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If you teach preschoolers, crafting original and inspiring lesson plans may have been a daunting task, but not for much longer. In this course, you will get equipped with a solid lesson plan template and lots of interchangeable activities to choose from—plenty of inspiration to take you and your students from September to May.
You will learn over 100 circle-discussion, art, literacy, fine and large motor skill, science, and music activities that you can take into your classroom right away. Then you can adopt the ideas just as they are or tweak them slightly to fit a variety of themes. Either way, you will have ample material for crafting memorable, balanced, and engaging lesson plans.
Whether you're already teaching or you're just investigating a career as an early childhood educator, you're sure to find the right mix of inspiration, motivation, and practical tips in this short yet comprehensive course.
Kt (Katie) Paxton is a certified teacher with a Master's Degree in Education focusing on Learning and Technology. She has more than 15 years of classroom experience and has been an online instructor since 2003. She also owned and managed a home daycare for five years and is the author of More Adventures With Kids in San Diego.
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Jay Williams
I have been at KIKN 100.5 for 18 years and counting! It has been a pleasure and a priveledge to serve KIKN Country! I was born and raised in Lead and have been living in Sioux Falls since coming to Augustana in 1980. My wife Lori and I have 3 grown children and love being Grandpa and Grandma to our two grandchildren! I enjoy hunting, fishing, gardening and reading. Catch me on the air Monday through Friday from 2 to 6pm. You will hear Chris Ledoux at 2, the KIKN Impossible Question at 2:45 plus artist and local news and happenings as well as the latest traffic information.

subset: commoncrawl


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Who is the White Sox' closer? Ozzie gave a very vague answer before Friday night's White Sox-Angels game, which is supposed to start on time despite all of the rain in the area.
"Don't ask me about the bullpen," he said. "Whoever is in the bullpen, in the last game, in the last inning, will be (the closer). Period. Period. You see (Mark) Buehrle in the ninth, that's our closer. I don't have any more answers on the bullpen.
"We're going to make a soap opera out of this (bleep), just let me know. If the fans want to know, I don't know. If the media want to know, I don't know. The pitchers over there want to know, I don't know. Then whoever's there in the ninth is the one I decided to be the guy to close the ninth. Next question. I'm tired of soap operas."
April 15, 2011
Will Ozzie Guillen use Mark Buehrle as the White Sox latest closer?
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This is the amplicon context sequence in accordance with the minimum information for the publication of real-time quantitative PCR experiements (MIQE) guidelines. For more details, please refer to the following publication, "Primer Sequence Disclosure: A Clarification of the MIQE Guidelines."
ddPCR™ probe assay designed for gene expression analysis. Probe assays consist of unlabeled PCR primers and a dual labeled fluorescent probe.
Info: HEX; Same primer pair and probe as used in qPCR assay qRnoCEP0024609; exonic
Assay Information
Gene Information
may regulate granulosa cell growth and ovarian follicle formation [RGD, Feb 2006]


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NBA union head will go on offensive in Houston
- Billy Hunter and his lawyers say he%27s done nothing wrong
- Players could vote on Hunter%27s future this weekend in Houston
- Law firm that did original study says it stands by it
With his future as the National Basketball Players Association's executive director potentially at stake at All-Star Weekend in Houston, Billy Hunter will go on the offensive over the next few days, trying to save his job.
Hunter needs to convince players that the information detailed in the independent report conducted by a New York law firm is not damaging enough to remove him from his position and/or prove that the information in the report is incorrect or misleading. The report contained information that had dozens of interviews and reviewed financial records and e-mails that showed, among other things, that Hunter had hired family members and companies that employed family members, and that he knew his more than $3million contract had not been properly approved.
Today, Hunter and his lawyers will release their report, defending Hunter's record and refuting some findings released in the independent review. The report will address charges of nepotism and questions about his contract.
One of Hunter's attorneys, Corey Worcester of the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, told USA TODAY Sports that Hunter did not do anything wrong according to union bylaws.
"There's no there there," Worcester said. "This is an effort to make zero plus zero plus zero equal one."
Players will meet this weekend to discuss Hunter's future and perhaps vote to determine whether they'll part ways with Hunter, who was placed on administrative leave of absence by NBPA committee Feb.1.
If the players want to fire Hunter, they need a majority vote from the executive committee. They can fire him with cause or without cause. With cause means "embezzlement, theft, larceny, material fraud or other acts of dishonesty," according to Hunter's contract. If they fire him with cause, the union would need to pay Hunter for the remainder of the year and for any accrued or unused vacation.
If they fire him without cause, they would need to pay Hunter the full remainder of his contract. It's unlikely the players would choose to go that route.
Toledo College of Law professor and sports law expert Geoffrey Rapp said the union would likely look at the "acts of dishonesty" phrase because no one has found Hunter committed embezzlement, theft or larceny.
"The real question is, did his failures to disclose rise to the level that we consider other acts of dishonesty?" Rapp said.
Worcester said Hunter did not commit "acts of dishonesty."
Thursday, the law firm of of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which conducted the study, released a statement saying while Hunter did not engage in any criminal acts, "(his) actions were inconsistent with his fiduciary obligations to put the interests of the Union above his personal interests, and that Mr. Hunter did not properly manage conflicts of interest."
Kyle Korver, the Atlanta Hawks' alternate player representative, told the Associated Press: "I think one of the weaknesses so far at this point has been a lack of communication. I think a lot of us were taken by surprise by a lot of things that supposedly have been found."
Here is the full statement from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison:
On January 17, 2013, Paul, Weiss published a Report that presented the results of an investigation commissioned by a Special Committee of the National Basketball Players Association (the "NBPA" or the "Union") concerning the current leadership of the NBPA. The investigation concluded that the facts did not show that the Union's Executive Director, G. William ("Billy") Hunter, engaged in criminal acts involving embezzlement or theft of Union funds.
Nevertheless, in our judgment, the facts did show that, at times, Mr. Hunter's actions were inconsistent with his fiduciary obligations to put the interests of the Union above his personal interests, and that Mr. Hunter did not properly manage conflicts of interest. The Report also explained, among other things, that the NBPA's Board of Player Representatives never properly approved Mr. Hunter's current employment contract with the Union as required by the Union's Constitution and By-Laws, that he was aware that his current contract was never properly approved and that he knowingly failed to disclose this information. In addition, the Report identified open questions concerning a purported agreement between the NBPA and Prim Capital, the Union's outside financial advisor. We stated that we would further investigate the circumstances surrounding the purported agreement and promptly present additional findings about it.
We had hoped to complete our investigation of this matter and present a supplemental report to the NBPA before its All-Star Weekend meetings. We understand that the government's investigation of the Union's activities, which we referenced in the Report, is ongoing. Based on our discussions with the U.S. Attorney's Office, we believe that it would be inappropriate for us or anyone at the Union to comment further about outstanding issues at this time. Although we will make a presentation about the Report to the NBPA during All-Star Weekend, we are convinced that disclosing additional findings from our continued investigation now could jeopardize the integrity of the government's criminal investigation, and would be contrary to the NBPA's public pledge to cooperate fully with the government's criminal investigation. We remain in communication with the U.S. Attorney's Office, and we hope that we will be able to provide the Union with additional information at some point in the future. As stated in our original Report, we can make no predictions about either the length or possible outcome of the government's criminal investigation.


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WikiLeaks prosecutors accept plea
The US government will accept an army private's guilty plea to a lesser version of one of the 22 counts he faces for sending more than 700,000 classified US documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, a military prosecutor has said during a pre-trial hearing.
But prosecutors still will try to convict Pfc Bradley Manning at his trial next month of other serious offences, including aiding the enemy, which carries a maximum life sentence.
Army Major Ashden Fein told the military judge, Colonel Denise Lind, that prosecutors had changed their minds about trying to convict Manning of violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in connection with the release of a State Department cable known as Reykjavik-13.
WikiLeaks posted the cable in early 2010 about a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, summarising US Embassy discussions with Icelandic officials about the country's financial troubles.
Manning has acknowledged sending the cable to WikiLeaks after he found it on a secure government computer network while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.
According to his courtroom confession on February 28, Manning believed the cable indicated the United States was refusing to help the Icelandic government "due to the lack of long-term geopolitical benefit".
The cable was the basis for a charge alleging violation of a federal law, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Manning pleaded guilty in February to lesser versions of that and other offences, acknowledging violations of military law that, in total, carry maximum prison term of 20 years.
Prosecutors said in March they would continue to seek conviction for the more serious offences.
Manning's trial is scheduled to begin on June 3.
PA Media


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As kids prepare to return to class, it's the parents who are gearing up for the shopping assignment.
Back-to-school shopping is one of the most significant shopping events all year, second only to the winter holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation.* Last year, total back-to-school spending was estimated to top $75 billion nationwide.
During the weeks leading up to the first day of school, parents generally spend hundreds of dollars per child* on clothing, accessories, school supplies, electronics and more. It's no wonder that the winding down of summer can be a stressful time for many families.
That's why we've compiled a list of three easy tips to help you ace the school shopping assignment with confidence and perhaps a little less stress.
In the agricultural economy, producers are experiencing varying levels of success across the broad spectrum we have in Southwest Missouri. Two extreme examples are seen in the cattle and crop sectors. Cow-calf producers are seeing strong margins with continued support in the cattle futures and lower feed costs. Meanwhile, crop producers have seen profits reduce significantly due to lower prices following the large fall harvest of 2014 and significant inventory carryover. This is the nature of agriculture.
In 1966, East Central Kansas Economic Opportunity Corporation (ECKAN) was formed to address the causes and conditions of poverty at an individualized community level. The organization stemmed from legislation passed through President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty efforts. ECKAN is headquartered in Ottawa, Kan., and employs 100 staff across nine counties in east central Kansas. Last year ECKAN had more than 6,000 volunteer hours donated to the agency. ECKAN's* mission is, "To identify and focus available resources that enable eligible families and individuals to attain critical skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to achieve self-sufficiency." Its core programs help families overcome poverty and the need for public assistance. ECKAN is unique in its ability to tailor programs specifically to the communities it serves, in addition to offering well-known assistance programs such as Head Start, Weatherization, and the HUD Section 8 program. ECKAN's Community Centers also provide emergency food assistance to families living in those nine counties and distributed over 9,000 units of emergency food assistance last year. In Franklin County alone, weekly food distributions serve 90-100 individuals. The agency also provides a Summer Lunch Bunch program in an effort to alleviate food insecurity among children ages 1 – 18 during the summer months when school breakfast and lunch programs are not an option. All these programs meet a critical need linked to the food insecurity rates as identified by Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap (2012) in ECKAN's service counties. Two of these counties have food insecurity rates higher than that of the state as a whole (14.8 percent). Those interested in volunteering may do so at many of ECKAN's locations. A variety of opportunities exist, such as working at community centers assisting with food distributions and volunteering in Head Start classrooms. Individuals interested in volunteering should contact ECKAN's central office at (785) 242-7450 and ask for Jake to learn more about current opportunities. To learn more about 1 Million Meals, visit arvest.com/millionmeals. You can make a donation through any of the following methods:
Arvest will donate on your behalf if you:
Links marked with * go to a third-party site not operated or endorsed by Arvest Bank, an FDIC-insured institution.
The season for spring cleaning has arrived and while many may be focused on organizing closets or scrubbing floors, Arvest Bank encourages consumers to clean up their finances, as well. Here are tips to help our customers cut back on financial clutter this spring:
Spring is a great time to take a hard look at your finances and identify ways to manage them more efficiently. By getting your financial house in order, you can set the stage for a stronger, more successful future.Article courtesy of the American Bankers Association.*Links marked with * go to a third-party site not operated or endorsed by Arvest Bank, an FDIC-insured institution.
Strike up a conversation about retirement with someone in their early working years and their thoughts often can be read plainly on their faces. It's as if they're standing at one end of the solar system and being asked to spot a galaxy 100,000 light years away and being asked to plan for how they're going to get there. It seems unreachable, unknowable for now. They'll figure it out later.Unfortunately, later doesn't work too well. The longer we put off saving for retirement, the more risk we take in not having enough assets as that once-obscure galaxy comes into view. Starting a disciplined saving routine is less painful than it sounds, and a new year is as good a time as any to begin.The most practical way for most people to start saving is through an employer retirement plan. It might be a 401(k). It could be a 403(b) or a SIMPLE IRA. There are other employer retirement vehicles, but these are the most common ones that allow the employee to contribute his or her own money.Employers want workers to participate in these plans because they know it promotes worker satisfaction and, hopefully, more productivity and less turnover. So most companies match part of the employee's contribution. For instance, several Fortune 500 companies kick in an amount equal to as much as 6 percent of pay as long as the associate contributes that much. The account owner has doubled his money before it's ever invested.The government also encourages retirement saving by allowing contributions to be made from earnings without being taxed. Then all growth and income generated inside the account go untaxed until withdrawals start in retirement. Ideally, those funds will be coming out at a time in life when a person's tax bracket is lower than when he was working full time.How much money will be needed in retirement depends on each retiree's spending and big-picture goals. A financial advisor can help with that kind of planning. The advisor's advice when it comes to saving typically is going to be to take advantage of the employer's match at a minimum and to do more over time.As nice as the IRS is in allowing pre-tax contributions, that generosity is limited. The most that can be deferred into a 401(k) in 2014 is $17,500 for anyone under age 50. At 50 and older, an additional $5,500 catch-up contribution is allowed for a total of $23,000 a year.People whose employers don't offer a retirement plan can use either a traditional IRA or Roth IRA. Which one is more appropriate depends on several factors that a financial advisor or tax advisor can help you determine.A few generations ago, the retirement-funding recipe usually consisted of an employer pension, Social Security and personal savings. Now, pensions are rare and Social Security isn't enough by itself to make ends meet for most. The importance of personal saving is greater than ever.And delaying can be expensive. Assuming 6 percent annual compounded growth, an investor who saves $6,000 a year starting at age 25 will accumulate $754,741 by age 60. Waiting to start until age 35, that figure drops to $374,689. Waiting to start until 45, the total is $162,414. So start now. Start with something. Even if it's a token contribution, do it so it becomes a habit as you move into your higher-earning years ahead.
Submitted questions will be answered by an Arvest banker and may appear on the Arvest Blog.
All Arvest banks are Equal Housing Lenders and Member FDIC.
Investment products and services are provided by Arvest Investments, Inc., doing business as Arvest Asset Management, member FINRA/SIPC, an SEC registered investment adviser and a subsidiary of Arvest Bank. Trust services are provided by Arvest Bank. Insurance products are made available through Arvest Insurance, Inc., which is registered as an insurance agency. Insurance products are marketed through Arvest Insurance, Inc., but are underwritten by insurance companies.
Securities and Insurance Products: Not Insured by FDIC or any Federal Government Agency, May Lose Value, Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by a Bank or any Bank Affiliate.


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Time is running out for people looking to spend their paper Bank of England £5 notes.
The paper notes will cease to be legal tender on May 5, 2017.
There are currently 165 million paper £5 notes still to be withdrawn.
This comes after the Bank of England released new £5 notes which are made from polymer - a thin, flexible plastic - in September 2016.
The new note is approximately 15 per cent smaller than the current paper version.
Former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, is commemorated on the new note.
The Bank of England has printed 440 million of the new £5 notes with a value of £2.2 billion.


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No two people experience cancer in exactly the same way. Nevertheless, common themes emerge in conversations with cancer survivors, and these shared experiences form the basis for support, encouragement, empathy, and even humor.
Here, women and men who are living with cancer or have completed treatment and are cancer-free share their stories of survival, from initial diagnosis and treatment to recovery and the ways that cancer has transformed their lives.
Copyright © 2019 CancerConnect. All Rights Reserved.


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I know this oyster item is a torture for my readers out west, so all I can say is, when you come to New York, hit the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station.
www.oysterbarny.com The executive chef, Sandy Ingbar, buys those oysters himself at the New Fulton Fish Market every morning (now in an improved facility in the Bronx–the old South Street Seaport location just got too mobby and dirty and scary). www.newfultonfishmarket.com GCOB's oysters are, to my palate, consistently the freshest in town. My favorite species, the Totten Virginicas, are in now. They are an east coast oyster that is grown on the west coast, and as such, represents to me the ultimate American bivalve: briny like the eastern waters and sweet like the western waters. I always eat at May's counter, the first one on the right when you enter, even if there are seats available at other counters.


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If Maryland is "America in Miniature," then the Patuxent River is the linkage for that miniature America. It is the largest and longest river whose watershed lies completely within the state. It traverses dense woodlands and farm villages of the Piedmont, populous urban and suburban communities, and then meanders downstream to a quilted landscape of fishing villages and tobacco barns before emptying into the Chesapeake. Born near Parr's Ridge in Carroll County and ending at Drum Point 115 miles later, the scenic river has sustained human habitation for more than 8,000 years, long before explorer John Smith named it 400 years ago. And because of its size and its pathway, it is a unique barometer of how Marylanders are meeting the challenge to restore and protect the waterways that are so critical to our natural, economic and cultural well-being.
Today, Bernie Fowler will pull on his overalls, button a white shirt, grab his straw hat with a tiny American flag stuck in the brim and tie up the same pair of white sneakers he has used to wade into the Patuxent on the second Sunday of every June for the past 25 years. The former state senator and Calvert County commissioner will welcome family, friends and colleagues to a "wade in" that has become replicated at other rivers in Maryland and beyond. A quarter-century ago, Bernie described to a friend, the late folk singer Tom Wisner, the crystal clarity of the river when he fished in it as a young man. At his friend's urging, Bernie created an eco-event out of wading into the Patuxent to "measure" its health by how far he could walk out and see his sneakers in the water.
For 24 years, he has done this. For 24 years, he hasn't been satisfied with the result.
When he was young, he could wade up to his shoulders and see and snatch blue crabs hiding in the sea grasses on the riverbed. During his "wade-ins," however, his sneakers have typically vanished about two feet deep in the water, maybe 31/2 feet tops in the better years. The river's natural ability to cleanse itself has been overtaxed by nutrient pollution. A variety of sources have fed too much algae, reduced oxygen levels, eliminated the sea grasses and forced many creatures to leave the Patuxent in search of other waters with sufficient oxygen to survive. Bernie took his fight to the courts and changed how waste water was collected and treated in the Patuxent. The river improved. Sea grasses returned upstream. But progress proved as elusive as a crab in the murky river.
The Patuxent has consistently received some of the lowest grades in the Chesapeake watershed for stream health in the six years that an academic and governmental consortium has produced its annual bay scorecard. Many reasons are possible. The multiplication of homes on large lots with septic tanks over time hasn't helped. In fact, septic pollution has canceled out more than one-third of the progress for which Bernie has fought. Between 1985 and 2000, septic tanks across the watershed more than doubled their yearly nutrient output, from 212,000 pounds to 480,000 pounds.
There is hope for the Patuxent, however, and for all of the bay. In 2008, Mr. Fowler, along with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others, sued theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failure to clean up the bay. The resulting settlement ultimately forced the six states in the watershed (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and West Virginia) plus the District of Columbia to implement a "pollution diet" by 2025. As part of this effort, the Patuxent River Commission has worked with the seven counties within the river's watershed to ensure that local governments and citizens determine their own pollution reduction plan. This spring, the General Assembly, responding to Gov.Martin O'Malley's plea to tackle the last major unchecked source of nitrogen pollution escaping into groundwater and streams, approved landmark legislation to curb major residential subdivisions on septic systems.
Today, Bernie will look out over a river that provided him refuge from summer heat as a boy and a direction and purpose in his public life as a man. We can't predict how deep he'll wade in before his high-tops vanish from sight. But knowing Bernie's quest and his love and respect for the Patuxent, it's a good bet that for a 25th time, he won't leave satisfied.
Richard Eberhart Hall is Maryland secretary of planning. The public is welcome to join the Bernie Fowler Wade-In at 1 p.m. today at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, 10515 Mackall Road, St. Leonard. More information at planning.maryland.gov.


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|An honest supplier Top Fashion Company you can trust :
|1. 12 years factory expenrience , with certification of SGS, etc .
|2. High quality, strict and complete quality control system .
|3. 7 days Full refund or return guarantee if incorrect order or not as described.
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|5.Own factory, most hair is large stock, ship fast.
|100% Human Hair Unprocess
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|10-22 Inches in Stock, other length and style could be customized.
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|75-90g/piece (can be customized as your require)
|Silky and soft, no tangle and no shedding.
|Our hair is 100% virgin hair without proccessing and dying.
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|A: For hair wefts, 3pcs for 10-22inch, 4pcs for 24-40inch. If you want to get a very full look, you might need another pack. If you are getting fusion or micro then you will need to consult your stylist.
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|A: Yes, this is virgin hair , could be dyed and bleached well.
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|A: This hair can last for a very long time depending on how you maintain it. Treat it like your own hair and take very good care of it for it to last longer. If you take good care of the hair, it last for over one year.
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|A: Pls wash your virgin hair with cold or warm water instead of hot water , it may
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|A: Pls provide the details about material, weight, length, color, quality, packing an
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|request.If you have any questions , just feel free to contact our sales


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Indian Rental Real Estate
Prime office realty rentals on the rise
The growth has made New Delhi's Connaught Place the fourth-most expensive office market in the Asia-Pacific region, showed data from Knight Frank.
The growth has made New Delhi's Connaught Place the fourth-most expensive office market in the Asia-Pacific region, showed data from Knight Frank.
PE investments into real estate up a tad in first 9 months / MahaRERA dismisses investor's plea against builder / Ultratech Cement profit dips by 53% in Q2 2017 / DB Realty to raise stake in DB (BKC) Realtors / Now, register your property online in Noida and Greater Noida / Milestone Capital looks to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore to invest in warehousing / Amazon leases 4.5 lakh sq ft of office space in Chennai / LIC Housing withdraws NCLT plea against DB Realty / Moody's confirms Lodha's B2 rating; outlook stable / Citibank sells Chennai land to TIL Healthcare for Rs 80 crore
PNB Housing's net profit dips 22% in Q3 FY20 / NCDRC orders DLF City Developers to refund parking charges with 7% interest / Havells Lighting profit before tax dips 28% in Q3 FY20 / Maharashtra has over 370 green building projects: GBCI / Embassy Group enters co-living business, to invest Rs 2,000 crore / Vizion Lighting expects 20-25% growth in FY21 / SC orders status-quo on proviso 3 of Section 7 of IBC amendment / Interesting facts about Tunable Lighting / NCDRC orders Sare Gurugram to refund buyer's money with 12% interest / After home buyers, Karvy Group investors challenge IBC amendment
Trends / IndustrySpeak / City / Careers / Data & Analytics / RealtyTV / New Businesses / Technology / RealtyCheck / Delhi-NCR / Mumbai / Pune / Chennai / Hyderabad / Kolkata / Ahmedabad / Social Analytics
Retail News / Auto News / Health News / Telecom News / Energy News / IT News / Marketing & Advertising News / Technology News / CFO News / IT Security News / BFSI News / Government News


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A police chief convicted of stealing $714 from a stripper's pocketbook following a chase was sentenced Friday to serve six months in prison.
Former North Providence police Chief Col. John Whiting received a five-year sentence, with six months to serve in prison and 4 � years of probation. He was also ordered to under anger management counseling. The sentence will not be imposed while Whiting files an appeal.
Before delivering the sentence, Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini said Whiting's actions hurt the victim, a patrolman he asked to take the money and the entire law enforcement profession. Procaccini said Whiting had not shown remorse for his actions.
"The town of North Providence deserves better than what it received from the chief of police," Procaccini said. "He took an oath. He broke those solemn promises."
Whiting didn't address Procaccini before the sentence was announced and didn't comment after Friday's hearing. As the sentence was announced, Whiting's wife and daughter sobbed. Whiting's attorney, John Harwood, said he would appeal.
Whiting, 58, was convicted in July on charges including larceny over $500. The case began when Whiting came across the woman's Ford Explorer as the remnants of Hurricane Irene hit the area on Aug. 28, 2011. Whiting testified that while he was trying to pass the SUV, someone inside threw an object at his vehicle. Whiting said he chased the vehicle until it struck a parked car. The occupants of the vehicle then fled, including the vehicle's owner, Justina Cardoso, who worked at the time as a dancer at the Satin Doll strip club in Providence. She testified that she left behind her money and other belongings.
Whiting said he went through the SUV to determine who had been inside and found money in a zippered pouch and put it in his pocket for safekeeping. But prosecutors said he bypassed normal procedures for searches and did not initially turn the money over, passing up several opportunities to give it to the officer who responded to investigate, Pawtucket police Officer John Brown.
Brown testified that later in the day, Whiting confessed to stealing the money and told Brown to spend it in Las Vegas.
While Whiting did not address the court, his adult daughter Kasia Whiting did, telling Procaccini that her father is "the most honest and trustworthy man and police officer that I've ever met."
Harwood had asked that Whiting serve no jail time for the offenses — which is what state sentencing guidelines would suggest for a person without a previous criminal record. He said the incident was an "aberration" in an otherwise long and successful police career.
"He has been devastated," Harwood said. "He is remorseful. He has hurt his family. He's ruined his reputation. He's lost his job."
But Procaccini agreed with prosecutors who said Whiting deserved to be punished because of his status as a top law enforcement officer. Procaccini also said Whiting had shown no remorse.
"I have to say, I believe he believes nothing happened," Procaccini said.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, a former Pawtucket police officer, did not attend the hearing. He said in a statement that the sentence is "fair and appropriate" and that "no one is above the law; no one more so than an individual who has the tremendous responsibility of leading a police department."
Whiting remains on unpaid suspension while the legal proceedings against him continue, though Harwood said his client is no longer working for the department.


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Lyza Ryabkina netted a pair of goals against BU Friday night (photo courtesy: Gil Talbot).
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Despite coming back from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at 2-2, Harvard could not stop Boston University from exploding for two quick goals within 30 seconds of each other and dropped a 5-3 decision to the Terriers Friday night at Bright Hockey Center. Harvard ends the 2010 portion of its schedule with a 5-6-2 overall record while the Terriers improve to 14-2-3.
Down 2-1, the Crimson quickly tied the game 2:24 into the third period on Liza Ryabkina's second goal of the night. Ryabkina unleashed a heavy one-timer off a Leanna Coskren shot for the equalizer, Ryabkina's sixth of the season. Josephine Pucci also assisted on the score.
The Terriers quickly quelled the excitement by answering 1:17 later when Jenn Wakefield slid the puck underneath Crimson goaltender Laura Bellamy, notching her third point of the game and 28th of the season. Kaleigh Fratkin assisted on the eventual game winner. The Terriers were not done, and just 28 seconds later, Jill Cardella stretched the lead to 4-2. Carrying the puck on a 2-on-0, Cardella went top shelf to find the back of the net. Jenelle Konanchuk and Catherine Ward assisted on the play.
With 6:19 remaining, the Terriers padded their lead when Marie-Philip Poulin added her second goal of the night on a scrum in front of Bellamy. The tally was Poulin's 15th goal and 28th point of the season, tops amongst rookies in the nation. On the play, Kohanchuk added her third assist of the night.
With 00.3 showing on the clock, Katharine Chute put an extra goal on the board for the Crimson, assisted by Whitney Kennedy and Alisa Baumgartner, to bring the final score to 5-3. Harvard held a 13-7 shot advantage in the final stanza.
The Terriers opened the game with a quick bite, as Poulin blasted home a one-timer off a Wakefield pass. Kohanchuk assisted on the power-play goal. The Crimson responded with a sense of urgency, taking possession of the puck for the better part of the period, but could not solve the hot hand of Boston University's netminder Kerrin Sperry, coming off two consecutive shutouts. Harvard outshot BU in the period, 10-5.
In the opening minutes of the second period, Jillian Dempsey nearly caught the Terriers off-guard on a Crimson line change. Skating through three Terrier defenders, Dempsey found herself in front of a sprawling Sperry, but was denied. Less than a minute later, Wakefield extended the lead with a pass to Jillian Kirchner, who then sent the puck past a sliding Laura Bellamy. With the Terriers leading 2-0 and showing no signs of letting up, Bellamy withstood a barrage of shots to keep the game within reach.
With 4:51 remaining in the period, Ryabkina narrowed the gap, powering a one-timer from Kate Buesser past Sperry for her fifth goal of the season. The goal, assisted by Dempsey, also snapped Sperry's streak of 180 scoreless minutes and closed the gap to 2-1. The Terriers outshot the Crimson 15-7 in the period.
The game ended with Harvard landing 30 shots on Sperry and BU landing 29 on Bellamy. Harvard now breaks for winter recess, and will face Union on January 7th in Schenectady, New York.


text: Burning Sky is an action game where you must resist against an alien insect robot's invasion trying to conquer the Earth. To do this, touch the screen to launch missiles and show them you are not kidding. The default game mode, Arcade, is a level based game with limited ammo supply and linear difficulty. Rush mode is time based with unlimited ammo in which enemies waves must be destroyed within the time limit.


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Crippled cruise ship slowly makes its way to land
MOBILE, Ala. — This is not at all how it looked in the brochure: Pulled by a tugboat at a maddeningly slow pace, the ill-fated cruise ship Carnival Triumph finally drew within sight of land on Thursday as miserable passengers told stories of overflowing toilets, food shortages, foul odors and dangerously dark passageways.Around midday, four days after the 893-foot ship was crippled by an engine-room fire in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, the more than 4,200 passengers and crew members suffered another misfortune when the towline snapped, bringing the vessel to a dead stop just when it was getting close to port.The towline was quickly replaced, and the crawl to Mobile resumed. The ship was expected to arrive around midnight Thursday. Officials said it would take passengers up to five hours to get off the ship, and then they faced an hours-long bus ride or other travel hassles to finally get back home.Frustrations with the cruise line simmered on and off the ship, as passengers and their relatives questioned why it had taken so long to get back to dry land. The ship left Galveston, Texas, a week ago.Television images from CNN showed passengers with signs of "Help" and "I love you" hanging from their cabin rooms.As the vessel drew within cell phone range, passengers vented their anger.Renee Shanar, of Houston, was on board with her husband, who has heart trouble. She said they were told they will be among the first to disembark."I don't believe them they've been lying to us from the beginning," Shanar said.Disgusted by the foul air and heat of the lower decks, many passengers hauled mattresses and bed sheets onto the top deck and slept there, even staying put in a soaking rain. As the ship approached the coast, a slew of Carnival workers arrived, removed the bedding and took it downstairs."Today they cleaned the ship, they're serving better food, covering up basically, but at least they're making it more bearable," said Kalin Hill, of Houston, who boarded the Triumph as part of a bachelorette party.Shanar they were initially only given cold cuts, like turkey and vegetable sandwiches. Then another cruise line dropped off hamburgers and chicken sandwiches, but the line for that fare was nearly four hours long."There's poop and urine all along the floor," she said. "The floor is flooded with sewer water … and we had to poop in bags."The 14-story ship must negotiate a tricky, shallow shipping channel before docking. The channel narrows to 400 feet inside Mobile Bay, and the ship was about 115 feet wide. It was traveling about 5 mph.Shanar said food was been distributed on the 9th floor, making it difficult for some of the elderly to get it. They were initially given cold cuts, like turkey and vegetable sandwiches. Then another cruise line dropped off hamburgers and chicken sandwiches, but the line for that fare was nearly four hours long."And then people started getting sick from the food," she said.The company disputed the accounts of passengers who described the ship as filthy, saying employees were doing everything to ensure people were comfortable. Carnival didn't immediately respond to questions the illnesses reported by some passengers.Terry Thornton, senior vice president for Carnival Cruiselines, said they received an extra generator that allowed them to serve hot food Wednesday night."This is going to be a long day," Thornton said. "There is no way we can speed up the process."When passengers arrive in Alabama, their stay will be short. Carnival said they were being given the option of boarding buses directly to Galveston, Texas, or Houston — a roughly seven-hour drive — or taking a two-hour bus ride to New Orleans, where the company said it booked 1,500 hotel rooms. Those staying in New Orleans will be flown Friday to Houston. Carnival said it will cover all the transportation costs."I can't imagine being on that ship this morning and then getting on a bus," said Kirk Hill, whose 30-year-old daughter, Kalin Christine Hill, is on the cruise. "If I hit land in Mobile, you'd have a hard time getting me on a bus."Thelbert Lanier was waiting at the Mobile port for his wife, who texted him early Thursday."Room smells like an outhouse. Cold water only, toilets haven't work in 3 1/2 days. Happy Valentines Day!!! I love u & wish I was there," she said in the text message, which was viewed by The Associated Press. "It's 4:00 am. Can't sleep…it's cold & I'm starting to get sick."Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the company tried to keep families updated and established a toll-free number for friends and relatives. Gulliksen said about 200 Carnival employees were in Mobile waiting to assist passengers upon their arrival.The ship was about 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula when an engine room fire knocked out its primary power source, crippling its water and plumbing systems and leaving it adrift on only backup power.No one was injured in the fire, but a passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution. Another passenger with a medical issue was taken off Thursday.Carnival Cruise Lines has canceled a dozen more planned voyages aboard the Triumph and acknowledged the crippled ship had been plagued by other mechanical problems in the weeks before the engine-room blaze. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation.Gulliksen said the Triumph's recent mechanical woes involved an electrical problem with the ship's alternator on the previous voyage. Repairs were completed Feb. 2, and the problem was not related to the fire, he said.Passengers were supposed to get a full refund and discounts on future cruises, and Carnival announced Wednesday they would each get an additional $500 in compensation.Once docked, the ship will be idle through April.


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By Ashley Matthews
Guest Commentary
Media reports consistently declare overpopulation of wild horses causes an environmental burden on Bureau of Land Management lands. This media spin by the BLM has been used to gain public support for removal of thousands of wild horses so commercial interests like the highly profitable cattle industry can use these public lands for a nominal fee. Over the weekend, the Denver Film Festival premiered "American Mustang," a film addressing this dishonest, costly and cruel federal program undermining protections for wild horses afforded by the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burros Act.
There are more than 1.75 million cattle on public lands. They outnumber horses 50-to-1. Wild horses number less than 30,000 on only 11 percent of public lands, which are still shared with cattle. Wild horse rangeland has been reduced by 75 percent and populations by more than 270,000 since 1970.
Unlike cattle, wild horses actually benefit the ecosystem. Their moist, nutrient-rich manure builds the soils and their tendency to move over long distances to forage spreads grazing pressure over vast terrain.
So why would the BLM tell a different story about wild horses?
Read more…


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My New Crafty Blog…Little Blue Cottage
Back in April, I started a craft blog but I couldn't tell anyone about it because I had a picture of a quilt that I was making for Suzanne, our lovely friend who awaits her baby's arrival home from Kyrgyzstan. But, now that the quilt has been given and I can move on to other quilts, this little blog can go forth into the crafty bloggy world.
Pictures will be forthcoming as my camera is very unwell at the moment.
Protected: Stupid or Brave…You Be The Judge
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The Beckoning of Lovely
I just read about amy of www.whoisamy.wordpress.com If you're not familiar with her books, get thee to a bookstore. If your head is hanging low with the state of the world, then please take a few minutes and watch this little video. I promise you'll be uplifted.
How To Mess up Two Women's Lives With Hardly Any Effort – A True Story of Lies, Secrecy & Denial
If you happen to have about 45 minutes or so…here's a truly compelling story from NPR. This isn't your ordinary baby-switching story. In this piece, in which all major players are interviewed, you will hear about how one of the mothers knew that her baby had been switched, but went along with her husband's wishes not to make any waves or make the doctor look incompetent. You will really be hooked after about 5 minutes listening to this. So, grab your knitting, or fill your sink with dishes or find something to do while you listen. You'll need something to do so you can channel your shock and outrage.
Top Ten Reasons We Love Judy
Over there to the right…see that star? That's for Judy. She's one incredible and wonderful woman. Today she is having surgery in her fight against breast cancer. Soooo…let's all be sending out some good vibes, juju, prayers, good thoughts, positive energy and virtual chocolate. Judy is fab. Here's why.
1. She uses the word 'asshat' which is a perfect word for a butthead, only way better
2. She's a thoughtful, descriptive writer of stuff, her experiences, her feelings. She's honest and real.
3. She's totally adorable
4. She's an adoptive mom who totally gets it
5. She's kind to everyone online and in the blogging community
6. She shares about how awesome her husband is, and his touching poems about how much he loves her and his family (Are you getting how much love there is in this family??)
7. Anytime I've ever emailed her personally, she has written right back and she's always funny and sweet even if she's having a tough time
8. She listens to everyone's point of view
9. What an amazing job at mothering she is doing
10. How she has faced her cancer with dignity and class and unbelieveable maturity and humor and bravery.
Judy…thinking about you all day today!! It all sucks so much. Wish I could bring you a stupid casserole and a hug today too. HUGS.


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Industry analysts offer tips on making sense of the security standards that everyone hears about but few understand.
The cloud services market is confusing. SAS70, SOC2, FedRAMP, ISO27001/2. What do all those abbreviations stand for, and more importantly, what do they mean for government agencies looking to reap the benefits of the cloud while protecting their IT assets?
A lot of vendors are aware that cloud security and auditing designations are confusing, but rather than making things simpler, some seem to use the confusion to their advantage, according to Gartner Research Vice President Jay Heiser. But there are a few tips prospective cloud services customers can arm themselves with to ensure they're getting the right solution for their organization.
First of all, Heiser said, there's no replacement for due diligence and thorough research. "The basic underlying problem is that people who want to buy cloud computing, they want just a simple stamp of approval that makes it possible to buy those things and nothing like that exists," he said.
Instead, there are a handful of standards commonly used to demonstrate that a system is secure. But they're not certifications -- they're more like endorsements, Heiser said. There's ISO27001, which is an international standard for information security that may or may not specifically consider cloud computing. There's SSAE16, which is a standard that contains SOC1, SOC2, and SOC3, three separate reporting frameworks that don't all relate to security. And there's FedRAMP, which is the first cloud-specific security standard, created to streamline security auditing across multiple federal agencies in the U.S.
Before SSAE16 was created, there was something called SAS70, which has nothing to do with security. Instead, SAS70 relates to financial reporting. While financial standards are important, the problem, Heiser said, is that many vendors know that there's a misconception about what SAS70 means and they do little to correct the misconception. "The information security profession is wise to this and quite cynical about it," he said. "The world at large has not fully understood this. I've had people talking to me this week about SAS70 that misunderstand it."
According to Heiser, it's not uncommon for a cloud service provider's marketing materials to reference SAS70 and security, even though the two are not related. Likewise, SOC1, which is the replacement for SAS70, has nothing to do with security and yet it is sometimes misrepresented as a security designation.
But SOC2 and SOC3, however, are valid security designations. The two are the same with just one important difference, Heiser said. SOC3 allows an organization to share the results of the audit with prospective customers. This distinction is crucial, Heiser said, because in order to know if a cloud solution is the right choice, someone must read the auditing report to ensure that the security controls apply to what their organization needs. And, Heiser added, there's some more trickery that can occur when organizations don't share their audit reports.
Sometimes, Heiser said, an organization will say it has some designation, say SOC2, but it doesn't run services out of its own data centers. In this instance, the SOC2 designation was not applied to their company or to their services -- it was given instead to the data center they are housed in. "Especially with software as a service, you're not concerned with somebody walking in the door and stealing a hard drive," Heiser said. "You're concerned about somebody hacking in over the network. The fact that whoever's site you're sitting in has had this evaluation has nothing to do with your company at all, let alone the integrity of the software. That's carrying the deception one step farther. I'm just flabbergasted and amazed that a company could do that."
But this type of deception does happen, he said, and much of it stems from the fact that many people don't understand security standards and don't bother to look beyond a vendor's marketing materials.
Ed Ferrara, principal security analyst at Forrester, agreed that buyers need to be careful when choosing a cloud service provider. Buyers can be misled by security designations that don't necessarily apply to an entire organization. For instance, a company that offers cloud services, he said, may have attained an ISO27001 designation for another part of their business, but that company will advertise in a vague way that they have ISO27001, when that designation may have nothing to do with the services their buyers are interested in. "That's an approach that a lot of firms are doing," he said.
Security standards are called "standards" for a reason, but they may not all be created equal, Ferrara said, which is why it's so important to look at the audit report. "How credible is the auditor actually doing the assessment?" he asked. "Is it 'Harry and Joe Screendoor CPA' or is it Pricewaterhouse Coopers?" A security designation can turn out to be less impressive after a bit of investigating.
Although security designations are intended to simplify the evaluation process, a security assessment document is a starting place, not the end of the discussion, Ferrara said. "That should be only a first step in the due diligence process," he said. "You should be willing to ensure that those security controls are closely aligned with your own expectations for security controls, that you also have the ability to audit those controls."
Technology consultant Rob Enderle defended cloud service providers to an extent, pointing out that while security designations do get misrepresented, the intention may not be to mislead potential customers. Cloud customers may not understand all the intricacies of cloud security, but the many people who work for cloud service providers themselves may not fully understand them either, he said.
"Often, and this is true of old-style technology companies as well as new-style companies, the folks that are putting together the marketing collateral and the folks that actually understand the technology are two very different groups," he said, echoing the cautionary advice of Heiser and Ferrara.
"And often the marketing guys are just trying to get people interested in the service. It's always been the case with a product where folks are throwing around this acronym and that acronym that it's best to do your homework and understand what levels of compliance you have to have and certainly understand what they mean, then of course audit to that because if you don't audit to it, somebody else probably will and if it's wrong, you'll be held accountable."
Photo from Shutterstock.


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(Phoenix, AZ—May 7, 2003) –Liberty School's "Cupcake Eating Pink Flamingos" will be presented with a trophy on Friday, May 9 in recognition of their fifth place finish in the national LifeSmarts competition in Orlando, Florida.
The team, consisting of Kelly Busenbark, Sean Fenner, Sara Joyce, Sara Yolland and Captain Kristen Yolland, was coached by Marjorie Burnell.
Diane Low of the Arizona Attorney General's Office will make the presentation at the school, which is in Queen Creek.
LifeSmarts is a consumer knowledge competition sponsored by the Consumer Protection and Advocacy Section of the Attorney General's Office, along with the National Consumers League. Team players compete via the Internet, answering questions that test their knowledge of personal finance, health and safety, environment, technology, and consumer rights & responsibilities.
"We are pleased with the excellent showing of our Arizona team from Liberty School," said Attorney General Terry Goddard. "The competition is a great way for teens to learn about the marketplace and become consumer savvy. Fifth in the nation is a terrific finish."


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Lindsay Lohan is coming to terms with life in the public eye, and in particular, life under the glare of paparazzi lenses.
"I know that I'm a target and I know that I've given people a lot of reasons to kind of run with things that have been said," Lindsay told Access Hollywood. "But I no longer intend on doing that… I'm not perfect."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood Redheads
Lindsay said her life in front of the lens was inspired by another star.
"The second that I decided I wanted to be in front of the camera I kind of, I think I've always kind of, you know… I aspired to be like Britney Spears in the tabloids," Lindsay revealed. "So it's kind of something you sign up for in the beginning and if you really want it… that comes with it."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Pop Princess Britney Spears
The 23-year-old continues to be a tabloid hot topic, brought on most times by her behavior, but Lindsay claims she is in a no-win situation.
"I'm really numb to it," she said. "There are times when it does effect me, when I'm having a bad day or dealing with something personal but they're going to spin it anyway," Lindsay said. "If I make the wrong face and I'm having a really great day they're going to say something negative anyway."
Lindsay's relationship with mom Dina is still strong and Lindsay is very protective when it comes to her 15-year-old sister, Ali.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan - From Teen Queen To 'Mean Girl'
"I'm really tough with her when I need to be but she's, she's, she's not stupid. … She's a tough cookie," Lindsay said of her sis. "I think she's seen what I've gone through a lot so she knows a lot more of what not to do."
And sometimes, younger sisters have it easier.
"I don't know about easier with my past," Lindsay noted. "I haven't exactly paved like, a clear slate for her but…she's a really good girl."
As for Lindsay's tumultuous relationship with her dad, Michael Lohan, that's another story. So is his newfound friendship with Jon Gosselin
"I don't really engage with any of that … my dad is who he is," she said. "What my dad does is none of my business. I've seen enough of it in the past and I no longer want to deal with any of that."
For now, Lindsay is dealing with her nerves since being named Artistic Advisor for Ungaro fashion house, helping spearhead their collection in Paris next month.
"I'm nervous about the show the way I get nervous about a film," Lindsay said. "Maybe a little bit more about this because it's… a little more personal. In a film, I'm playing someone else and people can kind of relate to that character. This is very much so me."
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
PLAY IT NOW: Access Exclusive: Is Lindsay Lohan Changing Her Tune?
PLAY IT NOW: Lindsay Lohan Hits The Red Carpet At A/X Watch Event (April 16, 2009)
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Lindsay Lohan - Celebrities - Movies - Style - Britney Spears


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May beer have helped lead to the rise of civilization? It's a possibility, some archaeologists say.
Their argument is that Stone Age farmers were domesticating cereals not so much to fill their stomachs but to lighten their heads, by turning the grains into beer. That has been their take for more than 50 years, and now one archaeologist says the evidence is getting stronger.
Signs that people went to great lengths to obtain grains despite the hard work needed to make them edible, plus the knowledge that feasts were important community-building gatherings, support the idea that cereal grains were being turned into beer, said archaeologist Brian Hayden at Simon Fraser University in Canada.
"Beer is sacred stuff in most traditional societies," said Hayden, who is planning to submit research on the origins of beer to the journal Current Anthropology.
The advent of agriculture began in the Neolithic Period of the Stone Age about 11,500 years ago. Once-nomadic groups of people had settled down and were coming into contact with each other more often, spurring the establishment of more complex social customs that set the foundation of more-intricate communities.
The Neolithic peoples living in the large area of Southwest Asia called the Levant developed from the Natufian culture, pioneers in the use of wild cereals, which would evolve into true farming and more settled behavior. The most obvious explanation for such cultivation is that it was done in order to eat.
Archaeological evidence suggests that until the Neolithic, cereals such as barley and rice constituted only a minor element of diets, most likely because they require so much labor to get anything edible from them — one typically has to gather, winnow, husk and grind them, all very time-consuming tasks.
Hayden told LiveScience he has seen that hard work for himself. "In traditional Mayan villages where I've worked, maize is used for tortillas and for chicha, the beer made there. Women spend five hours a day just grinding up the kernels."
However, sites in Syria suggest that people nevertheless went to unusual lengths at times just to procure cereal grains — up to 40 to 60 miles (60 to 100 km). One might speculate, Hayden said, that the labor associated with grains could have made them attractive in feasts in which guests would be offered foods that were difficult or expensive to prepare, and beer could have been a key reason to procure the grains used to make them.
"It's not that drinking and brewing by itself helped start cultivation, it's this context of feasts that links beer and the emergence of complex societies," Hayden said.
Feasts would have been more than simple get-togethers — such ceremonies have held vital social significance for millennia, from the Last Supper to the first Thanksgiving.
Science news from NBCNews.com
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"In traditional feasts throughout the world, there are three ingredients that are almost universally present," he said. "One is meat. The second is some kind of cereal grain, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, in the form of breads or porridge or the like. The third is alcohol, and because you need surplus grain to put into it, as well as time and effort, it's produced almost only in traditional societies for special occasions to impress guests, make them happy, and alter their attitudes favorably toward hosts."
The brewing of alcohol seems to have been a very early development linked with initial domestication, seen during Neolithic times in China, the Sudan, the first pottery in Greece and possibly with the first use of maize. Hayden said circumstantial evidence for brewing has been seen in the Natufian, in that all the technology needed to make it is there — cultivated yeast, grindstones, vessels for brewing and fire-cracked rocks as signs of the heating needed to prepare the mash.
"We still don't have the smoking gun for brewing in the Natufian, with beer residues in the bottom of stone cups or anything like that," Hayden said. "But hopefully people will start looking for that — people haven't yet."
- Raise Your Glass: 10 Intoxicating Beer Facts
- Beer: One of 10 Bad Things That Are Good For You
- 10 Events That Changed History
© 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.


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The Phillies come from behind to defeat the Brewers, 7-3. Are now a game behind in the wild card race and a game and a half behind in the East.
The Phillies come from behind to defeat the slumping Brew Crew, using the eighth inning to their advantage for a change. The Brewers would jump to a quick 2-0 lead as, with a runner on third and one man out, Ray Durham would hit a two-run home run, his sixth home run of the year, knocking in Corey Hart, who has earlier tripled. The Phillies would cut the lead in the fourth, as, with runners on the corners and no one out, Pat Burrell would hit into a 6-4-3 double play, wiping out Ryan Howard at second, who has earlier singled, while scoring Chase Utley, who has earlier doubled and has gone to third on Howard's single, making it 2-1 Brewers. The Brewers would get the run back in the fifth as Mike Cameron would hit a lead-off home run, his twenty-fifth home run of the year, to make it 3-1 Brewers. The Phillies would tie up the game in the sixth, when, with a runner on first and no one out, Howard would hit a massive two-run home run, his league leading forty-fourth home run of the year, scoring Utley, who has gotten on base earlier after being hit by the pitch. Then the Phillies turned the recently disastrous eighth to their favor for once. After taking out Phillies' starter Joe Blanton for a pinch hitter in the seventh, Ryan Madson would get out the two batters that he would face via ground outs, both being 6-3 (Hart and J.J. Hardy) before Charlie Manuel would come out to replace him with Scott Eyre. Eyre would end the inning by striking out Durham on a foul tip. Durham would claim that the ball would hit the ground, but Carlos Ruiz, Manuel and Eyre would get home plate umpire Mark Wegner to double check with first base umpire Scott Barry. Barry would say that Ruiz did indeed catch the ball, as would be shown by instant reply on television, thus ending the inning. Then in the Phillies' half of the eighth, they would break the game open. With Guillermo Mota still on the mound for his second inning of work, Jayson Werth would start off the inning with a single. Ned Yost would then come to the mound and replace Mota with Brian Shouse, who is soon greeted by a surprising sacrifice bunt by Utley, which would move Werth over to second as Utley is thrown out, 1 to 3, for the inning's first out. Howard is then intentionally walked to get to Burrell, while putting men on first and second with still one out. But Burrell would ruin the Brewers' strategy by hitting a RBI single, scoring Werth, and giving the Phils a 4-3 lead, while sending Howard to second. After Eric Bruntlett is sent out to first as a pinch runner for Burrell, Shane Victorino would hit a three-run home run, his twelfth home run of the year, scoring both Howard and Bruntlett, making it a 7-3 Phillies' lead. In the ninth, Eyre would start off the inning by getting Prince Fielder out on a great play by Utley who would throw Fielder out 4-3, for the inning's first out. Eyre would then be replaced by Brad Lidge, who would then proceed to get Ryan Braun to ground out 4-3 before he gets Cameron to end the game by striking out.
Joe Blanton would get a no-decision as he pitched seven innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits. Ryan Madson would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs or hits. Scott Eyre would get the win as he pitches two-thirds of an inning, also giving up no runs or hits. His record is now 4-0 with an ERA 4.43. Brad Lidge would also go two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits and striking out one. Dave Bush would also receive a no-decision as he pitches six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits. Guillermo Mota would get the lost as he pitches an inning plus one batter, giving up an earned run on one hit. His record is now 5-6 with an ERA of 4.10. Brian Shouse would pitch a third of an inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits. Eric Gagne would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs or hits.
Joe Blanton would this afternoon performed as originally advertised, pitching deep into a game, although having problems in the first few innings. After giving up a two-run home run in the first, thanks to a floating curveball to Ray Durham, he would calm down enough to get through seven innings, keeping the Phils in the game so that they can first tie up the game and then take the lead in the bottom of the eighth.
The second game of the Day/Night doubleheader is being played right now, with the Phillies leading 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, with Brett Myers pitching a two-hitter with the second hiting a solo home run to Prince Fielder while the Phillies have knocked out of the game Brewers' starter Jeff Suppan in the fourth, heading for both a possible doubleheader sweep and a possible series sweep.
With the win, the Phillies are now trailing the Mets by a game and a half as they lose to the Braves. They are still five games ahead of the Marlins as they defeated the Nationals. In the Wild Card chase, the Phillies are now a game behind the Brewers, as they try to sweep them in the nightcap. They are at the moment a game ahead of the Astros, who are presently losing to the Cubs, while they are four games ahead of the Cardinals as they lose once again to the Pirates. The Phillies will be trying to sweep the Brew Crew in the second game of their doubleheader to tie for the lead in the Wild Card race while placing themselves a game behind the Mets in the East.


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Big Mac Attack
You know it's a slow news day when: The topic of discussion today was John McDonald's "power surge." I had some fun crunching his home run numbers last night at my hotel (Yes, life on the road consists of late-night number crunching from time to time).
When I informed McDonald today that he was averaging one homer every 27 at-bats since taking over as the full-time shortstop, all he could do was laugh. He was speechless. After all, he was averaging one per 200-something AB's before he took over at short on July 15.
He said a number of his family members who were watching Friday night's game kept calling him to joke about his sudden offensive outburst. When he hit his career-best third homer, Toronto PR made sure to have the announcer let everyone in the pressbox know he had reached the personal mark. It was quite funny. Probably one of those things you had to be there for.
Other than that, there's not a whole lot happening at Blue Jays camp. There will be a little more activity once Chacin is set to come off the DL. Reed Johnson did just hit his ninth homer of the year. How amazing of a year has he had? It'll be good to see his name pop up on the league leaders for batting average. Entering tonight he was averaging 3.07 PA's per team games played. He needs 3.1 to qualify. Give it a game or two and he'll make the cut.
I guess that's all for right now. It's the third inning here at the Metrodome and I figured I hadn't posted in a couple days. I'll probably blog some more Sunday night before catching a flight to Tampa on Monday morning. Stay tuned…
2 Comments
I take it that the boys are a little more jovial in the clubhouse now that they have won five of six. Do you think they were putting too much pressure on themselves on the West Coast road trip?
Towards the end of that road trip, some of the hitters did say they felt like they were pressing — trying to pull the team out of its slump all on their own. So yeah, I guess you could say some of them would agree that they were putting too much pressure on themselves. And yes, it is a much different atmosphere over the last three games. That bad karma that was hounding the Jays during that last trip seems to have worked its way over to the Twins' side.


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One of the best tools in our farm tax toolbox is the ability to use deferred payment contracts to achieve our desired level of taxable farm income. These contracts call for the sale of grain in 2012, with payment being received in 2013. Normally, the sale of the grain is taxed when cash is received, however, the tax laws allow farmers to elect out of the installment method on any of the contracts and accelerate this income into 2012.
With the uncertainty of the current income tax situation (will the Bush Tax Cuts be extended, will Section 179 be increased retroactively, will bonus depreciation be retained for 2013, etc.) these contracts provide maximum flexibility to the farmer for 2012/13. To maximize this flexibility, we stronger recommend that the farmer have at least two or three contracts that are smaller than normal to allow for picking and choosing the correct contract. The election is on a contract by contract basis, you cannot pick and choose a dollar amount.
As an example, assume Farmer Jones has entered into three deferred payment contracts all at $7.50 per bushel:
- Contract #1 5,000 bushels,
- Contract #2 7,500 bushels,
- Contract #3 10,000 bushels.
When preparing his tax return, he finds out that instead of having taxable farm income of $100,000 (his desired amount), he has a loss of $25,000. To generate an additional income, he can elect out of the installment on contract #2 and #3 and increase his income by $131,250 to get him back to roughly his desired income. Or he could pick #1 and #3 if he wanted to report a little less income.
If you consistently use deferred payment contracts, make sure to pick the right size for a couple of them each year.


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Funeral services for Farmington, N.M. and longtime Dove Creek, CO resident Albert Leroy Hall were held March 7 in Dove Creek. Interment at Dove Creek Cemetery.
Albert was born November 14, 1915 in Stillwater, OK, the son of Cecil Ezra and Grace Roberta (Hilsabeck) Hall. He passed away at his Farmington home on Sunday, March 2, 2014 at the age of 98.
On August 23, 1939 in the Burns Community near Egnar, Colo., Albert married Mary Ann Gullett. They shared 52 years of marriage before her death in 1992.
Albert was a Pentecostal preacher and a member of AA Allen Ministries. He started many churches and was a missionary on the Navajo Reservation. Albert pastored the Full Gospel Revival Center in Dove Creek for many years.
He farmed for most of his life, but enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping in his free time. Albert was known as "Grandpa Hall" to many.
Albert is survived by his children, Larry Hall and wife, Vonda of Dove Creek, CO; Alfred "Freddy" Hall and wife, Nancy of Shiprock, NM; Rosanna Gilbreth and husband, Roy of Monticello, UT; Dora Hill and husband, Jerry of Grand Junction, CO; Tom Hall and wife, Laurie of Ada, OK; Nelda Swatsenbarg of Farmington, NM; and Cecil Hall and wife, Mista of Anderson, MO 21 grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren, numerous great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ann Hall; parents, Cecil and Grace Hall; children, Ervin Hall, Myrna Hall, Darell Hall and Cora Hurst; and siblings, Corrine Boyd and Velma Gullett.
The family requests that donations be made to a Hospice of your choice.
Services are under the direction of Ertel Funeral Home. For further information or to send condolences, log on to www.ertelfuneralhome.com and click on the obituary section.


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Cyclist Taylor Phinney got the word late on his hometown Buffs' disaster in Fresno
I got a call from cyclist Taylor Phinney Wednesday after he took a silver medal in the time trial at the World Road Cycling Championships. After we talked about his day, his year and his future, I asked if he followed college football.
"I try not to," he said. "Following CU is pretty frustrating."
When I told him what happened in the 69-14 loss at Fresno State, I didn't need a phone to hear his grown all the way from Holland. I told him, "You're the only thing Boulder has to hang on to."
"Put me up there," Phinney said. "They don't have to follow those fallen heroes. Let me be their hero."


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A comment posted on my one of my last posts concerning the 1895 Census caught my attention. The comment read:
"The site says that although the index is 100% complete, only 63% of the images are online. Any idea why? Or when the rest will appear? My relative, of course, is one of the imageless 37%."
The short answer - The 1895 Census was scanned by FamilySearch about 3-4 years ago. The first 35% microfilms of the collection (give or take 2%) were scanned as bi tonal images (meaning black and white), not gray-scale. The bi tonal images were not very good quality and it was decided to wait to publish the images on the site. Since that time it has been determined that the bi tonal images will be published, so that all images will be available to users. In time the microfilms that were scanned as bi tonally will be redone as gray-scale. After the images are re-scanned in gray-scale they will be linked to the index (which might take some time).
Hopefully this answers the question. In time I am confident that the site and it's collections will get better. Publishing the Mexico 1930 Census (browse only for now), and the Argentina 1895 Census (search only for now), I believe that FamilySearch has shown a desire/interest to reach out to the Hispanic community. We are witnessing some pretty cool advancements in Hispanic family history/genealogy...with a little more time I believe we will see more and more collections online for Hispanic countries.


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Oracle DBAs mixed on security progress
Some DBAs praise Oracle for its revamped patch bulletins, but others say the database giant's patching process still leaves much to be desired.
A week after digesting Oracle Corp's October critical patch update (CPU), database administrators (DBAs) are giving Oracle's revamped bulletin mixed reviews.
DBAs interviewed by SearchSecurity.com in recent days offered mixed reviews on the new bulletin format. Some said it will make deploying patches easier, while others said the changes make little or no difference.
In the big picture, half of those interviewed said, the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based database giant still has a way to go in improving its security process.
Unfortunately, said Arup Nanda, director of database engineering for White Plains, N.Y.-based Starwood Hotels and Resorts, most of Oracle's security holes are discovered by outside research firms such as UK-based Next Generation Security Software Ltd. and Red-Database-Security GmbH in Germany. When these firms bring a problem to Oracle's attention, the company takes longer to issue the patches than it should, he said.
"Some of the vulnerabilities are so severe that one would expect a resolution in a matter of days," Nanda said in an email interview. "Yet they took months, and only after exploits had been lingering around the Internet for a while. So yes, Oracle should beef up their process."
Dissecting the new bulletin
Nanda was among those unimpressed with the new bulletin format, saying that at first blush there's little or no difference from the previous CPU bulletins. Chris Ruel, an Oracle DBA with Perpetual Technologies Inc., an Indiana firm that offers services to companies that don't have an in-house DBA, said he couldn't tell the difference between this bulletin and the last one, either.
"Typically I don't pay much attention to the bulletins," he said. "The patches come out and I'm simply required to apply them. I read the technical details on how to apply it, but to me, they are security flaws that simply must be patched, so I don't get as mired in all the flaw details. I couldn't have told you it was any different than last time."
But other DBAs said they did notice the changes, and that they were helpful. Brian Peasland, a DBA working as a contractor with the U.S. Geological Survey, said he liked that the bulletin now mentions the number of flaws in the description at the top of the page.
"This part of the bulletin is much clearer and makes it easier for me to quickly locate the patch for my specific version and platform," Peasland said in an email interview. "Prior to this bulletin, one had to click on another Metalink note and then make one more click just to find the patch number to download. My opinion is that the October 2006 CPU bulletin is much cleaner than previous ones."
Jon Emmons, an Oracle database consultant and keeper of a blog called Life After Coffee, which focuses on Oracle security and other topics, said he also found the bulletin changes helpful.
"Perhaps the most valuable new feature in the CPU bulletin is the executive summaries," Emmons said in an email interview. "These bulleted lists give a great high-level summary. At one point or another we've all had to explain to our boss why we need to apply these patches and now Oracle has given us the words to do it with."
A long patching process
The DBAs said it's important to have a CPU that clearly outlines the nature of the flaws and the specific products affected because the harder it is to study the bulletin, the longer it takes to start a deployment process that includes several hours of testing and system downtime.
Nanda said the actual task of patching isn't time consuming, usually about 30 minutes. But the testing that precedes it does take a lot of time, and if the bulletin details are fuzzy the testing period is prolonged. There's also the problem of scheduling downtime, he said.
"To apply these patches, you have to shut the database, a task easier said than done," he said. "This makes it extremely difficult to find a window to apply the patch, even after the testing."
As a contractor for the U.S. Geological Survey, Peasland said he is required to have the patches applied on all systems a month after they are released. He typically applies the patches to development and test systems within the first seven to 10 days, and then monitors the systems for another week to ensure that the patch hasn't broken other applications. This can be a tight schedule, he said, and the clearer the information, the quicker the process.
Emmons said that if a company's Oracle systems are simple and seldom used, the DBA can schedule an outage, bring the system down for an hour or two and be back up and running with little or no trouble. But that's rarely the case for most companies, he said.
"Very large Oracle shops will install the CPU in a test environment and test critical features of their product," he said. "If new errors crop up they must then determine if there is a workaround from Oracle or if a local workaround is needed. These workarounds can take minutes or months."
Verdict on Oracle security efforts
In the big picture, half of the DBAs interviewed for this story agreed that Oracle has to do more to make the patching process simpler.
"Oracle security experts like Pete Finnigan have often informed Oracle of a security flaw in their product only to have no action taken," Peasland said. "Oracle wants us to buy their product to serve our corporation's valuable asset, its data." Therefore, he said, Oracle "must take appropriate and timely steps to ensure that the corporation's asset is as protected as it can be."
To that end, Peasland said Oracle has no business sitting on a known vulnerability for over a year, as has happened in the past.
Emmons said the upside to Oracle's quarterly patching process is that administrators know when they're going to have to do an update and can plan around it. The downside is that a vulnerability discovered immediately after an upgrade will go unfixed for at least the three-month period between CPUs.
"Oracle has been fairly good about sharing workarounds to mitigate the risk of high vulnerability security issues until the next CPU is released and that has always satisfied me," Emmons said. "But I can see how some of the big-business customers would be a little more anxious to move forward [more quickly] with patches."
In the final analysis, he said, "It's a balancing act. Too many patches and your administrators won't have time to do anything else. Too few and you leave your customers vulnerable."
In an interview with SearchSecurity.com in June, John Heimann, Oracle's director of security program management, and Darius Wiles, senior manager of security alerts, acknowledged that its patching process can be difficult to follow. They acknowledged that a vast array of platforms and mountains of source code can make for some patching mistakes and for complicated bulletins.


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For Demaryius Thomas, Sunday is a debut three years in the making
In 2010, it was a foot injury that kept Demaryius Thomas on the sideline during the Broncos' season opener at Jacksonville.
Last year, Thomas didn't play in the Broncos' Week 1 Monday Night Football game against Oakland while he continued to recover from an Achilles tendon injury as well as a broken pinkie finger.
That makes Sunday's game against Pittsburgh the first-ever opening week game for Thomas, one of the Broncos' starting receivers.
"It's my first game to go out and play with the team, healthy," Thomas said. "So I'm excited."


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Getting A Kiln Delivered
DAY replied to StaceyB2's topic in Studio Operations and Making WorkSince you are 'getting back into clay' i assume there is no rush. If so, check craigs list daily. my last two L&L 23 inch kilns (one with a computer control) went for $500 and $700. Make sure there are photos, and with L&L the serial number is the date of manufacture.
Jennifer, see if you can download the instruction manual. I know with my L&L kilns there are dozens of pages telling how to do everything from write a custom program for crystal firing to doing 15 minutes at 500 degrees for a pizza. I have yet to try a crystal firing.
Deciding Between Electric Kilns
DAY replied to Lsapakoff's topic in Studio Operations and Making WorkSlightly off topic: If you/anyone really intends to do a lot of cone ten firing, why not go with gas? That temperature is really hard on elements, and you can't do reduction or salt.
Is there anything made in your hemisphere? China? South Africa? South America?
I currently load a pair of 7.5 cu ft 'bucket' kilns about six times a week. (same height as the 10 cu ft) I don't have any health issues doing the job. I am 5'8", 30 pounds overweight, and 72 years old.
I have often wondered why the big price difference, so neil supplies the answer! Now the question is why buy a front loader? Surely, unless one is physically handicapped, the front loader is not that much better. a 20 cu/ft gas I understand, is better from a design standpoint, but not an 10 foot electric.
Trying To Figure Use Cost Difference Between Kilns
DAY replied to Isculpt's topic in Studio Operations and Making WorkDon't forget that a full kiln takes longer/costs more to fire than a smaller load. Kilns are dirt cheap, considering the wholesale/retail value of each load. My 10 cu.ft. L&L usually has between $500 and $1000 in it.
@Biglou13: My drywall gets wet because the heat panels are driving the moisture up and out. Same way steam rises from a pot on the stove. (Panels are sheetrock with electric wires inside, used mostly in ceilings) That is how I can go from bag of clay to kiln in 24 hours.
More on sheetrock, etc: sheetrock/drywall is just a piece of plaster (gypsum) with a paper covering. "Basically" the same stuff we use for molds, etc. I put a piece of newsprint both under and on top of the tile. That allows the clay to move as it shrinks. I cut a 4'x8' sheet of half inch drywall into 24x24 pieces and tape the edges. (Plaster + clay=disaster!) Since I don't do textured/relief tiles, I have no experience with them. I would try newsprint, then a thin piece of foam, then the drywall. Small (6x12) pieces of foam come in the Orton large cone boxes.
When the clay is firm enough to handle they go on newsprint on sheetrock, get 'decorated', get a top layer of newsprint and sheet rock, go on the heat table. After a 'few'- four to twelve- hours I flip the top piece of drywall. It is soaking wet from the moisture drawn out. The tiles are ready to fire when the top board "feels" dry. That top piece of drywall is enough weight to prevent warping. My tiles are 4x4 up to 12x12, 1/2 thick.
Every ounce of clay that enters my studio starts its journey at the dual roller drive Bailey. And has for the last quarter century. The tiles are as flat as Olive Oyle. I am a production artist, so work cannot wait for lovely weather. I use electric heat table. Work goes on in the morning and into the L&L kiln (fast glaze setting) the next day.
the "and where do you sell it" question
DAY replied to docweathers's topic in Studio Operations and Making WorkRemember, most Americans do not 'create', they 'consume'. That is why the TV was invented.
Waterproofing Pit Fired Slab Vases
DAY replied to Isculpt's topic in Studio Operations and Making WorkI have been TOLD that oil lamps need a sealer inside, since the fuel will find its way through the most minute cracks in the glaze. several supply houses sell such a product. Will it work on unvitrified ware? Who knows. . .
Thanks for the info! No immediate plans, so I guess they are for sale- I got them along with the property. Here's a photo of two bricks that were not stored outside. No markings that i can detect. They are 2x4.5x9 And there are these "shelves" that I have no idea of what they are. Agin, any help appreciated.
I have a "bunch" of unused brick. They have been stacked outside for about 10 years; I assume with some pressure washing they would be like new again. Most are unmarked, some have 2W clearly stamped, and a name that is _RUZITE_ _ _. Any ideas of what they are?


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We're suckers for devices that solve a very specific problem, and these slippers do precisely that—the problem in this case being that most nefarious of crimes, slipper theft.
Each slipper has a ring at the back that you slip the legs of a table or chair into; an alarm will ring in the event that a slipper is taken and the ring pulled out. Ingenious? Sure. Useful? Not so much.
Antitheft Slippers [Seihin-World]


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Back again with some manga themed tutorials just for you. And to start us off, we've got how to draw manga heads. I'll go through everything you need to know about drawing a manga head in just a few simple tips and then I'll actually show you how to go about drawing your own.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Dave Lutz of Stifel, Nicolaus is looking for a "footprint" in the market that could be consistent with traders predicting a Romney victory.
He finds 4 big datapoints:
MBS IMPACT - A second term for Obama could lead to changes in FHFA leadership, possibly posing principal reduction-related policy risk for MBS / Expect investors to scale back expectations of how much agency MBS Fed will purchase under QE3 if Romney wins (CSFB, Barclays) – Normally, we have a 1% spread between 30Y FNMA Coupons, and the 10YY. On QE3 – that collapsed down to 4bp. Over the last month, as Romney has gained momentum – it has rallied to 55bp – up 10bp in the last week alone.
DOLLAR AND GOLD - Romney win would likely deliver tighter monetary policy, looser fiscal policy due to commitment to cut taxes without raising revenue (ING) – Gold has lost 5% since Romney started gaining momentum – and the DXY is 1% stronger
FISCAL CLIFF –Many feel that a Romney Win will alleviate concerns about Sequestration and going over the Cliff – While a Obama victory will cause higher polarized debate over the cliff, as the GOP will not easily lose any bargaining strength. Ground "Zero" for these concerns in the market should be the Defense Contractors (The ITA is up 2.5% the last 2 days, and nearing YTD highs) – The Fed IT Contractors (SAI +4% this week / CACI 8% (earnings as well) / MANT +7% this week). 10-year yield could fall to 1% or lower should tax increases, spending cuts hit in full; at 1.75% yield, market "somewhat optimistic" deal will be reached (DB)
FINANCIAL FRIENDLY – A Romney Win may help with much of the regulatory stress our Financials are feeling of late here in the States. We are seeing HEAVY call buying today in the XLF – representing our largest Banks and Insurers. I think it's too hard to tell if this is a Sandy Trade. Over 100k Nov and Dec XLF calls have printed this morning
People will be skeptical of this, but given the interest in the election, it's not ridiculous to look for signs that the market is reacting to politics.