurs over Suns
(I congratulate Chris Sheridan on picking the Wizards to be No. 2 in the East, going against the grain of virtually all of his colleagues, including John Hollinger, who picked the Wizards to finish 13th. Before the injuries last year, they would have finished with the best record in the East and probably won the conference title. Everyone has to stay healthy, but with a better bench, they're a better team. Meanwhile, looking over my playoff picks after a few more cups of coffee, I think I'm overlooking the Nets -- who have their own Big Three, plus a return-from-injury for Krstic -- and the Magic, who only have the best young big in the East. In the West, I will re-evaluate the Lakers if/when they do a Kobe deal, and if I had to pick a Warriors-style freak, it's the Grizzlies.)
Here's another look at my Awards Predictions:
MVP: Kevin Garnett (2nd: Gilbert Arenas)
Rookie: Kevin Durant (2nd: Al Thornton)
Coach: Doc Rivers (2nd: Eddie Jordan)
Fantasy Breakout: Al Jefferson
MNF: Favre to
First of all, if it wasn't for the Pats, Favre and the Packers would be the NFL's most incredible story in years.
Second: Wow,
Tony Romo signs 6-year, $67 million extension with the Cowboys, including $30 million in guaranteed money. Not bad for an undrafted QB out of
I love this debate over the Pats' sportsmanship or "classlessness" in the wake of their path of destruction this season, most notably this past weekend against the Redskins.
I say: Hell, as long as you're trying to break the spirit of the league (as Belichick seems intent on doing), you almost have to pour it on. But then there's this meme, highlighted at PFT (and kind of started by KSK a few weeks ago with their "Brady Bounty") and elsewhere, including the normally genteel Michael Wilbon, who all but demanded it:
At what point will a frustrated opponent, frustrated that Brady is in the game late in a blowout, simply KO the QB with a shot to the knees? (Cripes, talk about sportsmanship; how about taking your beatings like an adult?)
The Pats have every right in the world to continue marauding through the NFL, but they would be crazy not to expect blowback from a rogue opposing player.
First of all, I'm not sure
Second, Arenas is the most entertaining player in the NBA (factoring in on- and off-court entertainment). That's not worth giving up.
World Series Hangover: The resounding meme among fans and analysts seems to be that the Red Sox didn't just win their second title in four years, but have the foundation to continue to win championships through the rest of the decade and beyond. "New Yankees?" Only if "New Yankees" means "championship dynasty."
Will Joe Girardi join the Yankees? I presume so. How long will he last? Let's set the over-under at Halloween 2008.
Where will Alex Rodriguez end up? I have been saying the Angels for a while, but how about... the Yankees?
MLB Trade: SS Edgar Renteria goes to the Tigers from the Braves.
Jets to start Kellen Clemens at QB: The Chad Pennington Era is effectively over.
CFB: Here's a great story on the student play-by-play announcer who called that wild Trinity-Millsaps D-3 finish this weekend, the best play of the year in college football (and perhaps sports). This is an inelegant analogy, but this was college football's "J-Mac" moment.
BTW: This week's Deadspin column.