text:
Bedrock Divorce Advisors
My Forbes.com Articles
- What A Divorcing Woman Needs To Know About Her Husband's Cash-Based Business
- Seven Key Points Divorcing Women Need To Know About Real Estate And Real Estate Appraisals
- Small World, Big Problem: Divorces Involving Dual Citizenship
- Five Best Financial Tips for Women Divorcing in 2013
- Financial Strategies for Divorcing A Narcissist
- Domestic Violence: The Awareness We Overlook
- Three Types of Financial Mistakes Divorcing Women Make (And How to Avoid Them)
- What Are the Consequences Of Hiding Assets During Divorce?
- Four Reasons Why A Woman Needs A Vocational Expert On Her Divorce Team
- Divorcing Women, Especially Those in Abusive Relationships, Benefit From Learning How to Secure Their Financial Futures
- How To Handle Difficult To Divide Assets
- Seven Must-Do Steps For Women Who Want Financial Stability Post-Divorce
- Can a Trust Protect My Assets in Divorce?
- Divorcing Women: Here's What You Need to Know About ATROs
- My Best Financial Advice for the Bride-to-Be
- What Would Monica Geller Say About Courteney Cox's Divorce Strategy?
- How Divorcing Women Should Handle Retirement Accounts and Pension Plans
- Three of the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Health Insurance, Life Insurance and Social Security After Divorce
- How Some Men Are Upending Domestic Violence Laws to Scam an Advantage in Divorce
- The Five Key Points Divorcing Women Need to Know About Financial Affidavits
- Divorce Is Final, No Do-Overs Allowed
- The Four Divorce Alternatives
- How "Conflicting Out" Top Divorce Attorneys Can Impact Your Divorce
- Why Women Who Are Organized Often Do Better in Divorce
- 21 Signs That Your Husband May Be Hiding Marital Assets During Your Divorce
- Divorcing Women: Here's Where Husbands Typically Hide Assets
- Tax Tips for Women Going Through Divorce
- Three Key Steps to Help a Woman Protect Her Finances When Leaving an Abusive Marriage
- Divorcing Women: Don't Make These Five Costly Mistakes
- Why a Lifestyle Analysis Is So Critically Important For Divorcing Women
- The Six Personal Traits That Help Women Successfully Survive Divorce
- Why Do Successful Women Fall Victim to the Oscar Love Curse?
- Who Pays for College Tuition? Top Factors for Divorcing Women to Consider
- Alimony Reforms Continue to Create More Uncertainty for Divorcing Women
- Legal Separation or Divorce: Which is Better Financially?
- How Can a Divorcing Woman Get the Child Support, Alimony She is Owed?
- End-of-the-Year Checklist for Divorcing Women
- Seven Key Things Women Need to Know About the Tax Implications of Alimony Payments
- Five Steps a Woman Can Take to Help Her Family-Run Business Survive Divorce
- What is an Alimony Trust and Why NBA Ex-Wives Might Wish They Had One
- Study Shows Divorced Women Have Less Economic Security Than Women Who Stay Married
- Five Financial Lessons Women Can Learn from the Demi and Ashton Break-up Rumors
- How the Valuation Dates of Different Assets Are Decided During Divorce
- Why Divorcing Women Need to Pay Careful Attention to the Date of Separation
- Divorce Advice For Physically And Financially Abused Women
- Warning: Don't Let Friends, Family or Non-Divorce Professionals Give You Divorce Advice
- What a Volatile Stock Market May Mean for a Woman's Divorce Settlement Agreement
- Why Even Happily Married Women Should Meet with a Divorce Financial Advisor
- Divorcing Women Need to Answer These Key Questions Before Deciding to Keep The House
- Don't Let Your Ex-Husband Inherit Your 401(k)
- Six Must-Do Financial Steps for Women Facing Divorce
- In Many States, Alimony Reform Has Gone Too Far
- Five Ways To Tell If Your Husband Is Hiding Assets
- Financial Tips for Women Facing Grey Divorce
- Can You Get a Divorce Do-over?
- June Brides, Are You Ready for Divorce?
- Upfront Lump Sum Payment or Alimony? Why Some NFL Ex-Wives Are Now Smiling
- Does Maria Shriver Have A Prenup? Why Did Arnold Put His Movie Career On Hold?
- Even Affluent Women May No Longer Be Eligible For Credit Cards
- The Big Thing Celebrities Fight Most About When They Divorce - And Why You Should, Too
- Should You Disinherit Your Husband?
- Divorce-Proof Your Business, Even If You're Still Single Or Happily Married!
- Understanding How Assets Get Divided in Divorce
- Welcome to Divorce Dollars and Sense
My HuffPost Divorce Articles
- 9 Critical Steps Women Should Take To Prepare For Divorce
- Can I Take Money Out Of My 401K During My Divorce?
- Divorce Finance Books: 7 Recommendations
- Five Retirement Issues You Need to Resolve During Your Divorce
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: Buy-Sell Agreements
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: Creating A Trust
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: The Basics
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: The ESOP Or Property Settlement
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: The Prenup
- Is Your Husband Hiding Assets?
- Seven Steps to Protect Your Assets When Leaving an Abusive Marriage
- The Five Most Common Financial Mistakes Women Make After They Divorce
- The Top 6 Serious Financial Mistakes Women Make During Their Divorce
Recent Comments
- Three financial mistakes divorcing women make & avoiding them | Sue Atkins on Do You Live in a Community Property State or an Equitable Distribution State?
- Three financial mistakes divorcing women make & avoiding them | Sue Atkins on The Difference Between Separate and Marital Property
- Three financial mistakes divorcing women make & avoiding them | Sue Atkins on How is Debt Divided in Divorce?
- Pros And Cons Of Keeping A Secret Fund In Case You Divorce - Forbes on The Difference Between Separate and Marital Property
- Pros And Cons Of Keeping A Secret Fund In Case You Divorce - Forbes on How to Find a Divorce Attorney, Divorce Financial Planner and Other Members of Your Divorce Team
Posts Tagged 'shared debt'
How is Debt Divided in Divorce?
Everyone seems to understand that divorce involves the division of marital property and assets.
However, over the years, I have found that many people fail to fully appreciate that divorce involves the division of debt, as well.
Ironically, debt is typically cited as one of the top reasons couples split up. But, getting divorced doesn't make those troublesome debt problems "magically" disappear. In fact, it's exactly the opposite. Just as debt can often play a major role in the failure of a marriage, it can also play a major role in adding stress and contention to divorce proceedings.
What can you do minimize nasty debt headaches during your divorce? My best advice is to be prepared. Educate yourself about debt, in a broad sense. Then, gather all the relevant data about your specific case. You'll want to collect credit card bills, information from your mortgage/home equity/auto loan accounts, etc. and learn all you can about what you and your spouse owe.
In addition, here are a few tips to help you better understand how to handle dividing debt in your divorce:
1. Where you live impacts how debt will be divided. Divorce laws differ from state to state, and how your debt will be divided depends largely on where you live and whether you live in a Community Property State or an Equitable Distribution State.
There are nine Community Property States: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Couples living in Alaska can "opt in" for community property, and Puerto Rico is a community property jurisdiction.
The remaining 41 states are known as Equitable Distribution States (or Common Law States).
(An earlier post discusses the differences between Community Property States and Equitable Distribution States in more detail.)
In general terms, if you live in an Equitable Distribution State, debt that's incurred during a marriage is the joint responsibility of both parties, provided both parties are co-signers on the account (mortgage, credit card, etc.). In other words, if your husband opened a credit card account in his name only, then only he is responsible for that debt.
In Community Property States, both spouses are responsible, even if only one incurred the debt.
Of course, once you and your husband have separated, the rules change. Any debt incurred after you separate is the sole responsibility of the person who made the charges. The wrinkle here is that "the moment of separation" varies from state to state. In some states, you need to legally declare a separation. In others, a legal separation is not required; you're separated once you start living apart.
2. It's often best to eliminate shared debt. Our firm usually advises women to eliminate shared debt before the divorce is final. Naturally, that may mean you need to use marital assets to jointly pay off what you owe –but, usually that's a worthwhile step, if it means you can begin your single life with a fresh start. Alternatively, some couples decide to divide and transfer their debts, so that each person is individually responsible only for his or her portion.
Either way, the goal is to separate your finances (and any remaining debt) from your husband's finances (and any of his remaining debt). As a result, you'll remove your liability for what he owes.
If possible, you'll also want to close joint credit cards and eliminate your husband as an authorized used on any credit cards in your name. Remember: Credit card companies and other third party agents are not bound by divorce agreements. It may sound harsh, but if your names are both on a credit card account, the credit card company can hold you responsible if your ex rings up a balance and then decides not to pay.
One word of caution here: New federal regulations are making it harder than ever for women with little or no income to establish credit on their own. You'll need to proceed with caution as you set out to establish credit in your own name . . . Which brings up my third point . . .
3. Protect your credit. Once you have: a) established control of your own debt and b) separated your liability from your husband's debt, it's time to turn the page and begin a new chapter. You'll need to establish credit in your own name –and then, once that credit is established, you'll need to work hard to protect it. Start slowly and proceed with caution, keeping a careful watch on credit card balances, debit and ATM cards, etc.
A good first step should be to create a budget that will allow you to maintain your lifestyle, pay off any remaining debt and increase your savings. A divorce financial planner can help you determine how to manage your assets and which adjustments are necessary for continued financial stability.
All articles/blog posts are for informational purposes only, and do not constitute legal advice. If you require legal advice, retain a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author, who is not an attorney.
Think Financially, Not Emotionally® is a registered trademark of Bedrock Divorce Advisors™, LLC. Terms | Privacy Policy


text:
Or that you need to lay off the break room donuts.)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Question Mark Is In Case You're Just Getting Fat
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Or that you need to lay off the break room donuts.)
69 comments | Post a Comment
- Jules AF said...
This is funny? I like this? I'm going to end every sentence in a question today?
- January 26, 2011 at 9:30 AM
- Danger Boy said...
Awesome? This is obviously a wrecker who asked the wrong question of the wrong lady at some point?
- January 26, 2011 at 9:34 AM
Perhaps the wreckerator (or the order placer) suspects that the baby is not welcome.
- January 26, 2011 at 9:38 AM
- January 26, 2011 at 9:39 AM
- PippaD said...
And if only they hadn't done it in blue.
- January 26, 2011 at 9:42 AM
This made my day. I'm 25 weeks pregnant and still getting sideways glances from people who aren't quite sure: preggo, or just likes the cake a bit too much?
- January 26, 2011 at 9:59 AM
- Classic Steve said...
My guess is that the order was made orally with a meaningless inflection.
WV: ingthik -- The wreckerator was be-ingthik at the time. - January 26, 2011 at 10:02 AM
When I found out I was pregnant? A really long time ago? I was, like, a little conflicted? I wasn't sure it was, like, good timing for my husband and me? So maybe I would have liked this cake.
PS It was the best thing that ever happened to us! - January 26, 2011 at 10:03 AM
Is the question mark implying the possibility she is having something other than a baby? An alien? Puppy? Maybe there are some in her office that do not undersand the phrase "bun in the oven."
- January 26, 2011 at 10:03 AM
- KittyKat said...
Going out on a limb here... maybe the parent(s) to be haven't decided on a name yet, so for now, the baby is "Baby ?"
Although usually, people will then call the baby "Baby Lastname" instead of wrecking a whole cake over it. - January 26, 2011 at 10:06 AM
- Dianne said...
I like how the wreckerators made a real attempt to have coordinating blue icing. Also, you can just FEEL the enthusiasm ooozing from the tiny congrats on the very bottom edge of the cake. They must be super excited for the baby...or maybe they didn't want to get too excited because they are unsure if she's pregnant or just fat.
- January 26, 2011 at 10:06 AM
At the other end of the spectrum, a friend of mine gave birth in July and two months later someone asked her when she was due.
Normie - January 26, 2011 at 10:10 AM
- Mary Connealy said...
Maybe it's for after the baby is born and ... the kid is soooo homely.... that they're PRETTY SURE it's a baby.
Welcome Baby?
Welcome Fido?
Welcome Cheeta? - January 26, 2011 at 10:21 AM
- eniko76 said...
Yeah, that bi old Congrats at the bottom looks really heartfelt! :p
- January 26, 2011 at 10:30 AM
HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
- January 26, 2011 at 10:50 AM
- Loo-E Loo-I said...
I can only hope, upon seeing that cake, she responded with "Gee. Thanks?"
I wonder if this was an instance similar to the "Will Call Back" cake. Perhaps someone was supposed to get back with the decorator with the baby's name, but never did.
Or, what could be lost in translation is the sex of the baby. If the mom chose to not find out if she was having a boy or girl, perhaps her coworkers put the "?" for that reason?
wv: gimile (gimme leh): I don't care what it says, just gimile piece of cake! - January 26, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Well, maybe it's not a question mark. Perhaps it's just a really curvy exclamation mark. And, how big is that cake? How small is that writing? And why stick "congrats" all the way at the bottom of the cake, where the sky blue writing and dark blue border go together SO well?
-B - January 26, 2011 at 11:02 AM
- Adorably Dead said...
Mayhaps they're just unsure it is an actual human child gestating inside, it could be an alien hibernating until it finally escapes via the chest cavity.
- January 26, 2011 at 11:03 AM
If the icing weren't blue (and that could have been an unthinking and meaningless coincidence -- we ARE talking wreckerators here), I'd guess it was supposed to be "Welcome Baby ?" indicating ambivalence over boy-v-girl. The lame little "congrats" really is the finishing touch.
- January 26, 2011 at 11:05 AM
Maybe "?" is the baby's name, like when Prince changed his name to that weird symbol.
wv: "fularoct" - Well, it's better than being full of sh...never mind. - January 26, 2011 at 11:10 AM
- TisforTonya said...
awesome! always best to cover your bases.
- January 26, 2011 at 11:17 AM
I like this? I also like how they added in tiny letters Congrats....like oh yeah and that too? hahahaha?
Kim - January 26, 2011 at 11:17 AM
Email to Bakery:
Need a cake at noon. Could you write on it "Welcome Baby"?
And down at the bottom "Congrats".
(So you can see, it could have been worse ... as in "under neat".) - January 26, 2011 at 11:18 AM
If it weren't for the turquoise gel lettering, it would be a nice cake--boring, but tastefully done.
And the person who did the lettering tried. Did you notice the tail on the Y makes another question mark? And it's spelled correctly. And--and this is the big one--it's not shaped like a baby. - January 26, 2011 at 12:00 PM
- Chennette said...
my 5-year old niece recently learned about question marks and wanted to write it at the end of every sentence. She thought that was more exciting. Perhaps the wreckerator left school at 5.
- January 26, 2011 at 12:03 PM
I'm guessing this is a baby shower cake for parents who know the baby is a boy, but haven't decided on a name yet.
The wreckerator would have gotten the idea across better if s/he put the question mark below the word baby.
? - January 26, 2011 at 12:15 PM
If only the wreckerator had borrowed a space from the abundant supply elsewhere on the cake, it would simply mean that the baby's name was undetermined as of cake time.
Of course, a simple 'Welcome, Baby' would have sufficed (also works for a new hire at a really friendly company that doesn't mind those pesky harassment suits). Note that the standard absence of a comma simply adds to the passivity / ambiguity.
Speaking of passivity, the 'congrats' almost buried by the border (which was likely specified) tends either to favor the bet-hedging theory or brands the orderer as really snarky. Or both.
The daisies are a nice touch, though. - January 26, 2011 at 12:42 PM
- Stoich91 said...
Haha...yesh, sirs. What we have here is a fine specimen of either:
A-What a politically correct culture has brainwashed innocent people with (yet really, the rule of thumb with "asking a woman if she's pregnant" is "DON'T")
B-Yet another sad, sad crime regarding the abuse of punctuation.
Take your pick! ;D
Thanks for the laughs! Cake Wrecks ROCKS! - January 26, 2011 at 12:48 PM
Maybe the person that wrote on the cake really really does not like babies and could not be bothered to come up with excitement like whoever ordered the cake lol. I know if I still worked at the store bakery I'd do something like that haha
- January 26, 2011 at 12:57 PM
I'm with MarliO - could be that they're not sure the baby is welcome.
"So, um, is she planning to give this kid up for adoption? Keep it? Marry the father?"
"I dunno -- better have the decorator put a question mark after "Welcome baby. We just want an excuse to eat cake."
WV- promins.
:::singing::: Oh promins me that someday you and I, will take our cake together to some sky . . . - January 26, 2011 at 12:59 PM
Oops! Messed up the quotes in my previous comment -- should have been:
"I dunno -- better have the decorator put a question mark after 'Welcome baby.' We just want an excuse to eat cake."
Just want to reassure this very punctuation-aware group that I do know better! :) - January 26, 2011 at 1:07 PM
- Arlene said...
Okay, I've got it??
So, this guy's girlfriend has been "needing some space." And she finally decides she'll meet him for dinner at his place. Sooo... he calls the cake place and tells his whole long winded sob story and wants a bunch of stuff on the cake. Well, the soft hearted wreckorator to be tries to simplify his needs and just writes "Welcome baby?" as in he's welcoming her back to his life? And the teeny tiny completely undersized "congrats" at the bottom of the cake is from the wreckorator.
*crickets chirping*
or not.
I could just be a very quickly put together "Grooms cake." - January 26, 2011 at 1:38 PM
It might kittens. It could always be kittens.
Congrats either way, of course. - January 26, 2011 at 1:41 PM
- CourtneyP said...
Or is the question mark a snarky way of saying your baby is less than cute? "Welcome baby? ... or ... wolverine?"
- January 26, 2011 at 1:57 PM
- KP said...
Maybe the cake writer was not entirely at fault... maybe the person ordering the cake was Australian with an incurable rising inflection?
Nah! - January 26, 2011 at 2:00 PM
Could be a phone order, and the person said "write 'welcome baby', then put an exclamation point after it"-- and the wreckerator didn't know a "!" from "?"
Or Tricia L's suggestion.
Or the wreckerator messed up the "not sure of the baby's name" part of the message.
But the minimal congratulations is a bit troubling. Perhaps the wreckerator didn't know how to spell "congratulations" and kept it at "congrats" to hide that-- and then hid that, too, so that it wasn't as obvious that they didn't write out the full word?
However, it is a nicely decorated cake with attractive writing! At least "Baby?" is being welcomed neatly and tastily :) - January 26, 2011 at 2:10 PM
For the mommy who doesn't acknowledge her pregnancy?
I was looking at some shameful indulgence of a tabloid website the other day, and saw this said of Isla Fisher's baby, born mid-2010 and whose name has yet not been announced... that makes me feel kind of happy, actually, that nosy entertainment reporters couldn't seem to dig up any info. about the matter! - January 26, 2011 at 2:23 PM
I have to add a thought - altho someone may have said this already, I just ran out of time to read ALL of the comments. Anywho, based on the quality of the borders and icing (even tho it is a little on the boring side) I am guessing that some co-worker bought an undecorated cake and a tube o' gel to write on it with. So maybe the wreckerator is really the customer, not the cake artist. I'm hoping, anyway. *sigh*
- January 26, 2011 at 2:40 PM
It was probably a phone order where the person ordering said "i guess it should say something like 'welcome baby'?". I particularly like the congrats squeezed in at the bottom like a whispered P.S. :)
- January 26, 2011 at 2:41 PM
Welcome undiagnosed mass?
- January 26, 2011 at 2:42 PM
- Jaclyn said...
This makes me smile? Not only is today my firstborn's third birthday, but I'm also 36 weeks pregnant? Definitely pregnant, not fat?
- January 26, 2011 at 2:43 PM
Welcome Baby? I guess?
- January 26, 2011 at 2:44 PM
On the other hand, I'm only seven weeks pregnant, and I'm all like, OH, CHECK OUT HOW BIG MY BELLY IS GETTING (now that I'm not wearing Spanx all the time). It's liberating!
I'm guessing this wreck is because they didn't know what the baby's name would be (my sister was nameless for almost a week), but... yeah, a last initial would've worked, too. - January 26, 2011 at 2:47 PM
At least it wasn't "Welcome" Baby?
- January 26, 2011 at 2:55 PM
- Reed said...
Sometimes I think people make cakes just to get on this blog. This is one of those cakes.
- January 26, 2011 at 3:11 PM
- Kathy M. said...
I know, I know? I totally got the question mark covered? The parents have different last names, and haven't picked a name for the little squid yet?! Either they're not married, or neither opted to change their name?
This does not have any affect on that odd Congrats? - January 26, 2011 at 3:26 PM
- furpurrson said...
We should be lucky the wreckerator didn't actually write "Baby Lastname"! - January 26, 2011 at 3:33 PM
- Meghan said...
I heard every single "question" (including the cake) in the voice of Alyson Hannigan from American Pie. You know, the Band Camp girl. That would explain the wreck, if the person who ordered it talked like her.
- January 26, 2011 at 3:57 PM
Congratulations to Jaclyn and PD! I hope you and your babies are given beautiful, "Sunday Sweets" worthy cakes.
- January 26, 2011 at 4:04 PM
- Micalah said...
That is so funny? You could only find one cake?
- January 26, 2011 at 4:36 PM
- Lady Bright said...
~~Di? - January 26, 2011 at 4:53 PM
- Moon Bloom said...
Maybe they aren't sure if they really want to welcome the baby??
- January 26, 2011 at 5:09 PM
All the wonderfully snarky comments here just gave me an idea... maybe the cake wasn't for the prospective mother but the father! And they're not sure if it's HIS baby
Or it's just a lesson on the perils of upspeak.
This game of "guess the reason" is rather fun :) - January 26, 2011 at 6:01 PM
Maybe....this is not her first baby they have had to buy cake and gifts for? Maybe....this is for an octomom? Kind of like the girl I know who has been married 5 times, after the first three you wanted to say "you're kidding, right?" instead of "oh, congrats (soft sigh and under breath,,,again?" Love your blog! You make me laugh!
- January 26, 2011 at 7:44 PM
- snuzzle said...
The one place where quotation marks would have been useful, nay needed... and they didn't use them! Punctuation is your friend, because there is a world of difference between:
Welcome, baby?
Welcome, baby "?"!
I assume they meant the latter, in other words, "Welcome to your yet-to-be-named baby!" - January 26, 2011 at 8:07 PM
- Isolder74 said...
It's not a tumor!........or is it?
I guess someone must have been stuffing the turkey a little too much.
*wink wink nudge nudge*
A cake made for the movie Alien.
Nah, just a wreck! - January 26, 2011 at 8:11 PM
Boy, talk about an insult? Can you believe someone paid for this? Or that it was even requested in the first place?
- January 26, 2011 at 10:11 PM
- tori aka ggs_closet said...
I'm going to do a birthday cake like that?
- January 26, 2011 at 10:53 PM
I just went back and re-read everything with "and this one time, at band camp!!" FTW
-Barbara Anne - January 26, 2011 at 11:36 PM
- Gemma said...
so cute?
- January 26, 2011 at 11:58 PM
- news for oracle-sql-plus said...
This made my day. ^^
- January 27, 2011 at 1:26 AM
Maybe they couldn't figure out the sex of the baby? Or are they just insane to be selling a cake like this? Or was the blue gel writing not enough to give away the sex of the child? Lol!
- January 27, 2011 at 1:51 AM
I can only guess the number of question mark comments that will undoubtedly ensue.
- January 27, 2011 at 3:02 AM
- Chocolatier said...
Not counting the credits, the title is longer than the post. I love that. :)
- January 27, 2011 at 7:28 AM
I like the "congrats" - sort of as a just in case...but not really...ok sort of.
- January 27, 2011 at 10:21 AM
Awesome! I have a friend who likes to say that the only time you should ask a woman if she's pregnant is if a baby is actually coming out of her.
WV: faityl, which is a good word for mistakenly asking a woman if she is pregnant. - January 27, 2011 at 10:49 AM
This is the result of when you get woke up from a deep sleep to hear your best friend sobbing into the telephone, "It said I'm pregnant! It said I'm pregnant! BRING ME SOME CAKE!" So you swing by the grocery store in an attempt to cheer her up...
- January 27, 2011 at 5:19 PM
maybe they didn't know what sex it would be
boy or girl
or what kind of baby it was...0.0 - January 30, 2011 at 6:16 PM
- Ruthie said...
Decorated by a Valley girl or an Aussie?
- January 31, 2011 at 4:43 AM
Search This Blog
Wreck the Halls
NEW! Pre-Order Today!
Barnes & Noble
Borders |
Buy the Book
Buy the NYT Bestseller
What's a Wreck?
What's a Wreck?
A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.
Now, don't you have a photo you want to send me? ;)
- Fan Faves
- The Classics
The Classics
Praise for the Book
- "Will have you laughing so hard you'll forget to eat!"— Washington Post
- "a hilarious winner" — The Oregonian
- "a fantastically gut-busting book"— NPR
- "It's all here, each wreck a disaster of hilarity." — BookPage.com
- "Hysterically funny!"— Epinions.com
- "laugh-out-loud funny"— The Times
- "Yates' sharp humor makes the funny even funnier." — The Dallas Morning News
- "an amazing laugh-out-loud book"— The Book Triblog
What the fans are saying
- "I was laughing so hard, I couldn't catch my breath."
- "As funny as the blog that started it."
- "WAY better than I expected!"
- "Cake Wreckery at its best!"
- "Wrecktastic!"
- American Mensa:Top 50 Websites of 2010
- Amazon: Top 10 gift books of 2009
- The Orlando Sentinal "Orbbies": Winner Humor
- 2009 BlogLuxe Awards: Funniest Blog
- 2009 Bloggies: Best Writing of a Weblog, Best New Weblog, Best Food Blog
- The 2008 Weblog Awards: Best Food Blog
- Blogger's Choice 2008 Awards: Best Humor Blog
Where's the book?
We don't have any copies of Cake Wrecks for sale here, autographed or otherwise. We decided the shipping and handling costs would be too high to make it worth your while. So instead, buy your copies locally or online and then order personalized bookplates: it's cheaper, easier, and I think even looks a bit nicer.
Ordering Info
Payments must be made through Paypal, which accepts all major credit cards. Sorry, but that means no checks or MOs or barter-based chickens.
We ship everything first class USPS, and will do our best to have your package in the mail within 2 days of your order.
Popular This Month
Popular This Month
- Oh My Stars!
- Sunday Sweets: So Stinkin' Cute
- "Surprise!"
- Mailbag!
- The Question Mark Is In Case You're Just Getting Fat
- Well Met, Helmet
- D-Scripted
- Sunday Sweets: Fun Wedding Cakes
- Stairway to Heaven
- A Day In The Life
- Sick as a Dog
- Spelling Be
- Easy, Cheesy, "Beautiful"
- Sunday Sweets: Pretty As A Princess
- Hats Off For Hats
- Boom, Boom, Acka Lacka Lacka Boom!
- The Cake Wrecks Phenomenon
- Project Wreckway
- Move Over, Lunchables
- Sunday Sweets: Must-See TV
- Cheat Sheet Cakes
- MMMMMMM&m's
- Directionally Challenged
- Resolution Time
- The Cake Wrecks Hangover Cure
- Sunday Sweets: Baby Cakes

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It had been far too long since I had last had a good mushroom dish and I had been craving them. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to combine the mushrooms that I was craving with the new whole wheat crepe recipe that I wanted to try. I kept the mushroom mixture pretty simple using some of my favorite flavours. I decided to use shiitake and cremini mushrooms to form the base of the dish and I wanted something green so I added spinach. Thyme goes really well with mushrooms and it became the primary herb of the dish. I had some goat cheese left over and I thought that would be a great addition and I decided to go with a balsamic syrup garnish to round out the flavours. The mushroom and spinach crepes were a bit of work to put together as you have to juggle cooking the mushrooms, making the crepes and reducing the balsamic vinegar at the same time. In the end they turned out well! The mushrooms were of course great and the goat cheese added a really nice creaminess and the balsamic syrup cut through it nicely. Overall I really enjoyed both the meal and the whole wheat crepes.
Mushroom and Spinach Crepes with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Drizzle
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion (sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 8 ounces mushrooms (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon thyme (chopped)
- 4 ounces spinach
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 whole wheat crepes (or crepes)
- 1/4 cup goat cheese (crumbled)
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the onion and saute until just starting to caramelize, about 5-9 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the butter and let it melt.
- Add the mushrooms and thyme and season with salt and pepper and saute until they start to caramelize.
- Add the sherry and deglaze the pan.
- Add the spinach and saute until it wilts.
- Reduce the balsamic vinegar to a syrup like consistency in a small sauce pan.
- Place some of the mushroom and spinach mixture into a crepe followed by some goat cheese and balsamic syrup drizzle and fold.
Asparagus Crepes with Mushroom Dill Sauce
Mushroom and Goat Cheese Strudel with Balsamic Syrup
Wild Mushrooms Sauteed in Butter, Sherry and Lemon
Ham, Egg and Gruyere Crepes with Maple Syrup
Asparagus and Mushroom Galette with Bacon, Goat Cheese and Balsamic Reduction
Mushroom Quesadillas with Chipotle Crema
Roast Asparagus and Mushroom Chicken Spinach Salad with Bacon, Avocado and Goat Cheese


text:
Celebrating Over 50 Years Since 1964
Consult Our Executive Chef Minimum Event Size: 40 Weekdays/75-100 Weekends
Catering Services for Whitmore Lake, MI
Par Excellence
Delightful, Delectable, Delicious and ExperiencedThank you for your interest in our full service catering services.
Gary's Catering has carried on a tradition of culinary excellence and superlative service in Southeast Michigan and the Whitmore Lake, MI area for over fifty years.
We provide fine dining for clients who demand the best in food and customer service
no matter the location!
private, wedding catering, in-home, outdoors, BBQ, graduation, corporate-office catering, or reception setting in Whitmore Lake.
Among enticing appetizer buffets, delicious and affordable dinner buffets and delectable dessert tables, you'll discover an impressive variety of offerings to perfectly suite your event needs.
Chef Joseph Less utilizes only the freshest, finest ingredients in his food creations.
Gary's Catering is proud to help support our Michigan economy by featuring Michigan based ingredients whenever possible.
Gary's was the caterer for this elegant, sophisticated wedding at the Belle Isle Casino in Detroit, Michigan. Creative concepts in catering are our company specialty that you'd expect that for special weddings, corporate events, conferences, graduation parties, barbecues, picnics, outdoor parties - elegant to casual catered events of all types.
Private wedding catering planning and consultation services are tailored to suite your budget. Treat your guests to our extraordinary wedding menu and our event planners and chefs can help you build a menu that your guests will truly remember with a smile. Also catering specialists in bridal shower catering, baby shower catering.
The ultimate in BBQ corporate catering, this video illustrates our creative concepts in affordable, yet upscale catering for all occasions. Corporate BBQ catering, business BBQ catering, barbecue/picnic catering, outdoor upscale buffet. Event equipment and tables and chairs rentals avaliable, DJ services, impersonators, magicians, bands, and entertainers available. Upscale lavatory trailers are available with porcelain sinks and hardwood floors for your home or remote location.
Please let us know how we can assist you in creating a very memorable
event for all those fortunate enough to attend.
Private Party Catering, Wedding Catering, Outdoor Receptions, BBQ and Cocktail Party Catering, Graduations, Birthday Parties, Banquet Centers, Corporate Sponsored Events in Whitmore Lake, MI
Gary's Catering is host to over 700 events annually and have catered thousands of events over our forty-five year history. View these pages for catering ideas on: Wedding Receptions and Rehearsals, Cocktail Receptions, Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies, Christmas/Holiday Party Catering, Theme Events,
Corporate Meetings and Luncheons, and Outdoor BBQ Catering
Upon review of our gourmet or casual food offerings, we invite you to visit our facility and speak with our local event planners. At that time, we can discuss your event or party in greater detail and give you the opportunity to browse through our beautifully arranged color portfolio, review our stellar references, and provide a written proposal for you.
We're the caterer that can transform your event location in the Whitmore Lake area into a "Showplace", with our professional and courteous staff handling all necessary arrangements to ensure that you and your guests will enjoy the festivities in a carefree setting, dining on fine cuisine.
Corporate clients, please contact our office to arrange a suitable time for Chef Less to visit your office or facility to explore all Gary's Catering can offer your company for your corporate parties and events. Options include: food and beverage service, bartending, equipment rental, dj service, live bands/music, photography, printing, and transportation services.
Our Catering Service Goals Are Simple
To communicate effectively with our customers.
To bring exceptional planning, expertise, as well
as superior catering to any event. Whether our
customers are hosting an intimate home backyard
affair or a huge gala, they can count on Gary's Catering
to arrange an event that is unmatched
in quality, style, value, and service.
Our professional staff is committed to assisting you in selecting a location, designing your menu and book well-chosen entertainment based upon your catering budget, desires and needs.


text:
Cory Booker is a Yale-educated lawyer and erstwhile tweeter who, as mayor of Newark, N.J., displayed a knack for grabbing headlines while building a mixed legacy as the troubled city's leader.
He's also black, and Thursday at noon the 44-year-old Democrat was sworn in as a U.S. senator, making Congress's upper chamber just a tiny bit more diverse in more ways than one.
Booker, who on Oct. 16 was elected as New Jersey's first black senator, will join Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina as the chamber's only black senators.
Scott, a former congressman, was appointed to temporarily fill retired Sen. Jim DeMint's unexpired term and is running in 2014 for the right to serve out the term's final two years.
The last elected black senator? That would be Barack Obama of Illinois, back in 2004. Obama and Booker form half of an elite group: Only four African-Americans have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate and served. Five, including Scott, were appointed.
As Booker starts his Senate career we thought we'd take a quick dive into the demographics of our Congress. We have drawn on the detailed work the Congressional Research Service does profiling each successive Congress — including the current 113th.
Booker Will Help Lower Average Age
In her analysis of the 113th, Jennifer Manning of the CRS reported that the average age of members "is among the highest of any Congress in recent U.S. history."
That means Booker, born in 1969, will bring a dash of youthful diversity to the Senate, where the average age is 62. He replaces the man who had been the oldest serving senator — New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg, who died in June at 89.
But the average age is going down. Manning reports that the average for senators elected in 2012 was 53, down from 57.1 in 2008.
The U.S. House is younger, but not by much: The average current age is 57; the average age of those elected last year was 49.2 years.
Lautenberg Was Old, But Not Oldest Ever
The oldest senator in U.S. history was Strom Thurmond, the South Carolina senator who was 99 years old when he stepped down in January 2003. Thurmond, who died six months later at age 100, was also the longest-serving senator, chalking up nearly a half century.
The distinction of being the dean of senators, age-wise, now goes to Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California, who is 80. The youngest? Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., who was born in 1973.
The oldest House member is Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, who was born in 1923; the youngest is Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., who was born 50 years later.
Booker Makes History, But Ethnic Diversity Is House Story
With Booker sworn in, joining fellow New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the Garden State becomes the first in the nation to have an African-American and Hispanic serving in the U.S. Senate at the same time.
A milestone, to be sure.
Booker also joins Obama, and former senators Carol Moseley Braun, an Illinois Democrat, and Edward William Brooke, a Massachusetts Republican, as the nation's only elected black senators.
But Senate diversity remains more a tale of women than ethnicity. There are 20 female senators, 16 Democrats and four Republicans.
The real diversity story is playing out on the Democratic side of the aisle in the U.S. House. There, Manning of the CRS reports, women and minority representatives are a caucus majority.
Eighty-two women serve in the House, 62 of them Democrats, and 20 Republicans. CRS reports that there are 43 black House members, including two delegates, all Democrats; and 34 Hispanic/Latino members, including a delegate and Puerto Rican resident commissioner, of which 27 are Democrats. Twelve House Democrats are Asian or Pacific Islanders.
Women, Predominantly Democrats, Set Record
Jeanette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to the U.S House, back in 1917. It's worth noting that it wasn't until 1920 that the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote — and that was a year after Rankin's term ended, reports R. Eric Peterson, a specialist in American government at CRS.
Over on the Senate side, the first woman to serve was Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia, appointed in 1922 after the death of her senator husband.
The House, Peterson reports, was 95 percent male until the 102nd Congress of 1991-1992. In the succeeding decade, the percentage of women in both the House and the Senate grew at its historically highest rate, he says.
Booker's Law Background: Not So Groundbreaking
In his analysis of congresses dating back to 1945, Peterson found that law was consistently the most commonly reported occupation or professional background of U.S. senators.
"Lawyers have occupied between one-third and half of Senate seats in each Congress studied since 1945," he reported, with the peak in 1971-1973 of more than half.
Business and banking were reported as the second most common occupations among senators since 1945.
House members reported much more diverse occupational backgrounds, though law was the most commonly cited over time, Peterson found.
Booker worked as a staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center in Newark, but quickly jumped into his political career, winning a seat on the city council in 1998.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
The Faisselle Experiments – Part Two…And Three
Allright, so let's start this off the right way before I lose my mind. We all gathered today and read all your suggestions for a name for the dessert in the previous post and it was not easy making a decision…ya'll are good!! But….the overall favorite was "Transatlantic" from Miss Lillas who said "Salted butter caramel from Normandy, American chocolate brownie. An elegant bringing together our 2 continents"….So Miss, please send me your mailing address so I can send this wonderful book your way! Congratulations!
A couple of weeks ago I took a long trip down memory and you were so kind to indulge me and read about my attempt to recreate a fresh cheese that my dad loves. The outcome was not "faisselle" like I remembered but something closer to fresh ricotta. The desire to recreate this unique product came from a conversation I was having with expat friend Aran from Cannelle Et Vanille after our first foray into re-creating desserts from our childhood and cultural heritage. She had a hankering for mamia and so did B. and I after we had a most delicious one on a trip back home at L'Ami Jean, a Basque restaurant in Paris. We started talking about making it right before she left on vacation so in the meantime that got me thinking about trying my hand at "faisselle" and when she came back we both agreed that it would be more logical and more fun to give you two experiments instead of one. Fast forward to last week, when my favorite Basque experimented with mamia and I with faisselle.
Much like her first batch of mamia, my first batch of faisselle for this post did not turn out as I hope for. After the batch I made last month, I decided to take away the added yogurt and to get straight for heating the milk, adding the rennet and letting it sit, until nice floppy large chunks of curd form and separate from the whey. Well, I got zippo zippeedee zip….I got liquid and tiny curds which once drained gave me about 1 cup of ricotta. For one gallon of milk you can expect that it did not cut it. I did not use raw milk this time and I don't think it was the local homogenized whole milk I used…nope…just could not put my finger on it. In one email she mentioned she was trying another batch of mamia adding cream and dry milk and I went back to the drawing board with mine. Then I had the "genius"(self sarcasm) idea to call my dad and have him read the ingredients on a jar of store bought faisselle…Guess what?….Yep, added cream and dry milk, a little ratio working and I was back in !
I heated the milk again, added the dry milk, cream and rennet. Let it sit for a couple of hour and the result was exactly what it was supposed to be: large floppy and soft curds slowly separating from the whey. The first spoonful made me think I was definitely on the right track but it needed to develop a little character and an overnight stay in the fridge fixed that. Traditionally, faisselles are drained in molds set in larger containers so that the whey pooling at the bottom keep the cheese moist. I just drained the cheese with a large slotted spoon and scooped the cheese in containers. It did continue to render a lot of whey but I was too happy to have succeeded to be bothered!! The texture is soft but firm enough to separate into curds as you dig your spoon in it and the flavor is really not comparable to any dairy found here, neither sour nor tart.
My dad likes his with chopped fresh chives and fresh cracked pepper, which I have come to like, but I also love it on the sweet side. I served some with some lemon thyme lemon curd and some with chopped pistachios, redcurrants and maple syrup. Deborah from Bonbon Oiseau sent me a bottle of a local Vermont maple syrup producer and it arrived the day I was finishing the faisselle. My bottle of "maple crack" as she refers to it could not have come at a better time! Thank you! I played around with the remaining faisselle and used in some other pastry applications. It's been a busy couple of weeks so I have not come around to sift through those pictures or even put them in a proper post yet…soon though.
1 quart whole milk ( 4 cups – 946ml)
1/2 cup heavy cream (118ml)
1/4 cup dry milk powder (60 gr)
8 drops liquid rennet
In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, heavy cream and milk powder and bring the mixture to 120F over medium heat. Let cool to room temperature and add the rennet. Stir once with a wooden spoon, transfer to a clean bowl (porcelain, glass or plastic), cover with a clean kitchen towel and let sit undisturbed for 2 to 4 hours. Place in the refrigerator and let sit overnight to develop more taste. Drain and used as desired the next day.
Lemon Thyme Lemon Curd:
3 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 ml) lemon juice
1 Tb freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon thyme
1/4 cup (60gr) granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (55 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
In a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon thyme, lmeon zest and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 160F. Remove from the heat and strain the mixture over a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Cover with some plastic wrap directly in contact with the curd to prevent a skin from forming. You can refrigerate it for up to a week. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
Note: I used liquid vegetarian rennet that I found at the health food store near me, but you can also find it here.


text:
Someone sent me a link to this via Facebook and after spending some time addressing it, I thought I'd post it here. It's another long (though not insanely long) post, but it addresses the "questions" of a popular apologist that is often cited in e-mails from Christians.
Zacharias' original text is in black and my responses are in red.
Many times, as Christian theists, we find ourselves on the defensive against the critiques and questions of atheists. Here, then are six key questions you can ask of atheists as you engage them in honest conversation about the trajectory of this worldview:
First, we need to clarify that atheism isn't a worldview. There are no tenets, dogma or edicts because atheism isn't an "ism"…it's simply the label we use to identify a position on a single question; do you believe a god exists? If the answer is yes, you're a theist, if not, you're an atheist.
Atheism can be the result of a worldview and it is certainly consistent with a number of secular philosophical worldviews, so for the sake of this discussion I'll address the questions without quibbling over that detail but it's essential to point out that there's an underlying misconception that tends to encourage theists to frame their questions in a way that doesn't really make sense.
1. If there is no God, "the big questions" remain unanswered, so how do we answer the following questions: Where did everything come from, and why is there something rather than nothing? Why is there conscious, intelligent life on this planet, and is there any meaning to this life? Does human history lead anywhere, or is it all in vain since death is merely the end? How do you come to understand good and evil, right and wrong without a transcendent signifier? If these concepts are merely social constructions, or human opinions, where do we look to determine what is good or bad, right or wrong? If you are content within an atheistic worldview, what circumstances would serve to make you open to other answers?
The entire paragraph is an implied argument that if we haven't yet explained the big questions (without making an appeal to the god hypothesis) that we're then justified in accepting that a god exists. This is a thinly-veiled argument from ignorance, a classic logical fallacy.
In addition to that problem, the god hypothesis has no explanatory power. Explanations increase our understanding and we tend to explain things in terms of other things that we already understand.
Attempting to 'answer' the big question by appealing to the supernatural doesn't accomplish this because it's an attempt to solve a mystery by appealing to another mystery. That's not an explanation; it's a gap-filler. It doesn't solve a mystery; it obscures it in an attempt to assuage our discomfort with the unknown.
How do we answer the big questions? The same way we'd answer any other question. First, we acknowledge that we don't have an explanation and then we investigate until we do. The time to believe a proposed explanation is after it has been supported by argument and evidence - and not a moment before. Explanations are supported by evidence; they're not supported by a failure to come up with a better response.
In the end, this question isn't an implied argument for the existence of god; it's an implied argument for belief as a means of placating curiosity and xenophobia. Accepting a pacifying non-answer retards progress toward discovering the real answer.
2. If we reject the existence of God, we are left with a crisis of meaning, so why don't we see more atheists taking their worldview more seriously like Jean Paul Sartre, or Friedrich Nietzsche, or Michel Foucault? These three atheists recognized that in the absence of God, there was no transcendent meaning beyond one's own self-interests, pleasures, or tastes. The experience of atheistic meaninglessness is recorded in Sartre's book Nausea. Without God, these three thinkers, among others, show us a world of just stuff, thrown out into space and time, going nowhere, meaning nothing.
The implication in this question is that if there is no transcendent, ultimate, externally imposed meaning that there can be no meaning. That's a bit of an equivocation fallacy – conflating "meaning" and "transcendent meaning" and then spinning it into "atheistic meaninglessness".
I have no crisis of meaning. A secular worldview doesn't result in meaninglessness. My life has whatever meaning I attribute to it, and this would be true whether a god existed or not. Value is the result of desire and while he'd like to dismiss our "selfish interests, pleasures, or tastes" as negatives, that's not the case. Our selfish interests can result in benefit or harm, all with respect to the things we value. He dismisses the very foundations of meaning in order to claim there is no meaning… that doesn't sound like the "honest conversation" I'm looking for.
The broader, implied argument is that one should believe in a god because it'll prevent you from feeling as though your life has no meaning. This is not an argument for the existence of a god; it's an argument for belief which has no dependency on the object of that belief being true. It's like arguing that one should believe that they're holding a winning lottery ticket if it makes them happy.
The problem, of course, is that our beliefs inform our actions and our actions have consequences for ourselves and others. The person who sincerely believes that they hold a winning lottery ticket may well take actions that prove devastating when they discover they actually don't have a winning ticket.
3. If people don't believe in God, the historical results are horrific, so how do we deal with the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot who saw religion as the problem and worked to eradicate it? Countless millions lost their lives under these godless regimes, regimes more influenced by Nietzsche's concept of the ubermensch (superman) than they were by transcendent morality.
Once again, we have an implied argument that has nothing to do with the actual existence of god but rather on the purported benefits of believing that a god exists; if people stop believing in gods, bad things will happen, so don't stop believing.
The assertion that atheism leads to horrifying atrocities is simply not true. It's a vile, slanderous charge, rooted in ignorance and deception that isn't the slightest bit softened by Zacharias' stylish, questioning form.
In the case of the examples given, atheism is neither necessary nor sufficient to be identified as the cause of the actions taken. In truth, the atrocities were the result of belief systems which, while consistent with atheism, are not caused by atheism. You simply cannot draw a causal chain from "I do not believe a god exists" to "I'm going to destroy religious organizations and religious people" without an additional belief and it is that belief that would be the cause of the atrocities.
To claim otherwise is to claim that atheism necessarily leads to horrifying acts (which is what he's trying to do) and there are millions of secular people who testify to the false nature of that assertion every single day.
Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot took actions based on beliefs that are akin to religions. They were powerful zealots of socio-political ideologies and a belief that the opposition must be eliminated. To claim that those beliefs were caused by atheism is as much a non sequitur as claiming that they were caused by a stomach ache.
Hitler, on the other hand, gave conflicting reports about his beliefs. He publicly and privately identified as a Catholic, yet there's also testimony that he was anti-religious or anti-Christian at times. If he had done great work, I suspect that the Christians would claim that he was opposed to organized religion, but a devoted, personal believer. Because of the atrocities he committed, they take a different tact, labeling him an atheist.
We can no more know Hitler's true beliefs about the existence of gods than we can know the mind of any other. What we can know, though, is that even if he was an atheist, that wasn't the cause of the actions he took. As Zacharias points out, it was the ideology of the Übermensch (among other beliefs) that encouraged those actions.
While that ideology is consistent with atheism (everything except for a belief in a god is consistent with atheism) it is not caused by atheism nor is it necessarily connected with atheism. It is not, though, consistent with modern secular humanism.
4. If there is no God, the problems of evil and suffering are in no way solved, so where is the hope of redemption, or meaning for those who suffer? Suffering is just as tragic, if not more so, without God because there is no hope of it being rendered meaningful or transcendent, redemptive or redeemable, since no interventions in this life or reparations in an afterlife are possible. It might be true that there is no God to blame now, but neither is there a God to reach out to for strength, transcendent meaning, or comfort. There is only madness and confusion in the face of suffering and evil.
His claim is that suffering is just as tragic, if not more so, if there is no God. This is another roundabout way of saying, "Hey, you might as well believe, you'll be no worse off" another argument for belief with no ties to the truth of the proposition one is being asked to believe. It reminds me a bit of the people who try to claim that atheism is "just another religion" without realizing the implication of what they've just said.
I disagree with his assessment, though, that suffering is just as or more tragic if there is no god.
If there isn't a god, then suffering isn't the result of original sin or impious thoughts and it isn't a test from God or a torment from demons and devils. If there is no god, then suffering is a natural part of reality and that means that we can equip ourselves to alleviate unnecessary suffering by learning more about reality. We can also take comfort in knowing that the unavoidable is actually unavoidable and not punishment.
If there is no god, then those who blame natural disasters on immodest women, abortionists, homosexuals and atheists are simply arrogant bigots and not the voice of a deity. That's no small comfort and, since we're talking about the impact of suffering, that's a valid point.
We do not require a god for comfort, we can reach out to other people and we can reach within, to the confidence and security that is bolstered by the understanding that one is not simply a plaything of a transcendent being.
5. If there is no God, we lose the very standard by which we critique religions and religious people, so whose opinion matters most? Whose voice will be heard? Whose tastes or preferences will be honored? In the long run, human tastes and opinions have no more weight than we give them, and who are we to give them meaning anyway? Who is to say that lying, or cheating or adultery or child molestation are wrong really wrong? Where do those standards come from? Sure, our societies might make these things "illegal" and impose penalties or consequences for things that are not socially acceptable, but human cultures have at various times legally or socially disapproved of everything from believing in God to believing the world revolves around the sun; from slavery, to interracial marriage, from polygamy to monogamy. Human taste, opinion law and culture are hardly dependable arbiters of Truth.
This is simply false. The standard by which I critique religion and religious people is not contingent upon the existence of a god. This is a thinly-veiled claim of "no moral authority" and it's a bit like saying that a room full of people can have no opinions or shared principles without someone outside the room telling them what those views should be.
Secular morality is superior to religious morality in every regard, save one; religious morality is simplistic. Secular morality requires thought and effort, religious morality is for the lazy and the thoughtless those who would be duped into thinking that something becomes 'right' or 'wrong' for them, simply because of an edict attributed to some other being.
Religious people already intuitively recognize the superiority of secular morality and they've been adopting the moral views of the secular societies that surround them.
The Bible, for example, clearly and explicitly endorses slavery. For those who believe that the Bible is the ultimate source of moral law from the ultimate lawgiver, there is no moral justification for opposing slavery yet that's exactly what some of them did and what most of them continue to do. Nowhere does the Bible denounce slavery, it's supported in Old and New Testaments; so why do Christians generally oppose slavery?
It's because we live in a cooperative society which helps form and shift our values. While dogmatists were blindly proclaiming their god's endorsement of slavery, freethinking people (religious and non-religious) were actually considering the subject and evaluating its impact on the health of society.
It was the application of reason that changed the moral landscape, not the God of the Bible.
6. If there is no God, we don't make sense, so how do we explain human longings and desire for the transcendent? How do we even explain human questions for meaning and purpose, or inner thoughts like, why I am so unfulfilled or empty? Why do I hunger for the spiritual? How do we deal with these questions if nothing can exist beyond the material world? Atheists, particularly atheistic scientists go way beyond their scientific training when they depart from the "how" questions to prognosticating about the "why" questions. Even terms like "natural selection" seems a misuse of words, since only an intelligent being can assess options and choose. How do we get laws out of luck, or predictable processes out of brute chance? If all that makes us different from animals is learning and altruism, why do the brutish still widely outnumber the wise in our world?
He's basically arguing that his desire for the transcendent can only be explained in a case where the transcendent exists. This is an obvious fallacy. If there are no aliens, why do people long for alien encounters? Does their desire only make sense if aliens are beaming messages to their brains?
More importantly, I have no longing for the transcendent and no hunger for the spiritual. If Ravi's desire is sufficient to support the existence of the supernatural, then is my lack of desire sufficient to refute a claim of existence?
Finally, there are no "how" questions or "why" questions you can form the questions either way:
Why is the sky blue? How does the sky appear blue? What makes the sky appear blue? Where does the blue in the sky come from? When…well, maybe we can't use every interrogative.
What he means by "why" would be better labeled "for what transcendent reason…", but if he says that, he exposes a flaw that we can expose with another "why" question: Why do you think there must be a transcendent reason?
His answer to that question is obvious. He thinks there must be a transcendent reason because he can't imagine that there couldn't be and wouldn't want to live in a world where there wasn't a transcendent reason… yet another argument for belief or against the consequences of disbelief, with no bearing on the truth of the issue.
His claim that "natural selection" misuses words is a bit obtuse when you realize that the term is a metaphoric response to unsupported claims of supernatural mechanisms. Only someone unfamiliar with evolution or willing to misrepresent it to make a point would claim that this is a misuse. Would he object to someone claiming that something was "decided by a coin toss" since only an intelligent being can "decide"?
In the end, this is really the same as the first question: if there is no God, "the big questions" remain unanswered…
I think "does some god exist" qualifies as one of the big questions. If Zacharias was as interested in examining the truth of his religious beliefs as he is in defending his belief with appeals to the fictitious consequences of disbelief, he might see that.
We'll have a hope of answering those big questions when curious thinkers, dissatisfied with appeals to mystery, question the claims of religion and investigate with any eye toward truth, rather than comfort.


text:
Milt Gross is a designer in the best sense of the word. He loves shapes and balance in their relations to each other.
But he's more than a designer. He's a cartoonist.
He particularly loves funny shapes and that's what makes him a cartoonist, rather than say - a fashion designer or a Dreamworks employee.Funny shapes are we cartoonists' most basic tool. Let us never forget this!
Milt communicates all his ideas, his every unique view of the human condition through the medium of funny shapes.
Each moment in his stories are funny even out of context, funny and beautiful.
Milt has talents over and above the average merely brilliant cartoonist. He sees the world through eyes unfogged by the dark spectacles of style and habit. He is able to see the world clearly with acute observation. He translates what he sees with his mastery of the uniqueness of every interesting detail.
Tangent: Mastering Yourself In Your Art
To elaborate a difficult concept: It is hard to be yourself when you are on stage, right? Is it hard for you to make a speech - even about a subject you talk about naturally every day? Why?Because you think there is a formal "correct" way to make a speech and it inhibits you. You can't be you. You imitate (badly) how you think newscasters or professional speech makers speak. Your unique personality - your humanity is lost to the audience and you are a robotic speech imitator. Stiff and unnatural.
You might know someone who has very charismatic or funny personalities. Maybe the life of the party. Maybe he or she has unique gestures and expressions that are really funny.
If you put this person on the spot and told him to "do that funny thing you do" to some new friends he can't do it. All of a sudden he tries to "act" and is no longer himself.
Many cartoonists have this problem with their pencils. We are so conditioned by the system to draw in whatever style we are brought up in or were trained in, that when we get the chance to express ourselves in drawings and animation we can't do it.
The style you draw in doesn't allow for the expressions you actually do in real life. Your pencil won't allow you to be yourself and thus the world is deprived of your unique take on the world. You draw "animation expressions" instead. The ones you have absorbed from years of watching your favorite cartoons. You make your characters move and flail their arms like animated characters do, very similar to the way motion capture actors act. Like how they think cartoons are supposed to move.
But not like true people move or act. And especially not like YOU move and act.
It takes a very special type of talent to be able to connect his humanity, his personality and his observations to his poor pencil. Especially these days.
I know this from direct experience of working with hundreds of artists.
I've had artists that were personally really funny and had unique gestures expressions and ways of moving. I'd tell one-put that in your drawings...and I'd get back a Nelvana or an 80s Disney drawing instead. He couldn't break out of how he had been conditioned, how he is supposed to draw things.
A small few uninhibited cartoonists are able to draw naturally and convey what amuses them about the world and from their pure imaginations. These are the cartoonists that generally, in today's environment, suffer the worst persecution from executives, bland directors, producers and model sheets.
Yet these are the people who can move the whole art forward and inspire everyone else. When they do get the chance they influence the next couple of generations.
Milt Gross is one of the most natural and unfettered cartoonists in history. He has no problem at all expressing himself, free of what is supposed to be the standard cartoon-style of the times.
While some less confident but hugely talented artists stop looking at the world and eventually get trapped in their own stylistic habits, Gross kept growing and evolving right till the end of his life.
End of important tangent.
now...Milt Gross knows that
Each head is Funny
now...Milt Gross knows that
Each head is Funny
He loves how funny different people are. He doesn't draw the same person over and over again with different hair styles. He doesn't even resort to a small handful of stock types. He constantly invents new designs-most likely because of how interested he is in how unique people are all around him.
ALL KINDS OF HUMANS ARE FUNNY -Master of crowds
The upper crust is always good material for comedy. Milt draws many unique examples of the general snooty type.
The Elemental Sausage
All real cartoonists know that the sausage is a perfect funny shape. Milt made a whole strip that takes place in a sausage shop. He fills it with every human type and countless individual variations of each. He balances their designs with the ultimate cartoon shape, the sausage.Look at the beautiful cat and fish shapes.
I could talk forever about many aspects of his work: the compositions, his encyclopedic knowledge of how things look, his background designs, his dialects and much more, but the most important thing we can get from Gross is his honest and sincere ability to connect his pencil with his outlook on life.
The moral of Milt Gross' cartoon style.
Be Inspired By Outlooks Rather Than Stealing Styles
Milt Gross has a strong style obviously and I'm sure he has many artistic influences, but he is no slave to them!
His style doesn't obscure his keen view of humanity and life.
What he sees in the world is his biggest influence, and that is the inspiration for his style.
He uses his style to convey not how he thinks a cartoon should be, but to make us see life in the unique and entertaining way he does.
special thanks to Marc Deckter for spending hard earned cash to unearth these babies!


text:
Update at 4:53 p.m. ET. U.S. Is Not 'Hacking':
NPR's Dina Temple-Raston tells us State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland made it clear that the United States is not "hacking" the websites that appeal to al-Qaida. Instead, they are "countering propaganda with a counter-narrative that we believe is closer to the truth of the situation."
In her All Things Considered report, Dina provides an example:
"A couple of weeks ago, a tribal website linked to al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen began an ad campaign of sorts.
"It linked to photographs of coffins draped with American flags and called on followers to kill more Americans.
"'We put up a counter post of coffins draped in Yemeni flags to indicate that it is Yemenis who are dying at the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists in Yemen,' Nuland said."
Note that because of this new information we have also changed the headline of this post.
Our Original Post Continues:
State Department specialists have replaced anti-American ads put on Yemeni websites by al-Qaida with postings that detail the "deadly impact of al-Qaida tactics on Yemenis themselves," Associated Press correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talked about the successful hacking of the terrorist network's online efforts during a conference Wednesday in Tampa that was attended by "hundreds of U.S. and international special operations commanders," Dozier adds.
Clinton told the group that because of the State Department's effort, "extremists are publicly venting their frustration and asking supporters not to believe everything they read on the Internet."
Evan Kohlmann, a consultant on terrorism issues who tracks such websites, tells The Washington Post that highlighting the deadly effects of al-Qaida's actions does do "a tremendous amount of damage" to the network's image, "recruitment campaigns and its effort to launch renewed attacks." But he has doubts about whether the websites that State has hacked reach a very wide audience.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Monday Night Football: Seahawks Beat Packers, 14-12, on Controversial Touchdown Pass
Russell Wilson threw a disputed 24-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate on the final play of the game, allowing the Seattle Seahawks to beat the Green Bay Packers, 14-12, in Seattle on Monday night. Seattle (2-1) registered the game-winning scoreonly after a long official review declined to overturn the touchdown ruling on the field. Several camera angles seemed to suggest that the play could have been ruled an interception by Green Bay (1-2).
Cedric Benson scored on a 1-yard run with 8:44 left to give the Packers their first lead of the game, 12-7. On the ensuing drive, Seattle marched 58 yards on 12 plays, but Wilson threw incomplete on a fourth-and-3 from the Green Bay 7-yard line. After the Packers took over on downs with 1:54 to play, Benson fumbled on a first-down run. Though Green Bay center Jeff Saturday recovered the fumble at the 2-yard-line, the Packers gained little ground and had to punt the ball back to the Seahawks from their end zone, setting up Seattle's game-winning drive with under a minute to play.
Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished with 223 yards passing. The Seahawks' defense sacked him eight times, including four by Chris Clemons. Wilson completed just 10 of 21 passes for Seattle, but his touchdown strikes of 41 and 24 yards to Tate accounted for all the Seahawks' points. Seattle's Marshawn Lynch carried 25 times for 98 yards.


text: All information is provided as a courtesy to those interested in natural stone products, concrete products and other related products. Scott Stone makes no warranties regarding the accuracy of the information. All information is from sources deemed reliable, but not guaranteed by Scott Stone, Inc. We urge independent verification of each and every item submitted to the satisfaction of those interested in these products. It is every potential client's sole responsibility to accomplish his or her due diligence in whatever manner he or she deems advisable.


text:
Home » Privacy Policy
CharacTell Privacy Policy, February 2016 This site is owned and operated by CharacTell Ltd. We respect your privacy and our goal is to maintain your trust when handling your personal information. This document is intended to inform you, the end user, about how we handle information we process on behalf of our clients who use our lead generation and online marketing services. The CharacTell Privacy Policy applies to CharacTell websites that link to this Policy. By using this Site you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy and you agree to adhere to the Terms and Conditions posted on the Site. If you do not agree with any terms, please do not use this Site or submit any personal information. This policy is effective as of February 2016. If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, you may email us at i[email protected]. Information We Collect Children's Privacy This Site is not directed to children under the age of thirteen and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of thirteen on the Site. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received personal information from a visitor under the age of thirteen on the Site, we will delete the information from our records. Personally Identifiable Information You may choose to provide personal information (such as your name, address, telephone number and email address) on this Site. Here are some of the ways you may provide the information and the types of information you may submit. (a) Contact Us If you email us through an email or Contact Us link on this Site, we ask you for information such as your name and email address in order to respond to your questions and comments. We will only use this information to respond to your inquiry, unless you authorize additional use of your information. (b) Subscriber Information We collect personally identifiable information about our Subscribers, [1] based on: information gathered at the time of registration, Subscriber interaction and response to subsequent electronic mailings and web site use, information provided by our Clients and information appended from data aggregators. Information collected may include name, email address, postal address, gender, birth date, telephone number, cell number, activities, interests, user behavior and other demographic information. This information enables us to better tailor our content to Subscribers' needs and to help our Clients promote and sell their products and services. Non-Personally Identifiable Information We collect certain aggregate and non-personally identifiable information, as described below, when you visit this Site. This information does not relate to a single identifiable visitor. It tells us such things as how many users visited our Site and the pages accessed. Log Files Like most Web site servers we use log files. To learn more about log files, click here. [2] Log file information is not linked to personally identifiable information. Web Beacons Pages on our Site may contain "web beacons" (also known as Internet tags, pixel tags and clear GIFs). Web beacons allow third parties to obtain information such as the IP address of the computer that downloaded the page on which the beacon appears, the URL of the page on which the beacon appears, the time the page containing the beacon was viewed, the type of browser used to view the page, and the information in cookies set by the third party. We use log files to store the data that is collected through web beacons. Use of Information By registering on this Site, you may receive telemarketing calls in response to your inquiry. If you provide your information, you express your consent to receive calls, emails or text messages from National Satellite Systems at the phone number provided, regarding National Satellite's products or services. The Company may use the User Information for any legally permissible purpose in Company's sole discretion. The following paragraphs in describe how the Company currently uses the User Information, but the Company may change or broaden its use at any time. As noted below, the Company may update this policy from time to time. The Company may make use of User Information for telemarketing, direct mail marketing, email advertising, targeted online banner advertising and package stuffers, among other possible uses. Targeted Advertising. Based on the User Information, the Company attempts to customize and target advertising to an individual. The Company may, at its discretion, target advertising in email and direct mail. Due to the infancy of this technology, users should not expect to see immediate changes in the types of targeted advertising they see. Email. The Company uses User Information to provide email marketing materials to users. The Company may maintain separate email lists for different purposes. If email recipients wish to end their email subscription from a particular list, they need to follow the instructions at the end of each email message to unsubscribe from the particular list. Direct Mail. The Company uses User Information to advertise, directly or indirectly to individuals using postal mail. Use of Cookies. The Company may use the Cookie Information (1) to match a user's Cookie Information to Survey Information, (2) to track an individual's web browsing habits, (3) to determine which areas of our sites are most frequently visited. This information helps the Company to better understand the online habits of users so that the Company can attempt to customize and target advertising and promotions to users. Profiles of Users. The Company uses User Information to make a profile of users of the site. A profile is created by associating the various sources of User Information. Storage of User Information. The Company stores the User Information in a database on secure computers. Our computers have security measures (such as a firewall) in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. But notwithstanding such measures, the Company cannot guarantee that its security measures will prevent the Company computers from being illegally accessed, and the data on them stolen or altered, and the Company assumes no responsibility for such actions. The company will store information for 24 months. You may request that your information be modified or deleted as detailed below. Please see the opt-out procedures below if you do not want us to share your information with other companies or organizations. Dissemination of User Information Sale or Transfer to Third Parties. The Company may sell or transfer User Information to third parties for the purposes of sending you offers of good or services via email, postal mail and telemarketing promotions. The Company will transfer User Information to third parties when necessary to provide a product or service that a user orders from such third party while using our sites. Legal Process. The Company may disclose User Information to respond to subpoenas, court orders and other legal processes. Summary Data. The Company may sell or transfer non-individualized information, such as summary or aggregated anonymous information about users of our web sites as a whole or as sub-groups of users. Other Circumstances We may share personal information about you: With our service providers and business partners who work on behalf of or with us under confidentiality agreements. These parties may use your personal information to help us communicate with you about offers from us and our Clients. These companies do not have any independent right to use or disclose your information. To respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process, or to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims. If we believe it is necessary in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or violations of our terms of use. In the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets. Should such a sale or transfer occur, we will use reasonable efforts to direct the transferee to use the personal information you have provided through this Site in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy. Opt-Out Policy You may exercise your option to not receive any future communications from us by clicking here. Subscribers should note that unsubscribing from this Site's electronic mailings will not automatically unsubscribe you from any communications you have elected to receive from our partners or other third parties. Please note that you may still receive information from third parties to whom we have disclosed your information to prior to the time you opted-out. You should contact each third party in the event that you no longer want to receive information from such party. You may request by telephone or in writing that National Satellite stop calling you and place your name on our company-specific Do Not Call list. To be added to our Do Not Call list, please call 617-965-1014, or contact us at: Privacy Officer CharacTell Ltd 34 Wessex Rd Newton, MA 02459 Global Data Processing and Safe Harbor Principles The information that we collect from you may be transferred to, stored at and processed at a destination outside of the U.S. By submitting your personal information, you agree to this transfer, storage and processing. Where the privacy laws of these countries are not as comprehensive as those in the US, we will take steps to ensure that your privacy rights are respected. In order to bridge the different privacy approaches between the U.S. and the European Union, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in consultation with the European Commission, developed a "Safe Harbor" framework. We adhere to the Safe Harbor framework which includes the privacy principles of Notice, Choice, Onward Transfer, Access and Accuracy, Security, and Oversight/Enforcement. We are currently seeking participation in the Safe Harbor program. To learn more about the Safe Harbor, click here. Privacy Complaints If you believe that we have not complied with this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: Privacy Officer CharacTell Ltd 34 Wessex Rd Newton, MA 02459 You may also email us as much detail as possible in the ways in which you believe that this Privacy Policy has not been complied with. We will investigate your complaint promptly. How to Access or Modify Your Information We strive to keep all personal information accurate and complete as best we can. You can change your personal information at any time and as often as necessary. You can also request that information be deleted. Information may be withheld or exempted from deletion if this is required by law or is part of a fraud investigation, or as otherwise as described above in the Use of Information section. You may access and modify your personal information by writing to us at: Privacy Officer CharacTell Ltd 34 Wessex Rd Newton, MA 02459 Special Notification for California Residents Individuals who reside in California and have provided their personal information may request information regarding disclosures of this information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. Such requests must be submitted to us at the following mailing address: Privacy Officer CharacTell Ltd 34 Wessex Rd Newton, MA 02459 This request may be made no more than once per calendar year. We reserve our right not to respond to requests submitted other than to the address specified above. Links to Other Sites We may provide links to other Web sites for your convenience and information. These sites may have their own privacy statements in place, which we recommend you review if you visit any linked Web sites. We are not responsible for the content of linked sites or any use of such sites. Security To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Although we take reasonable technological precautions to protect your data, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Changes to This Privacy Policy If we change this Privacy Policy, updates will be posted in this privacy statement and other places we deem appropriate. Information will be used in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected. If users' personally identifiable information will be used in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection, we will notify users via email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. [1] You are a subscriber if you choose to register to use any of the service we offer via the site or downloaded applications. [2] Log files include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. [3] What is a cookie? A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from a web site's computer and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each web site can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites. Many sites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to track online traffic flows. Cookies record information about your online preferences. Cookies let us know about repeat visitors and if we are delivering quality products and services to our Clients. We may also use cookies to identify which sites our repeat visitors are coming from, so that we can place more of our online advertising on these sites, and can, where necessary, pay our affiliates and other business partners. We may share this information with third parties, but only in aggregated, anonymous form, including reporting the results of advertising campaigns. Reporting and analyzing the performance of offers and advertisements improves our ability to serve the right offer at the right time, increasing the increasing the personalization of your experience on the Site. You can set your browser to accept all cookies, to notify you when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences. For further information on cookies please visit http://www.aboutcookies.org. Last Updated: February, 2016.
Looking for an OCR solution?
Reach out to us today and get advice and guidance on the perfect solution for your business


text:
ST3300655SS Seagate 300GB 15K 3.5 3G SAS HDD | NEW
Description:Seagate Cheetah 300GB 3.5-inch 3G Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Single Port Hot-Plug 15K 16MB Hard DrivePart Number(s)Manufacturer Part# ST3300655SS
Overview:Seagate Cheetah 15K.5 enterprise disc drive employs innovative perpendicular recording technology to set new standards for storage cost effectiveness. While doubling available capacity to 300GB the Cheetah 15K.5 also delivers 30 percent higher sequential performance. This enables enterprises to meet their throughput and capacity requirements with fewer drives significantly reducing total cost of ownership (TCO). Seagate designed the Cheetah 15K.5 for maximum reliability in demanding enterprise applications. This hard disc drive incorporates such Seagate-exclusive features as IRAW (Idle Read After Write) enhanced ECC (Error Correction Code) and BMS (Background Media Scan) to safeguard data integrity in the most rigorous environments.


text:
DOWN 20-6 IN the fourth quarter, Notre Dame was going to need some big plays and a little luck to stay undefeated and keep its national title hopes alive.
It got just enough of both.
Everett Golson scored on a quarterback sneak in the third overtime and the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish came back from a 14-point deficit Saturday to beat Pittsburgh 29-26.
"We overcame a lot tonight. We overcame some uncharacteristic mistakes," coach Brian Kelly said. "Last year that would have been a loss. But our team kept fighting, kept playing."
Notre Dame (9-0) is off to its best start since 1993, when it finished the season ranked No. 2. Pitt (4-5) missed a potential game-winning field goal in overtime.
Kelly pulled Golson late in the second quarter because he was missing reads and progressions. But the coach put Golson back in after backup Tommy Rees threw an interception and the Irish fell behind by two touchdowns.
"Our quarterback needed to be out there mobile, make some plays outside the pocket — asked him if he was ready to go, he said he was and we put him back in," Kelly said.
Golson threw an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter as Dame cut Pitt's lead to 20-12. Dame's chances for a comeback appeared to end when Pitt cornerback K'Waun Williams intercepted a pass by Golson in the end zone.
But the Irish defence held, and Golson completed a 45-yard pass to DaVaris Daniels at the Pitt 5. Golson then threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick and ran in for the two-point conversion to tie the game.
Kelly gave the game ball to Golson.
"I think I did a great job of leading the team coming down the stretch. Coming out today we came out a little flat. As far as me personally, I missed a couple reads I should have had. Instead of putting three points on the board you put six," Golson said. "But I feel like in the stretch we really came together."Notre Dame avoided the fate of the 2002 team, the last Irish team to start a season 8-0, which was upset by Boston College 14-7. But just barely. A victory seemed unlikely when they fell behind 20-6 late in the third quarter, again when Williams intercepted Golson's pass in the end zone and yet again when running back Cierre Wood fumbled as he attempted to dive into the end zone in the second overtime and Pitt safety Jarred Holley recovered.
But the Irish kept finding life, the last time when Kevin Harper missed a 33-yard field goal wide right following Wood's fumble.
"We missed a field goal, that's why we lost the game," Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri said. "It came down to a special teams play, we didn't make the play. Give credit to Notre Dame for being able to finish it off."
Golson was 23 of 42 passing for 227 yards and rushed for 74 yards as well, as he kept the Pitt defense off balance. The Irish needed his big plays to overcome a stellar performance from Pitt's Ray Graham, who rushing for 172 yards, including runs of 55 and 48 yards.
Graham continually ran through Notre Dame tackles and the Panthers opened a lead by taking advantage of Irish mistakes.
Graham, one of three Pitt players allowed to play despite facing misdemeanor charges, gave the Panthers a 10-6 lead when he ran past an attempted tackle by Notre Dame safety Matthias Farley and sprinted along the sideline for the score. It was just the second rushing touchdown allowed by the Irish defence this season.
The Panthers were hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 2007 Pitt team, which was 4-7 when it won 13-9 at No. 2 West Virginia on 1 December to knock the Mountaineers out of the national championship game. But this time they just couldn't find a way to hold on.
All five Notre Dame home games this season have been decided by a touchdown or less, while the four games away from Notre Dame have been decided by an average margin of 28 points.
Kelly had urged his team to play better at home, but they continued to make mistakes. He told the Irish they had to play better against Boston College, Wake Forest and Southern California."I told them that they have to understand that everybody they play against will play their absolute best. Next week BC will play out of their minds against us. Wake Forest will. They can't just highlight certain teams on their schedule because they will play their best," he said. "I think that's a lesson learned."
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o said he was just relieved the Irish won.
"It was ugly at times, beautiful at times. It's college football," he said. "I'm just glad the outcome was the way it was."
YouTube credit: G4SportsNews