text:
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
I guess because they did so well with oil for food we should give them the internet
So then the second meeting of this august group was held in a country that routinely censors internet traffic. In that meeting the Secretary General that brought us graft from oil for food in Iraq said - "The United States deserves our thanks for having developed the Internet and making it available to the world. It has exercised its oversight responsibilities fairly and honourably. I believe all of you agree that day-to-day management of the Internet must be left to technical institutions, not least to shield it from the heat of day-to-day politics. But I think you also all acknowledge the need for more international participation in discussions of Internet governance issues. The question is how to achieve this. So let those discussions continue."
Well thanks a lot Kofi, but no thanks. To suggest that there is not current international participation in the governance of the internet is absurd. To suggest that the UN is the place to convene those discussions is even more absurd.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Zero Sum Politics
So how does the failure of the Governor's initiatives work into that framework? As I see it, in two ways. First, one of the major reasons why the Governor failed was because of his political advisors, who spent a lot of time talking their boss into doing the fight, even more time in collecting outrageous fees, and not so much time in thinking about how to advance the issues that seem to have been deemed important by the populace - at least according to a couple of polls. The consultants looked at the political landscape as first an opportunity to enrich themselves and second as a landscape where the evil portions of the other side could be paid back for the alleged or assumed indiscretions. That second condition, looking at the world as a series of permanent enemies, is also important to this new condition.
Public Choice economics taught us a long time ago that there are not many places in the society where zero sum conditions actually prevail. Ultimately the gains from interactions are mostly positive some. If we structure the economy correctly, that is certainly true. But if we look at the world as a set of instances where the only way to win is for someone else to lose, we will make poorer choices. Plus we will destroy whatever semblance of broader public purposes that should be at the base of public decisions. Thus, the more we use this lens the less able we will be to find those positive synergies that benefit us all.
What are the causes? There are probably many - the increasing rise of political consultants who look at the world in terms of their next client. But so too is the role of the new media - who believes that every story should be covered 24/7. The increasing insulation of political figures is also a factor in producing these result. Politicians live in a cocoon - they hear from consultants and speak only to safe groups -all the time with an eye toward how the world will look on the news (even though fewer and fewer people get their information from the news).
The trend is self-reinforcing. The more we do it, the more both sides react in kind. We care less about the process and more about the short term results. In the long term, and maybe not that long, that is a surefire prescription for destroying the political system in this country. It is a scary thought.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Illegal Shots
When we first started going to Mexico, we found that most museums had two kinds of admissions. The first was for people without cameras. The second was for people with cameras. Usually the entry fee was increased by something in the range of 30 to 50 pesos for entry if you wanted to photograph the inside. You were always urged to not use flash in the inside to protect many of the antiquities.
In the last year or so that seems to have changed. Many museums run by the history commission are now prohibiting inside photos. In the Secret Convent of Santa Monica (in Puebla), for example, you are allowed to take photos in the garden, which is quite pleasant, but not anywhere else. I walked in and took a bunch of photos in the garden and then was followed closely for the rest of the visit to make sure I did not snap any illegal shots. It was almost Chaplanesque, the guard following me at about six paces back. I would move into a room the guard would follow. At one point I moved into a room and then out - almost in a dance with the guard. The photo above is one of the areas where photos were prohibited. (although at this point I had not been informed of the prohibition).
What nonsense. The museums do not have enough revenue to publish slide sets or books on the subjects. Those are common in Europe. So you are left with the option of following the requirements or breaking them. There are plenty of better alternatives - assuming that one of the reasons for these changes is the recognition that too many flash photos will deteriorate especially the paintings.
Museums could lead photo safaris with a guide for an extra fee a couple of times a day. People who wanted to photograph the interiors could go through the museum with a guide who would begin the tour with an explanation of how to use your camera without a flash. Or they could hire a photographer to go through and catch the key sites and then post them to a secure website with a fee attached. But the alternative now seems to deprive the museums of extra income and to encourage photographers to steal a couple of shots.
Interestingly, the policy does not seem to be operational in Mexican church sites. There are some magnificent sites in each city and when visiting a new place, the first place we tend to go is to the churches. It is sad that a bureaucratic approach like this ruins the experience of visiting a museum and deprives the museum of key income to maintain their treasures. Such is the way of bureaucracies.
The Delights of Travel
For the last week or so (longer for me) my wife and I have been away from home. First, to Puebla to see some friends in Mexico and then to Prescott to see my wife's family. The variations were remarkable. This is but one of the shots I took of the high desert sunset. In the space of about 30 minutes the sky did a show for us that was absolutely wonderful. As we drove back to Phoenix on Saturday we saw the Alpha of the process and caught a few shots of that.
My sister in law seems well established in Prescott - she has a good group of friends - including a guy who makes custom boots (of course - in about a year my pair will be done) and contributes to the music and arts scene in the small city. She is contemplating moving further to Snowflake - for the life of me I cannot understand why one would move out of a supportive environment as she has now.
As discussed in a previous post, we also had a great time in Puebla. One of the people we visited is in the process of starting a new business (a Restaurant) in the city of Xalapa. When we were down we saw the proofs of his menus. The fare will be varied. The design is elegant. Every detail has been planned down to the last item. We hope it will be very successful.
Ultimately, the trip was made better not by what we went to see but by who.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
The Fraud of George Regas versus the IRS
I would ask, as did Regas, what is the appropriate Christain response on the war in Iraq? Regas also asked about the issue of abortion, which seems both appropriate and useful. In both cases, Christian doctrine offers some interesting challenges. There is a good case to be made that the war in Iraq is not a "just war." In that case Bush, and to a lesser extent Kerry (because who knew where he stood on that issue) would not reflect the teachings of Jesus. There is certainly also a Christian case for the war, although the vast majority of practicing Christians would not be on that side. On the issue of abortion he could have raised whether support for abortion is appropriate to the teachings of Jesus. Again there may be a case for abortion in Christian doctrine and he could have made that case. Were this a fair discussion, Jesus might also ask both men whether their adherence to Christian principles was real. Clearly, Kerry is prohibited from receiving the sacraments of his church as a result of his actions in the political realm. But Christian teachings present a high standard for political players. Regas gave both men a pass by saying they were both dedicated Christians.
That example and others suggests that Regas' intent was not to offer an exploration of Christian doctrine as a focus for thinking about the election but rather a clear statement against Bush. One could have little doubt that Regas is advocating a particular point of view in the election that oversteps the bounds in holding exempt status. Regas clearly was attempting to skirt the requirements for exempt status.
Even with that assumption, there are several questions that I have about the threat of the IRS. First, on that same Sunday in many historically Black churches around the country, so called Black leaders were urging parishioners to vote for Kerry. The IRS has not done anything about that. In some evangelical parishes the case was being made for Bush. But in both cases the IRS seems to have ignored those actions, which seem similar to the ones by Regas. Why? Second, as you read the vast majority of sermons in the website there a plenty that many Christians would disagree with, but the consistent messages in those sermons are about Christian doctrine. Does one infraction represent a valid pattern to revoke exempt status? Finally, is this kind of playing with the requirements of exempt status going to lead to a lessening of support for the the principle of exempt status? A recent report by the Tax Foundation poses some serious questions about the public goods created by the charitable deduction. The kind of advocacy that Regas engaged in is something that could reduce support for the deduction itself - which has been a basic part of the tax code since its inception.
Christians should be involved in the electoral process, and a serious discussion of the teachings of Jesus as they relate to election issues of the day would be a welcome message a couple of days before the election. But Regas' polemic did not come close to meeting that standard. Had I the power, I would not revoke a parish's exempt status for the ravings of one preacher but I would hope that the parish and the one preacher would recognize their responsibilities to help protect exempt status.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Who tells the story - The Role of Ideology in History
In the history of Mexico there are a couple of periods where the government attempted to starve off religious expression. I had heard and read about the Christero movement – where overt religious practice was absolutely outlawed. Several years ago I was in a small town called Naolinco where there is a memorial to a priest who was murdered during the movement for celebrating a baptism in public.
Before we went to the fort we went to a place in the city of Puebla called the secret convent, which during the Christero period was hidden from view for a very long time. When the convent was discovered by the government (in 1934) its assets were "donated" to the state. Before that however, for a period of about 70 years the nuns lived in secrecy. The official existence of the community was never acknowledged. The description of how the convent became a state museum was not entirely satisfying. We then went to the fort.
What was most striking about the fort was a painting at the end of the museum – not for what it includes (it is a fairly ordinary piece of Mexican heroic muralismIt is an image of the periods in Mexican history that threw off the chains – of 1521, and 1862, and 1910. But what was missing the portrayal was 1810. The first Mexican revolution was led by a priest, Miguel Hildago, who took over a granary (the Aldondiga) in GUanajuato, held it for a while. When the Spaniards took it back they beheaded the four major figures in the insurrection and placed their heads on posts at the four corners. In the city of Guadajara there is another piece of heroic muralism that depicts Hildago.
I was struck in the commentary at both the secret convent and the fort, how easily the history could be modified to reflect on prevailing opinion. Perceptions are important in history. Dick Gregory once said "We used to root for the Indians against the cavalry, because we didn't think it was fair in the history books that when the cavalry won it was a great victory, and when the Indians won it was a massacre. " In this case the tellers of the story in Puebla leave out some important details.
Wise Choices
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Biological versus Mechanistic determinism
Concidentially, last weekend I was thinking about Peter Drucker. I met him in 2001 at a symposium we created for the new staff of President Vicente Fox. We did the seminar at Claremont and Drucker agreed to be the opening presentation. I introduced him (briefly - what can you say about someone who has had such a profound effect on people's thinking) and then he began to speak. Our focus was making the office of the president and therefore Mexican government better so he had a wide area to talk about. I was at once captured by his seemingly ponderous speech. He spoke very deliberately. But as I listened I thought about the points he was making. In the hour he was with us he offered at least a dozen insights. Like that, in an article in the Atlantic several years before, he wrote about how the (then) coming internet bubble was just like a series of other technological jumps in history. He described in detail, in that article how each succeeding technology had followed a fairly predictable path of innovation, excitement, over-promise, but then integration. Drucker showed his understanding of both the trends in innovation and their ability to build on each other.
When he wrote about economics he had the same kind of sensitivity. He understood, as I think Keynes and many macroeconomists did not, that the economy is not a set of mechanistic processes.
When he wrote about organizations he did so without blandishment. I thought he was looney about the future of universities - he argued that they would not survive. But he looked critically at all sorts of things - from matrix organizations, to corporate pay (he thought it was often outrageous), to the effects of trade. In the same way I saw him at Claremont, he offered a long career of written insights.
Kurzweil argues that the convergence of biology and technology goes through a series of steps each building on the other and that ultimately these trends will begin to work together to change the way we do things. In the beginning of the book he offers a series of charts that explains the pace of change. He also argues that our basic tendency is to work from an assumption that change is linear rather than logrithmic. Kurzweil argues in the early part of the book that the rate of change in these two areas will be so profound that it will soon outrun our ability to comprehend them. That could be either nirvana or some hell on earth postulated by innumerable science fiction writers.
There is a lot to think about in his book. His description of how things change and how they interact sounds a lot to me like an idea I discussed in February (19) on a cycle of innovation first proposed by David Kessler. Regardless of whether Kurzweil has both the direction and the magnitude of the changes there is tons of interesting materials and charts in the book that would be worth the price - even without the provoking theory.
The Singularity can be found at Amazon.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Balancing the Budget Redux(Reflux)
What is the most important legislative priority near the end of the 2005 Congress? Extension of the Patriot Act? Tax Reform? Reducing the deficit?
Trade Policy? Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act? Establishing a rational policy or policy rationale for drilling for oil in the Alaska wilderness? Reducing agricultural subsidies? Setting up a more reasonable procedure to limit set asides in appropriations bills? Confirming Judge Alito? Raising member's salaries by $3100? The war on terror? Thinking about infrastructure? K-12 educational standards/policy? Environmental policies? Transportation policy? Social security reform? Making changes in charitable regulations (to respond to the American University problems and others)? Medicare reform? Establishing a better health care system? Copyright reform?
Admittedly many of those would generate a healthy debate about the right course to take. Some probably should not even be on the federal agenda. But the one issue that generates universal support in Congress is patently obvious. Or should that be painfully obvious?
Friday, November 18, 2005
Federalist #10 as a Guide for Today
#1 - The Congress says it is serious about reducing the deficit - yet the debate in Congress is not about actual reductions but about the contrast between social programs and tax cuts for the "rich". When the Congress does eliminate the bridge to nowhere - which is simply the most visible and blatant example of pork barrel politics - it does not even eliminate the spending merely eliminates the couple of hundred million for the bridge but continues the money dedicated to Alaska. So from a bridge to nowhere we have evolved to simply throwing money down an unobligated rathole. Were we thinking rationally we would work first on those things where we have some level of consensus. Set asides which is a growing problem at the federal level - a more sophisticated way for politicians to extract rent - should be one area where in tight times we should be willing to reign in. But that does not seem to be possible.
#2 - The current debates in academe on creationism versus environmentalism evidence a lot of extreme thought. While some of the creationists have argued positions in the absurd - on some campuses to even raise questions about evolution. I am bothered by the people who want to teach a theory as gospel whether it is biblical or biological. A good part of the process in higher education should be to get people to listen a bit better - a point made in the inaugural address by the new president of Whittier last Saturday. In areas where proof is not possible - we should be taking some time to consider alternative explanations. What I understand about the most reasonable sides of evolution theory does not prevent one from believing in a supreme being - but why the level of passion here?
#3 - Abortion has become an absolute right. Any deviation from that principle is considered terrible. Why should it be harder for a young woman to get an aspirin at school than an abortion? If the law is going to intrude into an area with this kind of sensitivity - would it not be better to set some reasonable limits that are close to where the majority of people think the issues should be resolved?
#4 - The Bush lied, people died and its variations - The administration's foray into implementing the Bush doctrine clearly has some alternative points of view. But the real question that anyone should answer is not whether Bush misrepresented the truth of getting us into the position we are in but what is the appropriate exit strategy - how do we complete the task or withdraw without making the situation worse? The key people in the administration did not get into this position lightly we should not allow our political system to keep the debate at fevered pitch where no light shines on the key things we need to think about.
There are many other areas where we are stuck in unproductive debates on areas where we get mired into the all heads talk at once motif of tragedy TV. But our system will soon lose favor if we keep the level of discussions in these (and other) areas at the yada, yada, yell, yell stage.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Ponies and AOL
You can find it at Amazon (also in paperback) - it would make a great Christmas gift for anyone in your life who is interested in technology or mergers or life!
Budget Nonsense Redux
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Fighting Back
But the Members of Congress continued to press on. In the bill which reauthorizes the Higher Education Act, they inserted a set of price controls - not that is what they called them but that is what they are. They also responded by adding some new bureaucratic requirements on things like transfer of credit among institutions - which again is complicated as a result of the diversity of institutions.
Last week at my Association's retreat we had a discussion of the current state of the reuthorization bill. One of my presidents drafted an op ed over the weekend which summarizes in a forceful way - why the idea of price controls by any structure - is a bad one. Let's hope that Members of Congress begin to think more carefully about how things should work.
Fat chance for that.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Thinking about the Special Election
Jack Pitney, the astute professor at Claremont McKenna College, argued in a speech yesterday that the roots of the Governor's problem came from some missed signals. The public employee unions realized after the 2004 elections that not a single legislative seat changed hands and therefore the Governor was not as all powerful as he was once thought to be. The Governor's staff then compounded the problem by proposing poorly written intiatives especially in public pension reforms (the state attorney's unit just agreed to a change that is very close to what the Governor was seeking).
How does the Governor get out of this? I think his initial strategy is pretty good -admit your mistake and try to govern. Pitney suggested that offers him a pretty good set of options - if the dems stonewall him he can run against that next year. If they adopt the reforms he can claim credit.
Dan Weintraub suggested in his blog earlier in the week that the dems would be smart to propose solutions in all of the areas that the Governor sought reform - pensions, spending, employee political contributions (probably expand it to corporate checkoffs), teacher tenure, and redistricting (limited to the next census). From the initial responses by them Perata seems to get that. Nunez does not.
This seems to offer a pretty clear way for the political establishment to move forward. The ratings for the legislature are even lower than the Governor's so their apparent and real movement would probably bring cheers from all around. What a novel idea - the political players actually trying to craft not a position but a solution. Would it be too much to hope for?
Balancing the budget
The url for the cartoon is http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=1288 - I did not hot link it because I think the tradeoff posed in it is what is wrong with the choices we are making at the federal level.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
OK, so who was right?
For the big 4 propositions (73-77) the margin of error was was pretty different.
Field 3.36
SurveyUSA 5.32
Stanford/KN 5.96
Polimetrix 6.24
LA Times 7.44
The numbers varied a bit when comparing the average margin of error by the number of propositions polled.
POLLSTER ERROR (Number of propositions polled)
SurveyUSA 5.32 (5)
Field 6.05 (8)
Polimetrix 7.20 (7)
LA Times 7.85 (8)
Stanford/KN 8.80 (8)
When one looks at the 3 outlyer propositions (78-80) one would think that accuracy would be improved. If you look at the Secretary of State's election maps (the red/blue splits) you find that the bottom three had a pretty resounding thumping. Also, the real interest and financing came to the first five (73-77). But that assumption is not necessarily true.
The results raise two additional questions - which are fundamentally more interesting than the level of error (although that is pretty interesting). First, we do not know the directions of the error (although with the newcomer Stanford poll there was a relatively consistent error on the side of overestimating support). My suspicion is that two of the leading pollsters were pretty consistently off in estimating the conservative vote. That could be a function of two things either sample error or turnout - there is considerable evidence that conservatives in Southern California did not vote in normal numbers. The second issue is more important. With more than 40% of the voters casting absentee ballots we do not know whether the polls in the last two weeks had any influence on the final results. Both issues could be a good topic for a student of politics to write on in a dissertation or for someone with a little time and a calculator to work through.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
The Special Election - decline in democracy
In my household, without evidence of voting on an election day all 18 and older residents do not eat. In this election three of the four voters in the household chose to cast their ballot absentee.
On another topic - Dan Weintraub (the Sacramento Bee Political Columnist extraordinary) yesterday posted something on an issue first raised in the literature of Public Choice Economics. Some in the field argue that it is irrational to vote for a number of reasons. First, if you take the time to learn the issues - and lots of people do not - your potential effect on the election is so small that the investment of time has an exceedingly marginal payoff. Second, few elections are close so the investment you make in elections seems to be time wasted - ultimately your ability to influence the course of events is small. As I have thought about those arguments over the years - I have come to reject them. Here is why. Sure there are uninformed voters and sure most elections are not close. But, here is why the assumption is flawed. Take my example. I am known among a group of voters as someone who is pretty well informed. People actually seek me out on elections. My best guess is that among that group I have between 15 and 20 people who ask my advice. Assuming that at least the repeat customers are influenced by my suggestions (why would they come back if they were not?) then my fraction of the voting population is significantly higher than one vote.
The first post in this blog was about the Iraqui elections in January, 2005. It is important to remember that in spite of the "tsunami of lies and distortions" that was piled on California voters in this election, exercising the franchise, whether in the public square, with a purple thumb or in an absentee ballot is a critical function that differentiates us from many other societies.
Monday, November 07, 2005
The state of veracity in Senator Sot's view.
MR. RUSSERT: You talked about Iraq. There's a big debate now about whether or not the data, the intelligence data, was misleading and manipulated in order to encourage public opinion support for the war. Let me give you a statement that was talked about during the war. "We know [Iraq is] developing unmanned vehicles capable of delivering chemical and biological warfare agents...all U.S. intelligence experts agree they are seek nuclear weapons. There's little question that Saddam Hussein wants to develop them. ... In the wake of September 11th, who among us can say with any certainty to anybody that those weapons might not be used against our troops, against allies in the region? Who can say that this master of miscalculation will not develop a weapon of mass destruction even greater--a nuclear weapon. ..."
Are those the statements that you're concerned about?
SEN. KENNEDY: Well, I am concerned about it, and that's why I believe that the actions that were taken by Harry Reid in the Senate last week when effectively he said that we are going to get to the bottom of this investigation, this had been kicked along by the Intelligence Committee, by Pat Roberts for over two years. And Harry Reid did more in two hours than that Intelligence Committee has done in two years. And the American people are going get this information.
And it's important that they get this information about how intelligence was misused because of the current situation. It's important to know where we've been, but it's important to know where we are today, because we're facing serious challenges over in Iran. We're facing serious challenges in North Korea. And we cannot have a government which is going to manipulate intelligence information. We've got to get to the bottom of it, and that is what the Democrats stood for on the floor of the United States Senate last week. That was a bold stroke, one that has the overwhelming support of the American people. It's about time they get the facts on it. They haven't got the facts to date. They deserve them, and they'll get them.
MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, what the Democrats stood for on the floor of the Senate in 2002--let me show you who said what I just read: John Kerry, your candidate for president. He was talking about a nuclear threat from Saddam Hussein. Hillary Clinton voted for the war. John Edwards, Joe Lieberman, John Kerry. Democrats said the same things about Saddam Hussein. You, yourself, said, "Saddam is dangerous. He's got dangerous weapons." It wasn't just the Bush White House.
Hypocrisy lives, but then why are we not surprised?
Thursday, November 03, 2005
An insight about the issue of college costs
Yesterday, I was at a Lumina Foundation invited conference on College Costs. Pat Callan, who has had a long career in a number of positions on higher education policy pointed out that the issue is really not subject to technical solutions but rather the issue is a political problem. The problem with political solutions is there is an inevitable move toward standardization - political solutions look to one best way to solve an issue. But as a recent survey in the Economist pointed out the strength of the American system of higher education - which according to them has 17 of the top 20 research universities in the world - is that it is not a system - it has a diverse set of alternatives to serve a variety of student needs.
John Engler, the former governor of Michigan, suggested that one beginning solution would be a disclosure system similar to Sarbanes Oxley which would provide a greater level of clarity for consumers of higher education. That is a pretty good idea. The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) spent a couple of years after the National Commission's report constructing a method to assess the cost (not price) of an undergraduate education. More universities should use the methodology. It won't solve the problem - but in this era of accountability it might lessen the chatter about costs. Colleges and universities need to think more proactively about how their costs work - in the current equation (described above) there is not a chance to make those kinds of evaluations in a consistent manner. Many college and universities boards and administrations have done some good work on figuring out how to hold down costs but more needs to be done. Disclosures in a consistent manner may be the first step.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
So who has it right
But here is how four different polls project votes
LA Times 74: 45-47 75: 40-51 76: 31-60 77: 34-56
Field 74: 44-50 75: 40-50 76: 32-60 77: 35-51
SurveyUSA 74: 49-50 75: 50-49 76: 49-49 77: 44-53
Stanford/Knowledge Networks 74: 53-47 75: 64-36 76: 45-55 77: 55-45
The first three use a standard polling method with slight variations in sample. The last two use differing methodologies - one an electronic phone survey and one a web based response mechanism.
The question is who will be closest and why the wide variations? Assuming that each poll was taken with integrity - the differences might be explained by a) sample, b) methodology or c) some changes in society which make the first three general methods a bit less reliable than the last two (or vice versa).
One wonders if the first three are on the mark whether the Governor will be damaged goods in the coming year. The conventional wisdom says yes - but a lot of that depends on who is 2006 opponent will be. This will be interesting to see.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Joseph Wilson lied
The media coverage of all sides of this story seems lax (at best) or malevolent.
There are several things that the media seems to conviently forget. First, beginning in 1999 the intelligence communities of several nations seemed to believe that Iraq was moving to WMDs - that turned out to be a bluff - but it was one that almost every nation fell for. Second, Wilson came back from the trip partially set up by his wife (he did have some credentials to be in Africa and did know something about the Middle East so it wasn't a complete fraud) and the Senate Intelligence Committee report seems to say that the CIA thought his report reinforced the notion that the Iraquis were going after WMDs. Third, if the Wilson's neighbors knew what Valerie Plame Wilson did for a living it is hard to believe that the administration's efforts to discredit a critic were outing an agent. Fourth, the rationale for going to war with Iraq included the possibility of WMDs but it also included a lot of other notions (read Ws second inaugural which was preceeded by several policy speeches where he laid out the broader purposes of the war).
But what bothers me the most about this story is not that a White House official is accused of lying to a grand jury - I am confident that the legal system will be able to sort out the issues there. Why in the world would a person like Wilson - with such obvious and unrelenting passion on one side be quoted as a reliable source?


text:
If I told you two weeks ago that the Arizona Diamondbacks
would win seven of their first ten games, you'd probably
believe me.
If I told you two weeks ago that the D-backs would go 7-3
in their first ten without getting an RBI from Justin
Upton, you'd think I was mad.
But that's exactly what's happened.
Upton, picked by many to win
this year's National League
MVP Award, is in one of the worst run-producing slumps
his big league career. In June of 2008, during his first
year in the league, Upton endured a 14-game RBI-less
stretch and had just two runs batted in for the entire
month, while hitting .123.
Not surprisingly, the D-backs went 11-16 that month. That
team wasn't equipped to deal with prolonged droughts from
their key players. That's one of the reasons why they
couldn't hold off Manny Ramirez and the hard-charging
Dodgers to win the division crown. Of course, Upton's
injury that sidelined him for much of July and August was
a huge factor too.
The difference four years later is that the current D-
backs squad can withstand stretches like this from key
players and still win. Their starting pitching is better,
as is their bullpen (2.23 ERA through 10 games). Their
depth is the envy of most big league teams. If someone
struggles, another picks up the slack and expects the same
when a slump comes calling upon them.
Of course it doesn't hurt that Upton's outfield neighbor,
Chris Young, is off to the best
start by any baseball
player not named Matt Kemp.
So imagine how scary this team will be when Upton does
start producing, because it's only a matter of time. The
24-year-old right fielder has shown the propensity to get
really hot for stretches where he's capable of carrying a
team. Does anybody remember June/July of last season?
Justin Upton will be fine.
And when he's fine, the D-backs will be frightening.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This is an article posted by Cris Oakley over at LowerBloodPressureToday.com. The article outlines 5 simple natural ways to lower blood pressure, and enhance one's overall health. Here's a synopsis of the article:
For many people living with high blood pressure, the notion of having to take blood pressure lowering drugs everyday is not encouraging. That is why, so many people skip their medication, which is an extremely dangerous thing to do.
A recurrent question I see posted in forums, and on blogs is how can I lower my blood pressure naturally? Here are 5 ways by which you can lower your blood pressure naturally. Research has shown over, and over that implementing these strategies as part as your blood pressure lowering regimen will not only lower it, but your overall health will also improve.
1. Switch To The DASH Diet Eating Plan.
Studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health have proven that the DASH diet can lower blood pressure in just 14 days. So what is the DASH Diet?Read full article,...
Monday, September 17, 2007
5 Ways To Lower Blood Pressure Naturally
This is an article posted by Cris Oakley over at LowerBloodPressureToday.com. The article outlines 5 simple natural ways to lower blood pressure, and enhance one's overall health. Here's a synopsis of the article:
Posted by Sylvia at 6:30 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: DASH Diet, high blood pressure, ways to lower blood pressure naturally
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
What Causes High Blood Pressure
Knowing the cause behind a disease,usually gives us a better understanding of the treatments we need to follow to cure it. However, with high blood pressure this is not always the case since in 90 to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases, the cause is unknown. Read more...
Posted by Sylvia at 1:07 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: primary hypertension, secondary hypertension, ways to lower blood pressure, What causes high blood pressure
Thursday, August 30, 2007
A Sweet Way To Lower Blood Pressure
Who would have though that anything as delicious as chocolate could also be healthy? But it's true, studies now show that eating a piece of dark chocolate everyday is good for your heart, and can actually lower your blood pressure several points.
Now, before you go gorging yourself on this delicious treat, listen up! Not all chocolate are created equal. The only chocolate from which you can get these healthy heart benefits is Dark chocolate. No milk chocolate! No white chocolate! The only thing these types of chocolate will give you is fat in your hips and thighs.
So why is Dark chocolate so different?
Dark chocolate have a higher content of flavonoids which is an antioxidant that has been shown to have several beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system; including, decreasing the accumulation of cholesterol in blood vessels, preventing the accumulation of blood platelets which contributes to the risk of blood clots that produce stroke, and heart attack, decreasing inflammation in the body, and relaxing the blood vessels.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, all you need to eat is a quarter of an ounce of dark chocolate daily to receive its blood pressure lowering effect. Also, the flavonoids are found in the cocoa so, you need to eat dark chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa content. I personally like Lindt's Excellence Extra Dark with 85% cocoa, and Ghirardelli's Twilight Delight with 72% Cocoa.
Dark chocolate is becoming very popular, and easily available so, you should not have any problem finding one that you like. Enjoying a piece of dark chocolate at the end of day when you're sitting back, and relaxing is another way to lower your blood pressure, and keep your heart safe and healthy.
To find more easy, and natural ways to lower your blood pressure, and maintain it within a healthy range, check out The Silent Killer Exposed
Posted by Sylvia at 1:58 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: dark chocolate, flavonoids, ways to lower blood pressure
Monday, August 27, 2007
Lower Blood Pressure Naturally
High blood pressure is a serious condition that if left untreated, or uncontrolled can lead to heart disease, stroke, dementia, and kidney damage so, keeping blood your pressure under control is essential.
However, the side effects of high blood pressure drugs can be mild to severe. These may include:
-Weakness / tiredness
-Cold hands and feet
-Disturbed sleep
-Slow or fast heartbeat
-Dry, constant cough
-Ankle swelling, leg cramps or aches in the joints
-Digestive complications
-Shortness of breath
- Foggy brain , and inability to concentrate
-Erectile dysfunction
While lowering your blood pressure is very important, the above symptoms should not be the price you pay. Finding the right medicine will require that you communicate with your doctor. If you experience any of the side effects from your blood pressure medication, you should let your doctor know about them right away.
There are many ways in which you can lower your blood pressure without drugs, or at least decrease the amount of drugs you're currently taking. Here are a few ways by which you can lower your blood pressure naturally. These will do the same as some of the medication you're taking.
* The amino acid L-argine will expand, and relax the walls of your blood vessels in the same way you vasodilator blood pressure pill does. Some common vasodilators are Lotrell, Aldomet, Tenex.
* You can have the same flushing effect of diuretics by simply drinking at least 64 ounces of pure water everyday. This is in addition to whatever other liquids you may consume. Contrary to prescription diuretics that deplete your body of potassium, drinking pure water will only provide you with lots of wonderful benefits.
The effects of high blood pressure can be devastating. If left uncontrolled, it can cause some serious damage.That is why, every little bit you do to lower it, is a huge investment in your health and wellbeing.
If you want to learn ways to lower your blood pressure, and maintain it under control, grab yourself a copy of The Silent Killer Exposed. It's packed with valuable information about how to lower your blood pressure naturally, and optimize your entire cardiovascular system.
Posted by Sylvia at 1:18 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: how to lower blood pressure, lower blood pressure naturally, ways to lower blood pressure
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Ways To Lower Blood Pressure.
I chose to start a blog about ways to lower blood pressure because back in April 2007, my uncontrolled high blood pressure gave me the scare of my life, and this blog gives me a unique opportunity to help other people with high blood pressure discover, like I did, complementary ways to lower their blood pressure, and keep their heart healthy
A couple of months before my big scare, I had noticed that I was having a nagging chest pain. I felt it mostly at nights when lie down in bed, after walking a couple of blocks, or when doing exercise. At first, I dismissed it because I thought there was no way I could be having heart problems.
Yes, I had high blood pressure, but I took my medication every day, and I have a very healthy lifestyle. I eat as much natural, unprocessed, organic food as I possible can, I meditate, and exercise regularly. Furthermore, I'm still young, and heart disease does not exist in my family's history so, I just could not see myself having problems with my heart.
Sometimes, I'd be walking, and I would feel such a sharp pain in the middle of chest that all I wanted to do was stop, and take a deep breath, but I'd continue walking just to prove to myself that nothing was wrong. I'd be so glad when I got to a stop light just so I could I could rest, and allow the pain to subside. However, in addition to a persistent nagging twinge I was feeling right below my left breast, my ankles started swelling, and the tip of my fingers were getting numb.
Oh boy, in spite of my state of denial, somewhere inside of me, I knew that something was not right, and that is was time to face the music. I called to make an appointment to see my doctor, and was lucky to get one for the following day.
On the day of my visit, my doctor did the routine assessment with her stethoscope, and when she was finished, she sent me immediately to have a sonogram of my heart right there in her office. When she got the result from the technician, she told me bluntly that she believed I was having congestive heart failure, that my heart was beating very slowly, that it was retaining fluid, and that she needed to make sure that there was none accumulated in lungs as well. So, a chest MRI, and a consultation with a cardiologist were scheduled for the following day.
Wow! I didn't know exactly what congestive heart failure was, but it sounded ominous. As soon as I got home, I went online to research it. I was not encouraged by what I found so, I did what I know to do best; put the situation in God's hands, and hope for the best outcome.
To make this story short, after a battery of tests, it was determined that nothing was wrong with my heart, and that the culprit was the blood pressure medication combination I was taking which slowed down my heart beat, and was also responsible for the fluid retention. My doctor immediately changed them, and put me on another combination. The swelling in my ankles went away, but the new medication kept me very lethargic. I was sleepy all day long, and as the days passed, I was becoming more and more depressed ( something that was new for me as I'm a very cheerful and optimistic person). Once again, my doctor had to change the medication.
Well, after that ordeal, I decided that I was going to learn everything I could about all the ways to lower high blood pressure without drugs. I read a lot of books, visited many websites, but most of them were recommending things I was already doing. Then, I came across The Silent Killer Exposed. I was immediately encouraged by the testimonials on the website, and decided to give it a try.
Everything in The Silent Killer Exposed made a lot so sense to me. I immediately started applying all the blood pressure lowering recommendations outlined in the book. Today, just 3 months later, my blood pressure remains at a healthy 120/80 or lower. I no longer use water pills, and my doctor took me off one of the blood pressure pills, and left me on only one of them just as a precaution.
If you're unable to maintain your blood pressure at 120/80, or lower with your medication, or if you have borderline hypertension that can be controlled without medication; then like me, you may just find a life saver in The Silent Killer Exposed.
Posted by Sylvia at 1:45 PM 0 comments Links to this post


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Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
When Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980, a surprise to the establishment and media who had declared a conservative like Reagan had no chance, shortly before his inauguration the hostages being held in Iran were released. Reagan was known as a "cowboy," a man willing to use the might of America's military to ensure American interests were protected. Fear of the maverick having his finger on the button of the U.S. nuclear arsenal had the world behaving. Peace through strength, was Reagan's motto.
Donald Trump is no Ronald Reagan, but he is seen as a kind of maverick who is willing to use America's military might to make sure things are on the right track. He's unpredictable, and likely willing to push a button to take out enemies if they don't behave. The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has recognized such, and now that it looks like Trump may have a chance to win in November, Putin is sidestepping to appease the potential President of the United States.
With Obama in office, the enemies of the United States have nothing to fear. They do as they want. Russia moved on Crimea, and Ukraine. China has added artificial islands to their repertoire in the South China Sea. North Korea and Iran have been doing an awful lot of saber rattling. Islamic terrorist attacks have been increasing. Muslims are invading America through weak immigration enforcement, and a purposeful import of Islamic refugees orchestrated by the Obama administration, and the leftists of the world.
According to Reuters, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he accepted the United States was probably still the world's sole superpower and he was ready to work with whoever won the presidency, but didn't want to be told how to live by Americans. But, he didn't say much about Hillary Clinton. His words were mostly regarding Donald Trump.
"America is a great power - today probably the only superpower. We accept that," Putin said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. "We want to and are ready to work with the United States."
Regarding Trump, Putin played down positive comments he had made about the Republican contender in the past, saying those had been misinterpreted.
In December, Putin described Trump as "very flamboyant", "very talented" and "an absolute leader in the presidential race".
Putin said he welcomed Trump's desire to restore U.S.-Russia ties. "What's wrong with that?" Putin asked, drawing applause from the audience.
Is he kissing up out of fear of a strong President like Trump, just in case The Donald wins?
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary


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Here is an advert which promotes the Clinique Smart Custom-Repair Serum. In the advert, it clearly explained the function of this serum. The function includes ameliorating uneven skin tone, anti-wrinkle and firming. Obviously, this advert used the persuasive tactic, repetition of a message. The word 'smart' had appeared very frequently. In this 30s advert, the word 'smart' had appeared for 5 times. This meant that we see the word 'smart' in every 6 seconds on average.
A study suggested that the effect of the tactic, repetition of a message could be explained by the mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 1968). The mere exposure effect refers to repetition of a message or objects leads people to have positive feelings to that message or objects. Zajonc (1968) conducted 3 experiments with similar methodology. In the first experiment, participants were required to look at 12 7-letter Turkish words. The words would be shown to participants either once, twice, 5 or 10 times. After that, participants needed to rate the good-bad scale of each word to indicate how did they feel about the words.
For the second experiment, everything is the same except from using Chinese characters instead of words whereas in the third experiment, instead of rating the good-bad scale of the Chinese characters, participants had to rate how much they like the Chinese characters. Here is the result for the first and second experiment:
The result showed that participants who had more exposure to the words and Chinese characters were more likely to think that the words and Chinese characters have positive meanings.
On the other hand, in the third experiment, the result indicated that more exposure to the Chinese characters led to a higher rating of likelihood of the Chinese characters.
These result demonstrated that repetition of a message (increased exposure) can lead people to form positive feelings towards the message and also it enables people to like the content of the message more.
In the advert, the repetition of the word 'smart' would help to create a good impression of the Clinique Smart Custom-Repair Serum to people who had viewed this advert.
Zajonc, R.B. (1968). The attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Monograph Supplement, 9, 1-27.


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Avoid covers like these:
And look for ones like this:
Great idea on the pillow backs, Holly. I use a surefit slipcvoer for our sofa, but bought some inexpensive matching material (cotton duck) and whipped up individual seat cushions to give it an even more custom look. It was inexpensive and only took a couple hours (I'm a novice sewer - it's incredibly imperfect). http://mckevitts.blogspot.com/2008/10/emily-takes-on-sewing-machine.html
I have a slipcovered sofa from PB and do love it for all the reasons you mentioned. I would, however, caution against the use of many of the one-size-fits-all type covers. I have tried them and it is difficult to get the look you see on the ads. Have you noticed how they always strategically cover certain areas with pillows or angle the sofa in the ad? The ones we tried needed to be adjusted every time someone got off the sofa.
Sorry to sound like such a downer, but I don't want anyone wasting their money.
I love the Pottery Barn slip covers. I've had clients use them and they love them. They work wonders if you have kids. I always stay away from the one size fits all, they never look good and are super uncomfortable to seat on.
Thank you for sharing these tips. I was just about to email you some slipcover questions, and you answered all of them in this post!
my couch and love seat both have a white duck cloth slip cover! they were custom and pricey but i love them! now on my grannys wingback chair i purchased a slipcover from surefit however it sure doesnt fit! i think i need to work on it! thanks for the idea of doing it myself!
Hi there! Can I just say how much I love your blog! Your redos are so beautiful. You seem like one of those people that just oozes style without even trying! Not fair! Anyway, I'd love to feature some of your projects on my blog! C'mon over and check it out and let me know what you think! :)
I love your blog Holly! It is definitely one of my favorites. Your tips and tricks are awesome! :)
I love m y slipcovers. I got them at Surefit and they are the faux suede, so spills and ink comes right off.
Also, I got the kind that has a seperate seat cushion, so the tucking isn't as bad.
Thanks for the bleach tip. My fear with that was that I'd end up with a leopard print vs. a lighter solid color.
I have a slipcover that is not as light as I'd like and although everyone seems to like it, I don't. That being the case, I'll try the bleach! ;-)


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It is Monday again, where do the weeks go?
The current theme at Crafty Boots Challenges is 'Halloween' and I have another Halloween card to share with you today.
Cross Stitch, knitting, crochet, dressmaking, card making, scrapbook and wedding stationery.
Hello, my name is Dionne and I have been crafting for a very long time. As a very young child my mother tried to teach me to knit, it was a disaster. However, it must have sparked an interest in making things and, partly to prove that I was not totally useless and partly because I really wanted to make things, I taught myself to crochet. Over the years I have developed a love of cross stitch and all types of paper craft ..... I eventually even taught myself to knit.
I am married to a very understanding man, thank goodness, because I spend all my time either crafting, thinking about crafting or talking about crafting. I am hopeless at housework and dinner is often late!
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Superb colouring - I can almost feel the fabric of her hat and dress. The muslin is a great touch and I love that freebie backing paper. That spider looks very menacing! xxReplyDelete
Oh I adore Saturated Canary!! And she's fabulous!
Thank you so much for leaving a lovely comment on my blog
Happy Crafting!
Bridie@BGPayne Crafts
Thank you for visiting my blog, I look forward to reading your feedback on my work. I hope you will visit again.


text: NEW TROY -- A decision on whether, and under what conditions, Weesaw Township will buy the old New Troy School from the nonprofit Friends of New Troy is likely to be decided by the voters, a township official said. That likely won't be until after next year's winners are announced in the highly competitive race for park acquisition and development funds through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, according to Township Supervisor Dave Heiniger. In the meantime, the Building Committee of the Township Board is set to report back in January with a recommendation on a proposed lease agreement between the township and the Friends. The Friends group bought the vacant building in July from River Valley School District and turned it into a community center. If approved by the board, the lease agreement would establish offices for the township at the old school. Heiniger reported that the township failed to make the cut in its first-ever bid for trust fund money this year to help finance the purchase of the school's village-center campus -- some 10 acres of rolling property and playgrounds surrounding the old school on State Street. They were seeking $105,000 and pledging up to a $35,000 township contribution in matching funds to buy the land. A separate but linked proposal, to be decided by the residents, would devote another $90,000 of township funds to buy the school building itself. Backers of that plan say they'd continue to use the building as a community center and also accommodate a portion of the building as a township hall. Heiniger pointed out that the building purchase, which isn't fundable through the DNR, will guarantee that the village center will be preserved for community use and protected from other types of residential and commercial development that are spreading throughout Berrien County. He said that he's confident that the land acquisition project is on tap to be funded through the DNR next year. "I'm very optimistic, after what I've learned through the process this time," he said. "We were encouraged by the (grant funding) board to look our application over, improve it in a few places and reapply next year, which we'll do," he said. About one-third of the communities that applied this year were awarded funds. He said the township is not obligated legally to put the building purchase to a vote, but he wants to "make sure the voices of the residents are heard on the subject. It's everyone's community center and township hall, and everyone should have a vote on it." In July, a seven-member steering committee of the 100-member Friends of New Troy paid $240,000 for the building and campus, taking out a $216,000, two-year bank loan to complete the deal. The group was formed to buy the site and keep it "in the hands of the community," said Terry Hanover, who pilots the project and its fundraising efforts.


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Kyosho RT6 Servo Saver Strong Ring
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This is a replacement Kyosho RT6 Servo Saver Strong Ring. This spring increases the force on the servo saver.
This product was added to our catalog on December 31, 2013.


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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Making a Painting
I'm busy doing some businessy stuff to finish off the year. I don't have much time to get much done before the holidays, but I'm working on developing some new pieces and getting some projects lined up for the new year. I'm getting ready to dive into starting a new series of paintings in January. I spend more time preparing paintings than painting them sometime. Here's a bit of what I'm working on. The following painting I'm preparing is tentatively being called "Free Will." It was inspired by the painting above ("Original Sin" by Hugo van der Goes, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.) I seem to be fascinated by the Eden story right now, and love how it is portrayed in painting. I especially love the lizard-serpent creature with the head of a woman. When I first saw this I didn't realize it was the serpent, only with legs and a human head. Then I started looking at other paintings of the same thing and realized how many ways it has been painted. I was originally going to work this into my painting, "The Bible Tree" but it has developed into having its own canvas. Below is a color sketch:
I somehow had the idea of placing it into a flooded world that's more like the flood story than Eden. (The theme of floods, water, and tidal pools also keep recurring in my stuff lately.) I put some dead trees sticking out of the water, having seen trees like that in flooded areas on the east coast. I eventually removed all trees but one-- thinking of making it more of a dead and drowned Tree of Knowledge. However I was unhappy with the composition and color somewhat, so I tried another color sketch:
I felt a little better about this one, I liked the lone tree but didn't quite like the foreground or some of the fine detail. It still seemed off balance, but the concept was much closer. I'm still not happy with the color, it feels chalky. But I will be able to refine it in the final, and get much more depth (which comes from spending weeks on the painting instead of the 3 hrs this one took.) I did a detailed pencil sketch to refine the detail and composition, I'm not sure if it's perfect, but I like it much better. It needs some more space on the right side I think. But I nailed the lizard-serpent creature.
I think I might put a rotting apple in the final painting (and straighten out the horizon line....) In this I also changed the eyes so they are looking at the viewer, and I'm still thinking about the face. I start out my paintings lately by photo-collaging them to work out composition and ideas. I thought I would include the photo-sketch as well-- even though I work from photos I change a good deal once I translate it into a painting:
For this painting, I will most likely paint more from the pencil and color sketches than the photos. While photos can be helpful-- I find they lock me into things (like where the rocks are, lighting, color, specific positioning) so I make an effort to question and rethink what's in them. You can see that in the tail and hands of lizard, the placement of the rocks, the woman's head and eyes.
I haven't started the final painting yet. I may start a small 8x10 of it this week, and may do a larger one later. I want to finish one more painting before Christmas, this may be the one but we'll see. I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet and am buried in parties and concerts and art shows for the next week. Hopefully I'll get some time this week to at least start.
Posted by Bekka at 10:22 PM
Labels: inspiration, process, sketch
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I can't believe it's Saturday again ... Time goes by way too fast.
Today, we'll have another Otis Redding special -- just because I feel like it, and because Big O owns a very special corner of my heart. There's no other sixties soul man with more velvet in his voice.
I just found his version of the classic Stand By Me, and I believe it is gorgeous. Another song, I didn't know up to now is Something Is Worrying Me from the 1964 Pain In My Heart Album.
And honestly, who could sing the beautiful Precious Love more convincing than Otis Redding? The song itself is pure soul. Pair it with one of the most soulful voices and a crew of master musicains, and nothing less than a soul treasure will result.
Speaking of musicians: I would sell my soul for the guitar part in Come To Me (too bad I've sold it already). The guitarist on this track is the great Johnny Jenkins, whom Jimi Hendrix cited as having influenced him strongly.
Okay ... Let's enjoy the weekend with Big O's music then.
Okay ... Let's enjoy the weekend with Big O's music then.


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Some advice and a lot of first-hand anecdotes and observations from someone who accidentally had a career in the bike business.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Working Class
I was lured into racing soon after I got my first road bike in 1975. That summer I hung out with a racing crowd that was also a mechanically-inclined crowd, so I linked the two things from the start. Coincidentally, it made cycling even more accessible, because I didn't have to pay anyone to work on my bike.
At the time, you could buy the bike that won the Tour de France for about $300, and for an extra $600 they'd throw in the guy who rode it. But $300 was a lot of money for a bike.
We all heard the legends, about the European racer whose off-season job was digging graves or cleaning chimneys. We met our own working-class heroes. And our training ground began at the end of the driveway. It was right there. We could ride around the block or across the continent.
Componentry advances have upped the ante considerably. Things just didn't wear out as fast in the – dare I say it – old days. Shifting wasn't as slick. We had to limp along with five or six speeds in the back. We had to feel around for the right gear like a violinist finding the right note. You thought about it before you shifted gears. It might make the difference between success or failure in launching an attack. Some people clearly were better at it, just as some people have the talent to play the aforementioned violin. But the rest of us fiddling hacks could still improve our chops by practicing. And chains and clusters just seemed to go and go and go, because our standards of precision were lower. We were much more likely to blame ourselves for a missed shift.
Real advances were welcome. The slant parallelogram derailleur improved shifting even with friction shifters. Aero brake levers cleaned up the cable jungle above the bars. The difference was slight enough that everyone remained competitive, or at least as competitive as they had been already.
The rider still wins the race. But riders demand more of the bike because they can.
Bike racing needs more divisions. Perhaps price categories as well as rider categories. Perhaps material divisions. As fun as it is to stomp past the carbon fiber steeds on an old steel frame, it takes its toll as time goes by. And people of lesser means deserve the choice to buy quality with fewer doodads instead of just cheesier doodads.
I say this as a person of lesser means. When I read or hear of the exploits of people with large amounts of disposable income, I know better than to become enthralled by the gaudy trinkets and bragworthy races or tours. It's just pushing the pedals after all, whether it's Tuscany or Tulsa.
Maybe what evolves is what's really for the best. The few who want to keep it simple have cultivated the skills that go with it. For us there are an appropriate few choices in new gear we have to assemble and maintain ourselves. We don't have to keep beating a dwindling stock of vintage bikes to death on the long, hard road. The fundamentals have never really changed.
1 comment:
- stupid said...
Hey, just came accross your blog. This post called me to comment. You're right about cycling be deceptively accessible. Except for the elitist snobs, and the consumerist industry culture. It becomes all too easy to buy into the lie of purchasing a new bike every other season. Manufacturers are building disposable bikes and components. And riders seem all to eager to eat it up. Getting the lightest this and the smoothest that. But then if you go against it, you become branded retro, or extrimist. I'm not against buying new stuff, but I'm against riders blindfully lusting (and purchasing) new stuff just cause it's "new."
I don't know what my point is with this, other than you seem to be speaking about topics that are similer to thoughts and ideas I, myself am working through.


text: 52 OIL STORAGE. Near the south wall of this room is a sturdy wooden table with a huge glass container and spigot, resembling a beverage dispenser. It currently holds enough lamp oil to fill forty one flasks, but it looks like it could hold about four hundred flasks worth if full. A cork stopper at the top is the method used to refill the container. If the adventurers leave this room and return at a later date, they will find the level of oil slowly decreasing as it is being used by other dungeon dwellers.


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The New York Pazz and Jop poll swung me. It was far and away their number one rated album for last year. So I went and watched a crappy (and apparently illegal) copy of "Monster" on YouTube.
I bought the album.
The title of the album does not false advertise. It is all those things. (Do I have to add this? It is also explicit, and depending on your Victorian sensibilities, probably offensive.) I love it.


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I need a new website
Orçamento $30-250 USD
I need a high quality website built for my solar panel company which needs to betop quality and finished quickly. Looking for someone who is willing to put the work in to accomplish the task and a great price.
Attached are example of solar websites so that you can get an idea of what I'm looking for
I would also like to have a mobile site done in which a person can insert their basic information, take a picture or attached file and upload it to our system.
I would also like to have a mobile site done in which a person can insert their basic information, take a picture or attached file and upload it to our system. Read Less
I need the entire website to be typed in fluent and professional English.
36 freelancers estão ofertando em média $252 para esse trabalho
Hi There I am Sam, having 7 years of experience in this domain personally to manage and execute the project as per client vision and my company always believe in providing quality design and development for representi Mais
HI, I am ready to start your project & provide you 100% satisfaction work. Relevant Skills and Experience Please check my portfolio link - [login to view URL] Proposed Milestones $184 USD - milestone
hi I am writing to you since I am interested in the job posting. Working with PHP, HTML/CSS and MYSQL, I have completed a number of projects that are relevant to the skills required in this job posting. They in Mais
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Published: 2008/12/30
New Year's Eve With New Groove of the Month
Our current New Groove of the Month, Yamn, will celebrate New Year in its current home state of Colorado. The group will perform at Three20 South in Breckenridge at a show that has been dubbed 'The Winterland Of Wonder.' Turbine will open the night and then Yamn is expected to perform from 11:30 PM to 5 AM. The festivities will then conclude with a pancake breakfast.


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Thank you to all the ladies who attended my class yesterday! It was so much fun for me! Amazing that everyone selected a different fabric for the quilt! That is truly a first for me!
Everyone received a "Ritter Maker" from our very own Nancy Ritter! Template plastic designed specifically to center yo-yo's on the background blocks. You place it on top of the background block, put a thin line of basting glue on the back of the yo-yo, center it in the Ritter Maker, press in place and remove the maker! Has a scotch tape handle so you can pick it up!
Brigette made the Nordstrom white chocolate bread pudding. Yummmmm! Double baked, with shaved white chocolate and raspberry sauce. Heaven.
Did you know that Nordstrom has cookbooks? They publish, keep them for a bit and then retire them. Makes me want them. Want them enough to go shopping on Amazon to try and find the first one. There are a total of 3 so far!
You'll find the bread pudding recipe in the "Friends and Family Cookbook," online at Nordstrom! Just do a search for cookbooks and you'll see them! These make great gifts for the cooks on your list.
And Chickie this photo is for you…
These are from Target! I was talking about the larger tree in class. Sold out in our area. Everywhere. No trees to be found, and of course they are darling! I have one of how many thousands do you think Target sold?
If you couldn't come to class, you can still have bread pudding! Let's see, 4 cups cream, 18 eggs, and how much white chocolate? Are you kidding? Oh my!


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We have moved!
As of yesterday Pie Eaters Footie has moved to our new address come and over and see for yourself.
The 22 year old strikers, was for the most part last season, the last person you would have expected to start scoring goals for the Latics. Yet 12 months on from his arrival at Wigan, the once flimsy and feeble young lad, has turned into a strong and confident forward. I have always said he … Continue reading
Well I have put of writing this as much as I can. The result was not on keeping with the way we played for chunks of the game, but as is shown in football its the chances you take not make. It did all start so so well for Latics. Di Santo scoring his third … Continue reading
So after our one match campaign in the Carling Cup, its time to turn our attention back to the Premier League. The weekends opponets are Everton, who have had an up and down season so far. It gives Latics a chance to go out and correct the wrongs from the last two games and get … Continue reading
I have a feeling, and its rather strong, that the following post will turn into a slight rant instead of a match report. So before hand I apologise, but when your team goes out and plays how poorly Latics did, it hits certain nerves. First off I don't fault the management on the result, the seven … Continue reading
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Rawlins of the Express did not overdo the sensation which was caused in the courtroom when the name of this lady herself was called to summon her to the witness box. It was indeed the despair of his whole career. He thought despondingly ever after of the thrill, to which he himself was not superior and which, if he had only been able to handle it adequately, might have led him straight up the ladder to a night editorship. Miss Belton appeared from some unsuspected seat near the door, throwing back a heavy veil, and walking as austerely as she could, considering the colour of her hair. She took her place without emotion and there she corroborated the evidence of the servants of the hotel. To the grave questions of the prosecution she fluently replied that the distraction of these evenings had been cards—cards played, certainly, for money, and that she, certainly, had won very considerable sums from the defendant from time to time. In Elgin the very mention of cards played for money will cause a hush of something deeper than disapproval; there was silence in the court at this. In producing several banknotes for Miss Belton's identification, Mr Cruickshank seemed to profit by the silence. Miss Belton identified them without hesitation, as she might easily, since they had been traced to her possession. Asked to account for them; she stated, without winking, that they had been paid to her by Mr Walter Ormiston at various times during the fortnight preceding the burglary, in satisfaction of debts at cards. She, Miss Belton, had left Elgin for Chicago the day after the burglary. Mr Ormiston knew that she was going. He had paid her the four fifty-dollar notes actually traced, the night before she left, and said. "You won't need to break these here, will you?" He seemed anxious that she should not, but it was the merest accident that she hadn't. In all, she had received from Mr Ormiston four hundred and fifty dollars. No, she had no suspicion that the young man might not be in a position to make such payments. She understood that Mr Ormiston's family was wealthy, and never thought twice about it.
She spoke with a hard dignity, the lady, and a great effect of doing business, a kind of assertion of the legitimate. The farmers of Fox County told each other in chapfallen appreciation that she was about as level-headed as they make them. Lawyer Cruickshank, as they called him, brought forth from her detail after detail, and every detail fitted damningly with the last. The effect upon young Ormiston was so painful that many looked another way. His jaw was set and his features contorted to hold himself from the disgrace of tears. He was generally acknowledged to be overwhelmed by the unexpected demonstration of his guilt, but distress was so plain in him that there was not a soul in the place that was not sorry for him. In one or two resolute faces hope still glimmered, but it hardly survived the cross-examination of the Crown's chief witness by the counsel for the defence which, as far as it went, had a perfunctory air and contributed little to the evidence before the Court. It did not go all the way, however. The case having opened late, the defence was reserved till the following day, when proceedings would be resumed with the further cross-examination of Miss Belton.


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The E! star stepped out tonight to promote Kylie Jenner's Kylie Hair Kouture launch at James Kendall Salon in Beverly Hills with her sister Khloé Kardashian, and as you may have expected, Kim was flaunting those even more famous curves with her outfit choice.
North West's mama wore a trendy pair of high-waisted flare pants with a long-sleeve crop top that showed off the girls. And while her cleavage is known to grab everyone's attention when on display, it's kind of a different story now. After all, it's gonna be hard to top completely nude photos.


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Dark Avengers #1
Brian Michael Bendis & Mike Deodato.
With Norman Osborn now in charge of the 50-State Initiative and homeland security in general, those loyal servants that served as Thunderbolts are now moving up in the world in the form of Osborn's new team of Avengers, along with a few heroes who have defected from the other Avengers teams. The new official Avengers team under his rule are front and center in the new title Dark Avengers, the first issue of which saw Osborn recruiting his new team and introducing them to the world at large. Osborn also appoints Victoria Hand as his deputy director and has a nice little chat with Maria Hill and Ms. Marvel. With S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded, Hill no longer has her former status and has a few choice words with Osborn, unsettling him in his moment of glory. Ms. Marvel, former leader of the government's official Avengers team (which used to be the Mighty Avengers) resigns and becomes a fugitive, while it is revealed that Sentry and Ares have joined Osborn. Deodato illustrates this new title beautifully as the new line-up is revealed: Captain Marvel, Sentry, a new Ms. Marvel (actually former Thunderbolt Moonstone), Ares, Wolverine (actually Daken Akihiro, Wolverine's son), Hawkeye (who is actually Bullseye), Spider-Man (who is in truth Venom), and Iron Patriot (Osborn himself). I like this team, especially the ones posing as other people, because they are truly a dark mirror to the New Avengers. A great concept, and hopefully there will be some great confrontations between them in the future.
Dan Slott & Khoi Pham.
Not really tying in to Dark Reign yet, Mighty Avengers gets a new line-up of random Avengers amid a crisis that sees reality twisting and changing before everyone's eyes. It seems that Scarlet Witch is assembling a new team of Avengers, at the same time as Jarvis is doing the same thing, to thwart the mystical threat that has arisen on Wundagore Mountain. The two splinter groups join together in the end to face their foe and include: Scarlet Witch, Jarvis, U.S. Agent, Hulk, Wasp (the new codename of Hank Pym), Stature, Vision, Hercules, Jocasta, Amadeus (a smart kid) and (maybe) Iron Man. The book feels very much like a classic straight-forward Avengers book. Colorful action, light and a little silly, with just a bunch of random heroes assembled. Unfortunately, there are a lot of missed opportunities in this first issue. The big glaring one being...uh, the Scarlet Witch is here. While there's a little hesitation with some of the characters at her appearance, there's hardly the uproar that we've been waiting for. They take it in stride when her reintegration into society should be a huge deal full of repercussions. I know there's some other major stuff going on, but they trust her off the bat? Really? Not only has she been hiding for years, but she was the first domino that led to Civil War and Secret Invasion and this new Dark Reign. It should have been addressed first-thing. Also, doesn't Wasp care (or maybe he doesn't know?) that his daughter Stature is there with them? And why doesn't Scarlet Witch react to Vision? There's just not enough discourse between the characters. The events don't leave enough room to breathe and frankly, the stuff between the characters that has not been addressed is much more interesting than the main story! This Avengers title just seems a bit off so far.
Brian Michael Bendis & Billy Tan.
This issue just came out to comic shops today and is really involved in the events of Dark Reign, being the mirror to the Dark Avengers. Here we see Luke Cage get his baby back from skrull Jarvis and subsequently leave Osborn's team, despite his promise to stay. It was a pretty straight-forward issue really. At the end, the New Avengers see the Dark Avengers announced on television and vow to put a stop to Osborn's perversion. This team of New Avengers includes: Ronin (formerly Hawkeye), Iron Fist, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Captain America and Mockingbird. And Jessica Jones is hanging around as usual.


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Firstly I applied an aloe Vera gel, moisturiser then Rimmels Wake me up foundation, then I applied a layer of my camouflage concealer from my line, I allowed that to sit on my skin for a few minutes before I blended it seamlessly setting it with Laura Mercier Setting Powder, this process is called 'baking' where you layer the products allowing them to sit on the skin for a while to 'cook' this ensures a gorgeously flawless finish and adds highlight and dimension.I used this method under my eyes, along the bridge of my nose and my chin.
Next I used the Makeup Revolution palette to contour using the matte bronze shade.
I like to use a small domed fluffy brush to keep the application precise.
I apply this under my cheekbones, down the sides of my nose and around my hair line...
Finally the 'strobing' bit,this really is just a fancy word for highlighting,I used the lightest shade in the makeup revolution palette down the bridge of my nose, the corners of my eyes, cupids bow and tops of my cheeks.
Don't forget to comment!!
Love Sarah.


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"Obviously you've got to make sure that there are appropriate safeguards taken, but look I think it's very important that we do expand, appropriately, coal mining in Queensland.
"We can't let a green veto stop these projects which are vital for our future prosperity."
Mr. Abbott said this about The Great Barrier Reef. We should all listen to him because he is in Parliament and wants to be Prime Minister. And if this is what he thinks as Opposition Leader, imagine what His Creepiness will do if he ever gets his jaws into real power.
The reef contains:
1,500 species of fish
411 types of hard coral
one-third of the world's soft corals
134 species of sharks and rays
six of the world's seven species of threatened marine turtles
more than 30 species of marine mammals, including the vulnerable dugong.
The Royal Navy used to keelhaul miscreants, that is tie rope around them and haul them along the barnacle encrusted hull of the ship and so removing most of the skin and flesh. So let's put a modern spin on this tried and trusted punishment. We hang Mr. Opposition by his feet from a small plane and reef haul him the entire length, making sure we take appropriate safeguards for the reef. I mean those ears alone could wipe out several miles of precious coral.
Yes, I am in a filthy mood and yes, I detest this man.


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9-5-15 Hodgepodge
Saturday, September 05, 2015
Happy Labor Day
I'm taking the holiday off from blogging. Replies to email and comments may take longer than usual. I'll resume posting on Tuesday.
Well, That Didn't Take Long
In a story that reminds me a little of the work of John Ioannidis, a research group recently shot down one of its own earlier results:
In one of the best examples of science working, a researcher who provided key evidence of (non-celiac disease) gluten sensitivity recently published follow-up papers that show the opposite.Nevertheless, given the wall-to-wall media hype concerning gluten, I don't expect this new bit of "eight-glasses-a-day"-type conventional wisdom to die down any time soon.
The paper came out last year in the journal Gastroenterology. Here's the backstory that makes us cheer: The study was a follow up on a 2011 experiment in the lab of Peter Gibson at Monash University in Australia. The scientifically sound -- but small -- study found that gluten-containing diets can cause gastrointestinal distress in people without celiac disease, a well-known autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten. They called this non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
"In contrast to our first study ... we could find absolutely no specific response to gluten," Gibson wrote in the paper...
Weekend Reading
"For doctors to practice good medicine, they require access to timely and complete information about both positive and negative drug trial results." -- Paul Hsieh, in "The Positive Value of Negative Drug Trials" at Forbes
"... I urge parents (and teachers and physicians) not to rush to apply mental health labels and all the counterproductive excuses that go along with them." -- Michael Hurd, in "Good Parenting = A Healthy Outlook" at The Delaware Wave
"Strictly speaking, misery cannot love company." -- Michael Hurd, in "If You Really Love Me ... " at The Delaware Coast Press
"Blasting the people with scalding hot effluent is not the same as a hundred million individual decisions to take afternoon tea." -- Keith Weiner, in "Jackson Hole: Cherry Flavored Cyanide, or Strawberry" at SNB & CHF
One-Ring Calls From Honduras
(Or should I have called this, "Phone Scam of the Week" or "Why I Hate Phones, Part 500?")
Last week, I got a call on my cell phone from a number that looked like it had a Louisiana area code, but which my phone identified as being from Honduras. I couldn't answer in time, and then I noticed the number had eleven digits on top of the international ID. (I know people in Louisiana, but not Honduras.) I immediately searched and learned the following:
You would have been charged at a premium call rate, when you called back and the scammers would get a portion of it. You will be kept on hold, while they play music or even run erotic audio tapes in an effort to keep you hooked. The longer they manage to keep a victim on the call, the higher they make.Oddly, my call was mid-day. In addition to the location ID, I appreciate my cell phone carrier allowing me to block numbers. Another search result indicated that these callers can be quite persistent.
These calls arrive at night or early in the morning and would ring only once or twice, ensuring the call is missed. Being off guard at such odd times, many people end up calling back, only to be kept on the phone line, for several minutes.


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NEW YORK - Chief Jim Billie of the Seminole Tribe of Florida will receive the Native American Music Association (NAMA) Living Legend Award at the Second Annual Nammy Music Awards, November 6, at the Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Seminole Tribune has learned.
Billie, Sound of America Records (SOAR) founder Tom Bee, the late country music legend Hank Williams and the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team will receive special awards at the ceremony, nicknamed the Nammys.
Chief Billie has also been nominated for several other musical awards which will be announced that nigh. The Living Legend Award great contributions to the Native American community and culture through music.
The Native American Music Awards is proud to recognize Chief Jim Billie's musical works including, Old Ways and Alligator Tales, and his merits as a tribal Chief who is preserving and maintaining the musical history and heritage of his people, said NAMA founder Ellen Bello.
Teaming up with critically acclaimed musician/ producer John McEuen with vocal contributions by Grammy/Oscar award winning artist, Jennifer Warnes, Chief Jim Billie successfully combines influences from both the North and South with his own songs and Seminole legends.
SOAR President Bee (Dakota) a founder of the 1970s rock group, XIT, will receive NAMA's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hank Williams (Creek/Cherokee) will be inducted into the NAMA Hall of Fame and honored with a special tribute performance by his grandson, Hank Williams III.
This year's NAMA Jim Thorpe Sports Award recipient will be the Iroquois lacrosse team currently ranked #3 in the world.
Featured guest presenters include: Rita Coolidge, John Densmore (The Doors), Jackson Browne, Wes Studi, Jennifer Warnes, Miss Indian World, John Trudell, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and many more.
Tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased through PROTIX at 800 905-3315. Tickets are priced at $25 and $40. Special Travel Discounts are available through Colonial Travel 800-475-1646.


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home | metro santa cruz index | news | santa cruz | news article
Photograph by Curtis Cartier
A WORRIED MAN: Chief Ranger John Wallace says he's 'never seen the Pogonip this dangerous.'
Ranger Danger
Rangers keep off certain Pogonip trails since handgun incident
By Curtis Cartier
A STANDARD-ISSUE Santa Cruz park ranger uniform comes with a forest-green shirt and slacks, hiking boots, a wide-brimmed hat and a tool belt containing a Leatherman multitool, a flashlight, a notepad, a two-way radio and a can of pepper spray. Nowhere in any pocket, holster or clip is a device designed to assist a ranger in a gunfight. So when Rangers Brian Watson and Gar Eidam stumbled onto an illegal campsite in the Pogonip last month and found $850 worth of heroin and a loaded .357 magnum handgun, they radioed for the Santa Cruz Police Parks Unit to come in.
Worried for his employees' safety, and reliant on a depleted police parks unit that's down from five officers to just three, Santa Cruz Chief Ranger John Wallace is pulling his rangers off certain trails for fear that the next gun they find might be gripped in a gangster's hand.
"I've been doing this a long time, and I've never seen the Pogonip this dangerous," says Wallace, who has directed his staff to stay off parts of the Pogonip Creek Nature Loop, Lookout Trail and anywhere near the railroad tracks unless they have an armed police escort. "My main objective, above everything else, is to make sure all of my rangers come back safely and get home to their families. I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to them out there."
In the Pogonip, Sureño gang members, mostly from Mexico, control a bustling black tar heroin trade and use the mazelike trails of the open space like city streets and alleyways, running and hiding when police show up. Both drug dealers and drug users often camp illegally in the park and. Under city policy, when a ranger comes across an illegal campsite with people occupying it, he or she is not to contact the campers but instead report the site to city police and let them investigate. Wallace says lately, however, that it can take up to two weeks for police officers to investigate a camp after it's reported, by which time any occupants are usually long gone.
"The police do a great job, they're just really understaffed right now," says Wallace, who makes a point of heaping praise on Santa Cruz's finest. "I'd love if they could make it out quickly every time, but sometimes I think they have other things to do."
Santa Cruz Parks Superintendent Steve Hammack says police provide a consistently fast response to rangers' calls and denies that any trails are unfit for rangers to patrol. Santa Cruz Police spokesman Zach Friend, however, confirms Wallace's assertions that the parks unit is indeed short-staffed and that at times investigating one of the park's many illegal campsites does not top the priority list.
"We have a symbiotic relationship with the park rangers," Friend says. "We're hoping to hire replacements to fill the open spots in the parks unit, but this takes time. Until then, the safety of the parks rangers is paramount and they shouldn't be putting themselves in dangerous situations."
Meanwhile, during an afternoon patrol through the rain-soaked Pogonip during which he grills familiar characters about where the illegal camps are, Wallace is quick to remind a reporter that while his perspective might differ from those of his colleagues and superiors at the city, he's "just calling it like I see it."
Machetes and Guns
It would be inaccurate to say law enforcement is not active in the city's greenbelts and open spaces. SCPD records show that the parks unit confiscated 27 weapons in the last two years, including meat cleavers, machetes, nunchucks, brass knuckles, axes and semiautomatic guns. Rangers, who also issue citations for everything from public intoxication to dogs off leashes, wrote 650 tickets last year. Roughly 75 percent were for either illegal camping or alcohol-related violations.
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And while drug dealing has long been typical in the park, armed gang members doing the dealing is a more recent trend. Despite the danger, for Wallace, a burly former firefighter and longtime bodybuilder with arms like sycamore trees, the decision to keep his rangers off certain trails goes against the methods that, for more than six years in the early 2000s, he practiced while he was quite literally the city's "Lone Ranger."
"That was a different time then. I was the only ranger in the city and I would talk to drunks and drug camps all the time and write them tickets and try and get them out of there. Looking back, it was really reckless," he says. "It kills me to keep my rangers off some of the trails right now, but the Pogonip has gotten worse than I've ever seen it, and since they're unarmed they really have no business putting their lives at risk over some drug users or gang members."
Send a letter to the editor about this story.


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1. invigorate - verb
· heighten or intensify; "These paintings exalt the imagination"
Synonym(s): inspire, animate, enliven, exalt
Hypernym(s): stimulate, shake, shake_up, excite, stir
2. invigorate - verb
· give life or energy to; "The cold water invigorated him"
Synonym(s): quicken
Hypernym(s): stimulate, excite
3. invigorate - verb
· make lively; "let's liven up this room a bit"
Synonym(s): enliven, liven, liven_up, animate
Hypernym(s): stimulate, arouse, brace, energize, energise, perk_up
4. invigorate - verb
· impart vigor, strength, or vitality to; "Exercise is invigorating"
Synonym(s): reinvigorate
Hypernym(s): stimulate, arouse, brace, energize, energise, perk_up
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Treasury Department sold $30 billion in 3-year notes TMUBMUSD03Y, +0.93% Tuesday at a yield of 0.799%. Bidders offered to buy 3.25 times the amount of debt sold, compared to an average of 3.32 times at the last six sales. Indirect bidders, a group that includes foreign central banks, bought 28.0%, versus 36.0% in recent sales. Direct bidders, which include domestic money managers, purchased another 22.6%, versus an average of 16.4%. The broader bond market remained lower after the auction. Yields on 10-year notes TMUBMUSD10Y, +1.97% which move inversely to prices, fell 1 basis point on the day to 2.953%.
Treasurys hold gains after 3-year note auction
Quote References
+0.02 +0.93%
+0.06 +1.97%


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Lot # 574 (of 873) < Previous Lot | Next Lot >
Circa 1921 New York Yankees Team Sweater
Starting Bid - $2,500.00, Sold For - $23,000.00
Incredibly rare Yankees team sweater from circa 1921 and is one of only two examples known to exist. This is an extraordinary early team sweater, of spectacular quality, from an era in which team sweaters were as important a part of a ballplayer's wardrobe as his uniform and cap. These sweaters were issued by teams in the days before team jackets, and were proudly worn by players on the sidelines, and while warming up, and were of such a high quality that they were often kept by players for use in the off-season. Many panoramic photographs from the 1910 to 1925 era show entire teams with all players wearing their matching team sweaters. Only a handful of these beautifully designed heavy knit sweaters from any team have survived, and fewer still are Yankees sweaters. This is an extraordinary original example issued by the pennant-winning 1921 New York Yankees. 1921 is a particularly significant year for the Yankees as this was their first pennant-winning season. Though they lost to the Giants in the World Series, this was the year in which the great Yankee Dynasty began. The steel grey sweater has a purple shawl collar, cuffs, and front rim. The interlocking "NY" logo appears in a lighter purple on the left breast. The sweater is designed with two pockets, one on each side. The sweater is original in all respects, including manufacturer's tag in collar and original celluloid buttons. This team sweater belonged to Yankees coach Frank Roth, who was with the Yankees as a coach in 1921 and 1922. This extraordinary team-issued garment was previously exhibited at the National Sports Gallery in Washington, D.C. In Excellent condition. LOA from Dan Knoll & Dave Bushing/SCD Authentic. Reserve $2,500. Estimate $5,000/$10,000. SOLD FOR $23,000.00
(Click the smaller thumbnails to the left and right (if any) to cycle through each photo in the gallery of images for this lot.)