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The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgWeb or Farm Journal Media. The opinions expressed below are the author's own.
The Grain Hedge Team provides a macro-focused daily view of the world's grain markets. Kevin McNew received a bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State University and his master's and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from North Carolina State University. He spent 10 years as a Professor of Economics with the University of Maryland and Montana State University focusing on commodity markets and is widely regarded for his ability to boil-down complex economic situations into easy-to-understand concepts for applied life.
Grain futures found a boost this week with corn futures up about a dime while soybean futures advanced 30-cents over the last week. This took its toll on basis improvement as corn basis gained only one-cent on average across the country while soybeans were up 3 cents on average.
In the corn market, ethanol plants continue to lag the rest of the markets on average although some plants in IA and IL did manage fairly strong basis gains. At the Gulf, corn basis was off 1 cent a bushel but continued declines in barge rates helped keep upstream river terminals mostly in check.
For soybeans, basis levels were up 3 cents for the week, but the improvements were not uniform across much of the country. Gulf basis slid 11 cents a bushel and corresponding southern river markets and were hit by weaker basis. Basis gains were more prominent in the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains as gains of 5 to 8 cents were fairly typical as processors bid more aggressively in these sections of the country.
Basis gains will continue to be somewhat tempered but with sluggish to lower futures the bias in basis should be to the upside. Barge rates continue to be down and should hold steady for the short-term, but the lack of significant demand drive from the end-users will keep basis gains in check.
Thinking about selling all grains in stock, I think corn will go lower in coming months. The squeeze is on food production animals like dairy cows that will lower demand.


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It should not surprise anyone that Florida teachers are suing to block the new state law attempting to de-link teacher pay from years worked and instead link pay to performance.
We have long pointed out the intransigence of government unions toward needed fiscal restraint by governments on behalf of taxpayers and the larger economy, and specific intransigence by teachers unions regarding their members being paid according to how good they are — like most people in the private sector.
The concept of merit pay, such an obviously good idea for student outcomes, is antithetical to the largest government unions in Sarasota and Manatee counties, the state of Florida and the nation.
Patricia Levesque, executive director of Foundation for Florida's Future — former Gov. Jeb Bush's education think tank — issued a statement in response to the lawsuit, saying that Florida "teachers deserve to be recognized for their effectiveness and dedication with professional-level compensation … Today's action by the teachers' union, once again proves they care more about protecting political power than promoting a dynamic, highly skilled workforce of educators."
As if on cue to prove Levesque's point, Florida Education Association President Andy Ford said, "The Legislature would love to get rid of the Florida Education Association because we are the only ones [who] seem to stand up to them on a regular basis." The teacher's union leader sees this as about power, and apparently his power.
Then he added this jewel: "If they can get rid of us, they can have a free reign over government, which is a scary concept."
Only to a union leader is the idea of a duly elected Legislature having control of government a scary concept. It's something the Founders liked to call representative democracy.
The new law eliminates the long-term contracts for teachers, placing newly hired teachers on one-year contracts. Most private-sector workers have no contract. So going from long-term to a one-year contract is hardly a terrible deprivation.
The law also creates a system for evaluating teacher performance. The evaluation system mixes objective with subjective. Half of a teacher's performance will be based on student test scores and half will be on a performance-rating level through personal evaluations.
Florida is among many states across the nation trying to balance budgets and realizing the need to rein in the government unions. Wisconsin was the epicenter, and both the courts and the people of Wisconsin backed measures to get control of unaffordable spending on government employees. And new teacher evaluation laws already have been enacted in Indiana, Oklahoma, and New York, with teachers unions fighting them there as well.
At least some individual teachers, accustomed to virtual job guarantees, are not happy with the new law.
Christine Mayer, a 33-year teaching veteran at Ashton Elementary in Sarasota, traveled to Tallahassee when the suit was filed so she could speak against the law. "I'm there to teach the child," she said.
"They're there to learn. Now I have yet more hoops to jump through that violate my constitutional rights."
Well yes, government paperwork is a drag. But it is part of being a government employee. It is doubtful there are constitutional violations. If there are any, then the constitution would need to be changed. Merit pay is long past due — because school districts must change.
Holding schools accountable, as is done now in the state through funding, is one step. Holding teachers accountable through pay is another step. Far more reform in funding and parental options is needed.
School officials will retort that it is unfair to teachers in failing schools, typically inner-city schools with crummy demographics for student achievement. Perhaps. But it is more unfair for the students trapped in those schools.
More money obviously has not improved student achievement. If school reform does not work, then perhaps school demolition is the answer.
The status quo for too many children in public schools — for their future and the future of our state and country — simply is not acceptable.
Rod Thomson can be reached at [email protected].
It should not surprise anyone that Florida teachers are suing to block the new state law attempting to de-link teacher pay from years worked and instead link pay to performance.

subset: commoncrawl


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By Nora Carr
It's time to go mobile. When it comes to Internet access, smartphones and mobile devices now outpace traditional PCs by a five-to-one margin.
Today's on-the-go consumers -- including parents, Realtors, employees, and community leaders -- use the mobile web daily and 25 percent are mobile only, according to the Pew Research Center. For African-American and Latino parents, that percentage jumps to 38 percent.
Downloadable applications ("apps") that act as mobile launching pads to traditional websites simply aren't sufficient. Watered-down versions of traditional websites also fall flat.
Used to customized approaches designed specifically for smaller smartphone screens, mobile users have little patience for long download times, difficult navigation, hard-to-read text, and oversized photos and graphics. Cost also is a factor as smartphone purchases outpace tablet and laptop sales. In 2011, Nielsen reported that 49 percent of all mobile phone users had purchased a smartphone.
"Parents may not be able to afford a desktop computer and broadband every month, but they can afford a smartphone," says Roseann St. Aubin, communications director of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). "The cost of mobile devices per month is significantly lower than the cost of a computer, Internet access, plus a phone."
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Merger Pace Heats Up in First Half of 2013
During the first half of 2013, the NCUA approved 132 credit union mergers, up from 114 mergers approved as of June 30 last year, according to the NCUA's Insurance Report of Activity.
If the pace continues, the number of mergers completed in 2013 could top 2012's total of 273 mergers, which was the highest number in six years. Not all NCUA-approved mergers convert into completed mergers, for a variety of reasons.
In 2006, there were 285 completed mergers, but after that peak the number had been declining until 2011. In 2007 mergers fell to 242 but then ticked up to 256 in 2008, according to NCUA's 2012 Annual Report. By the end of 2009, mergers dropped to 219 and bottomed out to 203 by 2010. The next year, however, the number increased slightly to 213.
John Worth, NCUA's chief economist, said the merger trend line since 2000 has held steady at about 60 consolidations every a quarter, or about 200 to 250 mergers a year on average.
Despite the slight increase over the last two years, experts are split over whether mergers will remain on the average trend line over the next few years or accelerate due to competitive pressures and an expected onslaught of new regulations.
"I believe one of the unintended consequences of compliance will double the rate of mergers by the end of this year or during next year," said credit union attorney Michael Bell of the Royal Oak, Mich.-based firm Howard & Howard. "It's impossible to comply with regulations in an efficient way unless there are resources behind you."
Worth, however, said it's too early to say whether regulations will drive mergers, pointing out that the majority of mergers occur because most small credit unions can only offer expanded services for members by merging into a larger credit union, a trend he said is expected to continue.
Bill Myers, who heads NCUA's office of Small Credit Union Initiatives, said regulators are well aware that compliance places a disproportionate burden on small enterprises. He said he expects small credit unions will be granted exemptions or the new regulations will be modified in some way so as not to increase costs.
"The increased complexity (of regulations) makes it tougher for credit unions, but (compliance) is not the main factor (for mergers) by a long, long, long shot," he said.
While it may be uncertain whether regulations will force more small credit unions than ever to merge, one trend is for certain—the number of credit unions merging because of financial issues has significantly increased over the last five years, said David Bartoo of the Merger Solutions Group in Forest Grove, Ore.
For example, in 2008 more than 50 credit unions merged because they were financially troubled. In the previous three years—2007, 2006 and 2005—Bartoo said the number of financially distressed credit unions that merged averaged about 30.
Bartoo said credit unions that merged because of poor management, lack of growth, lack of sponsor or support and loss of membership—other categories listed in the NCUA report—were also financially distressed from declining earnings and diminishing net worth. He also said he believes some of the credit unions that merged to offer expanded services were also facing mounting financial challenges and pressures.
Among the credit unions that merged in 2008, the NCUA labeled 51 of them in poor financial condition, but an additional 60 credit unions merged because of either poor management, lack of growth, lack of sponsor/support or loss of membership. In 2009, 49 credit unions had to merge because they were in poor financial condition, and an additional 43 credit unions were forced to merge because of poor management, lack of growth, loss of membership or sponsor.
In 2010, the numbers were 55 and 23, in 2011, 34 and 42 and in 2012, 52 and 43.
And, the trend appears to be continuing this year.
Although the NCUA report listed 28 credit unions that merged in the first half of 2013 because they were in poor financial condition, an additional 13 merged because of poor management, lack of growth, loss of membership or lack of sponsor or support.
Some credit unions, particularly small ones, weren't quick to recover from the Great Recession and the subsequent slow economic recovery due to low loan-to-share ratios, Myers said.
"They had relied on investment margins to maintain them, and those margins are just not available now," he said. "So you have some stress on their income statement because of that, and of course, that leads to mergers."
Since 2000, 75% of merged credit unions had assets of less than $10 million, and another 22.5% had assets from $10 million to $100 million. Meyers said in February that credit unions with less than $30 million have a very difficult time establishing a fully functioning, sustainable business.
Randie Dial, a partner with Indianapolis, Ind.-based consulting firm CliftonLarsonAllen, said he has seen an increase in mergers among larger credit unions, too.
Dial said he has received several inquiries from credit unions with assets of about $300 million that are discussing the possibility of merging with credit unions of similar asset size, commonly referred to as a merger of equals.
"The larger ones are looking for mergers to become stronger and more stable," he said. "If they can find enough cost synergies going forward, they can be stronger as one instead of competing head to head, so a merger can make a lot sense."
But Kevin Kirksey, a valuation and risk analytics manager for ALM First Financial Advisors in Dallas, doesn't see a merger of equals trend taking shape.
Next Page: Across the Map
"With our experience, we have seen the transaction data suggest that there is still reluctance for merger of equals," he said. "It's challenging for credit union executives to integrate their business into another credit union. A merger is about integrating cultures as well. It's not just about assets, liabilities and earnings."
An interesting trend that surfaced from NCUA's merger reports is that 66 mergers, or 50% of approved consolidations in the first six months of 2013, occurred in just seven Northeast and Midwest states including Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.
(Click on the map at right to see expanded version.)
New York posted 12 mergers, the highest in the country, while Illinois was second with 11, and Ohio and Wisconsin tied for third with 10 mergers each. Pennsylvania and Massachusetts followed with nine and eight mergers, respectively.
Likewise, during the first half of the year in 2012, nearly half of the 114 approved mergers occurred in nine Northeast and Midwest states including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin, as well as New York, Connecticut, Michigan and Minnesota.
NCUA's Worth said the geographic trend likely occurred because credit unions in those states are often SEG-based, associated with manufacturing plants, labor unions or businesses. Those manufacturing industries have been shrinking in the number of employees because of downsizing, plant closings or relocations to southern states or other nations.


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"Two House committees have kicked off an investigation into PR spending at the National Cancer Institute after an editorial in the respected journal Nature questioned spending in the NCI's office of communications."
"The Research Project (R01) grant is an award made to support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing the investigator's specific interest and competencies, based on the mission of the NIH."
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- Cantor
- Join Date: 1/10/2013
- Posts: 586
- Member Details
Lovin' that knocker... XD
sto lavorando
Quote from SkylightMiracle
Oh wonderful. This is another one I like. Ranks right next to the Tree. Just curious, where is the starting line?
Quote from inkcheese
Lovin' that knocker... XD
You would be better off making a hot sauce out of them than drying them. This way you could add some other stuff to it to give it a good balance of flavor and hellfire shits. That's how I had the ghost pepper, it was a hot sauce.
Bashiok - Blizzard Representative - 08/01/2011 -"So how many skill combinations are there now? Well taking into account 6 active skills, all the rune combinations, and 3 passives we currently expect each class to have roughly 2,285,814,795,264 different build combinations."
"Hey, I thought you'd like the witty irony of grub-on-glowie violence!"
Quote from Ducha
Haha that just reminded me of bill and ted, and I love Iron Maiden!
He looks pissed off. Did you buy the shitty brand of cat nip again?
If you did a really awesome scorpion and (kind of like pencil shading) shaded it, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Quote from laccer
Really awesome artworks! Keep up the great work!
Thanks a lot!
I forgot to comment on Bowlin' and Donkey. First off is bowlin', that smug bastard is suffocating me with his smug from that strike. And secondly, that thing is too damn cute to be a donkey.


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LaJuan Sukochi Lee:
The Eye......My latest post card.
Oh, the glue I mentioned is called Fabric Fusion. I used to to glue these eyes to this fabric. They DON NOT come off.
The Eye......My latest post card.
Oh, the glue I mentioned is called Fabric Fusion. I used to to glue these eyes to this fabric. They DON NOT come off.
This is just adorable!!!!
Sending up prayers for your neighbor.
Sukochi, Eye think this one is my favorite Get it eye lol. I know pretty lame
[Ava, Missouri
So sorry you had such a hard time trying to get your feet warm. I hope the hand heals up and stops hurting without blisters. I've seen some of those slippers advertised on t.v. where you put them in the microwave. Wonder if they would work for you.
And don't feel too bad. We all have those days.
Thanks, Les, I just peed my pants!
MNnancy:Do you have a woodshop, Elaine?
Well, it was my husbands, so now it is mine, but I don't do much. Just saw a board now and then. But it is a mess. My DH was kind of a slob when it came to cleaning up after himself, and I am still trying to get thw workshop and garage cleaned out, after 5 years. Maybe someday. My sister's DH made here a box to hang on the wall and keep her Aurifil threads in, and I am thinking of trying to make one of my own. He would make me one if I asked. But I think I will try to improve my skills.
Hey Nancy, just how did you laminate that apron anyway???
Quilters are people who strip so they won't go topless.
LaJuan Sukochi Lee:
Here is my other quiltie.
Here is my other quiltie.
Southwest of San Antonio
chocake2:just how did you laminate that apron anyway???
Iron-On vinyl is a clear laminating product that protects fabric and other smooth surfaces that will be stretched or pulled. The Lustre(gloss) gives a shiny brilliant look and contains an advanced adhesive formula for quick and easy laminating resulting in a smooth and flexible finish and provides a durable; scuff-and-water resistant; acid free; UV-rated finish. This product can be machine sewn and cleaned with a damp cloth. Used for crafts or home decor such as tote bags, memorabilia protectors, portfolios, tablecovers, outdoor furniture, placemats, rain coats, ponchos, mattress protection, diaper coverings and much more! Complete, easy-to-follow directions are included. This package contains one 17in x 2yd roll. Care: wipe with damp cloth or hand wash in cold water. Made in USA.
Available at Joann's!
On the banks of the Mississippi River in north central Minnesota (Brainerd lakes area)
For those who commented on Randy's clean wood shop, there are two secrets to his success...
#1 - he does a thorough cleaning at the completion of each project.
#2 - he has a big room with a lot of storage units. I could only dream of that much space!
LaJuan Sukochi Lee: Do you not have heating pads over there? Or are hot water bottles just customary? I don't know anyone who still has a hot water bottle anymore.
I have and love my hot water bottle. It's in the bed every night and even has a cute sweater:
ls2116:Ran to hospital on my own FIL condition classified as worse even though he was talking a little and skin tone looked better.
Sorry to hear that.
Is, this is sad to hear. I pray that he will rally and recover. Hang in there.
Dentist today. Filling needed in a front tooth. Those are the very worst shots. Owey!
Not much else going on. Will pull out fabric and get a quilt started for Quilted Hugs From Maddie
Working on my third quiltie, due out Feb. 28th. Jim gave me the idea for what to do with it. Hope I can pull this off.
Have a great day. ttyl.
Sukochi, those postcards and quilters are so much fun! I love how each one is so detailed and has its own personality. Your creativity is truly soaring. Boy I need to be either retired or have a part time job so I can sew more...
Angèle from NWO
nancy, nice apron, Sukochi, great quilties and post cards. Debbie, love the colorful stripped quilt. Kris, like the hot water bottle and cover. I think I still have one around some place.
Chiliwist Valley


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Richardson's Water & Sewer Customer Service Department has added a new online payment option for customers.
With Quick Pay, customers are able to make one-time credit card payments without needing to create an online account or logging into their existing account. Visit cor.net/quickpay to use the new payment service.
Customers who create an online account may pay their bills with a one-time or recurring credit card payment and may also view account history online. (Quick Pay customers will not have access to account history and are not able to set up recurring payments.) Visit cor.net/waterpayment for more details.
The City accepts American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa for online credit card payments.
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Cubs Caravan makes stop at Chicago school
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
CHICAGO -- Manager Rick Renteria joined Anthony Rizzo and Edwin Jackson on Thursday to help members of the Cubs staff spruce up a Chicago school.
The Cubs made a winter caravan stop at Casals School of Excellence, where they painted murals on the walls of the gymnasium and cafeteria, decorated a computer room, built benches and cabinets for reading spaces and redesigned a room for tutoring.
Earlier in the day, the Cubs staff stopped at the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines to serve lunch to about 250 military service personnel.
The caravan tour is a lead-in to the Cubs Convention, which opens Friday at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. This will be Renteria's first convention.
"They've said it'll be something I've never experienced before in my life, and from a few conversations I've had with different people, it seems that will be the case," said Renteria, who will answer fans' questions in a Saturday afternoon session. "It is evident that the city of Chicago loves their Cubs and they want the Cubs to have success and we feel the same way."
The winter fan fest also is the first chance for some of the Cubs to meet their new manager. Jackson is coming off a season in which he led the Major Leagues in losses with 18. It wasn't how the right-hander wanted to start the first year of his four-year, $52 million deal with the Cubs. Renteria's message to Jackson? Learn from what happened and move forward.
"That's the only way we'll move the club in the direction we'd like it to go," Renteria said.
Jackson, who welcomed a new daughter in the offseason, was eager to take Renteria's advice.
"As an athlete, when you have a season like I had last year, if anything, it makes you more eager to start the next season up," Jackson said. "That edge comes a little quicker, and you're more ready and more excited to go out and perform the way you know you can perform."
What about Renteria?
"He seems like he's ready to go," Jackson said of his new skipper. "He's excited about being a manager of the team. He definitely sees the potential the team has and he understands what we're capable of doing."
Jackson said he had no clue Dale Sveum would be dismissed after the 2013 season ended. Maybe change is good?
"I hope so -- I've changed a lot of teams," said Jackson, who is playing for his eighth team. "I hope change can be good. Change doesn't hurt. We have a great team, we have a great manager who is eager to get out and be with the team and help the team learn and teach us different things. We're ready to go."
Renteria confirms Cubs have met with Tanaka
CHICAGO -- Rick Renteria is preparing himself in case Masahiro Tanaka picks the Cubs and said he ordered the Japanese version of the Rosetta Stone language learning tapes.
The Cubs manager said Thursday he was part of the team's contingent that met recently with Tanaka in California, joining president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.
"We've had conversations with Tanaka," Renteria said during a caravan stop at Casals School of Excellence in Chicago. "I'm not sure exactly where we're at in that process. I think Jed and Theo, if something were to happen with [Tanaka], I'm sure they'll let me know. Right now, I'm looking at the players we have and how we're going to move forward with them."
The Cubs, Yankees and Dodgers are among the teams believed to be involved with Tanaka, who has until Jan. 24 to make a decision on which Major League team he will pick.
Renteria called the Cubs' meeting with Tanaka "very good conversations," and added they had an interpreter.
"I actually ordered Rosetta Stone, the Japanese version," Renteria said.
The Cubs do have pitcher Kyuji Fujikawa on the roster, but is Renteria that confident the team will sign Tanaka that he's going to learn to speak Japanese?
"I'm going to be prepared if it does [happen]," Renteria said. "I'm going to try to learn a little Japanese. And if it happens, good for us, and if not, there are a lot of Japanese players who are quality players who could come through the organization at some point in time, and I hope I'm able to at least say 'Hello,' 'Good night,' and 'Can I do anything for you?'"
The Cubs are coming off a 96-loss season, and it appears the front office is targeting the 2015 season and beyond, not 2014. The Minor League system is loaded with highly-touted talent such as Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and C.J. Edwards. Tanaka, 25, was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 212 innings last season for the Rakuten Golden Eagles, who posted the right-hander for a $20 million fee. The bidding for Tanaka will end at 4 p.m. CT on Jan. 24.
"The points to [Tanaka] were that we're a club on the upside," Renteria said. "We're a club that has a lot of talent besides the guys who we have here presently, and that the organization has quality players coming up who will significantly impact the organization.
"The question is, in the end, what are we trying to do with these players?" Renteria said. "Do we want them to believe they're going to come in here just to be here? No. We want them to come here and know they have to perform, that they have to execute, that they have to play to win a ballgame. It takes a lot of different pieces for us as an organization to come together."
This weekend, Renteria will be introduced at the Cubs Convention. The new manager is very upbeat and optimistic about the 2014 season even though the Cubs have signed more free agents to Minor League contracts than big league contracts. The list of offseason acquisitions includes outfielder Justin Ruggiano, closer Jose Veras, backup catcher George Kottaras and reliever Wesley Wright.
"My optimism is [because] I'm an optimistic person," Renteria said. "The players who are here, I believe, are good players. I think maybe they've had collectively a bad season. Some guys had some good performances last year, but the reality is we need to have them all come together and play as a team. My message isn't going to change. I want these guys to start feeling like a family and I want them to start feeling like they're playing for each other and playing for this city."
The Cubs may be picked to finish last again in the National League Central, but don't tell Renteria.
"I think no one should enter into any season thinking they're going to be the one that everybody is going to stomp on," Renteria said. "I don't take that attitude, I'm not going to take that attitude, my players are not going to take that attitude.
"When we go out there, we're going out there to win a ballgame," he said. "That means executing, that means being prepared, that means actually going in there and believing they can win a ballgame. That's the result. We have to go in there and take care of nine innings of baseball, and play the game the way it's supposed to be played, and at the end of the day, we'll figure out who will be on top."
Having Tanaka in the Cubs rotation will help get them there.
Worth noting
• Renteria is thinking about his lineup but said he has plenty of time before Opening Day, March 31. His plan is to have all the players be able to get on base, get 'em over, and get 'em in.
"The reality is if the guys do what they're supposed to do, it makes it a lot easier for me to set up the lineup," Renteria said.
• Jeff Samardzija's name has been mentioned often in trade rumors, but Rizzo would like to see the right-hander stay with the Cubs.
"Jeff's a good friend of mine, so I don't want to see him get traded," Rizzo said. "You don't want that to happen, but it's part of the business."
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. She writes a blog, Muskat Ramblings, and you can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Memory and Memorial Day
A question they may subconsciously be asking themselves is whether or not they would have been willing to make the same sacrifice, had they been placed in that same position. It has been often noted by writers, historians and chroniclers of warfare that those in combat fight and die first and foremost to protect and help their comrades in arms, not for lofty principles of liberty and freedom. And yet, in the end, that is what their sacrifice is largely about - giving it all up so that others can live in relative freedom, make their own choices about life, and criticize the government without fear of going to jail. Those are things you can do in many parts of the world, but not everywhere. You can here, because of the people who died for us. We find it easy to acknowledge and honor the sacrifice of individuals we may know of. And it's crucial that we do so, for our own sake as well as those who gave all. Remembrance of service rendered, and sacrifices borne take on additional meaning when considered within the broader historical record.
Were the policies of the government that ordered military personnel into harm's way worthy of that sacrifice? Do many of us even know or understand the complexities, on a lay person's level at least, of why those people came to be in harm's way when they did, at that particular moment? Warfare is a legitimate and sometimes absolutely necessary extension of statecraft. Some conflicts make more sense than others. World War II is probably the last morally and strategically unambiguous war the U.S. has been involved in. That doesn't lessen or diminish in any way the sacrifices made by those who served in Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War and in more recent times, Iraq and Afghanistan, along with other conflicts in places like Grenada or Somalia. Our understanding of their sacrifice is deepened when we also remember the context.
President Obama has come in for harsh criticism from certain quarters by being a reluctant warrior when it came to crises in recent years in places like Syria and Libya. The two cases are different. Libya, which burst into violence in 2011 during the short-lived "Arab Spring" is still struggling to establish itself in a post-Qaddaffi world. There are still massive problems there, but a multi-lateral coalition of forces eased the strongman out and gave Libyans a chance for a better life, if they can seize it. The jury is still out.
Last August, when confronted with the thuggish Syrian government crossing a "red line" when caught red handed gassing its own citizens amid a humanitarian catastrophe of the first order, the President punted. Rather than back up his own words, he took advantage of a Russian brokered deal to get the poison gas weapons out of Syria and the hands of that sad nation's military and political leaders.
Should we have punished them militarily instead? Possibly. More than 130,000 Syrians are believed to have died since 2011. That's a shocking fact. Will future generations wonder why we did relatively little to stop the carnage? Did the President send a confused message when the "red line" was crossed, which other nations (like Russia in the Ukraine) interpret to mean our exhaustion around intervening in global problems is complete?
What will the Chinese government do if they decide a group of small islands between mainland China and Japan are important enough to risk a full-blown international crisis over? We may get to find out before year's end. Or sooner, if the oil rig they parked off the coast of Vietnam keeps things simmering in the South China Sea.
All these global strategic questions though, fundamentally involve sending (mostly young) men and women into harm's way if modifying other nation's behavior is the sought-after goal. Those quick to call for armed intervention should ask themselves, "what if it were a member of my family, or myself, who was asked to risk life and limb?" The issues take on a different perspective. That's not to say they shouldn't be sent into harm's way. But let's also understand the price tag.
It is not an option for the U.S. to go isolationist and let global currents take their course without our involvement. Sooner or later, a festering problem in some remote part of the world - like Afghanistan in the 1990s which allowed space for Al Qaeda to prosper, or Mali or Nigeria today - comes home to roost. The consequences of getting those kinds of decisions wrong are massive and often unforeseeable. The common thread is that they involve a likelihood of adding to the number of people we are asked to remember on Memorial Day.
It is through history, and trying to make sense of it, that the sacrifices we honor on Memorial Day and hopefully throughout the rest of the year reveal their full meaning. We should be concerned if the historical memory is forgotten, misunderstood, or disregarded as irrelevant.
The philosopher George Santayana famously said once that those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. We honor both our fellow citizens who fell in combat, and ourselves, by arming ourselves against such amnesia.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


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ESPN.com SEC blogger Chris Low chatted Friday with Bram Weinstein and Max Bretos on ESPN Radio's "SVP and Russillo," covering a variety of conference subjects -- leading off, of course, with Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.
The league's coaches this week voted the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner to their preseason All-SEC second team, behind Georgia's Aaron Murray, which many observers view as punishment for Manziel's tabloid-worthy offseason and recent autograph scandal.
Low agreed with that assessment.
"Maybe the coaches sent a little bit of a message to Johnny Football that the offseason, it was a circus, and maybe they're not real thrilled with that," Low said. "And you know what, maybe there's another message they're sending. Maybe they're saying that we just like Murray better. I think more than anything, guys, in the league this year, you've got three premier quarterbacks: [Alabama's AJ] McCarron, Murray and Johnny Manziel."
Low went on to discuss a handful of non-Manziel SEC storylines -- yes they exist -- with Weinstein and Bretos, including the respect national pollsters have given the league, with six SEC teams ranking among the top 12 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25.
It's hard to discount the conference's seven national titles involving four different programs, Low said.
"When you continue to win at that level, when you continue to get into the money game and blow people out -- I mean Notre Dame last year goes unbeaten against a pretty good schedule. I think you could make a pretty sound argument that at least five SEC teams would have beaten Notre Dame last year at the end of the season," Low opined.
The trio closed by discussing the league's marquee game of opening weekend, with Georgia visiting Clemson on Aug. 31. Low expects the two prolific offenses to dominate in that game.
"You'd better take your calculators to that game, because both these teams can score points," Low said. "Both of them have got issues in the secondary, a lot of uncertainty. I really think it comes down to which secondary holds up, guys, which secondary can make the fewest mistakes, the fewest busts, and maybe it's that defense, that secondary, that can get off the field one time, can make one key stop in the second half to win, because both these offenses can score points in bunches."
To listen to Low's entire segment on "SVP and Russillo," click here.


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UFC lightweight Nate Diaz likely will pay a $7,500 fine he expects the Tennessee Athletic Commission to hand down so he can avoid any possible hiccups to a scheduled fight with Marcus Davis.
Diaz, 25, is believed to be one of five people targeted by the TAC for disciplinary action in the wake of a post-event brawl at the April 17 "Strikeforce: Nashville" event at Bridgestone Arena, though the commission currently will not confirm if he is part of the group.
"We just want to get this past us, and probably we'll pay the fine and move on," Cesar Gracie, Diaz's manager, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
As MMAjunkie.com first reported in May, Diaz (12-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is expected to fight Davis (17-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) at UFC 118 on Aug. 28 in Boston, though fallout from the melee cast doubt on his ability to be licensed for the fight. This past weekend UFC president Dana White said that he would honor any suspension issued by the TAC as a result of the incident.
However, Diaz is not licensed in Tennessee and can't be suspended.
"They could probably not let him fight in Tennessee in the future, but they can't suspend him from fighting," Gracie said.
The manager said Diaz could be fined because the TAC believes he acted as "a second" (cornerman) to Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields, who just prior to the brawl defeated Dan Henderson in the event's headliner.
"He wasn't a second," Gracie said. "If we were get to the nitty-gritty, that wouldn't hold up in a court."
Nevertheless, Gracie said paying the fine – rather than requesting a hearing – would be a good lesson to Diaz and the rest of his fighters involved in the confrontation, including Shields; Diaz's brother, Nick Diaz; and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.
The identities of those involved in the brawl will not be released until the commission's administrative actions are finalized, said Christopher Garrett, director of communications for the state of Tennessee's Department of Commerce & Insurance.
If Nate Diaz declines to pay the expected fine, the TAC could place him on a national registry that may prevent him from being licensed in other states.
The brawl broke out following the CBS-televised headliner between Shields and Henderson. Preliminary-card fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller then entered the cage to campaign for a rematch with Shields, and the confrontation led to pushing an eventual scrap between the fighter and the Team Gracie fighters.
Garrett said in three of the pending cases, the commission found probable cause to authorize a formal hearing for a civil penalty of $20,000 each and associated costs, as well as a nine-month suspension. Each individual can agree to a "consent order" that would allow him to skip the hearing and agree to a $5,000 fine and three-month suspension.
In the fourth case, all of the particulars are the same except that the settlement fine would be $7,500. The larger amount represents an additional civil penalty because the individual did not respond to the commission's inquiry as instructed.
A fifth case also recommends the larger $7,500 settlement fine because the individual did not respond to the commission's inquiry. The individual is not licensed with the state, and the complaint also alleges "unlicensed activity," according to Garrett.
State officials did not immediately confirm when the hearings would take place in the event one or more of the individuals requests one.
For more on UFC 118 event, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Nate Diaz)


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Project Description
The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems America, and Smith Management Group, will develop an advanced pilot-scale post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system for a coal-fired power plant employing an innovative heat integration method designed to utilize waste heat from a Hitachi H3-1 advanced solvent carbon capture system while improving steam turbine efficiency. A two-stage stripping concept will be combined with the heat integration method to increase solvent capacity and capture rate in the CO2 scrubber. The advanced solvent utilized by the process has several advantages over conventional amine solvents, including lower heat of regeneration, higher capacity, and less solvent degradation. A 0.7 megawatt electrical (MWe) equivalent modular slipstream facility will be designed, constructed, and installed at the Kentucky Utilities E.W. Brown Generating Station, located near Harrodsburg, Kentucky. A technical and economic analysis of the process concept for a 550 MWe power plant will be completed to determine its potential to achieve the Department of Energy's target of no more than a 35 percent increase in the cost of electricity while capturing at least 90 percent of the CO2 released during the combustion of fossil fuels in existing coal-fired power plants.
Project Benefits
This project focuses on the design, construction, and testing of a post-combustion heat integrated solvent-based CO2 capture system with a two-stage stripping process for solvent regeneration and a heat-integrated cooling tower system that recovers waste energy from the carbon capture platform. The overall effect will be improved power plant cooling tower and steam turbine efficiency leading to decreased capital and operating costs. The novel concepts and advanced solvent used in this project show promise of improving the overall plant efficiency and can be utilized to retrofit existing coal-fired power plants. Specifically, this project will implement the heat-integrated system in a 0.7 MWe slipstream pilot-scale unit.
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Meijer NuVal™ Trade Up Recipe of the Week
NuVal™ Scores 1 to 100, the higher the number, the better the Nutrition! Find scores on shelf price tags at Meijer stores.
Artichoke Quiche
Brown rice, egg substitute and reduced fat cheese pump nutrition in this tasty recipe!
Serves 6
2 cups cooked brown long-grain rice - NuVal-82
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided NuVal-23
3/4 cup egg substitute, divided NuVal-59
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small garlic clove, crushed
cooking spray
1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained NuVal-24
3/4 cup fat-free milk NuVal-91
1/4 cup sliced green onions NuVal-100
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
Green onion strips (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine rice, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup egg substitute, dill weed, salt, and garlic; press into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes.
3. Arrange artichoke quarters on bottom of rice crust; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Combine remaining 1/2 cup egg substitute, milk, and next 3 ingredients; pour over cheese.
4. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes; cut into wedges. Garnish with green onion strips, if desired.
Nutritional info per serving: Calories 169, Total fat 3.5g, Cholesterol 11 mg, Sodium 490 mg, Carbohydrate 23.1 g, Dietary fiber 0.4g, Protein 10.4 g.
Nutrition Notes: Using brown rice in place of regular white rice, egg substitute in the place of eggs, and fat-free milk instead of 2% increased NuVal™ nutrition score by 197 points!
Recipe adapted from cookinglight.com


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FARMINGTON New and pending requirements for the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations are among the top regulatory issues at a regional natural-gas and oil industry two-day conference that will wrap up today.
More than 2,200 people from government and industry attended the Four Corners Oil and Gas Conference in Farmington. The conference, in its 11th year, aims to educate the local industry about new technologies, current regulations, and environmental and safety-compliance issues.
In a Wednesday session about regulatory updates, officials from New Mexico, Colorado and the Bureau of Land Management outlined regulations pending or recently passed in each of their agencies.
All of them require drilling companies to publish the ingredients in chemically laced water and sand mixtures injected into wells during fracking operations.
Colorado passed such legislation this year, and the law applies to all wells drilled after April 1. The state also is pursuing several strategies to facilitate cooperation between industry, government and the public, including a state-wide stakeholder task force and an intergovernmental agreement between Gunnison County and the state regarding natural-gas and oil inspectors.
The BLM is proposing disclosure requirements for all wells drilled on federal and tribal lands.
That proposal, which mandates companies list chemicals used in the fracking process, the source of water for the drilling and their plan of disposing of recovered fluids, is currently in a comment period, said Dave Mankiewicz, minerals manager for theBLMs Farmington field office.
Horizontal-drilling technologies, primarily hydraulic fracturing, have played a big role in opening up new natural-gas plays across the country, including the Mancos Shale play that stretches across the northern portion of New Mexico and skims southern Colorado.
Low natural-gas prices havent stopped companies from continuing to explore the shale play, though most remain tight-lipped about what theyre finding because they are still jockeying for leaseholder interests in the area, said John Roe, an engineer manager with Dugan Production.
There is a big effort to try to understand the formation, said Roe, who like many others, had signed a confidentiality agreement about his companys work on the Mancos Shale.
Geothermal energy was another topic of discussion at the conference. Oil and gas companies have the technology and the know-how to access geothermal sources, making it a topic of interest among those looking to diversify their energy portfolio, Roe said.
There is geothermal potential around the edges of the San Juan Basin, and it is already being developed near Los Alamos, N.M., said Tyson Foutz, a petroleum engineer for Merrion Oil and Gas.
Among renewable-power sources, geothermal is one of the most economically viable, Foutz said.
It has been a topic of interest (among drillers) for some time, he said.


text: I'm SO ****ing tired of losing its insane. I mean yeah, we won tonight....against the TWOLVES. That's what Knicks basketball has come to? A once proud franchise in thee most proud city in the entire United States is excited about beating the Minnesota Timberwolves??? PATHETIC!!! We need to make moves, and make moves fast. Why would even want to make the playoffs? We'd just embarrass ourselves out of it as the 8 seed. We should be letting go of EVERYONE who is not part of the 2010 plan. Yes, David Lee included. I love Lee's hustle, but s***...we need talent. If we could trade his expiring contract to get rid of JJ or McCurry I would do it in a HEARTBEAT. We could probably get some good talent in return. F***, I just want to ****ing win already... I think a frustration thread was necessary considering we last made the playoffs when Dwight Howard was in high school and weighted less than 200 pounds...s***. F***, f***, f***! I'm frustrated. Sick. Tired. Any melancholy word can be inserted to describe my emotions toward my Bockers.


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'$1 Billion Reasons' Why Businesses Love CUs (video)
From financing new commercial constructions to helping the underserved, credit unions are being invited to share their stories about how they're helping small businesses.
Business lending CUSO Michigan Business Connection LLC in Ann Arbor, Mich., has created a video drive for credit unions to post short videos showcasing the positive economic impact they have made on local businesses or community causes.
The Michigan Credit Union League & Affiliates has extended its support of the video promotion and through its CUBE TV division, issued a video with additional details and production tips for credit unions, according to MBC.
"We hope to capture the essence of the credit union philosophy in these videos and create a powerful visual for our business community and our lawmakers who can unlock even greater giving power for member business lenders," said Bill Beardsley, CEO of MBC.
Michigan's credit unions have loaned more than $1 billion to local businesses and donated more than $10.5 million to community causes as of 2012, according to the MBC, citing data from the Michigan Credit Union League Community Reinvestment Initiative Report.
As credit unions work to create their visual story, MBC is also planning its second annual CU Lunch Local event for Oct. 15. Last year, more than 51 credit unions "cash-mobbed" local businesses to demonstrate the greater power of a dollar spent at a small business.
Credit unions can stay up to date with information regarding the video drive and CU Lunch Local.


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Emma Pullman | April 17, 2011
By Emma Pullman • Sunday, April 17, 2011 - 15:41
The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) recently published a flashy headline that reads, '900+ Peer-Reviewed Papers Supporting Skepticism Of "Man-Made" Global Warming (AGW) Alarm'. The article links to a blog post on Populartechnology.net listing more than 900 papers which, according to the GWPF, refute "concern relating to a negative environmental or socio-economic effect of AGW, usually exaggerated as catastrophic."
The "900+ papers" list is supposed to somehow prove that a score of scientists reject the scientific consensus on climate change. One might be persuaded by the big numbers. We're not.
Oh, where to begin? First, a note of caution about the Global Warming Policy Foundation. It's a UK group opposing climate change action. Sourcewatch's digging reveals links to right-wing libertarian climate change deniers. According to the UK Charity Commission, GWPF's mandate is to "advance the public understanding of global warming and of its possible consequences, and also of the measures taken or proposed to be taken in response to it". Actually, they're a heck of a lot more interested in sowing seeds of doubt than in disseminating knowledge. The GWPF's director is the Heartland Institute's* Benny Peiser, climate change denier extraordinaire. Other notable members include Canada's Ross McKitrick of the Fraser Institute.
Curiously, the GWPF was launched just as the Climategate emails were released. An op-ed by Chairman Nigel Lawson announced the GWPF, predicted the (hopeful) failure of the Copenhagen climate talks, and called for an inquiry into the content of the stolen emails.
Using a screen-scraping process to analyze the data on the "900+" list, the folks over at Carbon Brief dug up some pretty incriminating information. Turns out nine of the ten most cited authors on the list (representing 186 of the 938 papers) have links to ExonMobil-funded organizations. The tenth has co-authored several papers with Exxon-funded contributors. Anyone familiar with these kinds of lists ("More than 500 scientists dispute global warming" or "more Than 1000 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims") knows that if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Many familiar climate skeptic names appear over and over again.
Dr. Sherwood B Idso is the most cited author on the list, having authored or co-authored 67 of the papers. Idso is president of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, a think tank funded by ExxonMobil and the Sarah Scaife Foundation.
The second most cited is Dr. Patrick J. Michaels, a well-known climate sceptic who admits that around 40% of his funding comes from the oil industry.
When you really crunch the numbers, all you really find is a small echochamber of the same individuals who pop up on every denier list and petition around. James W. Prall at the University of Toronto has put together a fantastic analysis of the names that appear on these lists, and shows how most of them share funding ties to the oil industry.
Now a note on the most cited journals on this list. Articles from trade journal Energy and Environment are cited 137 times on the list. Energy and Environment is edited by Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen and Benny Peiser. Numerous known climate skeptics sit on the editorial staff including Sallie Baliunas, Patrick Michaels, Ross McKitrick, and Richard Lindzen. The journal has become a go-to resource for policymakers and politicians who are skeptical of the scientific consensus of climate change.
Michael Ashley of the University of New South Wales has described it as "the climate sceptic's journal of choice". The Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge is considered a key resource for establishing the credentials and influence of key academic journals. It does not list Energy and Environment.
A further 24 papers come from the journal Climate Research which is perhaps best known for publishing a 2003 paper by Sallie Baliunas and Willy Soon that received funding from the American Petroleum Institute. In response to the paper's publication, the editor in chief, Hans Von Storch, and five of ten members of the editorial board, resigned in protest.
Let's contrast this "900+ list" with the real facts. Expert Credibility in Climate Change, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examines over 2,400 climate scientists and authors who have signed public statements on climate change. Their research says that 97–98% of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field believe that global warming is happening, and that we must respond to it.
A note to deniers: if you keep publishing these lists, we'll keep debunking them. Long lists might look convincing, but they're no substitute for research that is free of fossil fuel industry bias and is taken seriously by the scientific community.
*Updated: Peiser is listed as one of the global warming 'experts' by the Heartland Institute, but does not work there.
Image Credit: Prospect Magazine
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
Amazing that you should quote
Amazing that you should quote the "survey" Expert Credibility in Climate Change. This ridiculous piece of trash is only of use in instructing students how NOT to conduct a survey, its results have zero validity. Have you actually had a look at the selection criteria these clowns used, or th questions they asked? - they were so vague 97 percent of skeptics would have agreed. And they chose to report only those who called THEMSELVES "climate scientists", without any check whatever on their qualifications, publications or anything else.
There are debunkings of this garbage all over the web, perhaps you should check them out before ruining your own credibility. You could start here http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/08/05/expert-embarrassment-in-climate-change/
Bam replied on Permalink
Oh, that's right, 97% of the
Oh, that's right, 97% of the skeptics would have agreed that it is warming and that it is greenhouse gases that are responsible. Yes? Gee, that certainly does not seem to fit with the Wattsians, where it is anything BUT greenhouse gases that must be responsible for any temperature increase (if there even has been any, of course).
Even funnier is that the survey you attack actually went AT LENGTH into the question of publications and qualifications. It's in fact exactly the number of publications on climate science that resulted in the conclusion that climate science experts mostly agree.
How can you get it so wrong? Ah, there's the rub that makes Peter Wilson manage to confuse things completely and utterly.
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
Due to the inability of the
Due to the inability of the students who did this "research" to use Google Scholar properly, their assessment of qualifications was, like everything else in the paper, worthless.
And the questions were, basically, has the world warmed (of course it has, since the little ice age), and is mankind contributing SIGNIFICANTLY to this warming. Many skeptics, myself included, think man is contributing one way or another - not just through CO2 emissions- and many would consider that contribution significant.OK, maybe not quite 97 percent, but plenty. The questions simply fail to distinguish skeptics from believers.
Utterly worthless, you embarrass yourself trying to defend it
Bam replied on Permalink
The use of Google Scholar WAS
The use of Google Scholar WAS proper. There has already been plenty of research that shows Google Scholar generally finds more than other databases, and even if it contains overcounting, this is almost always proportional. Of course, quite a few of the 'skeptics' got themselves a few climate-related papers exactly because Google Scholar was used. Several other databases would not have found all those papers in Energy & Environment…
And you might want to actually read the paper before you dismiss it with false claims. The inclusion criteria for CE were: "We defined CE researchers as those who signed statements broadly agreeing with or directly endorsing the primary tenets of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report that it is "very likely" that anthropogenic greenhouse gases have been responsible for "most" of the "unequivocal" warming of the Earth's average global temperature in the second half of the 20th century (3). We compiled these CE researchers comprehensively from the lists of IPCC AR4 Working Group I Contributors and four prominent scientific statements endorsing the IPCC."
Next your telling us you are actually endorsing the IPCC, Peter Wilson?
Oh no it wasn't. That paper
Oh no it wasn't. That paper was completely bogus and as Google Scholar illiterate as the so called "analysis" at Skeptical Science.
Google Scholar illiteracy in the PNAS
Google scholar does find more erroneous results.
If you believe it to be accurate, please provide the reproducible method that obtained 724 results for Phil Jones.
Bam replied on Permalink
Overinflation is for both sides. If you use any other database, the proportions don't change appreciably.
Your claim is incorrect as
Your claim is incorrect as both sides are not being "evaluated". Regardless no meaningful conclusion can be reached using Google Scholar search results due to the inability to properly verify the results to remove the erroneous ones.
Using another database would run in to similar problems already mentioned,
(a) Any search for the search phrase "climate change" or "global warming" would not mean explicit endorsement of "Anthropogenic Global Warming" theory. Explicit endorsement would require the inclusion of that phrase. However inclusion of this phrase can also mean criticism of the theory. The context of the phrase can only be determined by reading each and every result.
(b) Every single result needs to be checked that it is a peer-reviewed paper and not simply in a peer-reviewed journal. As these databases makes no distinction between non-peer-reviewed content that appears in peer-reviewed journals from peer-reviewed content.
Bam replied on Permalink
Funny, that point b of yours
…considering your list contains several non-peer reviewed papers (such as Editorials, Opinions, Commentaries, and such more)
There are a handful of
There are a handful of editorials which can be peer-reviewed.
Bam replied on Permalink
Editorials peer reviewed?
Only if you redefine peer review you might call some of them "peer reviewed", as in another Editor, or an Editorial assistant, reading the Editorial and clearing up some language. Unlike you, Poptech, I actually have direct experience with Editorial work for scientific journals.
You do not have direct
You do not have direct experience with the peer-review process of all scientific journals. If you can prove a paper on the list was not peer-reviewed let me know.
Bam replied on Permalink
YOU made the original claim,
YOU made the original claim, and hence have to provide the evidence.
I made the original claim
I made the original claim that papers on my list were not peer-reviewed but I counted them anyway? ROFLMAO!
Albatross replied on Permalink
Wilson, I think you meant to
Wilson, I think you meant to refer to yourself as a "skeptic", without those quotation marks you are not being honest to people here.
And again, this is about science and physics, not "beliefs", well, maybe for you it is…
JC replied on Permalink
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill has responded to this article: http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2011/4/18/desmog-and-facts.html
Albatross replied on Permalink
Bishop Hill is a non player
Bishop Hill is a non player in this. You guys take yourselves way, way too seriously.
Albatross replied on Permalink
Now here is a credible
Now here is a credible science site which has addressed this irrelevant list:
And I encourage everyone to note Andrews/poptechs behaviour on the ensuing thread when confronted with many inconvenient facts…..it finally died after 787 comments
That post was completely and
That post was completely and utterly destroyed,
Google Scholar Illiteracy at Skeptical Science
Please provide the 1001 result for any of Rob's Google Scholar searches.
Rob Honeycutt replied on Permalink
You still dont get it do you,
You still dont get it do you, Andrew. This is beyond amazement. Its not a matter of providing the detailed results. Its just a matter of establishing a statistically significant sampling that represents the sheer size of the denominator.
Youre trying to quibble that all the grains of sand on the beach havent been counted. Im saying, scoop up a cup of sand and make an estimate of how much sand there is.
PT, get used to it. Your list is flawed and meaningless.
Please provide the 1001
Please provide the 1001 result for any of your Google Scholar searches.
Grumpy Old Man replied on Permalink
Congratulations. I have
Congratulations. I have thought for years that there was something strange about Labour peers Baroness Nicholson,Lord Barnett and Lord Donoghue. You have confirmed my suspicions by outing them as Board Memebers of the right-wing libertarian- controlled GWPF. Definitely a scoop that will cause your name to resound round the blogosphere.
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
Just how is the GWPF right
Just how is the GWPF right wing? And how is being libertarian right wing anyway - as a card carrying libertarian, I hate conservatives almost as much as liberals (joke, I dont actually hate anyone for their political beliefs, unlike some around here). These are after all LABOUR peers, and Labour is not generally considered right wing.
Is it that GWPF actually takes notice of the science surrounding this issue that qualifies them as right wing? I think that must be it.
As for "outing" these guys, are you suggesting that their membership of the GWPF board is some secret, of which they are ashamed? I strongly doubt that!
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
Apart from the reference to
Apart from the reference to the PNAS paper, the author has failed to note ANY reason why the 900 papers on this list should not be considered part of the climate change debate. Not a single argument or fact is presented, just a series of innuendos based on who people work for, or are supposedly paid by. Of what relevance is that to their research or conclusions?
Of course, it might be enlightening to enquire where all the "climate specialists" you revere so much draw their incomes from - how many of them would have a paycheck at all if AGW disappeared as an issue? If you believe skeptics are so eager to sell their souls for money, what makes you think the ethical standards of climate scientists are so much better? (hint - since Climategate, we know they arent)
Clearly you are well out of actual arguments if this is the best you can do
Bam replied on Permalink
Peter Wilson, whether CO2 is causing climate change or not, this would not change anything for the work of the vast majority of climate scientists. How climate behaves, what impact climate change has, and what controls climate will always be important scientific questions, as they have an impact on our society.
Oh, and if you want something funny, read the Zeebe et al paper that is on the list. That paper has something you may think about:
Based on Zeebe's et al interpretation of the results, climate sensitivity is either MUUUUUCH higher than 3 degrees per doubling, or there is another amplification factor that can cause significant increases in warming, one that we have not identified for the PETM yet.
Yup, you read that right. Poptech managed to put a paper on there that actually suggests that climate sensitivity is either MUCH higher than most think, or that there are additional amplification factors (beyond those known for the enhanced greenhouse effect).
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
So if climate sensitivity is
So if climate sensitivity is as high as you claim, why are temperatures not increasing in step with the very large increases in co2 levels in the past 15 years? At some point, it is necessary, in science at least, to refer to the real world (that is, the one outside of computer models) to see if your hypothesis stacks up. Clearly this one is currently failing the test,and is well on the way to nullification.
And it is laughable that you have clearly misunderstood the point of the Zeebe paper. He uses a high sensitivity (the "accepted values" from the IPCC), but even using this he is unable to account for past warming periods by co2, implying other forces are at work, and are more improtant. The high sensitivity is not a claim, its an assumption, and it is unsupported by the results of the research. Check it out for yourself http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v2/n8/abs/ngeo578.html
Bam replied on Permalink
Dude, seriously?
If you calculate the expected rise from GHG alone over the last 15 years, you would indeed expect a larger increase in temperature. However, that is when you ignore any and all other influences, such as aerosols, as well as short-term natural variations. You'll need to look at short periods to come with this supposed claim of failing the test.
And Zeebe's point is not misunderstood by me, but clearly by you. The paper discusses ONE past warm period (the PETM), and based on THEIR analysis of the increase in CO2 (others have found larger increases), there isn't enough to explain the temperature increase even with the high climate sensitivity, indicating yet another factor also at play. If you make the claim CO2 has low climate sensitivity, good luck finding factors that have an even higher effect than those Zeebe et al already speculate.
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
Actually the correlation
Actually the correlation between co2 levels and temperature is very weak in the century timescale as well.
The fastest increase came in the early part of the twentieth century, when emissions were relatively minor. Just as co2 output did start to rise rapidly, in the late 1940s, temperatures entered a 30 year downtrend that lasted until the 1970s. There was then a 25 year period when both co2 and temperatures rose quite rapidly, until about 2000, since when there has been no trend whatever, despite rapidly rising co2 levels (although it is still warmer than the 90s, so you can keep saying "9 out of the 10 hottest years etc.." for ages yet, even if it starts cooling).
So by my count there has been one period of 25 years (approx 1975-2000) which had a high correlation between co2 emissions and temperature, out of last 110 years. And 85 years during which the correlation was either weak or negative.
In other words, no significant correlation at all.
Bam replied on Permalink
Forgetting a lot of other factors...
…that's what you just did. Unlike some simplistic arguments from deniers, climate science does not take into account a single forcing only.
And please, that focus on short time periods is just plain silly, a Wattsian-type argument.
Darren replied on Permalink
Dude Seriously?....
Please show me one point in geological history where CO2 increases preceded temperature increases. One time in history please. This has NEVER happened, but all of a sudden we must conclude that we are special in geological times. Bull cocky.
Pure and unadulterated speculation on anyone's part that concludes that CO2 is a principal driver of temperature. Temperature has been steady warming for the last 12,000 years since the last small ice age. At what point did this increases stop being nature forces and suddenly become AGW????
Use your brains everyone.
Bam replied on Permalink
Maybe it should tell you
Maybe it should tell you something that we are seeing a CO2 increase that precedes a temperature increase
And it stopped being only natural forces when we (yes, "we") started adding huge amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere
What people like you clearly do not understand is the concept of Milankovitch cycles, and the associated CO2 feedback in those cycles. 12,000 years ago the orbital changes of earth around the sun resulted in warming, which was exacerbated by natural CO2 release due to that warming. Without that natural CO2 release, the earth would have cooled much faster. But that stopped about 6,000 years ago. We are currently in a 'cooling' phase of the Milankovitch cycles, and the earth should thus be COOLING, not warming.
Use your brain, Darren, and try to learn something about Milankovitch cycles, CO2 feedback, and how the current period is completely anomalous.
Zeebe's paper, "Carbon
Zeebe's paper, "Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum warming" is included because up to 89% of the observed warming in the time period studied cannot be explained by CO2 forcing. The paper explicitly mentions that other forcings would have to account for the discrepancy,
"If the temperature reconstructions are correct, then …forcings other than atmospheric CO2 caused a major portion of the PETM warming."
Obviously for the skeptic argument it would be some other forcing not higher CO2 climate sensitivity.
Bam replied on Permalink
That 89%
is if you take the lowest climate sensitivity.
And yes, the 'skeptics' will just say "see, another forcing!" without telling us which one that could be. For the PETM it is obvious we are rather limited in our knowledge of the forcings at that time. For the present day, we are not nearly so unknowing.
And AGW proponents will
And AGW proponents will always claim a different CO2 forcing no matter what the evidence shows. That paper can clearly support skeptic arguments.
Rob Honeycutt replied on Permalink
matthu replied on Permalink
What's the difference?
This list is not fully exhaustive, but we would like to acknowledge
the support of the following funders (in alphabetical order):
British Council,
British Petroleum,
Broom's Barn Sugar Beet Research Centre,
Central Electricity Generating Board,
Centre for Environment,
Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS),
Commercial Union,
Commission of European Communities (CEC, often referred to now as
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC),
Department of Energy,
Department of the Environment (DETR, now DEFRA),
Department of Health,
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI),
Eastern Electricity,
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC),
Environment Agency,
Forestry Commission,
Greenpeace International,
International Institute of Environmental Development (IIED),
Irish Electricity Supply Board,
KFA Germany,
Leverhulme Trust,
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF),
National Power,
National Rivers Authority,
Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC),
Norwich Union,
Nuclear Installations Inspectorate,
Overseas Development Administration (ODA),
Reinsurance Underwriters and Syndicates,
Royal Society,
Scientific Consultants,
Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC),
Scottish and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research,
Stockholm Environment Agency,
Sultanate of Oman,
Tate and Lyle,
UK Met. Office,
UK Nirex Ltd.,
United Nations Environment Plan (UNEP),
United States Department of Energy,
United States Environmental Protection Agency,
Wolfson Foundation
and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
Thanks for that, matthu. In
Thanks for that, matthu. In case readers dont realise, this is a list of funders for Hadley Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. BP and Shell are among the more notable contributors.
Like our host says, there is "no substitute for research that is free of fossil fuel industry bias"
Hoist by their own petard…
Albatross replied on Permalink
Nope, Because you guys have
Because you guys have failed to note for what purpose those funds were used. They were not used in an orchestrated disinformation and anti-science campaign for goodness sakes. One only has to go to the CRU to expose the "skeptics" cherry-picking, failing to provide context and distorting the facts, again– you guys are truly shameless:
"From the late 1970s through to the collapse of oil prices in the late 1980s, CRU received a series of contracts from BP to provide data and advice concerning their exploration operations in the Arctic marginal seas. Working closely with BP's Cold Regions Group, CRU staff developed a set of detailed sea-ice atlases, covering estimates of data quality and climate variability as well as standard climatological means, and a series of reports on specific issues, such as navigation capabilities through the Canadian Archipelago." http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/about/history/
While you have failed on
While you have failed on every level,
Prove that the list is dominated by scientists who actually receive money from fossil fuel companies. That has not been done here. It is falsely implied that if a scientist went to a meeting for coffee and donuts hosted by an organization that in the last 20 years received a $5 donation from a fossil fuel company unrelated to science that scientist is now "funded by the fossil fuel industry". Please provide actual documents irrefutably demonstrating direct fossil fuel company funding.
Then prove that the few scientists on the list who have received small direct donations from energy companies over the last 20 years have received enough energy company funding to sustain all their research over this time period (make sure to divide by 20).
Finally prove that a single skeptical scientist changed their scientific position regarding AGW due to a monetary donation from anyone not just energy companies.
Albatross replied on Permalink
Come on Andrew, this is not a
Come on Andrew, this is not a court of law. Can you prove that smoking causes cancer? No. You are framing the argument in a ridiculous manner.
I am not the one making
I am not the one making libelous claims against respected and credentialed scientists. The burden of proof is on you and you have failed to remotely support your allegations.
Bam replied on Permalink
Actually, yes you have
For example, you claim that those making climate models are not "computer scientists", unlike yourself (denigrating climate modelers, many of which likely know much, much, much more about computers and coding than you do). You also smeared the realclimate folks (all legitimate scientists), as well as William Connolley, who you called a "propagandist". In fact, you smeared the realclimate people in essentially the same way (guilty by supposed association) you attack here when it comes to your apparent heroes. Hypocrite much, Andrew?
And that's just after 2 minutes of reading some of your stuff.
I have forgotten more about,
I have forgotten more about, computers, computer science and programming then all of them combined.
William Connelley is a proven propagandist,
How Wikipedia's green doctor rewrote 5,428 climate articles http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/12/18/370719.aspx
Bam replied on Permalink
Ah, the non-proof
William Connolley CORRECTED a lot of articles. That's not the same as a propagandist. Unless you are a believer and consider any facts that contradict your belief as "propaganda". I guess that does fit your profile…
And I see you decided to come with unsubstantiated claims to continue your libelous remarks. Why are you such a hypocrite, Andrew?
Only in your delusional mind.
Only in your delusional mind. Saying Dr. Singer believes in Martians is not correcting anything but intentionally spreading propaganda.
What I have stated is irrefutable.
Bam replied on Permalink
What you have stated is only
What you have stated is only irrefutable in your own ideological and illusionary world.
The claim you repeat comes from Lawrence Solomon, who is not a reliable source. He has made a lot of incorrect claims about William Connolley, which Connolley has refuted (there, used your own line of argumentation, let's see if you follow it for once). Of course, since you are supposedly so good at computer science, you would be able to refute much of what Solomon claims yourself. Heck, actually reading what the Wikipedia article on Singer (still!) states about Martians should get you thinking about the extreme spin Solomon has introduced. But I know you can't be bothered, because it would conflict with your ideology.
Solomon is unreliable but
Solomon is unreliable but Wikipedia is? You are a true computer illiterate. Please provide me with a PDF or even a legitimate citation for the quote in Wikipedia making that claim. Sad.
Bam replied on Permalink
LOL! The direct citation is
LOL! The direct citation is given in the Wikipedia article:
S.F. Singer, "More on the Moons of Mars", Astronautics, February 1960, American Astronautical Society, page 16
And you call me a computer illiterate…I guess we have now thoroughly debunked the myth that you actually know anything about scientific publishing or are even any more computer literate than the average person here, considering your inability to find the citation in the Wikipedia article.
Please provide an actual copy
Please provide an actual copy of that article so it can be reviewed.
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
So when an alarmist outfit
So when an alarmist outfit gets funds from Big Oil, thats all fine, but if a skeptic once worked for a thinktank which once got a few dollars from Exxon (they only ever give a very few dollars alas), their work is tainted forever?
Why should it matter what CRU used the money for, the whole point of this post is the proposition that ANY connection with industry funding is enough, in your eyes, to destroy a skeptics credibility. Why should it be any different for alarmists?
No double standard here, move along now.
Peter Wilson replied on Permalink
I am also bemused by the
I am also bemused by the assertion that "Many familiar climate skeptic names appear over and over again"
Indeed they do. Have you had a look at the citations in the AR4? A few names keep popping up there too. Strangely enough, the very same names that appeared so prominently in the Climategate scandal.
Perhaps you should remove the mote fro your own eye…


text:
NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR TAX DEED Notice is hereby given that COUNTY OF ST JOHNS, holder of tax certificate No. 863 issued May 24, 2000, has filed same in my office and has made application for a tax deed to be issued thereon. Said certificate embraces the following described property in the County of St. Johns, State of Florida, to-wit: PARCEL NUMBER 049370-0000 SEC 33 TWP 09 RGE 28 1-106 (12) ESTES & ERWIN SUBD PART OF W 21/2 ACRES OF SW 1/4 OF LOT 10 (EX PART IN OR 1/607) OR953/1080 The assessment of the said property under the said certificate issued was in the name of RUSSELL FENDERSON, HAROLD FENDERSON, SHIRLEY SIMON, DOROTHY ROBERTS, ROCHELLE SINGLETON, MARY ANN FENDERSON, RONNIE FENDERSON, & CALVIN FENDERSON. Unless said certificate shall be redeemed according to law, the property described therein will be sold to the highest bidder at the front door of the St. Johns County Judicial Building, 4010 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine, Florida, 32084, on MAY 10, 2006 at 12:00 o'clock noon. Dated this March 16, 2006. (OFFICIAL SEAL) Cheryl Strickland Clerk of Circuit Court of St. Johns County, Florida In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act persons needing a special accommodation to participate in this proceeding should contact the Clerk of Court at 4010 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine, FL 32095 no later than seven days prior to the sale date. Telephone: (904) 819-3657; 1-800-955-8771 (TDD) or 1-800-955-8770 (V), via Florida Relay Service. L921-6 Apr 5, 12, 19, 26, 2006
Posted from 5-Apr-06 to 26-Apr-06
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us


text:
Marcia J. Degen, PhD, PE
Technical Services Manager
Virginia Department of Health
Lexington, VA 24450
Marcia Degen received a B.S. in Biology in 1980, a Masters in Environmental Sciences and Engineering in 1985, and her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering in 1992. All of her degrees were obtained from Virginia Tech. She received her license as a Virginia Professional Engineer in 1997.
Dr. Degen's Ph.D. research was in onsite wastewater disposal systems, specifically looking at the effect of several variables on the in-ground denitrification rate. While working on her doctorate, Dr. Degen worked closely with Dr. Ray Reneau to oversee the statewide research program in new technologies for onsite wastewater disposal systems.
Dr. Degen worked for several years in consulting and also taught at a local community college for 5 years. She joined DEQ as a water permit writer in 1992 where she wrote both VPDES and VPA permits. She also was a project engineer for the Virginia Revolving Loan Program for two years. She moved to VDH in 1999 where she became an area engineer in that Agency's Division of Wastewater Engineering. She was the responsible engineer for reviewing plans and specifications for sewage collection and treatment systems in her assigned area. The wastewater engineering program was moved to DEQ in 2003. In 2005, Ms. Degen was promoted to team leader and was the technical program coordinator for the Office of Wastewater Engineering.
While at DEQ, she served as DEQ's representative on the technical advisory board for VDH's Sewage Handling and Disposal Regulations and on the Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operation and Onsite Professionals. She also served as DEQ's representative to the VDH Engineering Design Review Panel and was the initial chairman of that panel.
Dr. Degen moved to VDH in 2009 to assume the role of Technical Services Administrator in the Division of Onsite Sewage and Water Services, Engineering, and the Marina Program.
In 2010 Dr. Degen was elected to the Virginia Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (VOWRA) Board. VOWRA is comprised of practitioners in the onsite industries including engineers, soil scientists, contractors, and operators. In 2011, Dr. Degen was reappointed to the Engineering Design Review Panel, this time as the VDH representative.
Dr. Degen is a current member of VOWRA and the Water Environment Federation.
Leadership Development Opportunities
As an engineer, I have been on the technical side of environmental issues for the bulk of my career. As I moved up to management, I found that consensus building is critical to the success of any initiatives that I engage in, whether they are within my own workgroup or across the state. The opportunity to participate in the CDC Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute was timely as I needed new skills to apply to my new job as state technical services manager for the onsite water and sewage division. I expected to learn some techniques on how to approach problems and maybe how to be a better leader, but what I got was a lot more.
I learned a number of skills on how to approach problems. One of the key skills was the concept of systems thinking. Within state government, we often see problems that continually resurface because a 'band-aid' type approach was used to quiet the problem for awhile. The systems thinking approach allows one to break down the issue into its component pieces to understand how the 'issue' functions, i.e., what causes it to occur.
Once you understand that, then you can begin to assess where changes can be enacted that can begin to affect the issue cycle in a positive way. By applying this concept to my leadership project, I hope to eliminate a long standing issue regarding the effectiveness of our General Approval process for small wastewater treatment units. Currently there is a fair amount of staff time expended evaluating the 'exceptions' and defending the status quo.
The tools used to assess our individual personality strengths and weaknesses were enlightening. In some cases I was not aware that I favored a particular type of personality so strongly, but after the sessions, it made sense that I did. The individual Development Plan (IDP) allowed me to evaluate my skills as a manager and as a consensus builder. I found some areas of weakness that I am working on and my IDP coach was very helpful in providing resources and tools to use to aid me in that task.
I expected to be taught leadership and management tools. What I didn't expect were the intangibles that I gained. I met a number of truly extraordinary people who are dedicated to their profession of environmental health. It gave me a better appreciation of the overall breadth of our field, the challenges facing the different regions, and a sense of pride at being a part of that larger community of environmental health professionals. In particular, the Team that I was on, #1, was a Team in the truest sense of the word. My fellow team members, Blaine Lyons, Richard Threatt and Kathleen MacVarish, along with my mentor, Tim Hatch, provided guidance and support throughout the process and were a joy to work with.


text:
Scared of the Y seam?? I remember seeing a thread or two about them a while ago...I think included in a block of the month project. I was curious if there was a descent visual explanation out there somewhere and did a search this morning. Gotta love youtube.
This first one goes quickly
The second is far more in depth, but the camera is a little shaky
but if you bear with it, I think you'll find it helpful.


text:
Need some help with this alder. Familiar with Common and Italian but this tree is puzzling me. Hybrid, Spaeth's?
Any help appreciated.
I think this might be the Grey Alder (Alnus incana).
Thank you, Martin.
I had considered Grey Alder but thought it looked a bit too shallowly toothed. Can incana show variation to this degree?
The honest answer is I don't know. I'm no expert, I just look in books. My book says of the Grey Alder, "Shoot red-brown above, olive beneath, orange lenticels, covered in grey, short, pubescence; pale shiny grey when older. Bud purple red, curved, 8mm on 2mm stalk. Leaves distant 4-5cm apart, ovate, sometimes nearly round, to 10 x 10cm on petiole 2.5 -3 (8)cm, 9-12 pairs of veins (or veins each side as they may be alternate), small lobules about the middle, sharply toothed, base of leaf entire; dull green above, greyish beneath, pubescent all over or later on veins alone. Deep green until falling in late November." In addition, the bark is described as, "deep grey," with older trees, "dull dark grey."
I look at your pictures and I see orange lenticels, tufts in leaf axils, sharp toothing, purple bud, 9-12 pairs of veins, lobules, and dull dark grey bark, all of which say Grey Alder. the only thing missing is the all over pubescence but it's hard to tell what, "later on veins alone," means in the context of your pictures. Other than that I don't see anything screaming No at me so I suggested it. But I repeat, I am no expert, particularly not with Alnus. It was a suggestion and I am happy for you to reject it if you have better or more up to date information.
It's certainly the best suggestion I've had so far but I'm still wondering about hybrid influence for this tree because of the shallow teeth/lobing.
Many thanks for your input, appreciated.


text:
THE Lennox Head community has been told it needs to raise at least $184,000 to relaunch its bowling club.
Hundreds of people attended a community meeting at the club at the club last week.
Chairman of the working committee Pip Carter said they were also trying to de-amalgamate from the Ramsgate RSL.
Ramsgate's entire board of directors resigned in December last year and an administrator will start on Monday.
Mr Carter said the Lennox bowlo committee would liaise closely with the administrator to work towards de-amalgamation.
A number of fundraising initiatives have been planned, including a Reaching for the Stars campaign, which will involve people making pledges or monthly donations.
Other possible fundraisers include Music Under the Stars at Williams Reserve, a dinner dance and telethon.
The club's first members' meeting will be held on February 6, although a location for the meeting has not yet been decided.
At that meeting, the members will elect the new seven-member committee, including a chair, vice chair, treasurer and secretary.
A website has been set up: savelennox bowlsclub.com.au.


text:
Long Term
2012 Subaru Impreza: North Carolina Mountains
As I got ready for a solo road trip into the mountains of North Carolina, I picked up the keys to the 2012 Subaru Impreza from AutoTrader.com's long term test fleet. Being an SUV-loving girl, I was curious as to how this little compact car would feel during the four hour drive to the mountains. I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised and I learned a very important lesson along the way.
There is certainly more good than bad in this car, and I'll start off with what left me wanting more:
I currently drive a sparsely appointed 2005 Toyota RAV4, but after driving our Long-Term 2013 Mazda CX-5, I have come to expect a little more from brand new cars. And so I was a little disappointed with the technology in the Impreza. It was a little more difficult than I expected to sync my iPhone through the Bluetooth connection, and the overall experience of using it was not nearly as seamless as in other cars. Each time I got in the car, I had to reconnect the Bluetooth to get my music playing, and with several stops along the drive, this was more work than I had hoped.
In fairness to our 2012 Subaru Impreza, it's priced at about $24,000 and our 2013 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring is closer to $30,000. Also, you can get the Impreza with navigation and satellite radio, but we opted not to get that on our car to help keep the price below $25,000
Overall, I got a respectable 32 miles per gallon. For such a small car, I was hoping for something closer to 35 or more, but considering that a decent portion of the drive was heading up mountain roads and that all Imprezas have all-wheel drive, 32 mpg seems reasonable.
Although the Impreza's tech failed to wow me, there is certainly plenty to love about this little car. Our next update will highlight the Impreza wagon's stronger points.


text:
A full room greeted ATU coaches at Western Sizzlin of Russellville as they provided updates on their teams at the second and final Green and Gold Club luncheon of the 2013-14 academic year.
The Green and Gold Club is the official booster organization for Arkansas Tech Athletics.
ATU head men's basketball coach Doug Karleskint and head women's basketball coach Dave Wilbers were among the speakers, and they both encouraged fans to come out to Tucker Coliseum on Thursday when the Wonder Boys and the Golden Suns host a Great American Conference doubleheader against the University of Arkansas-Monticello.
Game times are set for 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets ($5 adults/$3 children and senior citizens) will be available at the door. Those with a valid Arkansas Tech identification card will be admitted free of charge.
"We have lost a couple I felt like we should have won, but we also have three wins over nationally-ranked opponents," Karleskint said in summing up the season so far. "This has been maybe the most challenging schedule we've had since I've been here. The one thing we have to work on is consistency. I expect a very exciting next couple of months in our league."
Wilbers thanked those in attendance for not only their financial support of Tech Athletics, but also for their presence at events and encouraging words for Tech student-athletes.
ATU has won GAC regular season championships in men's and women's basketball in both of the first two seasons of the league's existence (2011-12 and 2012-13). The Wonder Boys were GAC Tournament champions in 2012 and GAC Tournament runners-up in 2013. The Golden Suns won the GAC Tournament in 2013.
ATU head tennis coach Abby Davis told Green and Gold Club members that her team is excited about pursuing a third consecutive regular season GAC title, but there is an even larger prize awaiting one conference team in the postseason.
"We are excited about the automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament for winning the GAC Tournament this year," Davis said. "We want to do exactly what our volleyball team did...go in there, run the table and go to regionals. We are looking forward to good things."
ATU head baseball coach Dave Dawson has led the Wonder Boys to four consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in their NCAA Division II era. He said that improvements to Tech Field, home of ATU baseball, over the past 18 months will help the program continue to grow and improve.
The Wonder Boys will open their 2014 baseball season by participating in a classic Feb. 1-4 at Minute Maid Park, home of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. Tech's first home baseball games of 2014 will be a four-game series at Tech Field against Missouri Western on Feb. 8-9.
Kristina McSweeney is preparing to begin her second season as head softball coach at ATU. The Golden Suns were picked to finish seventh in the GAC in 2013, but they far exceeded those expectations with a third-place finish and a 26-23 overall record.
The Golden Suns will begin their 2014 softball season by playing six games at the Southeastern Shootout in Durant, Okla., Feb. 7-10. The Suns' first home games are March 4.


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There is no doubt that the porn industry in America today is big business. Some estimates state that porn-related businesses rake in over $13 billion a year, and it doesn't appear as if that bubble will burst any time soon. With all of this money trading hands, several questions arise. First, where do the individuals who profit from these ventures, such as porn stars, put their money? Second, what kinds of risks are involved with dealing with these sorts of funds?
The answer to the first question is that at least some of the biggest stars in the adult entertainment industry kept their money with J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. That is, until recently. Several porn actors received notice last week that their accounts were being closed, which brings us back to question number two above.
Doing business with members of the adult entertainment industry does carry risks. First of all, there is a matter of reputation. While pornography has become more accepted by the mainstream in recent years, there can still be a connection between strip clubs, massage parlors or webcam businesses and matters such as human trafficking or money laundering.
On May 2 a spokesperson for J. P. Morgan Chase told The Wall Street Journal that there was "absolutely no effort to exit customers' accounts because of their affiliation" with the porn industry. However, its undeniable that there is the possibility of connections between these businesses and other, illegal dealings that the bank is allegedly trying to avoid. Distancing oneself from these types of businesses can often be a matter of avoiding the imputation of wrongdoing.
And the risks are not just reputational, there is also a financial risk involved in doing business with adult entertainment merchants. Often, individuals who spend money on this type of adult entertainment have a greater tendency to deny credit card charges, and banks do not want to be on the hook in these circumstances.
Since it does not appear that the porn juggernaut is slowing down anytime soon, banks should decide for certain what their policies will be in relation to adult entertainment and stick with those clear policies to avoid unnecessary risk.
For more on risk, check out the following:
Carrying your umbrella when navigating the cloud
10 crucial first steps for the chief compliance officer
SEC receives first conflict minerals report
Necessary FCPA due diligence for M&A transactions in emerging markets