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Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day!
I'm going to dedicate this entry to my love of baseball. I love Amy, Olivia and my family most, but I also love baseball. Here's what I love about it. 51 reasons. 51 days to opening day.
1. I love attending a game with Amy and Olivia and snagging baseballs while they watch.
2. I love turning around after catching a homerun and seeing Amy smiling at me.
3. I love going to batting practice early before the music is blaring through the stadium and hearing the crack of the bat, the smack of the ball in the glove, and the chatter from the field.
4. I love the fact that I've personally experienced three Pittsburgh Pirates division championships, and will again someday. When that day happens… Sheer joy!
5. I love hitting a home run and it barely feels like you hit the ball because you connected so well.
6. I love watching the ball disappear beyond the fence.
7. I love when a speedster takes a large lead and makes the pitcher nervous.
8. I love watching the first game of Spring Training and having the feeling that baseball is back.
9. I love watching a play at the plate.
10. I love a 6-4-3 double play when my team turns it.
11. I love when a manager gets ejected.
12. I love when the home team is a strike away from winning and the whole crowd is standing, hanging on every pitch.
13. I love a pennant race.
14. I love the creative jeers that the bleacher creatures hurl at visiting outfielders.
15. I love it when the player acknowledges those jeers.
16. I love a pitcher's duel.
17. I love watching a line score at the ballpark when a no hitter is taking place.
18. I love a diving catch.
19. I love throwing a perfect knuckleball.
20. I love scooping a bad throw out of the dirt.
21. I love watching a prospect's major league debut.
22. I love looking at old baseball cards and reminiscing about what life was like when I got that card.
23. I love finding an easter egg (baseball) hidden in the seats during batting practice.
24. I love a run down.
25. I love watching the other team throw a baseball away.
26. I love watching a pitcher's pitch count increase well over 100, wondering how much gas they have left in the tank.
27. I love when the bases are loaded and there's nobody out.
28. I love it when the umpires decide to play through a steady rain.
29. I love going to a road game and experiencing the quirks of a new ballpark for the first time.
30. I love home run chases among players for the league title.
31. I love getting my season tickets in the mail and scrutinizing their design.
32. I love the playoffs and World Series.
33. I love the All Star game introductions.
34. I love rivalries.
35. I love milestones, such as 3,000 hits or 500 home runs.
36. I love watching great players such as Mariano Rivera pitch or Albert Pujols bat.
37. I love getting baseballs thrown to me by visiting players after switching my outfit.
38. I love explaining the game of baseball to folks that are trying to learn more about it.
39. I love how the game isn't constrained by time like football, basketball, and hockey.
40. I love how baseball jargon shows up in everyday conversations, such as, "you threw me a curveball."
41. I love how the Baltimore Orioles fans scream "OHHHH" during the national anthem at the "Oh say does that star spangled banner" part.
42. I love draft day and anticipating who the Pirates are going to pick.
43. I love when teams take batting practice on Sundays, when I'm not expecting it.
44. I love when a pitcher breaks 100 mph on the stadium radar gun.
45. I love it when people leave behind their promotional items after a game and I can get a few extras to sell.
46. I love the smell of a baseball.
47. I love competing for baseballs in the stands and also on mygameballs.
48. I love watching a triple unfold, or a player stretching a single into a double.
49. I love how the stadium is decked out in red white and blue banners on Opening Day.
50. I love singing take me out to the ballgame with 35,000 other fans.
51. I love the same game that I've loved since I was a boy, and always will.
What do you love about baseball?
51 days until opening day, 4 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, and 6 days left to win this Dustin Pedroia T-Shirt.


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Swankyswigs are small drinking glasses. In 1933, the Kraft Food Company began to market cheese spreads in these decorated, reusable glass tumblers. They were discontinued from 1941 to 1946, then made again from 1947 to 1958. Then plain glasses were used for most of the cheese, although a few special decorated Swankyswigs have been made since that time. Swankyswigs from the Depression era until the 1950s are the most valuable.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Day three of the food lovers' tour began and ended with much swooning, and it wasn't only for the food but also for the many masters in the kitchen we met - pastry chefs, Italian mammas and chef/restauranteurs. Yes, this is a food & wine lovers' tour, but we also soaked up a little bit of culture during the day. We had a guided walk through the baroque historical center of Lecce and a carta pesta (paper-mache) demonstration.
Pastry Making with Chef Luca Capilungo ~
I think all the ladies, and maybe even Dell, were head-over-hells with our Leccese pastry lesson of pasticiotto and fruttone with the very handsome and charismatic chef Luca Capilungo. He took us into his pastry kitchen where we were again behind the scenes and making the typical pastry of Lecce, pasticciotto. Everyone made a batch, and whenever one of us needed a little help with technique, Luca was quick to take our hands and show us the proper way to work the dough or pipe the lemony pastry cream into the molds.
Chef Luca showing Gloria exactly how to pipe the pastry cream into the pasticciotto
Chef Luca demonstrating how to make fruttone
Luca also gave us a demonstration on making fruttone, another typical pastry of Puglia. It starts out with pasta frolla (short crust pastry) in a mold, just like the pasticcioto. Instead of pastry cream, the pastry is filled with pear marmalata and marzipan, baked and then topped with a chocolate icing. We sampled the finished fruttone and many other of his delicious cookies. He even brought out a sweet wine to dip our quaresimali ("Lenten" biscotti) into. As if the group didn't already adore chef Luca and his pastries, he made many of us happy by posing for a photo with each person in the group. We took the pasticiotti we made with us, and it was dessert after our evening meal.
A Tour of Lecce and a Carta Pesta Lesson ~
The girls with our driver Antonio
The group in Piazza del Duomo with Fabiola
Taking a break in between pastries and lunch, we took a giro around Lecce in an antique car - 1935 to be exact. Afterwards we had a guided-walking tour of Lecce where we learned a little about the cities history and its baroque-style facades.
The tour ended with a carta pesta demonstration where the group learned all about how the paper-making technique arrived in Italy, how paper is made, and how the carta pesta figurines of Lecce are crafted. Some of the group also got to make a few sheets of paper themselves.
Nuncia demonstrating how they make carta pesta
Luigi showing the final touches made to the carta pesta before they are painted
The finished carta pesta figurines
Lunch with Antonella at Locanda Rivoli ~
Lunch was in Lecce at the very delicious Locanda Rivoli where Antonella greeted all of us with a big smile and countless plates of antipasti. Although we were quite satisfied with the never-ending plates of antipasti, we couldn't leave without having a pasta course, or two. We delighted in the traditional dish of ceci & tria (chickpeas and pasta) with a twist. Antonella adds mussels to the dish. Our other pasta was sagne ncannulate (the pasta that I made with Nonna Vata) in a sauce of fresh tomatoes & ricotta forte. The ricotta forte added a nice tang to the sweet tomato sauce. The meal ended with little cookies shaped in the form of wrapped candies and filled with marmalata. And if we weren't already in love with Antonella and her food, she also gave each of us a gift of olive oil and autographed her recipe that we found in the Puglia recipe book each of us had purchased.
Some of the too-many-to-count plates of antipasti included: tiella, friselle, peperonata, ricotta mouse, spinach & ricotta focaccia, focaccia di patate, grilled eggplant, fagioli in tomato sauce, carpaccio of zucchini
Antonella autographing her recipe for sagne ncannulate schiattariciati
Cooking with Mamma Giulia ~
In the kitchen with Mamma Giulia (photo courtesy of Ylenia)
Del and Gloria frying up the eggplant for our involtini
After only a few days, everyone realized that food never really stops coming on this tour. We had a short break to rest or sit poolside at the masseria, and then we were back in the kitchen for our first hands-on cooking lesson with mamma Giulia who is a quite a wizard in the kitchen. Now, the menu was supposed to be three plates: Pomordori Schiattariciati for the antipasto, penne with a cream of bell pepper sauce for the primo, and involtini (rolls) of eggplant for the secondo. Instead we learned a favorite phrase of mamma Giulia's, "Non buttiamo niente." (We don't throw anything away.) With leftover ingredients and those that others might think of as scraps, she made three other dishes. Take a look at our meal:
Pomodori Schiattariciati (tomatoes bursted in olive oil) and fried green bell peppers
With the left over tomatoes and bell peppers, Mamma Giulia added olives, olive oil & a little vinegar for another antipasto
With the eggplant skins (what most people would throw out), she fried them and added olive oil & vinegar for yet another antipasti
Cream of bell pepper sauce with penne pasta was a favorite of all
Involtini di Melanzane - eggplant rolls filled with tuna and capers
Our dessert was the pasticciotti from our lesson with Luca
If you'd like to see more photos from this tour, you can view them on the Food Lover's Odyssey Facebook page.
Join us in Puglia in 2013! We'll be cooking with our beautiful Italian mamme and professional chefs, and we'll also be eating and exploring our way through the region. There are four tour dates available from which to choose! For more information check out this page: Food Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia
Related Posts:
Food Lovers in Puglia - Day 1 & 2: Gelato, Feasts, Otranto, Olive Groves and More
An Aperitivo to Whet Your Appetite for Puglia
Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento
Tradtional Salentine Dishes at Locanda Rivoli in Lecce
Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia
The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata
The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo
Under the Salento Sun - The Masserie of Salento
Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento
Artisanal Cheese at Masseria CinqueSanti in Puglia
Orecchiette with Cauliflower, Sausage & Cheese - Cooking with Mamma MariantoniettaOlivotto: The Sweet Side of Olives
Pugliese Pasta Dish: Sagne Ncannulate con Sugo Schiattariciati
Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce
Tour of Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento
Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir
Sagne Ncannulate Schiattariciati - Pugliese Pasta with Schiattariciati Tomato Sauce
The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco
The Dish from Puglia: Friselle with Tomatoes
The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese


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One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) is a collaboration of national non-profit organizations representing millions of Americans, delivering a unified message to Congress and the White House on the need for increased cancer-related appropriations.
One Voice Against Cancer began in January 2000 as a working group of public health organizations dedicated to ensuring that the federal government provides the necessary investments for cancer research and application programs. It has since grown into an effective lobbying coalition on cancer funding that has enabled the community to enhance policymakers' awareness of the need for substantial increases in essential cancer programs.
The professional government relations staff of the member organizations of OVAC meet monthly to share intelligence on cancer-related legislation and regulations, discuss the latest in cancer research and treatment, and strategize on how best to work with lawmakers to enhance funding for critical cancer research and programs.
OVAC hosts an annual Lobby Day where volunteer representatives of the member organizations come to Washington, DC for training on the legislative issue and advocacy methods and then spend a full day meeting with legislators to share the human face of cancer in America. The personal stories of these trained advocates underscores the need for continue government involvement in the war against cancer.
OVAC's united front enhances each organization's ability to attain the funding levels necessary to win the war on cancer and to equip those facing cancer with the tools they need to fight this deadly disease. One Voice Against Cancer commits its participating members to cooperative efforts that increase understanding of the need for both cancer research and application programs. At the same time, One Voice Against Cancer empowers its volunteers and those touched by cancer to deliver this message creatively and powerfully to policymakers.
Other OVAC advocacy campaigns have included advertising in Capitol Hill publications, coalition meetings with lawmakers, and briefing on Capitol Hill to highlight the government supported cancer research and programs that OVAC supports.


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Because that's what may be coming, soon enough. Cruise is apparently attached to star in Our Name is Adam, which Deadline describes as "a Back To The Future-style tale in which Cruise goes back in time and meets his former self." (It's not clear if some other actor would play the young Cruise, or if Cruise would play both roles. Maybe Joseph Gordon-Levitt could get another set of prosthetics to make his face look more Cruise-y?)
Our Name is Adam is a script by T.S. Nowlin, and it's produced by Mary Parent, the former head of Universal. According to Variety, Nowlin also wrote a science fiction spec script called Agent 13, which Universal won in a bidding war. Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) is set to direct Agent 13, which will star Charlize Theron.
Other tidbits from the Variety and Deadline articles: Cruise is still possibly in line to star in the Van Helsing remake. The Ghostbusters "reboot" could be filming next summer with Ivan Reitman directing, but no Bill Murray (of course.) And the fifth Mission Impossible movie, starring Cruise, is very much in the pipeline as well.


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Blacknight wrote:In contrast there's many shots of A-wings + their pilots dogfighting, going into the death star, and of course the iconic attack on the Executor.
I agree on those points. But that doesn't mean the ship itself is necessarily iconic. As I said earlier, the a-wing design is very generic and derivitive. Go to just about any sci-fi franchise, whether its comics, tv, movies, video games, toys, artwork, etc. and chances are you'll see ships very similar looking to the a-wing.
Of ALL the ship designs in the OT, the a-wing is probably the least likely for a non-star wars fan to instantly recognize as "oh, that's a ship from star wars". Tie Fighter, definitely. X-Wing yes. Falcon - yes. etc.


text: Alice Lloyd College would like to announce that Jerkia Leann Vandyke of Keen Mountain, Virginia and Victoria Danielle Halcomb of Pikeville, Kentucky have been named this year's recipients of the Bhatia Foundation, Inc. Scholarship for the 2010-11 academic year. This scholarship was established in 1996 by Dr. and Mrs. Sarvan K. Bhatia in loving memory of their dear parents, Shri Hansraj-Kaushalaya and Lahorimal-Kartar. To be considered for this scholarship, students must have an interest in nursing, math or science education and must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5. As recipients of the Bhatia Foundation, Inc. Scholarship, Jerkia's and Victoria's names will be engraved on a beautiful plaque to be displayed on the campus of Alice Lloyd College.


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Thursday, May 19, 2011
That of Which We Shall Not Speak
We're nothing if not superstitious, and at times, we find that we'll bite our tongue on certain players or subjects so as not to somehow affect their outcomes.
(Okay, that's probably less a matter of "superstition" and more a matter of "outsized sense of one's own cosmological importance"...but why quibble?)
The point here (if there really is one) is that we've probably stopped thinking certain thoughts, or at the very least we've not repeated them when they popped into our head this season.
(This is not so much a matter of self-censorship or playing coy with the readership as much as it is a matter of self-control...like the same instinct that keeps you from steering into oncoming traffic when your brain starts to wonder what that might be like and if it would be a good idea.)
As a result, we'll confess to having dished out our share of happy thoughts and glass-half-fullisms this year, trying to buoy our own spirits as well as yours. But given the better part of a week away from the team, with only some random tweets and a few highlight packages to inform our Blue Jays related thoughts, our mind started to wander. And there were a bunch of uncomfortable thoughts that we started to have about this team. So rather than try to stifle them any more and have them fester, we're going to just let fly with them, then walk away. And hope for the best.
Because deep down, we really worry that...
...Edwin Encarnacion has gotten worse in almost every facet of his game.
...Travis Snider is messed up, and that he might not be salvageable by this organization.
...Jo-Jo Reyes is really not very good, and that as much as we like him and root for him, the Jays don't have the roster space to continue to drag along his extended try out.
...Aaron Hill's best years are already behind him.
...this team isn't just a couple of clever tweaks and moves away from serious contention, and that it is more likely that several more years of good-not-great teams in the middle of the AL East will beget several more years of good-not-great teams in the middle of the AL East.
There. We've spat it all out. Let the cosmos do what they will.
Tomorrow, we'll be all sunshine and happiness again.
16 comments:
- GCM1979 said...
EE - it's all in his head
Snider - he's in Bautista pre-swing change territory. Let's hope the tweaks work. The ceiling is just to big for him, not close to a bust yet.
Jo-Jo - continuing to improve on the fly. Won't be questioning by July.
Hill - swing change looks great. He'll be fine.
Jays - team will be ready to go once spare parts are gone.
Happiness to your occasional post of doubt.
- May 19, 2011 at 1:33 PM
- BringVottoHome said...
I've had all of those scary thoughts that you have, Tao.
The one that really makes you wonder is the point about contending soon in the AL East. That directly makes you think about Jose Bautista. If he's as good as he seems to be, I'd think that sticking in the middle-bottom of the pack with a player like that is just unfathomable. You can't pass up having a player like that around and just floating on the surface, like we did with Roy Halladay all of those years.
If Anthopoulos and co. see it the same way as you wonder there - shouldn't he be traded away ASAP?
And if not, isn't the team sort of forced to be aggressive in trades and free agency and build a competitive team around him?
Obviously, I prefer the latter. I'm not one of those people that thinks they have to trade away every asset that's doing well. I just think Bautista is too good at this point to stick around during a rebuild. Either the team gets better, fast, or sadly, he probably shouldn't be here.
- May 19, 2011 at 1:38 PM
- djhender said...
At the end of the day, they are "entertaining" enough for me to come back day after day without really worrying about the big picture WS run in a couple of years. But ya, 2 more years of EE throwing balls into the 500s... ugh.
- May 19, 2011 at 1:39 PM
- The Ack said...
(afraid to say anything)
- May 19, 2011 at 1:44 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Damn it Ack! Say something!
(This is turning into an abusive relationship, isn't it?)
- May 19, 2011 at 1:54 PM
- Gil Fisher said...
EE - worse in every facet of his game, except possibly baserunning where he his possibly better getting to first.
TS - share you fears
Jo Jo - who?
Aaron Hill - felt good about him all year. I`m only going to look at LD% when evaluating Aaron for the rest of time.
Jays - looking good, never have all cylinders firing. Need consistent starts now.
- May 19, 2011 at 1:59 PM
- Chad said...
Your last point is probably the most likely and, therefore, spirit-crushing, of them all.
*Takes a huge swig of Rogers' brand Kool-Aid spiked with Wiser's*
But, I remain optimistic!
- May 19, 2011 at 5:35 PM
I have to say that GM AA's contract with Hill was brilliant. I guess the tough choice will be to see if they pick up the options at the end of the year.
- May 19, 2011 at 6:28 PM
- dogandabeer said...
Please remind me of AA's contract offer that was accepted?
I don't find that one.
- May 19, 2011 at 6:46 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
First off, I'm completely against trading Bautista for any reason. If we are seeing his true talent, players like him only come around maybe once in a generation. They will never get equal value in return in a deal.
Second, I share all of your concerns as well, but I don't think these concerns will prevent the Jays from becoming a serious competitor. I still believe they are a stud pitcher and hitter away from being very good, even if Jo-Jo, Edwin, Travis and Aaron are all done as contributing major leaguers.
Think about it, if the Jays add (for a example purposes only) Prince Feilder. This will create a snowball effect in that they don't need to play an Edwin or Juan Rivera. Suddenly you have three monster threat hitters in the middle of the line up in Lind, Bautista and Fielder and you can afford to bring up a Brett Lawrie to play 3B and allow him time to learn the game. Arencibia should only get better, and filling out the rest of the line-up with Yunel, Hill (or replacement), Davis and Snider will be good enough.
Then add a SP (say Jered Weaver for argument sake) and the rotation looks great with Romero, Morrow, Drabek and one of Cecil/Litsch/whoever.
I'd also still try and pry Yonder Alonso from the Reds, maybe a Snider for Alonso deal makes sense? However in that scenario getting Fielder doesn't.
- May 20, 2011 at 8:51 AM
The good news:
EE is on the bench as soon as Lind is back and Lawrie is ready. Lawrie looks like the real deal.
Even IF Snider is unsalvageable, the Jays can slot in Eric Thames, who might not have the same ceiling but looks like a pretty good hitter, Or Sierra, or Loewen.
If (when) the team runs out of patience with Reyes, they can call up Cecil or Mills (or even Stewart), or put Rzep into the rotation.
Hill is the biggest concern, but even if his bat isn't what it used to be, he still has defensive value.
- May 20, 2011 at 10:35 AM
O ye of little faith, they were never going to be able to rebuild this team in 2 years, at least not to a level that competes with the Yanks, Sox and Rays… these are some of the best run teams in baseball, and have been running their teams this way for anywhere between 8-15 years. Not only do these teams have good farm-systems now, but they have likely had good farm systems for the last 5-10 years working like conveyor belts churning out talent year after year. So not only did they have quality minor league systems, these systems were mature enough to add major league talent every year, either for the big club or to be traded for a star. The Jays, before AA took over as GM, had one of the worst farm-systems in baseball. At this point, the Jays have one of the better system's, but Its still going to be a while before many of the prospects picked up under AA's watch become bona-fide major leaguers. The conveyor belt is getting primed, its just not rolling out the units at capacity just yet… 3-5 years from the time AA took over, and it will have only been 2 years at the end of this season. Patience.
As Always,
Go Jays!
- May 20, 2011 at 1:05 PM
If your fears about EE, Hill, Snider and Reyes are the worst case scenario, I feel pretty good about the Jays.
- May 20, 2011 at 3:48 PM
what if brett cecil never comes back and jesse litsch stays a .400 pitcher for the rest of his career? What if Yunel Escobar is a career . 270 hitter?
- May 20, 2011 at 5:04 PM
The big difference between now and the Ricciardi era is that not everything has to go right:
- For every EE, there's a Lawrie
- For every Snider, there's Thames, Marisnick and Gose
- For every Reyes there's...you get the point.
Sure things can go wrong, but we have a TON of raffle tickets, and more coming in two weeks.
- May 21, 2011 at 9:48 AM
- Roberto said...
Yeah, I can agree with some or most of that. But:
Edwin Encarnacion is filler. Anything the team gets out of him is found money. Brett Lawrie is the future at 3B, and there are better options than EE at every other position (1B, DH) he might play.
I'd hate to think Travis Snider has gone from a can't-miss prospect to a can't-hit prospect. But supposing that he has… he's a corner outfielder; they aren't THAT hard to find. Hell, Eric Thames may surprise us this year, even.
Jo-Jo Reyes is also found money. If he turns out to be good, that's fantastic. If not… there are plenty of other talented starters who will be fighting for rotation spots in another year or 2. Brett Cecil may be back, sooner or later.
Aaron Hill… I don't know what to say about Aaron Hill. I hope he has a solid last ¾ of the season and the Jays keep him around. If that doesn't happen, then perhaps one of Hechevarria, Escobar, or Pierre is the 2B of the future?
Sure, there are instances when teams rebuild, and for whatever reason (injuries, bad luck, players not performing as expected), they don't win and they have to rebuild again. Maybe the current core of players (Lind-Hill-Bautista-Romero etc) won't win a championship. But… the ace in the hole is the minor-league system. If the Jays continue to scout well, draft well, and spend on the international free agents, their system should produce a steady stream of talent, such that they won't be forced into an all-the-chips-on-the-table move like Ricciardi made in 2006.
- May 23, 2011 at 6:35 PM


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I'm exploring the web to find sites I like
Calle O #206, entre 23 y 25 Havana
"The service is so excruciatingly slow"
Posted by: Martian on Aug 9, 2009
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Share your experiences with others. Don't forget to send your review to Debbie by using an easy form.
"The service is so excruciatingly slow"
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Martian on Aug 9, 2009 >
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Visited on: Aug, 2009 | Leisure | Solo
643 people found this review helpful
If you get over to Vedado the best Italian I've eaten anywhere in Havana (for the money) is at the Trattoria. It's a tacky little dump about a half block east of La Rampa on the first street down from Zorra el Cuervo.
The service is so excruciatingly slow (I think they make the lasagna and everything else from scratch from when you order) that I'll place my order, give them a deposit, then walk back up the street and have a few beers at Cafe Sofia and people watch for an hour - then head back to the restaurant for a glass of wine and wait even longer for the food to arrive!
Great food though and great value...


text: You may be familiar with top-shelf industry news site Next-Gen. They're the online reincarnation of a long-dead US magazine, which was basically the American version of respected British mag Edge. Being so close and all (both are run by Future publishing), for the past few months, Next-Gen have begun hosting Edge magazine's content, giving the magazine a decent online presence for the first time in its existence. A presence that's about to get a lot more prominent. Next-Gen will, come Monday, be rebranding their website, which will now be known as Edge. Just like the magazine. This is being done in an attempt to "emulate the respect and credibility of the print magazine online". Odd move, seeing as Next-Gen were already respected and credible, but so long as it doesn't affect either the magazine or the current site, everything should turn out just fine.


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Hybrid Berries
A Hybrid Berry is just that. A Hybrid fruit between two differing parents. This is an interesting section that includes several one-off and unique fruit plants. A Hybrid Berry is a perfect addition for the fruit growing enthusiast. Hybrid Berry tends to be a catch-all term and this section includes a few one-off species too such as the Japanese Wineberry Rubus phoeniceolasius, a species plant related to the Loganberry and Raspberry. The Japanese Wineberry has such wonderful bristly red stems and veined like green leaves that its well worth growing in the shrubbery. The Japanese Wineberry can also be grown against a wall. The vermillion fruits of the Japanese Wineberry are said to be at their most appreciated served as a dessert and sprinkled with a little red wine![more...]
Hybrid Berries Catalogue


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Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, in a surprise news conference two days after the conclusion of the recent World Series, announced that Major League Baseball will undertake a radical change in scheduling next fall, when the Divisional and League Championship eliminations will come after the World Series, not before. "Tradition matters," Selig said, "but the fans have made it clear that they much prefer the interest and drama of the earlier rounds of post-season play, and we're going to oblige them. From now on, it's the Fall Classic first and then heartbreak." The commissioner confirmed reports that he had called in some top metaphysicians to tackle the contradictions implicit in such a plan. "They're gung-ho for the plan, conceptwise," Mr. Selig said. "Once we have this in hand, we're looking to clear up the designated-hitter dilemma, as well. Ambiguity is tough, but so is Roger Clemens."
Well, maybe not, but after the vibrant and confounding baseball scenes in the weeks just past, no possibility can be wholly excluded. Look what did happen:
· In the ceremonials before the third game of the American League Divisional playoffs between the Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics, a Red Sox relief pitcher named Byung-Hyun Kim heard prolonged boos from his home-team Fenway Park fans when his name was announced, and responded digitally.
· Another bird, the Yankee Stadium celebrity eagle Challenger, lost his way while performing his ceremonial flight from the center-field bleachers to a handler on the pitcher's mound before the first game of the Red Sox-Yankees American League Championship Series, wobbled past Derek Jeter (who flinched away, snatching off his cap), and flumped to the ground near home plate. Fired on the spot, the famous fowl unexpectedly emerged from retirement prior to the third game of the World Series, but now with a Sun Belt employer, and made a safe journey home for the Florida Marlins during the anthem at Pro Player Stadium, in Miami. Redemption.
· At Wrigley Field, in Chicago, Cubs left fielder Moises Alou leaped and stretched for a fly ball descending in foul ground beside a steep bank of seats, and had the ball deflected from his glove by a lifelong Cubs fan, Steve Bartman, whose name, on the instant, became inextricably woven into the hundred-and-twenty-eight-year-old history of the franchise. (As is perhaps not known to schoolchildren in Mukden or Petrozavodsk, the Cubs have not won a World Championship since 1908 and the Boston Red Sox since 1918.) The incident still left the good guys three runs ahead in the game and an easy inning and two-thirds away from a victory over the Florida Marlins in the National League Championship Series and their first trip to the World Series in fifty-eight years, but the Cubs now swiftly yielded a base on balls, a single, a clanking error by their shortstop, and an eventual eight-run rally. They lost, lost again the next night, and were eliminated. The sight of Bartman being pelted with insults and threats and cups of beer, and taken away, hiding his face, by the cops for his own safety, has stuck in mind, however. Cubs players and coaches quickly came forward to say that his instinctive grab had nothing to do with the outcome, but Bartman was subjected to later vilifications on the Internet and in the papers, and felt forced to issue a lengthy apology. Baseball is the only sport that fingers individual spectators this way and remembers their names: Sal Durante, who caught Maris's Ruth-breaking sixty-first home run in 1961; Jeffrey Maier, who reached for that short home run to right field in Yankee Stadium in a 1996 playoff against the Orioles; and Alex Popov and Patrick Hayashi, the bleacher fans at Pac Bell Stadium who ended up in a scuffle for the ball and the court costs, after Barry Bonds's seventy-third. Ask not for whom that ball falls.
· At the Boston games, fans saw separate interference plays by Red Sox infielders in the same inning nullified when two different Oakland Athletics base runners forgot to touch home plate; witnessed the seventy-two-year-old Yankee bench Kewpie Don Zimmer throw a punch at Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez (who deflected the attack in the manner of Belmonte dealing with a heifer) during a team brawl; and (by television from the Bronx) watched Sox manager Grady Little perform a gruesome public seppuku by failing to remove the selfsame Pedro from action in the eighth inning of the A.L.C.S. seventh-game finale, after successive hits by the Yankees. The Yanks tied the game on a bloop double by Jorge Posada, and won it—against a different pitcher—in the eleventh, on a lead-off, walk-off home run by Aaron Boone. Getting either or both of the Cubs and Red Sox into the World Series on their hallowed home fields had been a happy possibility nationally discussed and op-edded since July, and when the two teams were again dispatched winless into winter their fans were left with a last gnawing weirdness: both clubs had led by an identical three-run margin at a moment when they stood the same bare five outs away from a pennant, and both blew the chance.
Even as the World Series began, friends of mine were saying how much they mourned the absence of these famous losers in the finale. They'd yearned to see the sweet and accursed old teams have at each other in their grand old parks—a lore-off, so to speak. Part of me felt the same way, but when Juan Pierre, the speedy Marlins center fielder, touched off the first inning of the first Series game with an unplayable bunt, scooted to third on a single, and scored on a sacrifice fly, my mind began to clear. I didn't know this team, but their anonymity and lack of history suddenly felt like a gift. Most of the Yankees and Red Sox we'd been watching carried an almost visible weight of expectation and precedent and prior exploit or failure with them whenever they stepped up to the plate or delivered a pitch, and looked wearied by it; as the Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy put it, the uniform had become too heavy. When Pierre came up to bat again in the fifth, with base runners on second and third, and rapped a little single to left, third baseman Aaron Boone cut off the peg to the plate, allowing the second run to score. Watching, you knew that Boone had glimpsed Pierre, or the idea of Pierre, whirling past first base, and wanted him stopped there. He'd given up the run—the winning run, as it turned out—because he was afraid of the next one, or a bunch more. Call it a forced mistake, and as I put the play into my scorecard I circled it, for elegance.
These wild-card Florida Marlins, who finished the regular season ten games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, entered the post-season as an assemblage of attractive outsiders who'd posted the best record in their league since the beginning of June under a fresh manager, seventy-two-year-old Jack McKeon, called out of retirement to take the post early in May. With a lineup featuring the perpetual All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez; the leggy and engaging twenty-one-year-old flinger Dontrelle Willis, who could start and finish games with equal ardor; and a twenty-year-old Venezuelan, Miguel Cabrera, up from double-A ball, at cleanup, the Marlins appeared elated by the odds against them, even when they fell behind. They didn't go away, in the parlance, but burned steadily and imperturbably through October, winning the last three games in a row in successive elimination series against the power of the Giants, the celebrated pitching of the Cubs, and now the Yankees—and with the last one, of course, the World Championship. Their closest call, you could say, came when the Giants' J. T. Snow, representing the tying run, charged frantically down the line toward home with two out in the ninth of the final Divisional game, and slammed into Rodriguez at home. The throw in from left field beat him by yards, and Pudge held onto the ball.
This was the second crown for the Marlins in seven years, but the new champs fielded only one player, third baseman Jeff Conine, who played for them in 1997—a returnee signed aboard this summer after interim stints with the Royals and the Orioles. The current owner, Jeffrey Loria, was allowed to buy the franchise two years ago, after epochal sufferings with his prior fief, the Montreal Expos. By consensus, most of the credit for the Marlins' sudden rise goes to some brilliant draft signings by the carryover general manager, Dave Dombrowski, who has since accepted the same post with the Tigers, and prior owner John Henry, who now owns the Red Sox, of all things. A uniting thread between these Marlins and the 1997 group—aside from chronic low attendance at steamy Pro Player Stadium, which was built for the N.F.L.'s Miami Dolphins—is that neither champion visited first place after April.
The upbeat Marlins will soon drop out of this account (we are following the Selig fantasy formula), but they leave behind a trail of bright images, including that of the expressionist lefty Dontrelle Willis—who appeared in five post-season relief turns and two starts—tilting and flailing like a reborn Goose Gossage, with his tongue stuck out and his excited eyes alight under that down-to-his-nose, flat-brim street-chic cap. In Game Three, another outsized pitcher, the goat-bearded, sulky-faced Josh Beckett, struck out ten Yankees in seven and a third innings, amid tropic Miami showers, but was beaten by Derek Jeter's three hits for the night, the last a double up the right-field line, after a terrific mound duel against Mike Mussina. The win put the Yanks one up in the series, and when they rallied late the next night—this was Clemens's career-closing start—to carry the game into extra innings, and loaded the bases with one out in the eleventh, a customary Yankee outcome appeared at hand. They didn't deliver, and the winning Florida poke—a lead-off homer down the left-field line in the twelfth by shortstop Alex Gonzalez—bore such an uncanny resemblance to the Aaron Boone walk-off that had killed the Red Sox, days before, that it looked like a mistake in the screening room. Hey, hold it—wrong guys!
The Yankee offense, unreliable all season, was so creaky by now that Torre benched Jason Giambi and the wholly discombobulated Alfonso Soriano the next night—and shortly had to do without his starter, David Wells, who suffered back spasms after one inning's work and could not return. (Jolly in the interview room the day before, Boomer had boasted that he had a rubber arm and could leave the rigors of conditioning to other pitchers forever.) The Marlins' seven hits over the next four innings helped build the 6-4 win and the parvenus' second lead in the series. The teams came back to the Stadium, where the Yankees win big games by force of habit, but they'd finished scoring for the year. The silencing 2-0 win delivered by Josh Beckett was the first Series-ending shutout suffered at home by the Yankees since Lew Burdette did it for the Milwaukee Braves, in 1957. The Marlins were outscored in the Series, and outhit, as well, but it had begun to be noticed by the irritated Yankee pitchers that most of those scores—nine of the latest twelve Florida runs, in fact—had come with two outs. Just when you thought you had them, you didn't. And here it happened again, with two down in the sixth: a bloop against Andy Pettitte by Gonzalez, a drive up the middle from Pierre, and Castillo's sliced mini-hit to right, to bring in the first run of the game—the only one required, it turned out. The peg from right had a chance, but the front runner, Gonzalez, came skidding past home on a slide that fell away from Posada's swipe, and he caressed the plate with his outstretched left hand as he flew by. Marlin-style ball, and a recognizable marque by now.
Beckett's opponent, Pettitte, was making his thirtieth post-season start here and his tenth in the World Series, but it was the younger man who looked suave and untroubled on this evening, jumping ahead in the counts and delivering ceaseless heat and late-moving curveballs in a thrilling, manner-free flow. He was in the mid-to-upper-ninety-m.p.h. range all night, and here and there edged higher. Beckett, who is twenty-three and six-five, has the contemptuous air of the overgifted athlete, but, having earned the sneer now—he'd added nine more strikeouts, and by the time he was done had surrendered but three runs in his last twenty-nine innings, along with two shutouts—he appeared to forgive us a little at the end. He holds an apprentice's 17-17 record for his three years in the majors to date, with a 9-8 won-lost record and a 3.04 earned-run average this season, when he had to sit out seven weeks with an inflamed elbow. "He's just starting to pitch," said the Florida utility infielder Mike Mordecai, shaking his head in awe. He compared Beckett to a teammate of his from a decade ago, the left-handed Atlanta phenom Steve Avery, but I had a better model in mind: twenty-one-year-old Bret Saberhagen, who gave up a lone run to the Cardinals over eighteen innings during the 1985 Series, and effortlessly won the M.V.P., just as Beckett did here. Watching them both, you could see Cooperstown in the mists ahead—or else the waiting rooms of Dr. James Andrews, the celebrated Birmingham shoulder surgeon, et al., which was Saberhagen's path, as it turned out. This is a tough trade.
Young players who win a championship are clueless about its rarity, but Jack McKeon, lighting a cigar in the corridor outside the champagne-damp Marlins clubhouse, knew what they'd accomplished. His fifty-five years in baseball include managerial tenures with four other major-league teams, and a decade as baseball-operations vice-president of the Padres, who made the World Series in 1984 but swiftly lost to the Tigers. Now he had that ring. McKeon grew up in South Amboy, New Jersey, but has acquired the skipperish, plainsman's mien, behind rimless glasses, that comes to so many elder baseball guys. In conversation before the finale, he and I had discussed the way that "seventy-two-year-old" prefix had become welded to his name these past weeks. "You notice that, too, I bet," he said, throwing an unexpected arm around my shoulder, "but, hell, this beats retirement. Never retire—right?" He'd been idle at home in Elon, North Carolina, when Marlins owner Loria came calling in May. McKeon said that he'd not minded the daylight hours at home, or the garden work, but hated what came afterward. "Sitting in the same damned chair till midnight, watching games," he said scornfully. "That used to be my working day."
I hope Jack McKeon saw the Post headline the day after he'd won, and is having it framed: "yankees sleep with the fish."
This October, the closeness of the post-season games and the sight of so many celebrity teams—A's, Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Cubs, and Giants—suddenly fighting for their lives in the early rounds of play made these eliminations feel like a different sport altogether: baseball with a thirty-second clock. Counting the World Series, thirty-eight games were required to produce a champion, with eleven of them settled by one run, and six going into extra innings. The easy, almost endless run of summer ball was not just over but obsolete, and it requires effort to bring any part of it back, even the Mets. Place should be reserved, however, for the achievement of the switch-hitting Red Sox infielder Bill Mueller, who twice hit home runs from different sides of the plate in the same game. The second time he did this, against the home-team Texas Rangers, the dingers—first right-handed, then left—came in consecutive innings and were both grand slams. Never before—never nearly before.
For a single game, I will keep the drizzly, foggy evening of June 13th, at Yankee Stadium, when Roger Clemens, after failing in his three previous tries, at last nailed down his three-hundredth win. He was the twenty-first pitcher to enter this particular club, but on the same night also notched his four-thousandth lifetime strikeout, a level previously attained only by Nolan Ryan and and Steve Carlton. Clemens, who is forty-one, was retiring after this season, his twentieth, and he had wanted these certifications before the end. The landmark K was odd, because Roger had just given up a home run and a double to the previous Cardinal batters here in the second inning (it was an inter-league game) and because the cheers greeting the whiff, by shortstop Edgar Renteria, now began to blend with a welcome for the next batter, designated hitter Tino Martinez, an old Yankee hero making his first appearance at the Stadium since his departure two years ago. Tino, sensing the moment, stepped back to allow the Roger ovation to reach its full, 55,214-fan volume while the ball was being handed off to a ball boy like a Brinks package, and then at last got into the batter's box for his own "TI-NO! TI-NO! TI-NO!" Nothing came easily on this night, in fact, in a game that repeatedly threatened to be delayed or wiped out by rain, or even won by the wrong team, until a two-run homer by Raul Mondesi in the seventh brought the score to 5-2 Yankees, and safety. Clemens had departed in the top of the same inning (he struck out ten batters) but came back onto the field after the final out, while the scoreboard played Elton John's "Rocket Man" and the fans flashed their digital cameras and wept. Clemens hugged his catcher, Jorge Posada; hugged his other teammates and coaches; hugged the Yankee P.R. honcho, Rick Cerrone; hugged his wife, Debbie; hugged his sons, Koby, Kory, Kacy, and Kody; hugged the ballpark.
I am not big on lifetime records, but this three-hundredth win changed Clemens and changed the fans' view of him as well. Almost from the beginning of his career, he has been an enigmatic presence in the clubhouse and in mid-action—a tree in the living room, a dangerous object left on the highway. There have been six Cy Young Awards and those two epochal twenty-strikeout games, ten years apart, and also the fugues: his early ejection from a league championship start in 1990 for muttered curses on the mound; his nailing Mike Piazza with a fastball on the side of the helmet in 2000; and its sequel, the flung-bat-stump mystery in the World Series that same fall. But now and for the rest of this season Clemens became calmer on the mound and less mumbly or Esperantoid with the media. Planet Roger had produced a sunset. "Since the three hundred he's not so hard on himself all the time," Joe Torre said. "It's like he's come through something and out the other side." Clemens was not less of a pitcher, however, keeping a live fastball (and that Kilroy stare-in at the batter over the fence of his glove) and going 17-9 for the season, with a hundred and ninety (or 4,099) strikeouts, fifth best in the league. He also won two huge starts in the post-season—the third game against the Twins in the Divisionals, which put his team in command at last, and that roily Game Three in Boston, where he stood cool amid the schoolyard punchings and pushings. He wanted to stay useful, and did so, besting his duellist Pedro in every category in his six innings and coming off with the win.
The Sox fans taunted Clemens all that afternoon, but I believe they still remembered his last local appearance, at the end of August, his hundredth victory in this old park, when he'd come out of the game after seven, a winner once again, and received a substantial, echoing "O" from the width and breadth of the Fenway multitudes, who had loved him here in his celebrated thirteen-year tenure and foully vilified him ever since.
Some writers and television sports guys have been saying that Roger won't stay retired—he'll miss it all too much—and I just hope they'll bring their money around, come spring. I think they're the ones who don't want to say goodbye. "I'm dead serious on what I'm doing," Clemens said in Florida. "I'm pretty set on it." This was about his departure, but it fits a career as well.
At two-thirty-seven in the morning, Steve Wulf, a Red Sox fan who is also the executive editor of ESPN: The Magazine, was alone in the living room of his house in Larchmont watching on television the first game of the Sox-Athletics American League divisional playoff from Oakland. The A's had loaded the bases in the bottom of the twelfth inning when catcher Ramon Hernandez dropped down a killer bunt, to bring home the winning run. "Fuck," Wulf said to himself, turning off the set—and heard the same summarizing blurt softly repeated from above by his wife, Bambi, who had long since gone to bed, and, still more faintly, by their seventeen-year-old son, Bo, on the top floor. Here was a harbinger, the first leaf of another hard Bosox autumn ahead—eleven more games of breathless and mindless, heroic and incomprehensible ball, ending in a fresh seismic shock to the Red Sox Nation, by consensus the worst one of all. I was at Fenway Park for most of the action, but cannot offer a reliable summary—certainly not of the Divisional third game, which featured a collective six errors and several base-running grotesqueries by the visitors.
Scrolling ahead, we alight in Game III, Scene 4 of the next series, the A.L.C.S., at Fenway Park, just as Pedro Martinez lets fly that fastball aimed behind Yankee batter Karim Garcia, grazing him high on the left shoulder as he flinches away. Vintage Pedro or something, but there's no doubt about his intention. Handed a two-run first-inning lead against Roger Clemens, Martinez has given back a run in the second, then a solo homer to Jeter, and, just now, a walk and a single and an r.b.i. double to Hideki Matsui. The Yankees lead, and will hold on to win, despite chaotic distractions. When play resumes, Garcia bangs irritably into second baseman Todd Walker at the front of a double play, and in the ensuing pushing and grabbing, Martinez glares at Jorge Posada in the Yankee dugout and aims a finger at his own forehead: you're next! After the teams change sides Manny Ramirez comes out at Clemens, bat upraised, in response to an eye-level pitch that was actually over the plate. ("If I'd wanted it near him he'd have known it," Clemens said later.) Benches and bullpens empty, old Zimmer swings at Martinez and goes down—what was that?—and will be taken away tenderly as the players at last disperse and the umps confer. Later, there's a mini-fracas in the Yankee bullpen, where reliever Jeff Nelson and right fielder Garcia (vaulting the fence to get there) get into a street scuffle with a Red Sox employee. This game had been billed as a classic between the best pitcher of his day and the best of his era, but turned into low farce.
The next day, a rainy Sunday, Zimmer wept and apologized, fines were assessed (fifty thousand to Martinez on down to five thousand for Zimmer), and the Red Sox management, defying a team-silence edict from the commissioner's office, staged an embarrassing press conference while attempting to put a Sox spin on the debacle. "This is a band of brothers," explained chief executive officer Larry Lucchino. Fra Pedro, whose team's record had just gone to 9-15 in games he'd started against the Yankees, dismissed Zimmer's apology but offered none of his own. "It's not a good feeling to have to apologize," he said. "I don't know if you realize this." With a 14-4 record and a 2.22 E.R.A. this year, Martinez is not exactly in decline, but after this weekend you had the sense that even in the stoniest New England precincts he will no longer be defined by his numbers. In his Globe column, Dan Shaughnessy wrote, "Pedro was an embarrassment and a disgrace to baseball Saturday. . . . And the Sox front office enables him, just as they do Manny Ramirez. Just as they did with Roger when he was here and Yaz when he was here and Ted when he was here."
Don Zimmer, who has retired, deserves at least a footnote, here at the end of one of those "Glory of Their Times" baseball careers. His fifty-five years in the game included a marriage (it's still going) at home plate at Elmira when he was a young infielder in the Eastern League; a dozen years in the majors, with five different teams; and a manager's post with four more, including the Red Sox. Just this past season, he turned up in a dazzling new baseball trivia question, in good company. Q. Name four guys who were ejected from major-league games in six different decades. A. Casey Stengel. Leo Durocher. Frank Robinson. Zimm.
It comes to a seventh game—could anyone have doubted it? This will be the twenty-sixth time the Red Sox and Yankees have faced off this year—a record for any two teams in the annals—and while there have been stretches when the latest renewal held all the drama of a couple of cellmates laying out a hand of rummy, this is another killer dénouement. For all we know, it's up there with the 1978 Bucky Dent playoff and the DiMaggio late return of 1949. There's a wired, non-stop holiday din at the Stadium, which dies away only with the first intensely watched pitches. Everything matters now. Clemens is back and so is Pedro—but this Roger appears frail and thought-burdened. The No. 2 Boston batter, Todd Walker, raps a safe knock after a ten-pitch at-bat, and Nomar Garciaparra lines out hard to right. An inning later, Kevin Millar singles, and Trot Nixon, from his flat-footed left-handed stance, delivers a businesslike homer into the stands in right: his third two-run job in the post-season. With two out, the bearded, dad-like Jason Varitek doubles into the right-field corner. Johnny Damon's grounder looks like the last out but—geez!—third baseman Enrique Wilson mishandles the ball and his throw pulls first baseman Nick Johnson off the bag, as Varitek turns the corner and scores. It's 3-0, and when the teams change sides the Stadium has gone anxious and pissed-off conversational: fans up and down the stuffed tiers complaining to their seatmates or sending the bad news home on their cells, with gestures: . . . plus Wilson is in for defense, right? . . . our only chance was stay close to goddam Pedro.
Martinez, for his part, survives some first-inning wobbles and is soon in rhythm: the stare-in from behind his red glove, the velvety rock and turn, and the strikes arriving in clusters. After each out, he gloves the returning ball backhand, and gazes about with lidded hauteur. No one else in the world has eyes so far apart. The Yanks go down quickly again, and we're at the top of the fourth—and the startling sound, it's like a tree coming apart, of Kevin Millar's solo shot up into the upper-deck left-field stands. Clemens, down 4-0 and almost helpless, gives up a walk and a hit-and-run single to Mueller and departs, maybe for the last time ever. A ten-year-old Yankee fan I know named Noah has by this time gone down on his knees on the concrete in front of his seat near first base, hiding his head.
There were Sox fans here, too, of course—you could see them in red-splashed knots and small parties around the Stadium, and pick up their cries. The Boston offense had been a constant for them all year, including the sixteen-hit outburst in the series-tying 9-6 win the night before. This year, the Sox set major-league records for extra bases, total bases, and slugging percentage. The Boston front office, headed by the twenty-nine-year-old G.M., Theo Epstein, had traded vigorously to build a batting order with no soft sectors or easy outs in it. Mueller, the double-grand-slam switch-hitter, was batting eighth today. For me, Kevin Millar, a free agent acquired for cash from the Marlins last winter, was the genius pick. On April 1st, the second day of the season, he contributed a sixteenth-inning game-winning home run in Tampa, and in June pinch-hit a grand slam that helped pull off a seven-run turnabout against the Brewers. With his blackened cheekbones and raunchy grin, he became the model for the Sox' newfound grunginess—dirt-stained uniforms and pine-smudged helmets, and an early-October outburst of shaved heads that transformed sluggers and pitchers and old coaches into plebes or pledges. His "Let's cowboy up!" rallying cry from the dugout and the on-deck circle caught on with d.j.s and schoolkids and Green Line subway riders, inundating Greater Boston in "Cowboy Up!" caps and T-shirts and fan towels and diapers and souvenir glassware. Somebody found a clip of eighteen-year-old Kevin mouthing the lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." in a Beaumont, Texas, karaoke solo, which became a staple on the Fenway message board. The unimaginable had happened: the Sox were loose.
Mike Mussina, called into the crisis with Boston runners at first and third, and no outs—Clemens had just gone—went into his ceremonial low-bowing stretch and struck out Varitek, the first batter, on three pitches. Three more brought a handy 6-6-3 double play at Damon's expense. "MOOOOSE!" the bleacherites cried. It was Mussina's first relief appearance after four hundred lifetime starts, but he understood the work. Jason Giambi, struggling at .190 in the series, hit a homer barely into the center-field seats, for a first dent in Pedro, and, liking the range, did it again to the same sector in the seventh, bringing us to 4-2, with the old house roaring and rocking. The press-box floor thrummed under my feet, as I had felt it do on an autumn late night or two before. Young Noah had lifted himself off the deck by this time and stood by his seat, yelling.
I had been looking about the familiar Stadium surround in valedictory fashion—the motel-landscape bullpens, the UTZ Potato Chip sign over in right—but from here to the end sat transfixed by the cascade of events, scarcely able to draw a full breath. No other sport does this, and even as we stare and cry "Can you believe this?" we forget how often it comes along, how it's built into baseball.
Joe Torre, patching in relievers after Mussina's three-inning stint, produced David Wells, whose first pitch was sailed deep into the bleachers by Sox d.h. David Ortiz. 5-2 now. Checking the video monitor, I saw Wells's top teeth hit his bottom lip with the expletive. But Pedro had been long at his tasks, and when Jeter doubled to the right-field corner in the eighth and was singled home by Bernie Williams, the margin narrowed again to two, and here came manager Grady Little, out to hook his ace and pat him on the rump as he left. Little likes to stand below a pitcher, on the downslope of the mound, and here again, looking up at Pedro like a tourist at the Parthenon steps, he said a few words and walked away. This could not be. Martinez had thrown a hundred and fifteen pitches, and given up ringing hits to five of the last seven batters. A Sox-fan friend of mine, Ben, watching in his apartment on West Forty-fifth Street, had gone on his hands and knees, screaming. But Pedro stayed on: a ground-rule double by Matsui, then the dying bloopy double by Posada that landed untouched out beyond second base, for two runs and the tie. "There's a lot of grass out there," Posada explained later. Grady Little, in his own brief post-game, said, "Pedro Martinez has been our man all year long, and in situations like that he's the one we want on the mound," which was understandable but untrue. This had been only the fifth game in thirty-one starts in which Martinez was allowed to pitch into the eighth.
It was Mariano Rivera time—the waiting Boston bad dream—and Mo, defending the tie, poised and threw, poised and threw, whisking through the ninth. There was a scary double to left by Ortiz with two gone in the tenth, but Rivera, sighing, delivered the cutter to Millar, who lined gently to Jeter. Midnight had come and gone, but the Yankees could do no better against Embree and then Timlin, the tough Sox relievers Grady Little had slighted in extremis (the two surrendered no runs at all in this series, in sixteen-plus combined innings). The top of the eleventh went away, to noisy, exhausted accompaniments; the latest Boston pitcher was Tim Wakefield, the tall knuckleballer who had embarrassed the Yankees with his spinless stuff, twice beating Mussina in close, low-scoring games. Mo was done: the balance had swung the other way. I looked at my scorecard to confirm the next Yankee batter—Aaron Boone, who had come into the game as a pinch-runner in the eighth—looked back, and saw the ball and the ballgame fly away on his low, long first-pitch home run into the released and exulting and rebelieving Yankee crowds. I yelled, too, but thought, Poor Boston. My god.
News and reviews of this game poured in even while the World Series was cranking up. A woman I know, riding a late taxi downtown that night with a friend, was stopped at a light at Twenty-third Street and Seventh Avenue when she heard the earphoned, Urdu-speaking driver suddenly shouting "Aaron Boone! Aaron Boone!" A man in the Abbey Tavern, around the corner from the Piazza Navona in Rome, turned to say something consoling to a new Sox-fan acquaintance after the Boone homer—it was six-fifteen in the morning—and found the seat empty. In Gramercy Square, light from his home TV screen illuminated the patrician visage of eighty-six-year-old Gardner Botsford, a retired editor and writer who was wearing the first messaged garment of his life, a classic white cotton T-shirt, with "Yankees Suck" in 75-point blue capitals. Botsford is no Red Sox fan, but his shirt, the gift of a friend just back from Fenway Park, summed up his convictions: Voltaire could not have put it better. When Boone had done his deed, Botsford took off the shirt and went upstairs. "Didn't work," he said to the silent form across the bed. Eighteen-year-old Pat Sviokla had asked a bunch of friends and classmates over to watch the game at his house in Newton, outside Boston, but when Boone's shot went out the party disappeared. "Nobody said a word," Pat's mother, Eileen, said later. "Six or seven of them going out the door, single file. They looked like P.O.W.s." Bill Buckner letting the ground ball go through his legs at Shea Stadium had happened in 1986, when these young men were one-year-olds. Bucky Fucking Dent, Joe Morgan, Jim Willoughby taken out, and Throw the ball in, Johnny, was stuff their fathers and grandfathers talked about. Now they belonged.
Much of the buzz collected around Grady Little. "Grady Sutton is a better manager than Grady Little" was the gist and entire content of a note I had from an unknown correspondent—who'd somehow realized that I would recognize Grady Sutton as the moonfaced ninny in the old W. C. Fields flicks. "Grady Little is the George Bush of managers," a friend across the hall from me in my office came by to announce. "Letting Pedro stay in is like George Bush staring into Putin's soul."
Now, a month later, a little of New England's pain and anguish may have dispersed, helped along by the Yankees' loss in the World Series and that late footage of Derek Jeter, still with his cap and spikes and wristbands on, sitting disconsolate in front of his Stadium locker a full hour after the Yanks' elimination.
Grady Little has been let go, and the Red Sox have offered waivers on Manny Ramirez, hoping to trade him and his twenty-million-dollar-a-year contract for new pitching. If you want to tap into the Sox fans' psyche now, you have to consult a new Web site, www.redsoxhaiku.com, where it comes in eloquent triplets:
Bright leaves falling. Clear
Blue sky. Frost at dawn. Autumn.
Red Sox lose again.
Buckner or Little
It doesn't really matter
Someone will fuck up
Hey, wait till next year:
Every eighty-six years
Like clockwork. Go Sox.
Joe Torre, who called the Red Sox the best team his Yankees had faced during his eight-year tenure as manager, was short of a haiku by a beat or two in the interview room just before that seventh game, but also on target: "This really is fun, but you don't know it's fun until it's over." ♦


text:
A Ferrari Speciale for special emotions
ItвҖҷs called the 458 Speciale: itвҖҷs FerrariвҖҷs new sportscar, the fruits of the innovation and extreme technological research that have gone into a car as outstanding as the 458 Italia.
The aerodynamic efficiency (an E index of 1.5), a more powerful aspirated V8 engine (605 cv) and the highest power density (135 cv/l) in the history of Ferrari road cars, an extraordinary weight/power ratio (2.13 kg/cv), electronic control of the slip angle (SSC): these are some вҖ" but not all вҖ" of the characteristics that make this car truly Speciale and that are destined to become standard for the Ferraris of the future. The aptness of the carвҖҷs name is easily shown by its performance figures: accelerating from 0-100km/h in 3s (or 9.1s for 0-200km/h) and a best lap time round Fiorano of 1m 23.5s.
The new 8-cylinder mid-engine berlinetta, which will be launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show on September 10, was designed with the target of raising performance and driving emotion to the highest levels, while still guaranteeing ease of control in every situation.


text:
The United Nations has said that a growing number of people in Haiti are not getting enough to eat following a heavy storm season that damaged food crops.
The humanitarian department of the UN mission in the Caribbean nation of 10 million people said in its monthly bulletin that a spike in malnutrition has been recorded in some areas since October. At least one in five households faces a serious food deficit and acute malnutrition despite efforts to reduce hunger, the study said.
Malnutrition is worst in Haiti's far western corner in the administrative department of Grande-Anse, the UN said. There have also been reports of acute malnutrition in southeastern Haiti.
Widespread flooding damaged crops in the country's south when Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Isaac brushed Haiti last year.
The UN said that more than more than 1.5 million of Haiti's people are at risk of malnutrition because of crops lost in the hurricane. As much as 90 per cent of Haiti's harvest season, much of it in the south, was destroyed in Sandy's floods.


text:
We are pleased to announce important back-to-back meetings on wildlife contraception to be held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from August 28-31, 2012. The two forums are open to scientists, wildlife agency managers, animal welfare representatives and the general public. The first, on August 28, is a Wild Horse Symposium sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation. It is followed by the three-day 7th International Conference on Fertility Control in Wildlife, from August 29-31.
Tentative agenda topics for the wild horse meeting include Economics of Wild Horse Fertility Control on Public Lands, Regulatory Status of Immunocontraceptive Vaccines for Wild Horses, Using Immunocontraception to Manage Wild Horse Sanctuaries, and Options for Accessing and Delivering Contraceptives to Wild Horses and Burros. The second conference will cover, among other topics, Population Level Effects of Fertility Control, Sociopolitical Issues in Wildlife Fertility Control, Development of Fertility Control Tools, Wildlife Management Applications of Fertility Control, Fertility Control in Captive Wildlife, and Development of Delivery Systems.
AWI eagerly anticipates this international fertility control conference as it represents a new pinnacle in recognizing birth control as a humane, effective, publicly acceptable tool for management of wildlife. AWI's founding president, Christine Stevens, was a strong proponent of wildlife birth control, and for decades AWI has supported it by providing funding, encouraging field research, and educating wildlife managers, biologists, politicians and the general public about its viability. In 1978, we gratefully acknowledged in the pages of our magazine the stalwart efforts of Sen. John Melcher, who secured Congressional support for up to $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for research into animal birth control - the first time that federal funds were made available for this purpose.
As the meetings will surely highlight, immunocontraception has proven safe and successful. There is a critical need to overcome political hurdles and expand utilization now of this humane method of wildlife management.
For further information, or to register for either or both events, please visit www.wildlifeconference7.org. We look forward to seeing you there!


text:
Up next: the fiscal cliff
It's the outcome Capitol Hill insiders feared most.
The split decision voters rendered Tuesday night is the worst-case scenario for a quick resolution to the fiscal morass awaiting Congress in the lame-duck session.
Story Continued Below
President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats both won reelection on their promise to raise taxes on the rich. Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans won back control of their chamber campaigning on the promise never to raise taxes.
Someone has to blink — and so far neither side says they will.
Obama's convincing reelection, the Republicans' sustained majority in the House and Democrats' hold on the Senate only further complicate the prospects of cutting any kind of deal on expiring income tax rates, massive pending cuts to Pentagon spending and entitlement reform.
A clarifying election this was not. Instead, it's the beginning of a stare-down that will almost certainly last months.
Washington is still sharply split along the same lines as it was before Tuesday — and both sides say the victories they cinched bolster their negotiating position.
For Republicans – led by Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – that means a temporary extension of the Bush-era tax rates for all income levels, including the wealthy. In an interview with POLITICO this week, Boehner said if Obama and House Republicans were left in power, they would have "as much of a mandate as [Obama] will…to not raise taxes."
At the Republican National Committee's party Tuesday night, Boehner said the takeaway from the House results is clear.
"The American people want solutions — and tonight, they've responded by renewing our majority," Boehner said. "With this vote, the American people have also made clear that there is no mandate for raising tax rates. What Americans want are solutions that will ease the burden on small businesses, bring jobs home, and let our economy grow. We stand ready to work with any willing partner — Republican, Democrat, or otherwise — who shares a commitment to getting these things done."
For Democrats – led by Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and, perhaps temporarily, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California – the election is a mandate to return to Clinton-era tax rates, which had wealthy Americans paying nearly 40 percent income tax. Obama put raising tax rates for top earners front and center in his campaign — and Democrats are only going to be emboldened by his victory.


text:
Holiday Concert at Chapman University 2018 | KCET
Holiday Concert at Chapman University 2018
Full Episodes
Holiday Concert at Chapman University 2018
Holiday Concert at Chapman University 2018
55th Annual Wassail Concert At Chapman University
Watch a magnificent concert of holiday season favorites performed by the Chapman University Singers, University Choir and Women's Choir along with music performed by The Chapman Orchestra.
Upcoming Airdates
Popular Videos
California's Native peoples have lived with drought cycles for millennia and today, the Paiute are shepherding conversations around access to water resources, raising key questions about how our snowpack, streams and aquifers are used and maintained.KCET Original
During World War II, three renowned photographers captured scenes from the Japanese incarceration: outsiders Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams and incarceree Tōyō Miyatake who boldly smuggled in a camera lens to document life from within the camp.KCET Original
Parents are willing to spend thousands to get the competitive edge in the college admissions process, but at what cost? Socal Connected takes a revealing look at the high stakes world of the for-profit education consultant business.KCET Original
Los Angeles's water sources run as far as hundreds of miles away.KCET Original
Griffith Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. Its founder, Griffith J. Griffith, donated the land to the city as a public recreation ground for all the people — an ideal that has been challenged over the years.KCET Original
Expiring Soon
After many years for neglect, the Gardens Conservancy and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area have begun a multi million-dollar restoration of the gardens. Huell gets a special look at this almost forgotten part of our history.
Phryne investigates the death of a young female worker in a factory 'accident' and soon learns that the woman's death might not be the misadventure the police think it is.
"Mother of the Earth" takes a look at Hayedeh Shirzadi and her husband's attempts to put an end to the dumping and burial of urban garbage in their city.
George crisscrosses Laos to witness a nation entering the modern world.


text:
Top Items:
Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Rush Limbaugh: Jan Brewer being 'bullied' to veto — Right talk radio is turning its focus this week to Arizona's controversial bill that would allow business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers, and Rush Limbaugh is leading with the charge that Gov. Jan Brewer is being …
Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Daily Beast, The Week, Daily Kos, Arizona Capitol Times, Hinterland Gazette and ABC News
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly: The Rush Limbaugh Anti-Bullying Initiative
Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast: Once-Supportive Republicans Go From Anti-Gay to No Way
Edward Morrissey / The Week: On wedding cakes, gay marriage, and our growing inability to tolerate one another
Josh Coddington / Arizona Capitol Times: Poll: GOP voters want Brewer to veto SB1062
Abby D. Phillip / ABC News: GOP Senators Urge Veto of Controversial Arizona Anti-Gay Bill
Apple Warns Arizona Governor Anti-Gay Bill Will Hurt Highly Anticipated Sapphire Glass Factory — Apple called up Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer (R) Tuesday to urge her to veto the state's anti-gay bill. — The state's controversial SB 1062 bill allows individuals to discriminate …
Discussion: Gizmodo, NBC News, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post
Laura Clawson / Daily Kos: Facing heavy pressure to veto anti-gay bill, Brewer is taking her sweet time
Arizona Republic:
SB 1062 opponents are putting Arizona at risk
SB 1062 opponents are putting Arizona at risk
Jeremy Duda / Arizona Capitol Times:
Apple, 83 others, join anti-SB1062 chorus
Apple, 83 others, join anti-SB1062 chorus
Discussion: BuzzFeed, NBC News, TechCrunch, Advocate, Valley Fever, Re/code, Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch: Apple Urges Arizona Governor To Veto Anti-LGBT Bill Before Opening Sapphire Glass Plant
Daniel Reynolds / Advocate: Arizona Gov. Says She Will 'Do the Right Thing' on Anti-LGBT Bill
Matthew Hendley / Valley Fever: KTAR Finds a Business That Actually Supports SB 1062
Ina Fried / Re/code: Apple Comes Out Against Arizona Anti-LGBT Bill
Joe Jervis / Joe. My. God.: Apple To Brewer: Veto Or Else
Ben Giles / Arizona Capitol Times:
Senators on SB1062: "We made a mistake"
Senators on SB1062: "We made a mistake"
Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos and The Daily Beast
Dan Merica / CNN:
Atheists plan conservative outreach with booth at CPAC — Washington (CNN) - American Atheists, an outspoken organization that advocates for atheists nationwide, will have a booth at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference. — The atheist institution, which is well known …
Discussion: Hot Air, NewsBusters, Politico, Joe. My. God. and The Daily Caller
Allahpundit / Hot Air: The new era dawns: Atheists to have a booth at CPAC this year; Update: Booth canceled?
Brent Bozell / NewsBusters: Bozell Statement: ACU's Invite to American Atheists Is More Proof CPAC Is Destroying Conservative Movement
Natalie Villacorta / Politico: CPAC un-invites American Atheists
Joe Jervis / Joe. My. God.: Perkins Wins: CPAC Boots Atheist Group
Matt K. Lewis / The Daily Caller: CPAC spox: 'American Atheists misrepresented itself...'
Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Conservatives Boot American Atheists From Booth At Conference
Conservatives Boot American Atheists From Booth At Conference
Discussion: The Raw Story and Joe. My. God.
Dave Muscato / American Atheists:
Atheists March Into Lions' Den at CPAC
Atheists March Into Lions' Den at CPAC
Discussion: Post Politics
Scott Clement / Post Politics: Atheists group blocked from CPAC
Dan Merica / CNN:
CPAC reverses decision, will not allow atheist group at conservative conference
CPAC reverses decision, will not allow atheist group at conservative conference
Discussion: American Atheists
Jose Pagliery / CNNMoney.com:
Mt.Gox site disappears, Bitcoin future in doubt — What was once the world's largest trading platform for bitcoins is now a blank page. — The Bitcoin-trading website Mt.Gox was taken offline late Monday, putting at risk millions of dollars put there by investors who gambled on the digital currency.
New York Times:
Apparent Theft at Mt. Gox Shakes Bitcoin World
Apparent Theft at Mt. Gox Shakes Bitcoin World
Discussion: Fortune, Reuters, The Monkey Cage, Forbes, The Switch, Re/code, DealBook, Capital New York and The Two-Bit Idiot, more at Mediagazer »
Dan Primack / Fortune: SecondMarket to launch first U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange
Henry Farrell / The Monkey Cage: Bitcoin is like Tinkerbell: If people stop clapping, it's going to die
Andrea Peterson / The Switch: Everything you need to know about the latest Bitcoin crisis
Sydney Ember / DealBook: @GSElevator's Big Reveal
Laura Nahmias / Capital New York: Lawsky: Mt. Gox proves need for 'tailored' Bitcoin regs
The Two-Bit Idiot:
Bitcoin's Apocalyptic Moment: Mt. Gox may have lost 750,000 bitcoins
Bitcoin's Apocalyptic Moment: Mt. Gox may have lost 750,000 bitcoins
Dan Primack / Fortune: SecondMarket knew about Mt. Gox troubles
Todd Wasserman / Mashable: Mt. Gox Implodes, Putting Bitcoin's Future in Jeopardy
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
The Mt. Gox Bitcoin Exchange Has Disappeared — Is Bankruptcy Next?
The Mt. Gox Bitcoin Exchange Has Disappeared — Is Bankruptcy Next?
Discussion: Guardian, The Two-Bit Idiot, TechCrunch, The Switch, Gawker, The Week, DealBook, Gizmodo, The Verge, Engadget and National Review
Heidi Moore / Guardian: The Bitcoin scandal of MtGox is the best thing to happen to Bitcoin in years
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch: The Bitcoin Regulation Paradox
Sam Biddle / Gawker: Mt.Gox Died and the Money Is Gone
Jamie Condliffe / Gizmodo: Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Disappears, Not Getting Help From Authorities
Richard Lawler / Engadget: Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox goes dark (update: HTML, domain suggest it could relaunch as Gox)
Greg Pollowitz / National Review: Shocker: Bitcoin Economy on the Brink
Oops: Dick Cheney Unintentionally Trashes Troops In Attempt To Hit Obama — Former Vice President Dick Cheney took to Fox News on Monday night to lambaste the Obama administration's proposed cuts to the military budget, lamenting the president's desire to ensure that Americans have access …
Discussion: The New Republic, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Americans Against the … and Shakesville
Hunter / Daily Kos: Media chooses paranoia over substance in reporting proposed Pentagon troop reductions. Again.
Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo: Cheney Dings Obama: He'd Rather Have Food Stamps Than A Strong Military
Aattp / Americans Against the Tea Party: War Criminal and Racist Dick Cheney Slurs Obama On Food Stamps v. Military
Melissa McEwan / Shakesville: In the News — Here is some stuff in the news today!
Obama prepared to leave no troops in Afghanistan after 2014
Obama prepared to leave no troops in Afghanistan after 2014
Discussion: Fox News, Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air
Cheston Catalano / Liberaland: Obama Tells Pentagon To Prepare For Possibility Of Leaving No Troops In Afghanistan
Doug Mataconis / Outside the Beltway: White House: U.S. Will Leave Afghanistan If Karzai Balks On New Troop Deal
Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Dick Cheney: President Obama favors food stamps
Dick Cheney: President Obama favors food stamps
Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Huffington Post, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, The Dish, The Daily Caller, The Raw Story and TIME
Steve M. / No More Mister Nice Blog: ARE REPUBLICANS STARTING TO DO LESS OBAMACARE-BAITING AND MORE POOR-BAITING?
Paige Lavender / The Huffington Post: Dick Cheney: Obama Would Rather Spend Money On Food Stamps Than A Strong Military
Laura Clawson / Daily Kos: Noted military expert (see Iraq War) Dick Cheney complains about food for the poor
Andrew Sullivan / The Dish: The Tiger Gets Hungrier
Jamie Weinstein / The Daily Caller: Cheney: Obama would 'much rather spend the money on food stamps' than military
David Edwards / The Raw Story: Dick Cheney rips Obama for defense cuts: Spend on military, not food stamps
Zeke J Miller / TIME: Jindal Breaches White House Protocol To Take Shots At Obama
Bill / The Hill:
Bill Press: Democrats' Enemy No. 1 — Democrats have a big job in 2014: they need to hold onto control of the Senate, win back leadership of the House, and elect Democratic governors and state legislators in key states. But to get there, they face one big obstacle.
Discussion: CNN
Hillary Clinton / CNN: Rubio on 2016: Clinton would 'struggle'
Eliana Johnson / National Review: Bill Cassidy: The End of the Landrieu Line?
Curtis Gans / Washington Monthly:
Midterm Signals and Noise
Midterm Signals and Noise
Discussion: Booman Tribune and BillMoyers.com
Cameron Joseph / The Hill:
Debbie Dingell will run for husband's seat — Democratic power player Debbie Dingell will run for her husband's congressional seat and announce her campaign on Friday, a source close to the Dingells tells The Hill. — "She is going to announce her candidacy on Friday.
Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Power Line and Post Politics
Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo: Dingell Dynasty: Wife To Run For Michigan Rep.'s Seat
Paul Mirengoff / Power Line: Dingell likely to succeed Dingell who succeeded Dingell
Sean Sullivan / Post Politics: Longest-serving Rep. John Dingell to retire
Post Politics:
Debbie Dingell to run for House seat being vacated by John Dingell
Debbie Dingell to run for House seat being vacated by John Dingell
Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, The Hill and The Fix
David Maraniss / Washington Post: John Dingell calls an end to his legendary House career
Doug Mataconis / Outside the Beltway: Debbie Dingell Wants To Continue Dingell Family's Royalist Legacy
Cameron Joseph / The Hill: Dingell dynasty may not be over yet
Emmeline Zhao / RealClearEducation:
Blue Devil: The Duke Porn Star and College Costs — Stories about soaring college costs are perennial media favorites, at once playing to parental anxiety while highlighting a genuine education problem. But this one was different: A Duke University freshman confirmed to her college paper …
Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run, Eduwonk, The Daily Beast and Questions and Observations
Carl M. Cannon / Real Clear Politics: From RealClearPolitics: Duke Blue Devil Porn Star Speaks Out; Longest Tenured Members of Congress …
Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Hit & Run: Duke Freshman Porn Star Wishes the GOP Would Get More Libertarian
Arotherham / Eduwonk: Blue Deviled - Does The Duke Porn Star Really Tell Us Much About College Costs?
Bruce McQuain / Questions and Observations: And this woman wants to be a lawyer
The Hill:
ObamaCare stars fade — The Obama administration is short of star power as it begins its last public relations blitz for ObamaCare. — President Obama's celebrity supporters are not in the forefront as they were during the star-studded campaign-style videos that hogged the airwaves in 2008.
Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and Weekly Standard
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air: Where has all the A-list gone? — Barack Obama has had a lot …
Rick Moran / The PJ Tatler: Obama's Celebrity Friends Prefer Social Media to Appearing with him in Selling Obamacare
Geoffrey Norman / Weekly Standard: Celebrity Retreat
Anielle / Americans Against the Tea Party:
Michigan Man Shoots Himself Dead While Showing Girlfriend That Guns Are Safe — A 36-year-old Michigan man was exercising his Second Amendment right when he shot and killed himself on Sunday. The fatal shooting occurred accidentally while the man attempted to demonstrate gun safety to his girlfriend while intoxicated.
Discussion: Joe. My. God.
Joe Jervis / Joe. My. God.: Headline Of The Day
Dana Liebelson / Mother Jones:
Georgia Wants to Allow Businesses to Kick Gay People Out of Diners — Welcome center: DanTD/Wikimedia Commons; Plank: Nuttapong/Shutterstock. Photoillustration by Matt Connolly. — A bill moving swiftly through the Georgia House of Representatives would allow business owners …
Discussion: The Raw Story, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA, Ajc Blogs and Joe. My. God.
David Ferguson / The Raw Story: Georgia progressive activist on state's proposed anti-LGBT law: 'Hate is bad policy'
Hrafnkell Haraldsson / PoliticusUSA: Pat Buchanan Says Conservative Christians Are True Victims in Arizona
Jay Bookman / Ajc Blogs: Georgia may follow Arizona's anti-gay lead
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Oops: GOP Bill Would Strip 1 Million Workers Of Health Coverage — A Republican-led bill designed to "save American workers" would cause 1 million workers to lose their health care coverage and increase the deficit by $74 billion, according to Congress' official scorekeeper.
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Bibi, Merkel Photo Makes Waves — German chancellor Angela Merkel is in Israel visiting Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. This photo, apparently taken by photographer Marc Israel Sellem of the Jerusalem Post is making waves: — As Jerusalem Post report Ben Hartman notes on Twitter:
Discussion: Jerusalem Post, Israel Matzav, rubber hose and Althouse
Tovah Lazaroff / Jerusalem Post: Merkel: Boycott not an option, settlement labeling acceptable
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Opponents of Pentagon-Budget Cuts Just Played the Entire Media — On Monday, large swaths of the news media reported on the Obama Administration's proposed military budget using the same misleading frame. As the New York Times stated in its headline, "Pentagon Plans to Shrink Army to Pre-World War II Level."
Paul Waldman / American Prospect: The Size of the Army Tells You Almost Nothing About Our Military Strength
Michael Cohen / Guardian: Despite 'historic' cuts, the US will still have 450,000 active-duty soldiers
Matthew Feeney / Hit & Run: Supposedly Fiscally Conservative Republicans Make Exceptions For Defense Spending
Ryan Cooper / The Week: How Pentagon budget cuts could make America safer
Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post: Pentagon blueprint would cut Army size as military adjusts to leaner budgets
Colin Daileda / Mashable: Defense Secretary Proposes Big Cuts to U.S. Military Spending
Paul Whitefield / Los Angeles Times: What's so bad about a defense budget that gives peace a chance?
Sara Goddard / Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire: Is the U.S. Army Really Shrinking to Pre-World War II Levels?
Jason Hancock / Kansas City Star:
Missouri senator introduces 'religious freedom' bill — A Republican state lawmaker filed legislation Monday that would allow Missouri business owners to cite religious beliefs as a legal justification for refusing to provide service. — Although it doesn't mention sexual orientation …
Discussion: Talking Points Memo and LGBTQ Nation
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo: Another Anti-Gay Discrimination Bill Introduced, This Time In Missouri
Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Netflix mocks Amazon Prime Air with hilarious 'Drone 2 Home' video — BY RICHARD LAWLER @RJCC FEB 25TH 2014 6:56AM — Netflix's not-Qwikster DVD-by-mail business doesn't get the same amount of attention as the company's streaming arm, but as this video (embedded after the break) shows, it still has some imagination.
Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Verge, CBS San Francisco, TechCrunch and Business Insider
Bdisbrow / CBS San Francisco: Los Gatos-Based Netflix Takes Jab At Amazon With Exploding Drone Delivery Ad
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch: Netflix's Drone Delivery Video Shows A Different Side Of Amazon Prime Air's Vision Of The Future
Jillian D'Onfro / Business Insider: Netflix Employees Mock Amazon With 'Drone To Home' Parody Video
Washington Free Beacon:
Florida Democrat: Without Immigration Reform, Where Will We Get Our Landscapers and Maids? — Florida Democratic congressional candidate Alex Sink said immigration reform was important at a Tuesday debate because, without it, it would be difficult for employers to find people to clean hotel rooms and do landscaping.
Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, Independent Journal Review and RedState
Allahpundit / Hot Air: Florida Democrat: Without immigration reform, where will we get our landscapers and maids?
Noah Rothman / Mediaite: Dem Candidate: Without Immigration Reform, Where'll We Get Landscapers and Hotel Maids?
Mike Miller / Independent Journal Review: Fla Dem: Without Immigration Reform, Who Will Clean Our Hotel Rooms And Do Our Landscaping?
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
House GOP tax plan would cut top rates but also hit high earners with a surtax — The long-awaited simplification of the tax code being drafted by House Republicans would slash the top income tax rate to 25 percent from 39.6 percent and impose a surtax on some of the nation's wealthiest households.
Discussion: OnPolitics, Wonkblog, AEIdeas, Politico, Washington Monthly and Washington Wire
Lori Montgomery / Wonkblog: McConnell: Tax reform is dead
James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas: Dave Camp's tax reform plan shows how the US is sabotaging its own economy
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly: Big Red Grinnin' Devil in the Details
John D. McKinnon / Washington Wire: House GOP Tax Overhaul Would Cut Capital Gains, Dividend Rates


text:
2 HASKINS & SELLS January
Concerning the Revenue Act of 1924
TAXPAYERS throughout the country
recently were startled when the publicity
features of the Revenue Act of 1924
were brought to their attention by the
public press. For many months prior to
the passage of the Act it was known that
Congress would eventually demand a
certain degree of publicity in the tax
affairs of the country, and the extent
thereof was clearly and definitely indicated
on June 2, 1924, when the President
affixed his signature to the completed law.
Yet the startled surprise and indignation
were apparently as great as might have
been expected had no previous knowledge
existed that such announcement must of
necessity be made to comply with the
requirements of the new Act. Is it not
possible that other changes in the new
law equally important to the taxpayer
have failed to receive the attention they
The intent of the Revenue Act of 1924
is to give relief to the individual taxpayer.
Such benefit as results to the corporate
taxpayer is incidental to the tax reduction
to the individual. In the following brief
summary of the changes effectuated it will
be noted that in nearly every instance it
is the individual who receives the relief.
The immediate benefit of the new law
was the reduction of the 1923 taxes of
individuals to the extent of 25 per cent.
Such reduction cannot be applied to the
taxes for 1924, for which year a reduction
in normal and surtax rates gives a substantially
equivalent relief. Beginning
with the 1924 return, the normal tax on the
first 34,000 of net income in excess of the
exemptions is reduced from 4 to 2 per cent.
The tax on the next 34,000 is 4 per cent.
instead of 8 per cent., and on income in
excess of $8,000 the rate is reduced from
8 per cent. as fixed by the 1921 Act, to
6 per cent. The very material mitigation
in the tax burden of the great mass of
small taxpayers is vividly revealed when
it is considered that 6,400,000, or over 96
per cent., of the 6,650,000 personal returns
filed for the calendar year 1921, were
filed by individuals having incomes of not
over $8,000.
Relief is also extended in a more limited
degree to individuals with higher incomes.
Surtaxes formerly began with 1 per cent.
at $6,000 and reached 50 per cent. at
$200,000. The rates now begin with 1
per cent. at $10,000 and increase to 40 per
cent at $500,000, the greatest benefit enuring
to incomes of $100,000 and over.
For the calendar year 1921 less than
one-half of one per cent. of the personal
returns filed reported income of the latter
Additional relief is given the taxpayer
through removing the limitation on the
exemption of $2,500 for married persons
and heads of families, the full deduction


text:
GREENPORT, N.Y. (AP) -- The on-high views of the Hudson River that inspired Frederic Church's classic landscape paintings remain largely as he saw them in the 19th century. The river below his hilltop home still shimmers in the sun and there are still stately mountains in the distance.
Keeping those views unmarred by the trappings of modern technology is the focus of a legal fight over plans for a 190-foot emergency communications tower 2 miles from Church's old estate, Olana.
While backers of the tower call it a necessary choice between a nice view and public safety, opponent say the plans are tantamount to someone trying to deface one of the old master's paintings.
"The views from Olana are integral to an understanding of who Frederic Church was and why he was such an important figure in American history," said Sara Griffen, president of The Olana Partnership, which manages the National Historic Landmark in cooperation with the state. "When you look at those views, you are looking at a three-dimensional painting."
The lawsuit filed this month by the partnership and the conservation group Scenic Hudson touches on a thorny question: How sensitive should developers be within the "viewshed" of historic sites?
John Howe, Columbia County's fire coordinator, is among the officials in this hilly, rural county about 100 miles north of New York City who say the sturdier tower - a latticed, antenna-style spire six times wider than the two towers it would replace - is needed to remake an inadequate emergency communications system. The planning board in nearby Livingston gave its approval in July to build the tower.
"We try to be sympathetic, but the reality is this is our best site. It has to go somewhere," Howe said. "And if this doesn't work, we may have to put up three or four towers at considerable cost."
Church was among the most famous of the Hudson River School painters, a group known for their romantic depictions of the young country's natural landscapes. He built a grand Persian-inspired home on a high spot of land by the Hudson and carefully picked spots on his hillside to paint sweeping valley vistas.
The 130,000 annual visitors to Olana see some things Church never saw, from an old cement plant by the river to a separate trio of radio station towers prominent just to the south. The two towers already perched atop what is known as Blue Hill are difficult to see from the house when trees are in full leaf, but they are visible from other points at Olana.
Jeffrey Anzevino, director of land use advocacy for Scenic Hudson, said the current towers are 2 feet wide and held steady with guy wires. The new latticed tower, 13 feet at the tree line and tapering to 4.3 feet at its top, would be far easier to see, he said.
"Our real issue is we want to make sure the proposed facility is as minimally visible as possible," Anzevino said.
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Anzevino, whose group has protected 1,600 acres of land that can be seen from Olana, believes there are compromise solutions that could be negotiated. He said he was encouraged the Federal Communications Commission this month called for a review of the proposal under the National Historic Preservation Act.
The lawsuit against the planning board and applicant Eger Communications claims the board gave approval without taking into account the "significant environmental impacts" of the tower, as required by state environmental law. The lawsuit cites a recent letter from the state's deputy commissioner of historic preservation supporting that viewpoint.
Mark Eger's attorney, Jacqueline Phillips Murray, said the board did its job. She said the state found no significant visual impacts of the current towers when they went up in the early `90s and there does not need to be another review for this replacement tower of the same height in the same location.
"God forbids that something happens," Murray said. "By filing this lawsuit, Olana and Scenic Hudson have made a conscious choice to put the lives of citizens and visitors to Columbia County at risk."