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What should happen finally did happen.
The Pens out played the Caps for the entire series. They out shot the team from Washington DC in every game this series. They had multiple power play goals in three different games (and scored on the PP in every game except the first one). They held the Caps to 26 shots or fewer in 5 of the 7 games.
In short, the scoreboard was close, but the supporting stats were not.
To me, this means that tonight was not an expected result.
Having said that, I wasn't expecting it to be like this.
Fleury came up with a huge save on Ovechkin on the breakaway while the game was still scoreless (though O-Face isn't that great on the shootout, so maybe it's not that unexpected). The Pens followed with two goals in 8 seconds and that, as they say, was that.
The Pens poured it on in the second period, and by the time the game headed to the second intermission, it was essentially all over.
It was great the see the Pens finally put a team away with a dominating effort.
Sid was the best player on the ice in this series. Despite not being known as a goal-scorer, he managed 8 goals in 7 games. He came through when his team needed him the most.
The Pens will face either Boston or Carolina. I'm rooting for Carolina, simply because it gives the Pens home ice.
This was a terrific series. The games were exciting and close (other than Game 7). The NHL (and Pittsburgh) couldn't have asked for more.
Next up: Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, probably on Saturday or Sunday.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Penguins 6, Capitals 2
Posted by Pat at 10:26 PM
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Tripawds is a user-supported community. Thank you for your support!Busy day. Bruno (B) meets us for the first time. B isn't sure about the other cats so doesn't come out of his cage, but he does purr and ask for more ear scratches. That's enough to win us two cat-shocked softies over. Paperwork done and […]
Entries from December 31st, 2016
Day wun in tha JJB hoosehold
December 31st, 2016 · 6 Comments · Day by day
Tags:hiding·New home·Not eating·patience

subset: commoncrawl


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What have you been missing at guntherportfolio.com?
And Holiday Greetings.
Since GUNTHER Portfolio launches guntherportfolio.com, I've contributed a lackluster though high quality thirteen (13) posts. This should improve as the new year approaches.
I didn't have the time or positive material for a Christmas Eve post, so I decided to wish email and RSS subscribers a Happy Holiday. Please see Best Wishes for the Holidays and a fine 2009! for my online greeting card.
I do wonder if photovoltaic industry analysts are too negative about 2009. If polysilicon is supposed to be in oversupply and solar module prices are projected to decline by 20-30%, shouldn't this spur additional demand because of price elasticity? In Germany, is there a better guaranteed investment than photovoltaic panels on one's home or business?
Per "Fachbücher als Geschenk" from the Märkische Allgemeine, Nanosolar GmbH donated books focused on solar technology to the Luckenwalde Public Library just before Christmas. Good Christmas Spirit deal!
Labels: GUNTHER Portfolio, Nanosolar


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This section contains 570 words
(approx. 2 pages at 400 words per page)
Chapter 1 Summary
In Chapter One, the reader meets the protagonist, Daisy Adams, a graduate student who works several jobs to support herself and her brother as she works on her thesis. One such money making scheme involves writing a cookbook for dog treats. After the publishing of her book, she nagged Steve Crow until he agreed to give her a five minute slot on his radio station. Every Monday, she shares her advice for dog cuisine for five minutes. She enjoys moderate success and more fan mail than any other station employee.
However, she stills suffers from money shortages. When she learns that the traffic reporter, Frank Menken, hit a garbage truck and broke his leg, she jumps at the opportunity to temporarily fill the position. With some trepidation, she approaches Steve about the job. Inwardly, Steve fears Daisy is not right for the job...
(read more from the Chapter 1 Summary)
This section contains 570 words
(approx. 2 pages at 400 words per page)


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Who are Icons of eGovernance in INDIA ??
Posted by egovindia on October 28, 2007
Publication in Dataquest on e-gov corruption – The E-governance Muddle
The E-governance Muddle – Dataquest article Sept 02, 2005
WHO provided the information to Srivatsa Krishna, IAS is currently with the World Bank in Washington, DC. ?
Counter Point to E-Governance Muddle by Srivatsa Krishna, IAS is currently with the World Bank in Washington, DC. These are his personal views and not of any organization he is associated with in any form or manner.
India singularly lacks icons. Neither does India know as to how to celebrate its icons. Much of this is true except perhaps in the world of sports, software and movies, where we do cherish our icons. This is in response to "The Egovernance Muddle" by Shubendhu Parth dated September 2, 2005.
R Chandrashekhar and J Satyanarayana are not ordinary IAS officers — they are icons of the IAS, the creators of e-governance in India, and are responsible for creating from scratch, projects which have added tremendous value to the everyday life of the harried common man.
If they had been born in any other country, like the United States, they would have been held up as national treasures.
But, we, rather than applauding their feats, and recognizing how many minefields they had to go through professionally to make them happen, choose the easy path of sending an email or two, writing trash and innuendo hoping that it would substitute for solid analysis which ought to precede an investigative article.
Publication in Dataquest on e-gov corruption – The E-governance Muddle
Submission to National Knowledge Commission from eGovINDIA Yahoogroup, on relevance of e-governance in building a knowledge super power,
April 10 th 2006
Dear Chairman and Members of the National Knowledge Commission,
Greetings from eGovINDIA yahoo group members.
About the eGovINDIA group:
eGovINDIA-Yahoo group comprises of over 3000 members from all over the world. The members of the group have subscribed to process automation based true e-governance which has the capacity to empower the citizens of all walks of life such as the socially and economically downtrodden, women, minorities and people living in far flung areas.
One of the moderators of the group is an IAS officer (Mr.C.Umashankar) who had commissioned India's first e-district at Tiruvarur, TamilNadu during 1999-2001 using process automation techniques. The first e-district was rated 20 years ahead of rest of India by Times of India during 2001. The e-champion was chosen the bureaucrat of the next millennium by the Week Magazine in its millennium edition during the year 2000. The e-district continues to transact business using the e-governance systems till date. Mr.Umashankar served as Member (Special Invitee) of the National e-governance Action Plan implementation committee for a while during 2005.
The other moderator Mr. V. M. Kumaraswamy is stationed at Los Angeles, CA, USA. He is a post graduate in Management and has been deeply committed to the creation of a transparent and self confident India.
The group considers it a great opportunity to build India a knowledge super power through the NKC. We would like to put forward our views on e-governance and relevance of e-governance in achieving the knowledge super power status.
Relevance of e-governance vis-a-vis building a knowledge super power.
Public administration in India is marred by corruption and red tappism which had resulted in an anomalous situation whereby the laws of the lands are being twisted according to the executive/bureaucracy's whims and fancies. The underlying problem is the Tottenham system that has been in use all over India since independence. The Tottenham system believes in creating multiple manual records for a single transaction on the belief that if one record gets destroyed, the other original record would come handy. This had resulted in a situation where the bureaucracy in India works only to feed itself with more and more book keeping work, with hardly any concern for the citizen. The other result is rampant corruption and red tappism in public administration. Certain citizens have become more than equal in India due to these circumstances. This goes against the spirit of the Indian constitution.
Nearly 60 years into independence, India still witnesses a situation where a major portion of its population continues to remain marginalized. The well thought out schemes that were introduced for the betterment of the marginalized population had been thwarted by the vested interests using the Tottenham system which enables secrecy and corruption.
Naxalism which had been considered a bane has been gradually gaining legitimacy due to the all round failure of the systems.
Corruption and red tappism pose a serious threat to the effort to convert India into a Knowledge super power. Only a self confident nation can become a knowledge super power. The citizens of the nation have to feel empowered to interact with their own governments and its multiple agencies confidently before emanating the same level of confidence in building a knowledge super power.
e-governance has the magical power to bring about the much awaited change in public administration. All the ills of the Tottenham system can be got over using process automation based e-governance system. E-governance is the only viable route to a transparent governance system.
Having emphasised the need for e-governance to act as a foundation to build India a knowledge super power, we would like to focus on certain areas where India has to concentrate to steer clear of pitfalls in the e-governance implementation.
Definition of e-governance:
"Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that empowers the Government, its citizens including the Government employees, weaker sections, women, people living in far flung and difficult areas and the business houses to transact businesses with government and its agencies online 24/7 "
This definition presupposes process automation at every level where e-governance is introduced. There is no scope for window dressing in such a professional set up. Utility bill collection system should not be confused with the process automation system that is being discussed here.
The litmus test for true e-governance is that the system should react at the same speed for a rich man as well as poor man. The same is the case when it comes to literate versus illiterate, men verses women and so on. The so called untouchables (Scheduled Castes) should feel themselves equal to the rest of the Indian citizens at least in their interaction with Government and its agencies online.
Agenda before the nation to achieve true e-governance
Having defined the concept, the egovINDIA group wishes to place its view points on how to achieve true e-governance.
Like any other advocacy groups, the egovINDIA feels strongly for and against certain policies and practices adopted at present by various governments in India, in the name of e-governance. The group considers strongly for any initiative in India that closely matches the above definition and it openly expresses its reservations when such policies are found to be in the interest of certain individuals or corporate only.
Requisites for a true take off in e-governance:
1. Clear Information Technology and e-governance policy frame work from Government of India and respective State Governments.
The first mandatory pronouncement is that any e-governance initiative has to be process automation based system. A process automation system converts the existing manual workflow into electronic workflow with or without process reengineering. Process reengineering usually takes place when the system gets converted to the electronic form.
The resolve expressed by the executive is the most important factor for the commencement and survival of any e-governance initiative. Such a resolve has to be expressed through policy pronouncements followed by concrete rules and regulations.
2. Expected outcome of e-governance initiative to be clearly spelt out before commencement.
3. A clear vision plan for the next 15-20 years with well defined and verifiable milestones is necessary.
4. Objective evaluation of implementation of e-governance based on pre defined parameters to do course correction, if any.
5. Legal framework to fund the e-governance movement.
6. Government employees to be the first major stake holders: Involvement of all stake holders in e-governance initiative is essential to make it a success. The prime stake holders are the Government employees who at present handle the public administration using mostly the manual processing method. E-governance has to enable these employees to carry out their day-to-day functions online. The system undoubtedly has to talk their language and it should provide them a complete solution. It had already been proved in the country's first e-district that the Government employees are not monsters as depicted. The Government employees are ready to accept e-governance system as long as it satisfies their functional requirements with fool proof security and audit trail.
Enabling government employees to switch over to the e-governance system requires careful planning and execution. It is a case of prudent man management. There is a great role for e-champions in making this area a success.
7. Involvement of citizens and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in planning India's e-governance policies.
8. Qualifications of a CSO to advice and aid Government: It is preferable that the Government should engage the services of the CSOs which had not received any funding from Government for projects.
9. Need for a Whistle Blowers' protection Act: A strong e-governance system needs the backing of a supporting Act such as the Whistleblowers' protection Act. WBA would complement the e-governance system and make life easier for the citizens and business houses.
10. Connectivity: Policy and funding for connecting all the 5 lakh villages of India. The Government owned BSNL had proved that it could provide digital connectivity to every nook and corner of the country. It had already achieved this feet by converting the entire analogue lines into digital lines even five years ago. The consumers had rated the BSNL as the most transparent billing company. BSNL's broadband services (Data one) have been rated excellent by the consumers. Data One services have to be extended to the rural areas without any further loss of time. BSNL has its telephone exchanges touching Blocks and below the block level administrative set up. This is a huge strength on which BSNL can build India's broadband revolution. All the Government installations, including schools, colleges, government / local body offices, hospitals, primary health centres and police stations have to be connected using Data one services. BSNL had already proved that the Tax payers' money spent on its infrastructure is a useful investment in bringing about the telecom revolution. This time, the Government of India has to come forward to fund BSNL for building the internet infrastructure to connect all the villages. Suitable tax holidays and tax concessions have to be provided to encourage the users to opt for the broadband services at the village level. It may not be a bad idea if the Government of India could announce 2006, the year of connectivity. The entire rural India should be broadband enabled within a period of 12 months to enable a quantum leap in knowledge revolution. Unless the rural schools get broadband connectivity, the dream of building a knowledge super power would not materialise. So, the earlier the rural areas get affordable broadband connectivity the better it is for the momentum to build a knowledge super power.
11. Special treatment for difficult areas: Special provisions should be built for Bihar, North East, Hilly States such as Himachal and Uttranchal and Jammu & Kashmir to enable them to catch up with the rest of the States. For example, Bihar does not have electricity for major portion of its areas. There should be a special provision to provide power generators for the Government installations where e-governance is proposed in Bihar. Solar based power supply systems may also be considered. For these special efforts, suitable additional funding support has to be built into the plans. Similar is the case with North East and other difficult states.
12. Addressing power problem using notebook PCs: An innovative solution could be thought about by providing notebook computers to the power starved areas with solar power back up systems so that these areas need not bother about investing in high cost power back up systems. The present day notebook PCs match the desktop PCs in performance as well as reliability. The price of the notebook PCs has come down drastically in the recent past. With suitable policy support, the Government of India could make the notebook PCs the default systems for Government offices.
13. Policy framework for e-champions within the bureaucracy, at all levels: For the Indian system, the role of e-champions from within the Government is a pre requisite for leading the e-governance momentum. These e-champions have to be identified on voluntary basis, trained and put in charge of strategising and implementing e-governance solutions.
14. Need for change in civil service rules: Government employment should be thoroughly redefined. At present, the bureaucracy works on the principle of anonymity and secrecy. These principles go against e-governance based system which automatically seeks transparency in every sphere of activity. Anonymity of civil servants, though desirable, would be too difficult to achieve under a transparent system where everyone will be accountable for his/her commissions and omissions in a transparent manner. The rules the Central and State Civil Services need to be overhauled to suit the e-governance based system.
15. Women in e-governance: The country's first e-district had proved that women employees far out numbered men in taking over the e-champion's role. Similarly, the women beneficiaries outnumbered men in availing social security benefits through e-governance. Hence there is a need to have special focus on role for women in e-governance.
16. Native language support in e-governance.
17. Setting up of National and state level e-governance authority in the lines of Election Commission of India: In order to strategise, monitor and carry out course correction exercise, the Government may consider setting up of e-governance authorities in the lines of the RTI Commissioners. The authority should be vested with powers matching the Election Commission of India. At present, the e-governance initiative of the country is handled by a handful of IAS officers which is an aberration.
18. Adequate representation to SC/STs, minorities such as Muslims and Christians, women, people from rural areas in e-governance committees.
19. Transparency in all e-governance initiatives.
20. IT in school education. Role of CSOs such as Azim Premji foundation in providing multi media education for the poor: Schools should be provided with multi media based education material across the nation. This would provide a level playing field to all the students, notably the rural students. India can become a knowledge super power only if it empowers its rural students to come up on par with the urban students. In this connection, the NKC may consider recognising the role of Azim Premji foundation which has been supplying multi media based study materials to schools in different Indian languages free of cost. Azim premji foundation may be made the nodal agency for the entire nation to sphere head this movement.
21. Citizen feedback on e-governance activities: There is a need to enable the common man to contribute to the development of e-governance in public administration by keeping a window open for the citizens to send their opinions and suggestions.
Advocacy areas:
The following are a few areas which the egovINDIA group strongly feels about. The NKC may consider these views while formulating its recommendations to Government.
1. Focus on urban population or rural population? So far, the e-governance movement had focussed on urban citizens. The notable exceptions are the West Godawari (AP) and Akshya (Kerala) experiments. This is not the logical step to say the least. The population which is more affected by the Tottenham system is the rural poor because the poor do not have any bargaining capacity nor do they have the means to pay the illegal bribes. Today, the rural poor cannot get the Old Age Pension benefit unless they bribe the lower level officials. Nor they can get any government service unless they approach the government officials through touts, that too at a special cost. Good governance is a matter of livelihood for the rural population whereas it is a matter of luxury for the urban people. The convent English speaking corrupt bureaucracy would always prefer to serve the urban population because of various factors. Firstly, it provides them name and fame easily through the urban focussed print and other media. Secondly, it provides them illegal wealth or power or both. In the interest of the nation, the NKC may intervene and do the course correction. E-governance has to focus on providing services to the poor first, notably the poor in the rural areas before the same is taken up in urban areas.
2. Role of private sector partner in e-governance: Should the private sector run the Government services sans the Government or Government servants' involvement? This question is being raised increasingly in the light of the replication of Andhra Pradesh's e-seva in different states in different names. The case of Bangalore One in Karnataka is an example. The e-govINDIA group strongly feels that the private partner should be involved in software development, hand holding support and then maintenance of the software & database. Their role should not be extended to running the services on their own as it has many negative side effects. The first and foremost among the negative side effects is that instead of reducing corruption, such initiatives generate large scale e-corruption. Transparency is given a goby. None of the empowerment factors get enabled through such arrangements. Only the private partner gets empowered with more revenue. Madras University had shown the way for the rest of India by engaging a private partner to develop its e-governance software and then help the university with hand holding for nearly two years after the initial implementation. This is the right way to go. The NKC may study the Madras University pattern and take an appropriate view.
3. Role of women Self Help Groups (SHGs) as partners for providing Government services. There is a tendency to hand over the utility bill collection operations to a private partner and then call it a great e-governance initiative. Suggestions to hand over such routine yet lucrative revenue bearing tasks to women self help groups had been met with ridicule by IAS officers manning e-governance positions. The group considers it a gross misadventure to leave out the women self help groups. It is the considered opinion of this group that the Government services should be front ended by the women self help groups. In the absence of women self help groups alone, the Governments should look for private corporate partners.
4. Open source software should be the default software for e-governance operations: Open source software had come a long way to compete and even overtake proprietary software systems. The latest release of Novell Suse 10.0- open source version had been hailed to be a match, if not more than a match to the proprietary windows operation system. Open source movement offers a variety of rich and valuable software packages free. Open source office suite – openoffice.org, open source database system – Postgresql, open source report writing software – ireport, open source GIS software – OpenGIS , Netbeans for linux for software development, Apache Tomcat, Resin, Jboss etc., provide a great deal of flexibility to the users to configure the e-governance system. Developed countries themselves have started adopting the open source systems and open standards. India needs to spell out a policy towards use of open source systems and open standards in e-governance operations. (It is quite strange that a few State governments and NISG have struck a deal with Microsoft for using Microsoft's proprietary technology at huge cost. This is not a logical step because Microsoft does not offer any of its software free. Then why such MoUs? There seems to be huge corruption here).
5. Setting up of open source support and research centres in every district: Open source software enables innovations. For a nation that aims at becoming a knowledge super power, it is extremely important that vital software packages that drive the computer systems should flow freely. Proprietary systems, by default cannot flow freely towards the needy. Only the open source software can be freely used by the research professionals and educational institutions. A GIS software or database software in the normal course costs a fortune. But the open source movement had provided these packages under GNU for free download. This freedom has to be encouraged through appropriate government assisted technical support centres at every district level. The District Informatics office under the control of NIC could be declared the open source support centre. The support centre's services should be made available freely to the student community and all government offices.
6. Mission mode projects – is the bureaucracy capable of heading mission mode projects? The term "mission" pre supposes sacrifice and helping others. Currently, the bureaucrats who were utter failures in the field in providing proactive public service to the common man had taken over the leadership positions in e-governance. This is not a healthy trend for building a self confident nation. Bureaucrats, by definition are not fit to head any mission mode projects as they are not meant to be missionaries. The rare exceptions are the missionaries who had joined the bureaucracy. It is time the entire e-governance leadership is handed over to the national and state level e-governance authorities as proposed in the earlier part of this write up.
7. Indian e-governance effort should not result in a mere market for selling the ready made products of multi nationals: The trend at present has been to encourage development of ready made products and then purchase the same by various State Governments from the same companies. The case of e-seva/Bangalore one and e-procurement are the dangerous pointers. Governments have to acquire the source code and host the source code for free download by other Governments. The citizens also would be enabled to support the Government software packages by identifying and informing the lacuna found in the source code, if any.
8. Compulsory e-governance in higher education: Our students undergoing higher education should have a first hand experience in using e-governance system during their college days. This is one of the steps in making a self confident India, marching towards knowledge super power status.
9. Knowledge commission and higher education – The case for more Deemed Universities and autonomous technical institutions: If India were to supply the global demand for technical manpower, it needs to encourage more private players to commence Deemed Universities. Colleges which had shown a credible trend for 10 years should be given autonomous status through automatic route. The unfortunate trend is that many colleges which apply for autonomous status are forced to wait for years by the State Governments which simply sit over the proposals. The current move to curb the independence enjoyed by the deemed universities is a retrograde step. The Government must allow the market forces to determine the weightage of the Deemed universities. Regulatory agencies such as the Medical Council of India and AICTU had enhanced the cost of education through bureaucratic delays and huge corruption.
10. The role of NISG.
This paragraph had been withdrawn after detailed discussions. Copy provided at the bottom of the email.
11. NASSCOM in NISG – role to be defined to save its name.
12. Cheating in the name of e-governance. The case of n-logue
This paragraph had been withdrawn after detailed discussions. Copy provide at the bottom of the email.
13. An aberration called Village Knowledge Centre (VKC): The Village Knowledge Centre concept is being pushed without making any assessment. The five star culture driven CSOs have been ruling the roost. The kiosk experiments have failed wherever it had been started. No assessment had been done on these failed experiments. In the absence of e-governance content, the kiosks can at the best act as e-mail centres and at the worst phonographic content suppliers. The NKC may take an appropriate view on this.
14. Centralisation of e-governance planning by Government of India has to be given up in favour of States taking the lead: As on date, a handful of officials of Government of India have been acting the sole e-governance drivers. This is not a healthy trend for the nation. The National Institute of Smart Government has been formed with an aim to undercut the States. With NISG under their control, these Government of India officials are able to operate like private agencies, taking over the role of the State governments as well as the central Government. Ideally speaking, the States should be given their due. Funds meant for e-governance should be distributed to the States. Leadership building at State level should be taken up instead of driving the e-governance movement through NISG which has neither any expertise nor legitimacy. The NKC may take an appropriate view on this subject.
Dated the 10th April 2006 at Bangalore.
Moderator, egovINDIA- yahoo group.
1. Mail sent to Mr.Sam Pitroda, Chairman, NKC dated 23rd December 2005.
2. Book on Tiruvarur e-governance titled "e-governance-the success story of Tiruvarur, the road covered and the road ahead" – 2001
3. CD-ROM containing video of e-governance camp held in Tiruvarur district.
C.Umashankar IAS., (TamilNadu Cadre)
e-governance expert.Moderator:
Ph: 91-44-52054443
These TWO sections are removed after discussing with Mr. Nandan M. Nilekani of NKC in Bangalore. This is for both of your file.
The role of NISG. Should a private limited company control the Indian e-governance movement? It is a peculiar happening in India that a private company registered under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act (National Institute of Smart Government) has been controlling the e-governance activities of not only the central government but also many state governments. The states stand in queue before this private company to receive funding assistance for their e-governance activities. This group is of the opinion that NISG had directly encouraged corruption and lack of transparency. It has been promoting certain chosen corporate for the detriment of a host of companies which believe in honesty and fair play. The NKC may take an appropriate view on this subject based on the huge volume of materials written on the egovINDIA group.
Cheating in the name of e-governance. The case of n-logue and Mr.Ashok Jhunjanwalla: In the name of providing connectivity and internet to the rural masses, the women self help groups of TamilNadu and elsewhere are being deprived of their livelihood by a clever business plan played by Prof.Ashok Jhunjanwalla of IIT, Madras. This scam is targeted at the subsidy money received by the women self help groups from Government of India. Though the said IIT Professor knows that a 32 kbps outdated wireless system is not good enough for video conferencing, he has been promoting falsehood only to gain income though business. Mr.Jhunjanwalla is a Director in the company which markets this outdated wireless product. It is to be noted that every district has a District Blindness Control society headed by the respective District Collectors which monitors and supports blindness control. The entire funding comes from international agencies. Thousands of poor people get 100% financial assistance every year through this exercise. Whereas Mr.Jhunjanwalla has been promoting falsehood by stating that his outdated wireless system could provide a solution to the blindness of the people through video conferencing (Tele medicine). What could never be accepted in urban India is being sold to the rural women self help groups using Government contacts/orders with no benefit accruing to the poor women. The NKC may look into this affair and stop the cheating that goes in the name of e-governance.


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Currently being produced is the sequel to the Lucky Star anime series, Lucky Star OVA.
It's kinda obvious from the cover picture though, but speculations from other sites [ Sankaku Complex] say that it's gonna go all out on cosplay. The basis, is because the official site, lucky channel, has released a series of development/concept artwork.
idk the cosplay in the center, but the bottom most image should be really obvious as to whom is cosplaying who.
As for the release date, you can look forward to it being released in Japan, late September (September 26, 2008). [Lucky Ch]


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Secret Life of a Blond Bee
May 1, 2004, San Francisco Chronicle
"Uncovering the secret life of a blond bee"
by Ron Sullivan
List of plants in the garden described in the article
Two years ago, Cynthia Typaldos sent a slightly off-topic note to our native plants e-mail list: "I saw an enormous orange bee yesterday in a grape vine. Twice as big as my resident bumble bees. All orange, and very furry. As orange as the California poppy. Very loud buzzing. Just the one, have never seen a bee like this before. Anyone know what it is?"
One answer she got was from Royce B. Riggan Jr.: "You have written a perfect description of the male carpenter bee. They are very different from the females that constitute the bulk of the individuals. I'm uncertain of Web site illustrations, but there are excellent photographs in Hogue, 1993, Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, p. 349. You are probably looking at the valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta."
However, says Typaldos, most of the people she talked to doubted that identification, as her Saratoga garden is far from Southern California. The bee disappeared eventually, and she was left with a mostly unsupported conviction about her blond visitor.
Then he came back, same place, same habits, the next year. By this time some of us had nicknamed her blond beau BOB, for Big Orange Bee. This year he was back yet again -- and this time, Cynthia was ready with a camera. By the canny stratagem of watching the bee's routes and waiting with her camera focused on a spot he'd been to, and where she thought he would return, she got a splendid shot of an elusive target.
She posted the portrait to the list, and agreement was fast this time: She was hosting a male valley carpenter bee. He looks like a flying teddy bear.
BOB's at the edge of his range here, it seems. Most of his species live in what the guides call "the deserts of the Southwest"; in the United States, that includes Central and Southern California and Arizona, at least. That would explain why it was outside our experience -- that and the fact that males are a distinct minority in his species.
Females are big, too, and solid black. They could pass as just another kind of bumblebee, though in fact they're not closely related.
He was being conspicuous on purpose. He was looking for a date, and rather than hanging out in bee singles' bars or hogging some choice nectar source that females would use, he was showing off his golden gorgeousness, and buzzing up a symphony and wafting a bee perfume onto the air.
This sweet scent, which he's producing in a pair of glands on his thorax and rubbing over his body as he flies, is strong enough that humans can smell it, though at last report Typaldos hadn't managed to. If a female bee does show up and act interested, he'll daub some of it onto an inviting spot and wait for her to land and mate.
In spite of being such a show-off, BOB was hard to photograph because he never seemed to sit down. Typaldos never saw him visit a flower to feed, no matter how long she watched him. He just buzzed around the ceanothus and the lemon and the grapevine, by turns.
So what was BOB eating? His mother feeds him. His sisters might, too. The whole family stays at its original nest, and the girls provision their genetic missionary with lots of nectar (which he carries in a crop, bird-style except that it's in his abdomen) before they go out to forage and look for their own mates.
BOB is lucky; other xylocopa species' females stop feeding their sons and brothers as soon as the latter can fly. But typically he will die in winter, while his sisters will hibernate and make their own nests in spring. So this year's hunk is most likely BOB III.
Those nests are what got the carpenter bees their name. A female excavates a small hole, usually in dead wood, and she rolls up a yummy ball of pollen and nectar, stuffs it into the hole, lays an egg on it, and walls it off with homemade wood pulp. Then she repeats, for maybe eight eggs a year in her gallery.
They have to wait their turn to leave after hatching. Since this is a small, single-family house rather than a colonial hive like honeybees', and since they're not all that plentiful even in the desert, they do negligible or no damage and aren't dangerous to our own homes.
They aren't even dangerous to Typaldos as she gets her close-ups and sniffs for bee perfume, as males have no stingers and females, who do have them, don't like to sting. All that scary buzzing is just bee song.
So how does Cynthia rate, that she gets to entertain this unusual visitor? She's done several things right, without actually looking for carpenter bees.
She hired Jeffrey Caldwell to design and help plant a garden that's varied -- mostly California natives along with a few edibles and plants she just plain likes, all going in gradually and thoughtfully.
She has flowers that attract bees, including the female carpenter bees that BOB is eager to meet. And she left a snag standing in her yard; when a Douglas fir died, she had it trimmed down to maybe 20 feet and most of the limbs lopped off. It's surprisingly inconspicuous, as it's being embraced by a second Doug fir behind it.
The bees might be nesting there, and it seems to be attracting the woodpeckers she wanted it for: There's at least one Nuttall's in the neighborhood. She has another big tree, a handsome locust that blooms profusely and, since she's had a few low limbs removed, keeps its considerable bee traffic safely above human head level. She doesn't use insecticides because with natives, one rarely has to. And she has variety, not a monoculture; this also reduces the need for pesticides.
All this is happening in a little yard in a suburban neighborhood that's mostly lawns and borders and bun-shaped shrubs. Cynthia told me that when she walks down her street, most yards are silent while hers is abuzz with chirps and whistles -- the birds and the bees, and the frogs too. She got interested, and she's observant, and she rented expert imagination and left herself open to surprises. And here she is with her bee soap opera, yearly, playing at her front door.
Ron Sullivan is associate editor at Terrain (www.ecologycenter.org/terrain/index.html), where she writes A Sense of Humus, and garden editor of Faultline magazine (www.faultline.org). Beginning June 9, the Dirt column will appear on the second Wednesday of each month.


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- Georgia State College of Education
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- GSU Department of Educational Policy Studies
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- KSU Department of Gender and Women's Studies
- Georgia Chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education
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January 27, 2012
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New poll numbers show that the immigration issue is hurting President Bush's job-approval ratings
Stephen Dinan:
President Bush yesterday used his weekly radio address to urge listeners to support the immigration deal reached by a handful of senators last week, even as new poll numbers showed the immigration issue is hurting Mr. Bush's job-approval ratings.
The president has invested heavily in getting an immigration bill passed and signed this year, calling it one of his top priorities after Democrats won control of Congress in November.
"I realize that many hold strong convictions on this issue, and reaching an agreement was not easy," Mr. Bush said, praising the 10 senators seven Republicans and three Democrats who crafted the deal, forgoing the usual committee process in favor of closed-door negotiations. "This bill brings us closer to an immigration system that enforces our laws and upholds the great American tradition of welcoming those who share our values and our love of freedom."
Two Cabinet officials Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez also helped broker the talks. Last week, their presence was unmistakable and voluble, with a gaggle of security personnel and staff encircling the two men as they shuttled from room to room, working the deal and keeping leaders informed of progress.
The deal was announced Thursday, but the actual bill expected to be hundreds of pages long hadn't been completed by Friday night. The Senate floor debate is scheduled to begin tomorrow, and Democratic leaders have said they want it wrapped up by the end of the week.
Some Republicans are already protesting that short time frame.
"This issue is far too important to jam into a couple days," said Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican and a strong opponent of the plan. "This can be fixed, but it will take time, and there is no way the Senate can responsibly complete this debate in one week."
At the heart of the deal is a political compromise: Democrats won access to citizenship rights for illegal aliens, while Republicans got a revamped immigration system for the future that would reward those with needed skills as well as those with family ties to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
But the deal is too harsh for some lawmakers, and not strict enough for others. Its fate could depend on whether senators, and the voters who elected them, view the deal as an amnesty for the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the country.
"This proposal could wave a magic wand and give as many as 12 million illegal immigrants automatic legal status," said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat. "This amnesty plan is no fairy tale; it is a bad dream."
What Part of Illegal Don't Senators Understand?
Immigration Caucus hits 'amnesty' plan
Tens of Thousands of Criminal Aliens Invade US; The Senate Lie of Immigration Reform
Border agents hit illegals bill
The Great Lie At The Heart Of The Senate Amnesty Bill
Make the Immigration Bill another "Miers Moment" for President Bush
Caucus criticizes plan for 'amnesty'
Immigration debacle
The graffiti plague
You hate us, you really hate us
Debugging 326 pages of computer programming by 5:30 pm on Monday?
Rove's Gift to the Democrats?
Immigration Thoughts
The Myth of the Rational Economist
Senate Amnesty Sellout–An Attempted Coup Against America
Senate Sellout: Did You DO Anything In The Great War For Immigration Sanity — Or Just Bitch?
Good thinking from "American Thinker"
No amnesty for sellout politicians
The (Republican) party's over


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Before the holidays I said I would complete the slides on carving a cheetah with a rotary tool. Between then and now my computer has gone south a few times, and the software was updated, which means changed. The end result is I have too relearn how I put the slides together. This short version of using the Dremel rotary tool will have to do until I can get the rest of the slides all in order and figure out what to do with them.
I think you can get the idea of how I carve the pairs of animals for the Noah's Arks in a reasonable time. I use a 1/2 inch sanding drum, and merely sand off the edges of the blank. I start by making a simple "cut" on each side of the neck. Next I carve the sides of the tail, followed by rounding off the cheetahs back. After that I define the back legs, and round off the under belly. Next it's the front legs, followed by the head. I try to use the sanding drum as I would a knife. If you follow the slides you can see what I mean.
The following tips are worth giving:
1. The animals are meant to be played with, so there is little carved detail. Detail breaks off.
2. The Cheetahs legs are not separated. Kids break them off if they are.
3. If you use Basswood it fuzzes up when sanded.
4. If you use redwood it does not fuzz up. I buy redwood fenceing, it's cheap.
5. Wear a good mask.
6. After the animals are carved, dip them into shellac prior to painting.


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Describes why and how computer networks support successful work
Information and communication are two of the most important strategic issues for the success of every enterprise. While today nearly every organization uses a substantial number of computers and communication tools ( telephones, fax, personal handheld devices), they are often still isolated. While managers today are able to use the newest applications, many departments still do not communicate and much needed information cannot be readily accessed.
To overcome these obstacles in an effective usage of information technology, computer networks are necessary. They are a new kind (one might call it paradigm) of organization of computer systems produced by the need to merge computers and communications. At the same time they are the means to converge the two areas; the unnecessary distinction between tools to process and store information and tools to collect and transport information can disappear. Computer networks can manage to put down the barriers between information held on several (not only computer) systems. Only with the help of computer networks can a borderless communication and information environment be built.
Computer networks allow the user to access remote programs and remote databases either of the same organization or from other enterprises or public sources. Computer networks provide communication possibilities faster than other facilities. Because of these optimal information and communication possibilities, computer networks may increase the organizational learning rate, which many authors declare as the only fundamental advantage in competition.
Besides this major reason why any organization should not fail to have a computer network, there are other reasons as well:
* cost reduction by sharing hard- and software resources
* high reliability by having multiple sources of supply
* cost reduction by downsizing to microcomputer-based networks instead of using
* greater flexibility because of possibility to connect devices from various
Because of the importance of this technology, decisions of purchase, structure, and operation of computer networks cannot be left to technical staff. Management as well has a critical need for understanding the technology of computer networks. ictglobal.com
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Importance of Computer Networks
Describes why and how computer networks support successful work


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Hello! Remember me? I've been really bad and not blogged in over a month (gasp!) but this is a little note to say that next week I will have finished my exams so please stay with me. Revision has been going badly but then I'd feel guilty if I did blogging instead, so I've been pretty unproductive but from next week onwards I hope to make that up to you and blog my little heart away :)
Thank you


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The pagoda has been started, but due to an unfortunately timed bout of illness is not finished. The patio is swept, however, and all the leaves stacked in the big pen. I also finished one more panel of chicken wire. The pathway is weeded, and in the process we found more path! This is one of the joys of an older home. :) It can surprise you.
The ladies are clucking along, 2-4 eggs a day, despite the weather. Possibly because I've been winter-spoiling them when it is cold. I hate the cold, so I presume they do to. I'll give the wyndottes this much, they may not like the heat, and they are annoyingly consistent flyers, but they weather winter like no ones business.
I've built a makeshift windbreak on the side of their kennel that faces in to the nest box, and have been feeding them warm rice and lightly coating their feed with drippings on the freezing days. Seems to be helping, or at least not hurting any.
I found that seed catalogs are far too tempting and lead to great indecision. Since I want to start a garden bed and fill the earth boxes this spring, I've decided to go with what providence suggests. In this case, three articles that showed up in my inbox had lists of suggested veggies. One of "Easy to grow", one of "kid friendly veggies" , and one with "top ten nutritious". So I'm gonna make a list of those, and whichever of them I can find, that is what I'll try to grow this year. Fate, fate will be blamed. bwahahaha
I may have a lead on some no-longer-fit-for-critters hay, which would be awesome, and make building the garden bed just about free.
Now if it would just warm up.... ~longing sigh~ I really hate the cold.
List of veggies compiled from articles--
From here:
1. Sugar snap peas. Sweet, crunchy pods that beg to be eaten right off the vine; these also make a terrific lunchbox snack. Now's the time to plant in most parts of the country. Just let the vines flop on the ground, or plant along a fence so they can climb.
2. Lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens. These are dead easy to plant and grow and can thrive in a patio pot, too. Michelle picked arugula, but kids might like some of the White House's other options better. Check out red and green lettuces, kale, cilantro, and dill. Sprinkle a new line of seeds every two weeks, and you'll have homegrown salad all season.
3. Radishes. They grow like superheroes, ready to eat in a month. Try an Easter-egg blend with pinks, whites and purples. Josh Kirschenbaum, product development director for Territorial Seed in Cottage Grove, Ore., says that if you plant radishes in the cool weather of spring and fall, they won't get fiercely spicy. The kids can give them to Mom for Mother's Day.
4. Carrots. Another quick-grower. The tiny seeds need to be sprinkled carefully, but soon you'll have real baby carrots, sweet enough for Peter Rabbit. The green tops attract swallowtail butterflies.
5. Potatoes. Cut in pieces, bury now, and you're eating new potatoes in June. "When you harvest, you just dig in the side of the little hill, and leave the mom plant there so she can grow more, bigger potatoes," says George Ball, chairman and CEO of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. in Warminster, Pa. You can buy seed potatoes, which haven't been treated with growth-retarding chemicals like some supermarket potatoes. But a potato sprouting in the kitchen cupboard should work just fine, too.
6. Green beans. It's fun to plant the big seeds, and beans are delicious raw or cooked. Bush beans are simplest, but pole beans, which grow up a teepee made of sticks, make a great secret hiding place come July. Scarlet runner beans have a stronger bean flavor that some kids don't like, but they attract hummingbirds.
7. Sungold cherry tomato. Buy a small plant at the local garden store, and you'll be picking supersweet orange orbs off these prolific vines until frost. If you've got the space, plant a red grape tomato, too.
8. Pumpkins. They take a bit more space, and you'll have to wait until fall to harvest, but the vines are enchanting. Grow your own jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, or pick one of the adorable minipumpkins like Jack Be Little.
9. Sunflowers. Taller than Dad, or elf-sized mini versions. If you've got a big yard, plant a bunch and make a maze. In the fall, dry and eat the seeds, or leave them in the garden for the birds.
10. Broccoli. You might be surprised to see what kids like when they've planted and harvested the crop themselves. Garden broccoli is sweet and tender. Buy plants at the local garden store to speed up harvest.From here:
Burpee seed company hails the Sun Gold cherry tomato variety as the most popular of its kind. Treasured for its orange-kissed, golden-sweet flesh, this hearty bloomer will provide fruits of the vine all summer long. Plant the cherry tomato from seed or starter and protect it from frost for best results.
Bury a piece of potato that has grown an eye or two, and you will have new potatoes that growing season. The potato creates tubers from the eyes it sprouts, and these will create finger-like roots that yield more potatoes from each branch. Just be sure to leave the original piece to ensure continual production.
Just like Jack's infamous beanstalk, your pole beans will climb like magic up a pole tepee or pyramid and grow profuse amounts of protein rich, hearty beans. Many varieties are available, including the pole bean Kentucky Wonder. Provider, a popular bush or snap bean, grows in mounds without staking.
What could be more thrilling than a vegetable named after colorful, dyed eggs? The sweet pink, white and purple radishes of the Easter Egg variety will delight both young and old gardeners with their carefree profusion and magical hues.
Choosing a pumpkin seed that yields a plant the correct size for your garden space can be challenging. Why not try a miniature pumpkin variety for the ease of cultivation and exciting harvest? Baby Boo, a mini white vine pumpkin, and Jack-be-little, a mini orange variety, will create a little hiding place under a pole tepee as the leaves and vines flesh out.and from here:
1. Broccoli
Broccoli is high in calcium, iron, and magnesium, as well as Vitamin A, B6, and C. In fact, one cup of raw broccoli florets provides 130% of your daily Vitamin C requirement.
- How to Grow Broccoli
- Grow Broccoli in Containers: One broccoli plant per pot, pots should be 12 to 16 inches deep.
- What to Watch Out For: Cabbage worm. If you start seeing pretty white butterflies fluttering around your broccoli, you're guaranteed to start seeing little green worms all over your broccoli plants. To avoid this, cover your broccoli plants with floating row cover or lightweight bed sheets. If you start seeing cabbage worms, simply pick them off by hand.
2. Peas
There is nothing like peas grown right in your own garden - the tender sweetness of a snap pea just plucked from the vine is unlike anything you can buy in at a store. Aside from being absolutely delicious, peas are high in fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, and Vitamin A, B6, and C.
- How to Grow Peas
- Grow Peas in Containers: Sow peas approximately 2 inches apart in a pot that is at least 10 inches deep. Provide support for peas to climb up.
- What to Watch Out For: Hot weather. Once the weather turns hot, pea production will pretty much shut down. Grow peas in early spring and late summer/autumn, or any time of year when temperatures are consistently between 40 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Beans (especially navy beans, great northern beans, kidney beans)
While snap beans (green beans/wax beans) are a great addition to any garden, it's the beans we grow as dried beans that are real nutritional powerhouses. Dry beans, in general, are high in iron, fiber, manganese, and phosphorous.
- How to Grow Beans
- Grow Beans in Containers: Bush beans are your best option for growing in containers. Plant beans four inches apart in a container that is at least 12 inches deep.
- What to Watch Out For: Harvest at the right time. Harvest dry beans when the pods have completely dried on the vine. The pods should be light brown, and you should be able to feel the hard beans inside. Shell the beans, and let them sit out a few days to ensure that they're completely dry before storing them in jars in a cool, dark, dry place.
4. Brussels Sprouts
The bane of many a childhood, Brussels sprouts get a bad wrap mostly due to overcooking. When prepared right, Brussels sprouts are sweet, tender, and delicious. They also provide tons of fiber, magnesium, potassium, and riboflavin, as well as high levels of Vitamins A, B6, and C.
- How to Grow Brussels Sprouts
- Grow Brussels Sprouts in Containers: Grow one plant per 16-inch deep container.
- What to Watch Out For: Cabbage worms (see "Broccoli, above.)
5. Tomatoes
Fresh, homegrown tomatoes are the reason many gardeners get into vegetable gardening in the first place. There's just nothing that compares to eating a perfectly ripe tomato, still warm from the sun. Tomatoes are also incredibly good for us, packing plenty of fiber, iron, magnesium, niacin, potassium, and Vitamin A, B6, and C. They're also a great source of the antioxidant lycopene.
- How to Grow Tomatoes
- Grow Tomatoes in Containers: Container sizes will vary depending on the variety you're growing. If you're growing an indeterminate variety, your container will need to be at least 18 inches deep. For determinate varieties, 12 inches is a good depth, and for dwarf or "patio" type tomatoes, 8 inches is perfect. One tomato plant per pot.
- What to Watch Out For: Tomato horn worm can be a problem in many areas - these large caterpillars should be removed by hand whenever you see them. Also watch out for signs of blight, which is a real problem in many parts of the U.S.
6. Red Bell Peppers
Red bell peppers are high in potassium, riboflavin, and Vitamins A, B6, and C - in fact, one cup of red bell pepper packs an amazing 317% of the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C and 93% of the recommended Vitamin A.
- How to Grow Peppers
- Grow Peppers in Containers: Plant one pepper plant per each 8 to 12 inch deep pot.
- What to Watch Out For: Aphids and flea beetles are the two most common insect pests when growing peppers. While both can be controlled with insecticidal soap, which is a common organic option, you can also make all-natural, homemade sprays to deter these pests. A tomato leaf spray will get rid of aphids, and garlic/hot pepper spray works very well on a flea beetle infestation.
7. Beets
Beets are a great "two-fer" crop - you can harvest the beet roots, of course, but you can also harvest and eat the greens. Young beet greens are delicious when added raw to a salad, and larger beet greens can be sauteed as a quick side dish or used the way you'd use other greens such as spinach. Beet roots are very high in iron, potassium, and vitamin C. Beet greens are even better, as they are high in iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and Vitamins A, B6, and C.
- How to Grow Beets
- Grow Beets in Containers: Plant beet seeds three inches apart in a container that is twelve inches deep. Because each beet seed is actually a cluster of seeds, be sure to thin the seedlings to one per cluster. Thinnings can be added to salads or sandwiches.
- What to Watch Out For: Knowing when to harvest. Beet roots are at their best when they are harvested small - between one and two inches across. At this size, they are sweet and tender. Larger beets tend to be kind of woody and less flavorful.
8. Leaf Amaranth
Leaf amaranth is a less-common vegetable that is well worth a try in your own garden. The leaves have a sweet and slightly tangy flavor that works well in a variety of dishes, from stir-fries and soups to simply steaming it all by itself. As a bonus, leaf amaranth is one of the few heat-tolerant greens. It won't bolt in the heat of summer the way spinach and kale are prone to. Nutritionally, leaf amaranth is very high in calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin, zinc, and Vitamins A, B6, and C. Everyone should be growing this!
- How to Grow Leaf Amaranth
- Growing Leaf Amaranth in Containers: Scatter the tiny seeds over the soil's surface in a pot that is at least 8 inches deep. Harvest the leaves when they are two to four inches tall. You will be able to get at least two or three harvest before you'll have to sow more seeds.
- What to Watch Out For: Leaf amaranth is fairly easy to grow, and relatively problem-free. Rarely, leaf miners can become a problem.
9. Carrots
Carrots are at their sweetest, crunchiest best when freshly harvested from the garden. These icons of healthy eating deserve their "good-for-you" rep - they're very high in fiber, manganese, niacin, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6, and C. Their only drawback is that they do tend to be high in sugar, so if you're watching your carb intake, you'll want to limit the amount of carrots you eat.
- How to Grow Carrots
- Grow Carrots in Containers: Sow carrot seeds two to three inches apart in a pot that is at least twelve inches deep. Look for shorter varieties, such as 'Thumbelina,' or 'Danver's Half Long.'
- What to Watch Out For: Harvesting at the perfect size. Carrots are at their tastiest when harvested small. Leaving them in the ground too long can result in overly large, woody carrots. You'll also want to make sure to keep your carrots evenly moist, as letting the soil dry out too often can also result in somewhat bitter, fibrous carrots.
OK, I cheated here. I can't recommend just ONE leafy green, because they are all incredibly good for us, as well as delicious -- kale, collards, spinach, turnip or dandelion greens -- how can you possibly choose just one? In general, the "green leafies" contain high amounts of calcium, iron, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6, and C.
- How to Grow Kale and Other Leafy Greens
- Grow Greens in Containers: Grow one kale or collard plant per ten inch deep pot. Other greens can be grown a few plants to a pot -- they should be planted at least 4 inches apart and harvested small.
- What to Watch Out For: Heat and cabbage worms. Most leafy greens are cool-weather crops, so they're best grown in spring and fall in most areas - hot weather will cause them to bolt. In addition, many of these greens are members of the Brassicas family, which means they are prone to cabbage worm infestations. Control them with the same methods outlined in the "Broccoli" section, above.
Try growing one or two (or all!) of these nutrient-dense, delicious vegetables in your own garden, and you'll get double the health benefits: healthy food and time spent outdoors, nurturing your plants.


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One of the things im medoately evident about all the WWW2 rules and figs are that they are all Europe-centric: No banzai charges, Pacific island invasions or brave, stoic Aussie types...
...but it would seem that thats about to change with the new AE-WWW2 Pacific Module:
Welcome to the first army list from our upcoming Pacific War expansion. The rules in this issue cover the Imperial Japanese Army. This list is well past the beta testing phase, but we are still very interested in what players think about the mechanics and play style of the Japanese in AE-WWII. We hope you have as much fun trying these guys out as we did writing and play testing them.
I dont think its going to change my complete inability to play Aussies in a game though - the odd hero of course, but not an army. I just couldnt retain my cool, good-sport demeanour!


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Happy Monday, friends! This weekend has been a busy one.
Friday was a super busy day. Andrew went into work a bit earlier than normal since he was taking most of the day off. I had my six week post partum appointment and since my doctor is an hour away and Gabe hates his car seat (at least that is what we think based on our trips with him thus far) Andrew was going to keep all three boys at home. So. Much. Simpler.
When I got home, Andrew tagged me in and he was off to the deer stand. Bow season has officially begun and he was eager to get out there. None of the boys seemed to want a nap that afternoon but Hudson and Beau played together really well (for like the first time that week!) while I felt like I was having a nursing marathon.
After dinner and baths (I'll spare you the details because it got a little hairy there) my mom showed up. She came into town to help us with our weekend project.
Which leads me to our weekend project. But first...
As I was catching up on blog reading, I read a lot of posts regarding why bloggers had started their blogs. I recall why I started this blog. I even re-read my first post. We were moving. Not across the world but two hours away and at the time that seemed like an enormous move for our little family of four. It incorporated HUGE changes for both Andrew and I as he took a new job and my career path changed drastically. And for our boys, who had always had a working mom, now had a working from home mom. With all this change I wanted a way to stay connected. I wanted a way to document this time in our family's life. I wanted to share what we had going on. I wanted to look back 10, 20 years from then and be able to read about our life, for our kids to have a common place with memories and photos.
Now, a little more than a year since we moved away, we are moving home. Our big project this weekend was packing. We packed up a majority of our house. I still can't believe that we will be back home in just a month. And I can't wait to share the story of how all of this happened with you all because it is truly is something God orchestrated.
I am sure someone, somewhere is reading this thinking, "You were only there a year. You moved for his job. So why the heck are you moving home? Couldn't you have saved yourself a lot of hassle if you just would stay or not have moved at all?"
What I know is this. When I read that first post, I still know with 100% certainty that God opened the door for Andrew to take this job. I know that we were supposed to move here. I know this because in the last year, we have changed. Andrew and I have changed in ways that would not have happened if we wouldn't have moved. We have grown up. We have learned to lean on each other as husband and wife first. We learned to talk through issues, big and small. We learned the preciousness of our little family; just the four (now five) of us and how to do life together. We grew in our faith. We learned how to trust God with situations that normally would have caused a lot of worry. And God showed us what it was like to be blessed because of our belief in His faithfulness. Andrew became a better husband and father. I became a better wife and mother. I'm not saying any of this to pat us on the back. It is simply me saying that God brought us here to teach us, grow us, stretch us.
So why move back? There are things we miss. Things we want for our kids. Things we want for ourselves. Things that just aren't as readily available in such a small town. So we prayed about it. We prayed about the timing and if we were supposed to move back. And God answered.
I can't wait to share with you all how He answered.


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The car, a 1994 Volvo, traveled 211 feet across a lawn before striking a large tree
BRIDGEWATER – A Bridgewater woman was transported to the hospital around 5 p.m. Tuesday evening after backing her vehicle into a tree at Waterford Apartments.
The woman, Linda Lucia, 51, was apparently seriously injured, according to a police crash report. She told officers she believed a mechanical failure had caused the vehicle. a 1994 Volvo, to accelerate while she was attempting to back into a parking space, preventing her from properly applying the brakes as the car crossed a lawn and struck the tree.
The vehicle traveled a total of 211 feet before hitting the tree, the report said.
Lucia was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, and the vehicle, which sustained heavy rear-end damage, was towed from the scene.


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Children's author Anne Bustard on her favorite picture book biographies and a few collected biographies, too, birthday by birthday.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Pele, athlete
Oct. 23, 1940-
Young Pele: Soccer's First Star by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome (Schwartz & Wade Books, 2007)
Soccer was Pele's passion from an early age. He played and dreamed and dreamed and played, all the while honing his skills and talent. When he finally had the opportunity to play in a youth soccer tournament, he saw that it would be possible for him, a child from humble means, to achieve his goal.
ESPN posts a biography of the "King of Futbol" on their site.


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Beyond the Blue Cypress
by Ann Clay
by Ann Clay
Like the bald cypress, Drace Breaux anchors her family on the soft muddy soils of Grand Isle, determined to never abandon the homeland she loves more than anything. But when a stranger comes to town, stealing her heart and soul, she is torn between two affections. Demarcus Grimillion's insertion into her life thrusts her on a rocky journey packed with love, calamity, and a yearning that only one man can fulfill.
Demarcus Grimillion nearly lost his tread the warm summer night he stumbles on the young woman wandering the secluded beach. He blindly steps into her world, not overly concerned with the deep traditions and colloquialisms of bayou living. He vows to walk through hell to love and protect her. Only he doesn't count on the jaws of swamp gris-gris to be so powerful; enough to kill them all.
Drace and Demarcus's story starts on the coastal island in the 1950's, a time when the rural south challenged the will of even the strongest of families. But through the spirit of time they finally meet the chance to keep their sacred promise.
Note from Ann: The crew from Gumbo Love has stirred the mixture a bit with Drace Grimillion adding shrimp and blue crab to the bayou's favorite meal. Many readers wanted to know more about Autumn's mysterious grandmother, from the title Blue Autumn in the Bayou. Well, Drace's story is revealed and begins on the coastal Grand Isle in the 1950's. Meet the Grimillions on their journey to promise.
Excerpt from Beyond the Blue Cypress by Ann Clay
"Hi, beautiful. What are you up to this morning?" He looked so different than he did last night, taller, more handsome. He had a small cleft in the center of his clean-shaven chin. Her gaze traveled from his eyes to the prominent lines of his jaw, chin, and then the root of her admiration, his lips. She stared at them remembering how soft and tender they felt, how unbelievably sweet they tasted.
He stepped closer and all the air in her lungs forced her chest to rise up and forward. Drace tilted her head up to keep him in her line of sight. His lips moved and she actually heard the words, but her mind would not free her mouth to speak.
"Are you just gonna stand there, darling, or must I kiss you into speech?" His smile widened and the heat of his body made her woozy.
"I came to see you." She moved closer to the fence poking her nose and mouth between the holes.
When he lowered his face, he kissed her nose, and she pulled away, disappointed his kiss had not met her hopeful target. She gazed up into his smiling face again.
"You look beautiful this morning, cher. I was hoping to see you today. I have to admit I didn't think it would happen so soon."
"Are you disappointed?" Drace finally found her voice and most of her senses began to work again.
"Mais, not at all. You've been on my mind since I left you last night."
She looked away. The penetration of his bold appraisal, especially in the light of day made her feel naked standing beneath him. "I must admit I wanted to see you again."
He touched her face, bringing her eyes to his. "Your words make me happy, Drace. I don't have much time, but would you meet me again, tonight? Same place, maybe?"
"Yes, I'll meet you tonight."
"I get off at six. How about I meet you at your favorite spot? I'll come after I wash up."
"Okay. That will be fine." She shifted from one foot to the other awaiting his reply. Her fingers closed tighter around the wire coils in hopes Demarcus would touch her again. She didn't have to wait long.
"Then seven. I'll see you tonight, darling." He stuck the set of gloves beneath his arms, leaned forward, and placed both hands against hers. His mouth moved mere inches from her now parted lips. "I'll see you later, okay?" The fence denied her the opportunity to tip up and capture them.
"Okay." Drace smiled and stepped back once he released her hands and turned to leave. She stood and watched him and when he was almost to the wide opening to the building he turned briefly before stepping through the doors.
The sun stood high and bright in the sky, adding heat to the already muggy air. Still its brilliance did little to compete with the heat ignited by Demarcus's simple touch. She rubbed her hands down the sides of her face until they landed at the center of her chest. She sighed and continued to watch until he totally disappeared from her view.
( Continued... )
© 2015 All rights reserved. Book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author, Ann Clay. Do not reproduce, copy or use without the author's written permission. This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only.
Purchase Beyond the Blue Cypress by Ann Clay
Gumbo Love - Volume 2
Link: http://amzn.com/1508466203


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Andhra Pradesh, India Meteor 2130 Local 06NOV2015
Initial Meteor Report-
I was flying in an Airplane from Delhi to Chennai. The flight took off from Delhi at 9:30 PM on 06.11.15 and I was sitting on the right window. I just looked out at around 11:30 when the plane had started descending and I saw a bright green flash and saw an object descending. The time must have been around 11:45 PM - 1200 Am. I was flying over Andhra Pradesh close to the coast. Initially it looked like fireworks - a descending parachute firework. Only then I realise I was around 30,000 ft above the ground. It was definitely a meteor. It was bright green in colour and I could see the pieces descending. I tried to look for any further events till the time plane descended but couldnt find any. I thought the object would impact the Earth. -Krishnan Venkataraman
2015 The SECOND Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!


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Okay friends, now I will share about a game that can be applied in the teaching learning process at elementary school in Indonesia. The name of the game is Odd one out. The students are asked to choose which word is different from others. There are four words in a group. A word out of four is different. And the left three words have the same group.
|Odd one out
Here is the example of the words, one is different out of four:
Grape, orchid, Mango, banana.
The answer is Orchid because orchid belongs to kinds of flower and others are fruit.
Ok now is time for you to choose the anwer and the reason why.
Which one is different from others?
1. Pencil, ruler, hat, rubber
Answer :
2. Window, door, floor, book
Answer :
3. Television, radio, Computer, car
Answer :
4. Ship, Motorcycle, car, bus
Answer :
5. Duck, rooster, cat, tiger
Anwer :
Those are just the examples. The teacher can creatively makes the questions. He/she can develop and makes more and more questions to be done by his/her students. This kind of game can test the students' mastery in vocabularies. If the students you teach can answer your questions, your game, it means that they, so far have understood and got a lot of vocabularies.
That's a little that I can share for today. Thanks for reading. Hope you can practise it. Success for you all...
Anda baru saja membaca artikel yang berkategori GAME BAHASA INGGRIS dengan judul ENGLISH GAME FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS IN INDONESIA : ODD ONE OUT. Jika kamu suka, jangan lupa like dan bagikan keteman-temanmu ya... By : BAHASA INGGRIS ANAK INDONESIA
Ditulis oleh: Mustofa - Thursday, June 21, 2012


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Yesterday we travelled to Dundee to meet up with good friends Liz and Kristian who are visiting from Norway. Liz was the very first person I spoke to on my first day at Art School; I asked her the way to the lecture theatre where all us newbies were to meet for induction, she was a cool third year Graphic design student I later found out, I was a rookie in my new suede desert boots and levi's feeling overwhelmed by the whole experience. At the same time Kristian and Mr K were somewhere else in the building being inducted into their architecture course. Fast forward; Kristian and Liz fell in love, married and moved to Norway, had two daughters. Mr K and I fell in love married and moved to Glasgow ( not quite the same excitement ...) had two daughters.
We met for lunch with them and other friends and chatted about our kids and Liz and Kristian's two year old grandchildren, and just life in general. The guys chatted about architecture and building details, sigh! We usually end these meet ups with a promise to visit Oslo but this time the diaries actually came out - so Spring 2012 we will be in Oslo...definitely.
Couple of Liz's prints.


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Vincent Enyeama did all he could to stop Greece from winning and taking three vital points. He made four or five top-class saves to deny Samaras, Krygiakos and Gekas. Enyeama is a clear contender for the tournament's best goalkeeper award. He has proven that his fine performance against Argentina was no fluke with a similarly athletic performance against Greece. West Ham's interest in this 27-year old shot-stopper who can also score/take penalties is surely justified based on his sterling performance.
For me, the sending-off was the best thing to have happened. The game turned into a very absorbing and interesting match with lots of see-saw moments. Nigeria was hitting Greece on the counter attack and there were two occassions that Nigeria could have and should have scored. Yakubu letting fly and missing the post. Chinedu awful miss after Yakubu had forced a save from the Greek keeper. Had either of the two went in, a 2-2 draw could have been the result.


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This year's Petronas Merdeka and Malaysia Day Advert (a two-for-one value deal) is wonderfully made. More than 3 minutes long, it is a sweeping panorama of multiple communities, varied Malaysian locations, and intergenerational histories. Filled with wide angle slo-mo shots set to sweeping music, it is epic in scope and has been variedly praised as "moving", "beautiful" and "the best advert Petronas has made in a long time".
Allow me to be a contrarian here: I am not a fan. In fact, I'm surprised not more people find the underlying narrative and subtext of the advert deeply disappointing.
"Our lives may be different, but our hopes and dreams are the same", goes the ending slogan.
At first this seems both a fitting and reconciliatory reminder that deep down we as Malaysians are all one and the same despite our surface differences.
But when you look at the advert closely, you notice that the main characters (all from different ethnic groups) really do live different lives; they simply happen to live in the same country.
They do not have friends from other races. They live apart from each other. They do not intermarry. The only time they "mingle" at all is in a bus on their maiden voyage to university (Universiti Petronas, naturally). Then they each focus on their own courses and after they graduate, they move on with their own lives.
If art is a mirror to life, then perhaps this advert mirrors a deeply saddening truth of contemporary Malaysia: after 56 years of independence and 50 years of nationhood, we have nothing to show other than different groups of people who share nothing in common besides citizenship in the same country. We live parallel lives that do not intersect and we know and care very little of each other. We are our own "Others".
According to this advert, our hopes and dreams are the same only on a superficial level: we want our children to do well academically and career-wise, to enjoy stability, to have families of their own. There is no hope for anything more than a better life for our kids. Not a better life for all Malaysians, just our kids. There is no shared Malaysian future, no common aspiration, no intersecting lives.
There is no Malaysian dream.
How can we not notice this deficiency? How can we lap praise at this advert? It's showing us our shortcomings as if it were our strengths.
Yasmin Ahmad, in her short advert where two women spoke to each other in different languages yet understood each other perfectly well, showcased a far more humble but beautiful and (genuinely) moving vision of our country, one which perhaps, in the time since her passing, has unfortunately become more like the Petronas Merdeka/Malaysia Day advert of 2013.
Happy Merdeka Day, and Happy Malaysia Day, my fellow Malaysians.


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Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The 6 month update
Year One was all about working through the anger. I had become a person I didn't like to see when I looked in the mirror. I had horrible, unrighteous thoughts. I was so busy looking at others that I neglected to look at myself. Year One was ugly.
Year Two was all about sadness. Grief. Lots of tears. Why me?
Year Three was when I evolved and rose above our circumstances...I thought, anyway.
The events of the past six months have done everything possible to attempt to thrust me back into the mindset of Year One. It all began on December 22, 2009.
Jamie and I had a doctor's appointment to follow up on our last injectable cycle from the previous month. We hadn't gotten pregnant, and I braced myself for the news that would follow. But as it turns out, it's impossible to prepare yourself to hear that nothing more can be done. We had reached the end of our treatment possibilities. Basically, we were told the only thing we could do is give it time and just see what happens. Our odds of achieving pregnancy, even with treatment, were estimated to be "maybe 1%". My body never did respond well to the drugs, and 2 years of hardcore fertility treatments had really done a number on us - both mentally and for me, physically. We were done.
As we left the office, the doctor mentioned to us that if we really wanted to get serious about having a child, we should consider gestational surrogacy.
We left the office under the impression that surrogacy was never an option for us. It costs at least $65,000, and that is on the lower end. It wasn't even on our radar as a possibility. So we went home, grieved, tried to enjoy our Christmas, and started the difficult process of accepting our family as complete and moving on.
I began plotting a formal dining room in the area that is currently a playroom. And I made plans to clear out our "nursery" to move Elise's toys upstairs. I tried to embrace the idea as best I could. And I think I was making some progress in that regard.
But then it was as if the stars had aligned, and our world turned upside down for the next three months. A friend came forward and offered to be our surrogate for a low fee, and the money made itself available. Before we knew it, we were meeting with attorneys, doctors, psychologists...and things were moving in a positive direction. We had all the preliminary testing/contract/psychological evaluations completed and were literally within a few weeks of beginning the medications that would eventually lead to the creation of embryos and a transfer of our baby into the surrogate.
But then it happened. One of those totally bizarre, totally unexpected, horrible events that blindsides you on a random Wednesday afternoon. Literally overnight by no fault of anyone involved, the circumstances changed, and the surrogacy was canceled. And so it was April, and we found ourselves back on December 22nd again. With our surrogate no longer available and our emotions more fragile than ever, we were at a loss as to what our next move should be. I asked myself, "Why did God lead us this far, only to abandon us yet again?" I spent so much time praying over the surrogacy. I had felt so certain it was what He wanted us to do. And so when it failed, it very quickly gave way to self doubt.
The planning phase of the surrogacy had been extremely stressful for me, as I attempted to coordinate all the many appointments and tests long distance. I had researched everything well into the evening hours on many nights, trying to become an expert as I navigated this very tricky arrangement without the benefit of an agency. My nerves were absolutely shot. I did not want to do it again. But Jamie did, and our attorney encouraged us to keep looking. As a matter of fact, everyone seemed to want us to keep looking. But I just didn't feel like I could do it. The previous three years had taken a toll, and I felt somehow I was receiving some big, cosmic sign from the universe that I was never meant to have anymore children. But it wasn't a decision I could make alone, and I was committed to trying again if Jamie still felt he wanted to do so after a period of time (what period of time, we really hadn't decided yet).
As we were in the midst of this huge dilemma over whether to continue a search for a surrogate, we were blindsided again...
And for the next two weeks, everything made sense. The surrogacy fell through, because *I* was going to carry our baby! It was a medical miracle, as far as we were concerned. Our bloodwork all came back perfectly. My hcg was 1250 at 19dpo. At 21dpo it had risen to 2994. My progesterone was 29. It felt too good to be true. And it was. We went to our six week ultrasound to discover the baby measuring several days behind. It doesn't sound like much, but in the early stages of pregnancy, a lot can happen in several days. So we were sent home with instructions to come back in five days for another ultrasound.
"Maybe we are just off on our dates," I told myself. But I knew better. After tracking cycles and ovulation for three years, I knew I wasn't off. I knew to the exact day when we had conceived. And so it was long five days spent obsessively googling ultrasound photos and reading everything I could find that might lend some encouragement to the situation. When we returned, the baby had fallen a full week behind, and there was no heartbeat. We were told miscarriage was imminent.
So here we are now. Waiting for the inevitable. I've done a great deal of waiting over the last three years, but this wait is by far the worst of my life. I am determined to avoid another uterine surgery that would surely only leave me with additional scar tissue. So I wait. It's the strangest feeling, knowing you are carrying a child that isn't growing...dreading the moment when you are no longer carrying the baby. Wondering when it will happen. Hoping it won't happen at work. Praying it won't happen at work. Wondering if it does begin at work, if you will be able to make the hour drive home before it's too late. Contemplating how to properly honor your baby's body, because flushing him or her down the toilet is just not an option. And meanwhile, passing coworkers in the hall as they ask, "Hi, how are you today?" And just smiling and saying, "Fine." Maybe if you say you are fine, you will be fine?
And the big elephant in the room...my beef with God. We dealt with this loss back in December. I can accept Him telling me no. But it feels we are the victims of some cruel game at this point. Dangle it in front of us, and yank it away. Twice in just a few months. Gear us up to be excited at the prospects - even bring us to a point where we are discussing baby names - then yank it away.
When this all began, I found great purpose in the journey. I needed to learn things about myself, and I needed to change. I needed to learn to give others grace. I needed to do less judging and more changing of myself. I needed to get right with God. And I feel like I have done all those things. At this point, I wonder, "God, what else do I need to change before I am worthy of having my prayers answered??? What else do you want from me??? Why am I not good enough??? I was willing to accept my situation, but you have brought me so close to what I desire twice now. What are you trying to tell me? Is all of this extra pain really necessary? Why?"
And so I wait and listen for the answers as I try not to slide back into anger that I thought was left behind in Year One. Meanwhile, Year Four is now underway. Quite frankly, I am afraid to see what it holds.
8 comments:
- Jamie said...
Whatever year four might hold my love, I am here to make the walk together. I love you more than words and we will make it through these trials.
- June 1, 2010 at 8:49 PM
Melanie I am so sorry to hear of all that has happened since March, and especially of the loss of your miracle baby. There are many things that I could say, but none of them ever came close to making me feel better with each of my miscarriages. Most of the "thoughtful" comments made my pain even worse, I wish I could just hug you and tell you I'm sorry in person.
I wanted to share with you a place I found to give my babies a place in the world, written in word, I came came across The Church of Holy Innocents after my third miscarriage. They write the name of your baby in the "Book of Life" where a candle is always lit in their honor. It's not much but for me it gave me peace to know somewhere my children were being honored.
The website is http://www.innocents.com/shrine.asp if you are interested.
- June 1, 2010 at 10:48 PM
Melanie, you are a wonderful person. I have no doubt that you and Jamie will get your miracle someday. I am so sorry that you have had to endure so much. You know I'm here if you need anything. :(
- June 2, 2010 at 8:16 AM
- Biffy said...
I have to say that I am so very sorry.
But I am so happy that you have a man like Jamie, you just don't know how lucky you are to have a man like him, he is so great. Elise is lucky too.
- June 2, 2010 at 10:56 AM
- The Workman Family said...
Melanie - you two have been through so much. I am so sorry that things just haven't turned out as we all hoped they would for you.
It might not be much, but please know you have a lot of us out here praying for you and Jamie and Elise.
- June 2, 2010 at 12:20 PM
- Laurie said...
I am so sorry, Melanie! All of you are in my thoughts.
- June 2, 2010 at 2:55 PM
Melanie- I am so sorry. Will be keeping you and your family in my thoughts. Huge hugs!!
- June 2, 2010 at 11:01 PM
- ツ αngie said...
I'm struggling right along with ya... much love & many hugs
- June 7, 2010 at 4:41 PM


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This autumn the back garden has been favoured by many Hornets which are now free from nest duty in the swan song of their lives. Some loiter around the edges of the pond, others are on the hunt for prey and they're struggling as their main prey of choice, the Honey Bee, is presently scarce. Hornets always seem to favour our garden in late summer and autumn; I think its a mixture of sun, shelter from the wind and plenty of foliage to hunt within. The daily numbers peak in early afternoon, but by 4 o'clock they've gone elsewhere. They're never far away though. At night, with just the outside house light on, it takes just a few minutes to a lure them into view. If the garden moth trap is switched on, we will have many dozens of Hornets angrily hitting the mercury vapour lamp, unable to draw themselves away.
I have photographed them in previous years performing their nuptial flights together and it would be great to see this strange sight again.


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The Chronicle this morning covers the case of Boyce Watkins, a "public scholar" engaged in a tenure dispute with Syracuse University. Watkins entered the tenure track in 2001 and was just denied tenure, ostensibly due to a weak case in both teaching and research. He is best known for his engagement in the public media, where he's taken on college athletics (the Holy Grail) and sparred with Bill O'Reilly.
The nature of tenure decisions make it very hard to know what's really happened here-- the specifics of the case aren't public, and are subject to so much interpretation. It's possible the decision represents the failings of the individual, his department, and/or the University's P&T committee. We can't know whom to blame. But what I think is most important here is how Watkins, as a junior faculty member, is reflecting on the words of his college president, Nancy Cantor.
In 2005 Cantor made several great statements calling for the kinds of systematic changes needed to support the growth and development of true public intellectuals from within academic settings. Cantor clearly understands how tenure and promotion criteria can actively constrain public engagement by placing a greater emphasis on placing research in dusty library journals than in a more public sphere. The former is said to reflect real "peer" review, when the latter-- truthfully-- receives much more extensive review and critique by a broader (and often quite smart) group of peers. (Anyone who is silently questioning the intellect of online readers should check themselves now and admit their snobbery. The vast majority of professors constituting the "peer" group aren't half as well-read as this highly engaged group of readers.) The focus on the former reinforces where time is to be spent, and where it's not-- if one hopes to continue acting as a public intellectual within academia past their 30s or 40s.
The role of the administration in setting the criteria for promotion and tenure varies by institution (and likely in systematic ways I'm unaware of- this is not my area of research). At some schools, faculty-governance rules. At others, the administration is able to set directions and lead the way. I personally think the administration, charged with setting the overall tone and direction for the institution, should have a much stronger role in tenure criteria than it does at faculty-governed institutions. I know many of you (especially faculty) will disagree with me here, and trust me I understand the dangers of administration having a heavier hand in the tenure process. But that said, I don't think our peers are any less likely to judge based on politics than our administration is-- in fact, with more cooks stirring the pot under the guise of objectivity, it's more likely to happen and less easy to detect.
I'm troubled by the way that the will of Syracuse's strong and forward-thinking leadership appears to have been compromised by its faculty-led promotion and tenure committees. We task our presidents and chancellors with bringing vision to the job, and helping move us into the future-- not maintaining the status quo. I think it's arguably hard to accomplish big goals with no control over how faculty are rewarded for their work.
For example, an administration could effect important changes in the climate and practices of a university by (A) Establishing undergraduate teaching as a criteria for tenure (B) Rewarding grant-getting in the P&T decision, and (C) establishing that the activities of a public intellectual (including blogging and media engagement) count toward service.
This would no doubt go a long way toward getting faculty in front of undergrads, increasing R&D funds, and increasing the popular visibility of the university, generating more public support. Right now, the work prized by most faculty results in publications in stale library journals hardly read by the general public, and an emphasis on graduate instruction. Hardly the university of the future....
Now, what happened at Syracuse is still hard to say. One thing makes Watkins' claims less than compelling-- he hit the tenure-track at Syracuse in 2001, and Cantor didn't begin talking about changes to P&T until 2005. So, at minimum, he should've spent several years doing the traditional things needed to get tenure, if he'd hoped to continue. The way this reads, it sounds like he read Cantor's statements to reinforce his own beliefs and at the same time to excuse what I suspect he recognizes is a somewhat weak record. That's kind of lame, and if he's honest with himself, he'll cop to it.
But in many ways it's beside the point. I'd like to see more attention paid to how the world has changed, and how our leaders can help bring the faculty along-- including providing compelling reasons to adjust our P&T guidelines to ensure that highly visible smart people can find a place in universities for a long time to come. They should not have to silence themselves until they've "earned it." After all, what the heck does earning it even mean?