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California Department of Transportation
Date: April 27 , 2011
District: Caltrans Headquarters - Sacramento
Contact: Matt Rocco
Phone: (916) 654-5467
Federal Railroad Administration Awards Caltrans $100 Million Grant
Equipment Upgrades to be Made on Amtrak California Corridors
Sacramento – The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) $100 million to purchase new equipment on Amtrak California trains that service the San Joaquin and Pacific Surfliner rail corridors.
"California has seen a 60 percent increase in ridership in the last decade on the San Joaquin and Pacific Surfliner corridors," said Caltrans Director Cindy McKim. "This grant will allow us to meet the growing needs of rail passengers in California and continue providing an alternate choice for travel in the state."
This award allows Caltrans to add to its current fleet and address future growth in Amtrak California rail travel. The new bi-level equipment includes 27 new cars: nine will replace single-level equipment used on the Pacific Surfliner, and 18 will allow for growth on both the San Joaquin and Pacific Surfliner corridors.
The grant was funded through federal fiscal year 2010 appropriations provided for high speed and intercity passenger rail. This particular project is the first to be authorized under the Next Generation design standards in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA), which were developed to primarily promote the creation of a pool of standardized equipment for Amtrak and the states to use in various state-sponsored rail corridors.
For more information on the grant or fleet expansion efforts, visit AmtrakCalifornia.com. Join us on Facebook at Facebook.com/AmtrakCalifornia; or follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/Amtrak_CA.
About Amtrak California
Amtrak California is a partnership of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and Amtrak. Under the Amtrak California banner, Caltrans funds three of the five busiest intercity passenger rail routes in the Amtrak system: the Pacific Surfliner corridor (ranked second), the Capitol Corridor (ranked third), and the San Joaquin corridor (ranked fifth). Caltrans manages both the Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin corridors. The Capitol Corridor, although funded by Caltrans, is managed by the Capital Corridor Joint
Powers Authority. Contributing more than $90 million annually in state operating assistance, Caltrans is the largest state supported passenger rail program in the nation. For more information visit AmtrakCalifornia.com; join us on Facebook at Facebook.com/AmtrakCalifornia; or follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/Amtrak_CA.
About Amtrak
Amtrak is America's Railroad, the nation's intercity passenger rail provider and its only high-speed rail operator. A record 28.7 million passengers traveled on Amtrak in FY 2010 and more than 300 daily trains – at speeds up to 150 mph (241 kph) – that connect 46 states, the District of Columbia and three Canadian Provinces. Amtrak operates trains in partnership with 15 states and four commuter rail agencies. Amtrak also is a strong financial performer achieving an 85 percent cost-recovery ratio in FY 2010. Enjoy the journey at Amtrak.com or call 800-USA-RAIL for schedules, fares and more information. Join us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Amtrak and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/Amtrak.
# # #


text:
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Whether you need health and safety training for work or want to learn first aid for your everyday life, we have a course for you.
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Red Cross Training, Bradbury House, 4 Ohio Avenue, Salford Quays, Manchester, M50 2GT. Phone 0844 871 8000. The British Red Cross Society, incorporated by Royal Charter 1908, is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949), Scotland (SC037738) and Isle of Man (0752).
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bella Isla Resort
Holidays from £1789 per person
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Call us today on 020 7644 1755
Imagine strolling through Havana's colourful streets, riding in classic American cars from the 50s, dancing to the rhythm of salsa and cha cha cha, following in the footsteps of Che's revolution, swimming with dolphins in open sea, or stretching out on a beautiful Caribbean beach. Those who have been to Cuba never forget their affection for the place.
Holidays from £1789 per person
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© 2005 — 2019 The Holiday Place plc. All Rights Reserved.


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ICD-10 Diagnosis Code Q55.21
Diagnosis Code Q55.21
Short Description: Polyorchism
Long Description: Polyorchism
This is the 2019 version of the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code Q55.21
Valid for Submission
The code Q55.21 is valid for submission for HIPAA-covered transactions.
Code Classification
- Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
Version 2019 Billable Code Diagnoses For Males Only POA Exempt
Information for Medical Professionals
Code Edits
The following edits are applicable to this code:
Diagnoses for males only - Diagnoses for males only.
Diagnostic Related Groups
The diagnosis code Q55.21 is grouped in the following Diagnostic Related Group(s) (MS-DRG V35.0)
Convert to ICD-9
- 752.89 - Genital organ anom NEC (Approximate Flag)
Present on Admission (POA)
The code Q55.21 is exempt from POA reporting.
- Polyorchism
Index to Diseases and Injuries
References found for the code Q55.21 in the Index to Diseases and Injuries:
- - Malformation (congenital) - See Also: Anomaly;
- - testis and scrotum - Q55.20
- - polyorchism - Q55.21
- - testis and scrotum - Q55.20
- - Polyorchism, polyorchidism - Q55.21
Information for Patients
Testicular Disorders
Testicles, or testes, make male hormones and sperm. They are two egg-shaped organs inside the scrotum, the loose sac of skin behind the penis. It's easy to injure your testicles because they are not protected by bones or muscles. Men and boys should wear athletic supporters when they play sports.
You should examine your testicles monthly and seek medical attention for lumps, redness, pain or other changes. Testicles can get inflamed or infected. They can also develop cancer. Testicular cancer is rare and highly treatable. It usually happens between the ages of 15 and 40.
- Anorchia (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Hydrocele (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Hydrocele repair (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Orchitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Scrotal masses (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Testicle lump (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Testicle pain (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Testicular self-examination (Medical Encyclopedia)
- Varicocele (Medical Encyclopedia)
[Read More]
ICD-10 Footnotes
General Equivalence Map Definitions
The ICD-10 and ICD-9 GEMs are used to facilitate linking between the diagnosis codes in ICD-9-CM and the new ICD-10-CM code set. The GEMs are the raw material from which providers, health information vendors and payers can derive specific applied mappings to meet their needs.
- Approximate Flag - The approximate flag is on, indicating that the relationship between the code in the source system and the code in the target system is an approximate equivalent.
- No Map Flag - The no map flag indicates that a code in the source system is not linked to any code in the target system.
- Combination Flag - The combination flag indicates that more than one code in the target system is required to satisfy the full equivalent meaning of a code in the source system.
Present on Admission
The Present on Admission (POA) indicator is used for diagnosis codes included in claims involving inpatient admissions to general acute care hospitals. POA indicators must be reported to CMS on each claim to facilitate the grouping of diagnoses codes into the proper Diagnostic Related Groups (DRG). CMS publishes a listing of specific diagnosis codes that are exempt from the POA reporting requirement.


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A Girl Once Named Leah
Leah Clearwater's Point of View "Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. Even for me. It only takes my fives seconds to fully morph into my wolf form. Five seconds and my being is altered beyond recognition. That's all it takes. Time passes. No matter how little, or how much, time changes people." Feedback would be appreciated ^_^
1. A Girl Once Named Leah
Rating 5/5 Word Count 1093 Review this Chapter
By: Natilie Sawada
A/n: I was super inspired by "Nothing to Lose" By: BabelFish42 Go check it out. Tis amazing. Mine won't turn out nearly as good as her Leah POV story, but I'll try. Lol
Doesn't take place during any book or scene specifically, except this is after Sam leaves her for Emily, she turns into a werewolf, and her dad dies.
Leah's POV
Time passes. Slowly but it does.
Even when each tick of the second had aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise.
Even for me.
Luxury of time? Not something I ever got.
Life didn't give me time to try and heal. Not in the least. Not one second.
I try to stick a pin in my hair to keep my bangs out of my face. Why the hell did Paul have to claw right there and chop of my hair so it would annoy the hell out of me until it grew out again? Dammit, ugh.
I kept poking my self with the pin, too. Stupid mirror.
My eyes were dark today. Like they usually were. Because it was usually raining.
And of course it was going to be cold. I always had to run patrol when it was raining.
I grabbed my jacket and nothing else and walked out of my bedroom, my stupid annoying bangs in my eyes.
"Hey, Leah, where you goin?" It was my kid brother. I kept walking without even turning around to face him.
"Go away, Seth." I heard the light pata-pata of his feet as he followed me down the narrow carpeted hall.
"I just wanna know where you're going."
"Patrolling," I said briskly, pulling my coat onto my arms and heading towards the door.
"When you gonna be back?" I turned, glaring, at him. But something paused the comeback burning like acid on my tongue.
His eyes.
They were so…innocent. So childlike and expectant and…clear.
Unclouded—like mine used to be.
"Is that any of your business, kid?" I spat the acid words at him so they wouldn't keep burning my tongue. He coiled back from the hate in my voice.
But that's what I did, right? Leah the bitch. The bitter harpy girl whose sole purpose in life is to torture the ones around her.
It was just easier that way. It's better people hate me than pity me. Hate brings you up to their level, makes you an equal.
Pity makes you lower than the sole of their shoe. And I hate it. I absolutely hate it.
So, it's what I do. I lash out at everyone. Spit the acid burning in my chest at them to try and make it go away.
Give them even the smallest taste of the pain I dealt with everyday.
The pain inflicted by the wounds time hadn't given me a chance to heal.
"Well, have fun then," Seth said, bringing me back to our little living room, turning to retreat back into his room. "I hope you find a bloodsucker to rip up. See ya later, Lee-Lee." I heard his door shut.
I caught myself before I flinched at the name. I clenched my hands into fists, but that didn't stop them from shaking.
I needed to get outside. Now.
I wrenched open the door, busting one of the hinges in the constant anger that caused the need to rip things.
Crap. Well, that was twenty bucks wasted. Dammit.
"Me too, kid," I muttered angrily as I slammed the door behind me.
A little ways into the forest I undressed, slinging my jacket, shirt, and shorts over a tree branch. I wasn't wearing any shoes. I never did except to school.
I stood for one moment in the forest, completely naked, closed my eyes, and breathed, as my anger dulled for a moment.
I felt the cold air rush over every inch of me, feel the soft earth under my feet.
Smell the dampness of the soil and the trees.
Taste the air on my tongue.
And most of all. Hear the forest. Hear the simultaneous silence and blaring noise that assaulted my ears.
Hear the emptiness in my head. That was the best part—no strike that, the only good part about being human.
Why couldn't I stay like this forever. Or better yet melt into the earth and the trees and the air.
Become one with the forest and the sky so that I wouldn't have to think anymore; wouldn't have to feel anymore.
I sighed as I felt a dew drop drip from a leaf onto my nose, and my bangs fall back into my eyes.
But of course, life is never that easy. Moments like that can never last. Time keeps passing. Even for me.
It only took me about five seconds to fully morph into my wolf form.
Five seconds, and my entire being was altered beyond recognition.
That's all it takes.
Time passes. No matter how much, or how little, it changes people.
Self loathing is often a common emotion among those who come to this realization. Take me for example.
My paw pounded on the earth as I darted through the forest—fast as bullet, silent as a ghost. The wind whistled past my ears, flattening my ears against my head. Thank God no one else was running today.
Before Luck and Fate decided to gang up on me and proverbially rain on my life (because it did that literally already) I had been a different girl. So different even I was surprised we were the same person once.
Its useless thinking about back before my life got screwed up. I realized that eventually. But not before I'd come to hate to naïve sweet little girl I used to be.
I'd come to hate everything she stood for, everything she did, the way she talked, the ways she walked, the way she acted around people, the way she laughed and smiled…
I pushed my legs harder, narrowly dodging a tree.
Well she's far behind me now.
That stupid, naïve girl named Leah Clearwater. The one who thought fairy tales could come true, even on a small reservation on the Olympic peninsula. The one who thought happy endings were real. The one who thought life would always work out somehow.
Well that girl sure as hell isn't me now.
I don't frickin' know who I am anymore.
That was really fun to write.
Please comment! Reviews might earn a visit from their favorite Twi-Guy at their window tonight…? lol
- Author
- Rating
1 2 3 4 5
- Reviews
- 8
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- 19 Jan 09
- Updated
- 19 Jan 09
- Status
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Stop making excuses. Because, actually, that's what they are. You may think that they're more like reasons - and very reasonable reasons - and you will be pleasantly surprised to find they just don't apply.
- You don't have to be a computer wizard
- You don't have to be a genealogy guru
- You just watched half an hour's worth of cartoons on the TV. That's all the time you need to index
- It's free
Try it!


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I'd take him on the name alone...Has anyone on here seen Ohio U. outfielder Gauntlett Eldemire play?
I'd take him on the name alone...Has anyone on here seen Ohio U. outfielder Gauntlett Eldemire play?
"In baseball, you don't know nothin'"...Yogi Berra
I'm gonna be mad if the Reds take Vitek over Brentz.
The Reds earned at least one year of my trust with the Leake pick last year, so I'm not gonna get in a twist no matter who they pick.
"In baseball, you don't know nothin'"...Yogi Berra
I wouldn't trust anything Law says in terms of what he hears. He's had a pretty bad track record on these matters.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
I wouldn't. Vitek is a very athletic guy with an excellent arm, just like Brentz. Word has him moving to CF, and the bat looks solid. Just don't see what there is to get real worked up over here.I'm gonna be mad if the Reds take Vitek over Brentz.
"Baseball is a very, very complex business. It's more of a people business than most businesses." - Bob Castellini
Honestly the Reds have done so well drafting in the First Round since Bailey in 2004, I actually have faith in whatever player they pick...
04 Bailey
05 Bruce
06 Stubbs
07 Mesorasco
08 Alonso
09 Leake
4 are in the Majors now and are big parts of the teams current success... The other two will both make it within 2 years. Find me another team with that kind of success rate?
Heck in 2003 they Drafted Wagner who did pitch in the majors that year with success. You have to go back to 2002 and Gruler since they had a bad 1st round pick.
In 2004 you got:
Tatum (Now with Baltimore)
Valiquette (On 40 Man)
in the first 7 rounds... 3 in the majors the 4th has a decent shot.
In 2005 you got:
in the first 4 rounds
Stevens in the 6th which got us Phillips
in the 11th, 12th and 13th rounds
Denove who is looking great this year and could be the backup next year in the 32nd.
In 2006 you got:
Stubbs (granted you coulda had Lincecum, but Stubbs is currently out producing Bruce)
Turner who has had 2 cups of coffee at the ML Level.
Roenicke (who helped get the Reds Rolen)
With a few of the guys like Valakia, Smith, Dorn, Webb, Tabor high in the system all with chances to make it to the majors.
In 2007 you got:
All in the first 3 rounds.
Lotzkar may or may not rebound. Mez, Frazier, Cozart will all make the show.
Carroll and Soto have decent chances.
They proceeded to get Hildenbrandt and Waring in the 6th and 7th. (Waring along with Turner got the Reds Hernandez)
They got Krebs and Klinker in the 14th and 15th rounds Horst in the 21st Partch in the 26th, Hotchkiss in the 31st...
In 2008 you got:
Stewart (who also got the Reds Rolen)
Sapplett (who is just tearing up the Minors)
In the first 9 rounds. 3 or 4 of which will more than likely make it to the Majors.
Other notables are:
Sulbaran (30th)
Thurman (19th)
Fairel (35th)
Freeman (32nd)
Coddington (44th)
2009 paid immediate dividends in one Mike Leake...
then you have
in the first 3 rounds.
Then Consecutive picks of...
Serrano A+
Fellhauer A+
Silva Rookie Ball
Pearl A (injured but looked good)
Barnhart Rookie Ball
Johnson A
Garton A
Christiani A+
Crabbe A
6 of which will probably make it to the Majors including Leake. (Boxberger, Joseph, Serrano, Fellahauer, Christiani)
The farm system has also shown much less patience with prospects who aren't producing at a high level quickly.
4 picks from last years draft have already be cut and didn't put up to terrible numbers.
So the jist of this is... They know what they are doing. They are doing it better than any time in Reds history. If they take Bob Smith from Nowhere, ND in the first round you can almost guarantee he will be in the majors producing in 2 to 4 years.
Don't get to high, don't get to low on whoever they take no matter where they are rated on anyone elses board. The only board I care about is the one at GABP.
All that being said, I suspect based on everyone else's board but Law's it's going to be Wimmers unless Grandal is there... and if they think that's the guy, then that's the guy...
Last edited by nemesis; 06-07-2010 at 05:36 PM.
If you can't be a good example... then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels...
is the draft on cable or is it on MLB network only?
I doubt its on any other channel though.
I believe you will be able to watch it online here
I guess ESPN rather show NFL live for the 4th time today than show the 1st round of the draft, good grief
Think there will be a stream online for those without mlbnetwork?
Follow me on twitter @EricLilly7
Im almost 100% sure this will be showing the draft live tonight.
From Keith Law's twitter:
A potential shocker to the Reds at #12? http://klaw.me/bSuEVG
I'm guessing he's talking about Chance Ruffin. Please no.
Doug is reporting Arkansas RHP/OFer Brett Eibner is telling teams he wants to hit rather than pitch. Jonathan Mayo has the Reds selecting Eibner with the No. 12 pick.
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.


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One of the challenges of gardening on my little urban homestead is the great old oaks that surround and shade my property. But for mushrooms, that shade is a welcome thing. I'd had mushrooms in the back of my mind since a small paper sack of shiitakes first appeared in my weekly CSA pick up a few years ago. Gaia Gardens' farmer then, the genius that is Daniel Parson, was the first person I'd ever met who knew how to inoculate oak logs with shiitake spores. The result of his labors were what I think of as little flavor poems. Really, there are no words to describe how a good mushroom tastes. That's why I like to think of them as poems—a thing so original that it can be expressed in no other way.
When Farmer Daniel moved away to South Carolina a couple of years ago, that was it for my shiitake supply. Then a few months ago, my fellow Southern Urban Homesteader Esther (who is also an accomplished mushroom forager, and I'm hoping to persuade her to contribute another guest blog here on her hunting/gathering adventures in the wilds of suburbia) invited me to participate in a little informal mushroom growing workshop she was helping organize in her neighborhood. It seemed like a good activity for my shady winter garden, so one Sunday afternoon in early November I found myself with Esther and a few other nice folks (fun ghis?) in a Chamblee, Georgia, backyard, around a giant turkey fryer vat over an open flame containing wheat straw steeping in hot water. It all felt very primal, but then mushrooms are rather primal—all moisture and shadows.
Our workshop leader, Rod Stafford of the Georgia Mushroom Club, brought along some blue oyster mushroom spawn that we would start not in a log, but in a bag or basket of this wheat straw, which was soaking in the hot water to pasteurize it. He chose blue oysters because they are very easy to get going, especially in colder weather. A good thing, since we were heading into temps in the teens and twenties within a few weeks.
Rod emphasized the need to keep things as sterile as possible (we also used surgical gloves to handle the spores), because the mycelia that form from the spores are competing with other bacteria. We removed the now-pasteurized wheat straw from the vat of hot water and spread it out to cool completely. Then came the fun part: we began by cutting tubes of clear plastic into three foot lengths and tying off each end with pipe cleaners (a few people used baby-sized laundry baskets instead of plastic tubing, but the technique is the same). Then we donned the gloves and filled the bags first with a layer of wet straw, then a sprinkle of the mushroom spawn, then another layer of straw, then more spawn, and so forth. The spawn is strange stuff–kind of fuzzy and spongy and otherwordly. When I reached into the sack to bring out a scoop, I felt like I was digging my hand into alien soil—literally. Its earthy scent is intense but not unpleasant.
We continued with layers of straw and spawn until the bags were stuffed to a height of about a 18 inches, then we tied off the tops with pipe cleaners. The bags looked like giant link sausages. We then poked holes into the bags, baked potato style.
I took my two stuffed bags home with Rod's clear instructions to find a shady place (no problem there) that would allow for plenty of air circulation. I worried, of course, about the damn squirrels feasting on my mushrooms, so I enclosed them in an old guinea pig hutch and found the perfect spot for them tucked behind my groovy new rain barrel installation next to the house.
I had about a quart of the mushroom spawn left over, so on Rod's advice I put it to work in a couple of other ways. This next technique thrills me to my thrifty toes because it uses stuff I just normally have around the house that would otherwise get recycled: I took some shredded waste paper and pasteurized it in a big pot on my stove and layered it with the spawn in a couple of quart-sized Mason jars and an old plastic colander (I used plastic baggies over my hands because I didn't have any surgical gloves hanging around). I covered the jars with loose tents of aluminum foil and the colander with a plastic grocery sack. I added these odd looking containers to the squirrel-proof mushroom cage.
Then I waited. Every day I went out and turned the bags over and maybe spritzed the jars and colander with a mister to keep everything evenly moist. I peered through the plastic and the jar to see if I might spy any mushroomy goodness emerging. What I did start to see was mycelium forming—a dense white web of goo reaching through the straw and the shredded paper to form a kind of wet mat. It pulled the straw away from the plastic and formed a coat inside the jars and colander. (Really, this stuff has to be from another planet!)
After about three weeks, when there was plenty of mycelium, I dunked the bags in a bucket of water and gave them a good soaking. I was really hoping to see some mushrooms soon after that, but not much seemed to be happening. I began to doubt. I began to give up hope. I began to wonder if I had somehow contaminated my field: did I sneeze on my spores? Did the dog drool on them?
And then, wonder of wonders, three days after Christmas, I saw them. They are called "pins," and they are basically the tiny little heads of mushrooms that first emerge from the mycelium. I emailed Esther right away (because I was so excited), then gave the bags and colander another dunking for several hours and misted the jars. And wouldn't you know? They suddenly started growing like crazy.
I harvested a couple of the almost-ready ones today just to taste them, and wow! Delicate flavor/fragrance poems. Here they are with some arugula and eggs I gathered at the same time — Southern winter blessings.


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Add former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell to the list of names mentioned in connection with the Detroit Lions' head coaching vacancy.
Caldwell, currently the Ravens' offensive coordinator, is thought to be on the Lions' list, according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post.
The pros for Caldwell in Detroit are easy to see. For starters, his experience as an assistant is with coaching quarterbacks and receivers, and coordinating pass-first offenses, and the Lions want a coach who can take Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson and turn them into the focal points of a high-scoring offense. There's also the fact that Caldwell has been the head coach of a team that got to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, and a high-ranking assistant on Super Bowl-winning teams with both the Colts and the Ravens. He has experience with winning teams.
But the problem is that Caldwell hasn't yet shown that he can be a successful head coach without a great quarterback already in place. When Caldwell had Peyton Manning in 2009 and 2010, he went 14-2 and 10-6. But when Caldwell lost Manning to a neck injury in 2011, his team collapsed to 2-14. The Lions don't need a coach who can win with a fully formed franchise quarterback like Manning. The Lions need a coach who can take Stafford and turn him from what he is now (a talented but error-prone passer) into a franchise quarterback.
The Lions would love to find a coach who can make Stafford look like Manning. The question about Caldwell as a potential coach of the Lions is whether Manning became the quarterback he is because of Caldwell's coaching, or whether Caldwell was just lucky enough to get hired by a team that had Peyton Manning.


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How long should your story be?
a) as long as it takes to tell
b) a predetermined length that automatically fills a slot
If you picked b) you have a much better chance of selling your work.
Short stories usually have length limitations, due to space constraints. It's much easier to find a market for something 5k than 15k.
And whenever you speak of length, speak in terms of word count, NOT page numbers. Someone using hevlecta 10pt single space can cram 700 words on a page, while an arial 14pt double-spacer with a lot of dialog might fit 150. (for the record, use courier 12pt double space, 1 inch margins, unless you know it's okay to do otherwise)
You should find out the writer's guidelines for length for a particular market before you begin--after all, why write anything without knowing who might buy it?
But if I am writing without a market in mind, I try to keep my shorts between 1500 and 7500 words.
If I go over 7500, I cut. And if I've learned one thing, it's that EVERYTHING can be cut.
Why keep it that length? I edited an anthology (coming out next year from Bleak House Books) and I learned that if given the choice between two 3000 words stories, and a 6000 words story, I go with the two.
When you pick up an antho or a magazine, do you read it cover to cover? Or do you skip around, sampling this story and that story? And which stories do you read first?
In my case, it's the shortest ones.
Every word should count in a narrative, and if you can make it shorter, you should. Didn't Hemingway have some kind of comment about, "I apologize for the length, I didn't have time to make it shorter?"
As for novels, there are no rules set in stone, but this is what I've noticed.
First novels have a better chance of selling if they are under 90k.
The reason is wholly monetary. Your publisher will probably lose money on your first book. But a 150k book will cost more to print, more to ship, and less will fit in a carton. Cost of production figures heavily into a publisher's decision whether to buy or not to buy.
Some genres, such as fantasy and historical romance, tend to be lengthier.
If your book is under 60k, it will have a harder time finding a buyer, both through a publisher and through a customer.
Fiction has set prices. Around 6 bucks for a paperback, 13 bucks for trade paper, and 24 dollars for a hardcover. Some are slightly more or less. Bestsellers command higher prices (I've seen a lot of 29 dollar price tags) but then they're discounted 30%.
So chances are your book will be about $24. A consumer will look at a thin 60K word book, and a thicker 100K word book, see they're both the same price, and assume bigger is better.
It's unlikely a publisher will price your book lower because it's shorter, for the same reason Shell sells gas comparable to Mobil--they want to stay competitive.
Are there exceptions? Always. But if you're trying to break into this business, which is hard enough, why stack even more odds against yourself?
Whiskey Sour was 68k. The hardcover was 270 pages, and it was 45 chapters.
Bloody Mary was 71k, 307 pages, 53 chapters.
Rusty Nail was 78k, 289 pages, 54 chapters.
Same font size/style/typesetting for all of them, so why do the numbers seem strange?
The page count/word count ratio changes, depending on how much dialog is in a book. Dialog takes up page space, but involves less words.
Rusty Nail was more action in it than Whiskey Sour, which had more dialog.
This brings up another point: White space.
Be aware of white space. Readers like dialog. They like looking at a page and seeing a lot of white space. Long, clunky paragraphs are intimidating.
Have you ever watched someone browse? They'll flip through a few pages, and you can see the gears in their heads turning as they think: Do I have time to read this? Will it be fun or a chore? Can I finish it in one or two sittings? Does it have long chapters, or short ones I can finish before I go to sleep or while I take a bath?
Think about your own reading habits. What do you like to see on a page? What makes a book look inviting, before you've even read a single word?
In my younger days, when I needed to buy some classic for some college class, I'd crack open different editions and find the one that was the most eye-friendly. Big font, not a lot of words crammed on each page.
Dialog makes a book more eye-friendly. At least, to my inner reader.
If I have a paragraph that lasts for more than half the page, I try to break it up. If I have a chapter that lasts longer than 15 pages (3700 words) I try to break it up.
Your words should be good, but also be aware of how they look on the page. Are they enticing your eyes to lock onto random bits of dialog or action? Or do they look boring?
Readers skip long paragraphs.
I randomly picked 5 pages from each of my three novels, to see how many paragraphs they averaged per page (by couting the indents.)
Whiskey Sour averaged 16.8 paragraphs per page. Bloody Mary was 13.4. Rusty Nail was 14.4.
Overall, if you open one of my books, you'll see 14.8 indents per full page.
Let's look at some other authors (hardcover editions.) Here are some bestsellers:
ONE SHOT by Lee Child - 16.6 paraphs per page
CHILL OF FEAR by Kay Hooper - 11.4 per page
TO THE NINES by Jaent Evanovich - 13.8 per page
SCARECROW by Matt Reilly - 16.4 per page
VANISH by Tess Gerritsen - 15.8 per page
STONE COLD by Robert Parker - 17 per page
Here are some debuts:
HUNDREDTH MAN by Jack Kerley - 13.8 per page
BAHAMARAMA by Bob Morris - 13 per page
MISDEMEANOR MAN by Dylan Schaffer - 16.2 per page
KILLER SWELL by Jeff Shelby - 14 per page
STILL RIVER by Harry Hunsicker - 11.8
What does any of this mean?
Well, if you write mysteries or thrillers, it means to avoid long paragraphs, and have a lot of dialog.
Besides looking good on a page, this also has the side-effect of making the books move faster.
By comparision, I went through some POD books that I have from previous contests I've judged.
I looked through three of them. They averaged 7.2 paragraphs a page.
Draw your own conclusions.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
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Just off to check my mother's 1930-50s cookbooks for glass adverts - back soon! What chance a Bagley jelly mould will appear?
Old Womens mags are probably a good source too.
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SEO Code of Conduct
Everyone in this industry has a personal Code of Conduct whether written or not. In our version we believe that "do not deceive" is at the top and applies to everyone: search engines, clients, and site visitors alike. As such, the basic theme of our personal Code of Conduct is to avoid deceptive practices at all costs.
As taught in our courses, it is not the job of SEO to make pigs fly; it is the job of SEO to genetically re-engineer the site so that it is an eagle. If you strive to make pigs fly, it is deceptive. If you put real subject matter in an expert format and place the key words in the places that clearly identify that subject then you are enhancing the user experience and make the site actually more relevant. The Code of Conduct should encourage SEOs to work in ways that do not disguise pigs or make pigs fly. The Code should promote content improvement and clarity.
The generally accepted measurements of optimization success is [ranking / traffic / conversion / return], and hence our industry is dependant upon the continued good will of the search engines. By acting to identify and speak out against attempts to falsify the content of a web site through deception, the search engine relevancy will improve and the industry will earn the support of the search engines. Understand that if you deceive a search engine you also deceive the consumer, and we consider that form of false advertising to be unacceptable. Today, far too many SEO practitioners are part of the problem and not a part of the solution. Sure, there will always be a few SEO practitioners that lag behind and protest loudly and who will continue to deceive because the revenue opportunity by using deception sometimes exceeds the penalty if caught (or because they simply do not know any better) but over time accountability will prevail.
We cannot presume to set a standard for an industry. We are not the law, and we are not trying to be. We do not want to stifle creativity or dictate web design. We are people that have lived from a time where ranking for the sake of the paying client prevailed. However, today we are rigid about avoiding search engine spam. Even when asked by a client to do something that could be considered spam, we refuse. Others in the industry have the exact opposite approach — spam until caught, then get a new domain and try a new trick. Some clients themselves do not care as long as they get traffic now; it does not matter if next month they are faced with extinction. We disagree with the "if you cannot win fairly then cheat" mentality. We cannot presume to speak for people that practice this (or condemn them) other than to indicate that we think this short-sighted view hurts our industry and is unnecessary, and we will not do it. And in our opinion, the search engines should take decisive action to identify and discourage it.
What we can do is set our own personal standards of behavior. We control our own behavior, and nobody else's.
But we can also encourage others to follow our lead. We have published the following Code of Conduct as a broad set of policies along with a formal certification ONLY for our own proprietary tools and methodologies, not for an entire industry. We support this certification with regular and spot audits of the voluntary participants, frequent training and re-training, and an online registration directory of who is trained and adhering to our Code of Conduct. If you do not agree with our certification policies then that is fine — you do not need to participate in our certification programs. Really, if you don't like the idea then don't participate. If you think the items in the Code are too strong or weak, fine – we will listen, but they are our Codes. In other words, we are extending our personal Code of Conduct to a private, voluntary participation, product specific Certification program.
All certifications require a training class followed by a test, plus a commitment to adhere to the Code of Conduct. We need (out of fairness) to offer SEOs a consistent level of education if we expect consistent and reasonable understanding and implementation of the Code. Each certified analyst is registered with a unique serial number, and clients can inspect the rating of each certified member online, report a spamming practice, or request a practice review. As this is our criterion, we will initially determine if that member is violating the Code of Conduct, and then allow for correction. This is a double-elimination system with arbitration. Second offenses are usually fatal, although even here there is an opportunity for appeal. We are not certifying anyone as being anything more than trained on the use of our own tools and following our Code of Conduct. This is not an industry certification any more than getting a Microsoft training certification makes you a UNIX programmer. As certified members prove to be leaders in this campaign they may be asked to assist in the audits, as the plan is to have a panel of at least 3 auditors such that no one person is all powerful, and even then there is liberal opportunity for appeal.
We truly believe that search engine spammers can "see the light" and become converts. Sometimes they go back to their old ways, but like anyone in Spammers Anonymous, when supported with a structure, guidelines, regular meetings, training on how to beat spammers, and colleagues and friends that share the same values, then they can remain converted. We are sure that everyone that has been in the industry from the beginning has converted in some way; many used to do doorways but now do not, they tried cloaking but found it distasteful, and they are now different people. We do not want to penalize spammers if we can help them convert. Think of it as a second chance. We hope that everyone will join us in this approach because lasting success would be wonderful.
Most clients who currently use spammers do it because they do not know the difference. So it is clearly in the best interests of spammers to discourage both standards and client education. We think that in a vacuum, the SEOToolSet® Certified Analyst program will prove to be a point of light among what we suspect will soon be many. (As always, copycat firms that watch us will mimic this approach within the next month or so). And we hope that regardless of source that clients will be attracted to the light and start to insist that their SEO practitioners follow the Code. It is the client community, not the SEOs or even the search engines that will cause evolution to kick in.
Remember, without the search engines, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) would not exist. Therefore, search engine optimization and marketing professionals have a vested interest in preserving the integrity of the search engines and the experience of search engine users. At SEOToolSet®, we see the search engines as business partners. In this spirit we have created the SEOToolSet® SEO Code of Conduct.
This Code of Conduct is designed to partner with the established SEO Code of Ethics by Bruce Clay, Inc. Imagine these two documents as two guards standing back to back: while the SEO Code of Ethics covers your responsibility to preserve your client's well-being, the SEO Code of Conduct covers your responsibility to preserving the well-being of the search engines and search engine users.
Along with the SEO Code of Ethics and the search engine anti-spam rules, the SEOToolSet® Code of Conduct will be used to conduct random anti-spam audits on all SEOToolSet® Certified Analysts, Organizations, Instructors and Partners.
It is very difficult to accurately define, describe, or even characterize ethical SEO techniques, especially since what is allowed and acceptable by the search engines themselves is under constant review and refinement. Although a few practices are obviously spam, other techniques can both be used for legitimate purpose, as well as abused for the purpose of unduly influencing or deceiving the search engines. Most SEO practitioners understand the differences between spam and non-spam techniques, yet not all practitioners adhere to non-spam, too often taking the short-term path which may lead to lower rankings – or even being banned – in the future. We have created this Code to encourage SEO practitioners to do better.
Whereas all parties are working towards presenting relevant and high quality information in an easy to use format to information seekers, and whereas SEO practitioners are being contracted to assist clients in obtaining higher rankings for client pages, we voluntarily adhere to the below SEOToolSet® Code of Conduct as it relates to Search Engine Optimization:
No SEO practitioner will intentionally utilize practices that serve one set of content to the search engines, and a visually different set of content to other visitors. Ideally, ALL requests sent to a specific URL should be served identical content by the web server. Cloaking is not inherently evil, but using it to deceive a search engine is not acceptable. ALL text within the BODY section of an HTML page should be visible, uncovered and easily readable by all visitors to the page. Since the search engines determine the relevancy of a page for a keyword based in part on "visible content", the search engine user deserves to see the same "visible" content when they click through to that page. Anything less than a substantial match between the content that the search engine spider sees and the content that the user sees is deception. The use of any technology with the intent to hide content or the importance of certain content from the user in any way is unacceptable. This includes using on-page techniques, bait-and-switch techniques, server controls and any other techniques developed to deceive either the search engines or search engine users. Simply put, certainly there are a great many ways to "hide" content, and all of them are deception and are not acceptable.
No SEO practitioner will intentionally use redirection in such a manner that search engines see one set of content, and non-search engine visitors are forwarded to and view a different set of content. Ideally, ALL requests sent to a specific URL should land on and remain on that URL. It is not acceptable to rapidly switch users to a page containing content other than the indexed content, commonly using redirects or event-driven processes.
No SEO practitioner will intentionally produce multiple pages with identical or nearly identical content for the purpose of influencing the search engines. Ideally, all site pages should be unique and contain content of value to a researcher seeking information. Obviously several sites can reprint articles, process news feeds, and sell the same products, but expert information is only expert if it is unique. It is not enriching to the user experience to have all of the top results containing rehashed versions of the same content.
No SEO practitioner will utilize software to automatically generate pages of no or limited value. Automatically-generated pages commonly have "gibberish" and usually make no grammatical or logical sense, hence they harm the user experience. It is generally understood that the generation of hundreds or thousands of indexable pages in an attempt to have them ranked is unacceptable. However, data base driven pages are also automatically created as are the search engine results themselves, so not all automatic pages are evil.
No SEO practitioner will intentionally participate in a Link Farm. No site can control who links to them. However your site does not need to participate in a program where unrelated sites will link to each other for the purpose of artificially inflating rankings. If the link is valid, then that is fine. If it is to deceive the search engines then it is not acceptable.
All SEO practitioners will work to their best ability to maintain the integrity of the search experience. We must all consider the effects of our optimization efforts on both the client's rankings and the quality of the search engine results overall. If any optimization technique detracts from a search engine user's experience, it is not worth using. After all, the goal of search engine optimization is not to simply achieve rankings, but it is to make expert information more accessible to users through search engine queries. Do not make pigs fly.
All SEO practitioners will work to their best ability to maintain the integrity of the SEO industry. All SEO practitioners must be committed to upholding ethical and professional conduct in practicing search engine optimization. This steadfast commitment will improve the SEO practitioner's reputation as an honest, hard-working SEO professional. Plus, it will help the practitioner maintain honest, healthy relationships with their clients, the search engines, and other SEO professionals. This in turn will help improve the reputation of the SEO industry as a whole.
We recognize that "guns don't kill — people do" and that some technologies and practices can be legitimate. We have no issues in these cases. But if it is clearly deceptive as implementated then it is a violation of this Code of Conduct. Our advice is to choose wisely and only play in the middle of the sandbox.
We expect that the vocal minority will attack this Code of Conduct. Again, we challenge them to do better.
Bruce Clay India Private Limited
Office 212, 2nd Floor, South Point Mall, Golf Course Road, Sector 53
Gurugram, Haryana 122002


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The schedule for round two has been finalized. The Canucks first two games at home will begin at 6:00pm, forcing many to have to race to the game or to home to watch the puck drop. Ahh, don't you love catering to the East?
Thursday, April 30 at Vancouver, 6:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Saturday, May 2 at Vancouver, 6:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Tuesday, May 5 at Chicago, 5:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Thursday, May 7 at Chicago, 5:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Saturday, May 9 at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m CBC, VERSUS
*Monday, May 11 at Chicago, 6:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
*Thursday, May 14 at Vancouver, TBD CBC, VERSUS


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Rams Advance to Skyline Conference Finals
#2 Farmingdale State - 2, #3 Bard - 0
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Two goals late in the second half leads Farmingdale State to a 2-0 victory over Bard College this afternoon in the Skyline Conference semifinals. The Rams improved to 16-4 overall and await their opponent for the Championship game.
After a scoreless first half, sophomore forward Christina Merrill (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) received a pass from sophomore Carly Schneider and dribbled past the goalkeeper to score, putting Farmingdale State ahead 1-0 at the 71:05 mark. Sophomore defender Yvonne Santos (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) clinched the victory for the Rams as she netted a shot from 20 yards out in the 87th minute.
Farmingdale State controlled the game allowing the Raptors (10-9) to take only one shot. The Rams also held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Freshman goalkeeper Amy Strawbridge (Indianapolis, Ind.) made 10 saves in the loss for Bard.
Farmingdale State will play the winner of the St. Joseph's/Mount Saint Mary game on Saturday, November 6th. The Skyline Conference Championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed.


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Brenda Hiatt
Brenda Hiatt began writing in 1988, an Army wife at home with two preschool children. She promised herself that if nothing sold before her youngest began school she'd get a "real j...
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Brenda Hiatt began writing in 1988, an Army wife at home with two preschool children. She promised herself that if nothing sold before her youngest began school she'd get a "real job," so she was thrilled to sell a Regency romance novel to Harlequin six months ahead of that deadline. Originally from Virginia, Brenda received degrees in Biology and Psychology from the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, before attending graduate school at Texas A&M University. She has since lived in Hawaii, South Carolina, Texas, and now Indiana. Brenda now writes full time and lives in Indianapolis with her husband and two daughters. To date, she has published six Harlequin Regency Romances, one Harlequin Superromance, two single title historical romances with HarperCollins and six historical romances with Avon Books. Brenda's first single title historical romance, SCANDALOUS VIRTUE, received rave reviews in Publisher's Weekly and other media and was named Best Romance Novel of 1999 by the American Book Readers Association. She prides herself on her thorough historical research, and when she takes a break from the past, Brenda embraces the future by teaching writing classes on the Internet. An active member of Romance Writers of America since 1990, Brenda participates every year in RWA's Readers for Life Literacy Autographing, which since 1990 has raised over $300,000 for adult literacy. Brenda has also served as President of Novelists, Inc, an international organization of over 600 multi-published novelists. Brenda's titles include: THE RUNAWAY HEIRESS -- Avon, June 2005 TAMING TESSA -- Avon, September 2004 WICKEDLY YOURS -- Avon, November 2003 INNOCENT PASSIONS -- Avon, February 2003 A REBELLIOUS BRIDE -- Avon, April 2002 ROGUE'S HONOR -- Avon, July 2001 SHIP OF DREAMS -- HarperCollins, April 2000 SCANDALOUS VIRTUE -- HarperCollins, June 1999 AZALEA -- Harlequin "Regency Diamonds," August 1994 BRIDGE OVER TIME -- Harlequin Superromance, April 1994 A CHRISTMAS BRIDE -- Harlequin Regency, December 1993 DARING DECEPTION -- Harlequin Regency, July 1993 LORD DEARBORN'S DESTINY -- Harlequin Regency, February 1993 THE UGLY DUCKLING -- Harlequin Regency, September 1992 GABRIELLA -- Harlequin Regency, March 1992
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I thought I would share a few pictures of my latest model build - the Spacehawk from Terrahawks.
This is an exact reproduction of the original model used in the series - made possible because I've had that model for the last six months to do some repairs to it. Also I managed to get hold of a large number of duplicate parts left over from the original build back in early 1980s, including all the vintage coffee jar lids and disposable razors needed to build this.
Its taken a lot of glue to stick the 1800 pieces together but it's come out quite well ....
To begin with the almost complete spare set of parts assembled by the original builder, Phil Rae, incase he needed to build a spare, I just needed another 15+ model kits to complete it.
starting to copy the assembled parts
repaired original and finished reproduction


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Corporate America has been warming to social media. Businesses as stodgy as banks have taken to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, including local institutions from Magna Bank to First Tennessee Bank and several others.
On the other end of the scale are companies like FedEx. The Memphis-based package delivery giant recently unveiled a partnership with Facebook with the launch of "Ship to Friends." It's a Facebook app that lets FedEx's Facebook users send FedEx packages to their friends without leaving the Facebook ecosystem. Correspondingly, the legal industry is continuing to warm up to social media too.
Greg Grisham, a partner in the Memphis office of workplace law firm Jackson Lewis LLP, said directly what many people probably know but may not pay attention to:
"Lawyers do like to get information from social media for their cases," he said. "It happens a lot in workers' comp cases. Really, it happens in all cases. If the information's in the public domain, then you're not (inappropriately) crossing any boundaries in finding the information and using it."
One issue driving much activity at present in the legal field has to do with that dividing line between public and private information. It's something any serious Facebook user will be intimately familiar with, given the social network's tweaks over the years that sometimes has resulted in information and settings being publicly displayed without users realizing it.
Grisham cited a recent Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals case centered on an employee firing that was based in large part on the employer's use of a particular worker's publicly accessible Facebook data.
Facebook users set up profile pages that include detailed personal information in addition to continually – however often they choose – populating a news feed of status updates. Various pieces of all that data or even the entirety of it can be made fully accessible to the public, or only viewable to friends whom the user has approved.
That distinction is important. In the recent court of appeals case, Grisham said an employee had "friended" some of her supervisors and coworkers on Facebook.
"She took some pictures of herself out having fun when she had said she was too sick to come into work, and they were accessible by her supervisors and coworkers," Grisham said. "They didn't have to do anything underhanded to look at the pictures. They were just there. A couple of the plaintiff's coworkers saw them, and that's how they came to the attention of the plaintiff's supervisor.
"Then she shared the pictures with her supervisor, and that's what started an investigation."
The company ended up firing the worker over a policy prohibiting dishonesty. That's a bit more clear-cut than some cases Grisham said he's heard about, where law firms might have a paralegal or someone else create a profile on a social networking site to try and be "friends" with someone to gain access to information that a user has made private.
"Generally speaking, information in the public domain can be used," Grisham said. "But once you cross into that line in trying to be essentially deceptive to gain access to what was private information – I think a lot of courts would have a problem with that."
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reader question of the week #2:
Sunday, December 13, 2009
reader question of the week #2
reader question of the week #2:
3 comments:
- Tay said...
Concern- Did she make sure her husband is okay with a party? Being a military wife... I know for sure mine would not! At least not for 2-3wks after his return, he would want to spend time with me and visit his family.
Other than that... what does he like? Sports, fishing, hunting? Since it's his party... cater it to him. The other option is to make it Americana, red-white-blue, God Bless the USA, Thanks for serving, etc.
Welcome home sir!
- December 13, 2009 at 8:28 PM
- lauren o'neill said...
I imagine family is the greatest thing he missed. Maybe take/use some nice black and white shots of the family, kids, loved ones, and use those as the main focus of the decorations. Simple garlands of black and white photos (printed on an uncoated paper), confetti, cupcake picks made with the pictures as well.
Maybe select one or two colors to use through out for balloons, plates, napkins. I would say something cheerful, fun blues/greens/yellows. Something with optimism and joy.
In the end it comes down to sharing time with the ones you love. Keeping it simple and heartfelt goes a long way.
- December 14, 2009 at 11:01 AM
- Bree said...
I'm a couple weeks late on this one, but I have this party from Hostess with the Mostess bookmarked for a welcome home party for my husband when he gets back from Iraq next summer.
I'll adapt to Khaki and Green cuz it's more Army, and frame black and white pictures of him in the Army.
- December 28, 2009 at 1:17 PM


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The town of Chester's Mill might be isolated under a mysterious dome, but that didn't stop a new character from appearing on the Aug. 19 episode of CBS's summer hit "Under the Dome." Featuring guest star Natalie Zea ("The Following" and "Justified"), "The Fourth Hand" was jam-packed with surprises and revelations. Here are some of the best tweets viewers shared during the episode.
The episode started off innocently enough, with Norrie and Joe trying to rustle up some dinner. But their pathetic attempts to catch a chicken had some viewers less than impressed with the couple's survival skills.
Elsewhere in town, there's a new face stirring up some old emotions. Maxine (Zea) has her hands all over the dirty drug business that Big Jim, Rev.Coggins, and Duke were involved in.
Oh, and one more thing: Max and Barbie have a history. Could the introduction of Max drive a wedge between the fledgling relationship between Barbie and Julia?
Meanwhile, the show's most dysfunctional "couple"was having a surprisingly interesting day. While pretty much every Junior and Angie subplot to date has revolved around Angie being locked in a cellar, this episode proved that Junior might have had pure motivations for kidnapping her, after all.
#UndertheDome is the most propane-centric show since "King of the Hill," I tell you what. @UnderTheDomeCBS @mikejudge— TV Über (@TVuber) August 20, 2013
There's only one rule to catching chickens, it aint easy #UnderTheDome— I Call Him Zazzles(@ICalHmZaz) August 20, 2013
"Let it run into the dome wall, knock itself out." -my mom, offering chicken catching suggestions #UnderTheDome— Derek Frey Williams (@DisFreyWilliams) August 20, 2013
Ok kid should have just used a sheet and thrown it over the chicken! #UnderTheDome— Buffy (@Liekman) August 20, 2013
And NatalieZea continues her quest to appear on every show on television. Not that there's anything wrong with that. #UndertheDome— Ellen Gray (@elgray) August 20, 2013
@UnderTheDomeCBS bummed can't watchtonite, on plane home but shout out to @nataliezea for her awesomeness.dome just got hotter— dean norris (@deanjnorris) August 20, 2013
I have to say that Max is kind of fun so far. She knows way too much and makes Evil Jim uncomfortable. #UnderTheDome— Dahne (@dahne1) August 20, 2013
What? This woman just kissed Barbie? Who the hell is she and why did she just NOW show up? #UnderTheDome— Brandon (@DaysAddict) August 20, 2013
Well, that was one hell of a greeting Barbie just got from her #UnderTheDome— Anabelle (@sydrianfeels) August 20, 2013
It turns out that Junior's mom knew something about the mysterious pink stars, and she painted them on a picture of Junior in his youth.
Junior's mom painted the "pink stars" 9 years ago?Whaaaaaa? #UnderTheDome @UnderTheDomeCBS— Chris | WBTV Web (@WBTVWebChris) August 20, 2013
Only on this show can you go from "he kidnapped me" to "were cool now" in 8 days. @UnderTheDomeCBS #UnderTheDome— Brandon Salmon (@BrandonSalmon) August 20, 2013
On top of it all, Angie starts having seizures and talking about the pink stars, too! At the end of the episode, Angie meets up with Joe and Norrie. The three teens put their hands on the minidome — but apparently they need a fourth hand to make theminidome react. Could Junior be that missing link?
What did you think of "The Fourth Hand"? Is Junior starting to redeem himself? And what do you think about Maxine? Sound off in the comments below!
The egg thing is in the barn! How did that happen? #UnderTheDome— Sharon (@TiredTwist33) August 20, 2013
Who is the 4th hand ? I think is jr #underthedome— Wanda (@NevaehKISSES3) August 20, 2013
Ok I dont like this Max chick.. She needs a visit to the dome wall!! #underthedome— Chantie ❤ (@Pinkglamorchick) August 20, 2013
How could Junior's mom know about the pink stars 9 years before the dome dropped #underthedome #theplotthickens— Josh Rebello ♻ (@RebelloJosh) August 20, 2013
So basically we have 2 stories here: Dome, pink stars, mini dome, egg. And then some drama about drugs & propane. Connection? #UnderTheDome— Rhonda Turner (@obsessiverhonda) August 20, 2013
Genuinely bummed that the last scene didn't end with "WHEN OUR POWERS COMBINE..." and Captain Planet bursting out of mini-dome #UnderTheDome— Kyle Trembley(@KyleLovesTV) August 20, 2013
"Under the Dome" airs Mondays at 10 PM on CBS.
Watch a clip from "The Fourth Hand" now:
Check out episode photos from "Under the Dome":


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Two $1 Million Mega Millons Tickets Sold In NJ
The two winning Mega Millions tickets that will give its owners half of the $636 million jackpot weren't sold in New Jersey but there are two New Jersey ticket holders who are $1 million richer.
The winning numbers drawn Tuesday night were: 8, 14, 17, 20, 39; Mega Ball: 7.The Megaplier drawn was 4.
Two winning Mega Millions tickets were sold in California and Georgia, Mega Millions officials said Wednesday. 20 tickets worth $1 million each for matching 5 numbers without the Mega Ball were sold with two of them purchased in New Jersey.
New Jersey Lottery spokeswoman Judith Drucker confirms that one ticket was sold at Kartik's Food and News Store in Cranford and the other at the 7-11 store on Lakewood Road in Toms River. Neither picked the megaplier which could have made their ticket worth $4 million.
A winning Mega Millions ticket worth $250,000 was sold at Cranford Shell last August.
The $636 million jackpot was the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.
One ticket was sold in San Jose, Calif., California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said. The other was sold in Georgia, but Mega Millions' lead director Paula Otto said early Wednesday morning that she didn't yet know in which city it had been sold.
Otto, who is also the Virginia Lottery's executive director, said $336 million in tickets were sold for Tuesday's drawing — they had projected $319 million.
"Sales were a little better than we'd anticipated," Otto said. "It was a fun run, it was our first holiday run for either of the big jackpot games." She said because of the higher sales, the jackpot may be more around $645 million. The final jackpot will be available by midday Wednesday, she said.
The jackpot started its ascent on Oct. 4. Twenty-two draws came and went without a winner, Otto said. She also said a billion worth of tickets were sold during the run, earning the places that offer Mega Millions — 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands — a total of $300 million.
The jackpot resets to $15 million for the next drawing, which is on Friday night.
The San Jose ticket was sold at Jennifer's Gift Shop, Traverso said. "For us, the main thing we'd like to get across is the level of excitement we saw all across California," he said. "At one point, we were selling about 25,000 tickets per minute. It's been an amazing experience. It's unbelievable."
The winners can choose to be paid over time or in a cash lump sum, Otto said. Based on the $636 million figure, the winners would receive $318 million each over time or $170 million each in cash.
Mega Millions changed its rules in October to help increase the jackpots by lowering the odds of winning the top prize. That means the chances of winning the jackpot are now about 1 in 259 million. It used to be about 1 in 176 million, nearly the same odds of winning a Powerball jackpot.
The Mega Millions revamp comes about two years after Powerball changed some of its game rules and increased the price of a ticket to $2 and added $1 million and $2 million secondary prizes. Mega Millions remains $1, and an extra $1 option has been expanded to allow up to $5 million as a secondary prize.
Toniann Antonelli and the Associated Press contributed to this report


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Friday, November 04, 2011
Restorative Kale and White Bean Soup with Egg Yolks
Soup is quite restorative in general, but for me, this one absolutely exemplifies the renewing, nourishing qualities that a healthy soup can have. It is the perfect thing to make if you've just returned from a vacation that involved lots of eating; if you're getting over a cold; or if you just want to give your body a fresh start.
First of all, it's packed with kale, a truly restorative vegetable if there ever was one. Just eating it makes me feel healthy. There's no meat, but plenty of satisfying beans. Finally, because I firmly believe that you can't just simmer some veggies in broth and expect it to taste good, I used a slightly surprising ingredient to add richness and a little backbone. Egg yolks, stirred in at the very end when the soup is at a bare simmer, create a creamy texture. In other recipes, yogurt, sour cream, a sprinkling of cheese or a chopped nuts would serve a similar "richness-making" function.
Have you ever added egg yolks to soup? If not, would you try it?
Restorative Kale and White Bean Soup with Egg Yolks
This would be delicious with chicken, but it some seems more restorative if your body doesn't need to digest any meat. Grated parmesan would also be a nice addition. If you want to really eggy, feel free to use a bit less broth and an extra yolk. And don't skip the lemon!
Serves 4 to 6
1 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 to 2 carrots, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
Salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Red chile flakes to taste
1/4 tsp EACH dried thyme and dried rosemary
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 lb kale, thick stems removed, and chopped
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 egg yolks
Lemon wedges
Optional for serving: sriracha or hot sauce
Heat the oil in a large pot on medium high. Add onion and carrot, season with salt and pepper, and cook until slightly softened and lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Add garlic, chile flakes and dried herbs and cook 2 minutes, stirring often. Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Add kale, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 20 minutes. If pot is very crowded, add an additional cup of water.
Add beans and adjust heat to maintain a low simmer. Place yolks in a medium bowl and whisk in about 1/2 cup of the soup broth. Slowly pour yolk mixture into soup, stirring as you go. Check and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat. Ladle into bowls and serve with plenty of lemon wedges and hot sauce if you like.
6 comments:
- Kitchen Riffs said...
Good soup. I love the combo of beans and dark greens in soup. Currently I've got loads of Swiss chard still growing, so that's what I've been using - but kale would taste better, IMO. I have used egg yolks in soup before, but it's been ages since I've done it. Thanks for reminding me how good that can be.
- Jeanette said...
I have some leftover egg yolks and have been trying to figure out what to do with them. I hate to throw anything out. This recipe is perfect for using extra egg yolks.
- Mary said...
This is such a nice soup. It is pouring here this morning, so I'm delighted to have found your blog. This would be perfect for our lunch. Because I'm new here, I decided to take sometime to browse through your earlier posts. That was time well-spent. You've created a great spot for your readers to visit and I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
- Nicole Gamble said...
My mouth is watering now just looking at it! Super recipe! Very easy to made!
- Amy @ Flex Belt said...
This looks like a delicious and pretty healthy soup that i'm looking forward to trying. I love putting egg yolks in my soup makes such a difference.
- Somerset wedding gal said...
This looks so healthy! I love food that makes you feel actively good as you eat it. Stroke of genius re:egg yolks, I will make sure to try this tonight!


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For those that are interested, newsletters from 2004, 2005 and 2006 have been added to our archives.
The Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club (MVARC) is the largest group of amateur radio operators in Knox County, Ohio. We exist to promote amateur radio, serve our members, educate the community and be a resource for our served agencies.
Our primary repeater is located just north of Mount Vernon on St. Route 3. It operates on a frequency of 146.790- with a PL of 71.9 and operates under the club callsign of K8EEN. Our secondary repeater operates under the call KD8EVR and is on a frequency of 442.100 with a PL of 71.9. All amateur radio operators are welcome to use our repeater systems.


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Agrodynamics Horticultural Rockwool - 22lb Bail of bulk rockwool. Good nutrient to air balance. Great for hydroponics.Rockwool is basically a spun molten basalt rock. This product was not formed and cut like the cubes. Instead it was bailed. It is used to fill pots and used for the main growing medium. Works great!
— Ships separately from Portland, Oregon USA.


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Stakes in 43 companies, nearly 100 properties and 66 bank accounts, credit cards and other financial investments were among assets seized earlier this week traceable to Vito Nicastri, a 57-year old native of Alcamo, Sicily.
Nicastri, dubbed the "king of wind" by anti-mafia investigators, is alleged to have been in constant contact with the Sicilian mafia and to have been a front man for none other than Matteo Messina Denaro, a mafia boss who has been on the run for two decades.
Investigators said Nicastri's close and constant relations with Cosa Nostra, as the Sicilian mafia is known, had helped explain the former electrician's rise to become a leading figure in the Italian wind sector. Nicastri is also charged with having close relations with the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia.
Nicastri has been the subject of previous probes looking at infiltration of organised crime into the wind energy sector. He has now been placed under surveillance and cannot leave Alcamo for the next three years.


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ANGELILEO firstname.lastname@example.com_current.manitoulin_expositor 2000-12-20 published
In Memoriam
WHITE/WHYTE Rose Emma
In loving memory of Rose Emma WHITE/WHYTE September 27 1947 to December 12 2000. A resident of West Bay, died at the Sudbury Regional Hospital-St. Joseph's Site on Tuesday December 12 2000 at the age of 53 years. Rose was born at Mindemoya, daughter of the late Angus and Nora {McGRAW} WHITE/WHYTE. Rose had been ill for many years, but enjoyed reading, and walking, and was an avid bingo player. She will be sadly missed by her family and Friends.
Dearly loved mother of Ron WHITE/WHYTE (Tracy) of Toronto and Gerald WHITE/WHYTE of Toronto. Loving grandmother of Lynn Marie DEBASSIGE and Shailin and Tyler SYRETTE. Dear sister of Adolphis McGRAW and Francis WHITE/WHYTE of West Bay and Henry WHITE/WHYTE of Toronto and Linda SILVA, Mabel ANGELILEO, May WHITE/WHYTE and Mary Lou WHITE/WHYTE all of Toronto and Annie WHITE/WHYTE of West Bay. Survived by nephews Morgan McGRAW, Michael WHITE/WHYTE of West Bay. Survived by nephews Morgan McGRAW, Michael WHITE/WHYTE, John WHITE/WHYTE, Tony WHITE/WHYTE, Benjamin WHITE/WHYTE, Wayne WHITE/WHYTE, Camilo ANGELILEO, Clemente ANGELILEO, Andrew WHITE/WHYTE, Gavin WHITE/WHYTE, Harley MIGWANS, Cruze MIGWANS and nieces Angela McGRAW, Raven WHITE/WHYTE, Starlene MIGWANS, Ray Anne MIGWANS, Mari Lynn SILVA, Giselle MIGWANS, Blair MIGWANS, Cynthia WHITE/WHYTE and Diane WHITE/WHYTE.
Funeral Mass was celebrated at Immaculate Conception Church on Saturday December 16 2000 with Father Bert Foliot S.J. as celebrant. Interment in M'Chigeeng Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Culgin Funeral Home.
A... Names AN... Names ANG... Names Welcome Home
ANGELILEO - All Categories in OGSPI


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- You Are Here:
- Home
- Departments
- Parks, Recreation & Museums
- Where to Go
- Active Parks
- Christopher Morley Park
Christopher Morley Park
|Christopher Morley Park provides a range of recreational activities and beautiful hiking trails.
county. The park has been in the Nassau County park system since 1961. The County paid $704,000 for the property, which was the former Estate of Nettie Ryan and included the Links Golf Club. The park is named after Christopher Morley, one of the foremost American "men of letters" in the 20th century, a prolific writer who produced more than 50 books, including several popular novels, plays, poetry and essays. He also edited two volumes of "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" and
was a founder of the Book of the Month Club.
A great deal of Christopher Morley's work was done in a functional one-room studio called the "Knothole" (see a more full description in the list below), located on his property in Roslyn on the North Shore and constructed in 1934. "I built myself a pine-wood cabin, as aloofly as a Long Island suburb would permit, to consort with the shade of John Bartlett," wrote Morley.
In 1966, nine years after Christopher Morley's death, the writer's friends and neighbors had the Knothole transferred to one of Nassau County's parks in Roslyn-North Hills, subsequently named Christopher Morley Park. The renovated Knothole includes built-in bookshelves, a fireplace and a bunkbed. But the public has been most intrigued over the years by the Knothole's "dymaxion" bathroom, which was designed in 1936 by Morley's friend, Buckminster Fuller, the renowned scientist and inventor. It is a one-piece, pre-assembled unit.
The park provides numerous opportunities for recreation:
Athletics/Physical Activities:
- There are 10 indoor tennis courts; for more information visit cmttennis.com
- Four handball/paddleball courts (no lights)
- Four basketball courts (no lights)
- Athletic fields include three baseball fields (softball and hardball, including Little League) and volleyball courts. (no lights)
|The playground at Christopher Morley Provides a variety of activities.
- A recently renovated playground provides a variety of activities, including a nontraditional climbing apparatus.
- There are unreserved and reserved (fee) picnic areas, which include barbecue equipment. Leisure Pass and fee required for reserved areas; call 516-571-8113. See "News & Events" below for more information.
- The park features a 9-hole, par-30 golf course. The course is 1,603 yards, with holes ranging from 97 yards to 267 yards.Click here for link to Nassau County Golf.
Fitness Trail:
- The park has a one-mile Fitness Trail that provides a jogging or walking trail and 20 attractive and simple fitness stations incorporating a variety of exercises. These include stretching, pull-ups, sit-ups and balance walking exercises that increase slightly in difficulty as the trail proceeds. The trail begins on the north side of the park entrance by Searingtown Road, heads east past both the Dog Run and the woods before working its way past the baseball fields and playground, finally ending by the parking area. The Fitness Trail is open year round.
- Christopher Morley's outdoor ice skating rink, a community fixture since 1966,was named by News 12 Long Islandviewers as the best outdoor skating rink on Long Island. The facility, which is 200-feet by 80-feet, is used by recreational skaters and hockey teams. The ice rink opens the Saturday after Thanksgiving through mid-March (weather permitting). Ice charter rentals for parties and hockey teams are also available.
- Hours:
Day Session #1 Session #2 Session #3 Monday 1:15 pm – 3:15 pm 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
- Tuesday - - - Wednesday 1:15 pm – 3:15 pm
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
- Thursday - - - Friday 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - Saturday 10:30 am - 12:30 pm 1:15 pm - 3:15 pm 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Sunday 10:30 am - 12:30 pm 1:15 pm - 3:15 pm 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
- Skating lessons, ice charters for groups, hockey game rentals and private rentals are also available.
- Fees (per session): Resident adult with Leisure Pass :$10; resident teenager 13-17 years of age with Leisure Pass, $6; resident child 12 and under accompanied by adult with Leisure Pass, $6; senior, disabled, vol. firefighter, ambulance corps, auxiliary police, veterans with Leisure Pass, $5; adult without Leisure Pass, $22, child without Leisure Pass, $15. Skate rentals are available for $5. Season Pass prices: Adult: $70, Child: $50 - Leisure pass required for ages 13 and over.
- Public Session Admission ( Subject to Change) : Resident Senior, Volunteer Firefighter, Volunteer ambulance corps, police Auxiliary units, person with disabilities and veterans $5.00
- Ice rink closes at 3:30pm, on 12/24 and 12/31
- Ice rink Closed Christmas and New Year's day
|The pool is a popular summer destination
- The outdoor swimming pool complex includes an Olympic-sized pool, diving tankwith boards and a "kiddie" pool. Lockers and showers are available. Swimming pool will be open late June, through Labor Day.
- Hours: Mon.-Sun., 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- Fees (daily): Resident adult, $8; resident child (4-17 years of age), $6; senior, disabled, vol. firefighter, ambulance corps, auxiliary police, veterans, $6; non-resident adult, $16, non-resident child, $11. A Leisure Pass is required for residents to receive the resident rate. A Season pass price are: Adult: $120, Senior: $66, Family: $295 Leisure Pass required for ages 13 and over.
Dog run:
- A dog run is located on the north side of the parking lot by the Christopher Morley "Knothole." The dog run is open year round. Please note that dogs are allowed on the nature trails as long as they are leashed.
Other Activities:
- The park features 30 acres of peaceful and beautiful wooded nature trails that provide an ideal area for a leisurely stroll or jogging.
- There are courts for horseshoes and shuffleboard.
- A Farmer's Market operates at the park on Wednesday's from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The market is open mid-May through late November.
Christopher Morley "Knothole":
|The interior of the Knothole, the writing studio used by Christopher Morley.
The Christopher Morley "Knothole" is a tiny one-room wooden cabin formerly used as a studio by prominent 20th-century Long Island editor and writer Christopher Morley (who authored such novels as "Thunder on the Left" and "Kitty Foyle"); it was later transported to the park. The facility is located by the dog run and is open occasionally for public programs.Constructed in 1934, the Knothole includes built-inbookshelves, a fireplace and a bunkbed. But the public has been most intrigued over the years by the Knothole's "dymaxion" bathroom, which was designed in 1936 by Morley's friend, Buckminster Fuller, the renowned scientist and inventor. It is a one-piece, pre-assembled unit, similar to the bathrooms in use on airplanes.
In 2006, the County completed renovation work on the Knothole. The renovations involved replacing damaged siding, a task that required creating new siding to replicate the thick and irregularly shaped "wavy"-edge style of the original. The renovations also included adding a new roof, flashings, rebuilding windows and window sills. The porch was also refurbished and new handicapped-accessible ramp was installed.
To reach Christopher Morley Park, take the Long Island Expressway to Exit 36/Searingtown Road exit (from east or west). Take Searingtown Road North and look for the park entrance on right (about 200 yards from the LIE).


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Was it technology or weather that produced the huge cotton crops of the world in 2004? While the debate is certainly not over, according to Peter Egli, a market analyst with Volcot America, Inc, it was mostly good weather that graced world growths last year, and it's very likely that a return to normalcy in world cotton yield is in the offing.
Egli, speaking at the Cotton Roundtable in New York City on July 8, said, "We had an incredible production increase of 24.5 million bales from 2003 to 2004, going from 95.1 million bales to 119.6 million bales. The biggest crop before that was 98.8 million bales in the 2002 season."
Next season, world cotton acreage is expected to decline by a little over 5 percent overall, while yields are expected to drop to an average 600 pounds per acre, according to Egli. This forecast, if realized, would be the second highest yield ever. Last year's world crop averaged 640 pounds per acre.
Those yields would produce a world crop of 105.4 million bales, "but we must realize this number is nothing more than a starting point."
Egli pointed out forecasters are still trying to figure out why last year's world crop was so good. "Were the yields of last year an aberration or are we at the beginning of a new yield plateau? The last time yields jumped to a new plateau was in 1984-85, with an increase of 27 percent over the previous five-year average. Yields were maintained at this level for the years to come.
"Interestingly, since then we have seen only slight increases in world yields. The five-year average today is only about 8 percent higher than in 1984. While I believe the combination of technology and weather led to the 2004 record crop, I believe weather played the bigger role. We didn't just hit a home run last season, we hit a grand slam. Therefore, for the current season, we should not set our yield expectations too high."
Egli pointed out that technology is not widespread in areas that produced large crops. "While technology has certainly made great strides in recent years, especially in the Indian subcontinent, the biotech cotton areas account for only about 26 percent of all the cotton planted in the world, according to the International Cotton Advisory Council."
Egli noted that the 10-year world yield average prior to this season was 534 pounds and the five-year average was 553 pounds. "This season, we were 21 percent and 17 percent, respectively, above these averages.
"The yield debate is incredibly important," he said. "Even if world yields match the second-best record prior to last year, 570 pounds, we would have a crop of 100.2 million bales, which would be the second largest crop on record.
"Those who believe that technology has become a much more determining factor than weather will expect much higher production. I believe we need to be careful not to get carried away just because we had one good year."
Here's how Egli sees world production in major cotton producing countries in 2005. He pegged U.S. production at around 19.8 million bales.
China — Egli sees a 12-percent reduction in acreage, with yields down slightly as well. This would produce a crop of 25 million bales, about 4 million bales fewer than last year. "There have been some issues with dry conditions in the northeastern cotton-producing regions, but timely rains over the last few days have improved the situation."
India — Production is also expected to decline. "If there is one place where seed technology will make great strides in the coming years, it's India. Last year, India produced a record yield of 391 pounds, compared to 344 pounds the year before and a 10-year average of 275 pounds.
"So just over the last two years, yields have jumped by roughly 42 percent. Bt cotton certainly helped things along in India, but they did have a very beneficial monsoon season in 2004. The intermittent rain pattern allowed them to sow cotton for a longer period than normal, and insect pressure was much lower.
"This year, after a slow start, Indian's monsoon season is progressing, although some areas have seen some heavy flooding, which will require replanting. Some states in the south could use more rain."
Egli projects an average yield of 340 pounds this season for India, "which would produce about 15.3 million bales, 2.8 million bales under the current season."
Pakistan — Pakistan is maintaining its current cotton acreage. "The crop is doing well at the moment. But we don't expect to see record yields again. We look for a crop of around 9.8 million bales."
West African countries — "We should also see a drop in West African production. Enthusiasm for cotton has dropped in lieu of the strong Euro. Their acres declined about 10 percent."
Central Asia — "We look for slightly lower yields and a crop about 500,000 bales smaller than last year."
While world growers were producing the biggest cotton crop in history in 2004, the world's mills were spinning it. Mill consumption hit a record 108 million bales in 2004, up 9.7 million bales, or nearly 10 percent, from the year before. "That led to a production surplus of 11.6 million bales, one of the larger production surpluses in recent history, but still below the 17.9 million-bale surplus in 1984."
Production outpaced consumption in 2004 and world ending stocks are projected to jump from 37.4 million to 48.7 million bales, an increase of 11.3 million bales. This is close to ending stocks of 1999-2001, noted Egli. But the rise in consumption has pushed the stocks-to-use ratio lower. The current ratio is the third lowest over the last 10 seasons.
There has been a dramatic change in where stocks are located, according to Egli. "China's stocks-to-use ratio has gone from 70.5 percent in 2001 to 19.5 percent in the current season. It is projected to go even lower, to 17.7 percent, by the end of the current marketing year.
"In contrast, the rest of the world saw their stocks-to-use ratio rise from 41.1 percent in 2001 to 59 percent in the current season. This is the highest ratio since the mid-1980s. Even with the expected drop in stocks next season, the stocks-to-use ratio will remain at a rather elevated 52.2 percent for the rest of the world (outside China)."
Egli noted that roughly half of the stocks increase in the world has occurred in India and Pakistan, "which are not likely to pressure the bull market with those supplies."
China's stocks represent two months of consumption, "so they will have to import sizable amounts this summer. The rest of the world has plenty of cotton to spare, with over seven months of consumption."
Despite these large stocks, "cotton prices have held up well and New York futures are currently trading about 20 percent higher than they were at the same time last year (as of July 8)."
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's Collegiate Recovery Community will host the following recovery-related meetings during the 2013-14 academic year:
Alcohol Anonymous Meetings
-- Friday's First: Fridays at 5:30 p.m., Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, Room 104
-- Sober Sundays: Sundays at 8 p.m., Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, Room 105
Both are closed meetings, only open to those with a desire to stop drinking or using other addictive substances.
Yoga & Meditation
Sundays at 6:30 p.m., Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, Room 118
This event is open to all.
To learn more about the Collegiate Recovery Community, go to http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/familyservices/crc/ or visit the CRC Center in Rooms 105/106 of the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.
The Collegiate Recovery Community is also on Facebook.


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Still waiting for Hurricane Keely
Hurricane Ike. Our family nickname for Isaac has been "Ike" for most of his life. His dad started calling him that when he was just a baby.
Isaac's reaction to the storm's name is mixed. He thinks it is kind of cool, but he hopes the storm doesn't do too much damage. He doesn't want Hurricane Ike to be a storm that lives in infamy; he'd rather see it fizzle out at sea.
I had a hurricane named for me this summer -- Hurricane Genevieve. I didn't even know about it until a few minutes ago. It must not have amounted to much. My husband Dennis had a hurricane several years ago. Our daughter Keely has not yet had a hurricane named either for her first name or her middle name, Elizabeth.
The first named hurricane that I remember is Hurricane Carla of 1961. It certainly wasn't the first hurricane within my lifetime, but it was memorable to me because I knew Carla Hixson, a neighbor girl who belonged to our 4-H club.
I was a child of Nebraska, hundreds of miles from the ocean. I heard about Hurricane Carla on the radio and read about it in the newspaper and Life magazine. I knew about bad blizzards, but killer storms of torrential rain and screaming winds were (and still are) outside my experience.
In September 2005, not long after the immensely destructive Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf Coast. Isaac and I spent the weekend at a medieval reenactment in southern Tennessee. On Friday night, it rained so hard that we stayed in a motel instead of setting up our tent. On Saturday night, we camped, and I went to bed fairly early. To drown out the conversation and other noise outside our tent, I turned on my little radio and put in my earbuds.
Throughout a night of intermittent sleep, I listened to a Mississippi radio station broadcasting reports of flooded roads, downed trees, and fallen power lines. The locations of emergency shelters were announced frequently, and safety precautions were urged.
It was rather surreal to hear a minute-by-minute hurricane report from a tent in a medieval(-ish) encampment. I felt like I was fiddling while Rome burned.