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DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke football will participate in the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) Coach To Cure MD campaign during this Saturday's game against Troy. Duke's coaches will wear a Coach To Cure MD logo patch in support of the campaign, which aims to collect donations from fans to fund research projects supported by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. focused entirely on Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Fans can donate to Duchenne muscular dystrophy research by either going online to www.CoachtoCureMD.org or by texting the word CURE to 90999 (a $5 donation will automatically be added to your next phone bill).
Last year, more than 10,000 college coaches at a record 580 different institutions participated in Coach To Cure MD events. Both those figures are higher than in any of the program's first five years (2008-12). Last season marked the first time all 124 Football Bowl Subdivision schools participated, and the five-year fundraising total is just over $1 million.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood and primarily affects boys across all races and cultures. Boys and young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy develop progressive muscle weakness that eventually causes loss of mobility, wheelchair dependency and a decline in respiratory and cardiac function. Currently, there is no cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and limited therapeutic options exist.
"The AFCA membership has enthusiastically embraced Coach to Cure MD," said Grant Teaff, executive director of the AFCA and legendary former coach at Baylor University. "We are proud of the commitment shown at all levels of competition to help raise funding for such an important cause."
"The AFCA is proud to support such a worthy cause as Coach to Cure MD for the sixth year," said Texas head coach Mack Brown, who is president of the AFCA. "My wife Sally and I have long been active in the fight against Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and we are heartened by the effort of coaches nationwide to continue to raise awareness of this deadly disease."
In addition to the coaches' efforts, families affected with Duchenne muscular dystrophy will also gather for fund-raising tailgate parties on campuses around the country to encourage more fans to get involved.
"As a rare disease organization, you often feel alone in your fight to help those affected. The Duchenne community continues to be blessed by having the support and partnership of the AFCA with our sixth annual Coach To Cure MD" said Pat Furlong, founding president and CEO of PPMD. "The coaches that make up the AFCA are a special group of people with big, generous hearts. We are thrilled to have them as our teammates in the fight to end Duchenne."
About the AFCA
The American Football Coaches Association was founded in 1922 and is considered the primary professional association for football coaches at all levels of competition. The 1011,000-member organization includes more than 90 percent of head coaches at the 700-plus schools that sponsor football at the college level. Members include coaches from Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and Mexico.
About PPMD
Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 by parents of children with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. The organization's mission is to end Duchenne. We accelerate research, raise our voices in Washington, demand optimal care for all young men and educate the global community. PPMD is headquartered in Middletown, Ohio with offices in Fort Lee, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.parentprojectmd.org.


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My very sagacious and tech-savvy friend Anne Marie Fowler (venture capitalist, entrepreneur, innovation maven, etc) has an interesting conjecture up on her FaceBook feed this morning:
If the President is taking his fiscal cliff case "to the people" this strongly suggests to me that the deal has already been substantially if not entirely made. If it wasn't he wouldn't be doing this. I'm not saying this in compliment or complaint, nor would I speak differently if someone else was President – it just is what it is. An after the fact action. This is how it works. It suggests to me that everything that follows will be pure magical theater. Ratings generated. Enjoy.
Combine this with the dispatch of Seal Team Six to neutralize Grover Norquist, and she might well be right.
The alternative hypothesis, equally plausible in my mind, is that Obama has decided to continue doing the only thing he's good at, which is campaigning. That, and the fact that he probably believes his own Kool Aid recipe that his first-term difficulties stemmed from "not communicating" enough "stories" to the American people. Good luck with that.

subset: commoncrawl


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TheRedQueen wrote:If I remember, I'll get some videos of my gang playing...do you need them via youtube, or just emailed video files?
I can even send Inara vs. The Weiner...great for viewing self-handicapping in play!
pitbullmamaliz wrote:Post them here, too!
amazincc wrote:What breed is your clients dog?
I'm pretty sure "playing Pit Bulls" would scare the bejeebus out of her... it took me a while to get used to all the growling/snarling/head butting and body slamming that mine do.
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The Evils of Monsanto
Photo Courtesy Of: Hemera/Thinkstock
Monsanto, the world leader in genetically modified (GM) crops and seeds, has been named the worst company of 2011 by Natural Society — for "threatening both human health and the environment."
I couldn't agree more. I have long designated Monsanto the most dangerous corporation on the planet, and clearly this is a growing sentiment.
According to Forbes:
"Monsanto is so despised by environmentalists that Google's first suggested search term for the St. Louis company is 'Monsanto evil.'
Readers… voted Monsanto the world's most evil corporation in a January poll, giving the corporation a whopping 51 percent of the vote."
What's Wrong With Monsanto?
You may be wondering what Monsanto — the world's largest seed company whose net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 totaled $126 million (up from $9 million in 2011) — has done to have earned such ire.
The list is long, easily enough for a novel, but to sum it up, biotech giant Monsanto has created some of the most dangerous products on the planet, including Agent Orange, dioxin, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH)… and genetically modified seeds.
The latter is one of the most pressing concerns because GM crops are now a mainstay of American agriculture.
Ninety percent or more of all US-grown corn, soybeans, canola, and sugar beets are genetically modified versions, which means that virtually all processed food items contain at least one or more genetically modified ingredients.
GM foods are, from what I perceive, one of the most significant threats that we have against the very sustainability of the human race. Why? In a nutshell, these toxins are being linked to a growing repertoire of assaults against human health and the environment — and they are already migrating into fetal blood, which means future generations are now at risk.
Monsanto is Destroying the Food System Via Their GMO Crops
Virtually all of the claims of benefit of GM crops – increased yields, more food production, controlled pests and weeds, reductions in chemical use in agriculture, drought-tolerant seeds – have not materialized.
The Global Citizens' Report on the State of GMOs states:
- Contrary to the claim of feeding the world, genetic engineering has not increased the yield of a single crop.
- Herbicide tolerant (Roundup Ready) crops were supposed to control weeds and Bt crops were intended to control pests. Instead of controlling weeds and pests, GE crops have led to the emergence of super weeds and super pests … Herbicide resistant crops such as Roundup Ready cotton can create the risk of herbicide resistant "superweeds" by transferring the herbicide resistance to weeds.
- Despite claims that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will lower the levels of chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) used, quite the opposite has occurred, with 1.6 billion pounds of glyphosate (the active in ingredient in Roundup) being applied to American soil in 2007 alone. This is of great concern both because of the negative impacts of these chemicals on ecosystems and humans, and because there is the danger that increased chemical use will cause pests and weeds to develop resistance, requiring even more chemicals in order to manage them.
- Monsanto has been claiming that through genetic engineering it can breed crops for drought tolerance and other climate-resilient traits. This is a false promise.
- Among the false claims made by Monsanto and the Biotechnology industry is that GE foods are safe. However, there are enough independent studies to show that GE foods can cause severe health damage.
Thanks to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's non-selective, broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup, that is sprayed on massive acreages of GM Roundup Ready soybeans, cotton, and corn grown in the United States each and every year, super weeds are growing at an alarming rate. It's estimated that more than 130 types of weeds spanning 40 U.S. states are now herbicide-resistant, and the superweeds are showing no signs of stopping. In fact, the situation is getting progressively worse.
Extremely hardy Roundup-resistant weeds are already boosting costs and cutting crop yields for U.S. farmers. And with world food stores already strained, diminished crop production is a serious problem. In addition, the creation of these superweeds is leading farmers to douse their fields with ever increasing amounts of herbicides in a desperate attempt to stop their spread.
Along with the environmental devastation, research published in 2010 showed that glyphosate causes birth defects in frogs and chicken embryos at far lower levels than used in agricultural and garden applications. And numerous animal studies suggest reproductive problems are a common side effect of glyphosate exposure and the consumption of genetically engineered Roundup Ready crops.
Quite shockingly, the amount of glyphosate residue you can be exposed to through food is remarkably high, and is very close to the maximum residue limit (MRL) legally allowed According to GMO expert Jeffrey Smith, there is so much glyphosate in GM soybeans, when they were introduced, Europe had to increase their allowable residue levels by 200-fold! For more information, please listen to this informative interview with Dr. Don Huber, an expert in an area of science that relates to the toxicity of genetically engineered (GE) foods.
Why GM Foods Should be Labeled with a Skull and Crossbones
Monsanto wants you to simply trust them because they're "experts" and because their industry-funded studies "prove" their GM foods are safe. But these same experts also told you PCB's, Agent Orange, and DDT was safe, and we now know those claims were far from accurate.
Of course, in terms of reliability, there's a big difference between corporate science, which tends to primarily favor and support corporate interests, and independent science, performed without preconceived bias. Scientists have, in fact, discovered a number of health problems related to genetically modified foods, including:
- An analysis of 19 animal studies revealed that nearly 10 percent of blood, urine, organ and other parameters tested were significantly influenced by GMOs, with the livers and kidneys faring the worst.
- A 2009 Brazilian study discovered that female rats fed GM soy for 15 months showed significant changes in their uterus and reproductive cycle, compared to rats fed organic soy or those raised without soy.
- A study performed by Irina Ermakova with the Russian National Academy of Sciences reported that more than half the babies from mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks, while the death rate in the non-GM soy group was only 10 percent. Additionally, the babies in the GM group were smaller, and, worst of all, could not reproduce. In a telling coincidence, after Ermakova's feeding trials were completed, her laboratory started feeding all the rats in the facility a commercial rat chow using GM soy. Within two months, the infant mortality facility-wide reached 55 percent.
- Milk treated with the Monsanto-developed genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH) contains higher levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), a hormone linked to breast, prostate and colon cancers in humans.
Evil Monsanto Continues to Spreads its Poisonous Tentacles
Genetically engineered seeds are banned in Hungary, as they are in several other European countries, such as Germany and Ireland. Peru is also following the precautionary principle, and has even passed a law that bans genetically modified ingredients within the nation for 10 years.
In the United States, certain states are passing legislation that protects the use of GM seeds and allows for unabated expansion. To date, 14 states have passed such legislation and Michigan's Sen. Bill 777, if passed, would make that 15. The Michigan bill would prevent anti-GMO laws and would remove "any authority local governments may have to adopt and enforce ordinances that prohibit or regulate the labeling, sale, storage, transportation, distribution, use, or planting of agricultural, vegetable, flower or forest tree seeds."
Bills like these are obviously music to Monsanto's ears, which spends millions of dollars lobbying the U.S. government at the federal level for favorable legislation that supports the spread of their toxic products.
In the first quarter of 2011 alone, Monsanto spent $1.4 million on lobbying the federal government — a drop from a year earlier, when they spent $2.5 million during the same quarter. If we all had several million to drop solely on lobbying efforts, suffice to say the world would be a very different place. If you aren't familiar with the power of lobbying please view the recent 60 Minutes expansion on it, which is one of the best 60 Minute episodes I have seen in 40 years.
Furthermore, once you realize just how many of Monsanto's employees have shifted into positions of power within the federal government, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to see how this biotech giant has managed to so successfully undermine common sense.
Unfortunately, it's primarily multinational corporations like Monsanto that have this type of clout, and they use it to further their power, wealth and control — not only in the United States, but throughout the entire world.
For instance, as reported by Netline, Monsanto and other biotech companies have collaborated with the Gates Foundation via the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to inject genetically modified crops into Africa. And Monsanto's golden rice is being pushed in Asia as a way to alleviate vitamin A deficiency, which is common in developing countries where people don't have regular access to beta-carotene-rich foods, like vegetables and fruits.
But it doesn't take much digging beneath the surface to uncover the true motives of seeking to plant golden rice in the developing world, and they have much more to do with dollars and cents than they do with alleviating nutritional deficiencies. In fact, there's reason to believe that GM golden rice will do little to improve vitamin A levels in the poor — and may actually make vitamin A deficiency worse.
It would be naive at this point to think that these collaborations are designed to solve any other problem than how to help Monsanto monopolize the world's food supply with expensive GM seeds that have to be purchased each year and require expensive and toxic chemical treatment. After all, if you own the rights to all the food grown everywhere, you literally rule the world …
You Can Stop Supporting Monsanto by Boycotting GM Foods
It's quite clear that genetically engineered foods threaten not only biodiversity and the environment; they can also pose potentially serious threats to animal and human health when consumed. Unfortunately, the revolving door between Monsanto and the biotech industry as a whole and the agencies in charge of industry legislation makes it very difficult to stop the ongoing madness.
That does not mean it's impossible, however. But it does require your active participation.
First and foremost, avoid buying GM foods! Since the industry has so far successfully squelched every attempt at getting genetically engineered foods labeled, avoiding them requires you to be an educated consumer.
- Print out the Non-GMO Shopping Guide and refer to it often. It can help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. You can also download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.
- Better yet, always buy USDA 100% Organic products when possible, as these do not permit GM ingredients, or buy whole fresh produce and meat from local farmers. The majority of the GMO's you're exposed to are via processed foods, so by cooking from scratch with whole foods, you can be sure you're not inadvertently consuming something laced with GM ingredients.
- When you do purchase processed food, avoid products containing anything related to corn or soy that are not 100 percent organic, as any foods containing these two non-organic ingredients are virtually guaranteed to contain genetically engineered ingredients, as well as toxic herbicide residues.
- For ongoing updates, follow our Non-GMO's page on Facebook.
We CAN shift the balance by simply voting with our pocketbooks and forks. Europe successfully did this over a decade ago, without any government assistance, and Americans can drive GMO's out of our food supply as well, but it requires educating the public about what GM foods are.
Important Action Item: Support California's Ballot Initiative to Label GMO's!
In 2007, then-Presidential candidate Obama promised to "immediately" require GM labeling if elected. So far, nothing of the sort has transpired.
Fortunately, 24 US states have (as part of their state governance) something called the Initiative Process, where residents can bring to ballot any law they want enacted, as long as it has sufficient support. California has been busy organizing just such a ballot initiative to get mandatory labeling for genetically engineered foods sold in their state. The proposed law will be on the ballot for 2012.
Michigan and Washington are also starting similar campaigns.
Since California is the 8th largest economy in the world, a win for the California Initiative would be a huge step forward, and would affect ingredients and labeling nation-wide. Last month, a coalition of consumer, public health and environmental organizations, food companies, and individuals submitted the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act to the State Attorney General. Now, they need 800,000 signatures to get the Act on next year's ballot.
I urge you to get involved and help in any way you can.
If you live in California, volunteer to gather petition signatures. If you live outside of California, please donate to help support this Initiative and spread the word to everyone you know in California. Be assured that what happens in California will affect the remainder of the U.S., so please support this important state initiative, even if you do not live there!
8 Ways Monsanto is Destroying Our Health
7 Foods Banned in Europe Still Available in the U.S.
10 Ways to Take Action Against Monsanto


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Group that Saves Animals Given Phony Donation
Read the story. Click the "LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.
A group that takes care of animals was given a fake donation. It was for a very large sum of money. The check that they received in the mail was for $95, 000. The group depends on donations to help the animals. They were very happy when they got the check.
Ed Stewart is very thankful when somebody writes a check for the animal group. He works for them. The animal group is called PAWS. They take care of animals that used to perform and other rescued animals. They have elephants, lions, bears and lots of other animals at their shelters. They depend on donations to help feed and take care of the animals.
There was a note that came with the donation in the mail. The note was short but looked official. It looked like it was from a company called O'Reilly Media. The note said that the donation was to help PAWS.
PAWS took the check to their bank. They wanted to add the money to their bank account. The people who work at the bank said that the check looked real. The bank deposited the check into the PAWS account. Then PAWS started spending the money. They bought equipment, paid for animal food and paid some of their bills.
A few days later PAWS got a surprise. Their bank called to tell them that the check was not real. The check bounced and there was no longer $95,000 in their account. The money that PAWS thought they had was gone.
PAWS contacted the firm that they thought donated the money. They learned that the company did not send the check and was also a victim of the scam. They told PAWS that they did not know who sent the phony check.
The publishing firm also talked to a local news station. They said that PAWS was not the first organization to receive a fake check. They told a reporter that several dozen organizations had received phone donations in their name. The publishing firm said it has notified authorities in the United States and Canada. The phony donation to PAWS had a Canadian postmark.
Once an organization gets a fake check they get a second letter a few days later. They are told in the second letter that part of the money needs to be sent back. The organizations usually get the second letter before their checks bounce. They send money back and then find out that their donated checks have bounced.
PAWS did not receive a second letter from the crooks before their check bounced. PAWS did not actually lose money. But now they have to explain to people why their bills are not really paid.
(This was adapted from an original story provided by News10 KXTV Sacramento.)


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Refresh your travel routine at Courtyard by Marriott Buffalo/Amherst. Our new lobby features inviting, flexible spaces to work or relax, free Wi-Fi throughout and easy access to the latest news, weather and airport conditions via our GoBoard. The highlight of our new lobby experience is The Bistro - Eat. Drink. Connect., which provides healthy offerings in the morning, dinner service with wine and beer selections in the evening and Starbucks® coffee all day. Courtyard by Marriott Buffalo/Amherst is centrally located just minutes from University at Buffalo, Downtown Buffalo, Niagara Falls and the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. For your convenience, we provide complimentary airport shuttle service on request.
General Info.
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The History of the Cacao Bean
Once Upon a Time ...
Long long ago, far far away, deep in the jungles of Central America and all within 10 degrees either side of the equator, cacao was being used by the Mayans, Olmecs, and Aztecs as a ritualistic and indulgent beverage. This South American concoction was seen as possessing aphrodisiac and revitalizing powers. A cold, foamy mixture of cacao paste and water was coveted and revered while the actual beans were so precious they were used as money.
The divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits man to walk for a whole day without food." - reported by a soldier from the army of Hernando Cortes, 1519
It's no wonder that by 1509, Cortes - while visiting his "good friend" Montezuma - decided to share the chocolate experience with Spain by taking it from it's South American origin to Europe. The first official shipment of cacao beans arrived in Seville from Veracruz, Mexico in 1585. Because Montezuma's cocoa drink was so bitter, chocolate was viewed as a medicinal and nourishing beverage that stimulated fertility and longevity. It wasn't long before Spain abandoned South America's traditional bitter drink in favor of sweetened cacao. Thus sugar was added, changing the drink from a medicine to a dessert. Spanish chocolate lovers served cacao hot and eventually added flavors such as anise seed and orange blossom water, along with almonds and hazelnuts.
If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?" - Marquise de Sevigne (French writer and lady of fashion: Feb, 1677)
Finally, 17th century Europe caught on and began its own quest for "chocolatness". England launched chocolate houses wherein they served milk and chocolate together. The arrival of chocolate from South America came with coffee from the Middle East and tea from China but it remained the most expensive indulgence long after coffee and tea became affordable pleasures. Meanwhile, Germans preferred to dissolve their cocoa in wine, popularity spread from the court of King Louis XIV of France, and Italians were slowly warming up to the idea.
Although drinking chocolate was still highly en vogue, 1674 brought about the development of solid forms of chocolate. It was nothing like the eating chocolate we have today. Something was missing. But just as well, chocolate debuted in pastilles and Spanish style puddings.
The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain." - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
With the industrial revolution came the invention of machinery that could efficiently grind cacao nibs into paste. Now we're really getting somewhere. American, Dr. James Baker of Massachusetts and Irishman, John Hannon, collaborated in one of the first chocolate manufacturing enterprises. Their endeavor produced cakes of the ground cacao bean paste intended for drinking chocolate.
Twill make old women young and fresh, create new motions of the flesh. And cause them to long for 'you know what', if they but taste of chocolate." - James Wadworth (1768-1844; A History of the Nature and Quality of Chocolate)
New technology was rapidly applied to chocolate manufacturing. In 1828, Coenraad Van Houten developed a process that would eventually change chocolate from a beverage to a confection. By using hydraulic pressure he was able to remove just about half of the cocoa butter from ground cacao nibs. This resulted in hard cakes fondly termed "dutch cocoa". This new advancement paved the way for chocolate manufacturers Joseph Fry & Son to develop the first "eating chocolate". In 1789, Fry purchased a Watts steam engine to grind cacao but it wasn't until an experiment by the founder's great-grandson in 1847 that the idea to mix some of the melted cocoa butter back into "dutch cocoa" cakes (not to mention a bit of sugar) was tried. After pressing the pasty mixture into a mold, the resulting bar was a true winner! Eating chocolate soon became as popular as drinking chocolate.
"Mmmmmm ... chocolate" - Homer Simpson
The 20th century brought about changes Cortes and the Aztecs never imagined. Drinking chocolate took a secondary role as chocolate bars, truffles and individual filled portions became exceedingly popular. Production of chocolate over the centuries has evolved to include many steps from bean to finished product. If you're interested in doing it yourself, see our section featuring the "7 steps to making your own chocolate concoction".
"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!" - Lucy Van Pelt, "Peanuts"
Cacao Countries
Benin | Cameroon | Congo | Congo, Dem. Rep. of Cote d'Ivoire | Equatorial Guinea | Gabon | Ghana | Guinea Liberia | Madagascar | Nigeria | Sao Tome and Principe | Sierra Leone | Tanzania | Togo | Uganda
Fiji | India | Indonesia | Malaysia | Papua New Guinea | Philippines | Samoa | Solomon Islands | Sri Lanka | Thailand | Vanuatu | Vietnam
Belize | Bolivia | Brazil | Colombia | Costa Rica | Cuba | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Ecuador | Grenada | Grenadines | Guadalupe | Guatemala | Haiti | Honduras | Jamaica | Martinique | Mexico | Nicaragua | Panama | Peru | Saint Lucia | St. Vincent | Suriname | Trinidad and Tobago | Venezuela
Cacao Exchange Rates
Use cacao beans like the ancients for purchasing turkeys (6 beans) or other commodities:
- One good turkey hen is worth 100 full cacao beans, or 120 shrunken beans.
- A turkey is worth 200 cacao beans.
- A hare [jackrabbit] or forest rabbit is worth 100 cacao beans each.
- A small rabbit is worth 30 cacao beans.
- One turkey egg is worth 3 cacao beans.
- An avocado newly picked is worth 3 cacao beans; when an avocado is fully ripe it will be equivalent to one cacao bean.
- One large tomato will be equivalent to a cacao bean.
- A large sapote fruit, or two small ones, is equivalent to a cacao bean.
- A large axolotl [larval salamander, an Aztec delicacy] is worth 4 cacao beans, a small one is worth 2 or 3 cacao beans.
- A tamale is exchanged for a cacao bean. A fish wrapped in maize husks is worth 3 cacao beans.
Reference: Naked Chocolate
Click here to learn more about the healthy benefits of dark chocolate! Oh and go ahead and have another healthy square. You deserve it!


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With $15 million in new funding led by Cantor Ventures, Ritani launches first-of-its-kind omnichannel retail approach offering customers the convenience and selection of online shopping combined with high-touch in-store services provided at premiere local jewelers nationwide.
New York, NY October 11, 2012 – Ritani (www.ritani.com), a leading designer of engagement rings and fine jewelry, today unveiled a new e-commerce website linked with a network of premium local jewelers to unify consumers' online and in-store engagement ring purchase experience. With $15 million in new funding led by Cantor Ventures, a newly formed Seattle-based e-commerce team, mine-to-finger diamond sourcing and jewelry manufacturing in New York, and partnerships with jewelers nationwide, Ritani is the first to offer consumers an all-encompassing clicks-and-bricks experience where diamonds and engagement rings can either be purchased online and delivered directly to the consumer, or can be reserved online and delivered to a local jewelry store to be seen in-person before purchase.
"First generation online engagement ring shopping focused on presenting vast selections at the lowest price. This missed the opportunity to fulfill a customer's natural desire for personal service during one of life's most important purchasing decisions," said Brian Watkins, the newly appointed president of Ritani, whose prior e-commerce and retail experience includes Blue Nile, Nordstrom, and Bain & Company. "The next generation jewelry retailer will not only deliver selection and value, but will go further. They'll seamlessly combine online and in-store shopping to create an experience that today's customer demands."
According to a recent report from Capgemini entitled "Digital Shopper Relevancy," 60 percent of shoppers declared they expect the convergence of retail channels to be the norm by 2014, when a unified shopping experience is expected to become commonplace. However, a study by L2 found that 71 percent of jewelry brands do not have e-commerce enabled on their web sites and only 3 percent have an option for in-store pickup.
Watkins continued, "By offering an exceptional e-commerce experience that's integrated with the country's premier local jewelers, Ritani puts the customer in complete control and inspires confidence in their purchase decision."
Ritani's new retail approach dramatically improves the way consumers purchase handcrafted and custom-made engagement rings, loose diamonds, and other fine jewelry. Customers can shop online at Ritani.com, visit their local Ritani jeweler to view multiple items before confirming a purchase decision, and even create a custom, one-of-a-kind ring designed online and delivered to their local jeweler with no obligation to purchase if it's not exactly to their liking. Additionally, for customers concerned about shipping their diamond jewelry, any Ritani online order can be picked up or returned to a local Ritani jeweler.
Jewelers partnering with Ritani to deliver this first-of-its-kind omnichannel purchase experience include London Jewelers in New York, Underwood Jewelers in Jacksonville, Fink's Jewelers in Virginia and North Carolina, Steve Padis Jewelry in San Francisco, Bachendorf's in Dallas, and Brown & Co. Jewelers in Atlanta. Ritani will continue to expand its integrated partner network of high-end local jewelers, all of whom earn revenue on every online Ritani transaction, to help customers everywhere experience the ideal way to shop for diamond jewelry.
"By partnering with Ritani, we significantly extend our customer base and have the opportunity to earn a customer for life with no upfront investments simply by doing what we do best, which is providing unmatched personal customer service in-store," said Marc Fink, president of Fink's Jewelers, which has 16 locations throughout Virginia and North Carolina and is owned and operated by the third generation of the founding family. "This new approach inspires customers to shop the way they want to shop in an all-encompassing, stress-free and no-risk environment."
With a range of high-touch services like complimentary, one-on-one Virtual GemologistTM consultations with diamond experts, Ritani's new website puts the consumer in a position to feel 100 percent comfortable, educated and informed prior to clicking the purchase button. This ultimate personal online shopping experience offers live advice to address customers' questions and provides visual demonstrations and analysis of the actual diamonds being considered for purchase. In addition, highly visual 360° HD photography and video for Ritani's most popular stones and settings showcase a carefully curated collection that gives customers a similar high-touch experience to that found at the counters of luxury jewelry stores. Every Ritani order offers free overnight shipping and a no-questions asked 30-day return policy.
"Ritani is leading a consumer driven transformation of the jewelry industry that recognizes the value of each sales channel, especially the vital role and knowledge of the trusted local jewelry retailer to make the shopping experience personal again," said Jed Kleckner, director at Cantor Ventures. "With a great brand and product offering, a new team of e-commerce experts with over 50 years of combined e- commerce experience, and partnerships with leading local jewelers, Ritani is in a great position to transform how diamond jewelry is purchased."
Watch the video to see how the new Ritani works.
Ritani (www.ritani.com) is a premium jewelry brand modernizing the way consumers purchase engagement rings and fine diamond jewelry. Founded in 1999, Ritani marries the online shopping experience for handcrafted and custom-made engagement rings, loose diamonds, and other fine jewelry with a network of trusted local luxury jewelers in one seamless transaction. Ritani is headquartered in New York with e-commerce operations in Seattle. Previously owned by the Julius Klein Group, Ritani is now controlled by an investment group that includes Cantor Ventures and other investors. Jewelers interested in becoming a Ritani retail partner can contact Ritani at email@example.com.
Cantor Ventures is the venture capital and enterprise development arm of Cantor Fitzgerald, which has over 65 years of expertise in providing capital raising and advisory services to growth oriented companies. Cantor invests in companies where business models are focused on the development of innovative, technology-focused products, services and marketplaces. As an active partner, Cantor Ventures has guided and accelerated growth for numerous e-commerce businesses. Cantor Ventures is wholly owned by Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. and headquartered in New York. For more information on Cantor Ventures, please visit www.cantor.com/portfolio/cantor_ventures.
Ritani and their respective logos are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Ritani. Other products and company names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Michele Mehl
Buzz Builders for Ritani
Gauri Mundkur
Cantor Ventures


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Gov. Rick Perry this afternoon expressed his staunch opposition to current gun control proposals under consideration in Washington but was not nearly as definitive on another subject — immigration reform.
On guns, the Texas Republican told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "universal background checks is not going to save one life." Perry said attempts to combat gun violence should focus on mental health services, noting the large number of military suicides in his own state.
Barack Obama had used time during the recent congressional recess to travel the country, urging Congress to pass gun control legislation. A bill that includes expanded background checks, a federal straw purchaser statute, and increased school safety is expected to be debated in the Senate when Congress returns to D.C. next week.
The Senate also is expected to consider a bipartisan compromise put together by four Democrats and four Republicans. Blitzer pressed the governor to take a position on the so-called "Gang of Eight" effort, but Perry sidestepped the questions. The governor did say, however, he would not support what he called "amnesty" for immigrants living in the country without proper legal documents.
"We already have a pathway to citizenship today," Perry said. "You get in line."
Like the Gang of Eight, Perry said that securing the border is the necessary first step in any immigration reform.
Perry had taken flak from conservatives in his own party on some of his immigration stances during his 2012 presidential campaign. Perry had supported in-state tuition for the children of unauthorized immigrants.
The governor said, in response to a Blitzer question, that he would be willing to meet with President Obama to discuss immigration reform. But he said he had never received a response to a letter about border security that he handed to Obama on the tarmac at Austin's Bergstrom International Airport.
When Blitzer turned the subject to the 2016 presidential election, Perry remained coy in his response. Perry said he was open to the possibility of running again, but has not yet decided. He said he had not thought about a possible general election showdown against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
He also declined to speculate on the identity of the killers of two prosecutors in Kaufman County.


text:
POSTED: May 3, 2013 9:44 PM ET
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Blake Griffin's sprained right ankle is hurting enough that he didn't start Game 6 for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Memphis Grizzlies, though he is active and on the bench.
Griffin was limping after the shootaround and moved slowly as he shot jumpers in warmups testing his ankle Friday night. Coach Vinny Del Negro started Lamar Odom instead in a must-win game for the Clippers to avoid elimination with Memphis leading 3-2.
The Clippers forward sprained his ankle Monday and couldn't finish Tuesday night's 103-93 loss to Memphis. Griffin started 80 games during the regular season.


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Okay, y'all, (did I just say "y'all"? Who am I?) I missed last week's Photo Friday (and this week's What I'm Reading Wednesday), so these pictures are actually from last week. I'm a terrible blogger, I know. Anyway, here's what happened: there was a birthday barbeque and dinner that I photographed the food from. Here are the highlights (in no particular order):
The tart I decorated: cherries, figs, and apricots, all from the farmer's market.
The tart Mike decorated with blueberries, strawberries, and figs from the farmer's market. This one also had black pepper in the pastry cream (the other one was vanilla) but I am not sure you tasted it.
Ceviche at State Bird Provisions. This is where we had dinner. More on that later. This was a highlight for us because it was the first time any of us had this dish. It was, well, meaty and the bread was nice and buttery.
State Bird Provisions menu. Just an idea of what they served there that night. In addition to the menu items, they bring around trays or carts of food, dim sum style (or so I am told; I have not been to a dim sum restaurant, but now I need to go) and you pick what you want.
Did you know that quail is the California state bird? Neither did we. This was as crunchy and tasty as it looks, which is to say, very.
Tomatoes at the farmer's market. These we bought and used in the food at the barbeque.
So that's the highlights food-wise last week. Again, sorry I am such a terrible blogger and can't even keep up with weekly posts. I will try to get back on track for next week.


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Richard Schmidt was featured in a 1974 issue (Vol. 20, No. 4) of The Kansas School Naturalist, pictured at left. The text of that issue has been recreated here. For a reprint (or copy) of this or other issues of The Kansas School Naturalist, please follow the link to their web page for more information or contact the KSN Editor, Dr. Richard Schrock.
Front Cover: Imagine the skillful hands and artistic ability required for skinning out a day-old bobwhite quail, and mounting it in this life-like position.
The Kansas
School Naturalist
Published by
The Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia
Prepared and issued by
The Department of Biology, with the cooperation of the Division of Education
Editor: Robert J. Boles
Editorial Committee: James S. Wilson, Gilbert A. Leisman, Harold Durst, Robert F. Clarke
The Kansas School Naturalist is sent upon request, free of charge, to Kansas teachers, school board members and administrators, librarians, conservationists, youth leaders, and other adults interested in nature education. Back numbers are sent free as long as supply lasts, except Vol.5, No.3, Poisonous Snakes of Kansas. Copies of this issue may be obtained for 25 cents each postpaid. Send orders to The Kansas School Naturalist, Department of Biology, Kansas Stare Teachers College, Emporia, Kansas, 66801.
The Kansas School Naturalist is published in October, December, February, and April of each year by the Kansas State Teachers College, 1200 Commercial Street, Emporia, Kansas, 66801. Second-class postage paid at Emporia, Kansas.
"Statement required by the Act of October, 1962: Section 4369, Title 39, United States Code, showing Ownership, Management and Circulation." The Kansas School Naturalist is published in October, December, February, and April. Editorial Office and Publication Office at 1200 Commercial Street, Emporia, Kansas, 66801. The Naturalist is edited and published by the Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia, Kansas. Editor, Robert J. Boles, Department of Biology.
Miss Anne Emerson prepared the layout for this issue of The Kansas School Naturalist. Her services as secretary for the Naturalist will be greatly missed when she graduates this spring.
With These Two Hands
Robert J. Boles
Children today, with their mechanized toys, TV sets, playgrounds equipped with all kinds of rides, and lighted baseball diamonds and tennis courts, will find it hard to imagine how a lad of over sixty years ago kept himself occupied and entertained.
This was no chore for young Richard Schmidt, however. The "conveniences" mentioned above didn't even exist when he was born on January 25, 1909. His father loved the land, and believed that hard work on the farm would occupy a person's time, and provide for an honest, healthy living, even though there might be little money for anything else.
Richard, too, soon learned to love the land, and to work long and hard in the fields, but he also developed a great appreciation for the plants and animals about him. He especially enjoyed the birds, and spent some of his spare time carefully studying their shapes, behavior, and graceful maneuvers while in flight. These observations, along with native artistic ability, were to be of great help in what later proved to be his life's work, the field of taxidermy.
It was a mounted owl that a friend received as a Christmas gift which first opened up such a world to him. He stood, open-mouthed, staring at the life-like stuffed skin that appeared to look fiercely back at him. "This is the kind of work I want to do," he felt like shouting.
Armed only with boyish enthusiasm, he decided to give it a try. A sling shot is not a very adequate collecting weapon for securing a specimen on which to work, and there simply wasn't enough money to buy a gun. The stories he had read of Daniel Noone and the early pioneers gave him an idea. Why not make a gun? So, in 1922, at the age of 13, he built himself a matchlock pistol. The finished gun took two boys to fire it-one to hold it and to aim, the other to touch a match to the priming. No self-respecting bird was going to sit and let itself be collected with such commotion going on, so Richard decided a more sophisticated weapon was needed. With an inventive mind and the aid of the school encyclopedia, he converted the matchlock pistol into a cap-and-ball pistol, with a trigger and hammer lock. Now even cottontail rabbits fell prey to the young collector.
Richard now felt that he was ready to study taxidermy in earnest. As far as he could find out, the Northwestern School of Taxidermy was THE SCHOOL in which to enroll to acquire the skills he needed for the field he had chosen. Two formidable obstacles stood in his way. First, the tuition called for the staggering sum of then dollars (which he didn't have), and second, he would not only have to secure his father's permission to enrol, but he would also have to try to borrow the money from him. With more hope than faith that he would get the money and the permission, he approached his father. The answer was short and to the point-there was nothing practical about stretching the skin of a dead bird over a wad of inedible cotton, and any further requests of such a nature would receive a more emphatic answer in the form of a spanking. Richard's world was shattered, but he had been brought up to respect his father's wishes. Much as he wanted to enroll in the taxidermy course, the subject was dropped, never to be brought up again.
Instead, he scraped and saved lowered his sights, and, a year later, having saved up a dollar and a half of his own money, he bought a book entitled "Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit." With no outside help, other than his new book, he mounted his first bird-a Swainson's hawk a friend had given him.
Richard's father accepted h is son's deep interest in taxidermy, and behind his seemingly gruff and stern manner was a feeling of pride in his son's perseverance and skill in something he believed in and wanted to do. His mother was more of a problem. "Bird stuffing" was no something to be done in her house, and Richard was banished to the barn to work by the light of kerosene lantern. The young man continued to make sly suggestions about a more cheerful and warmer place to work, and no one knows today whether it was his hints, to the sight of his third specimen, a tiny, pretty screech owl that did the trick, but he was given permission to do his work in the summer kitchen that his mother had already vacated for the winter. Much to his mother's surprise, Richard left the place as clean as he had found it, and was rewarded by being given permission to mount future specimens in his room.
After missing school for a semester, during which Richard helped his father with the farm, hunted rabbits to help put meat on the table, and ran a trap line to bring in a little a cash, he returned to school for the spring semester of 1927. By a stroke of luck, his new principal Herman Janzen, was an artistic taxidermist. The tutoring that the aspiring young man received for the next five semesters in the field of taxidermy by this fine teacher and understanding man greatly influenced the course of his life. Little did he know that in later years he would have the opportunity to visit some of the finest laboratories and discuss techniques with some of the most famous names in the taxidermy field.
Richard was fortunate enough to marry an understanding and tolerant young woman, for living with a budding taxidermist wasn't always easy. She well deserves the dedication he made to her in one of his books, "How to Mount Birds," which reads "...and to my wife Katharina, who spent altogether too many lonely hours with the children while I was burning the midnight oil in my taxidermy studio."
Even farming, which Richard understood well, sometimes became a problem. After working on his birds until two or three o'clock in the morning, rising before daylight to do the chores and start on the day's farming duties called for almost superhuman willpower and endurance.
It was only natural that Richard's sons would also develop a love of the outdoors, and they accompanied him on numerous collecting expeditions to obtain rare and elusive specimens for mounting. Unlike most farmers, Richard actually looked forward to rainy days, for then he could work in his laboratory without feeling guilty of neglecting the farm work.
Restrictions on the possession of mounted birds were much less stringent in the 1920's than they are today, and even before his marriage to Katharina the collection of mounted specimens in the Schmidt household had reached such proportions that by the fall of 1929 the first group of visitors, a troop of Boy Scouts, came to see the display. This group was but the first of many to come to the farm for an "educational museum tour."
As Richard's museum collection became better known, the great number of visitors began to affect the privacy of his family, so the problem was temporarily solved by moving the specimens into an empty room with an outside entrance. Visitors could then come and go with less disruption to their family life. Not only relatives and friends came, but many high schools and colleges began to book tours to the little farm museum. One visitor asked Richard if he had ever mounted a pink elephant. The young man, unfamiliar with the slang for one of the hallucinations of a drunkard, seriously replied, "No, but if you will catch me one, I'll try to do the job."
The Schmidt family became adjusted to the visits of students, oil men, doctors, and distinguished professors and ministers, but an invitation to speak before the Canton Lyons Club in the spring of 1931 came as a distinct shock. What does a young, unsophisticated country taxidermist say to a group of city businessmen, especially when they were drowsy after a meal? Some of that first attempt did "fall flat," but since then hundreds of people over the state of Kansas will recall seeing Richards folding, seven-foot-wide display case, filled with examples of his work, including many of the interesting birds that pass through the state. The speaking engagements were educational and entertaining, and more and more groups requested him to present his program in Kansas and neighboring states.
Richard's gentlemanly manner, his patience with young people, and his knowledge of the outdoors resulted in invitations to work as an instructor at various summer camps, so that for some fifteen years he tried the nearly impossible task of camping out with young people, sometimes for weeks at a time, and operating a farm as well. It took a loving and devoted wife to handle many of the farm chores, which often included milking eight or ten cows in 100 degree weather, while her husband was in the Colorado Rockies working with young people.
Many people over the state may remember hearing one or more of Richard Schmidt's bird talks. A careful listener and observer, he constantly revised his talks in order to make them more educational and entertaining. Conversation and a love of wildlife was woven throughout his talks, as may be seen from following excerpts from one of his speeches. To add interest, he took his traveling display with him, which included mounted examples of the birds he discussed.
The humming bird is the symbol of smallness and daintiness in everything. It builds a little, round nest out of lichens, no bigger than a teaspoon. Mrs. Hummingbird lays two eggs about the size of peas. Their food is the nectar from flowers. One interesting thing is that this is the only bird with a reverse gear enabling it to fly backwards.
Of course you have heard of the worrybird, who flies backward because he doesn't give a darn where he is going; he's only interested in where he has been. I think that there are a few people that we could classify as worrybirds, always saying, "When I was young it was so much better than it is now." Since these people don't really build for the future, living only in the past, they contribute very little to society.
Eagles and hawks are the day shift of our police force. They are beneficial and they consume a lot of harmful rodents. If it were not for the birds of prey our farms would be overrun with animals that eat our crops. The eagle is the largest and the sparrow hawk the smallest of our hawk family. Also, owls that are out at night catching mice and nocturnal insects, help make farming more profitable.
Many people have the idea that birds of prey are harmful to farmers. In fact, certain hawks are called chicken hawks. Generally the name chicken hawk is ascribed to the red-tailed which is a high-flying bird that soars over the fields. When he spots a rabbit or rodent he will dart down and catch his prey.
Of course we will have to admit that is a hawk nests near a farmstead where young chicks are out in the open she'll catch food for her young where it is easiest to get. That bird will naturally have to be regarded as harmful and be destroyed. But to use such an incident to justify killing all hawks one can find in the woods is as unfair as it would be for a teacher to round up all students for a sound spanking after she caught one naughty child. And how many people today still have their chickens out in the open? Certainly one has no excuse to go out and shoot hawks when all the hens are safely penned up in a large barn.
We have no trouble finding people who are like the eastern kingbird. He is so beneficial that we classify him among the best birds that we have, and we certainly have people whom we can classify among the most beneficial in the community. What then is so strange about the kingbird? Well, when I wake up early on a spring morning I can hear the kingbirds scolding and quarreling. What do they do through the day? Well, scold and quarrel. Kingbirds are possessive of their area, and I have witnessed a kingbird drive a peaceful mourning dove out of her tree. It was as if it said, "This is my tree and you cannot perch here." Kingbirds drive crows off the farm and they will chase the cat under the porch, and then, in the evening after it is dark, often after I'm in bed, I can still hear kingbirds scolding and quarreling. Now I imagine you already can think of some people who are like this bird. I'm sure that every community has a few people that are honest and good but who scold and quarrel in everything they do.
I am a member of a pioneer class of the Goessel Rural High School which was organized back in 1926. Our athletic team did not win many trophies for our school; we did not even have a gymnasium. Our parents thought we should come home to do the chores rather than to practice football or basketball. But our glee club took grand trophy, and so when the time came for us to decide on a mascot, what more appropriate emblem could we choose than the bluebird?
In later generations when the Goessel High School built a gymnasium and had a basketball and football team, our mascot got into trouble. The bluebird is not a fighter. When our bluebird boys were licked by the neighboring town's tigers, the newspaper report called our boys bluejays. This was an insult. We as a Mennonite community claim to be happy, peaceful folk and wanted no relation what-so-ever with the egg-sucking bluejay. Invariably the bluebird and bluejay names were confused.
We have a cuckoo in Kansas with the nickname "rain crow." I remember one day on the farm when it was time to cut the alfalfa. At breakfast the radio weather forecaster said, "No rain in sight." We prepared the mower and I sent my oldest son into the field to cut down alfalfa. Not long after he had started I heard a cuckoo calling. Looking around, I saw a cloud bank in the west. Quickly I sent one of the younger children to the field to tell Junior to quit cutting alfalfa. That evening we had the first good rain of that spring. Ever since then I have respected the cuckoo, although he is shy and retiring. The Lord says about people like that, "Thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." And I think many times when we see people who are not outwardly forward like some others are, we think they're a little cuckoo. Yet, someday they may be better rewarded than those who always bold and confident.
The house wren in an enthusiastic little bird. In fact, Johnny wren is to me the symbol of enthusiasm. When Johnny starts singing he sings so hard that he shakes all over. And when Johnny and Jenny wren start building their home they work so hard that they fill their nest box until the twigs stick out of the opening. I have watched them fill a 14-quart sprinkler can full of twigs. This sprinkler can was upended over a garden post, and they just filled that can full until the sticks hung out of the opening. They did not shirk their work. Johnny wren is as enthusiastic about his singing as about his work.
One day when speaking to a group of boy campers a little youngster raised his hand and said, "Mr. Birdman, I have read that Johnny wren is a henpecked husband," I answered, "I have read that too; I know Johnny wren is henpecked. But you and I can learn even from that. Let's not let it get us down if we turn out to be henpecked husbands, let's just keep singing!"
I used to have a sandpiper in my traveling exhibit, but many times, after a program, especially if I had been speaking to a Lion's Club or the Rotary Club, an old gray-haired man would come up to me and ask, " Do you have a snipe in your exhibit?" Just by looking into his face I could tell he had, when as a young man in college, lost faith not only in the manner of hunting the snipe, but also in the bird itself. More correctly worded the question should have been, " Now tell me truthfully, is there a bird called the snipe?" For the benefit of such men I took my sandpiper out of the exhibit and added a common snipe, often called a jack-snipe by hunters.
You would be surprised at the beautiful snipe stories I heard when they saw this bird. A professor at the University of Kansas said that when he was enrolled as a freshman at the University, senior boys befriended him and invited him to accompany them on a snipe hunt. And since he thought he knew how to hunt those birds he accepted the invitation. The fellows took him to a sandbar island in the Kaw River on a foggy evening, gave him a lantern and a burlap sack, and told him they would go to the other end of the sandbar to startle the birds to get them flying in his direction. He should stand there and catch the snipes as they would be blinded by the light. Very slowly he lowered the lantern to the ground so that the fellows could not see he was setting it down, then he ran for the boat. He said he just made it and got off the beach before the other fellows arrived. He rowed to the bank, beached the boat and ran to the dormitory room. The fellows who had taken him on that hunt were pretty mad that they had to swim ashore.
One of my best bird stories was told by a local preacher. After the show he came up and said, "Brother Schmidt, I have a bird story that you did not tell. It's the story of an old maid who knelt by her open window every night and prayed, 'Lord, send me a man, Lord, send me a man!' And one night she was thus praying, she heard out in the distant woods a call, 'whooo? whooo? whooo?' Immediately she shouted back, 'Lord, I don't care who he is, just so he is a man'."
Richard has always considered taxidermy as a hobby he thoroughly enjoyed. However, as word of his excellent work spread, more and more sportsmen began to ask for his services to mount their trophies. He had now become a commercial taxidermist, and enjoyed a booming business. Even during the worst depression years of the dirty thirties he never needed to look for work. It is understandable that many of his out-a-job friends, with all of their unasked for "free-time," envied this busy man. By the late thirties so many big game trophies were brought to him that his farming seriously hindered his taxidermy business. Most men would have dropped one or the other, but not Richard Schmidt. It was the outbreak of World War II and the great demand for farm products which brought his custom taxidermy work to a halt. After the war he did not resume trophy taxidermy for the sporting public.
When the Hesston College Audubon Society brought him a large raccoon to mount in 1928, Richard thought this might be a stepping stone to college employment in the museum field. Perhaps it was, but it took a long time to bear fruit. It was some twenty years later that he was employed to collect and mount the Hesston College Ornithological Collection.
In the sprint of 1944 the Kansas Historical Society invited him to Topeka to discuss possible employment. With high hopes of a lucrative taxidermy contract, accompanied by his wife, and two-year-old daughter, Kathryn, he drove to Topeka in his old model A Ford. It was with great disappointment that he learned that all the Society wanted him to do was to wipe the dust off the Col. N. S. Gross Ornithological Collection. Such a task appealed to him as a most unchallenging job, and he politely refused the offer.
In the spring of 1949 Dr. R. E. Mohler of McPherson College asked him to join him in presenting a paper on his rare bird and mammal records at the Kansas Academy of Science Convention. He earned a little cash for the trip by drilling post holes with his Ford tractor at ten cents apiece. And, now for the first time in his life, he checked in to an expensive hotel, and celebrated by soaking in a tub brim-full of steaming water. It was a never-to-be-forgotten event for a farmer to have his first experience with hot and cold water on tap.
This trip to the Kansas Academy of Science meeting in Manhattan proved to be one of the first of a series of steps that led to his employment by the Biology Department of Kansas State Teachers College at Emporia. It was at a meeting of the Kansas Ornithological Society, of which he is a charter member, and which was meeting in conjunction with the Kansas Academy, that he met Drs. John Breukelman and Ted Andrews, of the Kansas State Teachers College, the tow men who were instrumental in his entrance into full time college employment.
On the way home from the meeting a torrential rainstorm occurred. His driver took one look at the bottomless mud road to Richard's home and detoured over a graveled road to the northeast corner of the farm, where Richard was let out a good three-fourths of a mile from the house. Since he could not afford to ruin his best go-to-church suit and shoes, he left his clothes in the car and walked home barefoot, clothed only in his shorts. As he braced himself against the wind and walked off into the cold rain, he heard one of the people in the car shout, "Tell your wife you played poker with us on the way home!"
It was in Wichita at the Kansas Ornithological Meeting in 1956 that Dr. Ted Andrews approached Richard about the possibility of preparing specimens for the Kansas State Teachers College Biology Department at Emporia, Kansas. As a result, he was issued and invitation to come to Emporia and be interviewed for possible employment as the curator of the Kansas State Teachers Natural History Museum. At the college Dr. Andrews received him courteously, and offered Richard temporary employment at $250 a month in the Biology Department, which he accepted without bargaining for more pay. Later he took a Civil Service examination and was put on permanent status.
Richard had always been disappointed with the taxidermy instruction books that he had seen. Steps were not clearly explained or were incomplete, and the illustrations did not serve their purpose as teaching aids. For years he thought about writing his own taxidermy text, but it wasn't until about 1945 that he made his first attempt to write bird-mounting instructions. This ambitious undertaking was soon abandoned as being too difficult. Twenty-five years later he discovered the long forgotten, unfinished manuscript among a group of old papers.
In the spring of 1956, after he joined the Kansas State Teachers College Biology Department as taxidermy instructor, his teaching duties again stirred the long dormant desire to write a practical set of taxidermy instructions, based upon his many years of experience in the field. It is interesting that his daughter Kathryn did most of the sketches that appear in the later revision of his taxidermy manual
The text for the illustrated manual Bird Taxidermy was completed by 1959. After much editing a completely revised text was written in 1961. This revision was used for the next six years in instruction his taxidermy students. A perfectionist, Richard continued to look for ways to improve his manual, and another revised text was written in 1967. By now the material had grown, with more and more illustrations and details, so that it was divided into two parts, Part I- How to Mount Birds,. with 210 original illustration and photographs, and Part II- How to Preserve Birds for Study, with 102 illustrations. At least five additional manuals have also been prepared or are being prepared, dealing with such subjects as how to mount fish, butterflies, and game trophies, rodent skin preparation, and tanning of furs.
Many of Mr. Schmidt's former taxidermy students may be interested to know that the two texts, How to Mount Fish and How to Mount Birds, came off the College Press in 1971 and 1972, respectively, and may be obtained by writing the Printing Department at the Teachers College.
It is only natural that a taxidermist should dream of someday traveling the world in search of rare specimens to mount. Even as a farm lad Richard had done his share of daydreaming. It was in 1959 his dreams came true, when Dr. David Parmelle, the ornithologist at Kansas State Teachers College, asked Richard Schmidt to go with him as his field taxidermist into the far North.
In late May, 1960, they arrived at Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island, North West Territory, a "city" of about thirty Eskimo families. It was spring, and many birds were arriving from he south to nest. In the twenty-four-hour daylight they sometimes worked for 18 hours at a stretch. Three hundred and fifteen bird skins were prepared during the summer, as well as 23 mammal skins. A second trip was made in 1962 for further collecting and research.
In the summer of 1968 Jose Gonzales, of the Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Columbia, took Richard's taxidermy course. He was so impressed with Mr. Schmidt and his skills and teaching that Richard was invited to come to the University of Bucaramanga to help establish a museum and train a taxidermist.
On January 21, 1970, Richard and his wife boarded a plane in Kansas City for their flight to South America. With little command of Spanish, and working with students who had little or no knowledge of English, proved to be an interesting, if not sometimes comical and near disasterous, adventure. The 6-month employment at the University was an enjoyable experience, and a lasting friendship was formed with his student Hernando Romeroz.
This spring Richard Schmidt will retire from the Biology Department of Kansas State Teachers College. Needless to say he will be missed. His many mounted specimens over the state, and especially in the Natural History Museum in Breukelman Hall on the Kansas State Teachers College campus, will stand as a memorial to this gentle, kindly man, who rose from the hard work and limited education in his early years to become an author, college instructor, and world traveler.


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Thomas Tyner Rushes for 644 Yards, 10 TDs in a High School Game
Al Bundy, eat your heart out: an Oregon high school football player rushed for 644 yards and scored 10 touchdowns in a game on Friday night.
University of Oregon recruit Thomas Tyner of Aloha High School ran for a state-record 644 yards and 10 touchdowns in a 84-63 win over Lakeridge (yes, there was another team and they even scored).
Tyner had his huge day on his 18th birthday. Given how much young ladies love them a football hero, we think the newly adult Mr. Tyner had some monster game after his record-setting performance.
Shockingly enough, Tyner's incredible yardage, including touchdown runs of 20, 41, 62, 60 and 65 in the first half, ranks only third all-time in US high school records. John Giannantonio of Netcong, N.J. ran for 754 yards in 1950 and Paul McCoy of Matewan, W.Va. ran for 661 yards in 2006.


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Need to get myself a new motorbike!
Jacqueline on June 7, 2018 • Permalink
Posted in Personal
Posted by Jacqueline on June 7, 2018
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text:
Release Details
Agents of the federal government seized approximately 53,000 banned hazardous toy clown dolls late Friday afternoon, July 7, 1989 in a New York City warehouse because they contain small parts that present a choking risk to children.
The clown dolls, usually marketed as the "Dress Me Clown," were sold nationwide by mail order retailers for about $5.00 to $6.00 each. Clothed primarily in red, blue and yellow, this doll has yellow string hair, a clown's cap and is about 13 inches long. It also has a snap, a button, a zipper, a buckle and shoe laces intended to introduce young children to various dressing functions. It may be identified by a cloth tag sewn onto the doll's cap that says: "ITEM # 6159."
When the Commission tested the clown dolls in accordance with the regulations under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, zipper clasps, buttons and buckles came off the dolls. The Commission alleges that these small parts make the dolls banned hazardous substances because they present a choking, ingestion and aspiration hazard to children.
The dolls were returned to Etna by a retailer, and Etna failed to assure the Commission that the dolls would not be resold. Etna may now contest the Commission's action in Federal Distict Court or attempt to resolve the matter by agreement with the CPSC.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 or teletypewriter at 301-595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.
Please use the below phone number for all media requests.
Phone: (301) 504-7908
Spanish: (301) 504-7800


text:
Jennifer Rubin reports that Ted Olson says he will endorse John McCain for president. With McCain now in the driver's seat for the nomination, it's not surprising that he's picking up major endorsements. Earlier today, I read that William Barr, the Attorney General during part of the Bush 41 administration, has endorsed McCain.
However, in Olson's case at least, the endorsement could have been expected quite apart from McCain's recent successes. Almost two years ago (I think), I attended a dinner at which McCain spoke. I can't remember whether Olson introduced him, but it was clear that he had great respect for McCain.
Olson ended up endorsing Rudy Giuliani, a friend dating back at least to the early days of the Reagan Justice Department. With Giuliani dropping out, it seems pretty natural that Olson would endorse McCain, who likely was his second choice all along.
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text:
In so many ways, one of the biggest civil rights issues of our day is the way we treat Muslims in our country.
Yes, 9/11 was an act of war against the United States, and yes, it was carried out by radical Muslims. But it is our obligation to realize that it simply is not appropriate to stereotype classes of people, be they Muslims or anybody else.
Many Muslim traditions seem a bit strange to many of us, and thus it is natural to be somewhat fearful. But as I noted in a 2011 column, in more than half of the dialects of the world's languages there is no distinction between the word for "stranger" and the word for "enemy." As a result, in those places anyone who is a stranger is automatically an enemy. Imagine the violence, misery and lost opportunities that have resulted from this short-sighted approach.
Throughout our history we have fallen into the trap of stereotyping groups of immigrants in our country, such as labeling Irish as drunks, Italians as mafia and Chinese as unscrupulous. And in one of our worst national civil rights blunders, we looked on the Japanese as potential spies and interned them in camps. So today it is the Muslims among us who are misguidedly being stereotyped as being terrorists or terrorist sympathizers.
As an example, one of my best friends is Iranian (actually they call themselves Persian to distance themselves from Iran's current regime). He is now retired after being the chief engineer at one of the California State Universities, and is one of the finest and most able and caring people I know. But a few years after Congress passed the so-called Patriot Act in response to 9/11, he told me that because of his accent and Iranian name, he was generally being treated so poorly that he was thinking of changing his name. In response, I told him that if he did so I would never forgive him. But this is the atmosphere we have inflicted upon many Muslims in our country.
We are all Americans and should act accordingly, with compassion and tolerance. All people should be treated, and held accountable, as individuals and not as members of a group. In fact, typecasting is simply an excuse to be intellectually and morally lazy.
As a further thought, you may recall that at the beginning of Barack Obama's presidency quite a few people were arguing or gossiping that he was really a Muslim. The best response to those comments came from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said so what if he is? That should have been the response from all of us.
It is long past time that we stop being fearful of or even concerned by another person's religious faith. Many people were worried when John F. Kennedy was running for president in 1960 that, since he was Catholic, he would take his directions directly from the pope. To my knowledge, Catholics running for office no longer raise such concerns. The same acceptance should be granted those running for public office who happen to be Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or anything else.
My perception is that during the 2012 presidential election, Gov. Mitt Romney's being a Mormon was barely a factor in the race. To his credit, Obama did not make it an issue, and thus Romney did not feel it necessary to address it either. So we are progressing.
The same should be true for Muslims. In fact, we should all look forward to the day when no one votes against — or in favor of — any candidates simply because of their race, gender, national origin or religious faith. Those are true American values!
And for those people who have a special concern that Muslims are a special case because of various cited passages in the Koran, let us remember that for centuries many devout Christians around the world cited passages in the Old Testament of the Bible to support violence against and enslaving of people of "inferior races." But that fact does not provide a justification to be generally fearful or skeptical of Christians — then or now.
So what are the causes of the extremist actions of some Muslims around the world? They are the same now as they were throughout history: poverty, ignorance and manipulation of other people by some sociopaths and zealots. Let us never forget that those same factors brought into power tyrants like Hitler, Stalin and Idi Amin, and they are still at work today.
The antidotes to these conditions, in addition to having the best intelligence and military readiness that our government can provide, are free trade, the free-flow of people and ideas, and a genuine appreciation of other cultures. Throughout history it has been shown that peace is born of familiarity with and acceptance of other cultures, and further that people do not tend to shoot their trading partners.
Finally, we must understand that our military ventures in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have been portrayed by those same zealots as attacks upon the Muslim faith. And that, in turn, has helped those zealots recruit large numbers of adherents and amass large amounts of money for their cause. So whether our actions in those places were appropriate or not, we must realize that those military actions have been a major factor in increasing the risk of terrorist attacks on us.
So what do any of these problems have to do with the Muslims in our country? Nothing whatsoever. As we have seen, fear is a great tool. But we are better than that because we are Americans. And that means that we put needless fear aside and treat people based on their own merits.
JAMES P. GRAY is a retired Orange County Superior Court judge. He lives in Newport Beach.


text:
Third Osnabrueck PIM Meeting
For the third time, the town of Osnabrück was the place for a lot of KDE PIM hackers to hold their annual meeting, kindly hosted by Intevation. While the
With over 40 bugs fixed, some interesting features implementented, the Kolab hackers participating, and the
Read the meeting report for details.
Osnabruck must be fun although I was told there were pubs without alcohol in that town.
By Jakob at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
I am living in Osnabrück and I know the pubs :) Never seen a pub without beer (especially Erdinger Weizenbier). Pretty nice town, btw.
By Carsten at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Erdinger? I thought the northern German people prefer Pils ;)
lippel (who was born in Georgsmarienhuette)
By lippel at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Indeed, esp. Becks, but I prefer drinking Weizenbier and this means usually Erdinger.
By Carsten at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
And Erdinger is called Weißbier, as it's from Oberbayern and there we don't call it Weizenbier ;-)
By Philipp at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Uh - those 'white' beers are horrid
Re: Osnabruck
Let me explain, as a native Bavarian beer-drinker: Both descriptions are right. Though, people here in Munich prefer to call it "Weißbier", and people in other parts of Bavaria call it "Weizen". I have not so often heard the description "Weizenbier". But "Weißbier" is more official.
Nevertheless I prefer Schneider Weizen. I know Georg Schneider (the boss of the brewery) personally, and I know that they have excellent production standards. Besides, it is very tasty.
.... but there's no use discussing taste. :-))
By Markus Heller at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Schneider Weisse indeed rocks, I even prefer it over Erdinger. It is a pitty that in Holland it's hard to get.
By Debian user at Fri, 2005/01/21 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Not where I live... The Poort van Kleef in Deventer stocks Erdinger, Schneider and a few other German beers.
By Boudewijn Rempt at Fri, 2005/01/21 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
It depends. I wouldn't drink an Erdinger, but an Augustiner is lucious. I prefer a good Pils, though.
By Carlo at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Well, last year we were in this Arabic (?) pub and they didn't serve any alcoholic beverages. So last year there was at least one pub without beer in Osnabrück. I guess you just don't go there. I can't blame you. :-)
By Ingo Klöcker at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Excellent, Erdinger is one of my favourite beers -- they sell it in the Asda near where I live (sardly part of Wal Mart :( )
By Chris Howells at Fri, 2005/01/21 - 6:00am
Re: Osnabruck
Exactly. Note that there is exactly one pub in Osnabrück that make their own beer (Rampendahl, in Hasestrasse IIRC).
By Arnd at Fri, 2005/01/21 - 6:00am
Evolution to be ported to windows
at least, that's what the Ximian people inside Novell are going to try. From my point of view, that a bold venture. They'll need to apply massive changes to get it work, and it may even got stuck in the middle. Time will tell, if it's a good idea to already advertise it while they haven't done anything to the code yet.
btw.: I'd still like to see a solution to ease the attachment of files to appointments like discussed in this bug:
just my 2 cents
By thomas at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Evolution to be ported to windows
As we people from Oche (== Aachen in Germany) say "Net mulle, werke." ("Don't talk, work."):
By Ingo Klöcker at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Evolution to be ported to windows
Waste of time. Kontact/KMail etc. are KDE integrated apps.
By David at Sun, 2005/01/23 - 6:00am
Re: Evolution to be ported to windows
Evolution... Now that chimes in with a discovery I made yesterday evening. I'm porting the Wet & Sticky paint model to Krita, and I needed a cut & dried rgb to hls color conversion routine. That particular routine wasn't yet in the KOffice painter lib, so I googled for something cut & pastable.
It turns out that (at least in some version) Evolution contains not just code to draw a bevelled button, but that that code also contains its own particular colourspace conversion routines:
I don't like to use the word 'bloat' in combination with code, mostly because that almost invariably exposes one as a complete ignoramus, but, well, I'd be tempted if I were sure that this code is actually inside a compiled Evolution.
By Boudewijn Rempt at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Evolution to be ported to windows
Great.. so they'll have the same beveled buttons on windows as on linux. Cool stuff. It has to be so much fun to reinvent the wheel over and over again, I guess... What else did they build in?
"In order to make an apple pie from scratch you first have to create the universe."
By thomas at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: Evolution to be ported to windows
Jaroslav Staniek has already ported Kexi to Windows, why should it not be possible to port Kontact/kdepim especially because a windows based gpl'ed qt library release 3.3 is also available.
Kexi on windows - http://iidea.pl/~js/qkw/
By Ralf Habacker at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
If I had known that I would have gone to my hometown! (I'm quite sure that this is not correct English but I cannot do it better, sorry...)
By the way: Osnabrück is the town where, according to a study, the happiest people of Germany live in. I can agree to that...
And I think, alcohol is no problem there. It's up to you to get it into a casual context ;-)
By maestro_alubia at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: D'oh!
> If I had known that I would have gone to my hometown!
Why? This was an invited-only developer meeting.
Re: D'oh!
Yes, you are right, but I do not think that the developers will isolate theirselves totally, so that there would have been the chance to talk to them somewhere (maybe in a pub after the meeting).
By maestro_alubia at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
KDE4 Timeframe
From the meeting notes: 1+ years? Oh no!!! That's too long ;)
Re: KDE4 Timeframe
Not really, I expect KDE 4 to take at least 1-1.5 years from the 3.4 release. It's a big change.
By Tom at Fri, 2005/01/21 - 6:00am
Re: KDE4 Timeframe
Yeah, I know... But wouldn't you want to see a feature complete and stable KDE 4 the day after KDe 3.4 is out?
KDE 4 promises so many important/useful changes, I can't wait to see it happen. Then again: I know I should be patient. Developers: Keep up the good work! It is highly appreciated!!
By Anonymous at Fri, 2005/01/21 - 6:00am
something about kdepim / Network dep.
Right now there is only a Qtopia Konnector available when using Multisynk or Kitchensync.
The inclusion of the mostly Bluetooth related sync stuff would benefit many people and would kick off sync usage and device integration.
are there plans to talk with the kde-bluetooth people for collaboration ?
Also a systray daemon for syncable devices would be nice if they are getting in range (detected).
so - any comment on KDEPIM<->KDE-BLUETOOTH ?
By xor at Thu, 2005/01/20 - 6:00am
Re: something about kdepim / Network dep.
I did once get it to work under KDE3.2. Syncing Evolution1 with either IRmC and the LDAP plugins. However, when I install Multisync and Evolution2, it looks as if it compiles all necessary plugins but won't show any of them under the resources. Just the default plugins as local, Qtopia etc. Right now, under KDE3.4, I can't even view my resources. It just crashes.
Should I compile all necessary apps manually with certain features enabled or disabled?
Any help would be appreciated.
By Victor at Sat, 2005/03/19 - 6:00am


text:
Ukraine: The D.C. battle that wasn't
At last, Washington has found a fight it does not want to have.
When the Russian parliament authorized the deployment of military forces in Ukraine, sending black-clad gunmen into the former Soviet Republic, it might have been expected to touch off yet another battle between the White House and congressional Republicans.
Story Continued Below
Instead, there has been a conspicuous absence of saber-rattling on both sides — an acknowledgment, perhaps, of the complexity of the situation in Eastern Europe, as well as the public's overwhelming distaste for foreign entanglements. For Democrats and Republicans who spent much of the last century competing to be Moscow's most credible antagonist, and much of the past decade fighting over which party killed terrorists more ruthlessly, there was no rush to the battle domestic stations over the weekend.
( Also on POLITICO: Why Russia no longer fears the West)
The slight substantive gap between the parties was on vivid display as Secretary of State John Kerry and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a leading GOP foreign policy spokesman, toured the Sunday shows. Both men floated a similar range of options for responding to Russian aggression, including economic retaliation, aiding the provisional government in Ukraine and potentially freezing Russia out of the G-8.
There's some jockeying for partisan advantage: Republicans, including Rubio, have argued that President Barack Obama emboldened Russian leader Vladimir Putin with a kid-gloves foreign policy. Big-name Democrats, including 2016 favorite Hillary Clinton, have so far deferred to the current administration in outlining a response policy; Democrats see no value in getting ahead of the White House on a complicated set of decisions in a still-unfolding crisis.
Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican military veteran elected in the 2010 conservative wave election, said he did not expect Ukraine to become a flashpoint for conflict between the White House and the Hill.
"You're going to find a House that's very cooperative with the administration on this," Kinzinger said on ABC's "This Week."
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark said he expected Obama to have the political maneuvering room he needs to answer Russia's actions, which Clark called "a spear aimed at the heart of NATO."
"What [Obama] needs is the support of Congress when he goes through the decision-making process and comes out with the right answers," Clark said in an interview. "It's not clear you need the public engaged at this point, and it's not clear it would be helpful."
It's also unclear whether public engagement on a significant foreign policy issue is even possible at this moment in American politics. The backdrop for Obama's Ukraine response — and the congressional reaction on both sides of the aisle — is a historic level of public disengagement from conflicts overseas.
( Also on POLITICO: Obama's options on Russia)
Several times during Obama's presidency, events abroad have prompted Americans to consider whether their country should play the role of international policeman. In each case so far — in Libya and Syria, and in the ongoing war in Afghanistan — the public has answered in the negative.
A Pew survey published in December even found that for the first time, a majority of Americans say that the United States should "mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own." Fifty-two percent of respondents agreed with that proposition, while only 38 percent disagreed.
"This is the most lopsided balance in favor of the U.S. 'minding its own business' in the nearly 50-year history of the measure," Pew reported.
That attitude has characterized voters' views of individual conflicts: Last September, at the height of global alarm about the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons against civilians, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 65 percent of Americans said the Syrian conflict was "none of our business." In the spring 2011 Libya intervention, early public support gave way quickly to solid disapproval: by November 2011, a CBS News poll showed Americans believed, 49 percent to 37 percent, that the U.S. should never have gotten involved in North Africa.