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Gallery: World's largest natural flower garden opens in Dubai
Another week, another announcement of a massive super project in Dubai.
The Middle Eastern city's latest mega-project is the Dubai Miracle Garden.
Billing itself as the world's largest natural flower garden, the 72,000-square-meter attraction, located in Dubailand, has more than 45 million flowers.
The name is apt, considering this mega-garden was -– like pretty much everything in Dubai –- built on desert land.
According to a report in Gulfnews.com, Miracle Gardens' landscaper, Akar, says it wants to demonstrate "that it's possible to green the desert through judicious re-use of waste water, through drip irrigation."
The U.A.E.-based company is also planting trees on the perimeter as windbreakers.
Though the gardens are now open to visitors, the attraction isn't complete. Shopping outlets, restaurants and plant nurseries will be added during the second development phase, which kicks off mid-2013.
The gardens will be closed during Dubai's notoriously hot summer months. Temperatures average 40 C (104 F) from June to September -- not exactly conducive to flower gazing.
Dubai Miracle Garden: Al Barsha South; open daily, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., October to late May. Entrance 20 AED (US$5.50) per person, kids under three free;www.the-miracle-garden.com


text: fed, joker, nadal framesComparison of Federer Djokovic Nadal racquets. Federer: 90 sq. in. Joker: 98 sq. in. Nadal: 100 sq in. Total mass: Federer: 357g-364 depending on surface, foe, etc. Joker: 361g according to Greg Raven. Nadal: 334-336g according to Greg Raven. Swing wt.: Federer: 338g according to Greg Raven but I think it's more like 355g with all that lead under the grommets. Joker: 371 Nadal: 355 according to Greg Raven. RA: Federer: 65 Joker: 51 according to Greg Raven but I think it's more like 63-65. Nadal: 65 with the apd original, the one he uses. Lay up: Federer: similar to stock, with higher quality material. ( He used to have a more open drill pattern with the ncode, at 9 crosses rather than 10 in sweet spot area, but has the same pattern as stock now.) Joker: custom, head lay up no one can buy. Nadal: original apd lay up with lead under the grommet at 12 and under the butt. Tension: Federer: 48.5/45.7lbs vs team/alu Joker: 61/59lbs vs team/alu Nadal: used to use duralast for ten years, now uses RPM at 54/52lbs. Feel of the sticks: Federer: like a muted stone, with high power in the small sweet spot and iffy outside of it. Joker: depends on if his RA is 51 or 65 like the h22 he used to use. Rock like power and control and depth off shots. Nadal: stiff, light, head heavy, with a soft thud on the RPM, lots of spin, tough to serve and get power flat wise. Grip size: Federer: L3 with over grip Joker: L4 with two over grips Nadal: L2 with over grip. Set up for their game: Federer: demanding sweet spot with lots of power, smaller head size makes his 16 x 19 more like an 18 x 20. Joker: 18 x 20, Perfect for his game, flat out power, great control, higher tension yet softer on the cross for more snap back control, more lead than the others on the inside of the frame, going down to below the last cross by about an inch or so. Nadal: Total spin set up, 16 x 19 with a spin string, small grip for more torque and quicker rotation, stiff RA for power, head heavy for spin. Moment of inertia for each: 20.33 for Nadal 20.65 for Fed 21 for Joker, giving him more plow through, but tougher to get moving, more depth, but more risk of going long by an inch. Similarities: I think all three are at an RA of about 65, including Joker, who is listed at 51. I think all three sw are close, except joker is a little higher, with more lead than the others. So if all three are at 65 Ra, and all three are sw at 355g-371, that should tell us something. A high sw, and a high RA, allow for more power/plow through on shots. Fed's lower tension on a smaller head size gives the same snap back as Joker at 61/59lbs. Rafa has more snap back at 54/52lbs, in a 100 sq. in. apd frame, which would provide more spin. The lower snap back of Fed and Joker, in a tighter pattern, give them more depth/flatter trajectory and deeper landing shots than Rafa given the same force vectors applied to the bed. The vs team/alu combo, also gives more power than the rpm, which is a spin string, not a power string, and feels soft and thud like, not crisp and powerful as vs/alu feels, with RPMs hexagonal shape. Fed and Joker have power flat type set ups, and Rafa is all spin. But we already knew that by watching their games! Also the RA increases after the frames are strung, so their strung RAs are really about 2-3 points higher at 67-68 RA. That's a lot of pop for big hitters to control. Notice Murray at about 60-63 RA with his pt57A 16 x 19 alu/vs combo, strung at 62/61lbs, lighter mass at 347g, (he was at 364g but hurt his wrist) and his less powerful shots, with his more flexible frame and less powerful hybrid set up, as gut as cross is far less powerful than gut as main. (Hey, Murray, add the lead back on, switch the vs to the mains, and get a frame with an RA of 65, and talk to me about how much you like it. If you want to run with the big boys, you have to have the plow through, and they beat you up when it counts, as too many of your shots have not enough on them to counter the greater plow through of the stiffer RA, and gut as main.) Your equipment is holding you back and there is no way you are ever going to win a slam that way. Cut out the whining and the negativity, it only helps your opponents feel calmer and more sure about winning. So we will see if he has the heart to listen. _____ fed lead tape joker lead tape_____________

subset: commoncrawl


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Book Report: Keep reading, keep discovering
Just when you think you know all you need to know about a subject, a new book pops up and you're able to learn much more.
Years ago, I wrote my master's thesis on Minnesota-born novelist Sinclair Lewis.
Before I dug in, I always thought of Lewis as "the scourge of Sauk Centre," because he used his home town as a model for Main Street.
Upon further examination of his life, however, I learned that he loved his home town and only wished it would love him back.
I ended up reading all of Lewis's novels and even managed to befriend his niece, whom I met on the occasion of Lewis's 100th birthday.
I was always somewhat amused at his ill-fated second marriage to international correspondent Dorothy Parker.
When their divorce was in the works, Lewis jokingly told journalists that he wanted to name Adolf Hitler as co-respondent because globe-hopping Parker spent more time on the phone with der fuehrer than she did with Lewis.
Now I've finished reading a new book, "Dangerous Ambition," by Susan Hertog (Ballantine Books, $30) to find out that Lewis's version of the story is just one side of the triangle.
Hertog's book tells the story of two brilliant feminists, years ahead of their time, and the husbands who made their lives miserable.
One is the British novelist Rebecca West, who married H.G. Wells and lived to regret it. The other is Dorothy and the disastrous liaison she fell into with Lewis.
Both are wonderfully researched and sparkling stories by Hertog who earlier wrote a biography of Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
Two bonuses for me:
One, Hertog intertwines international history during the first half of the 20th century with the lives of these two remarkable women and the company they kept.
Second, I always wondered what happened to Michael Lewis, the troubled offspring of the Dorothy/Sinclair marriage, who took up a big portion of Mark Shorer's monumental study of Lewis' life and then was apparently forgotten.
Not Hertog. Turns out that Michael Lewis became a second-rate actor, an incredibly difficult person to be with and a drunk. Just like his father.
While we're on the subject of interesting women in the first half of the 20th century, I must admit I always dismissed Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress who died with him in the bunker in 1945 as Berlin lit up in flames, as just one more dumb blonde.
Not so, according to German biographer Heike B. Bortemaker in
"Eva Braun: Life with Hitler," translated from the German by Damien Searles (Knopf, $27.95).
In Bortemaker's even-handed if sometimes tedious account, Braun turns out to have a real personality, tried suicide twice, and was actually interested in the cult of Nazism.
And unlike earlier biographers, she finds much evidence that the Braun/Hitler twosome was much more than platonic.
It turns out that our misconception of Braun is mostly thanks to Nazi survivors like architect Albert Speer, who claimed she was an apolitical nothing, who just happened to eat vegetarian in the Berghof with the fuehrer. Bortemaker says that most big-shot Nazis who weren't executed told the same story because they wanted to protect their own hides.
So Speer came up with tales that were later contradicted by newly opened files. He said that he and his wife Margrete and Eva, part of Hitler's inner circle, didn't believe in Hitler's nonsense, but liked to eat dinner with him because he "knew so much about art and music."
The banality of Hitler's private life is a thing to behold. Bortemaker's account is more revealing than earlier books on the subject.
On the regional front, Milkweed Editions of Minneapolis is out with "Calli," by Jessica Lee Anderson ($16.95). Calli is a fifteen-year-old with the world at her doorstep.
She's favored with two loving mothers, a daughter in a same-sex marriage. Everything is going along swimmingly until her mothers decide to adopt another young girl, Cherish.
Cherish turns out to be a real pain in the neck. She lies about Calli, she kisses Calli's boyfriend.
So Calli decides to take matters into her own hands with disastrous results.


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Front Range > Mount Glennon > Climber's Log
Mount Glennon Climber's Log
[ Sign the Climber's Log ]
|Boriss Andean
Date Climbed: Jan 10, 2014
|Stopped by on my way to Morrison. Nice morning hike near Denver. Windy along the ridge.
|Posted Jan 10, 2014 11:28 pm
|North Ridge
Date Climbed: Nov 23, 2013
|Snowy ridge walk with Sarah. A little treacherous with snow...and cactus.
Red Rocks looked SMALL!
|Posted Dec 1, 2013 11:20 pm
|Sarah Simon
|North Ridge
Date Climbed: Nov 23, 2013
|Surprisingly fun little route up a pretty little peak in the snow. Nice late autumn views! Saw a little 2-pt buck with a right hind leg injury - sad sight to see this time of year.
|Posted Nov 23, 2013 3:38 pm
|Nice ridge!
Date Climbed: Apr 3, 2013
|Nice workout after work, beats gym for sure! Scrambled up to the ridge and hiked along the ridge,great spring afternoon.
|Posted Apr 3, 2013 8:40 pm
|Boriss Andean
|Northwest Ridge
Date Climbed: May 4, 2012
|Scrambled up by the Northwest Ridge. There were huge rock slabs on the way up, perfect for bouldering (saw some chock marks on the rock).
Hiked the whole ridge from north to south and got back the same way. A bit exposed in some sections and awesome views of the surroundings, including Denver in the distance.
Nice spring weather.
|Posted May 4, 2012 3:30 pm
|Mt. Glennon
Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2011
|Hiked up on the trail then scrambled up to the ridge and hiked along the ridge. Good views of Denver. Gray clouds were coming over the front range as I finished up.
|Posted Oct 2, 2011 6:53 pm
Date Climbed: Feb 19, 2011
|Hike the ridge from the north side. Not difficult, but harder than I expected. Last summer a fire burned up the eastern slope and I could still smell charred wood.
Later I hiked up point 7698 in Little Park.
|Posted Apr 10, 2011 11:44 am
|Jeremy Hakes
|Great ridge
Date Climbed: Sep 19, 2006
|Great peaklet. Wish someone hadn't stolen the BM.
|Posted Jan 8, 2011 3:58 pm
|Happy holidays!
Date Climbed: Dec 24, 2010
|Did not expect this to be such a rough time, but hiked to the summit. Did a cache nearby, too.
|Posted Dec 24, 2010 6:47 pm
|rough ridge
Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2008
|surprising front range peak. quick, easy jaunt to the summit ridge yet the ridge to the summit proper was a rough, time consuming scramble. the backside of the mountain on the descent was a thorny nightmare. an interesting hike to say the least!
|Posted Oct 22, 2010 9:02 pm
|After Green Mountain
Date Climbed: Mar 28, 2008
|Hiked this from the north after a quick hike up nearby Green Mountain.
|Posted Sep 10, 2010 9:12 am
|From the north
Date Climbed: Apr 15, 2008
|Climbed Glennon from the north. Its good access and a decent hike/scramble. This is a nice afterwork ridge hike. I dropped down the west side through a gap and hiked back along the base of the west facing cliffs which was a nice detour.
|Posted Nov 10, 2009 11:42 am
|Brian Kalet
|North Ridge
Date Climbed: Nov 4, 2009
|With 7602 & 6262.
|Posted Nov 5, 2009 2:13 am
|Surprising Terrain
Date Climbed: Nov 1, 2009
|Started from a trailhead that ended, then followed a trail-like path to the summit. I was surprised that the terrain was so rugged and dangerous, especially after a snow storm.
|Posted Nov 1, 2009 7:13 pm


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Monthly Archives: January 2012
Rick Clunn is very thankful
Gratitude & Thanks Reflecting on the Holidays and the Coming year, I would like to share some thoughts on the past and future. I have advocated for many years that fishing, hunting and other outdoor adventures are much more than … Continue reading


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Photo Gallery
<< Previous | Back to Photo Contest Page | Next >>
Look at this view Mom!
Photo by Carrie Hancock
Taken at Mount Magazine
Age Group: 19 and Older
This was taken on a outing to Mt. Magazine. It was a gorgeous day and to get the point across of how big and beautiful the day was I had my daughter, Hadley, show me! T


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Well, don't fear it – write it. We'll separate the wheat from the chaff and … make bread, so to speak. Some will get free TWS stuff. Others won't.
Contribute your Questionable letters by sending us an e-mail at email@example.com.
This month's Questionable question:
Is getting really hurt while skateboarding worth the pain?
"Anyone serious about skating learns to deal with it. The hard thing to deal with is an injury that will never get better. Totally screwing your knee at 27 threatens to end all you really cared about since you were twelve. It's ironic that in order to be able to skate again, you have to stop for months and feel the pain of being a poseur."Jan MacLean, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
"Isn't it better to know how life feels than to just watch from the sidelines? There isn't a better feeling than getting hurt trying a
trick, healing, then coming back and conquering that trick.
Satisfaction at its finest. – Paul, Internet City
"Falling down is what makes me want to get up and try the trick again. It's all about having fun and overcoming the challenge. – Dave, Mesquite, Texas
"If you think about it, there will always be downsides to the good things. Getting hurt is a minor problem when you're having so much fun doing what you love. "Brian Graves, Smiths, Alabama
"Every trick I've bled trying to learn was worth the pain. When you land that trick, the pain you got while trying it floats away. You're in a whole different place. It's what you came to skateboarding for, what you have stayed with it for, and what you'll never quit for. – Rob Carroll, Old Tappan, New Jersey
"If getting hurt wasn't worth it, skateboarding wouldn't exist. – Jeff Kaplon, South Hamilton, Massachusetts
"If you want to throw yourself down a twenty-stair rail and ride away with the thrill of landing something gnarly, then you have to expect to get chomped at some point. – Ashley Host, Internet County
"The other day I was tailsliding down this box, bailed, and chipped more than half of my front tooth off! I've got to get a root canal, but it was worth it. I'm not going to stop skating just because of a chipped tooth. People true to skating know what I mean. – Clay Kessack, Superior, Colorado
"I recently broke the end of my elbow off while skating. The scar is pretty cool, and the admiration from little kids and the nods from the old hesh dogs when seeing the scar is, too, but I'm not "supposed" to skate for six months. That sucks. I have so many tricks pounding around in my head right now. So this adds some motivation for that day I can get back out there and rip things up again. – Kevlar, Internetland
"Getting hurt is all part of the process of enjoying the sport, and that's what separates the people who actually like to skate from the people who are just in it because of how it's hyped nowadays. – Ross Jenkins, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"Falling is just a part of getting better. If you're falling and getting hurt, it shows dedication. It's a big part of skating. I mean, without falling and getting hurt, skateboarding would be easy, just like Rollerblading. – "Axel, Internetburg
"You can't really get hurt unless you try something, and you
can't progress if you don't try. Skateboarding is all about fun, and it's hard to have fun if you don't progress. If you get hurt, at least you didn't pussy out on trying the trick. – Nathan Dart, Internetville
Click here to respond to the October 2002 Questionable: Should contest results or some other standard ever be used to exclusively define professional skateboarders?
Click here to respond to the November 2002 Questionable: What's more important to you than skateboarding?


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Tejada, Wigginton drawing interest
Clubs also eye Valverde, but talks more likely to surround infield duo
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com
Speaking from his plush suite on a top floor at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas, general manager Ed Wade stuck to his policy to not discuss trades, but he did indicate he'd rather not deal Valverde. Wade did not go as far as to say that he wouldn't trade him, but clearly, Valverde is not someone the club is anxious to get rid of.
"I don't normally talk about trades, but we're not interested in trading Valverde," Wade said. "I'm not saying we're not going to. I'm not going to say 'never' to anything, but if we can figure out a way to make it work and preserve Valverde, we're going to try to do that."
The same cannot be said about Wigginton and Tejada, although Wade's camp is mum on that front. However, the lobby scene at the Bellagio is something quite different, and at the end of Day 1 of the Winter Meetings, there were strong indications that both players were generating interest from other clubs, with Wigginton drawing the bulk of the attention.
The Twins expressed an interest in Tejada, but it's likely they're more focused on Wigginton. It could be a while before anything is resolved on both the shortstop and third baseman fronts as many teams wait for the market to establish itself.
The Astros may agree to absorb some of the $13 million Tejada is owed in 2009, although how much they'd be willing to take on is unclear. That would largely depend on who they would receive in return, and if the Astros can nab a young pitcher from the Twins' pitching-rich farm system, they may be swayed to pay a chunk of Tejada's remaining salary.
Interest in Wigginton appears to be more abundant. The offensively sound third baseman displayed versatility when he thrived as a substitute for Carlos Lee in left field late last season, and with a number of teams looking for a third baseman, he could be in high demand. The picture will become clearer once free agent third baseman Casey Blake signs, and observers believe Wigginton's trade value will increase as soon as Blake is off the market.
The Twins, believed to be out of the Blake sweepstakes, may be interested, and again, their pitching-rich farm system has the Astros' attention.
In a perfect world, the Astros would not be shopping any of the players who helped the club win 86 games in 2008, and would instead be pursuing a veteran free-agent arm, like Randy Wolf. But economic realities hit the Astros' front office with the same urgency as felt by most of the other 29 clubs, and instead of adding, the Astros must subtract, all the while keeping the Major League team competitive.
|"I'm not going to say 'never' to anything, but if we can figure out a way to make it work and preserve [Jose] Valverde, we're going to try to do that."
|-- GM Ed Wade
"Controllable players, close to the big leagues," Wade said. "Those are probably the most precious commodities out there. Short of that, prospects to continue to build the system are very important. We have a few specific needs, and we've talked about them. I think there's ways of filling those things in a number of fashions, whether it's trades or being patient in the free-agent market or the Rule 5 Draft or the non-tender market. There's going to be all kinds of opportunities to do those sort of peripheral things.
"If we were in the midst of moving a significant player, we'd like to try to get some type of significant return for the player. At the same time, the reason why, at this point in time, we'd be putting a significant player in the mix is try to reconcile where we need from a payroll standpoint."
The Astros' rotation, as it stands now, consists of Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez, Mike Hampton, Brandon Backe and Brian Moehler. Backe could be non-tendered on Friday, but with so few starting options, the Astros may have no choice but to give the right-hander another chance, despite his disastrous finish to the 2008 season that included a 7.82 ERA in August and a 19.64 ERA over his final three starts.
In other news, the Astros continue to pursue a veteran catcher who can either serve as a backup to Humberto Quintero or share equal playing time. They can't take on a lot of salary to fill that need, making it unlikely that they would explore a trade for Orioles backstop Ramon Hernandez, who is owed $8 million in '09 and has a $1 million buyout on his $8.5 million option in '10.
Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Wheel Service Manual - Rim & Wheel Safety Precautions
Alcoa Wheel Service Manual
For trucks, trailers, and buses. The Alcoa manual for professionals explains wheel service, including mounting and demounting of ball seat and hub pilot mount wheels. The manual uses graphics, theme headings and subject labels to guide the reader through blocks of information. This structure allows wheel service personnel to quickly find the specific facts they need and skim over what they don't. Other important reference text in the manual includes the Alcoa five-year limited warranty and OSHA safety regulations on servicing wheels.
English version
View (PDF 1.5 mB)


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The enhancements are to the VMAX 10K, the entry-level VMAX array and EMC's array for small to mid-size enterprises. Two other higher-end VMAX's that are also part of this family -- the VMAX 20K and the VMAX 40K -- already support most of these enhancements.
The new VMAX 10K is 90% faster in running Oracle in VMware virtualized environments and contains 50% more processor cores than previous models, according to EMC. It uses 12 Intel 2.8GHz Westmere 6 Core CPUs for performance enhancements and a new Virtual Matrix Interconnect, which is 10% faster than previous models, EMC says. (Previously, the 10K used eight 2.4GHz Westmere CPUs.)
The Virtual Matrix Interconnect, which is common to all VMAX models, allows scaling of system resources by combining VMAX 10K engines. Each 10K engine or controller consists of two directors and redundant interfaces to the Interconnect. The two directors each consolidate front-end, global memory and back-end functions, allowing direct memory access to I/O operations.
[ How has EMC responded to the rise of non-structured data and Flash-based storage? See EMC's Storage Strategy. ]
A combination of the Westmere CPUs and the Virtual Matrix Interconnect account for twice the back-end IOPS and a 30% increase on front-end bandwidth, according to the company. This increased performance means that the VMAX 10K can handle more workloads, higher capacity can be supported and advanced technologies, such as replication, will have less impact on the system, EMC says.
The VMAX 10K can support up to eight controllers, each with as much as 512GB of cache memory. The VMAX 10K can start small as well, configured with only a single storage engine and 24 drives.
In addition, the VMAX 10K now supports mixed configurations of 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives and support for denser 2.5-inch drives, allowing a 33% reduction in size and weight over 3.5-inch drives. As many as 1,560 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives or as many as 1,200 2.5-inch drives can be configured in a VMAX 10, for a maximum useable capacity of 1.5PB. Further, the VMAX 10K supports Federated Tiered Storage, which allows third-party storage to be managed by the VMAX. This consolidation allows storage administrators to integrate old or stranded storage as well as enterprise multi- and single-level cell Flash memory with the VMAX.
The VMAX 10K also now supports Data-at-Rest Encryption, which encrypts data on all drive types. The encryption is AES256 fixed block, which has no performance impact.
EMC enhanced the rest of the VMAX family with a new feature called Host I/O Limits. With this feature, storage administrators can choose how many IOPs or how much bandwidth is allocated for each application or user. For instance, applications such as databases require more performance than applications such as email.
The company also integrated its EMC Unisphere management platform with VMware, VFCache, IPv6 and Windows 2012.
Compression of inactive data has been added through enhancements to the Enginuity operating system. This compression can result in a 2:1 capacity savings, EMC says. Compression can be controlled by the storage administrator setting a threshold, which starts the compression process.
Finally, the VMAX 10K supports not only EMC racks but also third-party racks, allowing customers to standardize their data center designs.
Our four business scenarios show how to improve disaster recovery, boost disk utilization and speed performance. Also in the new, all-digital Storage Virtualization Gets Real issue of InformationWeek SMB: While Intel remains the biggest manufacturer of chips in the world, the next few years will prove vexing for the company. (Free registration required.)
Deni Connor is founding analyst for Storage Strategies NOW, an industry analyst firm that focuses on storage, virtualization, and servers.


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Coroner calls for night ban for P-platers
A Victorian coroner wants authorities to consider a night-time driving ban for P-plate drivers after a high-speed crash killed five teenagers in a "tragic waste of life".
The five, aged between 15 and 19, died when their car hit a tree while travelling at more than 100km/h in Mill Park on January 17, 2010.
The 19-year-old driver, Steven Johnstone, had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 and was driving at speeds up to 180km/h before the crash, in Melbourne's northeast.
Mr Johnstone, William Te-Whare, 15, Ben Hall, 19, Matthew Lister, 17, and Anthony Iannetta, 18, were killed in the crash.
Coroner Heather Spooner described the crash as a "tragic waste of life" as she handed down her inquest findings in Victorian Coroners Court on Friday.
She said Mr Johnstone drove as if he was immune from the road rules on the night of the accident.
"He was grossly intoxicated and drove at a ferocious and excessive speed," she said.
"A driver such as Mr Johnstone clearly presents a significant challenge to road safety agencies."
Ms Spooner recommended Victoria's road safety authorities look into the feasibility of a night driving curfew on young drivers which is in place in Western Australia.
She also urged VicRoads to explore penalising passengers who knowingly break the law which only permits a P-plate driver to carry one passenger of a similar age.
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Southwestern Alumni Find Rewarding Careers in Public Health
In conjunction with the 2010 Shilling Lecture by epidemiologist William Foege, two Southwestern alumni who are working in public health shared their experiences with students who are considering careers in the field.
Margaret Hawthorne graduated from Southwestern in 2002 with a degree in business and a minor in math. After graduation, she went to work for EDS doing health care IT. Although she enjoyed the health care aspect of her job, she did not find it personally fulfilling. "I wanted a job where at the end of the day I felt like I was doing something for my community," Hawthorne said.
Her father suggested she pursue a career in public health, so she earned a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. After she graduated from Johns Hopkins, her advisor asked her if she wanted to stay at the university and work at the Institute for Global Tobacco Control, which is headquartered there.
Hawthorne returned to Texas in 2008 to take a job as an epidemiologist with the Texas Department of State Health Services. In her current position, she monitors the prevalence of tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS in the state. She hopes to eventually earn a Ph.D. in food policy.
Priya Kewada graduated from Southwestern in 2006 with a degree in biology. After taking a year off to work in her native Zimbabwe on issues related to HIV and AIDS, she enrolled in the MPH program at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. After doing her thesis on the health effects of air pollution, one of her professors at Emory hired her to stay there and assist with studies on global air pollution.
Kewada said she likes public health because it gives her an opportunity to combine academics with her interest in social issues. She said she first became interested in the field when she took a course on social justice issues with Anthropology Professor Melissa Johnson her last semester at Southwestern.
Kewada and Hawthorne both noted there are many different jobs available within the field of public health. They also noted that there are a variety of degree programs that students who are interested in the field can pursue. In addition to an MPH, for example, they said there are graduate schools that offer M.D./MPH programs, MBA/MPH programs and even JD/MPH programs.
Both also said their undergraduate studies at Southwestern prepared them well for graduate school as well as for their eventual jobs.
"Southwestern is a great platform to do whatever you want because it gives you a wide variety of skills," Hawthorne said. "Public health problems are complex and you have to attack them from many different angles."


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England Rugby
England draft in Baxter and Gustard
ESPN Staff
March 26, 2013
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter will coach the forwards on England's tour of Argentina this summer © Getty Images
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter and Saracens defence specialist Paul Gustard will join Stuart Lancaster's revamped England management team for the summer tour of Argentina.
Baxter and Gustard have been recruited to fill in for Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell, who will be on British and Irish Lions duty at the same time England embark on their four-match, two-Test trip to South America.
Lancaster will also be supported by Mike Catt, the attacking skills coach who landed a permanent role in the England set-up after impressing on last summer's tour of South Africa.
Baxter masterminded Exeter's rise from the Championship into the Heineken Cup and he was named Premiership Rugby's coach of the year for the 2011-12 season. Gustard runs the meanest defence in the Aviva Premiership, with table-topping Saracens having conceded just 17 tries in 18 matches so far this season.
Lancaster said: "We are delighted to have two quality coaches who have come through the English system for what will be a hugely-significant tour for us and a big thank you should go to Saracens, Exeter and Premiership Rugby for supporting England in this way.
"It was important that we found two coaches who could mirror the skill set of Graham and Andy while they are away and come in and keep developing the players within our system.
"Paul, having worked together with Andy at Saracens, already has a good understanding of how we operate and Rob, who has done a great job in developing a very competitive Exeter pack, will pick up the set piece and breakdown.
"Both will work alongside Mike Catt as part of our integrated coaching team and we are looking forward to them joining us after their club commitments finish on what is an important tour in our development as a team."
With Exeter unlikely to reach the Premiership play-offs, Baxter is set to link up with England ahead of their annual pre-tour match against the Barbarians at Twickenham on May 26. Gustard's availability depends on how well Saracens finish the season, with the club chasing Heineken Cup and Premiership honours.
If Saracens reach the Premiership final on May 25, Gustard will miss the Barbarians game but he will then link up with the England squad ahead of their first tour match.
England play two midweek tour matches and two Tests against the Pumas, with the opposition and venue details due to be finalised in the coming days.
Baxter said: "I am delighted to have been asked to be part of Stuart's coaching team. I see it as a fantastic opportunity for me to do what we keep saying to the players here at the club, which is to keep learning, keep doing better and experience new things."
Gustard said: "It's a great honour to be asked to assist in the preparation of the England squad. I am grateful to Saracens for giving me the opportunity to continue my development as a coach at national level."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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Supreme Judicial Court overturns Adams man's conviction on drunken driving
BOSTON -- The state Supreme Judicial Court has reversed an Adams man's 2010 conviction on drunken driving because a judge's instruction to the jury may have colored their decision.
In a decision released Thursday, the SJC found that Northern Berkshire District Court Judge Michael J. Ripps erred in an explanation to the jury as to why no breathalyzer evidence was presented at trial.
Henry T. Gibson, who was 40 at the time of his court case, argued on appeal that his right against self-incrimination was "violated when the judge instructed the jury that a person may refuse to take a breathalyzer test," according to the SJC decision.
The judge's explanation, in response to a question the jury returned with during deliberations, was among a longer list of reasons why a breathalyzer might not have been introduced at trial.
"You may have noticed there was no evidence of a breathalyzer test," Ripps told the jury. "There are many reasons you might not hear evidence about a breathalyzer. The police do not have to offer it, a person does not have to take it. The machine might not have been working."
Ripps also urged the jury to decide the case by putting aside the question of why no breathalyzer was used.
The SJC indicated that since breathalyzer tests are commonplace, jurors could have been left to conclude that Gibson refused to submit to one once the judge said a person could refuse.
The state's case was based "solely on a theory of impaired operation the commonwealth was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that alcohol diminished the defendant's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle," according to the SJC.
Gibson was pulled over in North Adams around 10 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday in 2010 after he drove through a red light.
Officer Anthony Beverly testified that Gibson didn't pass some field sobriety tests, although Gibson disputed that, according to the SJC's decision.
Beverly testified he "smelled alcohol" on Gibson and "observed 'inconsistent' behavior and 'sluggish' movements," but never explained how that could have indicated Gibson was under the influence. Gibson said he had drank four beers over the course of as many hours and ate lots of food while watching the game, but that he also was tired and had been up since 5:30 that morning.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


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Katy Perry has her KatyCats, Lady Gaga has her Little Monsters, and Ariana Grande has her Arianators, but those are just a few of the uber-fan groups nominated for this year's Favorite Fan Following at the People's Choice Awards. The polls are open for your votes, but the category has us thinking: What exactly makes great fandom?
Judging by this year's nominees, it all boils down to three key elements:
A clever nickname. Fans are a tight-knit bunch, so naturally they need a troop-like moniker to go along with their adoration. There's the Britney Army and Rihanna Navy, and Selena Gomez fans have even dubbed themselves "Selenators." And who can argue with the catchiness of Austin Mahone's "Mahomies?" But the catchy names aren't reserved for just music—even fans of Scandal character Olivia Pope call themselves "Gladiators!"
A social media community. Every artist's Facebook and Twitter pages means at least a dozen more sister pages generated by fans and dedicated to their favorite artist. On the Twitter front, Swifties have @OhSwifty, @TheSwiftys, @SWIFTISGORGEOUS — and that's just scratching the surface. Great fandom means connecting like-minded fans with news, pictures, and songs—it's about building and keeping a community. Because, who else can appreciate the release of Katy Perry's new album like they can?
Costumes, costumes, costumes! Whether it's Halloween or at a concert, great fandom can mean dressing like your idol in the biggest way possible. Just look at Lady Gaga's Little Monsters outside her San Francisco concert in 2010 or these KatyCats posing in full Katy Perry regalia before a concert. And if your favorite singer isn't known for their dramatic on and off-stage get-ups, super fans can always be counted on to get a little creative with how they show their love (just like the Swifties above!).
What do you think makes a great fan following? And why does you Favorite Fan Following deserve to be nominated? Make sure to vote in our polls and tune in to the show on January 8, 2014 on CBS to see the results!
Read more:
The silliest moments from the Favorite Dramatic Actor nominees
The best style moments from Favorite Female Artist nominees
People's Choice Awards launches nominee voting
For the latest pop culture news and voting, make sure to sign up for the People's Choice newsletter!


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Avisail to get look as No. 2 hitter in lineup
By Tyler Emerick / MLB.com
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- At 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, White Sox outfielder Avisail García doesn't exactly have the traditional look of a two-hole hitter. But when the topic of potential lineups came up Thursday, manager Robin Ventura talked about the intriguing possibility of Garcia hitting second.
"I think there's really an opportunity for him if we want to bat him second, he has that kind of approach at the plate, he does have some speed that we can utilize there," Ventura said. "When you look at it, you like what you see when you see him in there. It might happen."
Acquired from the Tigers last season, García hit .304 with five homers and 21 RBIs over 42 games for the White Sox. In the club's intrasquad game on Wednesday, the 22-year-old hit third and smacked a home run to center.
In 95 career Major League games, spanning parts of two seasons, García has never been penciled in second in the starting lineup. The majority of his at-bats have come in the six-hole, where he has appeared 39 times. García does have 78 Minor League steals to his name in six seasons.
"They'll be a lot of different lineups down here [in Spring Training]," Ventura said. "We're going to need to mix and match to give guys an opportunity and see what happens."
Changeup giving Snodgress new tool on the mound
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Already the owner of a worthy curveball and a Major League fastball that touches the mid-90s, White Sox pitching prospect Scott Snodgress believes he made significant progress over the winter with his third pitch, a changeup he figures could make him much more dangerous on the mound in 2014.
"It's going to be a big pitch for me this year, I think it might even be a strikeout pitch," Snodgress said. "I worked on it a ton, and I feel like I'm throwing it with a lot better arm speed. I've been talking to some of the hitters who have seen me throw it and they've said how good it looks, too. I'm excited about it."
Ranked the No. 12 prospect in the organization's system last year by MLB.com, Snodgress spent the entire 2013 season with Double-A Birmingham, finishing 11-11 in 26 starts with a 4.70 ERA over 143 2/3 innings. The southpaw, a fifth-round pick out of Stanford in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, saw his strikeout rate drop from 8.2 per nine innings in 2012 to 5.6 last year, so an improved changeup might bring that number back up.
Snodgress worked two innings in the intrasquad game on Tuesday, and although he surrendered a homer, he punched out three batters.
Standing 6-foot-6, it has taken Snodgress a while to get fully comfortable with his mechanics, but as he has worked to duplicate his motion over and over again, his command of not only his changeup, but his other two pitches as well, has increased dramatically.
"The biggest thing is just being consistent with your delivery," he said. "Once you can repeat that every time, you hit your spots more often than not. I'm at the point right now where I feel pretty confident with what I'm doing mechanically."
In his second big league camp, Snodgress is on the outside looking in as far as 25-man roster spots go, but he isn't worrying about that at all. He's too excited about his progress and looking forward to seeing some action in Cactus League games.
"I'm not getting ahead of myself," Snodgress said. "My goals are daily. I think things are coming together really nice, so I'm just trying to keep that moving."
Plenty of time for Belisario to get ready when he arrives
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Although the White Sox would prefer to have offseason acquisition Ronald Belisario in camp by now, the reliever's absence caused by visa issues in Venezuela isn't causing too much distress to general manager Rick Hahn just yet.
"You have to keep in mind we're dealing with a relief pitcher," Hahn said. "He just needs to get stretched out to one inning, maybe two, by the end of camp."
As an example, Hahn pointed to last spring when Jesse Crain was sidelined for much of camp with a strained right adductor but still wound being on the Opening Day roster after appearing in just four Cactus League games.
"My understanding from his representatives is that he has been throwing down there, so once he gets here we'll get going on that process, but it's not that long of a process," Hahn said. "There's more than enough time left in camp to get a relief pitcher ready."
Belisario, who signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the White Sox in December, has gone through immigration issues in the past with the Dodgers. The most recent incident occurred in 2012, when he was detained in Miami after spending the All-Star break in Venezuela.
"It's not entirely unexpected," Hahn said. "There are multiple appointments and thresholds that need to be met. He's still not all the way through.
"It's certainly not something that's in our control, but it's something that we hope will come to a resolution in the coming days. I don't have a timeframe that I'm able to share right now, but I do know there has been some progress."
White Sox claim prospect Cleto, designate Elmore
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox took a flier on a flame-throwing right-hander Wednesday when they claimed Maikel Cleto off waivers from the Royals. To make room on the 40-man roster, Chicago designated infielder Jake Elmore for assignment.
Cleto went 3-5 with a 5.52 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 35 games (10 starts) last season between the Cardinals' and Royals' Triple-A affiliates. The 24-year-old has appeared in 13 Major League games over three seasons, striking out 26 batters in 15 2/3 innings but allowing 18 runs.
Although his fastball can be overpowering in the upper-90s, command -- 7.3 walks per nine innings last year -- has been a big issue for Cleto.
"He's got a big arm, he can touch triple-digits, he can flash a plus-slider, but it's a bit of a project," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "He's a little inconsistent with his delivery. At times he doesn't quite know where it's going. But our coaches have a pretty good track record of helping guys, so why not bring in another big arm at low cost and see what we can figure out over the next four or five weeks?"
Asked where he thinks Cleto will end up going when camp breaks, Hahn said, "We'll see how it plays out."
Last June while playing for the Cardinals' Triple-A team in Memphis, Cleto was part of a bench-clearing brawl after hitting a batter with a pitch earlier in the game. The White Sox, though, don't seem to believe there are any character issues.
"Our guys do a pretty good job on background, so we tend to make our own judgments," Hahn said. "You don't know about a guy's makeup for sure until you have him, until you're with him day in and day out."
Elmore, whom the White Sox claimed off waivers from the Astros last November, will likely be traded in the coming days.
"We're at a point right now where we're blessed with a little bit of middle-infield depth, so Jake unfortunately got squeezed out," Hahn said. "They'll be some interest in him and we'll probably be able to swing a small deal in the next couple of days. He's a good kid, high energy, but with our depth, he got squeezed out."
Third to first
• With the White Sox set to open their Cactus League schedule on Friday against the Dodgers, manager Robin Ventura plans on giving his team a short day of work on Thursday.
"They've worked hard, everything has gone great, so I'm going to give them one last time where they'll be able to take a little bit of a breather," Ventura said. "They'll come in, do stuff in the morning then after that take off and get what you need done because once Friday gets here, it's long days."
• The White Sox will be rather active this spring when it comes to scouting other teams and their assets both in Arizona and the Grapefruit League in Florida.
"We have a number of scouts out right now, you won't be able to throw a stick at some of these games and not hit a White Sox scout," Hahn said. "That doesn't mean there's anything imminent, it just means we're out there doing our due diligence. We'll be everywhere we need to be and exhaust all our options."
• Still working his way back from a glute strain experienced earlier this month, reliever Nate Jones threw his third bullpen session since the injury. Ventura guessed Jones would be about a week behind once games start.
• The White Sox introduced their new "batterman" hats to add to their 1983 alternate jerseys. The uniforms will be used as alternates this season.
Tyler Emerick is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Have you made a New Years Resolution to help your community?
Are you a caring person who likes to meet new people? Can you work as part of a team?
L&D Radio are looking for committed volunteers to visit the wards of Luton and Dunstable Hospital to meet the patients, take requests and promote the work of the station.
Being in hospital can be a lonely experience and L&D Radio's goal is to brighten the day of patients through good music and chat. Having a ward visiting team is part of our vision to give as much as we can to the patients of the L&D.
If you are interested in helping us and giving something back to your community please contact us on 01582 582313 or email@example.com.
L & D Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to patients and staff at the Luton & Dunstable Hospital. We are a charitable organisation run by hardworking volunteers. We are a free service for hospital patients and can be listened to through the Hospedia bedside units. You can also hear us on 1134AM and online at www.ldhr.co.uk.


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Black Widow Myth Reversed
We've all heard of the dreaded Black Widow – no not the Marvel comic super hero, but the infamous spider with a deadly bite that is mainly known for it's sexual cannibalism. Not only do black widow spiders have a venomous bite (with females being up to three times more venomous than males), but the female really lives up to her "black widow" namesake as she will often eat her male partner after mating.
However, a new study has shown that the tendency to consume a potential mate is also true of some types of male spider. The study by Lenka Sentenska and Stano Pekar from Masaryk University in the Czech Republic finds that male spiders of the Micaria sociabilis species are more likely to eat the females than be eaten.
The researchers collected male and female Micaria sociabilis spiders over a two-year period and studied their behavior by mixing males and females of the species at different time points. All spiders were well fed to discount cannibalism due to hunger. The authors observed what happened when they paired young adult male spiders with single female spiders either from the same generation (young female) or from another generation (old female). By pairing males with females of different size, age and mating status, the researchers hoped to be able to identify whether the reversed form of sexual cannibalism was an adaptive mechanism for male mate choice.
Their study found that cannibalism took place early after the first contact and before any mating took place. Also, researchers observed this reverse cannibalism most often in July when the males from the summer generation were biggest, and therefore more cannibalistic. This would suggest that male aggression may be related to male size. Also, these larger males preyed on old females from the previous spring generation. This suggests they may have based their choice on female age. Female body size, even though considered to be a sign of quality, did not affect rates of cannibalism.
The authors remark: "Our study provides an insight into an unusual mating system, which differs significantly from the general model. Even males may choose their potential partners and apparently, in some cases, they can present their choice as extremely as females do by cannibalizing unpreferred mates."
The paper is published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
Read more at Springer.
Black widow image via Shutterstock.


text: I've been at work covering the uptick in oil field work surrounding new drilling techniques that have been enabling new oil and gas wells to explode in a number of areas around the country, from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale area, the Eagle Ford in Texas, and the Bakken in North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada. Judging by the guys working the wells I've talked to, it's largely a positive story relative to pay and work. Owner-operator ...Read More


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Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, March 1, 2013, 11:42 AM
Town Square
Buchanan pushes for education reform
Original post made on Mar 2, 2013
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, March 1, 2013, 11:42 AM
Comments (6)
a resident of Danville
on Mar 2, 2013 at 8:03 am
The problem with Joan's thoughts and with some California educators is there ALREADY ARE REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON THE BOOKS. The California Child Abuse Reporting Law is found in Penal Code Sections 11165-11174.3. See also Web Link
For Mr. Faraghan to say "It's hard to understand that it hasn't been required," is astonishing. It's no wonder that abuses occur with this degree of ignorance on the part of some.
a resident of Monte Vista High School
on Mar 3, 2013 at 3:22 pm
I am always nervous about using test scores. There are so many holes. What about teachers who teach the arts? computer science? robotics? P.E.? Are they off the testing "hook" -- even though their disciplines are VERY important? Which tests will you use -- SAT? ACT? STAR? The new "Smarter Balance" test ... that has NEVER been nationally calibrated? What about the cheating scandals that have gripped students ... and let's be honest ... teachers? Are there other more authentic ways to measure that students are indeed learning? Are there ways to account for -- and ameliorate -- the main factor in determining student performance -- specifically, poverty?
As a veteran teacher of 27 wonderful years in the classroom, I am committed to ensuring the quality of instruction all students receive at every grade level in every school. I am decidedly not convinced that testing is the most effective measure of high quality education. Testing may be convenient, but it is inadequate -- woefully inadequate.
And, while I'm at it, has anyone been monitoring how profitable test publishers, test tutors, and test prep centers have become? Does it occur to anyone beside me that an entire industry has sprung up ... on the backs of our children?
At the high school level, we are witnessing what one administrator admitted to me is an "epidemic" of anxiety and depression among adolescents. One source? The relentless measurement of students' academic trajectories. Young people are being so continually prepared for tests that they can barely learn or think! That cannot be what our school improvement movement intended. (Just ask Diane Ravitch, one of th founders of the movement who has since recanted!)
Yes, I am a teacher. No, I am not an apologist for poor teaching. I am asking for more nuanced, more imaginative, and more humane ways to account for our students' progress or lack of progress. We may have to give up a modicum of efficiency in favor of the truth ... in all its messy complexity.
Our students and, yes, our teachers deserve nothing less.
a resident of Monte Vista High School
on Mar 4, 2013 at 8:57 am
Thank you Ms Giles for your comments. School is a business and getting into college is a business. These kids want to be kids as long as possible and should be. They do not need the added stress that is starting in elementary school regarding their futures.
Has anyone asked the students who they think are good teachers? No, and they will not due to the union. It is silly not to ask students what they think. Some will give thoughtful, caring replies, others will be immature, but an overall picture will be revealed.
a resident of Walnut Creek
on Mar 4, 2013 at 10:16 am
In most districts, especially Redwood City across the bay, it's all politics. A teacher who admitted to teaching exact problems on the state math test was merely reassigned to a better school. Another was hunted for getting a kid to admit he lied about her to others including his whacked parents. My daughter had her---best experience ever.
a resident of Danville
on Mar 4, 2013 at 10:35 am
There is a central point made in the prior two opinions that I believe bears out the most angst and emotion in any discussion on this topic. The cottage now 'corporatized' industry that has evolved to support the post-secondary educational system is not by any rational measure the source of our frustrations. Point of fact as opposed to opinion, most reasonable individuals would accept that this industry of testing, counseling and preparing 'all' students for university life was created by US (i.e. parents). Yes, myself, yourself and virtually any parent that has raised a child over the last 20 to 25 years. We want all of our children to be IVY-ready regardless of whether they attend a state school or not.
Let us recall, that just two generations back (i.e. prior to the GI Bill rightfully afforded to returning GIs from WWII - our fathers, for some grandfathers), the notion of a university level education was something only for the privileged and scholarly families particularly in the Northeast. Yes, this is a generalization. However, it is an easily researched fact from reputable sources that the proportion of college degrees (e.g. BA, BS, 4-year) earned by lower to upper middle class families has grown exponentially since the Eisenhower era. During the Vietnam era, an academic deferment for many of my peers was yet an added motivation to pursue further post-secondary education then their fathers and so forth.
At that time, a young person did not need to chart their life's path by the time they had reached adolescence. One could 'mature' in their 20s to set themselves onto a proper path to contribute to society and themselves by their 30s. If a young man needed some discipline in life, conscription was always a decent option. For others, a trade with modest skills taught in 'shop class' was another good option. Today, it's either get into a great school or simply suffer with rest of the unwashed masses. For my perspective, this is untenable and unsustainable for generations to come after us.
As long as we continue as we have over the last couple of decades to overwhelmingly value the child that attains a professional position over the child that seeks a more hands-on skill or trade, we will just continue to add to the stress and anxiety that we profess to hate see laid upon our children.
a resident of Blackhawk
on Mar 11, 2013 at 1:55 pm
As a parent of one of Kimberley Gilles' past students, I put her in the top 1% of teachers my son has had. She knows what she is talking about and I wish more teachers would be concerned about our students actually learning. My daughter is just about to start Monte Vista and I would love to hand pick her teachers to be sure she will actually learn something rather than just have the attendance box checked that she was there. It is a sad, but very true statment for some of the teachers at that school.
Salami, Salami … Baloney
By Tom Cushing | 26 comments | 802 views


text:
All quotes tagged Ancient
(107 quotes found)
"The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms - you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow"
"The ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or Geniuses, calling them by the names and adorning them with the properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged and numerous senses could perceive. And particularly they studied the genius of each city and county, placing it under its mental deity. Till a system was formed, which some took advantage of and enslaved the vulgar by attempting to realize or abstract the mental deities from their objects; thus began Priesthood. Choosing forms of worship from poetic tales. And at length they pronounced that the Gods had ordered such things. Thus men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast."
"An ancient proverb summed it up: when a wizard is tired of looking for broken glass in his dinner, it ran, he is tired of life."
"No other man-made device since the shields and lances of the ancient knights fulfills a man's ego like an automobile"
"The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope."
"If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition"
"The ancient oracle said that I was the wisest of all the Greeks. It is because I alone, of all the Greeks, know that I know nothing."
"Where is your ancient courage? You were used to say extremities was the trier of spirits; That common chances common men could bear; That when the sea was calm all boats alike showed mastership in floating."
"All systems are capitalist. It's just a matter of who owns and controls the capital -- ancient king, dictator, or private individual. We should properly be looking at the contrast between a free market system where individuals have the right to live like kings if they have the ability to earn that right and government control of the market system such as we find today in socialist nations."
"The Royal Navy of England hath ever been its greatest defense and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of the island."


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Discussion in 'Trek Tech' started by Hando, May 31, 2013.
If you have a better explanation...
One word
Why not build a few of these. Sure they could destroy a Cube.
I think the Klingons and Romulans would understand if its for borg bashing.
I don't believe that the Genesis weapon/torpedo is such a kill-all weapon.
I would say that if detonated it transforms matter into a M-class planet with life. But, I don't believe that it would work against a shielded enemy. Maybe first get the enemy's shields down and then Genesis eliminates them.
But even then, a proto-Genesis would me more effective, after all we don't need planets (and if they are created in the wrong place all life on them would still die out). Just destruction would be enough, so a singularity/black hole would be better - to destroy ought to be enough, no need for creation.
It seems pretty destructive as the enterprise had to go to warp to get away from it.
But as for the planet building stuff. No you dont need it so yeah it would be a weaponised version.
I think people overestimate the Borg's interest in the Federation, there are thousands of worlds they can conquer and the Feds just happened to be a passing opportunity to find out what they are about.
Shooting cubes with fanwank phasers works up to a point if you apply the "borg adapts" rule to it, and considering how many drones are out there spread out among many cubes across the galaxy.
But they were intrested enough to go back in time and try and assimilate earth.
They sent another cube , no big deal, they have thousands of ships operating concurrently in the galaxy, earth is no more a prize to them than any other world they routinely take.
Really. The Borg were quite capable of assimilating Earth whenever they wanted to. See what I did there?
Well, she had no shields. If in full repair and outside the disrupting nebula, she might have weathered the Genesis wave just fine for all we can tell.
ST:FC doesn't look too illogical to me; it's more in the "Ooh, they didn't tell us everything - how alien and mysterious!" category. One possible scenario has the Borg coming in for their second attempt at assimilating Earth and its technological secrets; finding this too difficult, they launch plan B, which is to destroy Earth's ability to develop these Collective-threatening technologies. And this requires preventing Earth from creating the Federation, which is easily accomplished by killing the one man who can lift Earth from post-WWIII apocalypse by making it worth the Vulcans' while to come and help. As a side benefit, the Borg win a free (if now uninteresting) planet that they can use for whatever they do with planets.
Or then Plan B was always their one and only goal here, as they had already decided the Federation was too much a hassle to assimilate and too big a nuisance to leave be, and had chosen to nip all that in the bud with a bit of time travel. They still went from Borglandia to Earth in the 24th rather than 21st century because... Well, perhaps simply because they wanted to assimilate the latest Starfleet technologies and tactics before they nullified Starfleet altogether, and a suicide run with a Cube would accomplish that. Or then because back in the 21st century, there were obstacles between Borghome and Earth much bigger than mere Starfleet.
Timo Saloniemi
Correct me if Im wrong but by first contact the borg would have just started there war with 8472.
Seeing as that went bad fast Im wondering if the Borg did'nt send the sphere back in time to take modern borg tec along with modern fed tec back in time to give the borg a big boost so when they eventualy encounted 8472 they would be 300 more advanced.
What Genesis? Khan killed everyone who worked on it except for Drs. Marcus and Marcus then blew it up together with himself the ship and most importantly the computer. Kruge destroyed the scence vessel which was studying the planet. and killed David Marcus.
Kruge died. Valkris died. Torg died.
That leaves Carol as the only person knowledgeable about it. And even if she tried to re-develop it, without David's secret -- protomatter -- it probably wouldnt work at all.
(it would depend on Saavik to tell about it --or Maltz! he survived!--, but I dont think she would. She must hate Genesis. She didnt like prtomatter BEFORE she lost her BF and got knocked by a zombie because of it.
There is no more Genesis for anyone.
Shouldnt need too work just go bang!
We are blowing up borg cubes not terraforming here.
Im sure assimilation is so much better.....
Even though it will be all on starfleet computers. Scientists record there work, and it seems that those recording were given to starfleet as Kirk was debriefed on it by starfleet. It would be top secret but still there, no way they would delete it!. And section 31 would certainly have all the data.
Also seeing as Klingon and Romulan drones seem to be quite prevalent it seem the Romulans and Klingon have come under attack so Im guessing they have found some way to resist seeing as Quo nos and Romulus are not borg worlds. With the Romulans it may be due to there devlopmnet of thalaron weapons, kill the organic parts of the borg and render them useless. Of couse they would eventually adapt but I could see it working for a bit.
Some possibilities:
A. Data writes a program for each ship in the attacking fleet to perform multiple Picard maneuvers, hitting the cube(s) with phasers and torpedos every time each ship stops. No way to predict where the ships will appear next.
B. Old Spock supplies Young Spock with the formula for Red Matter. The future fleet carries RM weapons for special occasions to either fire or beam into a cube, creating a mini-singularity that swallows the cube.
C. Tribbles. Lots and lots of tribbles.
D. All of the above.
Starfleet already has things that go bang. Genesis DOES NOT go bang; its effect is more similar to V'ger's glowing torpedo bolts that hit one little corner of your ship and then spreads through the skin like an electric rash.
That probably isn't the kind of effect you'd get without protomatter, even if you're not trying to stabilize the end result into some kind of productive matrix.
Its EXISTENCE would, yes. Not the design plans, development notes or any of the pertinent data you would need to build your own. This, if you remember, was the whole reason why Khan went and killed everyone: the data wasn't in Reliant's computer, and they scrubbed every trace of it from Regula-1. If they put backups anywhere it would be in the cave underneath that little planetoid, and THAT was probably absorbed into the Genesis planet when Reliant exploded.
And went to some rather elaborate means to erase those records just hours before they were massacred by a genetically engineered lunatic.
That might work, but it might also backfire horribly.
Agreed, but
I think David put the protomatter in there secretly. No one knew and he died. The secret died with him (for that matter, Kruge should win a Stupid Award).
Saavik, even after being told about the protomatter, declared she had no knowledge of the Genesis torpedo Kruge wanted. Since Vulcans don't lie, that was it.
And Starfleet? well, the tape Starfleet had that Kirk, Spock and McCoy saw was one year old at that point. The rest of it was in the computer Khan stole and was destroyed. The backup tapes in Regula 1 were erased by the team when they fled the station or were collected by the Grisson -- oops.
Yeah, I forgot about that... in the novelization of Wrath of Khan, Grissom went and collected the backup cache David and Carol used to hide the Genesis data before then proceeding to Genesis to survey the planet itself.
And then Kruge destroyed Grissom and killed the only scientist left who knew how to make it work.
ANYthing is a better explanation than that assenine Temporal Cold War nonsense.
I'm waiting for yours, then...
The borg encounterd 8472 about that time.
Seeing as that went bad fast Im wondering if the Borg did'nt send the sphere back in time to take modern borg tec along with modern fed tec back in time to give the borg a big boost so when they eventualy encounted 8472 they would be 300 more advanced.
Separate names with a comma.


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Amazing work and a beautiful finished project Lucky daughter
Welcome to the Quilting Board!
Amazing work and a beautiful finished project Lucky daughter
What a ARTIST you are. Love the picture of you two. Wall hanging is beautiful. Does this awesome talent run in the family? BrendaK
Be kind to yourself, by being kind to others. When you help others you help yourself.
Cat Lovers everywhere are swooning, this is just too cute!
Warm quilt hugs, Sue in CA
Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death....Rosalind Russell
just way toooo cute.
I love the mice hidding also.
catherine antone


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It's Sunday evening and I have spent the last hour going through the slides of Cesar Cerrudo's talk at HiTBSecConf 2008 that took place this week in Dubai. I know it's sad, but the title of this blog is "passionate about information security", isn't it?
Let me give you a bit of background before going further. It's been almost a month since Cesar Cerrudo, security researcher and CEO of Argeniss publicly warned that the latest Microsoft operating system, Windows Server 2008, might not be as secure as it seems. On an advisory released on March 24, he stated:
"The problem discovered by Argeniss results from design issues that were not identified by Microsoft engineers during the Security Development Lifecycle (SDL), and allows accounts commonly used by Windows services (NETWORK SERVICE and LOCAL SERVICE) to bypass new Windows services protection mechanisms and elevate privileges to achieve complete control over the operating system."
Continue reading Cerrudo's talk prompts Microsoft to admit serious flaw on Windows


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The Week In Music: The Kids & Boys Tour
Backstreet's back, alright, the NKOTB is hangin' tough, and they have a new tour that is sure to prove it. New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys have announced they will team for a concert trek in summer 2011, and recently sat down to discuss the hotly anticipated tour. "The beauty of this show is they can expect Backstreet Boys to sing their hits," said new/old kid Donnie Wahlberg. "They can expect us to sing our hits [and then] the surprises. I can't wait. I can't wait." Whatever the surprises may bring, they will not include original BB Kevin Richardson. "I can't answer for him…that's his decision," said Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell. This tour will no doubt be larger than life and have the right stuff. Most of all, it's sure to be full of positivity. And as Donnie has been known to say, "Positivity is not about being soft, it's about being smart, you suckas."
The Beatles made a big splash on Tuesday with their long-anticipated arrival at iTunes. As of this report, the Fab Four inhabit more than 25 percent of the iTunes top 200 song chart, and account for 17 of iTunes' top-selling 100 albums. Reactions have been literally mixed in terms of what the Beatles' digital dive means, evidenced by Billboard.biz's "Five Reasons Why The Beatles' Arrival On iTunes Still Matters" report and the Los Angeles Times' contrasting "Five Reasons It's Not All That Exciting" report. Regardless of what side you're on — and as they say in "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" — life goes on brah.
In the latest intersection between pop music and the National Football League, Jessica Simpson announced her engagement to former NFL tight end Eric Johnson. This technically marks the second NFL player sacked by Simpson, who also dated Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. The announcement follows ex-husband Nick Lachey's engagement to actress/TV personality Vanessa Minnillo. While looking forward to their upcoming respective nuptials, both Simpson and Lachey shared warm sentiments for each other. "I am extremely, extremely happy for him…I really wish them nothing but the best," said Simpson. "I will say the same thing I always say: I wish her the very best," Lachey told US Weekly.
Glitter is certainly in the air for Pink, who (unbeknownst to her father) announced her pregnancy on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Wednesday. The singer, who is married to motorcross racer Carey Hart, apparently failed to alert her father that a grandbaby was on the way before going on national television with the news. To make sure she wasn't Missundaztood, Pink took to Twitter to clear up any confusion, tweeting, "Ok tweethearts: here's my own personal official whatever...... Carey Hart knocked me up and i don't know how to tell my dad. what do i say?" We suggest she take a line from Madonna.
Let's face it, science is a hit-or-miss subject in school. While learning the periodic table may not be all that exciting, a small explosion in the chemistry lab can be loads of fun. To help promote the merits of careers in science and acknowledge the rockin' work of doctors and researchers everywhere, a group of musicians have teamed with scientists for the 2010 Rock Stars of Science campaign, presented by Geoffrey Beene Gives Back. The campaign features artists such as B.o.B, Deborah Harry, Timbaland, and Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson, and Nobel Prize-winning scientists Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Phillip A. Sharp, among others. "Our music is healing, but these doctors are the true rock stars out here," said the Wilson sisters. "They're rocking the world." Hopefully the kids will be blinded by science as a result of the campaign.
Unlike science, some things just aren't meant to remain a mystery. Music fans (and fans of celebrities in general) traveling to Las Vegas will now have the golden opportunity to tour the private estate of Vegas' own Wayne Newton, complete with South African penguins, crystal staircases and a collection of various memorabilia from a Frank Sinatra champagne glass to Steve McQueen's Rolls-Royce and a Johnny Cash guitar. While Newton's neighbors aren't keen on the idea, fearing Newtonites will come out in droves and create traffic along their private community, Newton assures there's nothing to worry about. "The last thing I have ever done is infringe on my neighbors," he said. "I've heard people say that we are building a monument to myself. Get serious. I'm not that important." No word on whether visitors will have to sing "Danke Schoen" to enter the premises.
In related edifice news, Dolly Parton's Dollywood was honored with the 2010 Applause Award during a ceremony at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday. Dollywood, which sits just a few miles away from the Great Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., features rides, shows and other attractions inspired by the Tennessee-born songstress herself. Upon receiving the award, Parton didn't fail to mention the theme park employees working "9 To 5" for her. "I know how important these jobs are to people and they're proud to have them," Parton said. "The thing that stands out the most are the people."
A good cover song is an art form. Being able to interpret a songwriter's grand artistic statement and put a unique stamp on it is the hallmark of a talented musician. No strangers to talent, an artist with a heart of gold (or so it would seem) and another who was born to run teamed for a contemplative take on Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair" on the "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" show this past week. We've gone back and forth, and we're still not sure what to make of this.
With five weeks of shopping left, here's our holiday music-related gift idea of the week: the "I Listen To Bands That Don't Even Exist" T-shirt, perfect for the indie hipster in your life.
Far East Movement's "Like A G6," featuring the Cataracs and Dev, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the Glee Cast's version of "Forget You," featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, is No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart.
Any news we've missed? Comment below.
For the latest GRAMMY news, visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.


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Top prep players
take the court
Two of the top boys basketball players in Georgia will be playing tonight in Savannah. Johnson's Tim Quarterman, ranked No. 2 among Georgia players and headed to LSU, will play against visiting Brantley County at 7:30 p.m.
Effingham County junior Jakeenan Gant, ranked No. 3 by ESPN and with a host of offers from top programs, will show off his skill as the Rebels take on host Windsor Forest at 8:30 p.m.
Groves travels to Richmond Hill to take on the Wildcats in a Region 3-AAAAA matchup tonight.
Today's games
Beach vs. Josey at Laney, 4:30 p.m.
Pierce Co. at Islands, 6 p.m.
Wheeler Co. at Calvary Day, 6 p.m.
Brantley Co. at Johnson, 6 p.m.
Appling Co. at New Hampstead, 6 p.m.
Groves at Richmond Hill, 7 p.m.
Atkinson County at St. Vincent's, 7 p.m.
Jenkins at Ware Co., 7 p.m.
Effingham Co. at Windsor Forest, 7 p.m.
Savannah at Laney, 7:30 p.m.
Beach vs. Josey at Laney, 6 p.m.
Atkinson County at Benedictine, 7 p.m.
Wheeler Co. at Calvary Day, 7:30 p.m.
Pierce Co. at Islands, 7:30 p.m.
Brantley Co. at Johnson, 7:30 p.m.
Appling Co. at New Hampstead, 7:30 p.m.
Effingham Co. at Windsor Forest, 8:30 p.m.
Jenkins at Ware Co., 8:30 p.m.
Groves at Richmond Hill, 8:30 p.m.
Savannah at Laney, 9 p.m.
Reed Johnson
stays a Brave
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Reed Johnson, the top pinch hitter in the National League last season, rejoined the Atlanta Braves on Thursday with a one-year contract that includes a club option for 2014.
The deal was announced two days before Johnson turned 36.
Atlanta acquired Johnson and pitcher Paul Maholm from the Chicago Cubs on July 30. Johnson hit a combined .290 with three home runs and 20 RBIs last season. He batted .419 (18 for 43) as a pinch hitter.
Region honors
for AASU coach
Armstrong Atlantic State women's soccer coach Eric Faulconer has been named the NSCAA Women's Soccer Southeast Region Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season.
Faulconer led the fifth-ranked Pirates (19-2-2) to the Peach Belt regular-season championship as they went 11-0 in the league. Armstrong also captured the PBC Tournament title and a second straight NCAA Southeast Region title.
Under Faulconer, the Pirates collected a school- and PBC-record 19-match winning streak this season and ascended to No. 1 in the NSCAA Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the first time.
The PBC's Co-Coach of the Year in 2012, this is the fourth consecutive NSCAA Region Coach of the Year honor for Faulconer and fifth overall at Armstrong. He also won the honor once while coaching at Thomas University in 2003.
Faulconer advances to balloting for NSCAA National Coach of the Year honors, which will be announced at the organization's annual convention Jan. 16-20 in Indianapolis.


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The Sage of Six paths used two weapons in battle !
One of that weapons is named Shakujō and searching about this weapon i think we could have some possible things that will come into the Naruto Manga !
A khakkhara (Sanskrit: 'Sounding staff', English: monk staff, Japanese: 錫杖, shakujō, Mandarin xīzhàng, literally "tin stick") is a Buddhist ringed staff used primarily in prayer or as a weapon,!
In Japan the shakujō became a formidable weapon in the hands of a practiced Buddhist monk. It could be used as a staff to block and parry attacks and the metal rings at the tip could be slammed into an opponent's face to momentarily blind him. At the very tip of the metal finial is a sharp point which can be used to attack weak points of the body. The bottom end of the khakkhara has a metal butt which can be used to thrust and hit an opponent. An opponent's weapons can also be easily deflected.
The khakkhara is the symbol of the Dharma and one of the eighteen objects which a Buddhist monk must carry
A khakkhara may have either four rings representing the Four Noble Truths, six rings representing the Six Perfections, or twelve rings representing the twelvefold chain of cause and effect. A four ring khakkhara is carried by novice monks, a six ring khakkhara is carried by a Bodhisattva, and a twelve ring khakkhara is carried by the Buddha. Most commonly seen are those with six rings which have also been claimed to represent the six states of existence (humans, animals, hell, hungry ghosts, gods, and asuras).
My Conclusions:
Sage of Six paths is a Bodhisattva !
Sage of Six paths has eighteen objects which a Buddhist monk must carry !
The shakujō is a formidable weapon !
EDIT: Here is a list of the objects held in the hands of a Bodhisattva there is bunch of them maybe the 18 objects are among this ones !
So guys what is your opinion and toughts ? :amuse


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Garden Talk: November 9, 2006
From NGA Editors
Eat Walnuts for a Healthy Heart
With Thanksgiving approaching, many Americans are planning special holiday meals, which often are high in fat. Fat molecules have many deleterious effects on the body, including causing inflammation of the arteries and reducing their elasticity. New research indicates that eating walnuts with a high-fat meal may help reduce the damage to your arteries.
Researchers at the University of Barcelona, Spain, recruited 24 nonsmoking individuals with normal blood pressure and weight. Half of them had normal cholesterol levels and half had moderately high levels. They were all put on a low-cholesterol Mediterranean diet for two weeks prior to the study and during the study. The individuals were split into two groups, and each group was provided with two high-fat meals, eaten one week apart. One group was given olive oil with the high-fat meals, the other group was given 40 grams of walnuts (about 8 shelled walnuts) with their high-fat meals.
The results indicated that eating walnuts with the high-fat meals helped preserve the elasticity and flexibility of the arteries and protect them from inflammation and oxidation, regardless of the individual's cholesterol levels. It?s believed that arginine amino acid in the walnuts is responsible for this healthful effect. While it appears that walnuts can protect your heart from the damaging effects of high-fat meals, it?s not a carte blanche to indulge in poor eating habits. The researchers advise eating walnuts as part of a healthy diet.
For more information about this research, go to: American College of Cardiology.
Well-Timed Amaryllis
The holidays will be upon us soon, and one of the flower stars this time of year is the amaryllis. The large, vibrant flowers are always a welcome sight, yet they never seem to last long enough, and they might not be in full bloom for your special party.
One way to extend the flowering season is to pot bulbs every 2 weeks in fall. An easier method for staggering amaryllis bloom times is to select varieties that flower at different times. Some varieties bloom within 5 to 6 weeks after planting, while others may take up to 12 weeks to bloom. By selecting a number of different amaryllis varieties, you can have flowers blooming for months in winter.
The Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center has organized some amaryllis varieties by the number of weeks from planting to blooming. Here?s a sampling:
Early-Season Blooms (5-8 weeks): 'Apple Blossom', 'Minerva', 'Mary Lou', 'Roma', 'Vera', 'Mount Blanc', 'Aphrodite', 'Pasadena', and 'Scarlet Baby'.
Mid-Season Blooms (7-10 weeks): 'Lemon Lime', 'Liberty', 'Red Lion', 'Picotee', 'Blossom Peacock', 'Royal Velvet', 'White Peacock', and 'Papillio'.
Late-Season Blooms (9-12 weeks): 'Las Vegas', 'Clown', 'Piquant', 'Toronto', 'Vlammenspel', 'Happy Memory', 'Charisma', 'Promise', 'Dancing Queen', 'Flaming Peacock', and 'Andes'.
For more information about growing amaryllis bulbs, go to: Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center.
Grow Up With Stacking Planters
One of the prime benefits of container gardening is being able to squeeze gardens into small spaces. Now a new line of pots makes container gardening even more space-saving. The Stacking Planters system consists of 13-inch-diameter, 16-inch-deep, cloverleaf-shaped pots that stack neatly on top of each other. A stack of three pots allows you to grow nine plants. The polypropylene pots contain UV inhibitors to resist fading and cracking. They come in a range of colors including terra cotta and hunter green.
Small plants such as lettuce and pansies, or cascading plants such as petunias and thyme work best. You can stack up to nine pots on top of each other and secure them with a metal rod running through the center of the pots. Stacking Planters can also be adapted into hanging containers.
There are other versions of Stacking Planters, as well. The Self-Watering Planters have a unique water-wicking system to keep soil moist, and the Stacking Tubs allow you to grow large plants in portable containers on wheels.
For more information on Stacking Planters, go to: NJ Supply.
Who Does Your Garden Grow?
Have you ever wondered where plant varieties get their names? Have you ever pondered the background of common plant names, such as the Russell lupines, Shasta daisies, or Shirley poppies? A new book from English author Alex Pankhurst called Who Does Your Garden Grow? (Mackey Books, 2006; $16) helps answers these questions. The author explores the history of plant names and profiles the individuals the plants commemorate. She tells fascinating stories and includes anecdotes and trivia in profiling more than 100 well-known varieties. The book will help you bone up on your horticultural knowledge during these long days of winter and impress your gardening friends next spring.
For more information on this entertaining book, go to: Mackey Books.


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Haha, glorious.
Haha, glorious.
do you think people will be allowed to make violins?
who's going to make the violins?
forever 63*
Nikki Savva, well known Labor supporter, describes Abbott as a sitting duck in the Australian today.
Gone by Christmas. Gone. Gone. Gone.
WWCC - Loyaulte Mi Lie
"Hope is the fuel of progress and fear is the prison in which you put yourself" - Tony Benn
#408. Sixty three not out forever.
She's a red-letter Newspoll this week
Polls are important as they form the prism through which politics is reported/viewed
And, as we enter the killing season of November, that matters more than ever
- Winner of the 2011 and 2012 CricketWeb AFL tipping competition
- Winner of the 2011, 2012 and 2013 CricketWeb NRL tipping competition
Newspoll is getting increasingly ****ed IMO. Take every poll they do with a grain of salt. Should not be this volatile with a +/- of 3 points.
How disgraceful that Penny Wong didn't get on top of the Senate ticket in SA. That was a clear example of why national Labor is ****ed right now. That sort of bull**** is embarrassing. Some no-name hack on top of the ticket is ridiculous.
Gone by Christmas. Gone. Gone. Gone.
Ruddy will be gutted
Brad McNamara @bbuzzmc
Will say this once and then nothing else. Defamation laws quite clear in Aus.be careful.
If Abbott does go before Christmas, Labor are probably close to toast. I have no idea who they'd replace him with, but maybe Hockey would be worth a shot. He's been Australia's Grumpiest Man for three years now, so hopefully it'd cheer him up a bit.
Doubt Turnbull would get the parliamentary party's vote.
I don't know if it makes Labor toast if they change leader, either. Just as Abbott gained authority from seeing off Rudd, Gillard may get something from being in charge as an Opposition Leader was dumped.
They can't go back to Turnbull unless they're prepared to back the Carbon Price which he agrees with, and ditch the opposition to the NBN. I know he's been going around saying the NBN is no good, but you can tell he doesn't believe it.
I don't think Hockey would get in tbh. Fat blokes don't get elected PM as a general rule.
They'll have to go with someone who holds the current policy settings, such as they are, or else there'll be open warfare. Scooter Morrision or Julie Bishop to carry the can.
Turnbull supports an ETS tbf, not a fixed price.
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Now, how much it will cost and how to pay for it become the next phases.
The city's parking committee met for a combined four-plus hours at the Downtown Historic Depot with elected officials, business owners and interested people. Committee members were told by business owners, aldermen and Pope County Justices of the Peace combined that there is a parking problem in the downtown district.
Gregg Long, vice president of Crafton Tull of Russellville, and Phil Baron, a project manager with Walker Parking Consultants of Indianapolis, Ind., told the audience the first step of their feasibility study was to conduct an inventory of existing public and private parking, including a count of employees.
They also did some preliminary work on the capacity of a parking deck behind the Pope County Courthouse and came up with some interesting information, they said.
"There is some frustration downtown," Baron said. "Is the potential development capacity at that site? If we're looking at a multi-use facility, could it be part of the courthouse function? We're looking at various sizes, or a need for larger parking spaces."
Their study revealed that 325 employees park downtown, with only 296 available parking spaces.
"You take the public parking city and county employees have, then take number of employees who work at downtown merchants, we are minus 27 spaces," Pope County Quorum Court JP Doug Skelton said. "The way we are right now, we are minus 27 spaces by just the employees alone. There's obviously a need."
Other items discussed included the parking lot owned by the county southeast from the courthouse, and returning to the days when parking meters provided two-hour time limits for downtown parking.
A parking deck could also serve as an aid for economic development, Baron pointed out.
"I firmly believe we need this parking facility," Dan Nicholson of The Nicholson Group said. "I wonder how we are going to motivate people to park there? It's so easy for people to do what they're doing now. So moving folks to the parking deck, I think we've got a real uphill battle there."
Long said every meeting conducted on a parking deck has included the fact that a management plan will have to be created that will dictate where employees park and where customers park.
"There must be a motivation to park in the deck," he added.
Bill Peters of Peters Family Living noted that there are dangerous pedestrian crosswalks that keep people from parking on the south of Main Street next to Arvest Bank, where Todd Meimerstorf said several spaces were available. Pedestrian lights could help, Peters said.
"It (parking deck) will be done eventually," Peters added. "If we do it now, it will cost less than it will in five years, in two years. My problem was how much was it going to cost (to park there). That was the only thing I was concerned about. If it's not going to cost anything to park there, we need to do this."
"I think we are long past the point of if we need one," Russellville Alderman Martin Irwin said.
"The bottom line is that a parking (structure) needs to be built," Mike McGuire said. "The question is when."
"Not just a parking structure, but we need a coordinated plan to maintain downtown parking," Besty McGuire said.
Now, the direction goes to how big, what kind and how much?
Baron said the committee looked at a parking deck with a capacity of 315 spaces. A very rough estimate, including possible land acquisition and site preparation, could be in the $5 million range, with a low-end base price of $4.7 million.
"Once we get a design, then we can get a cost estimate," Long said.