text:
CARACAS, Venezuela — Nothing shows the extent of Hugo Chavez's grip on power quite as clearly as his absence from his own inauguration on Thursday.
Venezuela gathered foreign allies and tens of thousands of exuberant supporters Thursday to celebrate a new term for a leader too ill to return home for a real swearing in.
In many ways, it looked like the sort of rally the president has staged scores of times throughout his 14 years in power: The leader's face beamed from shirts, signs and banners. Adoring followers danced and chanted in the streets to music blaring from speakers mounted on trucks. Nearly everyone wore red, the color of his Bolivarian Revolution movement, as the swelling crowd spilled from the main avenue onto side streets.
But this time, there was no Chavez on the balcony of Miraflores Palace.
It was the first time in Venezuela's history that a president has missed his inauguration, said Elias Pino Iturrieta, a prominent historian. As for the symbolic street rally, Pino said, "perhaps it's the first chapter of what they call Chavismo without Chavez."
Yet in the crowd outside the presidential palace, many insisted that Chavez was still present in their hearts, testifying to his success in forging a tight bond of identity with millions of poor Venezuelans.
The crowd chanted: "We are all Chavez!" Some wore paper cutouts of the yellow, blue and red presidential sash to show they were symbolically swearing in themselves in, in Chavez's place.
"A historic period of this second decade of the 21st century is starting, with our commander leading," said Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's designated successor.
The Venezuelan leader, normally at the center of national attention, is so ill following a fourth cancer surgery in Cuba that he has made no broadcast statement in more than a month, has not appeared in a single photo. Officials have not specified what sort of cancer he suffers or which hospital is treating him.
Yet the opposition, limping off of two recent electoral defeats, seems powerless to effectively challenge him, and critics see their impotence in the battle over his new inauguration as an example of how the president has been able to ignore the constitution at whim.
Despite opposition claims that the constitution demands a Jan. 10 inauguration, the pro-Chavez congress approved delaying the inauguration and the Supreme Court on Wednesday endorsed the postponement, saying the president could be sworn in before the court at a later date.
Opposition lawmaker Maria Corina Machado called that a "well-aimed coup against the Venezuelan Constitution" and echoed other critics' suspicions that foreign allies are influencing events in Venezuela: "It's being directed from Cuba, and by Cubans," she told The Associated Press.
Opposition leaders called for protests on Jan. 23, the anniversary of the of the country's last dictatorship in 1958.
But it is unclear how much support the opposition's complaints can generate amid an outpouring of public sympathy for the ailing president, and with Latin American neighbors either supporting the government's stance or reluctant to step into Venezuela's domestic affairs.
The government invited foreign leaders to add political weight to Thursday's event. Presidents Jose Mujica of Uruguay, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua arrived, and officials said officials for more than a dozen other nations were on hand.
Maduro hosted a televised meeting with visiting leaders to discuss the Chavez-launched program under which the OPEC nation provides fuel under preferential terms to allies.
Soldiers and police stood guard on street corners while hip-hop artists performed on stages set up along the avenue leading toward the presidential palace.
The mood was festive as Chavez's followers blew horns and held up posters reading: "Now with Chavez more than ever."
Many said they're holding out hope that the president might be able to return home alive eventually, though they also acknowledged he appears to face a difficult struggle.
"We came to show support, so he knows his nation is with him," said Anny Marquez, a secretary and voluntary member of a civilian militia that Chavez has built in recent years. "We're with him in the good times as well as the bad."
It was one of the largest rallies for Chavez in recent years. Public employees joined the president's supporters, and some arrived in government buses after traveling for hours across the country.
Chavez has undergone repeated surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments since June 2011 for an unspecified type of pelvic cancer. The government said in its last update on Monday that Chavez was in a "stable situation" while being treated for a severe respiratory infection.
Many in the crowd said they're praying for the president. Some wore felt hearts in the colors of Venezuela's flag pinned to their shirts, with pictures of Chavez pasted atop the hearts.
Yet even as Chavez's followers projected confidence in the resilience of their socialist movement, some acknowledged the possibility of changes ahead.
"Unfortunately Chavez can't be with us today," said teacher Marcelo Villegas. "But we the people represent Chavez. He is and always will be our leader."
Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez and Vivian Sequera contributed to this report.
Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap
Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker


text:
Funnyman Will Ferrell and tough guy actor Mark Wahlberg are set to star in a new action comedy flick, according to Variety.
The plot revolves around a pair of mismatched cops, Digital Spy reports.
Adam McKay is slated to direct the film. McKay is currently directing Ferrell in his Broadway show, "You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush" and worked with the SNL alum on "Talladega Nights" and "Step Brothers."
Chris Henchy will write the script, according to Digital Spy. Henchy is a co-executive producer with Wahlberg on the HBO series "Entourage". Henchy, also, wrote the script for Ferrell's upcoming movie, "Land of the Lost."
The movie was pitched to Sony and they loved it, according to Variety. The film is expected to have a buyer by the end of the week even though there is no script.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
" Brand: Nature Valley / Type: Snacks "
* Prices may differ from that shown
So the summer months have crept upon us and whilst I have been happily comfort eating every junk food under the sun during the winter months I realised all my clothes were feeling quite snug and wearing little fitted tops just wasn't an option! Also, when I took into account how much I was spending buying food at work I decided to cut down dramatically and bring food and snacks from home that would curb my urges and also a lot more purse friendly!
So wandering around Sainsburys as I do on the naughty chocolate and biscuit aisle I saw this box of Nature Valley Crunchy Oats & Honey Granola Bars. In all honesty, when I was younger I used to eat a bar of similar variety from the Jordan's brand but as I could not see them on the shelf I opted for this brand instead....how bad it could be?
- Packaging -
The bars come in a rectangular cardboard box which is a dark green and has a big picture of the bars lying flat and the jar of honey on the side (picture from DooYoo is slightly outdated!). Inside are 6 packets but each packet contains 2 bars so altogether there are 12 bars in the box. The packets are foil wrapped for long lasting freshness.
- About the Bars -
Nature Valley Oats and Honey Granola Bars are a light and crunchy granola mixed with oats and rolled in honey. These flavours compliment each other as you can get all the nutrition and fibre from the granola and oats with a nice flavour of the sweet honey. These granola bars are made from more than 50% wholegrain oats, so they're packed with whole grain goodness, for a satisfying energy boost that keeps you fuller for longer. (This is the box speaking!)
Each individual bar is full of natural fibre and contains only 198 calories. For those of you who like to count the calories and ensure a healthy intake (I don't I tend to eat whatever, whenever just try to eat the bad stuff in moderation!) this is good to know. In addition these bars are free from lactose, suitable for vegetarians and both Halal and Kosher certified, meaning almost everyone can eat them!
- Taste and texture -
The bars do have a nice flavour as I was expecting them to be quite bland. As a general view they do simply taste of oats and granola but the honey comes through but in a good way so as not to make it overly sweet so strikes a nice balance. I have eaten granola before and it has simply tasted like cardboard but these bars are much different in they can taste nice on their own without feeling like I am eating rabbit food!
My only downside with these bars is the texture and consistency isn't great. One bite and the entire bar seems to crumble apart so I don't take it out the packet when I eat them and usually just kinda eat the big blocks and then pour the crumbs into my hand or down my throat! So although it is described as a "bar" it really isn't to be consumed as a bar of chocolate as you are left with a big crummy, oaty mess everywhere...oops!
- How I ate mine -
I began eating mine for breakfast with an apple on the way to work and found these incredibly filling. I would eat my apple and this bar at around 9.30am and generally didn't feel peckish again until 12.30 which for me (as someone who is CONSTANTLY eating!) this is a long time! I was surprised at how full and satisfied I felt and I found the bars gave a lot of long, slow releasing energy which meant I didn't burn out and crave more food within half an hour and had energy to keep on the move or doing whatever errands I am up to that day.
As mentioned before, these bars crumble extremely easily so I decided to try something new and buy a big tub of natural greek yoghurt and pour some into a small container I have at home and then sprinkle this crumbled bar on top and took it to work to have for breakfast. This turned out to be lovely and filling and I was impressed. I don't normally like greek natural yoghurt as it is sooooo SOUR! However, the honey that is mixed in these bars overpowers the yogurt when these 2 are mixed together and I found this a lovely, light and healthy meal to start the day.
As a general I often carried a bar in my bag in case I got a bit peckish and these are amazing for just a quick snack throughout the day. I found them much more delicious and worked longer to suppress my hunger than eating a packet of crisps as I usually would!
- Price -
I am sad as I bought these at the price of £2.39 at which price I didn't complain but have now seen them in Sainsburys in offer for £1.59! I am off out today to pick up 2 boxes as these are so versatile and tasty I can't get enough of them! For £1.59 it is equivalent to around 26p for each packet of 2 granola bars so it is really amazing value for money :)
- Would I recommend? -
Oh most definitely! If anyone wants a nutritious snack which is filling, healthy and gives sustainable energy this is the one you want. I couldn't praise it enough and it is certainly going to be in my cupboard from now on :)
I always try and eat breakfast as not only is it the most important meal of the day I am always hungry in the mornings and do really enjoy eating breakfast. At the moment due to me starting work quite early in the mornings I have been opting to quick easy breakfast's such as cereal bars and one that I have discovered recently is the Nature Valley Granola Bars which come in a variety of flavours including Oats and Honey.
These Granola bars can be purchased in larger supermarkets and my last purchase was off a multi-pack containing 6 individually wrapped packs of the bars from Asda for £2.59. The multi-pack that I chose to purchase contains three different varieties, honey, maple syrup and ginger. I personally thought this was a great idea as it is nice to have a change to prevent getting bored from eating the same thing although this review will focus on the Oats and Honey flavoured bar. It is also possible to purchase these bars individually from some shops but they do work out more expensive to purchase in this way.
The granola bars come packed in green foil wrapper which contains two of the granola bars in each pack. On the front of the wrapper is the Nature Valley logo with a picture of the granola bars. It also states on the front that the pack contains two bars weighing 42g and that the pack contains 198 calories. On the back of the wrapper you can find ingredients listings, storage instructions and full nutritional information.
When you open the wrapper you will find the two granola bars inside, the are rectangular in shape and are quite flat. At first I didn't think the bars looked that appealing as they are a golden colour and look a little boring. But I proceeded to try them and was very pleasantly surprised. The bars are mainly made up of wholegrain rolled oats which are flavoured with honey and baked. The bars have a lovely crunchy texture and have a nice slightly caramelised, sweet taste. The closest that I can describe the taste is to that of hob nob biscuits, obviously this made them much tastier than I had originally anticipated them to taste like.
With the granola bars containing wholegrain oats they are designed to release energy slowly to enable u to feel fuller for longer. I tend to eat these around 9.00am for my breakfast and do find that they help keep my hunger at bay until lunch time so in my opinion they provide a tasty and adequate breakfast.
Overall I think these are great tasting granola bars that are perfect to eat on the go or if in a rush. They also make a great snack for any time of the day and with you getting two bars in a pack you can always eat one and save the other for later. I would certainly recommend these bars to anyone who has not yet tried them.
Being a person who doesn't like nuts, I find it hard to find a healthy snack bar that does not include nuts as one of its ingredients. Added to this, I also prefer oats to wheat, so when I saw Nature Valley Bars Oats and Honey I thought it would be good to give this brand a go.
The title suggests that this is a healthy snack bar and in fact does contain two slim bars within each wrapper. The bars themselves are not chunky, but are slim, thin, rectangles, resembling flat pieces of flapjack. The consistency is on the roughy and crispy side, which I actually like rather than being stodgy and thick. The taste is quite sweet which is obviously because of the honey. I actually thought when trying the bar that maybe two were put in each packet because you would need to eat two, although I was actually surprised upon finishing the first, that I didn't feel the need for the second bar, and saved it for later.
I find this one of the more pleasant tasting of the natural, healthy snacks as it is not too crammed full and over powering tasting, but I do feel they are a little over priced. I bought this at half price, but feel that at the full price (72p) it is quite expensive. Having said that, I will be buying more while they are still on offer as I did enjoy the taste.
I say it has no nuts, however the wrapper does state that it may contain traces of nuts. Which is ok for a nut hater like me, but if you have an allergy it's best to steer clear.
Feeling low on energy I nipped to the staff canteen to see what would be available as a snack and the box of these bars caught my eye I thought they sounded nice and decided to give them a try.
Cost and stockist
These bars are available from all the major supermarkets and for a box they cost approx £2.39 for 6 bars or individually I paid 49p
These bars are very sweet and you can taste the honey coming through, they are incredibly filling and I found that I couldn't eat one all in one go as it was quite dry so for me the packet contains two bars and one was plenty for a snack.
These bars are made with natural ingredients such as oats, brown sugar, and honey as well as nuts so unsuitable for allergy suffers as mentioned each packet contains two bars 42g in weight and is 190 calories and 0.5g in saturated fat.
I would defiantly buy these again they are a good snack bar and better for you than chocolate one packet would easily be a morning and afternoon snack so good value I would personally not pick the honey flavour again as I am not that keen on honey but would still pick this over a chocolate bar for a longer lasting snack that easily left me feeling full all afternoon.
I tried one of these a while ago because when a colleague was eating one as a mid-morning snack. Had it not have been for her, I probably wouldn't have tried these because of my assumptions about granola bars being bland or yucky. I'm glad I tried them because they're surprisingly tasty.
Nature Valley, part of General Mills corp, was first introduced back in 1975. I only became aware of them a year or two ago, and their popularity seems to have grown slightly recently. I trust the company to produce good quality products, and that what they've done with these bars.
Although they're perhaps not as well known as other similar style snacks, they are available in most supermarkets. They can be bought in a multipack of 6 for £2.14, which is fairly pricey. However, each bar is individually wrapped and contains two bars, so really you get 12 pieces. I think I've seen these sold individually, but they're quite hard to come across.
These are described as 'Crunchy Granola Bars with Honey'. They basically consist of baked rolled oats, which are glued together with honey. I'm a fan of oats, especially in flapjacks, so they appealed to me.
These also have their health benefits, which is probably the main reason most people buy them. Because they're made from wholegrain oats, they're high in fibre and so good for digestion and an energy boost from the carbohydrates.
The description was spot of with them being crunchy. The texture is crunchy without being too brittle, and then chewy as you munch your way through the oats. The honey adds a sweetness to the flavour, making them oaty yet delicious, so they're not too bland or dry as I first imagined they would be.
They're not really messy to eat either. When you think of oats you often think of soft baked oats, that are crumbly in flapjacks. But these are crunchy and golden, but still satisfying to eat.
Each 2 bar serving contains 194 calories and 6.8g of fat, which isn't bad for what is a fairly substantial snack. I personally find one bar to be enough at a time, but having them wrapped with 2 bars makes them great for taking to work, for lunch boxes, sharing etc.
These do contain gluten and soya, but they are suitable for Vegetarians. Nature Valley also do a few other varieties of these bars, such as maple syrup and roasted almond, but I'm happy enough to stick with the oats and honey.
These are nicely presented in foil wrappers, and make a perfect treat at the same time as being a healthy alternative to crisps, biscuits or chocolate. I would definitely recommend these as they are better than I had expected; crunchy and delicious :o)


text:
Conscientious Protests
–after Julio Cortazar
What a conscientious protest: marketing One A Day vitamins to death-row inmates,
performing a little Crip Walk when security wands the standing body like a barcode,
listening to the bald deputy bad-mouth his own root canal that hasn't happened yet.
What a conscientious protest: naming each bandoleer bullet after the cast of Soap:
Jimmy Baio lodged in a Basra watermelon, Diana Canova blew off a man's wrist in
Mosul, Billy Crystal jammed in the barrel and fell out of the muzzle looking like a nickel
run over by a combine harvester, Robert Guillaume killed two relatives hugging in
Karbala (through his back and out of hers), Richard Mulligan and Katherine Helmond
fired into the air together as a warning to nobody.
What a conscientious protest: making The Today Show explain itself as a concept,
justify its existence as a time passage in the Milky Way galaxy, codify its moment
in culture and divulge its intentions for providing baking tips, 5 easy steps to person-
alize refrigerator magnets, polarizing soccer moms with a well-placed kidnapping
statistic conducted specifically for one county in Kentucky, then cut to commercial
on an awkward boy holding a sign: "I came all the way from Nag Hammadi Library's
heresiology section to meet Willard Scott since I'm Mithra and I do whatever I want."
What a conscientious protest: Occupy Ebenezer Place in Wick, Caithness, Scotland,
credited as the shortest street in the world at 6 ft., 9 in. In boots and hoodie, my 6 ft.,
4 in. frame disrupts miserliness, auto and pedestrian traffic, Tuesday trash collection.
Jeffrey Hecker was born in 1977 in Norfolk, Virginia. A graduate of Old Dominion University, he's the author of Rumble Seat (San Francisco Bay Press, 2011) & the chapbook Hornbook (Horse Less Press, 2012). Recent work has appeared or forthcoming in La Reata Review, Mascara Literary Review, Atticus Review, La Fovea, The Waterhouse Review, Zocalo Public Square, The Burning Bush 2, Turtleneck Press, and LEVELER. He resides in Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia


text:
Results 1 to 5 of 5
Thread: Chase Sixer by LF????
Hybrid View
Chase Sixer by LF????
I tried the search feature no Luck,
Has anyone tried the chase? I got mine yesterday and went out last night and board is SUPER SLOW! I was wondering if anyone has tried diffrent fin setups on it, maybe cut out a little trial and error. You have to constantly pump to stay up with wave. It feels like the rear of board is litterally glued to the water.
Im running a 2011 LSV rear port locker and ski locker full Starboad empty six medium sizsed adults in the boat tried shifting some people to the front didnt make much diffrence in the pocket length running 9.8-10.5
Chase Sixer by LF????
Yep, I tried it and I thought it was super slow as well. Did you try removing fins? I didn't when I rode it. I have the custom quad and I removed the smaller fins in the back and it's pretty fast. Play with fin config...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2SOLD! 2011 Mobius LSV 325HP EFI
Digital Cruise Pro, Wakeplate, Kenwood KM550U and KCA-RC107MR x2, Kicker ZXM700.5, Kicker 6.5 Cabins, 10'' Kicker CompVT sub, Wetsounds SYN 4, Wetsounds REV10s, Wetsounds WS420Q, Gravity VI Surf Ballast, Acme 537
Board: '12 LF Harley (Monster) 139
Her Board: '11 Ronix Krush 128
Kids Board: '13 Ronix Vision 120
Skate: LF Faction 44
Surf: LF Custom Quad & XXX
Tow Rig:
2011 Toyota Tundra CrewMax TRD Magnetic Grey
3/1 Truxx Lift, and some other stuff...
watch this video for a few reasons:
1) it's one of the best surfing vids - the riding, the tune, the edit
2) watch how Chase is almost constantly pumping the board and driving down the line
3) watch the position of his feet. His rear foot is rarely ever at the back of the board. When he is just standing/cruising, his rear foot is at the front of the back traction and his weight is forward, driving the board
The Sixer is a tough board to ride for new & intermediate riders as it was designed by, and designed for, one of the best who also happens to be a very tall & lanky kid. It's not a board that you can sit back & cruise on all day.
08-02-2013, 12:31 AM #4Junior Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2012
- Location
- Pueblo, CO
- Posts
- 26
I rode this board last month with a pro from liquid force and he said you need your toes over the midline of the traction pad, feet wider than shoulde width, both feet closer to the nose than most other boards. You do have to pump the board a lot. Fun board thoughHauss66
2002 Möbius V
325 HP Indmar Assault
Rockfordfosgate Punch Amp
Liquid Audio speakers
08-02-2013, 03:22 PM #5Senior Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2010
- Location
- saskatchewan, canada
- Posts
- 331
my friend who got me into into the shred stiixx pro (which was called the hazen pro last year) also sells the sixer. He said it is just really hard to ride and slow if you are standing on the back. I guess that is why it is a pro model2005 Mobius LSV
Gravity IV (750s rear, 400 mid and 650 bow)
wakeplate, perfect pass,
Not sure what stereo I have, but I have 3 amps 2 subs 6 x 6.5 mids and tweets and 4 tower speakers ( 2 x 8 inch and 2 x 6.5 and tweets)
Fuel Injected
1433 acme prop


text:
Bernie keeping past glory in present
Not ready to let go, fan favorite visits Yankees in Tampa
By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
In his words, it was "awkward, to say the least."
"I miss it all the time," Williams explained Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, where he was on hand for the day as a guest instructor. "I mean, who wouldn't?"
Even now, four years removed from his final Major League season, Williams refuses to make any concessions. He will not acknowledge that his professional baseball career is over, saying instead that he's "70 percent musician, 30 percent player."
He still feels a part of things at the Spring Training complex where he spent every February and March for nearly two decades, walking in Wednesday and immediately greeting a carousel of players, clubhouse attendants and legends. He shook hands with Reggie Jackson, then turned to a group that had clustered around him.
"I wouldn't be here," Williams said, "if I didn't still have feelings for the team and the organization and the atmosphere."
This is the second successive year Williams has showed up at Yankees camp, after a brief period of reclusion following the end of his career. Last year, he arrived at Steinbrenner Field with a more specific purpose -- to train for the World Baseball Classic as a player for Puerto Rico.
This year, he is here for the nostalgia.
2010 Spring Training - Major League Baseball
News & Features
- AL Cy Young a choice between wins, stats
- Steinbrenner mum on Jeter timetable
- DeWitt cautiously optimistic Pujols will re-sign
- Those with strong rotations best suited for '11
- Selig, general managers discuss labor issues
Sights & Sounds
Spring Training Info
"This doesn't help," Williams said. "Coming here and saying hi to the guys obviously brings some of the old feelings back."
Last year didn't help, either. Working out with the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field, Williams spent his days convincing himself that he was still in Major League shape. When he ran sprints in the outfield, he was just a hair behind his old Yankees teammates. When he swung the bat, he could still hit.
Battling a quad injury, Williams had only seven plate appearances for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. But the time he spent training with the Yankees both tempted him and taunted him.
"That sort of gave me a lot of the old feelings back," Williams said, "knowing that I wasn't that far behind from them. I felt that I was going to get there as well."
Now, reality is beginning to creep into the brain of a player who turns 42 this summer. Though he continues to believe a comeback is possible, the window appears to be closing rather tightly.
Based on what he's heard from other players, Williams figures it should take about five years for him to truly put his old life behind him -- in essence, to finish grieving the loss of his baseball career, and perhaps to admit once and for all that he is indeed retired. He has nearly reached that threshold.
To speed things along, there is Williams' music career. Or, in his words, "the second half of my life."
"The key is trying to find something that can fill that void, as far as being competitive and being the best that you can be at something," Williams said. "And I think I found it in music."
His most recent album, the aptly named Moving Forward, features a collaboration with Bruce Springsteen and was nominated for a Latin Grammy. Williams began touring the country last summer and plans to do the same this April. Already, he has lined up a miniature tour in the tri-state area, featuring stops in northern New Jersey, Tarrytown, N.Y., and the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. And he is in talks to perform on Long Island, Buffalo, N.Y., and Toronto.
Substituting scales and arpeggios for outfield and batting practice, Williams leads a different life now. But a part of him still clings his old one.
Of those Yankees who were around for all four of the team's World Series championships at the turn of the century, only Williams and Paul O'Neill missed out on the team's 2009 title. And O'Neill ended his career much more cleanly, hanging it up after a productive 2001 season.
Williams left baseball only after declining a non-roster invitation to 2007 Spring Training, which almost assuredly would have resulted in big league job. It was a matter of pride back then, and even now, he dances around a possible return to the game. He wants to play. But those days are almost certainly finished.
Williams is beginning to come to peace with his new life as a musician. And he is even starting to embrace it.
"It's a lifelong journey for many people," Williams said. "I'm starting to catch up after 40 years of not doing it."
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Witt, who headed FEMA from 1993 through 2001, announced on a conference call that he was seeking the party's nomination for the 4th Congressional District. Witt served as Arkansas' emergency management director under Bill Clinton, who nominated Witt to head FEMA.
"I've spent my adult life bringing people together at the toughest times of their lives and dealing with disasters," Witt said. "Nowhere needs disaster relief more than Washington. No place needs to be brought together more than Congress."
Witt, 69, is the second Democrat to announce a bid for the 4th District, currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton. Cotton is running to oust Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, which will leave his congressional seat open next year. Janis Percefull, a community college instructor from Hot Springs, announced in July she also was running for the seat.
State House Majority Leader Bruce Westerman and Hot Springs businessman Tommy Moll are seeking the Republican nomination. Beth Anne Rankin, who won the party's nomination for the seat in 2010 and lost the GOP primary last year, announced Tuesday she would not run for the party's nomination next year.
State and national Democrats had been urging Witt to run for the seat, believing his candidacy would boost the party's chances of rebounding from recent Republican gains in Arkansas. The GOP swept all four of Arkansas' U.S. House seats in last year's election, and also won control of the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.
On Tuesday, Witt offered few specifics on what his platform would be for the seat, saying he planned a more formal campaign announcement later.
But he did say he would have voted against President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Republicans have made gains in Arkansas in recent years primarily by running against the president and the 2010 law.
"I think there's some changes that need to be made to that law, and I look forward to working to make those changes," said Witt, who declined to detail the changes he'd like to see.
Witt, however, praised the state's compromise plan to expand insurance coverage through the law by using federal Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance for thousands of low-income residents. Westerman was a vocal opponent of the plan in the Legislature, touted as an alternative to expanding Medicaid, and has said he'll push for its defunding when state lawmakers convene for next year's session.
Witt, a former Yell County judge, was credited with repairing the reputation of FEMA, which had suffered following the agency's response to Hurricane Andrew. He headed the agency during hundreds of high-profile disasters, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Republicans, however, were quick to criticize his lobbying firm's work since he left the agency. On Tuesday, they criticized the amount of money his firm made through a contract with the state of Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.
"The last thing hardworking Arkansas families need in Washington is just another self-serving politician like James Lee Witt," state GOP Chairman Doyle Webb said in a statement issued before Witt's announcement.
Witt defended his firm's work in Louisiana, saying its rates are approved by the federal government and are subject to auditing to make sure everything is billed appropriately.
The 4th District is one of two open U.S. House seats Democrats are hopeful they can reclaim in Arkansas, after Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin announced last month he wouldn't seek re-election to his 2nd Congressional District seat in 2014.


text:
Only last month Chris Young kicked off his Liquid Neon Tour. Now he's had to postpone some of the shows, as his doctor has placed him on vocal rest.
As he noted in a statement on his website, the rest period currently runs through this coming weekend, so he has had to postpone three shows: Dec. 6 in Huntsville, Alabama; Dec. 7 in Savannah, Georgia; and Dec. 8 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was scheduled to perform these dates with his Liquid Neon tourmates Thomas Rhett and Joanna Smith.
"I hate to disappoint everybody but my voice is pretty ragged out," Chris is quoted as saying. "Thanks for understanding and I look forward to seeing y'all next year."
Tickets for the postponed shows will be honored at the make-up dates. And for those unable to attend the rescheduled dates, refunds will be available.
Chris, however, is still currently scheduled to perform dates he has scheduled at a National Finals Rodeo event in Las Vegas on Dec. 11, at at Houston station KILT's Ten Man Jam on Dec. 12.
Chris is also still scheduled to present during tonight's live broadcast of the GRAMMY Nominations Concert on CBS (10pm ET/9pm CT).
Chris will then resume his Liquid Neon Tour in 2013.
– Kurt Wolff, CBS Local


text:
BROstock 2013
The biggest wake event/party returned to Lake of the BROzarks in 2013 and the festivities were bigger and better than ever! From day one's BRO/AM golf tournament at Tan-Tar-A-Resort, to the double up finals at Captain Ron's Pirate Cove, the conditions and vibes could not have been better!
Thousands of spectators came to Captain Ron's to tie up their boats and create one of the largest "party-flotillas" known to wakeboarding. While the crowd was rocking on the water and the party was raging on land at Ron's, the two day on-water event came down to one of the most competitive days of action at BROstock ever! The final six riders did their best to impress the crowd and take home some cash. Adam Fields, Danny Harf, Randall Harris, Steel Lafferty, Aaron Rathy, and Dean Smith were all blessed with some great conditions on the water and those in attendance were blessed with amazing performances from all six finalists! Even though the riders had all agreed prior to the semifinal round in the "spirit of BROstock" that they should split the pot (with the winner taking a bit more), the riders still wanted to go out and land their best tricks and claim the coveted title of BROstock champ!
Throughout the event, the Axis A22 served up some huge double ups, courtesy of BROfessional driver Gregg Necrason and the riders reaped the rewards of a smooth ride. In the end, Randall "Vandall" Harris made his return to BROstock a memorable one, as he booted off some GIANT double ups to take the title of 2013 BROstock Champion! With his signature "go big or go home" style, Randall narrowly defeated Aaron Rathy and Dean Smith. The podium came down to the Wrapped Nose Grab Toe Back 5 of Randall, the Wrapped Switch Indy 9 of Rathy, and the Indy Backside 7 of Dean. The judges had a lot to consider, but Randall¹s tech and AMPLITUDE put him on top of the podium with the big check in his hand!
Thanks to everyone that has helped make this event continue to get bigger and better… we hope to see you all next year when we return to the BROzarks!
Final Results
1. Randall Harris
2. Aaron Rathy
3. Dean Smith
4. Danny Harf
4. Adam Fields
4. Steel Lafferty
The world's best wakeboard contest is back! Liquid Force's world famous BROstock will be taking place June 6-8 at scenic Lake of the Ozarks "BROzarks", Mo. Fueled by Monster Energy, BROstock will feature twenty six of the world's best riders including Harley Clifford, Shane Bonifay, and Bob Soven competing in a double-up contest for over $30,000! Axis Wake Research, the official towboat of BROstock, will be pulling the world¹s best behind a new 2014 A22. Come and hang out with your favorite LF teamriders, pick up a pair of custom Spy Optic BROstock sunglasses, a limited edition New Era BRO cap, and have the time of your life... Come for the contest, stay for the party!
If you can't make it to BROstock, you can watch it via the following outlets:
Locally on channel is 24
Digital TV on station 108.17
Webcast live on BROstock.com
Catch all the action wherever you are!
Liquid Force's 2013 BROstock's partners include Monster Energy, Axis Wake Research, Spy Optic, GoPro, New Era Cap, and Alliance Wakeboard Magazine.
The format will be the same as in 2012, three rounds of riding, with each athlete getting two double-ups, and we¹ll take the best score into consideration... No trick can be scored more than once, so we¹re going to see some creativity!
The final will consist of the top five riders of the day!
Liquid Force is pleased to host the 2nd Annual BROstock Charity Golf Tournament and Auction at Tan Tar A Resort June 6th, 2013...
The tournament will kick off BROstock's weekend festivities in the BROzarks with 9-hole fun filled event. Three Joe's will be teamed up with one wakeboard Pro to complete four-somes. It's your opportunity to hang out with the same pro's competing in the wakeboard contest over the weekend! Each BROstock sponsor will have their own theme'd hole, so you know there will be plenty of fun to be had at each tee box! You'll have the chance to win a brand new Axis boat on hole #2 with a hole in one, so start practicing! The event is limited to 18 groups, first come first serve, so call your buddies and sign up today!
Registration is really easy, just call the pro-shop at (573)348-8535 or send an email with your info to firstname.lastname@example.com
The tournament will be followed up with a charity silent auction and dinner/awards at Tan Tar A resort. All kinds of amazing auction items will be up for bid including autographed LTD wakeboards, new Adams golf clubs, autographed sports memorabilia, etc, the list goes on! Bring your credit cards and be prepared to bid! All proceeds from the golf tournament and the charity auction will benefit the Coffman Bend Fire Association, which is the local volunteer fire department. See you on the links!
Cost: $80 per person
Golf Tournament Entry
BROstock Swag Bag
BROstock T-shirt
Dinner/Drinks at Auction


text:
We use cookies to optimise the design of our websites. By continuing your visit on the website, you consent to the use of cookies.
Mercedes-Benz Temple Fortune
Telephone: Sales: 0208 914 7315 After 0208 731 0200
We provide a full range of innovative finance and leasing packages as well as service products.
Watch now.
In this section you can find out which finance products
we have available at Mercedes-Benz Finance.


text:
We have a bad habit of starting games slow
**** yea carmelo
MELO GETTIN HIT IN THE DAMN HEAD!!! com'on refs wtf!!
The amount of no calls we get is pretty crazy right now. Hope this doesn't continue.
I am convinced Melo is being shafted by the refs.
What kind of effort was that Melo.....
Kidd needs to work with Felton on his entry passes to the post. He's constantly looking off Melo when he has a mismatch.
why dont we get any calls? far outtt
People thought I was just making excuses for Melo but I think everyone is starting to see what I see
This road trip has been tough....No calls, what else is new


text:
While driving down the highways, how many have I seen
Of Christian signs and banners–some pretty, some obscene.
And everywhere are fancy signs to make a Christian out of me
Like "Jesus–the Reason for the Season," or some such fantasy.
Mangers, Wise Men, Shepherds, a star above a feeding stall
Surround me like a blanket leaving hardly room to breathe at all.
Religious scenes on public lands outside of city halls,
Baby Jesus in the classrooms, bibles passed out in the malls,
Choke reason from the victims of this vast wide sticky net
Of pious talk upon our doors, our roads, and the Internet.
But let some atheists post one sign saying reason should prevail
Over the myth of Christmas, and you will hear the Fundies' wail
That atheists are not respectful, that they should die, leave, or go to jail.
And thus we learn the lesson, from what we see with solemn awe,
That they think Christians are the only ones protected under law.
Edwin Kagin
November 30, 2010


text:
[RELATED: Find out how to craft the perfect pitch at our April PR & Media Relations event in NYC.]
• Why do I care? Journalists are looking for stories that have an impact on their readers. At RH, we try to make that connection for journalists and explain why a journalist should care and how the story impacts their readers.
• Why now? A news story must have "today value" and it is our job to demonstrate urgency. Why should a reporter write about this today? If you are pitching a story about boating safety, it is unlikely that a reporter will be interested during a stormy week. Our team is consistently monitoring news cycles and looking for opportunities to tie our clients' news into them.
• How is this new? When I was a reporter, I cringed when someone would send an email and say, "I saw your story about X, you should write about my company too." This is not enough to entice a reporter to write another story on the same topic. Chances are if they covered it once, they won't write again unless you are offering something new. As a PR team it is our responsibility to look for a new angle and offer something that hasn't been done before.
• What can you offer? Reporters are busy and, like many industries, they are pressed to do more with less. When developing pitches, we outline what we can offer to bring the story to life, including things like visuals, subject matter expert interviews and compelling data. We work to make it clear to the reporter how our clients can be a resource for their story, making it as easy as possible for them.
Home | Social Media | Media Relations | Crisis | Marketing | Writing & Editing | Events | Training | Awards | Videos
Ragan.com | HealthCareCommunication.com | Ragan Consulting | RaganTraining.com | PR-University.com
About Us | Contributors | Contact Us | Host a PR Daily Event | Sponsorship | Custom Workshop | Custom Content
FAQ | RSS | Store | Privacy Policy | Site Map


text:
BBA art teacher Betsy Byrne Hubner set to retire
She has been at Burr and Burton Academy since 1988.
As both a teacher and department head, she has transformed the Visual Arts Department in the span of her 25 years of service to Burr and Burton Academy, having built a preeminent art program, and having sent many students into careers in the arts.
As both an artist and educator, Betsy credits her family's move to Vermont as "the spark to her artistic creativity."
Since that move, her colorful works have drawn extensively from Vermont's scenic surroundings and as well as her encounters with the many domestic and wild animals found in Vermont. Hubner's acrylic paintings have won statewide acclaim and have been exhibited extensively throughout New England.
She has won regional and state awards for her entries in both the "Horses of Manchester" community art project and the "Palettes of Vermont" competition.
Hubner has obtained several degrees, her latest being an MFA from the Art Institute at Lesley University, has been awarded many awards, honors, and fellowships such as a Fulbright Scholarship to Japan, the Rowland and Bigelow Funds grants at Burr and Burton, and the Robert Rauschenberg Fellowship in Washington.
She is distinguished as Vermont's first National Board Certified teacher and has been involved in setting national standards for what art teachers need to know and be able to do. Hubner is also a professor at Castleton State College.
At BBA she has organized and led international student art trips to Europe, started the AP art program, worked on service projects such as the Katrina "Chairitable" events fund-raiser for Salmen High School, in Louisiana, as well as many other programs.
Many of her students have won prestigious awards such as the Governor's Institute prize, and Hubner was also awarded the prestigious Governor's Forum for Transforming art education in Vermont.
Ms. Hubner will be having a retrospective show at the Southern Vermont Arts Center May 11 - June 23, 2013 with an opening reception on May 18 from 2 - 4 p.m.
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.


text:
Local Blogs
By Sierra Rhodes
Pajamas are badUploaded: Jul 17, 2013
There are certain things that children can get away with that adults just can't. Believing in Santa Claus, coloring big numbers as their math homework, asking 'why' 700 hundred times in a row without being murdered. In this next installment of Conversations With My 2-Year-Old we explore the not-wanting-to-wear-pajamas phenomenon, a fascinating trait of many little kids to refuse pajamas like pajamas are a plague sent to kill them for smearing ice cream all over their faces. Enjoy the viewing! I'll be sitting here worrying about my plans to eventually have children.


text:
In New York, Graphic Systems Group is aggressively pursuing the "de-coupling" trend.
As a co-founder and now president of Graphic Systems Group LLC (GSG, gsgnyc.com) in New York City, Ken Madsen has watched his company evolve from high-end photo re-toucher catering to the big advertising agencies to a full-service production house specializing in everything from Web design, product packaging, and outdoor displays, to graphics for retail spaces, and sets and props for national television shows. In the process, he's watched innovation and technology not only change the way his company does business, but also redefine just who the company does business for.
And, Madsen is quick to add, he doesn't want to be pigeon-holed as a print provider: "Sometimes when I talk to folks and I say, 'We do print,' they immediately think we have a 4-color and a 7-color press at our location here in New York and that we print magazines or brochures – but we don't," he explains. "We have the HP 10000 and the HP 9000, and we have a few Canons and Encads. We even have the facilities to do welding and building murals and mounting, and the people who do the support work before that phase. But that's just where we go with print. Today we are a 360 production house."
Perhaps it's semantics, or maybe it is Madsen's broader vision for the company that expands far beyond the scope of your typical print shop. But whatever you call his firm, GSG is a full-service provider – of print work and much, much more. He points to the company's organic evolution to underscore his point.
"In 1994, we were a Paintbox and high-end retouching company catering to the advertising agencies here on Madison Avenue, servicing those folks," Madsen says. "From there, we grew into large-format proofing and CMYK and display graphics, and from there, we dove into HTML, the dot-com world. Then we went into studio work, where we had mechanical artists who would take a lead design for an ad and modify it to fit different formats so we would have a complete workflow system that would help manage the assets."
That gradual progression was marked by steady growth – from about 60 employees in Manhattan in 1994 to more than 150 today – plus an office in London.


text:
9/10 Poor Trix Rabbit dude.
Mr Krabs: I'll go this way, Spongebob, you lead them that way.
Spongebob: I can lead?!? I've been waiting for this for so long! Now I can use my leader hat! And my lederhosen!
Squidward: *covers eyes with hands* Urgh.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


text:
(NNPA)—As many as 1.6 million responsible student loan borrowers could benefit from a new order that ties loan repayment to income and family size. Beginning September 30, an expanded option called Income Based Repayment (IBR) can reduce monthly loan payments. Coordinated with the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and the Secretary of Education, an online application enables borrowers to apply for the program directly instead of going through a loan servicer.
To be eligible for IBR, current borrower repayments must impose a "partial financial hardship," which occurs when the monthly payments under a Standard Repayment Plan with a 10-year period is more than the monthly payments required under an IBR for those same loans. In married households where both spouses have IBR-eligible student loans, the combined payments under a Standard Repayment Plan and under IBR are compared.
Loans eligible for the IBR are: Stafford, Grad Plus and Consolidation Loans made under either the Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan Program.
Several loans are ineligible for an IBR: private loans, federal loans in default, and parent Plus. Borrowers who want to determine if they are eligible for IBR can use the Department of Education's IBR calculator: http://rspnsb.li/OnQaBA.
Once approved, eligible borrowers could see their monthly repayments capped to no more than 10 percent of their discretionary income. Should household size or income change, the IBR option may not remain available.
To sign up for an IBR before September 30, interested borrowers will still need to contact their loan servicer, the company that receives monthly student loan payments. Borrowers uncertain as to who their servicer may be can enter information online at http://www.nslds.ed.gov to determine their servicer and also find out their loan balance and interest rates.
Since 2009, former students have been able to enroll in a similar plan that called for higher payments of 15 percent. Two years ago, President Obama signed into law an IBR plan that lowered the monthly cap to 10 percent for federal student loans taken out after July 1, 2014. With a June 2012 executive order, the waiting time is cut and borrowers may begin applying this fall.
Additional benefits derived from the executive order are:
Since July 15, borrowers now repaying student loans and in good standing may become eligible for some student loan forgiveness after 25 years of responsible payments;
After September 30, federal direct student loan borrowers will no longer be required to contact their loan servicer as the first step to apply for IBR;
Streamlined, online applications enable income and household verification that eliminates the likelihood of errors or missed information; it also enable applicants to complete the process in one visit;
Other new online resources available through the Department of Education that now include tools to help students make better financial decisions, become more financially literate and knowledgeable of other options for monthly repayments;
Higher education institutions will have an enhanced ability to help students understand repayment options while still enrolled including choices for repayment plans.
Today, nearly two-thirds of college graduates borrow to pay for their education with an average debt at graduation around $26,300. However, for students enrolled in private institutions and/or graduate programs, loan debt can easily reach six-figures.
This new reform is an important step towards enabling those who value education the chance to make affordable payments. It may not change the cost of a college education; but it will likely make repayment more manageable.
At a time when the American economy is still struggling to fully recover from a severe recession, with fewer jobs available than there are people looking for work, some financial relief is better than none. Despite the high cost of higher education, it remains a solid investment for the future.
For additional information on IBR and other student loan information, interested persons may phone 1-800-4-FED-AID or visit http://www.studentaid.ed.gov.
(Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.com.)


text:
Awesome product, LOVE the Crutchfield team!!!!
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
These TSx330T speakers are absolutely phenomenal. Exactly as described and shipped within a quick timeframe. I think of Polk Audio as the Honda Accord of the audio world. Very solid, reliable performance for not a whole lot of money. In other words, excellent bang for your buck. I have a medium size room and these speakers have more than enough punch. But for me, this review is as much about sharing on the amazing customer service from Crutchfield as the product itself. All of the Crutchfield product reps have been INCREDIBLY patient with me, answering each and all of my questions. I live about two minutes from a Best Buy store but will always buy from Crutchfield just because of how much of a pleasure the buying process is. Five star experience from start to finish.
Pros: - Shipped promptly -Quality product from a solid company -Performance exceeds my expectations -First class purchase experience from Crutchfield
Cons: None


text:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he would seek "maximum lenience" for three American hikers who have been held since crossing the country's border nearly two months ago.
In an interview with The Associated Press in advance of U.N. General Assembly meetings, the Iranian leader said the hikers broke the law and did not elaborate on what lenience would mean. But his message was more conciliatory that usual, coming just days after Ahmadinejad said he was proud to be a Holocaust-denier.
He explicitly said that his country was not building nuclear weapons and was not a threat to America. "I heard Mr. Obama saying the next threat is Iran. Iran is an opportunity for everyone," Ahmadinejad told the AP. "I hope that Mr. Obama will move in the direction of change," he added.
Ahmadinejad also said he expected a "free and open" discussion at nuke talks next week with the U.S. and other world powers. But he warned Iran would not negotiate on its nuclear program.
Get more: AP


text:
I love the look of sewing but was very skeptical about how much extra work that would be on a page. The In Stitch'z collection makes it so easy. I was very impressed with how much thread you got and the 2 heavy duty needles that came with it. And the stitching took hardly anytime at all and really made my Layout incredible. I am very happy with these products and would recommend them.
When I first started hand stitching I used regular embroidery floss. Although it did work, it always seemed to be rather thick. I decided to give Bazzill Basics- In Stich'z a try and I LOVE it! I cannot believe I didn't buy this product sooner. If anyone plans to hand stitch on a layout this product is a MUST!
Very nice versatile product. Love that you can get 6 colors in one pack, and that it comes with it's own needles.
I know you can buy this cheaper at a sewing store/dollar store, but I like the thickness of this product.
the colors are bright and add the very colourful touch to my LO


text:
Spring training: Giants 5, Rangers 4
Barry Zito pitched into the seventh inning and Kevin Frandsen drove home Darren Ford with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth to send the San Francisco Giants to 5-4 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday.
Zito gave up four runs on 10 hits with no walks and four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings of work. The no walks indicate that Zito was working on throwing strikes. That resulted in the 10 hits. But again, the most important thing is Zito stayed in the game into the seventh inning. If he's able to do that during the regular season, that's good news for the Giants.
Inside the box score
Aaron Rowand was 0 for 2 with a run scored. He also stole his first base of the spring, an indication that his sore quad is fully healed.
Aubrey Huff was 1 for 3 with a run and RBI.
Nate Schierholtz was 1 for 3 with a triple, RBI and a walk.
Bengie Molina continued to collect hits. He went 1 for 3.
Buster Posey did the same, going 1 for 2 in relief of Molina.
Juan Uribe was 1 for 1 with a double and two RBI. He left in the third inning with a sore hamstring.
Up next
The Giants take on the White Sox with Matt Cain getting the start. Pablo Sandoval is expected to return after leaving Friday's game to get stitches in his leg.


text:
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
BTW, I forgot to ask earllier, but can you tell me what size pizza the Pillsbury dough product is intended to make? The packaging material only mentions "Thick Crust".
John,After my last post, I took the Pillsbury clone dough formulation that I posted, ditched the baking powder leavening and the xanthan gum, and substituted 0.25% IDY for the baking powder leavening. I also tweaked the amounts of shortening and sugar to get them to the desired levels. This is what I got:All-Purpose Flour/VWG Blend (100%):Water (55%):IDY (0.25%):Salt (2%):Sugar (8.7%):Shortening (5.3%):Total (171.25%):227.74 g | 8.03 oz | 0.5 lbs125.26 g | 4.42 oz | 0.28 lbs0.57 g | 0.02 oz | 0 lbs | 0.19 tsp | 0.06 tbsp4.55 g | 0.16 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.82 tsp | 0.27 tbsp19.81 g | 0.7 oz | 0.04 lbs | 4.97 tsp | 1.66 tbsp12.07 g | 0.43 oz | 0.03 lbs | 3.02 tsp | 1.01 tbsp390 g | 13.76 oz | 0.86 lbs | TF = N/ANote: No bowl residue compensation.You will want to note that the flour blend and water weights are closer to what you came up with. Since the shortening does not contain water, you can use the same percentage of olive oil should you decide to use same. I'd also like to suggest a couple of other options now that I have a better idea as to the type of pizza the Pillsbury dough makes. For example, you may want to take a look at a couple Papa John's clone dough formulations, at Reply 20 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6758.msg59217.html#msg59217 and at Reply 585 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,6758.msg273667.html#msg273667. The version at Reply 585 is a modified and updated version of the one at Reply 20 (including more salt and more sugar than oil, as is the case with the Pillsbury clone dough formulations I posted). Either dough formulation can be modified to produce dough ball weights of 390 grams. You can also elect to use an amount of IDY for either a two day or three day cold ferment. Either clone dough can also be used to make breadsticks or cheesesticks (Papa John's uses the same dough for its pizzas and its breadsticks/Cheesesticks).Peter
John,Your pepperoni rolls look very good. How did the members of your family react to them, especially when compared with the pepperoni rolls made from the Pillsbury dough?As for the oven spring issue and the improved oven spring of the Pillsbury dough as compared with a slowly fermenting dough based on commercial yeast, I would say that the glucono delta-lactone/baking soda Leavening is primarily responsible for the improved rise characteristics of the Pillsbury dough, and perhaps secondarily the Xanthan Gum used by Pillsbury. When I was researching the glucono delta lactone (GdL) ingredient, I learned that it is a slow acting ingredient at room temperature and when used in a cold formulation but acts very quickly under increases in temperature, as in an oven. This makes that ingredient especially suitable for refrigerated doughs. For a fuller understanding of gdL in the context of a leavened dough, including the production of an acid to work with the baking soda to produce gases (carbon dioxide), see the discussion of GdL at page 4 of this document: http://www.viacheminc.com/wp-content/uploads/Product-Data-Sheet-Glucono-delta-Lactone.pdf. As an aside, I also discovered in my research that Pillsbury is using the GdL/baking soda Leavening in many of its refrigerated doughs, not just its pizza dough. When I was researching xanthan gum as in ingredient, I read in a Bob's Red Mill blog that one of its functions is to cause the starches to trap air. Maybe carbon dioxide was also meant but the effect in both cases would most likely be to contribute to a more open and airy crumb.As for the protein nutrient you mentioned, normally I have found the quantities of that nutrient hard to estimate because of rounding factors. However, the protein numbers are more reliable in the context of a raw dough rather than a baked one. But, in the present case, the more useful nutrient for analytical purposes is the Dietary Fiber. Knowing where the dietary fiber exists and in what quantity allows you to work backwards to determine how much of the dietary fiber is attributable to the flour. Once you know that, you can search for flours with that amount of dietary fiber. Unfortunately, in the present case, not all of the Dietary Fiber in the Pillsbury dough is in the flour. As you can see from the xanthan gum Nutrition Facts at http://www.bobsredmill.com/xanthan-gum.html, there is a fair amount of dietary fiber in that product (per serving). When I did my original analysis, I estimated from the Dietary Fiber calculations that the flour was more likely to be either all-purpose flour or a cake/pastry flour, as supplemented with VWG. That analysis was largely a guess because I do not know how much Xanthan Gum Pillsbury uses to make its pizza dough. But the main reason that I ruled out bread flour is because almost all bread flours that I am aware of that are both bleached and enriched are malted, whereas the flour that Pillsbury uses to make its pizza dough is unmalted. Peter
John,Good job getting all of the ingredients together. First, some preliminary matters.Do you plan to use Pillsbury bleached all-purpose flour, or some other brand? A General Mills flour would seem likely since GM Sales sells the Pillsbury Classic Pizza Crust (see http://www.generalmills.com/Home/Brands/Baking_Products/Pillsbury/Brand%20Product%20List%20Page.aspx).On the matter of the sodium, in my calculations I use 2325mg sodium for a teaspoon of ordinary table salt, and I use 28.35 grams per ounce as a conversion factor from ounces to grams. Those are more accurate numbers than are ordinarily used but I have been doing it my way for as long as I can remember. So, by my calculations, 2820mg of sodium is equivalent to 6.77 grams of ordinary table salt. However, the difference between your number (7.2 grams) and mine is so small as to essentially unmeasurable. Also, the 2820mg of sodium is spread out over several ingredient. The 30 grams of protein for the full package of Pillsbury dough doesn't tell the whole story because of rounding factors and, in addition, there is protein not only in the flour used to make the dough but also in the VWG. As an example, the KABF has 12.7% protein, not 13.3%.Finally, is there a particular brand of baking powder you will be using? Peter


text:
I do.
I read the manga too but it just can't compare to:
The soundtrack and voices of both series barring Naruto's voice trump the manga in my opinion, a lot of the time since it's just black and white you can't really make out what's even happening in the manga too so you have to wait for someone else to explain why it's cool which kinda ruins the epicness of scenes.
Also Pains theme ftw.


text:
Dorothy: Thousands of calls and counting
69-year-old Dorothy Touchstone lives in Texas, and she has a skin condition that prevents her from spending much time outside. But she doesn't let that stop her from making a difference in this election.
"The only things I know how to do on a computer are what I love doing—staying in touch with my kids, keeping up with the news, and making phone calls for the President."
From her home in LaPorte, Dorothy has made thousands of phone calls using the Obama 2012 call tool and stands alone atop the caller leaderboard.
"I try to sit down and make calls at least three or four times a week. But when I sit down, I make up my mind that I'm gonna do 100 calls or more. My goal is 200, and I have gone over 250 before. I'll start around 1:00 p.m. and I'll finish around 7:00 p.m. with a break in between.
"Even if they're not home, I talk to the person who's there. One lady, I said, well I was calling for this person, but since I have you on phone, can you get your entire family to vote for President Obama?"
Dorothy normally calls folks in the battleground state of Florida. As a retired nurse, she often talks to them about Medicare, but she also encourages people to volunteer with the campaign. One time, a visually impaired woman answered the phone, asking how she could get involved.
"She said, 'I can't get around, I can't go anywhere. But oh, I just want to do something so bad.' She was on disability, and she couldn't get out and help. But she kept getting calls asking for donations. And I said, 'You can make calls!' So I gave her the website and she was able to make calls. I said, 'Don't feel bad because you cannot afford to spend the money—do what you can do. That's what's important, and you can help make history.'
"To me, it's easier than going door to door. This is something anyone can do, and I can reach more people. Some elderly women I call will say, 'Oh I'm so proud of you for calling.' And I say, 'Why don't you do me a favor? Go to your neighbors, your friends, your family, your church, and ask them to vote because it's good for their well-being.
"People are very, very important to me. It doesn't matter who they are or what they are, doesn't matter whether they're rich or poor. But I love people. I want to make a difference. And the difference I can make—I can't go out and walk from door to door to door. But phone calling is for me."
With thousands of calls made and 35 days left to go, Dorothy's not done yet.
"Anything that I do, I try to do my best in. I'm gonna tell my granddaughter how many calls I've made because I want her to know that you have to work for what you get. We're going to win this election."
Want to join Dorothy on the call tool leaderboard? Join the National Call Team, or just pick up the phone and start dialing now.


text:
user functions
Current Ithaca College community members may contribute stories and comments as well as view additional topics by logging in.
related links
Oh the places you'll go...as an RA!
Contributed by Tricia Torley on 09/05/13
Are you interested in developing leadership skills and teamwork abilities, meeting great people, and getting paid for it? The Office of Residential Life is now accepting applications for Resident Assistants for the Spring 2014 semester.
Candidates are welcome attend one the following information sessions:
Monday 9/9 at 7pm in Demotte Room
Applications are available at: https://www.ithaca.edu/reslife/employment/student_staff/resident_assistant/
Have questions? Email email@example.com
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Tricia Torley at firstname.lastname@example.com. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.
© Copyright Ithaca College. All rights reserved; unauthorized use prohibited. All material on this server is produced by our community but, except for designated pages, is neither approved nor verified by Ithaca College.


text:
Defence - North West Territories
Presented below is a list of Canadian companies with aerospace capabilities, generated from the Aerospace and Defence company capabilities database. If your company participates in the Canadian aerospace industry, but is not present in this listing, please self-register by clicking on the Add button below.
No companies found
Note: The company profiles are presented in the language provided by the author/source. All of the information in Canadian Company Capabilities has been provided by the companies themselves, or by other sources external to Industry Canada. Industry Canada assumes no responsibility for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the content.
- Date modified:


text:
http://www.rt.com/man/ gives definitions & parameters of lotsa functions.
Arranged alphabetically. No time wasted.
Great site for people (like me) who forget functions and parameters.
Concise yet thorough.
What alphabetically arranged, quick-search resources can you add. There's a shortage, don't you know, so share, please.
In particular, I would be thrilled to see a good discussion of cin and cout.
Thanx Al


text:
I'm looking for suggestions on how to design a table to save user's IP addresses. I will be saving the last 20-50 IP addresses used. I will not be storing duplicates (unless that is the most efficient way to go here), but I want to record how many times each IP address was used. (So if I check to see if an IP address already exists, and I see that it does, I might want to somehow indicate the number of times I have tried to update the database with this IP address for this user).
I will use a php script to insert the ip addresses and to check and see if I am inserting a duplicate one, but I am concerned about table design here and how I should store the data efficiently. Here are some concerns:Currently I have a table with three columns. Column 1 for the id of a user, Column 2 for a single ip, and Column 3 for the date it was used. Each time a user logs in I check to see if that user's current IP already exists as associated with the user in this table. But I am not sure how to expand the table further (and store the data efficiently) how many times a user has used a certain IP.
I am probably overlooking something basic here. Any thoughts?
At the end of the day I want a php script that displays data like this:
//User Name1. IP Address 1 (used X many times) (last used)2. IP Address 2 (used X many times)//
You'll also need to take into account that there are two IP addressing systems now in use, IPv4 and IPv6 which have different formats for how the IP address is displayed. Unless your dealing with an internal network you'll get some users using IPv4 and some using IPv6
One option:
You could have a table with
Then when a user logs in, run a query to see if the ip address currently used by the user exists in the table for that user. If it does, increment the frequencey value for that ip address by 1 and update the lastDateUsed. If the ip address does not exist then insert a new record in the table for that user's current ip address.
running a SELECT query and then deciding whether you should use UPDATE or INSERT as a second query is inefficient (two queries)
just use INSERT ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE syntax (one query)
yep, that's a better way
Thanks for the suggestions. I checked out the INSERT ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE syntax but I am not sure I have an appropriate key here, as called for my the mysql manual (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/insert-on-duplicate.html)
Here's the syntax I came up with, which is likely wrong (I haven't used ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE before):
INSERT INTO ips (userid, ipadress, lastusedtime) VALUES ('{$userID}', '{$currentIP}', '{$lastUsedTime}') ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE frequency = frequency+1;
(I set the frequency column as not null and it's default value to 1.)
The problem is that none of these rows are unique: the userID is used multiple times (one for each ip address), ipaddresses can be the same (people might log in from the same location), lastusedtime might be the same.
ALTER TABLE ips ADD UNIQUE ( userid , ipaddress )
it's the combination that you want to be unique, and this composite key will trigger the ON DUPLICATE which is exactly what you want ("see if the ip address currently used by the user exists in the table for that user")
I'm still having a bit of difficult implementing what you recommended. For a reason unknown to me, instead of incrementing the frequency by 1, it increments it by 2, when using the insert on duplicate syntax above.
Here is my show create table output, if it helps:
CREATE TABLE `ips` (
`userid` varchar(45) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`ip` varchar(45) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`ip_date` varchar(45) DEFAULT NULL,
`frequency` varchar(45) NOT NULL DEFAULT '1',
PRIMARY KEY (`userid`,`ip`),
UNIQUE KEY `userid_UNIQUE` (`userid`),
UNIQUE KEY `ip_UNIQUE` (`ip`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8
Any thoughts on why this might be the case?I am using the same code I posted above, modified for my new column names.
could you take a moment and explain why you have those three unique indexes (counting the PK, which is also unique)
as it stands, each userid can exist in the table only once, which kind of goes against what you said in post #1, suggestions on how to design a table to save user's IP addresses, because that means each user can only ever have one ip
also, since each ip can only exist in the table once, that means that no users can be on a shared ip (like through a company firewall)
That's a big error on my part. No column should be unique. As you said earlier(or at least how I interpreted it), the userid/loginip combination should be unique. What I said in post 1 is really what I am after. I am just designing this table badly. I thought I was implementing your "ALTER TABLE ips ADD UNIQUE ( userid , ipaddress )" but I was not.
I think I fixed it, but it may contain errors. I am not so great at mysql - your comments would be appreciated.
CREATE TABLE `ips` (
`userid` varchar(45) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`ip` varchar(45) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`lastlogintime` varchar(45) DEFAULT NULL,
`frequency` varchar(45) NOT NULL DEFAULT '1',
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8
I ran the "ALTER TABLE ips ADD UNIQUE ( userid , ipaddress )" statement but it added a composite index, not a composite key.
key = index
Okay, so that is out of the way. Turns out I am still getting 2 added to frequency each time my script is run. I only run this query once, and I also tested it in isolation as well. I am at a big loss here.
Here's my query again for the record:
$sql= "INSERT INTO ips (userid, ip, lastlogintime) VALUES ('{$userid}', '{$ip}', '{$lastlogintime}')ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE frequency = frequency + 1";
Perhaps there are two duplicate keys problems, and so it is updating frequency twice? That's my best guess.
you tested it outside of php?
did you remove the extra indexes?
A long awaited update. I found my error: My error handling was executing the statement twice. I copied my error handling every time I ran a test to try to figure this problem out (so that it might display the error), but it was actually causing the error. Thanks for your help.
thanks for the update
My suggestion was you should store the raw record as per visit regardless of the uniqueness of ip, userid or whatever. Once you have the raw data, the rest is up to you to crunch the needed information. The verification shall not in forefront as it may slow down your website once your record grow in size.


text:
Integrating IDE and RTOS for ARM-based development
6 comments
Embedded systems employing ARM 32-bit processors support application software that can deliver excellent product functionality and benefits. Faced with the challenge of developing such applications, developers seek robust, powerful development tools to help them bring complex products to market faster that are optimized to perform better than the competition.
[ARM TechCon 2012, the largest ARM design ecosystem under one roof, is Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 in Santa Clara. Click here to check out agenda.]
Rather than settling for "free" or "cheap" tools, commercial developers recognize the benefits of paying more for quality tools and achieving quality results. In this rapidly evolving and competitive market, only the strongest will survive. Manufacturers are well advised to consider the ROI from the best tools available, rather than to seek the lowest cost tools that might leave their product with a competitive handicap in time-to-market and performance.
Developers today need a comprehensive development environment (IDE) and a real-time operating system (RTOS) to help them develop and achieve optimal performance for their application. But not only do developers need the best IDE and RTOS they can find, they need them to operate together to achieve maximum benefits. Each must be of high quality in its own right, but beyond that, they must be engineered to work together and to support each others strengths.
The steps involved in the development of an embedded application are similar across the spectrum from small to large. A simple example can therefore be used to illustrate how the capabilities of an integrated IDE and RTOS make real product development easier and more effective. The Host-Target configuration might look something like this:
Developing an embedded application involves many steps, including:
- Application design
- Write source code
- Compile code
- Link libraries
- Download executable to a target board
- Run the program on the target
- Set breakpoints
- Stop the program
- Analyze data from the running application
Each of these steps can be handled by an IDE, with its component editor, compiler, linker, and debugger.
Especially in the more complex applications, the developer might elect to use an RTOS to schedule application threads, pass messages, and use semaphores and mutexes. The RTOS also should be able to capture event trace information in real time, and enable those events to be viewed graphically on the host. This is critical in a real-time system, since so much happens so quickly that a big picture view helps sort things out. An event trace display shows exactly what RTOS services and application-defined events each thread has performed. It also can collect and summarize performance statistics including a complete execution profile, a summary and individual display of all context switches, and a wealth of other useful information.
An example application
To illustrate how these RTOS/IDE capabilities can work together to help the developer, consider a simple application. The application consists of 8 threads, "thread_0" through "thread_7." These threads each perform a particular function in an endless loop. The threads are each assigned a priority, from 0 (the highest) to 1024 (the lowest). At any point in time, the RTOS runs the highest priority thread that is READY to run. A thread is READY when it is not waiting for anything outside of its own code for example, waiting for a message to arrive from another thread. In such instances of waiting, a thread is "SUSPENDED" and is not READY to run. Here is a summary of what each thread does:
The RTOS
A priority-based, preemptive scheduling RTOS, ThreadX, is used in this demo to manage the eight application threads. Using this example, developers can also understand several services, including messaging, semaphores, mutexes, and sleep and experiment with them in code of their own.
To follow the applications flow and specific actions, the RTOS time-stamps each event and stores related information regarding the event in a circular buffer on the target. This buffer is uploaded to the host and displayed there to reveal the time-based flow of events.
The IDE
IAR Embedded Workbench for ARM is the development IDE for this demo. This IDE has been tightly integrated with the RTOS, and 4 areas of integration are noteworthy:
- Project Compatibility. The RTOS is provided in a format that enables it to be used from within the IDEs project structure. All source code is syntax compatible with the IDEs compilers and assemblers, making the RTOS ready to use right out-of-the-box.
- RTOS Awareness. This IDE plug-in captures and displays a wealth of information for all application threads and other defined objects, each time the system is stopped (at a breakpoint or a HALT command).
One such display, shown above, is the Execution Profile. This is a unique information capture and display that shows profiling information for the applications threads, interrupt system, and idle time, with a separate breakdown by thread. Note the overall application profile, showing the breakdown of execution time by Idle, Interrupt, and Application. Also, note the individual thread performance profile. As you can see, threads 1 and 2 indeed dominate performance, as described earlier.
- Macro Operations. Using the IDEs Macro capability, the IDE can automatically and optionally upload the trace buffer to the Host at a breakpoint. This simplifies and speeds up the process of running the program and then viewing the event trace to see what happened.
- Launch an External Tool. Another convenient capability enables the launch of an external tool through the Tools menu. This can be used to quickly and easily launch a software systems event analyzerfrom the IDE.


text:
The largest component of the capital plan is a projected $2.3 billion on BNSF's core network and related assets. BNSF also plans to spend approximately $1 billion on locomotive, freight car,and other equipment acquisitions.
The program also includes about $250 million for continued installation of positive train control (PTC), as mandated by Congress, and $550 million for terminal, line, and intermodal expansion and efficiency projects. Many of those projects will be primarily focused on capacity expansion to accommodate Bakken Shale-related industrial products growth in North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Montana. Intermodal terminal expansion, such as the completion of BNSF's Kansas City Intermodal Facility, and other terminal improvements to enhance productivity and velocity are also listed.
"This record capital plan continues our long-term focus on ensuring our network is prepared for the growing U.S. demand for freight rail," said BNSF Chairman and CEO Matthew K. Rose. "We are focused on investing to meet our customers' expectations and to expand capacity where growth is occurring. Given the importance of our low cost supply chain to the U.S. economy, our privately funded rail infrastructure is well positioned to ensure the U.S. ability to compete in global markets."


text:
Click on the headline (link) for the full text. Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Human cycles: History as science
Laura Spinney, Nature
Sometimes, history really does seem to repeat itself. After the US Civil War, for example, a wave of urban violence fuelled by ethnic and class resentment swept across the country, peaking in about 1870. Internal strife spiked again in around 1920, when race riots, workers' strikes and a surge of anti-Communist feeling led many people to think that revolution was imminent. And in around 1970, unrest crested once more, with violent student demonstrations, political assassinations, riots and terrorism (see 'Cycles of violence').
To Peter Turchin, who studies population dynamics at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, the appearance of three peaks of political instability at roughly 50-year intervals is not a coincidence. For the past 15 years, Turchin has been taking the mathematical techniques that once allowed him to track predator–prey cycles in forest ecosystems, and applying them to human history. He has analysed historical records on economic activity, demographic trends and outbursts of violence in the United States, and has come to the conclusion that a new wave of internal strife is already on its way1. The peak should occur in about 2020, he says, and will probably be at least as high as the one in around 1970. "I hope it won't be as bad as 1870," he adds.
Turchin's approach — which he calls cliodynamics after Clio, the ancient Greek muse of history — is part of a groundswell of efforts to apply scientific methods to history by identifying and modelling the broad social forces that Turchin and his colleagues say shape all human societies. It is an attempt to show that "history is not 'just one damn thing after another'", says Turchin, paraphrasing a saying often attributed to the late British historian Arnold Toynbee.
Cliodynamics is viewed with deep scepticism by most academic historians, who tend to see history as a complex stew of chance, individual foibles and one-of-a-kind situations that no broad-brush 'science of history' will ever capture. "After a century of grand theory, from Marxism and social Darwinism to structuralism and postmodernism, most historians have abandoned the belief in general laws," said Robert Darnton, a cultural historian at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a column written in 1999.
Most think that phenomena such as political instability should be understood by constructing detailed narratives of what actually happened — always looking for patterns and regularities, but never forgetting that each outbreak emerged from a particular time and place. "We're doing what can be done, as opposed to aspiring after what can't," says Daniel Szechi, who studies early-modern history at the University of Manchester, UK. "We're just too ignorant" to identify meaningful cycles, he adds…
(18 July 2012)
Suggested by EB contributor Michael Lardelli, who says:
This is a very interesting article just out in Nature about researchers looking at cycles in human history. Note that population increase and inequality appear to be central to the cycles.
One might expect the disruption in 2020 to be amplified or even brought forward a little by the severe stress that will be placed on society by declining oil supplies. On the other hand, 50 years after that would be 2070 by which time fossil fuel use will be very low and the world will be a very different place.
Olympic Britishness and the crisis of identity
Aaron Peters, OpenDemocracy
As Team GB entered the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony on Friday night, it was to David Bowie's 'Heroes'. The central line from the song struck me as summing up the country's hopes for its sportswomen and men amid a double-dip recession and seemingly terminal economic inertia – 'We can be heroes, just for one day'. A concession in the choice of song perhaps that the Olympics represent a temporary, if somewhat spectacular, distraction from an increasingly dire reality that can only intensify over the forthcoming years.
Something of a debate has broken out about the meaning of this extraordinary ceremony, not least here on OurKingdom with Anthony Barnett and Sunder Katwala. The New York Times called it "…neither a nostalgic sweep through the past nor a bold vision of a brave new future". This struck me as an accurate summation of an event that presented in microcosm the present historical moment in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008 and the social and economic malaise that has followed. I was reminded of the quote by Antonio Gramsci on crisis in its consisting "…precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot yet be born". It is similar sentiments that informed the mixed nature of London's opening ceremony, which looked neither wholly forward nor back…
That is not to say that Boyle's efforts were without deeper meaning or any sustained attempt at social and historical critique. In particular, the first section of the opening ceremony offered a reflective and frequently epic expression of the Industrial Revolution.
At the outset of this first movement, the audience is offered a glimpse of 'Merrie England', a pre-industrial idyll resplendent with maypoles and games. Amid these scenes we hear four songs representing the formation of the British state, whose constituent nations have their hymns consecutively sung. This begins with a lone child singing William Blake's 'Jerusalem', presumably to represent agrarian England. This is followed by 'Danny Boy' representing Ulster and what remains of the British conquest in Ireland; next, 'Flower of Scotland' and the Welsh song 'Bread of Heaven' (sung in English). These songs represent the political constitution of Britain – the conquest of Wales, the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707, and finally union with Ireland in 1801. Shortly thereafter, 'Jerusalem' resumes once more, now sung in unison by a choir – representing both the culmination of the political project of state formation, and a sense of foreboding as the 'satanic mills' of industrialisation appear on the horizon of history…
…Work under capitalism in general, and in particular within industrial society, is alienating – which is to say one rarely understands what one is actually doing. A good example of this can be found in the film 'The Working Class Goes to Heaven', when the protagonist and piece-work operator, Lulu, becomes enraged at realising he doesn't even know what the components he produces every day are for. This is a more accurate depiction of the relationship of the worker to their work than the rhythmic and satisfying encomium that Boyle offers.
Boyle seems to think of industrial production and the 'society of work' as offering the possibility of producing things of ethical and spiritual significance and perhaps even of redemption. The rings do, after all, hang over the heads of both classes, the workers and the bourgeoisie, as if they were some transcendent god or spiritual ideal. Here is a higher value which they have created through work and which now stands above them. Historically, it could perhaps represent socialism, an ethical ideal formed from class solidarity. Or perhaps the idea (misplaced, in my view) of collective contribution to a purported national interest or human progress. Whatever it is, the collective labours of these men and women seem to attain spiritual significance. Boyle's elision of suffering and alienation is a kind of post-industrial erasure of the historical experience of industrial society.
For the most part, all that work represents within industrial production is that the living human subject is rendered subordinate to the commodity object. Marx calls this the 'ontological inversion', where humans are reduced to the 'object' of commodity labour while the things they produce for exchange are imbued with the metaphysics of life and 'subjecthood'. While there are some jobs that permit a sense of craftsmanship or achievement, such as the construction of the 'majestic' fixed capital of bridges, boats and buildings, the reality of work under industrial capitalism is mostly more akin to those workers of Guangdong in China who are manufacturing the Wenlock and Mandeville toys for the Olympic Games. These workers were forced to work as much as 120 hours a month overtime in the run up to the Games, while being paid as little as 26p an hour for working an 11-and-a-half hour day. Such work is not noble, honourable or creative. It is dull, repetitive and banal – as this Luddite poem from 1812 makes perfectly clear. The same reality of work, although by now of differing degree to that in South and East Asia, remains true almost two centuries later in the UK as is clear for those cleaners housed in temporary 'slums' on the periphery of the Olympic Park…
(18 July 2012)
The new environmentalism: where men must act 'as gods' to save the planet
The Guardian, Paul Kingsnorth
A society that takes progress as its religion does not look kindly on despair. If you are expected to believe everything will keep getting better, it can be difficult to admit to believing otherwise. This is doubly true for political activists. If you've devoted your life to fighting for a cause, you will probably feel duty bound to continue supporting it, at least in public, however hopeless it may begin to look.
Hope is certainly in short supply in environmental circles these days. With the failure of yet another global summit to "protect the planet" – this time the Rio+20 Earth summit – a tipping point seems to have been reached. Green activism has achieved a lot in five decades, but it has been unable to prevent the global industrial machine from continuing to destroy wild nature and replace it with human culture. There is no prospect of this changing in the near future, and we are reaching the point now when many prominent greens, having denied this reality for so long, are beginning to admit this in public.
So: what next? One increasingly fashionable answer is offered by a coalescing group which we might call "neo-environmentalists". The resemblance between this group and the neoliberals of the early 70s is intriguing. Like the neoliberals, the neo-environmentalists are attempting to break through the lines of an old orthodoxy which is visibly exhausted and confused. Like the neoliberals, they speak the language of money and power. Like the neoliberals, they cluster around a few key thinktanks: then, the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Cato Institute and the Adam Smith Institute; now, the Breakthrough Institute, the Long Now Foundation and the Copenhagen Consensus. Like the neoliberals, they think they have radical solutions.
Neo-environmentalism is a progressive, business-friendly, postmodern take on the environmental dilemma. It dismisses traditional green thinking, with its emphasis on limits and transforming societal values, as naive. New technologies, global capitalism and western-style development are not the problem but the solution. The future lies in enthusiastically embracing biotechnology, synthetic biology, nuclear power, nanotechnology, geo-engineering and anything else new and complex that annoys Greenpeace.
According to the neogreens, growth has no limits. We are, in the words of their spiritual leader, Stewart Brand, "as gods", and must accept our responsibility to manage the planet rationally through powerful technologies guided by science. Wilderness does not exist, "nature" is a human construct, and everything that matters can be measured by science and priced by markets.. Only "romantics" think otherwise…
(1 August 2012)
Gore Vidal and the Unfinished American Revolution
John Nichols, The Nation
Gore Vidal loved America in the way the best of the founders did.
Indeed, he seemed at times, to be the last of their number—a fierce defender of the purest, most revolutionary of ideals at a time when the contemporary political class prattled on about constitutional principles they neither understood nor valued. (At the bicentennial, in 1976, Time magazine featured a cover with Vidal in historic garb, an honor that delighted him sufficiently to earn a place for the cover on the wall of his Italian villa.)
Vidal, who has died at age 86, was a great man of letters: an author (Julian, Burr, Lincoln, The City and the Pillar), playwright ("The Best Man") and National Book Award–winning essayist (United States Essays, 1952–1992) on the literature of his native land and the world. To this he added status as a life-long challenger of the Puritanism that he regarded as the ugliest of American tendencies.
But I knew Gore as a political champion, who ran inspired campaigns for Congress, who demanded that presidents of both parties be held to account for high crimes and misdemeanors, who maintained a faith in democracy so deep and abiding that he called for a new constitutional convention to set right what was done wrong at Philadelphia and to realize the Jeffersonian requirement of revolutionary renewal. He was, as well, a scorching debater on topics political, as William F. Buckley learned to his chagrin in 1968.
Like most of Gore's friends, I came to know him first on the page.
His epic 1972 essay "Homage to Daniel Shays"—written as voters in "the land of the tin ear" prepared to re-elect Richard Nixon, in confirmation of Gore's observation that: "At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice"—remains the greatest contemporary statement of American Revolutionary principles.
This was where our relationship began. I loved Gore immediately, for his dangerous wit, for his savage style, for his truth telling. "Policy formation is the province of a bipartisan power elite of corporate rich [Rockefeller, Mellon] and their career hirelings [Nixon, McNamara] who work through an interlocking and overlapping maze of foundations, universities and institutes, discussion groups, associations and commissions," he observed. "Political parties are only for finding interesting and genial people [usually ambitious middle-class lawyers] to ratify and implement these policies in such a way that the under classes feel themselves to be, somehow, a part of the governmental process. Politics is not exactly the heart of the action but it is nice work—if you can afford to campaign for it."…
(1 August 2012)
related: One of Gore's articles from 2003.


text:
The Arkansas Tech football team heads into Saturday night's Gulf South Conference opener against West Georgia ranked 24th in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches Poll as released Tuesday.
The Wonder Boys, who received 69 votes in this week's poll, move into the Top 25 this week after improving their record to 2-0 with a 33-21 victory at Texas College this past Saturday. This marks the third consecutive season Tech has opened a season 2-0.
The weekly poll is voted on by 28 AFCA-member head coaches from NCAA Division II schools from around the country, including Tech coach Steve Mullins.
Tech was one of four Gulf South Conference schools ranked in this week's poll. North Alabama, which opened its season last Saturday with a 22-10 win at Tusculum, remains the highest-ranked GSC team in the AFCA poll, as it is ranked third for the fourth straight week.
Valdosta State is ranked sixth for the fourth consecutive week after its 31-3 victory at home over Fort Valley State, and Delta State jumped five spots in this week's poll to 16th after its 17-14 win last Saturday at NCAA Division I-AA Stephen F. Austin.
This week's poll features very little change in the top 10, other than the fact Grand Valley State was not a unanimous choice for No. 1 with Northwest Missouri State and North Dakota each receiving a first-place vote.
Headlining the poll once again is Grand Valley State as the Lakers extended their winning streak to 15 straight games with its 30-24 win over Ashland (Ohio). Grand Valley State received 26 first-place votes and 696 points.
Northwest Missouri State picked up a first-place vote after its 31-0 victory over then-10th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha and remains second this week and is followed by North Alabama at No. 3. North Dakota earned the other first-place vote and remained fourth this week, while Saginaw Valley State rounds out the top five.
Rounding out the top 10 were Valdosta State, Pittsburg (Kan.) State, Carson-Newman, West Texas A&M and Southeastern Oklahoma.
South Dakota moves up on spot to No. 11, followed by Bloomsburg (Penn.), Winona State (Minn.), Shepherd (W. Va.) and North Carolina Central.
Delta State checks in at No. 16, followed by C.W. Post, Northwood (Mich.), Central Missouri State and Nebraska-Omaha.
Catawba headlines the final five at No. 21, followed by Presbyterian (S.C.), Missouri Western, Tech and Washburn (Kan.).