text:
I have seen an article that the Yankees talked to the Angels about Vernon Wells. The Angels would have to eat about all of Wells' atrocious $21 MM salary.
While Wells would fill the righty-hitting OF role that Andruw Jones (who just signed with a Japanese team) filled the past two seasons, Wells is on the downside. In one sense, he'd fit in well with the Yanks as the team is currently constructed. He's an aging veteran former All-Star on the downside of his career, and the Yanks are becoming too filled up with those types of players. Wells is 34, a 3x All-Star and 3x GG winner. He's mostly played CF in his career but would be put in the corners. As of now, the Yanks have Ichiro, Granderson and Gardner, all lefty hitters (and Chris Dickerson is a lefty hitter as well). Wells would be that righty bat.
But Wells hit just .230-11-29, OPS+ 91 last year in 243 AB. The year before, it was .218-25-66, OPS+ 84. There is still pop there, but the batting averages were low, and he does nothing as far as a youth movement goes.
Instead, what I would do is to check on the Angels for two other players: Peter Bourjos and Hank Conger.
The Angels apparently don't want to give up Bourjos. That is understandable. They'd rather dump Wells (and pick up most of his salary by doing so). Bourjos will be 26 at the start of next season and is a CF. Although he hasn't played the corners, he probably could transition there quite easily. He only hit .220-3-19, OPS+ 73 for the Angels in 2012 in 168 AB but hit .271-12-43 with 22 SB and a AL-leading 11 triples in 2011, OPS+ 116. His 162 g. ave. is .247-11-42, 19 SB, OPS+ 97. Not great, but a good defender, young, inexpensive ($500K) with upside, as opposed to Wells 34 and downside.
As for Conger, he'll be 25 next month and is a switch-hitting catcher. He's hit just .201-6-25, OPS+ 73 in 224 AB in the majors, but that has been spread out over three years. He's a .297 hitter in the minors. Maybe all he needs is for someone to take a chance on him and to give him regular playing time. Switch-hitting catchers are something to be desired (Posada, Ted Simmons back in the 1970's… ). He made just $414K last year. Hey, right now the Yankee C options are Cervelli, Romine (who has just 21 games of AAA experience), Stewart and Bobby Wilson (also an Angels' backup C last year, Wilson will be 30 next year, and in 389 at bats is .208-8-37, OPS+ 67.) Conger is younger than Wilson and a switch-hitter. He is just 10 months older than Romine and has more AAA and major league experience than Romine.
So you'd have two guys who'd fill needs who are both young (on an old team), who have upside and who you can probably get for less than $1.5 million—combined.
I don't know if the Angels would make either, much less both, available. I don't know what the Angels would ask for in return.
But I'd rather have those two than Vernon Wells.


text:
Orioles at Yankees 10-1-2016 Game Used Baseball
$84.98with case
$59.99without case
When will I receive my order?
Shipping Policy
When will I receive my order?
Shipping Policy
This game used item is an exclusive product from our Yankees-Steiner Partnership. This item is 100% authentic and will feature a tamper proof hologram in addition to a Certificate of authenticity from Steiner Sports, the exclusive provider of New York Yankees game used and game issued items.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Heard it on the grapevine
Who's mucking up or who's getting it off with who always seems to be a conversation starter. Whether it's right or not, office gossip is a fact of life.
Which drew my attention to a news report out of America about four women who were fired for swapping juicy details about an alleged affair between their boss and another employee.
Is gossip really a firing offence? At its worst, gossip can be destructive but it's also the way we are. And it becomes even more of an issue with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
No surprises then that we have a report about a new Israeli website which invites users to provide details of workplace liaisons and other juicy information. The site has links to sections with gossip about Israeli companies including banks, cable television networks, newspapers and airlines, and the military. Companies are named but users don't have to disclose their identities. Which means the information is hard to verify. But that's gossip.
If everyone was fired for gossiping, who would do the work? Add to that a study, reported here, which found that gossip is not just idle small talk but an important skill for getting ahead. Keeping your fingers on the pulse of what's happening can be absolutely crucial. On the other hand, you have to be careful not to get caught up in some malicious rumour mill.
Clearly, it's about knowing what gossip is appropriate and what's not.
To this end, the Political Calculations blog has a handy tool that helps you determine whether or not a bit of dirt is spreading. It raises important questions like whether or not its juicy, what you stand to gain from passing it on, whether you actually believe it, and whether it would be traced back to you.
Is your workplace a rumour mill? How much do you get caught up in office gossip? What are some of the best ones you've heard (keeping in mind defamation laws)? Is gossip a firing offence? How do you handle it when someone tells you stuff you don't want to know or hear?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:09 AM
Save the world - share a car
Traffic jams are more than irritations on your way to and from work. They say something about the greenhouse gas emissions that come from our car-dependent existence.
According to the Australian Greenhouse Office , transport produces 34 per cent of household greenhouse gas emissions. This has soared 25 per cent between 2000 and 2005.
Car pooling might be one solution. One shared car can take many other cars off the road. Systematic car pooling programs are fairly new in Australia but they are all the go in other cities around the world but things could be changing with reports that car sharing business is gaining traction in Melbourne and Sydney where people pay an up-front joining fee, plus a monthly fee and an hourly rate for car use. After you pay up, you head to cars parked in designated spots near shopping centres and public transport hubs.
One problem might be state government policies that are actually going the other way and encouraging car dependency. As Institute for Sensible Transport director Elliot Fishman wrote in The Age last week, widening freeways just makes the problem worse, about as helpful as a doctor prescribing a larger belt for an obese patient. Cars account for 85 per cent of trips in Melbourne, one of the highest dependency rates in the world, and government policies leave the state ill-equipped to deal with issues like global warming, oil shortages, traffic congestion and sedentary lifestyle diseases. Census data reveals that Melbourne's middle and outer suburbs have the highest proportion of households with two or more cars. Furthermore, car dependence is exacerbated in several suburbs that lack train or tram access, including Doncaster, Cranbourne East and South Morang, so car pooling might be the answer there.
Car pooling might also be one way to green up businesses. Companies could support employee vanpool or car pool programs by providing environmentally friendly options for those who drive, such as preferred parking for carpoolers. They could also provide racks or lockers for cyclists' gear.
Do you have a car pooling scheme? How does it work? What are the pros and cons? Would you sign up with a car pooling business? What can your workplace do to encourage car pooling?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:01 AM
There's no work like home
People seeking work-life balance, telecommuting, and the growing market of virtual employees and suppliers means that more people are now working from home. But for many, it has not been the answer to work-life balance and it does create new dilemmas and anxieties.
What are the pros and cons of working from home?
You mightn't have your boss looking over your shoulder. But somewhere down the line, we still have a "boss", whether it's a customer and client, an end-user, audience or just living up to our own standards. True, you can have a more flexible schedule. You can decide when you work, and you can take time off when you want or need. But the reality is you have to make the time up somewhere. The work has to be done. Sure, there's no more office politics. But you still need to build relationships with clients and customers. And if you are working for an organisation, you will still need relationships with people on-site. Maintaining those can be hard when you're invisible.
More of the pros and cons are set out here.
Maybe it also comes down to your own personality type. In her 1996 book Home and Work, Christena Nippert-Eng divides people up into two categories: the ones who integrate and who manage to keep business and personal sides moving together, who put everything into one data base or book, and who have all sorts of personal photos on their work desks. And then there are the ones who segment, and have very strong boundaries.
Another problem might be that you can feel you are working in a vacuum when no-one is there to give feedback. And then there is the question of how you go about establishing a boundary between work and home.
All up, leaving the office is not for everyone. Do you work from home? How do you manage to maintain the boundaries? What are the pros and cons? Are you planning to do it?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:24 AM
- Comments (1)
Signs that your job is on the chopping block
Four coaches and there's still plenty in the season. Still, there were no surprises with any of the departures. Indeed Kevin Sheedy himself said he had been suspecting for some time that the end was nigh.
Getting the sack is something that happens to most of us. (About 150 years ago when I was teenage employee, I was sacked 17 times. For doing silly things, like asking when I'd be paid). And as with the coaches, there are usually signs that your time is up.
There are four warning signs to look for, says The Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com :
1. Your work load becomes lighter. Particularly when everyone around you is working.
2.You're getting the cold shoulder from management.
3.Your professional memberships and subscriptions have lapsed.
4.You're asked to train a new employee with duties similar to yours.
Any other signs to look out for? How do you know when your time is up? And how should people handle it? Conversely, how often have you been in a situation where you were taken by surprise by the pink slip?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:32 AM
The new Maccas?
These have not been easy times for McDonald's. The world's biggest restaurant company has just announced its second quarterly loss ever, a whopping $US711.7 million (($A806.7 million).
All that on top of a history of bad PR, with lawsuits and attacks like Morgan Spurlock's sickeningly powerful Super Size Me .
To its credit, McDonald's has done some hard work by changing its offer, adding a line of salads and healthy meals that have even won a tick from the National Heart Foundation.
Cynics might dismiss it as a public relations exercise but the company's efforts in Britain have gone one step further.
It has come up with a Make Up Your Own Mind website which attempts to make the fast food giant appear totally transparent and switched on to the community. Readers are invited to submit their questions and the company seeks to answer them.
Questions so far have included "Why do your burgers taste so bad? Do you use the manure salvaged from the farms to add a certain aroma?", "Why do you use horse meat in your burgers" and "Is any of your food out of date & do u put any rotten food in your burgers".
As an exercise in corporate transparency, this is one of the most interesting and challenging exercises that I've come across. But it does raise some interesting questions.
McDonald's seems to be on a tightrope of serving two markets: one comprises the rusted-on loyalists who love their Big Macs and chips and who don't give a rat's about how fat it makes them. The other one is looking for healthier meals. And the problem is the fast food chains have a problem because they know what sells. "The companies are stuck," the unfortunately-named New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle told the New York Times."They must grow. Therefore they are looking for products that are going to sell. And guess what? The healthy ones don't."
With obesity now a major issue, what does the future hold for the fast food industry? What direction should it go in? Can fast food outlets reinvent themselves? For that matter, should they? Have the healthier meals changed your opinion of McDonald's? What do you think of McDonald's UK web effort? Should other companies do something similar?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:28 AM
- Comments (5)
Top 10 steps for negotiating with liars
It's a sad fact of life that we lie. To some extent and some more than others. It happens from an early age. Right from the time when we told mum and dad "I don't know" when they asked how come the neighbor's window was smashed and they had returned your cricket ball.
They don't have to be outrageous lies like "throwing children overboard", "weapons of mass destruction" and "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". But there are other little ways it's done. From dating, missed appointments and phone calls to turning up late for work. Hence the term "white lies". Whether we like it or not, people secrete deceit. As the great social critic and commentator H.L.Mencken once said: "It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place."
Robert Adler, a law and ethics scholar at the University of North Carolina, says most people assume there are deadset giveaways for determining when someone's lying: averting eye contact, pulling on one's ear, sweating, blinking, changing vocal pitch, increased (or decreased) smiling, long pauses between answers, rubbing one's finger or arm and heavy breathing to name a few (with some politicians it's easy: their lips move).
But most people are incompetent lie detectors, Adler says. Sadly, liars are difficult to identify.
In his paper, Negotiating with liars, Adler sets out a number of steps we need to take when we sit down to negotiate:
1. Do all your homework and research into the other party's bona fides.
2. Set up a pre-negotiation agreement requiring both parties to come clean. Moreover, one side's refusal to enter into a "good faith" agreement might be a good warning.
3. Look for potential signs of deception.
4. Ask the same question in different ways. Liars tend to dodge and weave their way around the truth assuming their statements will be misconstrued or not challenged.
5. Ask the opponent to come clean.
6. Ask questions to which you already know the answer.
7.Take notes during negotiations.
8. Get commitments in writing.
9. Use contingent agreements where you have some provision in the contract that provides specific protection should the representation turn out to be false.
10. Trust but verify.
Would you add any to this list? What are some of things you do to protect yourself when you sit down to negotiate? More to the point, how often do you run into liars? How can you tell when someone's telling porkies? Do you do it yourself?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 9:22 AM
- Comments (1)
Are hybrids the answer to global warming?
Ford's decision to close its Geelong plant last week confirms that Australia's love affair with six cylinder cars is over.
Fuel prices and environment are said to be two factors sending people to medium or smaller cars. Another reason which seems to be overlooked is demographics. With married people now representing less than half the population, fewer people might be starting families. Also families are fracturing. Which means there might be less demand for family cars.
All this raises the question of whether hybrid cars are the way to go. Toyota's Hybrid Prius is the big success story but other auto manufacturers aren't having the same results and are hedging their bets with diesel fuel and other technologies. Last week Audi launched the world's cleanest diesel engine, signalling its green intentions.
But as Forbes' auto industry commentator Jerry Flint said last week, there are no clear answers here. Maybe the answer lies with plug-in hybrid cars , although that depends on the big auto makers adopting the technology.
Another big issue is cost. Some experts say plug-in technology could add another $US10,000 ($A11,370) to the price of a new car.
Is that a price you would be prepared to pay? Are hybrids really the answer to global warming or are there better, more cost-effective solutions? Do you drive a hybrid? Why?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:14 AM
- Comments (4)
Friends or frenemies?
The John Howard-Peter Costello saga touches on one of the features of today's workplace: there are friends, and there are frenemies. You can spend lots of time with frenemies. You work with them, exchange ideas, you have a strong business-like relationship. But you never really trust them. Because you know that one day, they could turn around and stab you in the back. But we need them. And that's the difference between frenemies and people you don't like.
Why do some people morph into frenemies? Think of the people who are congenitally unable to have true friends. There's always an agenda so it might be better for them if people don't get too close to them. And Frenemies are very much a feature of today's workplace, says BusinessWeek columnist Liz Ryan.
"Keeping a frenemy at a distance to minimize the risk of being stabbed doesn't really work," Ryan writes. "Face it, part of the reason your relationship developed as it did is because the two of you are too dependent on one another, share too many goals or projects, and spend too much time together to disentangle your professional fortunes."
In other words, keep your friends close and your frenemies closer.
And what about friendships? How does work change friendships. And are too many friends at work good or bad? What happens when there's a flare-up over some work issue?
No clear answers on that one. One New Zealand study suggests that having friends at work can be dangerous. Excessive chatting, having too much fun and an inability to separate work from play results in a loss of focus, according to those researchers. But other studies show the reverse: people who are friends outside of work make a more productive workplace.
Do you have frenemies? How close do you get? Have they ever stabbed you in the back? How close are your workplace friendships? Have there been issues and flareups? How did you handle it?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:41 AM
Buzzword balance sheet
On the same page, thought leadership, paradigm shift, out of the loop, result-focused, total quality, ballpark, ticks in boxes, value-add, touch base, think outside the box, stretch the envelope, put this one to bed, close the loop, at the end of the day, hot button, interface, guesstimate, key players, killer apps, focus collectively as a group, user friendly, bells and whistles, benchmark, slippery slope, win-win, game plan.
Just some of the corporate speak I keep coming across. Yes, we're awash in a blizzard of buzzwords.
Unfortunately, the media is also a big offender. True, journalists are in the business of translating complicated language into easy-to-understand terms and phrases. But sometimes it goes too far. And when that happens, it not only keeps the clumsily constructed gobbledygook and tumescent terminology in the public domain, it turns corporate speak into everyday language. That might explain why a female manager I had coffee with two weeks ago told me she had "traded up" by getting married for the third time. Maybe she had just read the book by Sex in the City author Candace Bushnell. Sad really. p>
If you want evidence of the media's role, check the latest findings from our friends at the Dow Jones news and information monitoring service Factiva. It has put together a list of corporate slang in newspapers. And yes, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald are right in there. Although the numbers suggest our competitors are worse offenders.
Analysis conducted by Factiva over the last six months reveals that the term "fast track" is the most popular, followed by "going forward" (as opposed to "going backwards"), "user friendly", "empower", "downsizing", "multitasking", "core competency", "customer centric", "client focused" and "rightsizing".
Jargon is a bit of a hoot but it's also dangerous. About 60 years ago, in his essay Politics and the English Language, George Orwell said the aim of jargon was to mislead. He wrote: "When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink". The other problem, he said, was that it stopped people thinking. "Every such phrase anaesthetises a portion of one's brain," Orwell said.
Mind you, the folks at Factiva have missed out on a few. Like "brainstorming", "teamwork", "shared goals", "bandwidth", "human capital" (or for that matter "human resources"), "strategic fit", "zero sum game", "leveraging", "tool kit", "tool set" and "upscaling".
Any to add? How often do you come across this sort of garbage in your workplace? Does your boss or manager use any of these terms? Do you find yourself using them?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 11:00 AM
- Comments (2)
Contracts, fees and other rip-offs
Think of those everyday rip-offs that send you around the twist.
Like those ridiculous bank fees. Or the complex 24 month mobile phone contracts with penalties if you opt out early and the handsets that are marketed as free with monthly charges hidden in the fine print. Think of the "low-ball" phone contracts targeted at teenagers and other parts of the market deemed to lack judgement with higher call rates. Think of the gyms that lock customers into long-term membership deals when they know they won't be turning up that often. All designed to gouge punters.
It's also the kind of stuff that fuels customer complaints and specific hate web sites like notgoodenough.org . And it creates relentless customer turnover. Not the kind of stuff that companies want.
So why do they keep doing it? Why do they keep enraging customers when it's such risky business?
Gail McGovern and Youngme Moon, two Harvard Business School academics, look at this question in their Harvard Business Review piece Companies and the customers who hate them.
As they point out, companies gouge punters for a very good reason: their most profitable customers are the ones who make the worst purchasing decisions. Duh!
What's more, they found that many companies just do it without even thinking of the long-term implications. And in the end, the companies discover they have a vested interest in encouraging bad customer behaviour. After all, it makes money:
One of the most influential propositions in marketing is that customer satisfaction begets loyalty, and loyalty begets profits. Why, then, do so many companies infuriate their customers by binding them with contracts, bleeding them with fees, confounding them with fine print, and otherwise penalizing them for their business? Because, unfortunately, it pays. Companies have found that confused and ill-informed customers, who often end up making poor purchasing decisions, can be highly profitable indeed.
Companies can also profit from customers bad decisions by overrelying on penalties and fees. Such charges may have been conceived as a way to deter undesirable customer behavior and offset the costs that businesses incur as a result of that behavior. Penalties for bouncing a check, for example, were originally designed to discourage banking customers from spending more than they had and to recoup administrative costs. The practice was thus fair to company and customer alike. But many firms have discovered just how profitable penalties can be; as a result, they have an incentive to encourage their customers to incur them or, at least, not to discourage them from doing so. Many credit card issuers, for example, choose not to deny a transaction that would put the cardholder over his or her credit limit; its more profitable to let the customer overspend and then impose penalties.
The other way of looking at the problem is that it also provides a great opportunity for businesses who want to attract new customers by exploiting their dissatisfaction with incumbents. They can offer easy-to-understand contracts or none at all. They can provide pay as you go subscriptions, no hidden fees and reasonable rates. And they can cut their fees to zip.
What are the worst rip-offs you've seen? What's your strategy for dealing with it?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:46 AM
- Comments (3)
Guide to office politics
Building coalitions, lifting other people's ideas, witholding information, sucking up to the powers that be and checking what's going down to see whats in it for you: welcome to the office.
Office politics is part of every workplace. Most people regard it with disdain, saying it's used by people who can't get ahead on merit or ability. But arguing that the system is political, as some commentators have said, is like complaining that water is wet. Politics is about power and that makes management deeply political. Also, there's an upside to politics. It's a way of getting things done, and you don't have to be an awful person to make that happen.
So how do you make office politics work for you? The BNET site provides some tips on how to win in office politics.
Some of it's over the top and cheesy. Like setting aside $30 a week to have lunch with colleagues. But there's other stuff in there that's common sense. Like what to do when you end up hearing stuff you wish you hadn't heard. And drawing insights into who gets promoted, ignored or patted on the back. Understanding who is influential and how they do it can show you what gets rewarded, and what gets ignored or punished.
I would say there are some basic rules in office politics. The first is the Law of Paybacks. Personal relationships are part of office life. Favours are exchanged and most people expect to be paid back. That's good politics. Number two is that success always comes with adversaries and opposition, sometimes from unexpected territory. And the golden rule? Everyone has to be a winner. The best politicians know how to get people to embrace their ideas as being what's best for them. Office politics is no different.
Any other tips to add? Either to the BNET list or my points? How much office politics is going on at your workplace? Is it bad? Are some getting ahead just playing politics? Have you learned how to work the system? What's your advice?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:13 AM
Global warming business
The point-scoring and raging arguments generated by The Great Global Warming Swindle on the ABC last week left a lot to be desired.
As television, it was ok but it was not that informative. Lots of suppositions, arguments and counter-arguments that seemed to go nowhere. The best part was watching presenter Tony Jones at work. And former BP executive Greg Bourne.
The program seemed to be more about politics than science or business. Out in the real world, business seems to have moved on. At least to some extent. The ABC seems to have missed that point altogether.
Over the last 12 months we've seen the rise of all things green in business and every week, another company comes out with an announcement about greenhouse gas emissions. This is expected to accelerate when businesses, including some of the nation's biggest polluters, will be allowed to buy carbon credits with the Government this week releasing its response to its task group's report on emissions trading.
Business has come a long way but there is still a lot of work to do, says US green business consultant Andrew Winston.
"There's a schizophrenia in the financial world: venture capitalists are pouring money into green ventures while traditional analysts are generally uninterested in how environmental issues create risk for a business or drive opportunities for growth. Part of this schism is justified. After all, some green investments are just that, investments. And people looking for quarterly payback don't always like investments where they can't measure the benefit easily. Worse yet for number-crunchers is the lack of clear standards on metrics for environmental and social issues.
"But the biggest impediment to change here is psychological. There's a powerful set of beliefs in the financial community that the environment not only isnt a part of good business, but it's their fiduciary duty to exclude it."
As Winston says, it's daunting to see how far we still have to go but it's also exciting to see how the business community will respond to the biggest challenge of our times. Unfortunately, these were not the questions that were not answered by the ABC last week.
What was your take on The Great Global Warming Swindle? What more does business have to do? What are the biggest hurdles?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:57 AM
- Comments (2)
Info stress and email overload
Data Smog. Information pollution. Info stress. Call it what you will. but email is undoubtedly the big contributor.
Research carried out by the University of London for Hewlett Packard in 2005 found 62 per cent of workers were addicted to checking emails at home or on holiday and half responded immediately to new mail, even if they had to interrupt a meeting. The study also found that a worker's functioning IQ dropped when constantly distracted by phone calls and emails. How much does it slow you down? About double what smoking a joint would do to you.
The most striking thing about that study is that the technology we invented is now controlling us.
Some people are taking unusual ways of dealing with the problem. Like regular 24 hour breaks from emails. Companies and Government departments here have experimented with no email days. I've been told the results have been extraordinary. "People actually were actually talking to each other and connecting," said one manager. Well, who'd have thunk it?
Actually, you probably don't need radical solutions, just common sense. David Shipley, Op-Ed page editor of the New York Times co-writes some common sense rules in his manifesto When you absolutely, positively should not use email.
1. Don't email when you are right. An email trail might be the perfect "told you so" medium but there are better ways of doing it. Try the phone.
2. Don't email when you are wrong. Your admission of guilt by email is out there for the world to see.
3. Don't email when you are mad. Unless you want to start a flame war.
4. Don't email when you don't know what you want. If you are unclear about something when you hit the send button, it will just generate more email.
5. Don't email when you are stalling.
6. Don't email when you are drunk. Or for that matter, when you have partaken of other substances.
7. Don't email gossip. It gets around and can land you in all sorts of trouble.
8. Don't email when you see a pile of "re's" in front of you. It just adds to an endless discussion that's usually wildly unproductive.
9. Don't email when you have nothing to add.
10. Don't email when the exchange is over. Enough already.
11. Don't email at 3am. Give people a rest.
12. Don't email when you are bored. That includes when you're at the football or before the movie starts. The trouble with bored emailing is that it gives birth to urgent emailing.
13. Don't email when you should be concentrating on something else, or paying attention to someone.
Can you get through a day without email? An hour? Can you have lunch without checking your Blackberry? Let's hear some email horror stories. Has your workplace had no email days? What was it like? What are the best ways of dealing with email overload? Or is it just a matter of common sense?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:28 AM
Leadership crisis
The world seems to be obsessed with leadership. Just type the L word into Amazon.com and count the entries. I came up with more than 200,000. I tried that four years ago, and only 13,000 popped up. Even more extraordinary when you try Googling the word. All of which suggests we have an insatiable appetite for this topic.
But how much are leaders and managers in control? Studies dating back as far as to the 1970s show that their actions rarely account for more than 10 per cent of the differences between organisations. Such forces as a company's operating environment, the economy in general and the company's own track record account for more of its current performance. That might explain why John Fletcher had trouble turning Coles around. That's also why I take a lot of this leadership guff with a grain or three of salt.
Now a new study confirms that leaders and managers are less in control than we think. Often, a crisis will send them into a panic.
The study by NFI Research found that more than 50 per cent of managers say that the only way they can handle crises is by stressing out and burning the candles at both ends. The study of 204 managers also found that they had trouble delegating. The four biggest crises were customer issues, bad communication, internal problems and shabby planning.
In their book, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense, Stanford University professors Jeffery Pfeffer and Bob Sutton argue that the belief that leaders ought to be in control is dangerous.
"No leader is omniscient. Even the smartest, most experienced, most dedicated individual is, in the end, a human being with the biases and failings that this fact entails,"they write. "One of the most consistent findings in the literature on decision-making and performance is that the best groups perform better than the best individuals, because groups are able to take advantage of the collective wisdom and insight of multiple individuals, while individual judgements reflect the narrower insights and skills of just one person."
To my thinking that really sums up the paradox of leadership. The best leaders are the ones who bring out the best in a group. It doesn't all come down to one person.
So how should managers and leaders cope when the panic sets in? Sutton and Pfeffer suggest four techniques:
1. Leaders need to act as if they are in control and they need to project confidence, but at the same time, they need to acknowledge their own limitations.
2. Leaders should maintain a healthy dose of modesty.
3. They need to know when it's best to get out of the way and let others make contributions.
4. They need to build systems and teams where others can succeed.
Any to add to the list? How often does your boss flip out? And if you are running a team or organisation, how often do you find yourself stressing out? What are the biggest problems that always keep coming up? How much control do bosses actually have?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:39 AM
- Comments (1)
Killing the music
The landmark decision to increase music licence fees for artists and record labels comes amid plenty of talk about record industry death throes and preparations for the funeral.
The decision of the Copyright Council, reported here, to lift rates for recordings played in nightclubs from 7 cents per person to $1.05, and dance party rates from 20 cents to $3.07, could be a huge boost for musicians and the labels. Maybe. Dror Erez, owner of The Prince of Wales Hotel in St Kilda, says the money will go straight into the pockets of the CEOs of record companies and the artists won't see a cent.
Still, live music just might save the recording industry. As a management writer and musician, I see the record industry's decline as a textbook example of a sector that shot itself in the foot and refused to take on the big changes confronting the scene. Had the labels licensed Napster, instead of suing it out of existence, they would have kick-started the digital music business two years earlier than Apple. And the other problem is that music is also up against all sorts of other activities screaming out for attention - the internet, computer games, DVDs and pay TV to name a few. Also, the majors are pursuing a business model that's unsustainable. At the moment, the megacorporations behind the big labels need big hits in order to survive. But with the monster hit phenomenon fading, sales falling and revenues coming in from many more smaller sources, it's a strategy that goes nowhere.
The industry's problems were neatly summed up in Rolling Stone last month in their great piece The Record Industry's Decline. As the writers Brian Hiatt and Evan Serpick point out, the record companies have created this situation themselves. The number of people listening to recorded music, whether from CDs, downloads, video games, satellite radio, terrestrial radio, online streams or other sources, has increased massively since 2002. So how is it that an industry making the product is going downhill?
There are signs that the industry is starting to get its act together. The Economist reports that record labels the "360-degree contract ". Instead of settling for a percentage of CD sales, they are starting to offer artists broader contracts that encompass live music, merchandise and endorsement deals.
It also raises another interesting question: is the CD dead? From what I've observed, and from the conversations I've had with people in the industry, there will always be a space for a physical format. It's just that we might see more artists releasing records that are DVDs rather than CDs, or at least they will give people the choice so that you can buy a CD at one price and a DVD version with pictures at a higher price.
What future do you see for the music industry? How much music do you buy? What can the industry do to save itself
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 11:11 AM
- Comments (6)
The business of business is...?
Nearly 40 years after economist Milton Friedman wrote that the "social responsibility of business is to increase its profits", business chiefs are saying they want to play a leadership role in addressing sociopolitical issues such as education, healthcare and foreign policy.
A study released by the consulting firm McKinsey found that almost half of US executives want to play a bigger role. Still, only one in seven considers themselves to be playing that role now, citing reasons such as lack of time, fear of negative publicity or negative repercussions for themselves and their company and a lack of desire to engage with politicians.
The McKinsey study coincides with three studies - from the United Nations, Goldman Sachs and and McKinsey again - put to a meeting of the UN Global Compact last week highlighting the links between corporate responsibility and the bottom line. According to Goldman Sachs, companies that performed well on governance, social responsibility and environment have performed better than the general stock market over the last couple of years. But the reports highlighted the difficulties companies face embedding these issues into their strategies and operations. Instead, what they seem to do is lump corporate responsibility into a single corporate sub-site.
Clearly, there has been a change since the days of Friedman. Social issues are not necessarily peripheral to the business of business but they can be fundamental. Ignore the wrong ones and you risk having your reputation trashed or having laws brought in. It's also important because business makes an enormous contribution to society. Think of jobs, innovation, research, big investments and social connections. And yet business seems to be struggling with the issue.
So is this the role for companies and business leaders? Should business leaders be doing more to address social issues, or should that be left to governments and the rest of society? Is the business of business just business, or is it more? Are you more likely to invest in, or work for a boss that took these issues more seriously?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:51 AM
- Comments (2)
Can air travel be green?
The airline industry seems to be finally confronting its impact on climate change. In the past few weeks, we have seen an outbreak of announcements about greener planes and carbon neutral flights.
Boeing has unveiled its Dreamliner jet, a plastic "green" jet built to use up to 20 per cent less fuel while pumping out fewer greenhouse gases. Airbus has announced its A380 which burns less fuel produces less carbon dioxide per passenger/kilometre.
But can air travel ever really be green?
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the warming effect of greenhouse gases emitted by planes is 2.7 times that of carbon dioxide alone. In Australia, emissions from domestic aviation represent just 1 per cent of total emissions. But Australian Greenhouse Office statistics tell us that by 2010 they will be 101 per cent higher than 1990 levels. The introduction of Tiger Airways, and the competitive response from Qantas and Virgin, would exacerbate the problem.
The reality is that globally, the aviation industry is booming with about 17,700 commercial aircraft now operating around the world, up to 27,000 new planes expected to be delivered over the next 20 years, and the number of air travellers set to double to nine billion. So if everyone in Australia stopped flying, the number of passengers globally would still increase. And it would destroy the tourism industry in the process.
As Tim Robbins noted in The Observer earlier this month, power stations account for 24 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, shipping, train and roads account for 12.3 per cent and while flying accounts for 1.7 per cent. And deforestation accounts for 18 per cent. So what's needed, Robbins says, is a more sophisticated approach: choose airlines with greener, newer fleets, encourage plane makers to prioritise the environment, reduce carbon emissions at home and lobby politicians.
Writing in Greenbiz.com, Joel Makower makes the point that the airlines' response so far is next to useless. It's just business as usual. He says the way to tackle the problem is for the airlines to consider a mandatory emissions offset market, and increase their technological, operational and management measures to address the problem.
I suspect carbon emissions and global warming might well be the airline industry's sleeper. Carbon offsetting under an emissions trading scheme could well result in higher fares, which may price some people away from planes. Welcome to the nightmare scenario for the aviation and tourism industries, a back-to-the-future world of the 1940s where only the rich could fly.
But it also raises question for us. Would you ever take airline climate policies and performance into account when making your travel decisions? Would you ditch your frequent flyers for greener flyers? Would you really abandon travel because of the impact on the environment? What solutions would you suggest?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:43 AM
- Comments (5)
Management: A movie guide
Being a business book junkie, I am always running into metaphors for management.
I've read about shamrock organisations, horizontal organisations and federal organisations. I've read about intelligent enterprises and spider-web organisations. The most-quoted management guru Peter Drucker said that managing an information-based organisation is more like conducting a symphony orchestra than running a business on traditional lines. Others have compared it to running a jazz combo, and then there are those who say it's like running a sports team.
Now we have a group of experts who say management is like the movies.
Four Italian management consultants have produced a handbook called Cinema for Managers, reports The Times.
Classic Westerns, we are told, aren't just about cowboys and Indians. They provide lessons in leadership, mission and loneliness at the top. Stanley Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express tells us about teamwork. Stanley Kubrick's Lolita is a lesson in seduction and betrayal, tips that might come in handy when playing the stock market. And so on.
Sure, it's easy to laugh at all this. Real action, and running a complex organisation requires more than a good metaphor. Still, action without compelling imagery is inadequate to the monumental task of getting things done and getting people to come along with you.
As a result, I have compiled my list of movies with lessons in management.
Let's start with my favourite, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, a film I have seen at least 20 times. It tells about a family business and teaches us to distinguish between what's personal, and what's business ( "Tom Hagen: You're taking this too personally, Sonny! Sonny: You call the hit on my father not personal? Tom Hagen: Even the hit on your father was business, not personal Sonny!")
Coppola's Apocalypse Now gives us insights into why it's difficult controlling the renegade manager who is pursuing his own agenda.
My favourite manager is Mr Wolfe (played by Harvey Keitel) in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Completely unflappable, he is all about process and getting things done ("I'm Winston Wolfe. I solve problems"). Vincent Vega, the character played by John Travolta learns a lot from him.
Fritz Lang's Metropolis is all about labour versus management. Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman, is about people skills ("What we got here is... failure to communicate"). Swimming with Sharks starring Kevin Spacey gives us some insights into bullying bosses.
Sydney Lumet's 1973 film Serpico is all about the individual going his own way in defiance of the system, and similarly, The Full Monty is about the triumph of the entrepreneur, the individual making his own mark, in the face of adversity.
Lieutenant Gorman, one of the characters in Aliens, is the quintessential useless manager. Gorman wants to do everything by the book. Great on theory, but hopeless out in the field.
So there's my list. Any to add? Which movies provide you with insights?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:45 AM
- Comments (1)
Messy workplace relationships
In some workplaces, personal relationships can be a crunch issue. It's not just romantic relationships but also mates and family connections. There are places where getting ahead can be a case of not what you know but who you know.
Badly handled, it can undermine morale and raise issues about nepotism, violations of codes of conduct and "boys' clubs", not to mention allegations of unfairness in pay and promotion practices. It also results in high turnover, bad-mouthing and other bad problems.
The issues can be acute in family companies but it happens in other places too. And with people putting in more hours at work, and with the blending of lines between work and home life, it can turn into a flash point management issue.
This is an issue examined in this discussion paper out of Wharton business school in the US.
As the paper points out, the problem is quantifying the relationship issues. How do you measure the negative impact of office jealousies and perceived unfairness?
According to the researchers, companies are moving away from adopting hard and fast rules and moving more towards principals concerning conflicts of interest.
That makes sense but it can be problematic. Is that handled, for example, by a committee or one or two people? And who should be on the committee? Where do you draw the line? Some researchers say that employees should have a duty to disclose. But what about extra-marital relationships or same-sex relationships? These sorts of policies can only work if there is a climate of trust and even then, there are no guarantees that everyone will be comfortable.
Are relationships and personal connections an issue at your workplace? Have you ever been treated unfairly because you weren't connected with the right people? How did you handle it? Let's hear some stories. And what should organisations do ensure there is no problem?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 9:00 AM
- Comments (1)
Message in a bottle
Australians drink about 150 million litres of bottled water every year at a cost of $123 million. Are we that thirsty? Or has the bottle of water become the fashion accessory on our desks at work, when we're going shopping or in the gym? Why are people paying for it when they can turn on the tap and get it for free? More to the point, what does it say about our culture of indulgence?
That's a point raised in a thought-provoking piece in this month's Fast Company. The writer Charles Fishman makes the point that bottled water is now the perfect symbol of our culture:
"One out of six people in the world has no dependable, safe drinking water. The global economy has contrived to deny the most fundamental element of life to 1 billion people, while delivering to us an array of water varieties from around the globe, not one of which we actually need ... It acknowledges our demand for instant gratification, our vanity, our token concern for health. Its packaging and transport depend entirely on cheap fossil fuel. Yes, it's just a bottle of water - modest compared with the indulgence of driving a Hummer. But when a whole industry grows up around supplying us with something we don't need - when a whole industry is built on the packaging and the presentation - it's worth asking how that happened, and what the impact is."
Fishman reminds us that bottled water comes with a huge environmental cost. Not only in terms of all those bottles that end up in landfills but also the transport, both of which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Totally out of whack with the labels on the bottles featuring glaciers, waterfalls and cascading mountain streams.
He also quotes philosopher Peter Singer who says it's simply a superfluous luxury that we can do without.
"We're completely thoughtless about handing out $1 for this bottle of water, when there are virtually identical alternatives for free," says Singer. "It's a level of affluence that we just take for granted. What could you do? Put that dollar in a jar on the counter instead, carry a water bottle, and at the end of the month, send all the money to Oxfam or CARE and help someone who has real needs. And you're no worse off."
In Australia, there is also concern about the impact it's having on underground aquifers.
Yes, water is healthy. But what does it say about our culture when we are prepared to pay a premium for something that may not be better for us than plain old tap water that you get for nothing? A study by the Australian Consumers Association shows that people buy and drink the stuff because they believe it' s convenient when they're out, and because some mistakenly believe tap water contains harmful bacteria. The report acknowledges concerns about chlorination but makes the point that benefits appear to outweigh the risks. In any case, it says you are at more risk from bacteria when you swim in a public pool.
Still, bottled water does not contain the sugar and kilojoules of juices and soft drinks. It's also usually the cheapest drink in the chiller cabinet.
Do you agree with the concerns about bottled water? And think of the people who are paying for something that is available for free. Does that say something about our consumer culture? Or does it taste that different? How much bottled water do you drink? And why?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:55 AM
- Comments (2)
Email intimacy and signoffs
One of the curious things about email is the way it has changed communication. Back in the time when people wrote letters, they tended to choose their words carefully. But with email, you knock the words out quickly. The result: they can not only be sloppy, but badly written. I often get emails from complete strangers, usually desperate PR people, assuming a fake intimacy with words like 'take care' - when I know they couldn't care if I got hit by a train - or 'talk soon' or 'hey'.
In trying to establish a relationship where none existed, I resent the fact that they're trying to push some sort of product or service on me. But this weird intimacy goes beyond that
Writing in the Guardian last week, Stuart Jeffries said that we still haven't developed a workable etiquette for emails and that most onliners are not clear communicators.
"Perhaps ... the bizarre intimacy of strangers and colleagues in emails to me is symptomatic of a broader social malaise - namely, we don't know how to begin, and worse yet, we don't know how to end our emails."
So what are the dos and do nots of email sign-offs? Here are some tips from entrepreneur.com: 'cheers' should only be used for people you know well; 'later' makes you
sound like a 14-year-old; 'best' is too colloquial and 'ciao' is a definite no-no, except maybe between real Italians. 'Talk soon' is ok but you better mean it. And emoticons make you look
stupid and unprofessional as does swearing.
Do you agree, or do you use some of this stuff yourself? What annoys you about email manners? Any sign-offs you hate? How much thought do you put into your emails?
Best regards.
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:29 AM
- Comments (1)
Are carbon neutral proclamations serious?
It seems to be happening just about every week. One after the other, another company announces yet another scheme to reduce its carbon emissions and its environmental impact.
Australian companies that have announced they are going, or are have turned, carbon neutral include Fuji Xerox Australia, HSBC, Australian Ethical Investment, VicSuper, NAB, IAG, ANZ, Saab Australia, KPMG and the Australian Football League.
But what does it actually mean?
For a start, we have little information about the amount of carbon emissions that have gone into making a product or service. And second, there are no industry standards for carbon neutrality.
All that leaves the companies vulnerable to charges of greenwashing, the term for window-dressing and marketing by governments or businesses aimed to make them look environmentally friendly.
It's a significant problem examined in a report from energy consultancy Energetics, The reality of carbon neutrality.
Businesses can start by calculating their direct operational emissions from electricity, gas and transport use. But many fail to do an audit calculating emissions from other sources such as paper, waste generated and outsourced activities, including call centres in India and elsewhere. Also most companies here are pretty bad at waste-tracking and keeping tabs on general rubbish that goes to landfills such as paper, cardboard, and toners.
The Energetics report also says that the strategy of buying carbon offsets to alleviate the damage done to the environment by their fossil-fuel-driven cars, air travel and electric appliances is not a sustainable long-term strategy. There are only so many forests you can plant.
What's needed is a common standard and a third party audit and verification.
So how seriously do you take claims of carbon neutrality? Do you think these companies are fair dinkum or is it just flim flam? What else needs to be done?
- Posted by Leon Gettler at 10:16 AM
- Comments (3)


text:
Today is the final day to get in on the Official Whitecaps FC Fantasy League. If you think you have what it takes to be the next Martin Rennie now is your chance to prove it. Don't let the window pass you by or you'll risk being forced to listen as your friends brag about how well their fantasy team is performing. In addition to bragging rights, there are prizes to be won, so sign-up now before the 5:45 p.m. PT deadline. (whitecapsfc.com)
Need some help picking your fantasy roster? MLSsoccer.com's Martin MacMahon has some advice to offer, "There is great value to be had by selecting the team's defensive players. Joe Cannon is a bargain ($5.6m). DeMerit, Lee and Bonjour will bring a strong return on investment." (MLSsoccer.com – Andrew Winner)
One reporter takes stock in the beauty of the backline that coach Rennie has constructed, likening the squad to a, "grand engineering project." Just imagine what that machine will look like once it's firing on all cylinders! (Russell Berrisford – Vancouver Sun)
With the defensive puzzle pieces in place one reporter notes that it's time for the offence to seize the opportunity and step up their game. Fortunately for head coach Martin Rennie, deciding what players to start isn't quite the challenge it appears. "Usually you find the players end up picking the team for you," explained Rennie. "It's actually easier than you think." (Marc Weber – The Province)
One of those forward options is striker Omar Salgado who was listed by one source as one of the MLS "Top 10 Teenagers in the League Today". Find out where they ranked the talented youngster in this article by Bleacher Report where they described him as having, "the soccer IQ and talent to really make a name for himself in the upcoming seasons for the Whitecaps." (Ned Harwood – Bleacher Report)
'Whitecaps FC Daily' with Peter Schaad is back in its usual 3:00 p.m. timeslot on TEAM 1410 sports radio! For those of you who may have missed past episodes, you can find them HERE!
The show airs every Monday to Friday at 3 p.m. PT on TEAM 1410.
You can always get your soccer fix every Sunday night from '9' p.m. to 11 p.m. PT by tuning into 'Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show' with Tyler Green and Mike Martignago on TEAM 1040. HERE!
Expect some points for defenders in your fantasy league following this Saturday's match against San Jose Earthquakes. The two sides have refused to leak goals this season with Whitecaps FC continuing their none conceded streak and San Jose having only given up a single goal. The match certainly has the analysts over at MLSsoccer.com's latest West Coast-based podcast 'March to the Match' excited with host Jonah Freedman stating, "We all seem to think this is going to be an excellent chess match between two very good, tactically minded coaches." (March to the Match – MLSsoccer.com)
The hosts over at RedNation's North of 49 podcast are likely in agreement with that sentiment with hosts Steve Bottjer and Chris Williams calling Whitecaps FC, "Canada's most successful team right now," and predicting, "they'll only get better as the season goes along." Be sure to listen in on their interview with head coach Martin Rennie where they discuss the team's successful start. (North of 49 – RedNation)
West Coast Soccer Weekly is a new podcast hosted by Canadian Soccer News writers Pierce Lang and Michael McColl. For all things soccer on the best coast, including up to date coverage of Whitecaps FC, Highlanders, Men's and Women's Canadian national teams, and local community clubs be sure to listen in HERE!
Have you heard about 'The Soccer Show' with Nigel Reed and Bob Iarusci? Make sure to listen HERE!
Throughout the season the legend Carl Valentine will be catching up with Whitecaps FC and Vancouver 86ers alumni as part of a new 'Where are they now' feature. First up he caught up with one of the greatest goalkeepers we've ever had in Canada, Paul Dolan. (Carl Valentine – whitecapsfc.com)
Bryce Alderson and Russell Teibert - two rising stars on the Canadian soccer scene - returned to Whitecaps FC training following their run with Canada's U-23 Olympic team. Check in with Zac Ratcliffe as he caught up with Teibert following training yesterday. (Zac Ratcliffe & Christopher Bromley – whitecapsfc.com)
Another key player Whitecaps are happy to have back is a healthy John Thorrington. Martin MacMahon reports that the box-to-box midfielder believes he could be part of the offensive solution, "Thorrington feels he can be the engine that dreives the team from the center of the park." (Martin MacMahon – whitecapsfc.com)
While Alain Rochat and Davide Chiumiento may be the only Swiss players on the team, Jordan Harvey may be the closest thing we've got to a Swiss Army Knife. The versatile utility player has excelled at every call this season. (Martin MacMahon – whitecapsfc.com)


text:
Christmas in Morzine!
A guaranteed magical white Christmas… For only £549 per person for 8 nights! Plus FREE transfers from Geneva. The winter magic… snowcapped mountains, fairy lights, traditional Alpine chalet, crackling open log fire, Christmas tree, mulled wine, fresh powder, sledging, Father Christmas in the snow… go on, you know you want someone else to organise Christmas […]Read full article


text:
Hi guys.
Just returned from yet another mandatory vacation from .NET and will soon be flooding this board with new topics.
Not really (re: the flood), but I AM curious about travel plans for 2013...as it relates to the Seahawks schedule. So many quality games in quality areas of the country against quality opponents...
I have been following the Carolina thread.
Am wondering what other games people are planning to attend.
A bunch of us (flying Greg Seatown Dom Matt RockHawk myself) are looking at the Houston matchup for a .NET anthropological excursion. HoistonHawk82, we're coming for ya!!
I know the Midwest Seahawkers are putting together events for the Rams MNF game and for the Colts game.
Any solid travel plans out there?
I'm flying to Barcelona tomorrow.
Bye bye.


text:
Laura Lauria has paid the Flagler County School District the cost of a deputy to staff Old Kings Elementary for about two months starting Jan. 14 and has agreed to pay for the deputy through the end of the school year.
FLAGLER BEACH — A Flagler County mother has agreed to pay for an armed deputy to patrol her child's school at a cost of $32 per hour through the end of the year.
Laura Lauria has paid the Flagler County School District upfront for the cost of a deputy to staff Old Kings Elementary for about two months starting Jan. 14. The mother made a "verbal commitment" to pay for the deputy for the rest of the year after that, Superintendent Janet Valentine said.
"I don't know how you say no to such a wonderful gesture," Valentine said Monday.
Lauria did not respond to requests for comment and nobody came to the door at her Flagler Beach home Monday afternoon. A 12-year-old girl with the last name "Lauria" is listed as a sixth-grader at Old Kings in the district's student directory.
Flagler County has one school resource deputy at Matanzas High School, Everest Alternative School and both middle schools and two at Flagler Palm Coast High School. The school district pays for four of the deputies at a cost of $286,572, and the Sheriff's Office and the city of Palm Coast each pay for one.
Old Kings does not have one full-time deputy. Instead, deputies agree to take the special shift on top of their regular duties. As a result, staff and children do not see the same deputy every day.
Since the shooting that left 26 children and staff members dead at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., Flagler officials have floated the idea of hiring deputies to patrol the county's elementary schools but say the cost may be prohibitive.
Valentine said Monday she may take a proposal to the School Board early next month that would place deputies at all of the elementary schools.
"We really have had an outcry from the community that they would like to see (deputies) at all the schools and understandably so," Valentine said.
Sheriff Jim Manfre said he appreciates parents' concern for their children's safety, but asking a parent to pay for a deputy "is just a Band-Aid solution," he said.
"I think it's commendable that someone is willing to put up her own money to secure the children at the school, but I think it should be done at every school," Manfre said.
A security guard's role is "one-dimensional," he said. Instead, he'd like to see school-based deputies who can serve as role models and educate children about topics like the dangers of using alcohol drugs.
The Sheriff's Office does not have enough money in this year's budget to pay for deputies to patrol the elementary schools this year but he said he hopes to split the cost "50-50" with the school district next year.
"Nothing is as adequate as having a full-time school resource officer who knows the school, knows the children, knows the building, knows the parents," Manfre said. "That's the best way to provide security at the school."
Old Kings staff members are "really thankful" for the additional security, Principal Nancy Willis said. The deputies patrol the entrance and perimeter of the campus, she said.
"I think it's very good for our students and our employees and I feel like they will feel much safer with a deputy on campus," she said.
Valentine said she's hoping a "national push" for more school security will result in federal dollars that will help pay for school deputies. But until then, the schools will accept their parents' generosity.
"I think sometimes that's what has to happen — the community needs to step forward and she has," Valentine said. "We're so fortunate that she's done that."
To Whom It May Concern:
In the wake of the tragic Connecticut shooting, Laura Lauria, President of Police Services, Inc., reached out to Flagler County School Board representatives in order to determine whether security could be increased at the elementary schools across the district. Although Flagler County currently provides deputies at middle schools and high schools, no such service presently exists at the elementary school level due to a lack of funding.
When it became apparent that funding was the primary obstacle in achieving greater security, Mrs. Lauria made the decision to donate the funds that were necessary to provide a trained, off-duty Sheriff's deputy at Old Kings Elementary. Mrs. Lauria sought the approval of several high-ranking school officials before making this donation and worked in conjunction with the proper school and law enforcement authorities every step of the way.
Police Services, Inc. is a private manufacturer of safety minded products and has no financial ties to Flagler County schools.
Police Services, Inc. does not buy, sell, or manufacture weapons, nor does it provide security services. The donation was never intended to become public knowledge and was only made with the intention of giving back to the community.
Laura Lauria and Police Services, Inc. are both ardent supporters of the Flagler County school system and will continue to respect any decisions made by the School Board regarding the implementation of additional security.
Liz Binkley
Administrative Assistant to Superintendent Janet Valentine


text:
Here's the prize I owe you from foreverz ago, BabyD ^__^ You probably don't even remember LOL *shot*
Yes, I double-dipped and entered this in your challenge. DEAL WITH IT! Lol just kidding I figured you would be okay with it xD
I've never done a card with a comic book character in it before. So I hope this looks okay 0____o
Fonts from dafont (if you need me to to give the links to individual fonts for this challenge, BabyD, let me know)


text:
HomeSnap for iPhone: Get House Details from Pictures
It seems as if we spend every Saturday afternoon driving around looking at houses since we moved to Atlanta. Our methods include a hodgepodge of blindly stalking neighborhoods, going on suggestions from friend/locals, to looking up houses on websites before we leave the house. Every once in a while, we happen upon a house with no information, but it "looks" empty. We could whip out our smartphones and google the address, or we can now use the HomeSnap app for iPhone and take a quick pic of the house to find all relevant information, whether it's for sale or not.
There isn't much to the operation of HomeSnap - Use the app's built-in camera, and it uses your GPS information to find relevant information such as its current value, last sale date & price, local schools and more. You can save your favorite snaps, and view a stream of homes that other users snapped.
Of course, I was skeptical, but I decided to give it a try anyway. So I went around looking for one of those houses that was empty…and looked empty for a while, and didn't have any "for sale" information. Sure enough, after taking a nice pic of the majority of the front of the house, HomeSnap pulled in just about any information a would-be buyer would be interested in, including local school information, which is nice since I have two little ones.
Other cool features include offering tags that denote what state the snapped home is in. Based on the color of the price tag, you will be able to identify whether the pice is an estimate (not on the market), for sale, on contract (in the process of being sold), or sold. Additionally, if you feel funny about driving up to people's homes and taking pictures all willy-nilly, there is a stealth mode that lets you find the home you want information on via a built-in map.
Viewing the stream of other users can give you images/information of a house anywhere or nearby. If other snappers have been snapping pics like madmen where you are, you can get a pretty good idea if there are any other homes in the area for sale and how much they are going for.
Overall, HomeSnap is a cool little app that can make home shopping interesting again. Download HomeSnap for iPhone free from iTunes and let me know what you think in the comments section.


text:
Reviews (0)
A Harken® toggle assembly accepts standard turnbuckles using swage, rod, Norseman®, or Sta-Lok® terminals.
Toggle flips for fork or tang chainplate installation. A single stainless steel clevis pin provides access to the turnbuckle for adjustment.
A toggle assembly is required for all MKIV furling units but is sold separately to accommodate the various sized clevis pins needed.


text:
Inspired by a photo
Added Jun 13, 2010
by Jodi Wade
Budapest, Hungary
I saw an old 50s photo someone posted on a blog which inspired me to make this dress. That blog is unavailable right now so I can't link to it :( I think I saved the photo on my computer at home though so I will have a look for it later on.
I used a free tunic dress pattern – E971 from BurdaFashion. I modified View A. I cut it off at the waist, added an interfaced waist band, and a full gathered skirt. I had to make the elastic casing in the sleeves longer than it was meant to be because they were too loose.
The neckline is a little bit too wide – I would definitely narrow this if you make it.
I am wearing a petticoat in all the photos to give it some oomph.
I made the belt to go with it, and a basket liner from the leftovers.
Material Notes
I found this printed linen in one of my favourite fabric stores.
8 Comments Sign in to add a post
Apr 19, 2013, 05.45 AMby leokadia
Ein super hübsches Kleid, gefällt mir sehr sehr gut!!!
Jun 24, 2011, 02.11 AMby Timea Schmidt
I love the dress and seeing the pictures of my country is just warms my heart. Thanks a lot!
Jun 15, 2010, 07.44 PMby little-green
I also love this dress, unfortunately I'm a lot shorter and wider than you! I know there are some patterns out there for me though, too. The pictures in Budapest are wonderful. Just read an article about what a beautiful and cultural city it is. I'll visit someday. I was curious what the shoes were, lined up along the wall along the river.
1 Reply
Jun 16, 2010, 11.52 AMby Jodi Wade
It's Shoes on the Danube Promenade – a memorial to the people who were shot into the river during WWII by the Arrow Cross.
I put some closer up shots of some of the shoes on my blog the day I took most of these pics.
This is a gorgeous city and there is so much history. It is well worth visiting.
Jun 14, 2010, 08.40 AMby hdk100
First of all: I repeat myself over and over: I love the fact that someone makes/posts pictures of my hometown! Beautiful. (the dress too! :)) And finally someone who has a favorite fabric store that even I might find -not on the other side of the globe… So where is that? Köszönöm! ;)
2 Replies
Jun 14, 2010, 09.07 AMby Jodi Wade
It's actually one of the I Love Textil shops :) The one at Móricz close to the 6 tram stop. It's tiny but the girl who usually works there is super nice. And there is another store just around the corner from there on Karinthy which has some nice fabric. Not sure the name of that one though.
Jun 14, 2010, 10.48 AMby hdk100
It's a shame we haven't run into each other yet… I know the shop. I go to their other ones more often: Jászai M. tér, Vámház krt. Small wolrd…
Have a nice day!
Jun 14, 2010, 08.10 AMby bussey
Bravo! Great alteration of a tunic pattern!
Jun 14, 2010, 12.01 AMby ginasophia
I love it! the gathering at the yoke is especially lovely!
Jun 13, 2010, 05.39 PMby sewella
The dress is fabulous! Excellent photos too!
Jun 13, 2010, 05.19 PMby Anna Aasbjerg
Beautiful dress and beautiful pictures! Were these taken in Budapest?
4 Replies
Jun 13, 2010, 07.29 PMby Jodi Wade
Thanks. Yeah, the pics are all in Budapest.
Jun 13, 2010, 08.22 PMby Anna Aasbjerg
It looks gorgeous, and as I understand it, it's not expensive to travel to Budepest from Denmark. I've always wanted to visit eastern Europe! :-)
Jun 14, 2010, 12.25 AMby Jodi Wade
So come visit! This is a great city, a lot of fun.
Jun 14, 2010, 11.53 AMby Anna Aasbjerg
I might pack Le Boyfriend and come for a visit. ;-)
Add to Favorites 4 people added it


text:
Toaster, 2 and 4 Slice Toaster
What would breakfast be without toast? Toastless and sad, that's what! KaTom is here to the rescue with the best toasters available online. KaTom carries home toasters with several slice options as well as home toasters for use with bagels. You'll be happy to see KaTom sells Kitchenaid toasters as well as several other trusted brands. KaTom's kitchen aid toasters are all priced to sell! Choose the best toaster for your home with KaTom to experience the savings and quality!


text:
[Verse One] [XV]:
Sometimes it just gets too much
When your Ipod is the only thing you Touch
Telling my mom "Nah, I can not do lunch"
It's sad but it's true when you live like such
I don't wanna say that my life sucks
Cause I could wake up and sleep what ever time I want
But I don't sleep
Cause I heard about a cousin
And at this point I don't wanna have that discussion
So I'm living high on a plane zipping by
Sitting back when I was dissing people and they silly lives
I can go back to when I wasn't getting by
Had the whole McDonalds menu memorized
I remember I
Was a little guy
Getting pushed around, now they wanna be friends of mine
Sometimes I go on vaca in my mind
There's a place I can go away anytime
[Hook] [Zoot Woman]:
Cause it's a holiday home
Two minutes too far away
What can you tell the other one?
Dirty fiction can you call my name?
[Verse Two] [XV]:
See, I've had enough Thundercat hoes, now where's my lioness?
Like Cheetara she keeping up with my flyness
Don't smoke weed but they call me, "Your highness"
Non-fast niggas wanna roll like tires
They like, "Your car should be the fliest"
Why's that?
It ain't like I drive it
I don't know, that's just how I react
Mom think I'm an agoraphobia insomniac
Big words, I should've went to Pratt
Working on my first album, I never went to class
I tell ya
I should have been a bank teller
How I got money sitting on my ass
Cause then the music started picking up awfully fast
And if I wanna have a future I can't let that pass
Girls say I look like Buddy Holly
Prolly, but all the commotion make me wanna just crash
[Hook] [Zoot Woman]:
[Verse Three] [XV]:
Trying to be able to get a stable full of horses
Ferrari's, Mustang's and Porsche's
Red carpet model chick looks so gorgeous
Make sure we get it as a portrait
Gotta get a pic cause I never go out
Only roll with a clique/click when I'm using my mouse
Cause I'm always in the stu
Shut the booth for a room filled with video games or a Play.Net zoom
I'mma get me a house
Inside of my mind I can tune it all out
A little place I can go to
When I don't wanna be so vocal
Assembly required but no Pro-Tools
And taking it higher only got me hopeful
So when the home inside of my dome is local
Don't think I went loco
[Hook] [Zoot Woman]:


text:
Krakout HD is all about destroying blocks with a bat and a ball to score points. As the game mechanics are easy to learn but difficult to master Krakout is fun for beginners and experienced players alike. Krakout HD finally takes the classic game of the 90s to your iPhone, iPad and other Android devices!
Up to two players
- Play as often as you like, alone or with another player
- Join a friend in coop mode and simultaneously play on the same device
- Compare your score with other players and make it to the top in the online highscores
- Family-friendly, no violence, no ads
Advanced gameplay
- Difficulty levels for beginners, advanced players and pros
- For right- and left-handers
- Practice your dexterity and reactions
- Realistic ball physics and gravitation
All new graphics
- Unlimited randomly generated levels guarantee long-lasting fun
- Lots of new backgrounds
- Enemies with special animations and new blocks create a completely new gaming experience
- Countless cool items are ready to be used
Many improved details
- Play on the left or right side with a blue or pink bat
- As many balls as you can keep in play
- Funny enemies that deflect your ball
- Catchy and atmospheric retro C64 music


text:
Journal retracts autism article
Dr Andrew Wakefield stands with his wife, Carmel, as he talks to reporters at the General Medical Council in London, England. A prestigious British medical journal has retracted a controversial 12-year-old article that first linked autism to childhood vaccines and set off global fears about immunization and the causes of the developmental disorder that persist today. Medical experts and some advocates for people with autism said the move was long overdue, but few expected the retraction to change the minds of vaccine skeptics.In the years since the Lancet published Dr. Andrew Wakefield's study, numerous review articles have rebutted his claims that the combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine causes autism. Nevertheless, a vocal minority of parents and their supporters have clung to the notion that the vaccine is unsafe. Recent studies have shown an increase in parents who are opting out of some routine childhood vaccinations, alarming public health experts who fear that diseases once nearly eradicated could return. "This is welcome. It's overdue; this paper should never have been published," said Dr. Neal Halsey, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who added that it is highly unusual for a prominent medical journal to retract an article. "Dr. Wakefield has stated in the reviews that he was not honest. There is nothing to this hypothesis, that's the bottom line. But unfortunately, it took hold and has been given credibility when it should never have been credible."
Peter Macdiarmid, Getty Images
Copyright © 2019, The Baltimore Sun, a Baltimore Sun Media Group publication | Place an Ad


text: The extravagant miniaturized MINOX DCC has long become one of the world's coveted classics. With the Digital Classic Camera 14.0, MINOX now presents a 14 megapixel edition of this classic. Designed in fascinating detail and with a sophisticated stylish format the new Digital Classic Camera MINOX DCC 14.0 is a true example of first-class German engineering from the fifties. Devotees of timeless elegance and precision mechanics will find it hard to resist the amazing look and feel of the camera. This small ingenious masterpiece in a scale of 1:3 is no ordinary digital camera and quietly reflects its owner's confidence in style.


text:
NoodleTools (NoodleBib)
NoodleTools - log in or sign up here
What is NoodleTools?
NoodleTools is a web-based student research service that helps you correctly cite sources in MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian citation styles. Use NoodleTools throughout a research project to track your sources, take notes, create outlines, collaborate with classmates, and format and print your bibliography.
How do I create a bibliography?
1. Create a New Project
2. Choose a citation style (MLA, APA, or Chicago/Turabian).
3. Select the Advanced citation level.
4. Give the list a name. This is for identification only, and won't appear on your final product.
5. From the Bibliography screen, select a citation type and click "Create Citation."
6. Follow the prompts to enter information about your your source.
How do I get started?
Create an Account
Go to NoodleTools and click on "Create a Personal ID." Select a username and password to create an account that you will be able to access the entire time you are a student at UT.
Can I access NoodleTools from off-campus?
Yes. Access NoodleBib from the link on the UT Libraries page so that you'll be prompted for your EID.
Can I use NoodleTools on my phone or tablet?
The NoodleTools Companion is available to download for iOS and Android. You can search for a book by author or title (or scan the ISBN) to generate a perfectly-formatted citation. After adding an annotation (or notes), the citation can then be routed directly into your NoodleTool project.
How do I print my bibliography?
Use the "Print/Export" menu from the Bibliography screen.
What else does NoodleTools do?
Use NoodleTools to:
- Take notes
- Separate quotations, paraphrases, and your own ideas to avoid plagiarism
- Create an outline
- Collaborate with classmates
- Make a project to-do list
- Write your paper (through Google Docs)
I forgot my username and password
You can retrieve your username (Personal ID) and password here.
Get Help
Need help? You can:
- Search the NoodleTools Knowledge Base for how-to articles and answers to citation questions. You must be logged into your NoodleBib account to access this.
- Ask a Librarian via chat, email, telephone or in person.
- Take a look at the NoodleTools User's Guide.


text:
Editor's note: Estherville Lincoln Central wrestling coach Dan Hewitt received this letter from a Sioux Central parent and asked us to share it with our readers.
Dear coach,
My name is Rita Schau and while that might not ring any bells with you, I am the mom of Colton Schau, a freshman, second-year wrestler at Sioux Central.
I'm writing this note to you to tell you how great I think your #1 state-ranked wrestler Oscar Ramirez is. Last Saturday, Jan. 11, after two forfeit wins due to no one in his weight class, his third opponent was Mr. Ramirez. While your wrestler could've easily pinned my son in under a minute, he didn't. He gave him the opportunity to learn and work on technique. That showed me (and I was unable to make this meet, so I'm speaking from what my son said) that Mr. Ramirez is an honorable young man who loves the sport of wrestling.
Please share this note with anyone you'd like. From a mom of a skinny, 132-pound 6'1" kid who loves wrestling and is still learning, I say thank you.
Thank you for coaching young men and thank you to Mr. Ramirez for his honor on the mat.
Rita Schau
P.S. We'll be cheering for young Mr. Ramirez at State.


text:
The 5 Key Factors You Must Consider When Establishing a Foreign Corporation [link no longer exists] and it lists out the following:
Decide on Corporate Form: The post talks of determining the right corporate form for the country in which you will be establishing your company. For China, this might mean Joint Venture, Representative Office, Wholly Foreign Owned Entity (WFOE), etc. For more on forming a company in China, check out the following:
- How To Form A Company In China. The Basics
- How To Start A Business In China — WFOE
- How To Start A China Business — Representative Office
- The Best Way To Do Business With China. Joint Venture, Rep Office, Licensing Agreement, Distributorship, Export Selling?
Identify Your Business Purpose: The post notes how "unlike in the U.S., the business purpose of an entity in a great number of foreign jurisdictions require that the business purpose of the entity to be described in detail." This too is true of China, where what you list as the scope of the business can end up limiting what it can do. For more on this, check out the following:
- How To Form a China WFOE. Scope Really Really Matters.
- How To Form a China WFOE. Scope Really Really Matters, Part II.
Choose the Corporate Name: The post notes how a "great majority of foreign countries have specific requirements regarding corporate names" and this is true of China as well.
Determine the Officer and Director, if any: The post notes how some countries do not recognize the U.S. concept of "director and officer" and of how residency requirements may also apply. China definitely has a different leadership structure than is familiar to Americans and this oftentimes results in problems.
Quantify Capital Requirements: The post notes how minimum capital requirements "necessary to form an entity varies by country." This is actually true within China where some cities have fairly low minimum capital requirements and others have much higher such requirements. For more on China's minimum capital requirements, check out the following:
- How To Start A Business In China — The Minimum Capital Requirements For A WFOE
- Minimum Capital Requirements. Good News For Small Companies Looking At Shanghai
Okay, so what is the missing, most important consideration of all? Whether it even makes sense to form a company overseas. This is by far the most important and also most complicated in forming an overseas entity.
Is forming a company overseas really the best way to accomplish what you are seeking to accomplish? Might you be able to sell your product or services pretty much as well via a licensing, franchising, or distributorship relationship? Do you really need a company in a foreign country to have your products made there or your research conducted there, or might you be better off just outsourcing?
Most importantly, is going overseas really right for your company. Running a single domestic company is tough enough. Now consider running two or more companies at the same time, with one or more of them being in a foreign country. Or as my friend Ben Shobert would say, Are You China Ready?
Elite Stage is a platform that provides One-stop business Solution for start-ups and foreign enterprises, founded by Venture Capital and Elite Stage Consulting Company, individual Lawyer Partners and Deloitte Auditors. For over 8 years, Elite Stage successfully assisted more than 800 companies from all over the world with their China market entry.


text:
horse.com > Western Saddles & Tack > Nosebands & Tie Downs > Item # E003725
promotional discount applied.
Cart total will reflect savings.
Sometimes, manufacturers require that products be advertised only at their suggested prices.
When we choose to sell these items for less, we display the sale price only in the cart. To see the price, click Add to Cart.
Buy 2 or more, each at $8.76 Buy 3 or more, each at $8.57 Buy 6 or more, each at $8.38
In Stock.
Usually Ships within 24 hours.
Quantity discount will reflect in cart.
One-time delivery
Save 10% with Auto Ship
Deliver Every:
2 Weeks
3 Weeks
4 Weeks
5 Weeks
6 Weeks
7 Weeks
8 Weeks
1 Month
2 Months
3 Months
6 Months
Product Summary:
Western Pro Harness Latigo Leather Noseband
Now: $11.99
Square Eye Trigger Snap 6 Pack
Starting at: $5.09
Western Poly Curb Strap
Starting at: $3.14
Professionals Choice Ballistic Overreach Boots
Starting at: $28.99
Mustang Nylon Braided Contest Rein
Starting at: $10.42
Mustang Adjustabl Leather Noseband w/Leather Cover
Now: $22.19
Fabtron Nylon Felt Lined Noseband
Starting at: $13.87
Mustang Rope Head Setter Tie Down
Now: $26.24
Mustang Adjustable Poly Web Tie Down
Starting at: $5.17
Neoprene Bit Guards (Pair) 2 3/4 Inch
Starting at: $2.09
Product Reviews by Customers
Horse.com Resources
This item is not eligible for Canadian shipping.
Some items everyday price is so low we can't discount or we have marked down the item to a final sale price. These select items will not be included in your order total when determining if your order qualifies for a promotional event.


text:
Available ebook formats: epub
Cheryl Douglas is a USA Today bestselling author who lives and breathes her writing. Whether she's sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading, it's always in the periphery of her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she escapes to a sandy beach with her husband and son, she's planning, plotting, outlining, and daydreaming.
Sign up for her New Releases newsletter to get free, exclusive, short stories about your favorite characters:


text:
Cover Story
The faith agenda in an election year? Start with "the least of these."
Author Eugene Peterson has a lot to say about being and doing. And about facing life in our forties and beyond.
Faith communities work to stem the flow of guns to criminals.
What would our faith look like if we really put it on the line?
Gangs in El Salvador call a truce from behind prison walls.
Our food system is a cause as well as a victim of climate change.
We'll never reach reconciliation between Christians and Muslims until we address root causes—and take on the haters.
The Art of Waiting
You can have a healthy fossil-fuel industry or a healthy planet, but you can't have both.
The constraints on political engagement by nonprofits can be frustrating for those committed to social change.
It is contrary to Christian values to use attacks on welfare to win white votes.
Is it global warming or an alien invasion?
Culture Watch
Looking for a powerful read? Check these out.
Books for traveling the hard and worthy path of nonviolence.
Books are removed from classrooms to avoid discussion of race, ethnicity, or Mexican American history.
As Arizona seeks to ban Mexican American Studies, a group of Latino artists and friends promises it won't be that easy.
Average Americans, the supposed winners of the global rat race, are overworked and overstressed—and still falling behind economically.
What in heaven's name does "biblical womanhood" mean? Rachel Held Evans embarked on a yearlong journey to find out.
He uproots teeth primordial in nature and that eat his soulwith appetite the size of mercenary forces plundering a citywhose inhabitants do not fight back because most of themare women, children, and animals that creep on all fours.
Reflections on the Common Lectionary, Cycle B
Regarding Nicole Baker Fulgham's "Beyond 'Superman'" (September-October 2012): As a public school parent advocate, I have a front-row seat to many suggested educational "reforms." The only strategy with strong, long-
Leila Sansour, Catholic Palestinian film director and founder of the nonprofit Open Bethlehem
In "Beyond 'Superman,'" could it be that the current system in many states of funding schools with local real-estate taxes is a way of keeping people where they are at?
Regarding Bill McKibben's piece decrying the reluctance of church pastors and leaders to speak out for the environment ("Big Brain.
I was extremely disappointed in your "Changes in Attitude" article treating gay lifestyle issues (by Jeannie Choi, July 2012).
Web Extra
An extended interview on biblical womanhood with Rachel Held Evans.
An opportunity for gang peace in El Salvador
Vote your conscience with Sojourners' 2012 election guide


text:
Education in the early 1800s
I wasn't looking for octagon-shaped buildings! I was trying to find some information about my Welsh grandfather who settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the 1730s. My search brought me to a collection of papers submitted to the Berks County Historical Society in 1905-1909.
Inside that collection, "The Eight Cornered School House at Sinking Springs" caught my attention. This paper was written by Professor Eli M. Rapp, who was the superintendent of schools in Berks County. Professor Rapp's paper included a history of the octagon-shaped, Sinking Springs schoolhouse of Berks County, and a description of the education that took place inside its walls.
I became so interested in the Sinking Springs school that I abandoned my ancestor, read the entire paper, and tried to find a photograph of the little schoolhouse. I couldn't locate one. Perhaps its three-foot-thick stone walls have finally crumbled -- or (more likely) they've been knocked down by progress.However, I did find images of other octagonal schools built in the same era and region.
|Octagonal Schoolhouse, Newtown Square, PA (Wikipedia image.)
Professor Rapp wrote (in 1907) that the Sinking Springs schoolhouse was built over a century earlier (possibly in 1790-1800) and was taken out of service over 50 years earlier (possibly around 1850.) Most of the eight-sided meeting houses and schools built in eastern Pennsylvania were stone. according to Rapp. These solid buildings, constructed after the American Revolution, were a big improvement over the rough log structures that they replaced. The webpage about the Bucks County octagonal school, says that there were once around 100 octagonal schoolhouses in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania.
Inside the schoolhouse, a cast-iron woodstove stood in the center of the room, and its stovepipe ran straight up to the cupola. Overhead, exposed rafters radiated from the center like spokes on a wheel. The teacher's desk was opposite the door, and the younger children sat around the stove. A shelf was attached to the stone walls about three feet above the floor, all the way around the room. It was used as a table by the older pupils who sat on a ring of benches, with their backs to the teacher.
In the middle of winter, 70 or even 80 children were sometimes enrolled in the school It's hard to imagine packing that many bodies into such a small space. Only one teacher was employed each term, regardless of the enrollment.
The schoolmasters described by Professor Rapp were a rougher sort than I might have imagined. They were often itinerant, rather than permanent, community members. Most of them used tobacco, and many of them used alcohol. They maintained order through the liberal use of corporal punishment. It was not uncommon for them to get into fistfights with the older boys.*
One of the first English sentences learned by many immigrant students, according to Professor Rapp, was "Master, please mend my pen." The pens of that day were goose quills, and the schoolmasters were experts in shaping the point of a quill with a pen knife. Besides writing, the students learned reading and arithmetic. Schools like the one at Sinking Springs were the origin of the saying, "Reading, writing, and arithmetic, all to the tune of a hickory stick." Parents paid a tuition of three cents per day. I presume that fee was assessed for each child.
In his paper, Professor Rapp included a few personal observations about the state of education in 1907 . He bemoaned the decline of corporal punishment as a disciplinary tool, and he talked about schoolmarms replacing the old schoolmasters. Read his paper in its entirety at this link: "The Eight Cornered School House at Sinking Springs."
*I told Isaac about the schoolmasters fighting with the big boys, and Isaac reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, Farmer Boy, about Almanzo's boyhood in New York. A previous schoolmaster of Almanzo's school was beaten so badly by six big boys that he died later. Almanzo feared that his new teacher, a small man, would be beaten up by the big boys, too, but the teacher was ready for the challenge. He brought out a bullwhip (that he had borrowed from Almanzo's father) and taught the bullies a lesson with it.
- - - - - - - - - -
Related on the Web:
List of octagonal buildings and structures in the United States
Octagonal houses in Canada
Hyde Octagon House
Remembrances of the Yaphank School (in New York)
Gentle School Marm or Ambitious Young Men?
Related Prairie Bluestem posts
One Room School
Sand Tables in the 1916 Classroom
Lunch Hour at a One Room School
District 44 at Johnstown, Nebraska
Riding Horseback to School


text:
White House sees no sign Libya attack premeditated
WASHINGTON – The White House says it doesn't have any indication that last week's deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was premeditated. But White House spokesman Jay Carney says the matter still is under investigation and that assessment could change.
Carney said that, so far, there is no evidence to back up claims that the attacks that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, were planned. He said the violent protest appears to have been sparked by an anti-Islam film made in the U.S.
Carney says investigators will "follow the facts wherever they lead." He says the goal is to find out what happened and why, and to track down those responsible for the deaths.
The Libyan president has contended foreign militants plotted the attack for months.


text:
Layered jackets, floral photo-prints and of course the perfect Yves Klein blue suit, in both a short and a long version.
Long live Raf.
agreed with you're commentary. 100% pure love.
haha, just when i thought the fashion community was over nu-rave. very well executed though.
i want dapper candy men. is this wrong?
The bold colours are amazing <3
i loved it so much!!! jil sander menswear is my favorite
Wow amazing colours!!
I like this a LOT. also I think it's awesome that you look at the menswear also and not just womenswear.
I watched this on webcast and I mindboggled by all of the amazing brights and those perfect floral print buttonups!
Loving the colours
Almost all of those outfits need to magically appear in my closet...immediately!
so hott. the colors, not so much the men {personally}. i need need need a ikb power suit like IMMEDIATELY.


text:
NBA: League puts entire statistical history online
HOUSTON -- Sure, LeBron James has been on an amazing roll, but what about what Wilt Chamberlain did in 1962?
Now fans can study both in one place like never before.
The NBA put its entire statistical history online Friday, launching a website that allows fans to review box scores, shot charts, game logs and newer data that has changed the way players are rated.
Previously available only to teams and league personnel, and only recently to media, it's there for everyone at NBA.com/stats.
"There's no other sports website that I'm aware of that does this type of computing," said NBA executive vice president of operations and technology Steve Hellmuth.
The site features every box score for every game played since the league's original season in 1946-47. It highlights noted games such as Chamberlain's record 100-point outing in 1962, when he averaged more than 50 points for the season, and Kobe Bryant's 81-point outburst in 2006.