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Tell me what you think. Tell me what you'd like us to cover in the future. Hope you like it!
Hawk Blogger On Sports Radio KJR With Softy
6 Responses
Downloaded it. Will give it a listen on the way home from work. Congrats!
Kip Earlywine
I really don't spend a lot of time checking "rival" Seahawks bloggers sites, but this podcast has become a weekly essential for me. You have a lot of natural charm on the airwaves and a good sense of humor that builds a very good rapport with Softy. Its obvious why he keeps bringing you back- the back and forth you two share is refreshing and fun.
That said, I'm commenting today to express a couple of very minor disagreements. Just my opinion of course.
#1.) Marshawn Lynch was the 6th worst running backs of 2010 by DYAR, which is even worse when you factor that he had 4.4 YPC in the four 2010 games with Buffalo before that trade. Early in 2011, Lynch was South of 3.0 YPC at one point. When you say that for a year and a half, Lynch wasn't helping this team, I am in complete agreement.
Its also true that the run blocking made a sudden and dramatic improvement starting with the Cowboys game. Obviously, Lynch has seen his numbers flip around in that same exact time frame.
However, I also think that Lynch has also been playing better lately. He's lost weight and looks more athletic and elusive as the season has gone on. He's been far less hesitant choosing running lanes than earlier, even when there's no running lane open yet. There was an article just released (which I'll link below) in which Tom Cable flat out says that Lynch approached him for advice about how to run better in Cable's system. I realize that the majority of Lynch's success is from the improved blocking. But it really does look to me like Lynch is a smarter and better coached back in recent months too. He's missing fewer running lanes, hesitating less, and making fewer dumb decisions, while looking more elusive and explosive.
I DO AGREE that Seattle could let Lynch go and get someone just as good or better without too much trouble. However, I do think Lynch has elevated his game recently, and its a big reason why his numbers per attempt have shot up so dramatically while Forsett and Washington's production have remained relatively stationary.
#2.) The 2nd minor disagreement is that I'd give Pete Carroll a bit more of a positive review for his coaching decisions. I thought he was totally wrong to attempt the 61 yard kick when he had enough time to make 1 more play to set up a shorter attempt. Pete did have a few other controversial decisions, but I actually agreed with most of them. The CBJ start against Cincy was a little strange, but I was more upset about forcing a hurt QB into action than starting CW, honestly. Overall I wouldn't say Pete's decisions stray into "below average" territory, and I rather like "Big Balls Pete." Many great coaches are of the gutsy variety, most famously Bill Belichick.
That being said, whatever negatives come from Pete's decision making are easily cancelled out by his incredible ability for half time adjustments. I saw it on Sando's blog, but Seattle outscores opponents something like (roughly) a 2-1 margin in the second halves of football games. Pete Carroll's consistent domination of the 2nd half is one of the more impressive displays of X's and O's coaching for the 2011 season I think. I could go very long on this topic, but since these comments are like 3 inches wide, it will probably already look like a novel.
In short, if I was on the radio and I was asked if I was a believer in PC, I wouldn't hesitate for even a milisecond in answering yes. His ability to develop players, hire quality coaches, identify talent, motivate players, and quickly instill his vision for the team has blown my expectations out of the water, and I was in his corner from the start.
Hey Kip,
There is no such thing as a rival seahawks blogger in my book. Thanks for listening and commenting.
I don't doubt that Lynch has been playing better, I just don't think there was any improvement on his part that could spark this transformation. Without the line change, his improvement would be indiscernible.
I'm also a huge Pete supporter, but his lack of preparedness in pressure situations has left the team scrambling, using timeouts and taking penalties in key moments. Can't happen in big games.
Kip Earlywine
I would agree that Lynch's improvements would be irrelevant without the improved blocking. All I mean to say is that from my vantage point, the turnaround is less than 100% on the line. Maybe 90% or 80%.
There are moments in games where Pete does look unprepared for situational decision making, something that is less emphasized in NFL coaching and much more emphasized in MLB managing. That said, does Pete REALLY spend a lot of timeouts to correct those things? In the 2nd half that is (in the first half, it hardly matters). I've noticed for several games in a row that Seattle has often held more timeout than their opponents in the 2nd half.
Falcons and Lions must lose both games,and if we win both,we are IN?
Grettings from Croatia?
Nice job on Softy's show! Here's a topic suggestion for the future.
After the Chicago win, Pete made an interesting and slightly disturbing comment on the Brock and Salk show. He said that the recruiting advantage he enjoyed is about to come to an end. He was referring to his familiarity with the players from his USC days. This isn't an exact quote but it captures the point I understood him to be making.
He has done an exceptional job of acquiring talent up to this point. Do we have reason to think this will change in 3 years? How much of an advantage does his familiarity with the upcoming draft classes a former college coach give him?
I know that the John Schneider deserves a lot of credit as well for this. It's not clear to me how much credit belongs to Pete and how much belongs to John.


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SilkRoad, Another HR Software Service in the Cloud, Lands $35 Million
One of the evolving themes of the year has been the heat coming from the otherwise sleepy world of human-resource software — applications that companies use to manage their people and payroll.
For years, the applications were traditional on-premise software — you'd run it on a server or a series of desktop machines wherever the people who used them happened to be. And the biggest players were — or rather, still are — Oracle, by way of its takeover of PeopleSoft, and SAP. But when these apps started to migrate to the cloud and be available on demand, things started getting interesting. Companies that used them started to love the functionality, the ease of use, maintenance and support, and also the lower cost, and they started voting with their purchase orders in favor of the cloud.
That's when the established on-premise suppliers got grabby. Last year, the race to roll up the cloud players started in earnest when SAP spent $3.4 billion for SuccessFactors. Not long after that, Taleo, another cloud player, went to Oracle for $1.9 billion. And Salesforce.com nabbed Rypple. Meanwhile, a bunch of former PeopleSoft execs are building Workday into a credible threat to all of them.
So this makes today's news from SilkRoad — yet another player in the cloud-based HR application business — all the more interesting. The company announced a $35 million Series C led by Keating Capital and NTT Finance, joining existing investors Intel Capital, Crosslink Capital, Foundation Capital, Azure Capital and Tenaya Capital. Customers include McAfee and International Paper.
Another reason for all the heat being generated by this low-profile sector: The market research firm IDC reckons that, by 2015, companies will spend north of $8 billion on human-capital management tools.
The company says the funding will support its international expansion plans, especially internationally. Its products currently support 18 languages, and there are plans to add to those.

subset: commoncrawl


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The government is warning doctors and hospitals not to use any product from the specialty pharmacy that made the steroid suspected in a meningitis outbreak.
An official with the Food and Drug Administration said tests found contamination in a sealed vial of the steroid at the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. Tests are under way to determine if it is the same fungus blamed in the outbreak.
Federal officials on Thursday also updated the number of cases in the outbreak. Five people have died and 30 people in six states are ill. All received steroid shots for back pain.
The pharmacy issued a recall last week and has shut down operations. The steroid was sent to 75 facilities in 23 states.
The type of meningitis involved is not contagious like the more common forms. This type is caused by a fungus often found in leaf mold and which health officials suspect may have been in the steroid.
Eighteen of the cases are in Tennessee, where a Nashville clinic received the largest shipment of the steroid. The drug was made by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts that issued a recall last week. Investigators, though, say they are still trying to confirm the source of the infection.
Three cases have been reported in Virginia, two in Maryland, two in Florida and one in North Carolina. Two of the deaths were in Tennessee, and Virginia and Maryland had one each, said officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More new cases are almost certain to appear in the coming days, said Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner. Five new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours, he said Wednesday, calling the situation a "rapidly evolving outbreak."
But federal health officials weren't clear about whether new infections are occurring. They are looking for — and increasingly finding — illnesses that occurred in the past two or three months.
Meningitis is caused by the inflammation of meninges, which are protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include severe and worsening headache, nausea, dizziness and fever. Some of the patients also experienced slurred speech, and difficulty walking and urinating, Tennessee health officials said.
"Some are doing well and improving. Some are very ill — very, very seriously ill and may die," Tennessee health official Dr. David Reagan said of the state's patients.
The incubation period is estimated at anywhere from two to 28 days, so some people may not have fallen ill yet, Tennessee health officials said. At three clinics in Tennessee, officials are contacting the more than 900 people who received the steroid in the past three months.
Investigators also have been looking into the antiseptic and anesthetic used during the injections. Neither has been ruled out. However, the primary suspicion is on the steroid medication. Steroid shots are common for back pain, often given together with an anesthetic.
The Food and Drug Administration identified the maker of the steroid as New England Compounding Center, a specialty pharmacy in Framingham, Mass. Last week, the company issued a recall of three lots of the steroid — methylprednisolone acetate. In a statement, the company said it had voluntarily suspended operations and was working with regulators to identify the source of the infection.
Compounding pharmacies mix ingredients for customized medicines that generally aren't commercially available. They are regulated by states.
The outbreak was discovered about two weeks ago when Vanderbilt University's Dr. April Pettit was treating a patient who was not doing well for reasons doctors did not understand.
When the lab found the fungus in the patient's spinal fluid, Pettit began asking questions and learned the patient recently had steroid injections in his spine, according to Dr. William Schaffner, who chairs Vanderbilt's Department of Preventive Medicine.
"When it became clear that the infection-control practices at the clinic were up to par, the steroid medication became implicated," Schaffner said.
Federal officials did not release condition reports or details on all the patients in the five states. Fungal meningitis is treated with high-dose antifungal medications, usually given intravenously in a hospital.
Seventeen of the Tennessee cases were treated at the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgery Center in Nashville. It had 2,000 vials of the suspect lots, the largest number. That clinic voluntarily closed last month to deal with the investigation.


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Aug 07, 2001 | ISBN 9780375758430
"Her first collection shows not only how good she can be but how consistently good she remains… Not a single page lags… not one among 16 stories is less than impressive."
—The New York Times Book Review
"Mason is a full-fledged master of the short story… Her first collection is a treasure."
–Anne Tyler


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The RTCA DO-254 / Eurocae ED-80 document provides guidance for design assurance of airborne electronic hardware from conception through initial certification and subsequent post certification product improvements to ensure continued airworthiness.
DO-254 objectives, and what is beyond the DO-254 document itself (Issue Papers or Certification Review Items, Aircraft manufacturer directives,...) can represent important challenges for equipment suppliers and their subcontractors.
For a company with hardware projects already underway, and future projects in the roadmap, managers have to:
After all these efforts, will you get the right level of confidence before the certification audits ?
On this site you will find flexible solutions coming from the expertise of Consulting companies and Tool editors, with the objective to make the objectives defined in the RTCA DO-254 document easier to meet.
We also created a unique "DO254 User Group", joining aerospace companies, experts, tool vendors and component manufacturers, in which participants bring their experience and learn from others. To learn more about this initiative, visit the User Group page.
We want to make this site as helpful as possible for you. Your suggestions are welcome


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Designed by Enota, 'The Lotus Towers' is a proposal that placed second in an invited competition calling for designs for a new sustainable housing project located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. With a plan brimming with wonderful ideas – we admit we'd also love to see who won first place, because Enota's design is quite impressive – their proposal for this new mixed-used development is highlighted with apartments featuring two sides for natural ventilation and daylighting, and beautiful views of the adjacent urban park. The shape of the Lotus Towers were carefully calculated to provide a holistic and energy efficient space for every apartment.
Enota first began their design process by deciding that every apartment would have views of the adjacent park, which would in turn improve the mirco-climate of the building. Following this point, each apartment would have two sides to provide for effective cross ventilation to improve the overall energy efficiency of each apartment. Commercial and office space, along with art galleries, a hotel and restaurants would be then located on the bottom floors and additional spaces would be settled on the ground floor with covered plazas to create an inviting and protected space for residents and visitors to enjoy. The hotel and spa located at the base of the building will feature a green roof with pool and recreational area.
Enota's design process has revealed a 64,000 sq m mixed-use housing eco project recalling the shape of the lotus flower with its petals opening up towards the sky, trying to soak up the sun's energy. Cuts in the building's apartment towers encourage ventilation and daylighting, and views of the park from every apartment give equal importance to every location. At a height of 60 meters high with a depth of 15 meters wide, the building conforms to city regulations as well as the maximum depth required for good lighting in two-sided apartments.
Via ArchDaily


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Black Joe Lewis And His Band Stay The Course, Lose The Name
A few years ago, reporter Christian Bordal profiled an up-and coming singer from Austin.
CHRISTIAN BORDAL, BYLINE: Joe Lewis learned to play guitar working at a pawn shop.
JOE LEWIS: Yeah. Yeah, the pawn shop and we just had a bunch of guitars and I kind of...
MARTIN: That was in 2009, when Joe Lewis was working a day job to make ends meet.
LEWIS: I mean, I drive a fish van around from like 8 o'clock to about 4 during the week usually.
MARTIN: But it was a big year for his band, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. Esquire magazine listed them as one of the Ten Bands to Break Out at the 2009 South by Southwest Music Festival. This week, Black Joe Lewis is back with a new album. It's called "Electric Slave" and comes out Tuesday.
BLACK JOE LEWIS: (Singing) (unintelligible) Where I come from...
MARTIN: We thought it was a good excuse to catch up with Joe Lewis. He joins us now from the studios of KUT in Austin. Welcome to the show.
LEWIS: How are you doing?
MARTIN: Doing well, thanks. So you still driving a fish van?
LEWIS: Nope.
LEWIS: It's over. Never again, I hope.
MARTIN: The new album is just under your name. What happened to the Honeybears?
LEWIS: Aw, man. We never really liked that name in the first place.
LEWIS: We actually - I think it came up in, like, a rehearsal 'cause somebody had one of those little plastic Honeybears with some honey in it. And I guess he said it just as a joke. And so, we played a couple of gigs under that name. And it was just one of those things are kind of stuck. So I've actually - we've been trying to drop that name for a while now, you know, in probably like the last year.
But, so I just figured, you know, we got this record coming out right now, why not just try to knock it out?
MARTIN: So we've got another track we'd like to play. Let's take a listen to this.
LEWIS: (Playing)
MARTIN: So you may have missed it, but that - at the very top of that track - was the actual sound of a needle dropping on a vinyl pressing of your album, "Electric Slave."
MARTIN: Which we were all, like, very excited about 'cause it's just kind of cool to see an actual record these days. Why did you want to do that? Why did you want to offer vinyl.
LEWIS: Well, I feel like I don't buy CDs no more. I just buy vinyl. And if I can't find a vinyl, I'd buy it online. You know, and the tone's all warmer. A lot of people think that that's just in your head, that the sound is better. But I personally feel like even when it sounds not as hi-fi or whatever, I like that scratchiness.
You know, like I just feel like that you get another instrument out of it. It's like you're listening to a whole 'nother thing that's not there with the CD or the digital.
LEWIS: (Singing) Yeah, you don't want to get loose. (unintelligible) there she comes. Hey, (unintelligible)...
LEWIS: You know, nobody buys CDs anymore that I know, you know. Most people just rip it off, you know, so I just felt like why not put something out that people can feel like they're collecting and whatnot. Something that looks cool, you know, and...
MARTIN: How big is your album collection?
LEWIS: Around a hundred, may be.
MARTIN: What are you listening to right now?
LEWIS: Last night, I was listening to Chic. You know Chic, the disco group?
MARTIN: Wow.
LEWIS: 'Cause they got some jams. Like Sister Sledge, was jamming out to some of that last night.
MARTIN: That is old school.
LEWIS: I love disco, man. So...
MARTIN: Does that seep into your own songwriting?
LEWIS: Yeah. I think "Come to My Party" is kind of a disco song.
LEWIS: (Singing) Come to my party. You bring your best friend...
LEWIS: I like the guitar style in it and that stuff, too, since I like anything that makes you a dance. So, you know, I'm not a big dancer.
MARTIN: Are you a good dancer?
LEWIS: No, I'm not a big dancer...
MARTIN: I was going to say.
LEWIS: No, I'm terrible.
LEWIS: I look like somebody trying to dance. You know? You know, some people tell me I'm all right. I never really - it's got to be a lot of people dancing around me before I get going because I don't want everybody staring at me. You know?
LEWIS: (Singing) Jump on the furniture (unintelligible) the living room tonight. Put everybody around you at my party. All right. All right...
MARTIN: We mentioned this earlier, that you learn to play guitar in a pawnshop. Is that right?
LEWIS: Well, I bought the guitar there. I had a job at Action Pawn up here in Cedar Park. And the guy I worked with was - are you a "Simpsons" fan?
MARTIN: Yeah.
LEWIS: I swear to God that he was the Comic Book Guy.
HANK ANZARIA: (as Comic Book Guy) Handwritten script for "Star Wars" by George Lucas, film reel labeled alternate ending: Luke's father is Chewbacca. Ooh. Ooh. I'll give you $5 for the box.
RUSSI TAYLOR: (as Martin Prince) Sold.
LEWIS: Andy was exactly that dude, like butt cracks sticking out the bottom of the pants...
MARTIN: Alone, no.
LEWIS: ...red hair, ponytail, beard - total loser.
LEWIS: And was a nerd about guns instead of comic books, completely racist dude. And you know, like, and I hated the dude. He hated me. So I would kind of just walk around the store and just screw around with the merchandise whenever it was really slow, and screwing around with guitars or the lawnmower, or just whatever. You know, whatever I could - you know, the video games.
So I was like, man, what - and you get the discount so I was always buying these bad movies and stuff. And said, I'm going to buy one of these guitars. And I did that and I took it home, played it every day. And this dude, Brian, that - he's kind of like the guy that taught me most of the stuff that I know. And he was like, play the blues, man.
You know, like then we started playing gigs. And for some reason those dudes down there at this rock bars in Red River, you know, if it weren't for them, I would - you know, they gave me a chance to sharpen my teeth, I guess, or learn how to do what I wanted to do. And I just kept coming back and getting better. And I'm here today so...
MARTIN: And here you are.
MARTIN: Well, before we say goodbye, is there a track on this new album you are particularly fond of or proud of, that you'd like us to play?
LEWIS: I like "My Blood Ain't Running Right?"
MARTIN: Yeah?
LEWIS: And just the lyrics and stuff, you know, it reminds me of my dad. You know, kind of the song is loosely based on him, I guess. And I wrote it about, you know, losing everything you have and then just doing drugs and sinking into that, and being content with that. You know, and just not ever regaining yourself. You know, and finding excuses, be like everybody done me wrong, so I'm going to keep messing my life up or whatever.
So, my dad had - you know, he had some issues, you know, growing up. You know, he didn't have the greatest cards dealt out to him in life. And it is kind of caught up to him as he got older. And, you know, I guess is just about watching the downfall of a good person. You know?
MARTIN: In learning lessons about how to live your life differently, clearly.
LEWIS: Exactly.
MARTIN: Joe Lewis of Black Joe Lewis, his new album is called "Electric Slave." He joined us from KUT in Austin.
Joe, it's been such a pleasure talking to you. Thanks for taking the time.
LEWIS: Thank you.
LEWIS: (Singing) My blood ain't running right...
MARTIN: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.


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David Clarkson (missed two shifts in a game during the 2010-11 season due to a broken skate blade): David Clarkson's skate simply fell off his skate, forcing him out of the game for a few moments. When he returned, it was business as usual: take the puck behind the net and fail miserably while trying to score a wraparound goal.
Ilya Kovalchuk (healthy scratch for one game in the 2010-11 season): After Devils' coach John MacLean felt the best way to get Kovalchuk scoring was to bench him, Ilya responded with a goal at Madison Square Garden. To scrap MacLean's brilliance, Kovy went 7 games before he scored again, and only had one goal in the first 16 games after being scratched.
Jamie Langenbrunner (healthy scratch for
Andrew Peters (scratched for 3 games in the 2009-10 season): After losing a spot in the Devils' lineup to a player who actually had enough talent to try out for the Mighty Ducks' team for the movie, Peters returned by fighting an Oiler, and then making chicken-like gestures to the Oiler. Luckily for the Devils, he failed to tie his jersey down, and was thrown out of the game.
Martin Brodeur (missed 4 games during the 2006-07 season due to "rest"): Scott Clemmensen actually played 6 times during the 2006-07 season, including 4 starts. It didn't matter though, even though he missed an entire 4 games, Brodeur still led the NHL in wins, saves, shutouts and won the Vezina trophy.
Colin White (missed two months in the 2007-08 season): After returning from his eye injury, White recorded six hits in a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh during his first game back. His vision was blurry at best, so you'll believe me when I say he really didn't mean to hit anyone that night, including a fan in the parking lot after the game.
Patrik Elias (missed 44 games in the 2005-06 season): Patrik Elias had 8 points in his first four games back in the Devils' lineup upon his return from his illness. Geez, with a recovery that fast, you'd think it was in the food he ate or something...
Paul Martin (missed 50 games in the 2009-10 season): Returned for Retro night against the Penguins. Prior to the game, Martin made a deal with Ray Shero agreeing that if the Penguins conveniently turned a puck over in the neutral zone and had Marc-Andre Fleury allow a bad goal, Martin would sign with Pittsburgh that off-season. In a crazy turn of events, that exact senario played out.
Martin Brodeur (missed 55 games in the 2008-09 season): Brodeur took 55 games off during the 2008-09 season, but in fact, it was he that dressed up as Scott Clemmensen and won 25 games in his own absence. What he did was get Clemmesen a contract with the Florida Panthers, only to have a goals against average over 4.50 during the first half of the 2009-10 season.
Vladimir Malakhov, Richard Matvichuk and Alexander Mogilny (mysteriously disappeared after the 2005-06 season): I guess we'll never know what these players would have done in returns to the Devils. What I do know is that these players were buried in the minors at one point or another to "manage the salary cap." Hmm, Russians and salary cap problems...why does that seem like a familiar story?
Brendan Shanahan (missed 1,328 games between 1991 and 2008): When Shanahan returned to the Devils' lineup after a 17-year absence, he made his presence known right away, scoring a power play goal in Nashville. I wonder what he did during those 17 years...
Bryce Salvador (missed entire 2010-11 season due to concussion): He hasn't returned yet, but when he does, I doubt he'll be able to do what he did against Ottawa on December 18th, 2009 (skip to 4:45):


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(AP) — Illinois' public employee unions are asking for a meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders to come up with an agreement on pension changes.
AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan says in a letter to Quinn and leaders of the House and Senate that the union hopes the meeting will overcome obstacles that have blocked recent pension proposals.
The State Journal-Register reports the coalition of unions, called We Are One Illinois, will meet in Burr Ridge on Feb. 11.
The unions want business tax breaks ended and new taxes on items currently untaxed in order to generate $2 billion in additional state revenue.
Plans introduced in the General Assembly have called for lower pension benefits and higher contributions from workers.
Neither Quinn nor legislative leaders commented on the unions' request.


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Ukraine and Brazil Prepare for 2015 Cyclone 4 Launch
Hello reader!
Below is an article published day (09/24), on the site "www.aviationweek.com" announcing that Ukraine and Brazil prepare for 2015 Cyclone 4 Launch.
Duda Falcão
Ukraine, Brazil Prepare for
2015 Cyclone 4 Launch
By Amy Svitak
Sep 24, 2013 on 3:09 AM
Brazilian-Ukainian joint venture Alcantara Cyclone Space (ACS) continues preparations for the 2015 debut of a new variant of the Cyclone rocket from a 30-year-old launch facility on Brazil's north-Atlantic coast.
At 2.3 deg. N. Lat., Alcantara is even closer to the Equator than Europe's Guiana Space Center in Kourou, where commercial launch services consortium Arianespace manages missions of Europe's heavy-lift Ariane 5, Russia's medium-class Soyuz and Italy's Vega light launcher. From Alcantara, ACS's three-stage Cyclone 4 rocket—equipped with a restartable upper stage engine and 4-m payload fairing—is designed to put 5,685 kg. (12,500 lb.) into a circular low Earth orbit at 200 km (124 mi.), and a 3,910-kg spacecraft to a 400-km sun-synchronous orbit.
For geostationary missions, Cyclone 4 will initially deliver a 1,600 kg into geostationary transfer orbit. The goal, however, is to gradually boost performance to 2,200 kg with per-launch costs ranging from $50-$55 million.
"Originally, we were planning to focus on LEO only. But now, as we're witnessing the growth of electric propulsion satellites, we're working to increase payload capability," says ACS Chief Commercial Officer Sergiy Guchenkov.
Manufactured in Ukraine by the Yuzhnoye State Design Office, Cyclone 4 will use first and second stages similar to the Soviet-era Cyclone 2 and Cyclone 3 rockets. Guchenkov notes that the first and second stages of the Cyclone 2 and Cyclone 3 rockets have launched 228 times with just one failure, which he says was due to a first-stage propellant leak.
An all-new third stage based on Ukrainian Zenit and Dnepr technology will carry up to 9 tons of propellant and allow Cyclone 4 to execute up to five burns.
Since breaking ground on the ACS launch pad in 2010, the government-backed venture has spent close to $300 million developing the site, which is now 48% complete. The project is running almost three years behind schedule, however, as funding delays and legal wrangling with local tribes has stalled development of the launch center. In May, Guchenkov says the governments of Ukraine and Brazil jointly approved an increase in total ACS spending for the site, from around $487 million to $918 million.
He says ACS is planning to complete construction of the launch pad at Alcantara next year, with Cyclone 4 hardware delivery and testing at the site to begin in early 2015. He says the launch vehicle is 76% complete and has undergone 73% of its scheduled test regime, including completion of ground tests.
Guchenkov says ACS expects to conduct a qualificaiton mission of Cyclone 4 in late 2015, launching multiple small payloads to low Earth orbit, including a Japanese satellite.
Fonte: Website http://www.aviationweek.com/
Comentário: Pois é leitor, tá ai a notícia.


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When it's time to make that first statement about your business or organization, call on us to produce the business card that communicates — in an instant — a positive message about your professionalism.
Contact your local Allegra to get started.


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I often end up with overripe bananas, that usually find their way into one-bowl type of cakes. As this time I was planning on making yeast dough roulades, I've decided to see how they would work in this type of dough.
The result exceeded my expectations, and I have no doubt I will use this "trick" again. The mashed bananas gave the dough a wonderful soft and silky texture, and amazing aroma.
Though I ended up slicing the cakes (to make them more suitable for serving in a brunch buffet), you can also choose to serve them as sweet buns instead.
The slices are also perfect for breakfast, when served toasted with butter, or for preparing an exceptionally delicious French toast. Another very tasty option is to use them in bread pudding. Either way you'll choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy these tasty cakes.
Makes: 3 roulades 11.5″ x 2.5″ (29cm x 6.3cm)
Prep time: 20 minutes
Proofing time: 3½ hours
Baking time: 30 minutes
For the dough:
5 medium bananas, very ripe (2 cups mashed)
4 cups flour (+ 1-2 cup2 for rolling the dough)
1 cup whole milk, warm
1 package (1/4 oz, 7 grams) dried yeast
½ cup sugar
½ stick (55 grams) butter, soft
1 L egg
1 cup golden raisins and dried cranberries
For the filling:
½ cup melted butter
½ cup sugar
2 Tbs cinnamon
For the milk syrup:
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1. Mash the bananas with a potato masher and measure 2 cups.
2. Place 4 cups flour in the mixer bowl and create a well in it. Add the sugar and warm milk into it and sprinkle the yeast on top. Sprinkle a bit of flour on top and let stand at room temperature until the yeast starts to foam, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the butter, egg and mashed bananas. Attach the kneading hook and start mixing on slow speed, stopping and scraping the bowl occasionally. Increase the speed to medium and knead for about 5-7 minutes, until elastic and smooth dough is formed. (The dough will be very soft.) Add the raisins and dried cranberries and mix.
4. Oil a large bowl, add the dough and roll it in, to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place (inside the oven always works for me) for 2-3 hours, until the dough doubles in size.
5. Punch down the dough, add 1 cup of flour and knead a bit by hand. The dough will be quite sticky, but if it is too sticky to handle, add up to 1 more cup of flour.
6. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 36″x 10″ (90cm x 25cm). (If your work surface is not big, you can divide the dough into 2-3 portions and roll each one separately). Brush with melted butter and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top. Roll into a long roulade and cut it into 12 pieces, about 3" (7.5cm) each. Place the pieces, cut side up, side by side in a pan brushed with soft butter. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place for about 1½ hours, until the dough rises up to the pan edges.
7. Preheat the oven to 365F (185C) and bake for 30 minutes. While baking, mix the milk, sugar and vanilla in a pot. Bring to the boil, lower the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes. After about 25 minutes, when the cakes are almost done, carefully brush them with the warm syrup.
Place back in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes longer, until the cakes are golden-brown. Keep in the pan for 5 minutes before carefully transferring the cakes to a rack to cool.


text:
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text:
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 6, by Edward Gibbon, [1788], at sacred-texts.com
On the throne of Samarcand, 63 he displayed, in a short repose, his magnificence and power; listened to the complaints of the people; distributed a just measure of rewards and punishments; employed his riches in the architecture of palaces and temples; and gave audience to the ambassadors of Egypt, Arabia, India, Tartary, Russia, and Spain, the last of whom presented a suit of tapestry which eclipsed the pencil of the Oriental artists. The marriage of six of the emperor's grandsons was esteemed an act of religion as well as of paternal tenderness; and the pomp of the ancient caliphs was revived in their nuptials. They were celebrated in the gardens of Canighul, decorated with innumerable tents and pavilions, which displayed the luxury of a great city and the spoils of a victorious camp. Whole forests were cut down to supply fuel for the kitchens; the plain was spread with pyramids of meat, and vases of every liquor, to which thousands of guests were courteously invited: the orders of the state, and the nations of the earth, were marshalled at the royal banquet; nor were the ambassadors of Europe (says the haughty Persian) excluded from the feast; since even the casses, the smallest of fish, find their place in the ocean. 64 The public joy was testified by illuminations and masquerades; the trades of Samarcand passed in review; and every trade was emulous to execute some quaint device, some marvellous pageant, with the materials of their peculiar art. After the marriage contracts had been ratified by the cadhis, the bride-grooms and their brides retired to the nuptial chambers: nine times, according to the Asiatic fashion, they were dressed and undressed; and at each change of apparel, pearls and rubies were showered on their heads, and contemptuously abandoned to their attendants. A general indulgence was proclaimed: every law was relaxed, every pleasure was allowed; the people was free, the sovereign was idle; and the historian of Timour may remark, that, after devoting fifty years to the attainment of empire, the only happy period of his life were the two months in which he ceased to exercise his power. But he was soon awakened to the cares of government and war. The standard was unfurled for the invasion of China: the emirs made their report of two hundred thousand, the select and veteran soldiers of Iran and Touran: their baggage and provisions were transported by five hundred great wagons, and an immense train of horses and camels; and the troops might prepare for a long absence, since more than six months were employed in the tranquil journey of a caravan from Samarcand to Pekin. Neither age, nor the severity of the winter, could retard the impatience of Timour; he mounted on horseback, passed the Sihoon on the ice, marched seventy-six parasangs, three hundred miles, from his capital, and pitched his last camp in the neighborhood of Otrar, where he was expected by the angel of death. Fatigue, and the indiscreet use of iced water, accelerated the progress of his fever; and the conqueror of Asia expired in the seventieth year of his age, thirty-five years after he had ascended the throne of Zagatai. His designs were lost; his armies were disbanded; China was saved; and fourteen years after his decease, the most powerful of his children sent an embassy of friendship and commerce to the court of Pekin. 65
The fame of Timour has pervaded the East and West: his posterity is still invested with the Imperial title; and the admiration of his subjects, who revered him almost as a deity, may be justified in some degree by the praise or confession of his bitterest enemies. 66 Although he was lame of a hand and foot, his form and stature were not unworthy of his rank; and his vigorous health, so essential to himself and to the world, was corroborated by temperance and exercise. In his familiar discourse he was grave and modest, and if he was ignorant of the Arabic language, he spoke with fluency and elegance the Persian and Turkish idioms. It was his delight to converse with the learned on topics of history and science; and the amusement of his leisure hours was the game of chess, which he improved or corrupted with new refinements. 67 In his religion he was a zealous, though not perhaps an orthodox, Mussulman; 68 but his sound understanding may tempt us to believe, that a superstitious reverence for omens and prophecies, for saints and astrologers, was only affected as an instrument of policy. In the government of a vast empire, he stood alone and absolute, without a rebel to oppose his power, a favorite to seduce his affections, or a minister to mislead his judgment. It was his firmest maxim, that whatever might be the consequence, the word of the prince should never be disputed or recalled; but his foes have maliciously observed, that the commands of anger and destruction were more strictly executed than those of beneficence and favor. His sons and grandsons, of whom Timour left six-and-thirty at his decease, were his first and most submissive subjects; and whenever they deviated from their duty, they were corrected, according to the laws of Zingis, with the bastinade, and afterwards restored to honor and command. Perhaps his heart was not devoid of the social virtues; perhaps he was not incapable of loving his friends and pardoning his enemies; but the rules of morality are founded on the public interest; and it may be sufficient to applaud the wisdom of a monarch, for the liberality by which he is not impoverished, and for the justice by which he is strengthened and enriched. To maintain the harmony of authority and obedience, to chastise the proud, to protect the weak, to reward the deserving, to banish vice and idleness from his dominions, to secure the traveller and merchant, to restrain the depredations of the soldier, to cherish the labors of the husbandman, to encourage industry and learning, and, by an equal and moderate assessment, to increase the revenue, without increasing the taxes, are indeed the duties of a prince; but, in the discharge of these duties, he finds an ample and immediate recompense. Timour might boast, that, at his accession to the throne, Asia was the prey of anarchy and rapine, whilst under his prosperous monarchy a child, fearless and unhurt, might carry a purse of gold from the East to the West. Such was his confidence of merit, that from this reformation he derived an excuse for his victories, and a title to universal dominion. The four following observations will serve to appreciate his claim to the public gratitude; and perhaps we shall conclude, that the Mogul emperor was rather the scourge than the benefactor of mankind. 1. If some partial disorders, some local oppressions, were healed by the sword of Timour, the remedy was far more pernicious than the disease. By their rapine, cruelty, and discord, the petty tyrants of Persia might afflict their subjects; but whole nations were crushed under the footsteps of the reformer. The ground which had been occupied by flourishing cities was often marked by his abominable trophies, by columns, or pyramids, of human heads. Astracan, Carizme, Delhi, Ispahan, Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus, Boursa, Smyrna, and a thousand others, were sacked, or burnt, or utterly destroyed, in his presence, and by his troops: and perhaps his conscience would have been startled, if a priest or philosopher had dared to number the millions of victims whom he had sacrificed to the establishment of peace and order. 69 2. His most destructive wars were rather inroads than conquests. He invaded Turkestan, Kipzak, Russia, Hindostan, Syria, Anatolia, Armenia, and Georgia, without a hope or a desire of preserving those distant provinces. From thence he departed laden with spoil; but he left behind him neither troops to awe the contumacious, nor magistrates to protect the obedient, natives. When he had broken the fabric of their ancient government, he abandoned them to the evils which his invasion had aggravated or caused; nor were these evils compensated by any present or possible benefits. 3. The kingdoms of Transoxiana and Persia were the proper field which he labored to cultivate and adorn, as the perpetual inheritance of his family. But his peaceful labors were often interrupted, and sometimes blasted, by the absence of the conqueror. While he triumphed on the Volga or the Ganges, his servants, and even his sons, forgot their master and their duty. The public and private injuries were poorly redressed by the tardy rigor of inquiry and punishment; and we must be content to praise the Institutions of Timour, as the specious idea of a perfect monarchy. 4. Whatsoever might be the blessings of his administration, they evaporated with his life. To reign, rather than to govern, was the ambition of his children and grandchildren; 70 the enemies of each other and of the people. A fragment of the empire was upheld with some glory by Sharokh, his youngest son; but after his decease, the scene was again involved in darkness and blood; and before the end of a century, Transoxiana and Persia were trampled by the Uzbeks from the north, and the Turkmans of the black and white sheep. The race of Timour would have been extinct, if a hero, his descendant in the fifth degree, had not fled before the Uzbek arms to the conquest of Hindostan. His successors (the great Moguls 71 extended their sway from the mountains of Cashmir to Cape Comorin, and from Candahar to the Gulf of Bengal. Since the reign of Aurungzebe, their empire had been dissolved; their treasures of Delhi have been rifled by a Persian robber; and the richest of their kingdoms is now possessed by a company of Christian merchants, of a remote island in the Northern Ocean.
Far different was the fate of the Ottoman monarchy. The massy trunk was bent to the ground, but no sooner did the hurricane pass away, than it again rose with fresh vigor and more lively vegetation. When Timour, in every sense, had evacuated Anatolia, he left the cities without a palace, a treasure, or a king. The open country was overspread with hordes of shepherds and robbers of Tartar or Turkman origin; the recent conquests of Bajazet were restored to the emirs, one of whom, in base revenge, demolished his sepulchre; and his five sons were eager, by civil discord, to consume the remnant of their patrimony. I shall enumerate their names in the order of their age and actions. 72 1. It is doubtful, whether I relate the story of the true Mustapha, or of an impostor who personated that lost prince. He fought by his father's side in the battle of Angora: but when the captive sultan was permitted to inquire for his children, Mousa alone could be found; and the Turkish historians, the slaves of the triumphant faction, are persuaded that his brother was confounded among the slain. If Mustapha escaped from that disastrous field, he was concealed twelve years from his friends and enemies; till he emerged in Thessaly, and was hailed by a numerous party, as the son and successor of Bajazet. His first defeat would have been his last, had not the true, or false, Mustapha been saved by the Greeks, and restored, after the decease of his brother Mahomet, to liberty and empire. A degenerate mind seemed to argue his spurious birth; and if, on the throne of Adrianople, he was adored as the Ottoman sultan, his flight, his fetters, and an ignominious gibbet, delivered the impostor to popular contempt. A similar character and claim was asserted by several rival pretenders: thirty persons are said to have suffered under the name of Mustapha; and these frequent executions may perhaps insinuate, that the Turkish court was not perfectly secure of the death of the lawful prince. 2. After his father's captivity, Isa 73 reigned for some time in the neighborhood of Angora, Sinope, and the Black Sea; and his ambassadors were dismissed from the presence of Timour with fair promises and honorable gifts. But their master was soon deprived of his province and life, by a jealous brother, the sovereign of Amasia; and the final event suggested a pious allusion, that the law of Moses and Jesus, of Isa and Mousa, had been abrogated by the greater Mahomet. 3. Soliman is not numbered in the list of the Turkish emperors: yet he checked the victorious progress of the Moguls; and after their departure, united for a while the thrones of Adrianople and Boursa. In war he was brave, active, and fortuntae; his courage was softened by clemency; but it was likewise inflamed by presumption, and corrupted by intemperance and idleness. He relaxed the nerves of discipline, in a government where either the subject or the sovereign must continually tremble: his vices alienated the chiefs of the army and the law; and his daily drunkenness, so contemptible in a prince and a man, was doubly odious in a disciple of the prophet. In the slumber of intoxication he was surprised by his brother Mousa; and as he fled from Adrianople towards the Byzantine capital, Soliman was overtaken and slain in a bath, *_0047 after a reign of seven years and ten months. 4. The investiture of Mousa degraded him as the slave of the Moguls: his tributary kingdom of Anatolia was confined within a narrow limit, nor could his broken militia and empty treasury contend with the hardy and veteran bands of the sovereign of Romania. Mousa fled in disguise from the palace of Boursa; traversed the Propontis in an open boat; wandered over the Walachian and Servian hills; and after some vain attempts, ascended the throne of Adrianople, so recently stained with the blood of Soliman. In a reign of three years and a half, his troops were victorious against the Christians of Hungary and the Morea; but Mousa was ruined by his timorous disposition and unseasonable clemency. After resigning the sovereignty of Anatolia, he fell a victim to the perfidy of his ministers, and the superior ascendant of his brother Mahomet. 5. The final victory of Mahomet was the just recompense of his prudence and moderation. Before his father's captivity, the royal youth had been intrusted with the government of Amasia, thirty days' journey from Constantinople, and the Turkish frontier against the Christians of Trebizond and Georgia. The castle, in Asiatic warfare, was esteemed impregnable; and the city of Amasia, 74 which is equally divided by the River Iris, rises on either side in the form of an amphitheatre, and represents on a smaller scale the image of Bagdad. In his rapid career, Timour appears to have overlooked this obscure and contumacious angle of Anatolia; and Mahomet, without provoking the conqueror, maintained his silent independence, and chased from the province the last stragglers of the Tartar host. !_0047 He relieved himself from the dangerous neighborhood of Isa; but in the contests of their more powerful brethren his firm neutrality was respected; till, after the triumph of Mousa, he stood forth the heir and avenger of the unfortunate Soliman. Mahomet obtained Anatolia by treaty, and Romania by arms; and the soldier who presented him with the head of Mousa was rewarded as the benefactor of his king and country. The eight years of his sole and peaceful reign were usefully employed in banishing the vices of civil discord, and restoring on a firmer basis the fabric of the Ottoman monarchy. His last care was the choice of two viziers, Bajazet and Ibrahim, 75 who might guide the youth of his son Amurath; and such was their union and prudence, that they concealed above forty days the emperor's death, till the arrival of his successor in the palace of Boursa. A new war was kindled in Europe by the prince, or impostor, Mustapha; the first vizier lost his army and his head; but the more fortunate Ibrahim, whose name and family are still revered, extinguished the last pretender to the throne of Bajazet, and closed the scene of domestic hostility.
In these conflicts, the wisest Turks, and indeed the body of the nation, were strongly attached to the unity of the empire; and Romania and Anatolia, so often torn asunder by private ambition, were animated by a strong and invincible tendency of cohesion. Their efforts might have instructed the Christian powers; and had they occupied, with a confederate fleet, the Straits of Gallipoli, the Ottomans, at least in Europe, must have been speedily annihilated. But the schism of the West, and the factions and wars of France and England, diverted the Latins from this generous enterprise: they enjoyed the present respite, without a thought of futurity; and were often tempted by a momentary interest to serve the common enemy of their religion. A colony of Genoese, 76 which had been planted at Phocaea 77 on the Ionian coast, was enriched by the lucrative monopoly of alum; 78 and their tranquillity, under the Turkish empire, was secured by the annual payment of tribute. In the last civil war of the Ottomans, the Genoese governor, Adorno, a bold and ambitious youth, embraced the party of Amurath; and undertook, with seven stout galleys, to transport him from Asia to Europe. The sultan and five hundred guards embarked on board the admiral's ship; which was manned by eight hundred of the bravest Franks. His life and liberty were in their hands; nor can we, without reluctance, applaud the fidelity of Adorno, who, in the midst of the passage, knelt before him, and gratefully accepted a discharge of his arrears of tribute. They landed in sight of Mustapha and Gallipoli; two thousand Italians, armed with lances and battle-axes, attended Amurath to the conquest of Adrianople; and this venal service was soon repaid by the ruin of the commerce and colony of Phocaea.
If Timour had generously marched at the request, and to the relief, of the Greek emperor, he might be entitled to the praise and gratitude of the Christians. 79 But a Mussulman, who carried into Georgia the sword of persecution, and respected the holy warfare of Bajazet, was not disposed to pity or succor the idolaters of Europe. The Tartar followed the impulse of ambition; and the deliverance of Constantinople was the accidental consequence. When Manuel abdicated the government, it was his prayer, rather than his hope, that the ruin of the church and state might be delayed beyond his unhappy days; and after his return from a western pilgrimage, he expected every hour the news of the sad catastrophe. On a sudden, he was astonished and rejoiced by the intelligence of the retreat, the overthrow, and the captivity of the Ottoman. Manuel 80 immediately sailed from Modon in the Morea; ascended the throne of Constantinople, and dismissed his blind competitor to an easy exile in the Isle of Lesbos. The ambassadors of the son of Bajazet were soon introduced to his presence; but their pride was fallen, their tone was modest: they were awed by the just apprehension, lest the Greeks should open to the Moguls the gates of Europe. Soliman saluted the emperor by the name of father; solicited at his hands the government or gift of Romania; and promised to deserve his favor by inviolable friendship, and the restitution of Thessalonica, with the most important places along the Strymon, the Propontis, and the Black Sea. The alliance of Soliman exposed the emperor to the enmity and revenge of Mousa: the Turks appeared in arms before the gates of Constantinople; but they were repulsed by sea and land; and unless the city was guarded by some foreign mercenaries, the Greeks must have wondered at their own triumph. But, instead of prolonging the division of the Ottoman powers, the policy or passion of Manuel was tempted to assist the most formidable of the sons of Bajazet. He concluded a treaty with Mahomet, whose progress was checked by the insuperable barrier of Gallipoli: the sultan and his troops were transported over the Bosphorus; he was hospitably entertained in the capital; and his successful sally was the first step to the conquest of Romania. The ruin was suspended by the prudence and moderation of the conqueror: he faithfully discharged his own obligations and those of Soliman, respected the laws of gratitude and peace; and left the emperor guardian of his two younger sons, in the vain hope of saving them from the jealous cruelty of their brother Amurath. But the execution of his last testament would have offended the national honor and religion; and the divan unanimously pronounced, that the royal youths should never be abandoned to the custody and education of a Christian dog. On this refusal, the Byzantine councils were divided; but the age and caution of Manuel yielded to the presumption of his son John; and they unsheathed a dangerous weapon of revenge, by dismissing the true or false Mustapha, who had long been detained as a captive and hostage, and for whose maintenance they received an annual pension of three hundred thousand aspers. 81 At the door of his prison, Mustapha subscribed to every proposal; and the keys of Gallipoli, or rather of Europe, were stipulated as the price of his deliverance. But no sooner was he seated on the throne of Romania, than he dismissed the Greek ambassadors with a smile of contempt, declaring, in a pious tone, that, at the day of judgment, he would rather answer for the violation of an oath, than for the surrender of a Mussulman city into the hands of the infidels. The emperor was at once the enemy of the two rivals; from whom he had sustained, and to whom he had offered, an injury; and the victory of Amurath was followed, in the ensuing spring, by the siege of Constantinople. 82
The religious merit of subduing the city of the Caesars attracted from Asia a crowd of volunteers, who aspired to the crown of martyrdom: their military ardor was inflamed by the promise of rich spoils and beautiful females; and the sultan's ambition was consecrated by the presence and prediction of Seid Bechar, a descendant of the prophet, 83 who arrived in the camp, on a mule, with a venerable train of five hundred disciples. But he might blush, if a fanatic could blush, at the failure of his assurances. The strength of the walls resisted an army of two hundred thousand Turks; their assaults were repelled by the sallies of the Greeks and their foreign mercenaries; the old resources of defence were opposed to the new engines of attack; and the enthusiasm of the dervis, who was snatched to heaven in visionary converse with Mahomet, was answered by the credulity of the Christians, who beheld the Virgin Mary, in a violet garment, walking on the rampart and animating their courage. 84 After a siege of two months, Amurath was recalled to Boursa by a domestic revolt, which had been kindled by Greek treachery, and was soon extinguished by the death of a guiltless brother. While he led his Janizaries to new conquests in Europe and Asia, the Byzantine empire was indulged in a servile and precarious respite of thirty years. Manuel sank into the grave; and John Palaeologus was permitted to reign, for an annual tribute of three hundred thousand aspers, and the dereliction of almost all that he held beyond the suburbs of Constantinople.
In the establishment and restoration of the Turkish empire, the first merit must doubtless be assigned to the personal qualities of the sultans; since, in human life, the most important scenes will depend on the character of a single actor. By some shades of wisdom and virtue, they may be discriminated from each other; but, except in a single instance, a period of nine reigns, and two hundred and sixty-five years, is occupied, from the elevation of Othman to the death of Soliman, by a rare series of warlike and active princes, who impressed their subjects with obedience and their enemies with terror. Instead of the slothful luxury of the seraglio, the heirs of royalty were educated in the council and the field: from early youth they were intrusted by their fathers with the command of provinces and armies; and this manly institution, which was often productive of civil war, must have essentially contributed to the discipline and vigor of the monarchy. The Ottomans cannot style themselves, like the Arabian caliphs, the descendants or successors of the apostle of God; and the kindred which they claim with the Tartar khans of the house of Zingis appears to be founded in flattery rather than in truth. 85 Their origin is obscure; but their sacred and indefeasible right, which no time can erase, and no violence can infringe, was soon and unalterably implanted in the minds of their subjects. A weak or vicious sultan may be deposed and strangled; but his inheritance devolves to an infant or an idiot: nor has the most daring rebel presumed to ascend the throne of his lawful sovereign. 86
While the transient dynasties of Asia have been continually subverted by a crafty vizier in the palace, or a victorious general in the camp, the Ottoman succession has been confirmed by the practice of five centuries, and is now incorporated with the vital principle of the Turkish nation. To the spirit and constitution of that nation, a strong and singular influence may, however, be ascribed. The primitive subjects of Othman were the four hundred families of wandering Turkmans, who had followed his ancestors from the Oxus to the Sangar; and the plains of Anatolia are still covered with the white and black tents of their rustic brethren. But this original drop was dissolved in the mass of voluntary and vanquished subjects, who, under the name of Turks, are united by the common ties of religion, language, and manners. In the cities, from Erzeroum to Belgrade, that national appellation is common to all the Moslems, the first and most honorable inhabitants; but they have abandoned, at least in Romania, the villages, and the cultivation of the land, to the Christian peasants. In the vigorous age of the Ottoman government, the Turks were themselves excluded from all civil and military honors; and a servile class, an artificial people, was raised by the discipline of education to obey, to conquer, and to command. 87 From the time of Orchan and the first Amurath, the sultans were persuaded that a government of the sword must be renewed in each generation with new soldiers; and that such soldiers must be sought, not in effeminate Asia, but among the hardy and warlike natives of Europe. The provinces of Thrace, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, and Servia, became the perpetual seminary of the Turkish army; and when the royal fifth of the captives was diminished by conquest, an inhuman tax of the fifth child, or of every fifth year, was rigorously levied on the Christian families. At the age of twelve or fourteen years, the most robust youths were torn from their parents; their names were enrolled in a book; and from that moment they were clothed, taught, and maintained, for the public service. According to the promise of their appearance, they were selected for the royal schools of Boursa, Pera, and Adrianople, intrusted to the care of the bashaws, or dispersed in the houses of the Anatolian peasantry. It was the first care of their masters to instruct them in the Turkish language: their bodies were exercised by every labor that could fortify their strength; they learned to wrestle, to leap, to run, to shoot with the bow, and afterwards with the musket; till they were drafted into the chambers and companies of the Janizaries, and severely trained in the military or monastic discipline of the order. The youths most conspicuous for birth, talents, and beauty, were admitted into the inferior class of Agiamoglans, or the more liberal rank of Ichoglans, of whom the former were attached to the palace, and the latter to the person, of the prince. In four successive schools, under the rod of the white eunuchs, the arts of horsemanship and of darting the javelin were their daily exercise, while those of a more studious cast applied themselves to the study of the Koran, and the knowledge of the Arabic and Persian tongues. As they advanced in seniority and merit, they were gradually dismissed to military, civil, and even ecclesiastical employments: the longer their stay, the higher was their expectation; till, at a mature period, they were admitted into the number of the forty agas, who stood before the sultan, and were promoted by his choice to the government of provinces and the first honors of the empire. 88 Such a mode of institution was admirably adapted to the form and spirit of a despotic monarchy. The ministers and generals were, in the strictest sense, the slaves of the emperor, to whose bounty they were indebted for their instruction and support. When they left the seraglio, and suffered their beards to grow as the symbol of enfranchisement, they found themselves in an important office, without faction or friendship, without parents and without heirs, dependent on the hand which had raised them from the dust, and which, on the slightest displeasure, could break in pieces these statues of glass, as they were aptly termed by the Turkish proverb. 89 In the slow and painful steps of education, their characters and talents were unfolded to a discerning eye: the man, naked and alone, was reduced to the standard of his personal merit; and, if the sovereign had wisdom to choose, he possessed a pure and boundless liberty of choice. The Ottoman candidates were trained by the virtues of abstinence to those of action; by the habits of submission to those of command. A similar spirit was diffused among the troops; and their silence and sobriety, their patience and modesty, have extorted the reluctant praise of their Christian enemies. 90 Nor can the victory appear doubtful, if we compare the discipline and exercise of the Janizaries with the pride of birth, the independence of chivalry, the ignorance of the new levies, the mutinous temper of the veterans, and the vices of intemperance and disorder, which so long contaminated the armies of Europe.
The only hope of salvation for the Greek empire, and the adjacent kingdoms, would have been some more powerful weapon, some discovery in the art of war, that would give them a decisive superiority over their Turkish foes. Such a weapon was in their hands; such a discovery had been made in the critical moment of their fate. The chemists of China or Europe had found, by casual or elaborate experiments, that a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, produces, with a spark of fire, a tremendous explosion. It was soon observed, that if the expansive force were compressed in a strong tube, a ball of stone or iron might be expelled with irresistible and destructive velocity. The precise aera of the invention and application of gunpowder 91 is involved in doubtful traditions and equivocal language; yet we may clearly discern, that it was known before the middle of the fourteenth century; and that before the end of the same, the use of artillery in battles and sieges, by sea and land, was familiar to the states of Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and England. 92 The priority of nations is of small account; none could derive any exclusive benefit from their previous or superior knowledge; and in the common improvement, they stood on the same level of relative power and military science. Nor was it possible to circumscribe the secret within the pale of the church; it was disclosed to the Turks by the treachery of apostates and the selfish policy of rivals; and the sultans had sense to adopt, and wealth to reward, the talents of a Christian engineer. The Genoese, who transported Amurath into Europe, must be accused as his preceptors; and it was probably by their hands that his cannon was cast and directed at the siege of Constantinople. 93 The first attempt was indeed unsuccessful; but in the general warfare of the age, the advantage was on their side, who were most commonly the assailants: for a while the proportion of the attack and defence was suspended; and this thundering artillery was pointed against the walls and towers which had been erected only to resist the less potent engines of antiquity. By the Venetians, the use of gunpowder was communicated without reproach to the sultans of Egypt and Persia, their allies against the Ottoman power; the secret was soon propagated to the extremities of Asia; and the advantage of the European was confined to his easy victories over the savages of the new world. If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind.
63 For the return, triumph, and death of Timour, see Sherefeddin (l. vi. c. 1 - 30) and Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. 36 - 47.)
64 Sherefeddin (l. vi. c. 24) mentions the ambassadors of one of the most potent sovereigns of Europe. We know that it was Henry III. king of Castile; and the curious relation of his two embassies is still extant, (Mariana, Hist. Hispan. l. xix. c. 11, tom. ii. p. 329, 330. Avertissement a l'Hist. de Timur Bec, p. 28 - 33.) There appears likewise to have been some correspondence between the Mogul emperor and the court of Charles VII. king of France, (Histoire de France, par Velly et Villaret, tom. xii. p. 336.)
65 See the translation of the Persian account of their embassy, a curious and original piece, (in the ivth part of the Relations de Thevenot.) They presented the emperor of China with an old horse which Timour had formerly rode. It was in the year 1419 that they departed from the court of Herat, to which place they returned in 1422 from Pekin.
66 From Arabshah, tom. ii. c. 96. The bright or softer colors are borrowed from Sherefeddin, D'Herbelot, and the Institutions.
67 His new system was multiplied from 32 pieces and 64 squares to 56 pieces and 110 or 130 squares; but, except in his court, the old game has been thought sufficiently elaborate. The Mogul emperor was rather pleased than hurt with the victory of a subject: a chess player will feel the value of this encomium!
68 See Sherefeddin, l. v. c. 15, 25. Arabshah tom. ii. c. 96, p. 801, 803) approves the impiety of Timour and the Moguls, who almost preferred to the Koran the Yacsa, or Law of Zingis, (cui Deus male dicat;) nor will he believe that Sharokh had abolished the use and authority of that Pagan code.
69 Besides the bloody passages of this narrative, I must refer to an anticipation in the third volume of the Decline and Fall, which in a single note (p. 234, note 25) accumulates nearly 300,000 heads of the monuments of his cruelty. Except in Rowe's play on the fifth of November, I did not expect to hear of Timour's amiable moderation (White's preface, p. 7.) Yet I can excuse a generous enthusiasm in the reader, and still more in the editor, of the Institutions.
70 Consult the last chapters of Sherefeddin and Arabshah, and M. De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. iv. l. xx.) Fraser's History of Nadir Shah, (p. 1 - 62.) The story of Timour's descendants is imperfectly told; and the second and third parts of Sherefeddin are unknown.
71 Shah Allum, the present Mogul, is in the fourteenth degree from Timour, by Miran Shah, his third son. See the second volume of Dow's History of Hindostan.
72 The civil wars, from the death of Bajazet to that of Mustapha, are related, according to the Turks, by Demetrius Cantemir, (p. 58 - 82.) Of the Greeks, Chalcondyles, (l. iv. and v.,) Phranza, (l. i. c. 30 - 32,) and Ducas, (c. 18 - 27, the last is the most copious and best informed.
73 Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. 26,) whose testimony on this occasion is weighty and valuable. The existence of Isa (unknown to the Turks) is likewise confirmed by Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 57.)
*_0047 He escaped from the bath, and fled towards Constantinople. Five mothers from a village, Dugundschi, whose inhabitants had suffered severely from the exactions of his officers, recognized and followed him. Soliman shot two of them, the others discharged their arrows in their turn the sultan fell and his head was cut off. V. Hammer, vol. i. p. 349. - M
74 Arabshah, loc. citat. Abulfeda, Geograph. tab. xvii. p. 302. Busbequius, epist. i. p. 96, 97, in Itinere C. P. et Amasiano.
!_0047 See his nine battles. V. Hammer, p. 339. - M.
75 The virtues of Ibrahim are praised by a contemporary Greek, (Ducas, c. 25.) His descendants are the sole nobles in Turkey: they content themselves with the administration of his pious foundations, are excused from public offices, and receive two annual visits from the sultan, (Cantemir, p. 76.)
76 See Pachymer, (l. v. c. 29,) Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. ii. c. 1,) Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 57,) and Ducas, (c. 25.) The last of these, a curious and careful observer, is entitled, from his birth and station, to particular credit in all that concerns Ionia and the islands. Among the nations that resorted to New Phocaea, he mentions the English; an early evidence of Mediterranean trade.
77 For the spirit of navigation, and freedom of ancient Phocaea, or rather the Phocaeans, consult the first book of Herodotus, and the Geographical Index of his last and learned French translator, M. Larcher (tom. vii. p. 299.)
78 Phocaea is not enumerated by Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxv. 52) among the places productive of alum: he reckons Egypt as the first, and for the second the Isle of Melos, whose alum mines are described by Tournefort, (tom. i. lettre iv.,) a traveller and a naturalist. After the loss of Phocaea, the Genoese, in 1459, found that useful mineral in the Isle of Ischia, (Ismael. Bouillaud, ad Ducam, c. 25.)
79 The writer who has the most abused this fabulous generosity, is our ingenious Sir William Temple, (his Works, vol. iii. p. 349, 350, octavo edition,) that lover of exotic virtue. After the conquest of Russia, &c., and the passage of the Danube, his Tartar hero relieves, visits, admires, and refuses the city of Constantine. His flattering pencil deviates in every line from the truth of history; yet his pleasing fictions are more excusable than the gross errors of Cantemir.
80 For the reigns of Manuel and John, of Mahomet I. and Amurath II., see the Othman history of Cantemir, (p. 70 - 95,) and the three Greeks, Chalcondyles, Phranza, and Ducas, who is still superior to his rivals.
81 The Turkish asper is, or was, a piece of white or silver money, at present much debased, but which was formerly equivalent to the 54th part, at least, of a Venetian ducat or sequin; and the 300,000 aspers, a princely allowance or royal tribute, may be computed at 2500l. sterling, (Leunclav. Pandect. Turc. p. 406 - 408.)
Note: According to Von Hammer, this calculation is much too low. The asper was a century before the time of which writes, the tenth part of a ducat; for the same tribute which the Byzantine writers state at 300,000 aspers the Ottomans state at 30,000 ducats, about 15000l Note, vol. p. 636. - M
82 For the siege of Constantinople in 1422, see the particular and contemporary narrative of John Cananus, published by Leo Allatius, at the end of his edition of Acropolita, (p. 188 - 199.)
83 Cantemir, p. 80. Cananus, who describes Seid Bechar, without naming him, supposes that the friend of Mahomet assumed in his amours the privilege of a prophet, and that the fairest of the Greek nuns were promised to the saint and his disciples.
84 For this miraculous apparition, Cananus appeals to the Mussulman saint; but who will bear testimony for Seid Bechar?
85 See Ricaut, (l. i. c. 13.) The Turkish sultans assume the title of khan. Yet Abulghazi is ignorant of his Ottoman cousins.
86 The third grand vizier of the name of Kiuperli, who was slain at the battle of Salankanen in 1691, (Cantemir, p. 382,) presumed to say that all the successors of Soliman had been fools or tyrants, and that it was time to abolish the race, (Marsigli Stato Militaire, &c., p. 28.) This political heretic was a good Whig, and justified against the French ambassador the revolution of England, (Mignot, Hist. des Ottomans, tom. iii. p. 434.) His presumption condemns the singular exception of continuing offices in the same family.
87 Chalcondyles (l. v.) and Ducas (c. 23) exhibit the rude lineament of the Ottoman policy, and the transmutation of Christian children into Turkish soldiers.
88 This sketch of the Turkish education and discipline is chiefly borrowed from Ricaut's State of the Ottoman Empire, the Stato Militaire del' Imperio Ottomano of Count Marsigli, (in Hava, 1732, in folio,) and a description of the Seraglio, approved by Mr. Greaves himself, a curious traveller, and inserted in the second volume of his works.
89 From the series of cxv. viziers, till the siege of Vienna, (Marsigli, p. 13,) their place may be valued at three years and a half purchase.
90 See the entertaining and judicious letters of Busbequius.
91 The first and second volumes of Dr. Watson's Chemical Essays contain two valuable discourses on the discovery and composition of gunpowder.
92 On this subject modern testimonies cannot be trusted. The original passages are collected by Ducange, (Gloss. Latin. tom. i. p. 675, Bombarda.) But in the early doubtful twilight, the name, sound, fire, and effect, that seem to express our artillery, may be fairly interpreted of the old engines and the Greek fire. For the English cannon at Crecy, the authority of John Villani (Chron. l. xii. c. 65) must be weighed against the silence of Froissard. Yet Muratori (Antiquit. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. ii. Dissert. xxvi. p. 514, 515) has produced a decisive passage from Petrarch, (De Remediis utriusque Fortunae Dialog.,) who, before the year 1344, execrates this terrestrial thunder, nuper rara, nunc communis.
Note: Mr. Hallam makes the following observation on the objection thrown our by Gibbon: "The positive testimony of Villani, who died within two years afterwards, and had manifestly obtained much information as to the great events passing in France, cannot be rejected. He ascribes a material effect to the cannon of Edward, Colpi delle bombarde, which I suspect, from his strong expressions, had not been employed before, except against stone walls. It seems, he says, as if God thundered con grande uccisione di genti e efondamento di cavalli." Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 510. - M.
93 The Turkish cannon, which Ducas (c. 30) first introduces before Belgrade, (A.D. 1436,) is mentioned by Chalcondyles (l. v. p. 123) in 1422, at the siege of Constantinople.


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Hiya guys! I'm back with another special tutorial! Yesh!! Finally.. it's not a chibi tut this time ( although its still based on Assassin's Creed! ).. but its still a cute tut.. how you say? Cause Connor is so freaking cute n handsome! *fangirl moments* Yup... Connor is my weak point.. i can NEVER live without him!! OMGGGGGG just look at him! Argh.. took me quite a while to make this tut.. :3 i just had to make another Connor tut.. hes da best Assassin evea! In my opinion :P... i love everything about him! Hes just amazing... and so Unique from all Assassins! Espically his real name... Ratonhnhaké:ton.. so damn Unique! I love that name 3:.. D: I swear.. i feel like blowing up! Eeek! Haha before i go.. i'd like to also to tell you that you should also check out Dawn's tut on how to draw Connor Kenway ( Its in a different pose though and much better than mine! ) So i hope you'll enjoy this loving tut while ima go wid Connor to have a lil fun ^^... cya guys! Ill be back soon!
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Serial sexual-harasser (allegedly!) and famous fashion photographer Terry Richardson is dating Audrey Gelman, who serves as press secretary for Manhattan borough president (and 2013 candidate for the New York City mayoralty) Scott Stringer. The couple has been together since the spring, which is shortly after Richardson and his ex-fiancée, Jen Brill, broke up. Gelman, 23, was described by the New Yorker as the "best friend" of Tiny Furniture writer-director Lena Dunham, and will be featured in Dunham's forthcoming HBO comedy Girls. Gelman previously dropped out of Oberlin to work on Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign. In between politicking, she does things like star in videos for DKNY Intimates. We note in passing that this story very creatively mentions "feminist-leaning blogs" that have written about what it calls Richardson's "many an encounter with women," without naming any blogs or linking to any of our reporting on Richardson and the serious allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace he faces. The author of the piece, Nate Freeman, confirmed to us that it was indeed Jezebel's coverage of Richardson to which he was alluding, but did not, for whatever reason, cite. UPDATE: The online version of the article has been edited — to remove the mention of "feminist-leaning blogs," not to add attribution. [NYObs]
Arizona Muse is in the ad campaign for the fall Jil Sander for Uniqlo +J collection, which is Sander's last. We will miss her elegant, minimalist, affordable clothing. [Models.com]
Assuming you, like we, are not going to shell out $245 for Riccardo Tisci's religious-themed guest-edited issue of Visionaire, here are some more images from what's inside. Including Tisci suckling at Marina Abramovic's breast, a nude portrait of Arizona Muse with her infant son, and Lara Stone tied up with ropes. [Styleite]
Vogue Portugal and Vogue Greece each decided to re-use the same recent cover of Vogue Paris for their August issues. [Fashionista]
Mulberry had a bumper year: its stock price has risen by 526% in the past 12 months, giving it a valuation of £1.03 billion (compared with a mere £166 million this time last year). [Telegraph]
Good morning. Here are photos of David Beckham, backstage at the shoot for his cologne "Homme by David Beckham." [FashionEtc]
Vogue published the first pictures of Dylan Lauren's wedding dress, which was designed by her father, Ralph. [Daily Mail]
- Ben Westwood, son of Vivienne, is designing a ready-to-wear collection for bespoke Savile Row tailors Cad & the Dandy. [Vogue UK]
- The September issue of V, the one that Carine Roitfeld is styling and Mario Testino is shooting, is themed around Elizabeth Taylor. The magazine will feature some 72 editorial pages, and will officially be known as the "Heroes" issue. [WWD]
- Ad pages for the all-important September issues of the major glossies (save Vogue) are in. Glamour, traditionally Condé Nast's revenue leader (although newsstand sales have been dropping there of late) was flat in terms of the number of ad pages, but brought in more ad revenue than any previous issue. Elle sank 6.8% from last year, although last September was a very special 25th Anniversary issue, so. Harper's Bazaar was up 2.2%, W was up 3%, Lucky rose 8%, Cosmopolitan jumped 13.8%, and Marie Claire grew by a whopping 16.8%. Vogue won't say what its September ad pages were until 5 p.m. today. [AdWeek]
- Some more details, but still no photos, of Karl Lagerfeld's one-off Macy's collection have been revealed: the goods will go on sale in August, for the fall season, and they'll be stocked in about 230 Macy's stores nationwide and online. Supposedly, the clothes are signature Lagerfeld, "including some high-collared pieces as well as edgier, rock 'n' roll looks." After that collection ends its run, Lagerfeld, along with three other designers, will be back to do a mini-collection that'll hit Macy's stores around the holidays. [WWD]
- Ozwald Boateng — now there's a name we love to hear; why so little news of Boateng and his suits these days? — was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Creative Arts, where Zandra Rhodes is the chancellor. [Vogue UK]
- Fashion publicist Alison Brod has some advice for job seekers: Read. (And don't list "Facebook" as a "skill" on your résumé.) "I would say the thing that annoys me the most about the women who are coming in here — nobody reads anything. I literally said the first person who reads anything other than Us Weekly is getting the job, no matter what...Another thing that's been driving me crazy lately is that when people list their skills on their résumés, they don't need to put Facebook. Somebody actually put Internet Explorer." [The Cut]
- Retiring fashion critic Hilary Alexander is writing her memoirs. "I've always wanted to write an autobiography because I've lived such an incredible life, quite a strange life," she says. "I mean, I was born in New Zealand and somehow managed to become fashion director of the Telegraph!" Alexander's in good company; among the other writers to come from New Zealand and find success in England are Katherine Mansfield and Fay Weldon. [Vogue UK]


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|Hi! I'm taking a little break and it might take me a few days to reply to comments and emails. I'll be back soon! :)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Creamy Artichoke Spinach Dip
This is Dreena's Creamy Artichoke Spinach Dip of deliciousness. It is indeed creamy, but also chunky enough to taste the little artichoke bits in there. It's a cashew based dip that can easily be made soy-free with a non-soy milk (I used almond.) It's super quick and easy to make. Bada bing, bada boom... and you're done! I halved the recipe and baked it in a medium sized ramekin, and I over baked it a little on purpose. Why? Because this is how I eat my artichoke dip...
Like a casserole. With a fork. Straight from the bowl. Proper gluttony.
Picture of the day: What do you think is going on here?
I think the goose on the right is poorly belting out "I Will Always Love You" and the other one is totally embarrassed and trying to make sure their friends aren't aren't around to hear. "And iiiieiiiiieiiii will always love you..."
12 comments:
I think they are surreptitiously scarfing down the candy I bought for Halloween...which somehow seems to be disappearing. I'm sure they must have snatched it from my pantry. Yeah, that's it. ;)ReplyDeleteReplies
That could definitely be it, and it would also explain why all MY candy has been disappearing too! Mystery solved! :DDelete
I had this recipe bookmarked but after seeing your post, I'm printing it out. I am always SO JEALOUS of the people at parties eating their stupid dairy-filled artichoke dip.ReplyDelete
Yes, I agree with you about the geese, either that or he's rounding up his friends to help him chase away a photographer, and she thinks he's making a big deal about nothing.Replies
Hmm. You might be right. I should make myself a tree-costume to camouflage myself better just in case they decide to attack! That wouldn't look silly at all! :DDelete
I hope you love the dip as much as I did! Nobody will judge you if you also decide to eat it with a fork straight out of the bowl.
They can't judge me if they don't see me. :)Delete
True - and I will never tell! :DDelete
Great looking stuff! Oh, wow. I love artichoke spinach dip.ReplyDeleteReplies
It is so tasty! Try it - I don't think you will be disappointed :)Delete
I'm not a huge artichoke or spinach fan but I reckon this dip could be a good way to enjoy both!ReplyDelete
And I love your interpretation of what's going on with the geese!Replies
You and Mr. Wing-It are on the same boat! He is not a fan of either ingredient either. Today I'm having a Mandee MoFo post! Just as soon as I procrastinate a bit more...Delete
Looks good...i've been on a big 'dips and soups' kick recently, so i'll have to try this out! I will be featuring it in my weekly roundup on Sunday. Happy Vegan Mofo! :-)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks, Jo! I look forward to reading your weekly roundup! Happy Vegan MoFo to you too! :)Delete


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The new bottle bill would affect you
Lawmakers are pushing to modernize a 35-year-old Iowa law that they said could add hundreds of new jobs and help extend the life of our landfills.
The Better Bottle Bill is designed to expand the current bottle redemption incentive to recycle. The new bill would make water, sport drink and other non-carbonated beverages eligible for a 5 cent redemption.
Bill authors estimated that thousands of tons of bottles going to Iowa landfills could be recycled under the new bill.
The current bill only covers cans and bottles containing carbonated drinks like pop or alcohol for the state 5 cent redemption incentive.
Better Bottle Bill authors said the expansion would create an estimated 300 jobs.
"We're not trying to get something that's been handled by somebody else, this is what we're throwing away every day 33,000 tons of plastic bottles that have a value, don't need to be in the landfill and that's the real difference that we didn't know those facts last year or the year before until the DNR completed its waste study across the state," said Mick Barry.
There would be no additional fee for consumers under the new bill. You would still pay a nickel and get a nickel back when you return the bottles.
A new 1 cent handling fee would be added for distributors to pay to redemption centers like HyVee and Dahl's that handle the bottles.
Opponents of the bill include the Iowa Grocery Industry Association.
IGIA President Michelle Hurd said the Bottle Bill expansion pulls focus away from less-expensive, more-effective options.
"I don't think the complete story was presented to the public today," said Hurd during a press conference Tuesday. "What we didn't hear was how the expansion will affect consumers."
The Better Bottle Bill moves to a Senate sub-committee to be voted on before it can move to the full Senate.
What do you think about expanding the Bottle Bill? Add your comments in the box below or on the KCCI Facebook page.


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This week I'm also bringing in a couple of new cocktail ingredients, namely grenadine, sugar syrup and Angostura bitters, these can be obtained from supermarkets for about £3-£4 so are only slightly more expensive than fruit juice. Since only a little of each is usually used, they will also last a long while. If you want to save a bit of money, both grenadine and the sugar syrup can be made at home.
Grenadine is a red coloured syrup made from pomegranate juice, to make it at home, simply heat 250ml of pomegranate juice and dissolve 250g of sugar into it, the resulting mixture once cooled should be stored in a sealed container, such as an empty pop bottle. It will last about 4 weeks like this and a little longer if kept in the fridge.
Sugar syrup can be made in a similar way using water instead of pomegranate juice. An alternative to sugar syrup is to just add sugar to the drink and stir till it dissolves.
Two cocktails this week also feature absinthe as an optional ingredient. I was originally going to write an article on absinthe on its own however as bottles can get very expensive I decided that the best option was to put the absinthe variants of cocktails along side the non absinthe versions and you can make your own choice if you want to use it.
Approximate cost per glass: varies
- White rum
- Golden rum
- Dark rum
- Pineapple juice
- Grenadine
- Green absinthe (optional)
The zombie is a fairly impressive drink adapted for this article from a drink served at my favourite cocktail bar: the Evil Eye Lounge in York. Making this drink is far less of an exact science than previous cocktails and comes far more down to personal taste. The original drink uses about half a shot of seven different types of rum, the drink I made for the photo used only four. It's perfectly acceptable to make this with just a single type of rum, however you will get a much better flavour from using at least one golden, one dark and one white rum. If you have to use just a single type then a golden or dark rum would be best.
Start by taking a glass and filling it with plenty of ice. Next take each of your rums in turn and layer equal quantities of each over the ice, making about 3 shots worth of rum in total, next top up the glass with pineapple juice allowing it to mix with the rum slightly. Add a dash of grenadine to the top of the glass, it should mostly sink to the bottom leaving a gradient of red to yellow going up the glass. If using absinthe you should now float a small quantity on top. Before drinking stir the drink slightly to avoid getting a mouth full of grenadine or absinthe as the first taste.
Approximate cost per glass: £1 (normal) £2 (absinthe variant)
- 50ml (2 shots) White rum
- 1 lime
- Handful of mint leaves
- Dash of Angostura bitters
- Dash of sugar syrup
- Soda water to taste
- 25ml (1 shot) absinthe (optional)
The Mojito is probably the most complicated cocktail to make so far in this series, but it is also my favourite. Begin by quartering a lime, you can also put a couple of slits across the fruit as this helps the juice come out. Next place both the mint and the lime in a glass and crush them together with something suitable, I personally have a pestle designed for this however a wooden spoon or rolling pin work just as well. Once you have got most of juice from the limes add the rum, a dash of sugar syrup and a handful of ice and shake well. Top the drink off with soda water and add a couple of drops of bitters to the top.
For the absinthe variant replace one shot of rum with one shot of absinthe following the same method as above leaving out the bitters.
Classic daiquiri
Approximate cost per glass: £1
- 50ml (1 shot) Golden rum
- 1 lime
- Sugar syrup to taste
I have already described in full a melon vodka daiquiri and mentioned how to adapt that to a raspberry vodka daiquiri. Both of these recipes work just as well replacing the vodka with rum making the drink much closer to a classic daiquiri, however the original daiquiri involves no fruit or crushed ice and as such makes a totally different type of drink.
This drink can be served in either a short glass or a martini glass, whichever you choose, begin by chilling it. While the glass is chilling, squeeze a lime into a second glass add some ice, the rum and a dash of sugar syrup and shake. Once the glass has chilled, empty the water and ice and pour the mixture into the glass through a strainer to remove the ice.
Piña Colada
Approximate cost per glass: £1.50
- 50ml (2 shots) Golden rum.
- Pineapple juice to taste
- Coconut milk to taste
- 50ml (2 shots) Golden rum.
- Pineapple juice to taste
- 25ml (1 shot) Coconut rum (Malibu)
- 50ml (2 shots) Golden rum.
- 1 Pineapple
- Coconut milk to taste
The last cocktail this week really brings in a taste of the Caribbean. There are several ways to make this drink I'm going to describe three of them.
The first method is using just golden rum, fill a glass with ice, add the rum and a small amount of coconut milk (about a shot is usually sufficient), then top off with the pineapple juice.
For the second method, replace one shot of golden rum with a coconut rum such as malibu and don't use any coconut milk.
The final method is slightly more involved, for this method you need a fresh pineapple so you will tend to end up with a few drinks worth perfect for parties. Begin by removing the top, bottom and skin of the pineapple then quarter and remove the centre. Next slice the pineapple into chunks, place the chunks into a blender and purée. Next add the coconut milk, I tend to use about a can full (384ml), use the blender to mix it with the pineapple. To serve take a number of glasses, add a single shot (for a short glass) or a double shot (for a larger glass) of rum and some ice then divide the mixture equally between the glasses. Depending on the size of your pineapple and the quantity of ice you use, it will fill 4-6 large glasses or 8-12 smaller glasses.


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Ed Sheeran vs. Beyonce – Pop Clash
We've got an exciting new Pop Clash matchup for you: Ed Sheeran vs. Beyonce! Both singers are known for their powerful music and dedicated fans, but only one track can move on to the next round of Pop Clash. Which song should win: Ed's 'Sing' or Beyonce's 'Pretty Hurts'?
Ed Sheeran's new song 'Sing' highlights the best of his abilities. From its catchy beat to the awesome lyrics to Ed's beautiful voice, 'Sing' was an instant favorite among Sheerios. We love the sultry message — and Ed even owns a falsetto. Yep, we're pretty much obsessed with 'Sing.'
Beyonce's 'Pretty Hurts,' on the other hand, carries a much more serious message. The track focuses on society's fixation on body image. The emotional lyrics echo the struggle that many women feel to change their exterior to meet an unrealistic ideal. Beyonce's powerful voice remains steady, even as the intensity of the song deepens.
Which song should win this week's Pop Clash? You can vote for 'Sing' or 'Pretty Hurts' once an hour until the polls close on June 23 at 3PM ET.
Watch Ed Sheeran, 'Sing' Video
Watch Beyonce, 'Pretty Hurts' Video