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DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Syria said Sunday its troops intercepted anti-government rebels entering the country from neighboring Turkey as widespread fighting continued.
Meanwhile, Middle East Online reported Iran acknowledged for the first time it has elite forces present in Syria and Lebanon as "counselors."
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards told reporters in Tehran that members of the Quds Force are in the two countries, the news website said.
"A number of Quds Force members are present in Syria and Lebanon ... we provide [these countries] with counsel and advice, and transfer experience to them," Guards Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said.
"But it does not mean that we have a military presence there."
Iran has been backing the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in his 18-month battle against the rebels.
State-run Syrian radio and TV said among the many successes enjoyed by the army Saturday was an engagement near the Turkish border in Idleb province that sent the rebels fleeing back into Turkey.
Turkey is providing shelter to an estimated 80,000 Syrian refugees and has been worried about being dragged into the bloody Syrian civil war. Damascus has consistently blamed the rebellion on "terrorists" supported by hostile foreign powers.
Syrian radio said the military inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels in clashes across the country, but did not supply exact figures. The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it documented 154 deaths Sunday, including 12 children and eight women. Sixty-one deaths were in Damascus and the surrounding area and 41 in Aleppo, with the rest scattered through several cities. The tolls reported by both sides have not been independently confirmed.
The new U.N. envoy to Syria met Saturday with Assad in another attempt to ratchet the level of violence down. Assad told Lakhdar Brahimi his regime was committed to ending the conflict, but indicated foreign involvement in the process was not welcome.
"The success of the political work is linked to pressing the countries which fund and train the terrorists, confiscate weapons into Syria to stop such acts," the president said, according to a dispatch from the official SANA news agency.
Brahimi, who recently replaced Kofi Annan as the chief U.N. and Arab League representative in Syria, told reporters he was still in the process of sorting out the current views of all parties, including regional and international, CNN said.
"We will set the plan that we will follow after listening to all internal, regional and international parties, hoping that such a plan will manage to open channels towards ending the crisis, and will be also accompanied by a clear strategy," Brahimi said.
Middle East Online also said the United Nations said more than 2,000 schools in Syria have been damaged or destroyed, with hundreds more being used as shelters.


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|"O'Brien, Sue" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Does anyone know where I can order plastic page protector style slide holders that glass microscope slides can be placed into for storage? The type I am looking for would then be able to be placed into a 3-ring binder. The CAP used to send them with their PIP case slides, but no longer does so and I need to find some for the Pathologist to use. Vendor replies welcome. Thank-you all for your assistance. Sue O'Brien, Histology Supervisor Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital Cape May Court House, NJ e-mail: email@example.com <mailto:email@example.com> phone: 609-463-2449

subset: commoncrawl


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By Lisa Downey
Chocolate milk and blue skies kicked off stage one of the Tour of America's Dairyland presented by Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board on Thursday during the Shorewood Criterium Cycling Classic presented by Tim Hart DDS, Jesse Smith DDS, and Jerry Pearce, Rainbow Jersey Bicycles. Cari Higgins (Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12) and Ryan Freund (Verizon U-25-ABD) took out the opener and earned the first Holstein-patterned leader's jerseys of the 10-day omnium.
Carrie Cash (Team Vera Bradley) was the most aggressive rider during most of the women's race, which featured tremendous action on the front all day. The field sprinted every prime and chased down every sprint with few significant breakaways. In the end, it came down to an exciting field sprint with Higgins of Boulder, Colo. the first to cross the line, after her recent victory at the Minnesota Fixed Gear Classic. Taking the second step atop the podium, as her follow-up to an impressive showing at the Air Force Cycling Classic, was Sarah Caravella (BMW-Bianchi). In third was Kacey Manderfield (Cycle Loft).
With a men's field of 133 riders, from the gun it was a thrilling race marked by speeds topping 30 mph and massive primes. Kenda-GEARGRINDER was all over the front and animating the race all day. By lap five, there was a four-man break, which dropped to three men and a 15-second gap with three laps to go. By the final lap, the field was grupo compacto and headed for a bunch sprint.
On the final lap, it came down to Chad Hartley (Kenda) and Freund. Once Hartley took a look back at the 50-meter mark, Freund, who just started racing in 2008 and almost missed today's race because of his day job as a civil engineer, launched an attack for the win.
Freund took the top spot, followed by 2009 Tour of America's Dairyland overall champ Hartley and 2008 U.S. pro criterium champion Rahsaan Bahati (Bahati Foundation), who finished third after sneaking out of the field and heading to the line.
The Tour of America's Dairyland resumes on Friday at the Thiensville Fiddleheads Coffee Criterium before heading to Grafton on Saturday for the Giro d' Grafton, part of the USA CRITS series.
Quick results
Pro Men
- 1. Ryan Freund, Verizon U-25-ABD
- 2. Chad Hartley, Kenda-GEARGRINDER
- 3. Rahsaan Bahati, Bahati Foundation
Pro Women
- 1. Cari Higgins, Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12
- 2. Sarah Caravella, BMW-Bianchi
- 3. Kacey Manderfield, Cycle Loft


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She will teach a class on identifying, harvesting, cooking and eating common garden weeds at Common Ground Education Center on Feb. 18. The class will include which plants to eat or reject, tasty recipes and harvesting tips.
"I think people love the idea of getting back to nature and eating locally," she said. "And you can't eat more locally than right out of your back yard."
Luna tasted her first weed when she was 4 years old at her grandparents' dairy farm in Fond Du Lac, Wisc. — the place where she said she first grew close to nature.
The Great Depression had instilled in her grandparents an importance in autonomy, and they ate just about everything they grew, including weeds. In some ways, Luna follows in her grandparents' footsteps. But Silicon Valley is not Fond Du Lac.
"I'm not trying to live off the land," said Luna, who has 38 chickens, 90 fruit and nut trees, and a huge garden at her property outside San Jose. "I mean, realistically, I live in Silicon Valley. I do go to the supermarket but I also like to live more naturally and healthfully."
Luna has worked with gardens and plants for most of her life. She earned a self-made Bachelor of Science degree in plants and art from the University of Davis in 1975 and earned the title of master gardener in 1997 from the University of California Cooperative Extension. She is now a sustainable landscape designer at EarthCare Landscaping, which operates in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
Eating weeds isn't as strange as it sounds. She once went to an up-scale restaurant and ordered an expensive salad, which turned out to be mostly miner's lettuce.
"It just shows you can pay a lot for a really good salad you can just find growing in the shade under an oak tree," she said.
"Weed," she said, is a somewhat ambiguous name and can most simply be defined as a plant that grows where you don't want it to grow.
"If you don't like roses and they're in your garden, they're weeds," she said.
Not all plants that are commonly considered weeds are fit to eat. Oxalis, a common garden weed, is edible but must be consumed sparingly because it contains high levels of oxalic acid, which can damage the kidneys. On the other hand, some research suggests that the spiky milk thistle can help reverse some toxin-induced liver damage.
Luna said it's best to start out slowly, eating weeds in small portions, because even the edible ones can take more work to digest at first.
Some people might be turned off by the spiciness of peppercress or the bitter flavors of weeds such as dandelions, she said.
"Americans don't tend to like bitter flavors," she said. "They like sweet and salty."
But eating plants isn't dangerous for the informed grazer. Although, Luna said that it's best to stay away from plants with milky sap (except dandelions) because it usually indicates some kind of toxin. She also doesn't pick plants to eat from areas treated with herbicides or places that are near major roadways, because particulate matter from exhaust settles there.
The United States used 43 million pounds of herbicides and growth regulators for homes and gardens in 2007, according to a 2011 report by the Environmental Protection Agency. Luna prefers more natural approaches to weed control.
"I think they're going to regret the path they've taken with chemicals in the long term," Luna said. "I'd rather eat weeds than chemically treated vegetables."
Gardeners concerned with the presence of heavy metals or pesticide residue can test for them, but Luna said such tests are out of most peoples' prices ranges. However, she said some universities will test soil samples for fertility and nutrition for a relatively small fee.
Many herbicides used in the home and garden market have been declared innocuous to humans, but Luna prefers to avoid them, instead setting aside the time to weed gardens by hand.
"You're relaxing, getting sun and you're stretching," she said. "It's like gardening yoga."
Best of all, unlike more complex and involved gardening techniques, Luna said anyone can be a weed gardener.
"Even if you're a rotten gardener, you can still have a weed garden and eat out of it," she said.
For more Home and Real Estate news, visit www.paloaltoonline.com/real_estate.
15-minute Green Nest and Eggs
(from Deva Luna)
Gather 6 to 8 cups of wilds greens (mustard, mallow, young dandelion, chickweed, miner's lettuce).
Wash them and taste them raw to make sure they are not too bitter.
Place them in a frying pan with the lid on and steam them for one minute.
Using a spoon make a few 3-inch holes, or "nests," in the greens.
Break an egg into each hole and replace the cover. Within a minute or so, the whites will be cooked and the dish will be ready to eat.
Serve each green nest and egg on a slice of buttered toast.
What: Weed Appreciation Day!
When: 10:30 a.m. to noon, Feb. 18
Where: Common Ground Education Center, 559 College Ave., Palo Alto
Cost: $31
Info: www.commongroundpaloalto.org or 650-493-6072
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'Go-to man' in electric shop celebrates 50 years at University
From the March 30, 2009, Princeton Weekly Bulletin
At 8 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2008, electrician Renato (Ronnie) Carazzai walked into a room in the basement of Frick Laboratory and looked around. He had been in that room at the same hour on the morning of Nov. 17, 1958, to do some rewiring. It was the start of a 50-year career at Princeton.
For half a century, Carazzai has been the "high man" in Princeton's electric shop — climbing heights to change lightbulbs, hang signs and wire tents — and he has no plans to give up the role anytime soon.
"I just enjoy being here," said Carazzai, who is 73. "Every day it's a different location, different people. That's what makes longevity easy."
"Ronnie loves the University — his heart is all University," said electric shop foreman Ken Grayson, who has known Carazzai for 38 years. "He knows more ins and outs about the place than anybody else."
Carazzai was honored for his dedication to the University at the annual Service Recognition Luncheon on March 26. He was the first staff member since 2002 to be recognized for 50 years of service.
Hanging signs for 50 classes
Carazzai was born in Princeton and grew up on Leigh Avenue near what was then Princeton Hospital. After graduating from Princeton High School in 1955, he began doing construction work, helping to build St. Paul's Church on Nassau Street. But he wanted to find a position at the University, where his father and uncle had been groundskeepers. He was 22 when the electric shop, then located in the basement of McCosh Hall, offered him a job.
"When I started here we weren't permitted to wear dungarees," Carazzai said. "We had to wear khakis and a work shirt."
For the 1959 Commencement, Carazzai built the illuminated "Class of 1959" sign and climbed onto the roof of Nassau Hall to hang it. He's installed the sign at every Commencement since then, as well as changing the light bulbs hanging from the 82-foot-high ceilings in Jadwin Gymnasium and in the chapel. This spring he'll be hanging his 50th class sign for the class of 2009.
"If it's a high job I usually get it," Carazzai said. "(Heights) don't bother me."
Carazzai's years at Princeton and his uncanny memory for dates and other details make him the "go-to man" for the electric shop, said electrician Paul Canavera. "When we need to know something about the University, we go to Ronnie."
Carazzai remembers which restroom in Pyne Hall lost power during Opening Exercises in 1969 (the one in the sixth entryway on the second floor) and when the electric shop relocated to the MacMillan Building (it was February 1962).
It's an understatement to say he loves his work. He's at the shop every weekday by 6 a.m. — always the first person there, sipping a cup of tea — and he takes vacation days reluctantly, usually after some coaxing from his wife of 44 years, Peggy.
"I just enjoy coming to work. I look forward to Monday mornings," he said. "If I'm on vacation, by Thursday I'm looking forward to going back to work."
Once, he recalled, he arrived at the airport on a red-eye flight at 7 a.m. and was at the shop by 9.
His favorite times of the year also are the busiest times for the shop — Commencement, Reunions and the start of the academic year. During those times, Carazzai is called on to set up special equipment for events. For the rest of the year he performs maintenance on lights, wiring and outlets, and makes repairs in dorm rooms and offices. His face is well known throughout campus.
"Everyone knows Ronnie, and everyone loves him," said Breanna Olsen, a part-time administrative worker at the shop. "I learn a lot from Ronnie. He's shown me how to do a lot of things."
Over the years Carazzai has rubbed shoulders with many famous visitors to campus, among them U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, boxer Muhammad Ali, newscaster Tom Brokaw, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, and actress and Princeton alumna Brooke Shields. Of course, he also has been friendly with the four presidents that have been at the helm of Princeton during his tenure: Robert F. Goheen, William G. Bowen, Harold T. Shapiro and Shirley M. Tilghman.
When he isn't working, Carazzai enjoys his annual trip to Jamaica with his wife, as well as traveling to Italy and Mexico. He teaches marksmanship to youngsters at the Citizens' Rifle and Revolver Club in West Windsor, and he loves photography. He spends time with his four children, all of whom live nearby.
But despite all his hobbies, Carazzai is not interested in having more free time.
"My wife has finally stopped bugging me" about retiring, he said. "She's finally accepted that I'm not going to."
If Carazzai ever does decide to retire, his legacy will live on in light fixtures and outlets all over campus. Every time Carazzai does a repair or an installation, he inks the date and time of the job and his initials, "RRC." "They're everywhere," Canavera said.


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Discussion in 'College Tennis Talk' started by Kirijax, Dec 15, 2012.
Go Miami Hurricanes and ACC tennis!
I personally think the whole "U" thing is stupid...
Being a fan, I love it!
If anything it should be the "M"
The U will always be Miami. It is what it is! Go U!
Why is it a U? What does that mean?
It started back in the 70s when the school came up with the present logo for the team. There were so many UM schools that they wanted something different and that was how the U got started. It was reinforced with phrases like U Gotta Believe and such. Now when "The U" is mentioned, everyone thinks of Miami.
I still think its stupid...... Welcome to the University of University. Or Welcome to the University.... At Miami. Who comes up with that.... I would have done "The M".... And a stupid joke I found; Why is Miami's mascot a duck? Its like a walking PSA for what you should do on campus... And I know the mascot is an ibis... Gotta get your daily dose of messed up humor.
And there is a silent U at the beginning of Miami.... Its also invisible.
LOL. Thanks for your opinion. Go U!
Nice to see another Canes fan here!
Because of its party-centric, questionable academics, sometimes NCAA-violating football program (which was my only knowledge of Miami for years), I thought Miami was a second (or third)-rate state school - and all students were like Michael Irvin or others on the teams of yesteryear, the posse of guys who hung out with him, or the women he slept with.
But, I've since learned that it's a private school, and a pretty good school as well.
I mean, plenty of schools have those commercials during games that remind you of other aspects of the school, other than football. Miami probably does now, but back in their 80s heyday, I don't ever remember seeing anything like that. I figured the school was the South Beach club/bar scene transported to a campus setting plus football - and that's all.
US NEWS has Miami ranked as the highest school in Florida (no. 35 or something), public or private. The football image is so strong that he level of the school gets forgotten sometimes.
That's what I'm saying. I know other people who have had that wrong image of Miami as well.
As I said, I eventually learned that it's a very good (and private) university, but I, like others, for a long time had a perception of the school based entirely on the football program.
Anyway, this is about the Miami Hurricanes tennis teams. The women did good last year, making the Elite Eight in the NCAA and finishing at No. 9 in the team rankings. They might drop a bit this year with their top two players graduating. They'll have four freshmen and no seniors this year.
The guys were a wreck last year, falling to their lowest ranking in 30 years, ending up at No. 67. They were a young team with no seniors so with a year of experience, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a .500 ACC record and getting back into the top 40 and a NCAA appearance this year. That might be asking for too much yet though. But if the same continues this year, head coach Rincon may be in trouble.
2013 Spring Schedule
The Hurricanes released the men's schedule. They start with a double-header against Florida Gators and Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on January 19th!
Go Canes!
Looking forward to the team rankings tomorrow. With an all-time low finish of #67 last season, hoping for any kind of jump up. Since we haven't lost any seniors, it will be interesting.
Jan 3, Rankings
The ITA just released their first rankings of the year. The Miami men will be working from the bottom up. Team ranking is at No. 65 and there are zero players ranked in singles or doubles. For the women, they are at #9 with 3 players in the singles and one team in the doubles.
The guys have a LOT to prove this year.
Women's team opened their season with a very easy 7-0 win over Florida Atlantic! Illinois coming into town on Sunday.
The Hurricanes Women's team swept No. 24 Illinois 7-0 today in Miami. Very impressive!
The Canes' ladies team is competing in the Miami Spring Invite this weekend, Jan. 18-20. They will going up against players from #11 Texas, #14 Texas A&M and #26 Vanderbilt.
How do you think the men stack up against the Gators tomorrow?
You guys are going to slaughter us. I'll be happy with a 2-5 loss.
You should be happy
Flores at 5? He played 1 most of last season.
I was surprised by that too. But at this point, there is no clear No. 1 in the Canes' lineup except for seniority.
haha, well, I'm as happy as a 2-5 loss can make me. The 7-0 sweep of Bethune-Cookman made me a feel a little better.
Just a little. Good luck in the Kickoff.
Wilfredo Gonzalez is probably the Canes best player. But it would be smart to play him at 2 or 3 so he can get wins because like you said their is no #1 caliber player on this team.
The Miami Hurricanes' women's team won the Miami Spring Invite over 2nd place Vanderbilt, #rd place Texas and 4th place Texas A&M.
January 22 Team Rankings
Hurricanes men's team move up one spot to #64.
Women's team are tied at #9 with Alabama.
The Hurricane women's team swept Hawaii 7-0 today and will play Arizona State tomorrow for a spot in the tourney.
Hawaii Matches
The guys beat LA-Lafayette 4-3 after falling behind 0-2. Advance tomorrow to play Ohio State. The gals beat Arizona State 4-3 and advance to the nationals! Go Canes!
Miami won a total of 11 games on 5 courts vs Ohio State. Exception at court 3 where Flores was able to win a set.
Yep. Wasn't expecting much today. Good fight by Flores though. The guys have a ways to go to get back up to where they were. Still, a win against LA-Lafayette and a matchup with OSU was what I was hoping for this weekend so mission accomplished in a way.
Where do you think the men's program is going? Based on recruiting there isn't much upward mobility. I met the Miami team last year when they came to Clemson all super nice guys, one of the classiest teams and Coach Rincon is a good guy. But the only reason they will not be dead last in ACC this year is because of BC. And at a place like Miami, they should be much better.
I agree. Recruiting hasn't been too good the last couple of years. And last year was our worst year ever in the rankings. If we finish with a .500 record this year I'll be thrilled. Coach Rincon has had some good years but if he can't turn it around by next year, he might start feeling the heat.
Cold reality for the Canes men's team today but worst case senario they could have lost to LA-Lafayette and East Tennessee but they gutted out a win over LA-Lafayette and had the chance to meet one of the top teams in the nation so not all is lost. They have a lot of teams on their schedule that are ranked around them so it'll still be a fun season to watch.
Singles competition
1. Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Diego Soto (MIA) 6-0, 6-3
2. #1 Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Wilfredo Gonzales (MIA) 6-1, 6-2
3. Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Gabriel Flores (MIA) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(5)
4. #13 Connor Smith def. Victor Mauz (MIA) 6-2, 6-2
5. #30 Chris Diaz def. Marco Stancati (MIA) 6-1, 6-0
6. Hunter Callahan def. William Albanese (MIA) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Wilfredo Gonzales/Marco Stancati (MIA) vs. Devin McCarthy/Ille Van Engelen (OSU)
2. Blaz Rola/Connor Smith (OSU) def. Omar Aly/Gabriel Flores (MIA) 8-4
3. Peter Kobelt/Kevin Metka (OSU) def. Diego Soto/Henrique Tsukamoto (MIA) 8-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6, 5, 1,2, 4, 3)
Hurricane Aces
Miami will be at best 9 in the ACC. I can see them beating GT because even though the Ohio State result doesn't show it, Miami is better lower in the line-up and GT is very weak at 5 and 6.
I was impressed with Tsukamoto's ball striking when I saw him in person but he does have a lot of bad losses. I guess he can't put it together.
In the Jan. 30 rankings, the Hurricanes men's team move up 4 spot to No. 60, while the women stay at No. 9.
ITA Rankings
Go Miami ! I am a grad - class of 86. My nephew is there now and loves it.
Cool! The men's team is going through tough times but I have faith Coach Rincon can get it turned around. The women's team just might be very very good in a couple of years. Keep rooting for the Canes!
The Hurricane men's team defeated the Central Florida Knights 6-1 today at Coral Gables! The Canes (3-2) now face #50 Rice Owls on Sunday.
Miami-UCF Results
The Hurricanes women's team sweep North Florida to stay undefeated (5-0) and now head to the ITA Team Indoors! Go Canes!
The men's team beat #50 Rice for the first time since '07 today! After a close doubles point they took off of in the singles matches. Good win today. Now at 4-2 and will face LA-Lafayette again on Friday. Beat them in a close one in the ITA Kick-Off.
Feb, 5th rankings: the men's team move up 6 more spots to No. 54, and the women stay at No. 10.
Congrats to Diego Soto who won the ACC Player of the Week award!
The ITA put out the draw for the Team Indoors. The Hurricane women face #17 Nebraska in the first round and if they win that, they'll probably face top seed UCLA in the quarters. 1st round is noon Friday.
Draw and Preview
The women's team won a tough one against Nebraska 4-2. could have gone either way but these freshmen are tough. Facing UCLA tomorrow.
The Canes' men's team went up to Tampa and defeated the South Florida Bulls 5-2 for their 4th straight win. The Canes are now 6-2 for the season. Ranking should go up just a bit.
Tough loss for the Hurricanes today. Very close doubles point and then they lost the first 5 of 6 sets and couldn't climb back. UNF wins 5-2. They are 6-3 for the year.Got to bounce back against Texas Tech and New Mexico next weekend. Go Canes!
Separate names with a comma.


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This is a bit hard to identificate, I saw similar Idaea sp., but it seems the most similar, because of the color, markings and black spots.
06.06.2013 - Northeast Italy (Padua)
Idaea sylvestraria and I. obsoletaria are similar, but I think it is neither of those.
They have too many lines crossing the wings.
To me, it looks most like I. straminata / deversaria / aversata.
And of those, I think I. straminata is the best fit, based on pattern (which of course is somewhat variable in all these species).
In coming to that decision, I have considered the images on these pages, and the 'Similar Species' sections:
- http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Idaea_Straminata
- http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Idaea_Deversaria
- http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Idaea_Aversata
You will note that genital examination of the specimen ('Genitals' sections) would be helpful in making a firmer ID, but I presume that is not available to you.
All three species occur in Italy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_moths_of_Italy_(F-M)).
I agree with you, the I. straminata is the one most similar looking on the lepiforum.de links.
I can't control the genitalia, your info are enough for me, thank you very much!
Jolly good; glad to help.


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Rangers GM Jon Daniels thinks Josh Hamilton 'was affected' by home fans booing: 'He's human'
Rangers GM Jon Daniels joined Galloway and Co. on KESN-FM 103.3 last week to discuss the Rangers' off-season plans and their pursuit of Josh Hamilton. Here are some highlights:
On if he believes Josh Hamilton wants to be in Texas:
I'm taking them at face value when they say yes. I think Josh and (his wife) Katie and their four girls, they live here, they've got a house in the Metroplex, they've got a second place here in Texas locally, and I think they have roots here. I think they enjoy it here. At some point, they've got to consider all their options obviously, but they've been pretty consistent all along in saying they want to be here, and I'm taking them at face value.
On if the Rangers have had to bring themselves around on the idea of bringing Hamilton back:
I don't know that I've ever said anything other than, "We do want him back." I don't know that we've had to go back on that and adjust how we feel about it because I think we've been pretty consistent. … [Our disappointment] wasn't just on Josh. There were a lot of guys that didn't have great finishes to the year. We lost as many games as we did the last two or three weeks and we were just kind of flat as a club. Now, there were some at bats that Josh had and some things that happened that didn't look great, and I think the fans reacted to some of those. But I have a hard time solely evaluating the guy on that. I think you've got to look at the whole picture. That's part of it, but you've got to look at the whole picture.
On if Hamilton was hurt by home fans booing him:
I've texted with him a couple of times, but the last time I spoke with him was that night after the game. I hung out a little while afterward and I was walking through and saw him on the way out. I think he was affected by it – just getting booed at home is kind of unusual, especially given, when you step back and look, he had 40 [homers] and 120 [RBI] or whatever he had this year, to think he got booed at home at two different points in the season, actually. It's kind of unusual to think about, and I think some of that is because of the high expectations he set with his performances. He did have a year with a lot of highs and lows. The highs were ridiculously high, and some of the lows were probably equally so on the flip side. And the fans reacted to that and he's human.
On if he has a feeling for what type of interest Hamilton is getting in free agency:
The one thing I will say is some guys use the media a lot and play games in the media and put things out there on both sides – clubs and agents. Mike [Moye, Josh Hamilton's agent] doesn't do that usually and I don't think he's doing that now. He's been pretty consistently quiet on the topic, he hasn't really addressed it. It's collusion if we talk to other teams, so we don't do it, so I just have no idea.


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A's Duchscherer: Enjoying the game
Right-hander happy to be back after battling injury, depression
I missed all of last year due to elbow surgery and clinical depression. Even going back to 2008, when I made the All-Star team and got to go to Yankee Stadium, I remember being proud of the achievement but unable to really enjoy it. I just wasn't in the right place mentally.
But, going into the season this year, I feel I'm more aware of what's in front of me. I'm more appreciative of the game. I'm able to come to a big league stadium and feel what it's like to be here in a big league uniform.
Before I felt like I was going through the motions, just trying to get through stretches, but now my perspective has shifted from thinking of baseball as a job to thinking of baseball as a game. Earlier on in my career I had an impression that all Major Leaguers were supposed to be tough and unemotional. We were supposed to be like robots. I held up that façade as long as I could before I realized I was lying to myself. For me it became an unbearable burden.
Through talking with a psychologist, I realized I was human like everyone else. I have the same feelings, and I have the same struggles. Facing that head-on was the best thing I ever did. Now I'm not embarrassed to say I struggle a bit or get anxious for a game, and sometimes there's a little fear there. But, I don't have that fear of failure like I used to.
There was a lot of stuff going on in my life that led up to it. I was going through a divorce, and I have a 6-year-old boy who lives with his mom and who I don't get to see as much as I'd like. That would be stressful on anyone.
I avoided dealing with the situation and just pushed those emotions to the side. I tried to act like all that stuff didn't affect me. I found out that I had to change my mindset about life. I had to summon the strength to get through it by telling myself that it was OK and that I would get through it. Everyone struggles with things in his or her life. Those things may not be exactly what I was dealing with, but most people have difficulties to face.
I bought into the attitude that, as athletes, we were supposed to be superhuman. I finally came to realize that I wasn't superhuman. I figured out that just because I was wearing this uniform didn't mean I was immune to struggling with issues that everyone deals with. That really helped me get better and to the place where I am today.
When I first went public with the news of my depression, I had some fears and reservations. You never know how people are going to perceive you. I think I just got to the point where I was comfortable with myself. Whatever someone else had to say was what it was. I wasn't going to take anything personally. It doesn't affect me like it used to. I just worry about myself. I can't control what other people do or say. I just try to make myself and my game the best I can.
I've had a couple of people come up to me and say they read about my story and that it helped them or helped them help someone else they knew. To know that I may have helped someone makes me feel good about speaking up.
Needless to say, I'm excited to be back as part of a team. My velocity and arm strength aren't where I want them to be yet, but I appreciate just being here with my teammates and having fun. My teammates have really picked me up and made me feel like everything is OK.
Justin Duchscherer, who entered professional baseball as an eighth-round draft pick by the Red Sox in 1996, is 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA in his first three starts in 2010. The 32-year-old right-hander has pitched for Oakland since 2003.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Teachers Lesson Plans
New Ideas New Materials
This lesson plan provides an introduction to the work of certain American artists of the 1960s and 1970s whose work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.
New Ideas New Materials
This lesson plan introduces the concepts of Minimal art, "Process" art, and Conceptual art.
The artists featured challenged the traditional nature, function, and meaning of art.


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ok so Mable and Booboo (my two girls) are together more and more often these days while we're around (i'm still cautious of turning my back on them after round two of the great fight) and they're getting on well. Mable treats Booboo like an older sister, always following her and generally being like her... and this is going ok although sometimes i think Booboo justs wants to be left alone..the thing is Mable has started to mount Booboo!!! i was quite shocked when she first did it... is this a attempt at the dominance thing??? or have i got a lady lover???
Mable always grooms Booboo for a good few minutes and then shoves her head under Booboo's chin and demands a lick back, (expecting the favour to be returned i should think) but Booboo isn't that interested...after a bit of head pushing they chill out, but now the mounting has started i'm not sure what to do??? Booboo doesn't run off, in fact she seems quite confused. They have both been spayed for over 4 months now? i can't understand why Mable is doing this? anyone heard of this before?
Cheers x
Well things are going ok.... although i was a little concerned the first day we let them do 'it' that Booboo would start mounting Mable aswell, but she didn't - phew. Booboo lets Mable mount her, and when we can we pet Booboo to ensure she's not too freaked out. So far so good. Unfortunately it looks as though Mable falls into the 'continuous mounter' catergory...as we have to pull her off!
The first time Mable mounted Booboo she almost went right over the top of Booboo's head!! which was actually quite funny.
I do feel a little sorry for Booboo having to endure this 'behaviour' but she's taking it on the shoulders.... (quite literally almost hehehe)
i thought i would add a recent picture as i have just learnt how to add them to my posts! i know i'm a little slow... but i'm proud of myself x
Mable, Booboo and Sidney the snail


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LITTLE ROCK – A recently released nationwide scientific survey by Responsive Management shows that 79 percent of Americans 18 and older approve of hunting, up five percentage points from 74 percent in 2011. This marks the highest level of support for hunting since 1995, according to data compiled by Responsive Management.
Responsive Management has been tracking trends in public approval of hunting since 1995, which has remained generally consistent during this time: 73 percent in 1995, 75 percent in 2003, 78 percent in 2006, 74 percent in 2011, and now at 79 percent (see graph below). At 79 percent, approval is the highest since Responsive Management has tracked it. The reasons for this increase are still unclear, but it may be related to the recent increase in hunting and shooting participation that has occurred.
Since 2006, hunting participation has increased by 9 percent, according to the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. Meanwhile, shooting participation has increased by 18 percent since 2009 according to Responsive Management. Other studies on public opinion on hunting conducted by Responsive Management show that the strongest correlation with approval of hunting is knowing a hunter--over and above demographic variables or any other factor. With the increased number of hunters in the field and sport shooters at the range, it is possible that this increase is being reflected in support for hunting as well.
Overall, the most recent study found that more than half of Americans strongly approve of hunting (79 percent strongly or moderately approve). At the other end of the spectrum, 12 percent disapprove (strongly or moderately) of hunting. Another 9 percent gave a neutral answer.
Conducted in February 2013, the study surveyed 1,306 Americans 18 and older using random digit dialing and supplemental cell phone sampling. The sampling error is +/- 3.00 percentage points. The survey was the fifth in a series of surveys by Responsive Management to track trends in public approval of hunting.
Snowdens helped develop conservation easement concept
LITTLE ROCK – Conservation begins at ground level, and David Snowden Sr. and David Snowden Jr. can attest to this from first-hand experience.
In earlier years, they worked a farm near Scott owned by David Sr.'s stepfather. He also owned land south of Stuttgart in duck country. A 480-acre reservoir was built, the ducks came, and the Snowdens began a life of working for wildlife for the present and for the future. This duck club, Kingdom Come, has expanded to 3,500 acres and now includes a second reservoir of 420 acres.
The Snowdens are 2013 inductees into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame along with Randy Wilbourn of Little Rock and Mike Freeze of Keo. They will be honored at the Sept. 6 Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
David Sr. spent his early years in Memphis and became friends with Wallace Claypool and several other duck hunting enthusiasts. He learned and passed on to his son the values and essentials of conservation. David Jr., said, "We believe you should preserve and conserve the great places, but you have to leave them for the people who come along behind us."
The Snowdens have been active and instrumental in the Arkansas Nature Conservancy. David Jr. has been on the board of directors of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. They have helped create the conservation easement strategy that has been a key ingredient of several major wildlife projects in Arkansas and that holds promise of many more for the future.
A conservation easement is an agreement in which a landowner retains possession of land but allows an agency to manage it for wildlife. "Forever" is a major feature of conservation easements. Under the agreement, the land is not significantly altered, but it can be worked with improvements for wildlife. And it can be sold, but the conservation easement stays with it in perpetuity.
A conservation easement example is the Moro Big Pine project in south Arkansas. Potlatch, the timber company, owns the area, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, The Nature Conservancy and the Arkansas Forestry Commission joined together in 2006 to purchase a conservation easement to allow hunting and public access to 16,000 acres.
David Jr. said, "Sometimes it is hard for people to see conservation."
Another focus for the Snowdens is the development of shooting sports for young people in Arkansas. They have been with the Game and Fish Foundation in its aid to trapshooting and archery programs of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, both growing rapidly.
Coming along in conjunction with these activities is the Foundation's state-of-the-art shooting facility, under construction at Jacksonville in partnership with the city of Jacksonville.
David Sr. imparted to his son a love and appreciation of most forms of hunting, especially waterfowling. They also canoed on numerous streams all over Arkansas and saw the necessity of conservation on the state's waters as well as on its land.
David Snowden Sr. and his wife Judy have two children. David Snowden Jr. and his wife Terri also have two children.
The Outdoor Hall of Fame began in 1992 as a project of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation to recognize Arkansans' achievements in outdoor fields and to protect wildlife habitat.
For more information on the Outdoor Hall of Fame and tickets to the induction banquet, contact Steve Smith at 501-223-6396 or Wendy Henderson at 501-223-6468.
'Critter' license tags mean college for many students
LITTLE ROCK – You have seen them all over Arkansas, on highways, on city streets and on back roads. The special license plates with wildlife themes are highly popular.
Not on display on the vehicles is the benefit of these specialized licenses. This college year, nearly 200 Arkansas students will have a boost toward their college costs with the proceeds from the plates.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission launched the conservation license plate program in 2000, and they have resulted in about $14.8 million made available to college students pursing degrees in the conservation field.
The plates costs $35 in addition to regular state license fees. Of the $35, $10 is kept by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration for processing, and $25 goes to the AGFC's conservation scholarship program.
The conservation plates are sold through state revenue offices all over Arkansas and not through AGFC offices.
A purchaser can choose the current wildlife plate – a bald eagle for the 2013 calendar year – or one of the wildlife themed plates from previous years. Not all revenue offices have all of the past plates on hand, however.
Next year, the plates will feature a small animal for the first time, a fox or red squirrel.
Past conservation plates have depicted a deer (twice), mallard, hummingbird, ivory-billed woodpecker, elk, bear, turkey, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, crappie and black Lab retriever.
These conservation plates can be bought as gifts, too. These purchases can be made at AGFC offices, and the buyer will receive a gift certificate. The recipient can then take the certificate to a revenue office for the special plate of his or her choice.
Acres for Wildlife program helps improve environment
LITTLE ROCK – The quality of the environment in Arkansas is dependent upon decisions made by the many individuals who own and manage the land. Out of 33 million surface acres in the Arkansas, 29 million are under private ownership.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Turkey Program Coordinator Jason Honey says the agency's Acres for Wildlife program continues to target all wildlife species in the state, with special emphasis on wildlife species of greatest conservation concern in the state. "Landowners can play an important part in improving the habitat for wildlife in Arkansas by taking an active role in this program," Honey says.
Along with the native warm-season grass project, landowners can also compete for additional funds to cover costs associated with prescribed fire, herbicide application and travel corridor establishment. Both projects require at least five contiguous acres. Applications for the project must be received by Sept. 1 to compete for planting materials. Native warm-season grasses and forbs are primarily selected to provide nesting, brood-rearing and escape cover for quail and other grassland birds.
Most landowners and managers are interested in the environment and in wildlife, but they often forget to include such considerations in their management activities or they don't know what to do, Honey says. "In some cases, they unknowingly perform activities that are detrimental to wildlife and the environmental. The results of these facts have been a great, often needless, reduction of habitat for all kinds of wildlife," he explained.
The AFW program is intended to benefit all species of wildlife. It does not retire cropland or grazing land; neither does it open posted land to hunters. This is left entirely to the discretion of the landowner or tenant.
As an AFW cooperator (landowner), farmers and landowners can help Arkansas's wildlife and the environment by managing all or a portion of your land for wildlife. The AFW program creates additional habitat and encourages considerations for wildlife needs, in conjunction with good farming, livestock production and forestry practices on the entire farm.
Landowners enrolling in the AFW program have access to an AGFC private lands biologist who can offer specific wildlife management recommendations for the property along with advice for landowners regarding other state, federal and private programs offering financial and technical assistance. Many program opportunities offer cost-share assistance and other incentives to improve or create habitat on private lands across the state.
For more information on the programs, call Honey at 877-470-3650 or go to http://www.agfc.com/species/Pages/SpeciesConservationProgramsAAW.aspx.
AGFC stocks more than 790,000 fish during July
LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Game and Fish Commission crews stocked more than 790,000 fish in Arkansas lakes and rivers during July, according to Mark Oliver, chief of the Fisheries Division. The total stocking of fish weighed more than 119,600 pounds.
July stockings:
Abundant Life Lake, Saline County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Atkins Lake, Pope County, 23,230 fingerling Florida bass
Bishop Park Pond, Saline County, 400 catchable channel catfish
Boyle Park Pond, Pulaski County, 235 catchable channel catfish
Bragg Lake, Ouachita County, 400 yearling grass carp
Bull Shoals Lake, Boone County, 300,000 fingerling walleye
Cabot Community Pond, Lonoke County, 260 catchable channel catfish
Lake Calion, Union County, 760 yearling grass carp
Camden Fairview High School Pond, Ouachita County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Camp Joe Robinson Golf Course Pond, Pulaski County, 350 catchable channel catfish
Cane Creek State Park Pond, Lincoln County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Cherrywood Lake, Pulaski County, 210 catchable channel catfish
Lake Chicot, Chicot County, 23,900 fingerling Florida bass
Lake Conway, Faulkner County, 25,000 fingerling Florida bass
Craighead Forest Kids Pond, Craighead County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Entergy Park Lake, Garland County, 175 catchable channel catfish
Family Park Lake, Garland County, 455 catchable channel catfish
Friendship Trail Pond, Garland County, 12 yearling grass carp
Grandview Conservation Pond, Hempstead County, 200 catchable channel catfish
Judsonia City Park Lake, White County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Kiwanis Park, Pulaski County, 135 catchable channel catfish
Kline Park Pond, Johnson County, 200 catchable channel catfish
La Bellanine Lake, Benton County, 200 catchable channel catfish
Lester Sites Bois d Arc Lake, Hempstead County, 13,300 fingerling Florida bass
Little Red River, Cleburne and White Counties, 7,000 catchable rainbow trout
Mac Arthur Park Lake, Pulaski County, 1,500 catchable channel catfish
Mercer Bayou, Miller County, 130 yearling grass carp
Middlewestern District Pond, Conway County, 350 catchable channel catfish
Lake Millwood, Sevier County, 62,618 fingerling Florida bass
Mirror Lake, Stone County, 2,000 catchable rainbow trout
Nazarene Church Camp Lake, Polk County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Lake Norfork, Baxter County, 92,215 fingerling hybrid striped bass
Oasis Center Pond, Pulaski County, 150 catchable channel catfish
Ossie Louise Park Pond, Sebastian County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Lake Ouachita, Garland County, 250 catchable channel catfish
Lake Ouachita, Garland County, 4,541 fingerling Florida bass
Lake Ouachita, Montgomery County, 10,725 fingerling striped bass
Paradise Lake, Pulaski County, 155 catchable channel catfish
Prison Pond #1, Lee County, 200 catchable channel catfish
Sherwood City Pond, Pulaski County, 125 catchable channel catfish
Spring River, Fulton County, 12,540 catchable rainbow trout
Sunset Lake, Saline County, 250 catchable channel catfish
Triple S Pond, White County, 200 catchable channel catfish
War Memorial Park, Pulaski County, 125 catchable channel catfish
White River, Baxter, Izard, Marion and Stone Counties, 72,889 catchable rainbow trout
Willow Beach Park Lake, Pulaski County, 300 catchable channel catfish
Greers Ferry National Fish Hatchery
Little Red River, Cleburne County, 27,380 catchable rainbow trout
Norfork National Fish Hatchery
Beaver Tailwater, Carroll County, 10,530 catchable rainbow trout
Mirror Lake, Stone County, 1,505 catchable rainbow trout
Norfork River, Baxter County, 13,404 catchable rainbow trout
White River, Baxter, Izard, Marion and Stone Counties, 53,424 catchable rainbow trout
White River, Baxter, Izard and Stone Counties, 27,500 fingerling brown trout


text: He was running round hunting everything down, which he has done all season. He never looked liked scoring and didn't do much else besides that, which is the same as always. It was the type of selfless performance we needed on the night, but he can't be relied upon to get goals anymore.


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Intelligent Assistance has released The HD Survival Handbook for immediate digital download in pdf form. The book is designed to demystify the technologies and workflows associated with HD production and distribution.
"The biggest problem most people have with HD is confusion" says author and Intelligent Assistance CEO Philip Hodgetts. "Confusion about format, camera selection, post production workflow and HD distribution", he continued. The HD Survival Handbook was written to demystify the myriad of questions that arise when a video professional moves from working in the Standard Definition world up to the more complex world of High Definition.
From essential background information a video professional is expected to know, to summaries of the latest gear that would take you hours of research on the web, this handbook has it covered. The HD workflows area will help you avoid the pitfalls that have trapped so many others and be ready to meet your customers' demand for HD.
The book is lavishly illustrated and extensively researched. Each of the three sections (Production, Post Production and Distribution) is available for individual purchase and download, or the book can be purchased in one volume for just US $15.95. The HD Survival Handbook is available now from www.ProAppsTips.com. A full Table of Contents is available for download from the website and there are two free excerpts available.


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Hevea [10-Sep-2012, version 2.00, Mature]
A quite complete and fast LATEX to HTML translator written in Objective Caml.
Active-DVI [29-Aug-2011, version 1.10.0, Stable]
Active-DVI is a Unix-platform DVI previewer and a programmable presenter for slides written in LaTeX.
Bibtex2html [01-Jan-2004, version 0.69, Stable]
bibtex2html is a collection of tools for translating from BibTeX to HTML. They allow to produce, from a set of bibliography files in BibTeX format, a bibliography in HTML format.
Blahcaml [18-Feb-2010, version 2.0, Stable]
Blahcaml provides basic Ocaml bindings to the Blahtex library. Blahtex is written in C++, and aims at the conversion of TeX equations into MathML.
Bmktrans [15-Mar-2002, version 3.0, Stable]
Bookmark translator and pretty printer.
caml2html [26-Nov-2002, Stable]
A tool to create hilighted html pages from OCaml files (.ml, .mli, .mll and .mly).
CamlTemplate [31-May-2005, version 1.0, Stable]
A small template processor library for Objective Caml. It can be used to generate web pages, scripts, SQL queries, XML documents and other sorts of text files.
CCSS [11-Mar-2010, version 1.1, Stable]
CCSS is a preprocessor/pretty-printer for CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). It extends the CSS language with support for declaration of variables and basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). The programme is supposed to be used as a filter: it reads the CSS source from stdin and outputs its result on stdout.
GraphPS [31-May-2002, version 1.0, Stable]
GraphPS is an Objective Caml module that allows generating PostScript graphic. Its interface is almost identical to that of the Graphics module of the distribution, so that it is easy to switch.
HereDoc [09-Aug-2001, version 2000-12-20, Stable]
Syntactic sugar for text producing applications.
Highlight [28-Mar-2007, version 2.4.8, Stable]
Highlight converts source code to formatted text with syntax highlighting. Features include coloured output in HTML, XHTML, RTF, TeX, LaTeX and XML format; Support for 120+ programming languages; include 40 colour themes; platform independent; customizable and easy to use. OCaml is also supported.
htmlc [24-Sep-2009, version 2.21, Stable]
htmlc is used to produce regular HTML pages from source files that contain text fragments that require some computation to be written. Those text fragments can be for instance the last modification date of a page, or parts of HTML pages that must be systematically included in all the pages of an entire WEB site.
MLGraph [27-Sep-2002, Stable]
An Objective Caml library to produce PostScript images.
Sebib [19-Apr-2010, version 1.0.0, Stable]
Sebib means "S-Expressions for BIBliography", it provides a hackable Bibliographic References Management System.
Ant [19-Dec-2007, version 0.8, Beta]
Ant is not TeX. It is a typesetting system similar to TeX. The current version is written in Objective Caml.
Bibgrep [09-Feb-2004, version 0.51, Beta]
Bibgrep indexes and searches BibTex files for entries matching a given query. Its usage is similar to the command ``grep'' and the queries uses a Google-like syntax.
Camlhilight [18-Feb-2010, version 1.0, Beta]
Camlhighlight provides syntax highlighting and pretty-printing facilities for displaying code samples in Ocsigen applications. The library works by parsing the output of Highlight, a widely available application supporting the most common programming and markup languages.
CamlPDF [15-Mar-2010, version 0.5, Beta]
CamlPDF is a library for reading, writing and manipulating PDF files and data.
GikiWiki [17-Feb-2005, Beta]
GikiWiki is a minimalist wiki in OCaml.
Melt [24-Mar-2009, version 1.1.0, Beta]
Melt is a set of libraries and tools which allows you to program LaTeX documents using OCaml. This combines the typesetting power of LaTeX with the programming power of OCaml. It can be combined with Mlpost to include figures.
Mlpost [20-Apr-2010, version 0.8.0, Beta]
An Ocaml interface to MetaPost, a powerful software to draw pictures to be embedded in LaTeX documents.
OCamlTex [31-Jul-2006, version 0.6, Beta]
OCamlTeX is a combination of an OCaml script and LaTeX style file that, together, give the user the ability to define LaTeX macros in terms of OCaml code. Once defined, a OCaml macro becomes indistinguishable from any other LaTeX macro. OCamlTeX thereby combines LaTeX's typesetting power with OCaml's programmability.
Stog [20-Mar-2013, version 0.8.0, Beta]
Stog is a kind of Jekyll in OCaml: It is a static web site generator, able to handle blog posts as well as regular pages.
Development code
ML-Postscript [10-Aug-2001, Development code]
A library to produce PostScript documents.
Texexpand [29-Aug-2011, Development code]
This project contains an OCaml re-implementation of some popular utilities like texexpand and delatex that were commonplace in the late 1990s on all TeX/LaTeX user machines.


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NCUA Nominee's Long and Winding Road: Editor/Publisher's Column
Last week Credit Union Times, via CUTimes.com, broke the story that former Oregon Senator Rick Metsger was going to the be the White House's nominee to fill the vacant seat on the NCUA Board, later confirmed by the administration.
Metsger has a strong credit union background, which was a part of credit unions' wish list. From 1993 to 2001, Metsger served as a volunteer board member at Portland Teachers CU, now OnPoint Community CU with $3.3 billion in assets. He also has consulted for the Northwest Credit Union Association.
As an interesting historical note, CEO of the NWCUA Troy Stang made a go at the NCUA Board to replace Dennis Dollar but instead ended up at Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
Demonstrating his credit union bona fides long before this step in his political career, Metsger (then a state senator and partner in his public relations firm) wrote in a letter to the editor to Credit Union Times in 2004:
All credit union executives, volunteers and members must not rest on the laurels of victories past when confronting a political force that is determined to seriously alter or destroy the credit union movement. We must remember that the credit union story needs to be told over and over again, recognizing our unique structure and member service, lest we fall prey to the banker mantra that credit unions are "just like banks." As one who has worked hard in passing both national and state credit union legislation, I understand all too well that the next battle is just around the corner. The grassroots efforts of the 1990s must not rest in hibernation or we will all pay a very hefty price. Our story is a good one and it is critical that the very real issues that differentiate banks from credit unions be articulated at all levels of government. That time is now.
The current NCUA board members, who have their own political juice, seem to be welcoming him with open arms. "Rick will bring valuable perspectives to the NCUA Board, having served as a volunteer credit union board member as well as a state legislator. Chairman Debbie Matz said. Board Member Michael Fryzel stated, "It is an honor and privilege to serve and I wish him every success in his confirmation process." He may need all the best wishes he can garner. The process often turns into a grueling marathon.
Credit union leaders may or may not recall the name Gilbert Gonzalez, the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistant secretary who withdrew his name from consideration for the NCUA Board in November 2003 after months of waiting. He had been nominated to replace Dennis Dollar, who served more than a year beyond his term.
After that was when Stang's name first came up for the NCUA Board, as did former Federal Housing Finance Board Member Timothy O'Neill and then-Missouri Credit Union Association CEO Rosie Holub. This second round of vetting also took months and politics naturally played huge role in it. Rodney Hood eventually took the seat vacated by Dollar.
The initial application process is the same as any job but an atypical amount of political prowess is also required. A nomination must come from the White House and is sent to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee for a confirmation hearing. The committee then recommends yay or nay to the full Senate, which normally follows the committee's recommendation. But even prior to the nomination, a full FBI background check takes place, including financials and past employment.
Metsger, a Democrat, previously had two ethics charges against him brought by the Oregon Republican Party. The allegations were that he took income without claiming it and that he intentionally missed–and only missed–votes affecting his clients, one of which was the NWCUA, to avoid ethics disclosures.
The first was dismissed by the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission. I didn't find any conclusion to the second allegation prior to press time. These issues are what has been delved into and will continue to be.
The process also entails disclosing anything that could embarrass the president or the applicant. Previous nominee Carla Decker, CEO of DC Government Employees Credit Union, was pulled from the running after disclosure of the then-poor financial condition of the credit union. The mess led to the highly public ban of one of her board members accused of leaking confidential information regarding the credit union.
The nominee is also usually paired with another subject-related nominee from the other political party in a demonstration of fairness, efficiency and subliminal political threat. If I don't get my guy, you don't get your guy.
Who might Metsger be paired with? There's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau nominee Richard Cordray who appears in a permanent hold pattern by the Republicans. Remember, any one senator can stop anything.
The other option is to wait for Fryzel's board seat to expire in August, nominate a Republican and then switch the terms. The open seat vacated by Gigi Hyland only has about four years left on it. Fryzel's seat will have the full six years. Then the Democrats are assured a longer-serving board member even beyond President Obama's term.


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Recent News
Posted on: 12 April, 2013
Picnic, a play which won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, will be performed by students from the East Central University School of Fine Arts on April 18-20 at the Chalmers Herman Theatre inside the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.
Picnic is one of William Inge's most popular works, along with Bus Stop and Splendor in the Grass.
Posted on: 11 April, 2013
Chief Program Officer Kristen Cambell, of the Washington, D.C. based National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), will be the guest speaker at the 2013 Boswell Lecture on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at East Central University's Estep Multimedia Center in the Bill S. Cole University Center.
Posted on: 11 April, 2013
East Central University's Campus Initiative to Reduce Crime Against Women (CIRCAW) and Empowering You and Educating Students (EYES) will host a campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month event on Tuesday, April 16, at 7 p.m.
Posted on: 08 April, 2013
East Central University's Freshmen Academic Scholarship Enrollment is scheduled for April 13, 16, 17, 18 and 20.
Registration each day will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the Bill S. Cole University Center on the ECU campus. That will be followed by a welcome meeting and information on ECU's Tuition Lock Program, HigherOne Program, Honors Program, Disability Services, sECUre Success, ECU Bookstore and the enrollment process in the Estep Multi-Media Center inside the Bill S. Cole University Center.
Posted on: 08 April, 2013
A valued education can be obtained at East Central University and incoming freshmen from Pottawatomie County can receive help with a $500 fee waiver for the 2013-14 school term.
The fee waiver covers $250 each semester, beginning with the fall of 2013 and ending with the spring of 2014. This scholarship would be in addition to any other smaller waivers that may be offered by ECU.
Posted on: 08 April, 2013
The Second Annual Oklahoma Business Week Camp, hosted by East Central University, will be held June 2-7.
The camp is open to all high school students who will complete the ninth through 12th grades in the spring of 2013.
Posted on: 05 April, 2013
Tatiana Booth is a prime example of what a student can quickly achieve at East Central University and beyond. Booth, who came to ECU as a student-athlete, is developing into a teacher, coach and mentor. That was particularly the case to the students in the nearby Byng School District.
Posted on: 02 April, 2013
East Central University's Oklahoma Business Week was recently presented the Exceptional Program Award for Best Conference in the Great Plains Region of the Association for Continuing Higher Education.
Accepting the award on behalf of ECU, were Stacey Bolin, Oklahoma Business Week director and ECU instructor of computer science and business administration, and Charlee Lanis, coordinator of ECU's Community Education Program. The award was presented at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.


text:
For bean bags I made bunnies, bees, and a flower. I traced around a large (ish) circle... those little ceramic baking dishes I can't remember the name of is what I used.
EASTER project!!!!! Bean Bag Toss Game!
For bean bags I made bunnies, bees, and a flower. I traced around a large (ish) circle... those little ceramic baking dishes I can't remember the name of is what I used.
21 comments
- Erin said...
What a great idea for an Easter gift! I love the colors. :-)
- April 6, 2012 at 5:51 PM
- Nancy@OwensOlivia said...
We have one of these at snow cone place, and it is so much fun to play! My mom made one when I was child, and I remember all my friends loving it too.
- April 6, 2012 at 6:07 PM
- Bonnie and Trish @ Uncommon said...
This is seriously cute! how fun for any get together! ;)
bonnie @ uncommon
- April 7, 2012 at 9:14 PM
- Justine of SewCountryChick said...
Adorable ! Its so cute thinking of making it with my girls :)
- April 7, 2012 at 11:06 PM
- MiaB said...
I love how adorable and fun this project is!!! hmmm...you got me thinking on a project now :) Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Sharing Saturday. Hope to see you next week.
- April 8, 2012 at 5:40 PM
- Kristine Foley @ TheFoleyFam said...
I love it!! Thanks so much for linkin up! Sharing on my networks!
- April 9, 2012 at 12:59 AM
- Kristine Foley @ TheFoleyFam said...
P.S. Feel free to grab a featured button and get your brag on :)
- April 9, 2012 at 1:00 AM
- Polkadot-pretties said...
I currently have a "Craft, Create and Inspire" link party going on!!! I would love you to stop by and link up this lovely project...
Hope to see you there :)
Claire x
- April 9, 2012 at 2:50 AM
- Eva {Tales of the Scotts} said...
What a cute and fun idea!
- April 11, 2012 at 6:39 AM
- Erin @ Chronic Christian Crafter said...
What a wonderful idea for a gift! I absolutely LOVE it...I've been wanting to make something similar...yours is so cute! LOVE!!
- April 11, 2012 at 3:27 PM
- Six Sisters said...
This is a great idea! Thanks joining us and we hope you'll be back to our "Strut Your Stuff Saturday". We loved having you! -The Sisters
- April 11, 2012 at 6:50 PM
- Crafty Mischief said...
How fun! My kids would love this! It beats tossing bean bags in buckets, that's for sure! Thanks for sharing!
- April 12, 2012 at 12:01 AM
- Jelli said...
So cute! Love how you've decorated it! Thanks for sharing.
- April 12, 2012 at 2:52 AM
- Our Pinteresting Family said...
Such a cute project! I think I'm going to have to try it out. Megan
- April 12, 2012 at 6:41 AM
- Heather said...
This is so darling!!! Beautiful job!! :) Thank you for sharing! Newest follower. I would love for you to stop by my blog.
- April 12, 2012 at 2:00 PM
- Michelle @ Michelles Tasty Creations said...
This is such a great idea. I'm thinking Father's Day gifts with a different theme though.
I found you over on Sundae Scoop Link Party and I would love for you to share this and any other posts at my link party. http://www.michellestastycreations.blogspot.com.
- April 12, 2012 at 10:55 PM
- Polkadot-pretties said...
Thank you for linking up this fabulous project...
You are featured on this weeks post !!!!
Can't wait to see what you have been up to this week!!
This weeks linky party is now up !!
Claire x
- April 14, 2012 at 4:31 AM
- Jordan said...
I've always wanted to make a game for outside like this for my son, and you can totally change up the design, and make it for a boy.
I'm definitely trying this!
- April 14, 2012 at 2:39 PM
- King of $aving said...
Stopping by from the Creative Thursday Link Party! http://kingofsaving.com
- April 14, 2012 at 6:18 PM
- Onna said...
Cute! Looks like lots of fun! :]
- April 15, 2012 at 9:35 PM
- Jenny @ The NY Melrose Family said...
This is such a great idea! I love that the bean bags were Spring shapes. Thanks so much for sharing at Whimsy Wednesdays! I can't wait to see what you'll share tonight.
- April 17, 2012 at 8:31 AM


text: is gone, so we've set up one here if you wish to trade etc have a look here : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125949967458392 so we can continue to discuss exchange ideas etc without anyone getting in trouble or getting banned.. Just click and join the group. Oh and bring the polar bear pics with you!!! Remember people no for sale posts on here but we could maybe let the chaps know that it' be nice to have a UK & euro page that we can easilly look at.


text: Try to read my mind; I bet you can! To each his own; the difference is that I'm no troll, not ragging on your bad taste, lack of discernment and pathetic bad manners! I kid, I kid, Well, kinda, GFY BTW, after reading through all of your post; not a very good start with your membership here, IMO. We all get it; you don't like "Enterprise" now please go away and let the adults have a conversation.


text:
Print is still alive, but digital is the future
Below is a presentation I prepared for "Digital media and the Effect on the News Industry," a panel discussion I was asked to join on Wednesday evening. It was sponsored by East Dorset-based Green Mountain Academy or Lifelong Learning and hosted by Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester. Panelists in addition to me included Timothy McQuiston, editor of Vermont Business Magazine; Anne Galloway, editor of VTDigger.org; and Bill Densmore, consulting fellow for Reynolds Journalism Institute. The discussion was filmed and televised by GNAT-TV. Print isn't dead. But the way newspapers like the Bennington Banner deliver the news to the reader is changing and adapting to new technology.
Sure, you can buy the Banner in print. But you can also read it on our website, in our E-edition, or by accessing our iPhone and iPad apps. You have several options.
While newspapers' revenue from the print side of things is on the decline -- and that is the case for all traditional print media companies -- the sky's the limit for our digital products. In the next year or two, our parent company, Digital First Media, whose stable of newspapers includes the New Haven Register, the Denver Post and the San Jose Mercury News, projects revenue from the digital side to best the print revenue.
On the Digital First Media website, the company boasts more than 800 multi-platform products reach 61 million Americans each month across 18 states. Notice the absence of the word "newspapers" from that statement. Newspapers are a big part of it, I'm happy to say, but the traditional print products are only part of the big picture.
So how does that change the way we present the news to you, our reader?
Banner reporters cover news stories in roughly the same way as has always been done, via penned notes on paper, quotes recorded by tape recorder or iPhone voice recording app. But today a reporter -- or, better yet, let's call this person a multimedia journalist -- will likely also take a short video to enhance that story online, and perhaps a still photo or two to add to the print and online versions of it. These photos and video are put up on social media sites including Facebook and Twitter to reach a (possibly) global audience before the story has even been filed. The Banner and all DFM properties are now using a 45-second video platform called Tout to produce easy-to-make instantly-posted short video clips of most every story or as standalone media (these can be viewed on our Tout widget on Benningtonbanner.com). We also produce longer-form, edited videos to add to the website or social media. These measures weren't being done five years ago. Now they are the norm.
Additionally, a reporter might "crowd-source" a story idea or tip using social media as well. Readers' answers to Facebook polls such as "What do you do think about" whatever the national story of the day is may be included in our stories. Twitter can be used much the same way, though its reach is far shorter than Facebook's -- at least in the Bennington area.
The bottom line is we do not think about a news story as just a story for the next day's newspaper anymore. We think about how it can be presented visually to our readers, and how our video or photo or article might appeal to a much larger audience. We seek reaction to it immediately from a theoretically global audience.
In the words of John Paton, CEO of Digital First Media, in an April 2013 interview about the future of the company, the name Digital First Media "originally was to say very loudly -- in a headline kind of way -- that what we thought we did in newspapers, we had to change dramatically. And that, of course, meant digital first. And actually "digital first, print last." I wanted to hammer home that this idea about the Web as something else we do was ridiculous. The Web was and it should be what we do. Print is something else that we do, which happens -- at this moment in time -- to have almost all the revenue. But that's not going to be our future."
It's part of our future.
So, please keep reading -- in whatever format you prefer.
~Michelle Karas
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.