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Some times you just need to fake it and that's just what I did for 50 miles at the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 this past weekend in the Berkeley Hills east of the San Francisco Bay. Simply put, I needed a Western States qualifier by November 6 and this was, logistically, the easiest race for me to attempt. So, I toed the line, started running, and crossed the finish line 9 hours and 23 minutes later. The experience was completely worthwhile and, despite some bumps in the trail, I don't think I've ever been so consistently happy during a 50 mile race as I was at Firetrails.
After sharing a bit of background as to why this was a dumb idea, I'll share my my experience, what I learned along the way, and what gear I used.
As some of you know, I had a long bout with plantar fasciitis beginning last Thanksgiving. The PF loomed over me for 6 months before finally clearing up in early May. During those 6 months, I continued to run, but mostly in the 25-35 mile per week range and I avoided running hills.
Once over the PF, I couldn't get into a training rhythm. I was out of shape and largely unmotivated. Many, if not a majority, of my runs were suffer fests… and I'm talking 5-6 mile runs here. I slowly reincorporated hills into my training, but rarely more than 3 times per week until recently. My only training week with more than 45 miles in the 10 months since my injury was a 59 mile week in February… but 32 miles of that were hiking in snowshoes.
With all that, my fitness and my calves have atrophied. As the spring progressed, my ultrarunning schedule for the year atrophied, as well. I've run enough ultras not to feel compelled to run one when I'm not fit. In accordance, I put racing on the backburner in favor of building a base for a return to racing in 2011, including Western States for which I had a guaranteed entry as the last of the two-time losers.
And, then, in early September I received an email from Western States regarding the process for accepting my two-time loser entry. As I read the details, my heart sunk. What I had thought was my qualifying race, the 2009 Leadville 100, wasn't recent enough to count. I would either have to forgo WS '11 or run a qualifying race before November 6. The shortest qualifying distance for States is 50 miles and it needs to be run in under 11 hours. I hadn't run longer than 16 miles in a continuous effort since November the previous year!
At the same time, I was figuring out the details of a pending move, so it was hard to plan travel to a particularly easy 50 mile course, like the flat Chicago Lakefront 50. Instead, I'd go with a race I could easily attend. That would be the Dick Collins Firetrails 50.
As a coach, I would have told any student not to attempt 50 miles on so little training. It's a bad idea. However, before entering I promised myself that while I'd work hard to finish, but I would not push through a serious injury. Being able to run for the next few months is more important than running a particular 100 miler when there are so many other great options out there.
Running the Firetrails
In the days before Firetrails I felt like a complete rookie. I had no idea what to pack. In the end, I overpacked. I brought three packs, two waist packs, and a handheld. I brought more fuel than I'd need for a 100. I had four pairs of running socks, three pairs of shoes, three shirts, and two pairs of running shorts. I had trekking poles. (Yes, trekking poles for a non-mountainous 50 mile.) What the heck! I ended up spending an hour resorting gear on Friday night and sent a backpack full of gear to the turn around aid station.
When we set out around Lake Chabot in the pre-dawn darkness I carried only a handheld water bottle and a small waist pack. The pack contained only a few gels, some salt tabs, an iPod shuffle, and my iPhone (for taking photos and voice notes). I settled into an easy pace and had plenty of light from others headlamps to make it around the lake's paved bike path. The weather was pleasantly cool and dry. I walked even the small rolling uphills on the bike path, as that was my plan all day.
Once we hit the singletrack, I ran from aid station to aid station. I saw some familiar faces – Donald of Running and Rambling, Mark of UltraSignup, and Ted of UltraLive – and chatted with whomever was near me in these early miles. Around mile 10, a 50-mile rookie, Peter, and I settled into a comfortable rhythm together. We talked a good deal. The miles and aid stations flew by. Before we knew it, we were approaching the turn around at mile 26. The only thing I took from my drop bag was a swig of bourbon. I was thrilled to have been able to run problem-free past the half way point. I'd expected to be suffering by mile 20 at the latest.
The half dozen miles before the turn around had been exposed and once we turned around for a 4 mile climb back up, we got quite warm. I ran out of sports drink on the climb. I thought little of it other than to pound two or three cups of sports drink at the next aid station, which I did. Peter and I continued running on.
Somewhere between 30 and 35 miles I started feeling a little tired. Actually, it wasn't so much tired as needing a higher heart rate to keep the same effort. I could still run the same flats, descents, and shallow inclines. However, somewhere in here, I went a bit wide on a final downhill turn into an aid station and in correcting my course, my left calf grabbed a bit. Even though I wasn't 100%, I considered myself fine.
At the Skyline Gate aid station (mile 37), Peter took a brief break while I continued on. I cruised downhill mostly alone until Peter and his pacer caught back up just before an unofficial aid station around mile 40. I wasn't running all that fast, so I encouraged him to go ahead.
Soon after I began a walking climb. It was a bit over two miles long and much of it was exposed. Despite that, I walked strongly up the hill passing a few folks along the way. As the stiff hill gave way to flatness, I started running and both of my calves started grabbing. They didn't fully cramp, but a few quick tests showed me that I couldn't run on flats or even descents. As noted, I'd had the calf grab a while earlier and I'd also had some other smaller calf grabs and, on inclines some, hamstring tweaks. These earlier incidents and bilateral calf cramping reassured me that I hadn't totally screwed up my calf on PF side. My calves were tired and my hydration was off. I could continue without significant injury risk so long as I forewent running…. and so I walked on down the hill. I knew could walk the eight and a half miles in three and a half hours and still reach the 11-hour Western States qualifying time.
Leading up to the calf issues, my stomach felt off. I kinda wanted to puke, but never came close. I'd stopped eating gels and was getting by on Coke at the aid stations and sports drink on the trail. My stomach wasn't draining well and as a result I wasn't drinking enough or staying hydrated. Fortunately, the downhill walking break significantly lowered my heart rate and let my stomach do it's thing. With about four miles to go I was feeling much better all around and gave yet another running test (I'd been doing so every 10 minutes or so). After an hour of walking, I found I could run again and so I did. It wasn't fast, but I ran everything that wasn't an incline. I wasn't worried about pace, running would just get me to the finish line sooner.
I happily crossed the line in 9:23:37. Far from my fastest 50 miler (I ran a faster first 50 at Leadville last year), but not my slowest either. I'll chalk it up as a resounding success. I got my qualifier, didn't injure myself, had a great time running the race, and proved to myself that I'm still a runner.
Lessons Learned (or Re-Learned)
- Just Do It! – Cliche, for sure. It's not like I've never attempted a run far beyond my training, but it's great to be reminded that you can do more than you think you can.
- Have Fun – Not once during this run did I think "this sucks!" Having company for much of the race helped, but it was also my plan to have fun as long as I could. I succeeded entirely in this effort.
- Slow and Steady Equals Success – From "go," I set an easy running pace and walked hills right…. and I was still running with ease a full marathon longer than I'd run in 10 months. But for my cramping, I could have run through the finish.
- Never Stop Thinking – I did a poor job of diagnosing some slow gastric emptying, which ended up contributing to my calves cramping. This is normally one of my strong points and shows that I was really out of practice.
- Hydration is Crucial – I made a last minute decision to carry a single 20 ounce handheld. Given that I was not heat trained, I should have erred on the side of caution. Same goes for salt tabs. When I finally took salt, it was too late and in too large doses. Again, I blame much of this on lack of recent practice.
- Patience is Paramount – My calves gave out at mile 42. I walked four or so miles while occasionally trying to run. An hour of most downhill walking later, I could run again. In ultrarunning catastrophe is rarely permanent.
- Know you Weaknesses – I knew going into the race that my calves were likely my weakest link which is why I so strongly avoided running uphills. The race also reinforced my need to rehabilitate vigorously through the winter. I'm not anywhere near 100% yet.
- Salomon Crossmax XR – These door-to-trail hybrids are due out early next year. Solid throughout the race.
- GoLite Wildwood Trail Shortsleeve Run Top – The lightest shirt that I enjoy wearing. The right call on a warm day.
- Brooks Element shorts – There are my go-to shorts, which are no longer made. The Brooks Infiniti II Short currently fits the same roll… I just don't have any.
- Salomon Exo IV Calf – My lower leg compression of choice. The iRunFar store will carry them next year. For now, you can pick up the Exo III Calf.
- Drymax Maximum Protection socks – These are the socks I wear for almost ever important trail ultra I run.
- Nathan Quickdraw Plus with Ultimate Direction waterbottle – My standard handheld setup.
- Nathan 10k Elite Pack – A simple waist pack that's no longer made.
- Garmin Forerunner 310XT – I prefer the 305, but was afraid I'd need more than 10 hours of battery life.
7 Reasons Why I Might Not Run Western States
Since you've gotten this far, I'll share that I still might not run Western States. Here's why:
- In my current life, $370 is a whole heap of money. In days gone by, I wouldn't have thought twice… but that's changed.
- Western States is crunch time at iRunFar and I don't do well at balancing. I can imagine not wanting to slack off on coverage while I'm in Squaw Valley ahead of the race and not getting any sleep because of it.
- I'm f'in out of shape. Yes, I just ran a 9:23 50 while needing to walk, but I'm along way from having a base with less than 3 months until training season. So much for aiming for Top 10. That said, if everything goes well, I can enter training season in a position to get into reasonable shape. I'd still like to hit 21 hours on the current course.
- I have no idea what my winter and spring training will look like. I'm moving to a wintry mountainous environment and might not have the option for big days in the mountains until late May. Heck, I don't know if I'll have any desire to run consistently through December, January, and February.
- Closely related to the two above points, it's almost certain that I'd be in a better position to perform well at 100 miles late next summer or early fall. I'm more certain that I could have a good base in, say, five months and I know I'm itching to run big time mountain miles once the trails melt out next summer.
- I'm scared. 100 miles is a long way.
- I hate the heat. I was reminded in the moderately warm conditions on Saturday that I don't enjoy running in the heat and I realized that there are many remarkable races that are virtually assured not to have heat.
Any one care to add another point or suggest why I should enter Western States?


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Help! Sandal Season Is Here, And My Feet Are A Mess
Help! Sandal season is here, and my feet are a complete mess! I've got rough heels, ugly calluses, and ragged cuticles. Winter weather really did some serious damage to my feet. Oh, God, please, will somebody please tell me how to get these tootsies back in step for the beach? Somebody call 911! They're a complete disaster!
I love getting my toes pampered with a professional pedicure, complete with aromatherapy massage and a coat of fire-red polish, but I don't have time to wait for an appointment at my favorite spa. What can I do right now? Summer's heating up, and I've got a major fashion emergency on my hands!
I am in serious need of rehydration. But with so many great new moisturizing products on the shelves, how can I tell which one will get rid of this dry, flaky skin? I've got the basic equipment at home: pumice stone, contoured file, toenail clippers, and pedicure sponge, but what should I do? Should I soak, then exfoliate? Or the other way around? Should I use foot-bath salts, overnight cream, or soothing foot gel? Help! I'm going crazy!
In the past, Aveda has come to the rescue. I've had good luck with the Pedicure Essentials Repair Cream. But there are so many other great products out there. Should I hit Bath And Body Works and pick up some amazing wildflower-scented oils? Should I splurge on Revlon's pedicure system? Or should I go for the Body Shop's Foot Relief, with tea-tree oil that continues to exfoliate while feet are in socks or shoes? To be honest, I don't think any of those are a match for the train wreck that is my feet. Help!
I know that soothing my feet helps relieve tension and puts me in the right state of mind for summer fun. But these feet look so hopeless, I don't even know where to begin. Oh, if only I could hide them under my boots for just a few weeks longer!
I'm running out of time. The fashion calendar says I've got to lose the heavy shoes and slip into a pair of cute flip-flops or sexy sling-backs. But they're not going to be so cute or sexy on my hideous feet. Help! Save me!
Help! I'm Trapped In A Burning Bus
Help! We're trapped in here! Can anyone hear us? Please, God, help! Somebody call 911! Help!
A tire blew, and we careened off the highway. I remember rolling… there was an explosion. The bus was tossed over the side, and we slipped down into the ravine.
It's getting hot. I can't move my legs. My feet—they're stuck. I can't feel my feet! I see fire up front. Help! I'm trapped in a burning bus!
Water! We need water! It's an emergency!
Can anyone hear me? Please, somebody find me! There are 10 of us down here. Help! There's broken glass everywhere. Then the bus rolled… oh, God. Is it sliding again? Help!
Hurry! I need help now!
It's dark, and there's smoke. I don't know what to do. Which way is up? Should I try to drag myself out of a window? I can't just lie here. Is there some way to put out the fire? Can anyone hear me? Are you alive over there?
I need a doctor. Doctor? Doctor! Somebody tell me what to do. Does anyone on this bus know what to do? Is anyone trained for this? If only I had some sort of tool. Is there an ax or a hammer or something around here?
Emergency! Emergency! Send an ambulance!
Does anybody have a phone? Oh, God. I don't even know where we are. We rolled into a meadow. I smell it burning. It smells like oil and pine needles. Help!
It's the end. I know it. It's hopeless. I guess all I can do is await my fate. I should try to face it calmly.
Oh, God. I'm running out of time. I'm not ready to die! There's so much I haven't done yet: have children, write a novel, travel the world. This can't be the end. Help! Save me!

subset: commoncrawl


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This story is the second in a three-part series on the rise and fall of Cincinnati's prominent beer-driven culture and economy. The series is part of WCPO's beer month celebrating the Queen City's beer heritage and bright future as a booming brewery town.
CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati's vibrant brewery culture was wiped out by the efforts leading up to and during Prohibition. But the city's comeback roots were seeded in the community's heritage.
Ultimately, the nation as a whole saw that Prohibition didn't live up to its promises. It didn't reduce crime – if anything, it gave rise to organized crime – and it didn't significantly reduce drinking. Nor did it restore the family unit - if it had been lost in the first place.
On the other hand, Prohibition wrecked local economies, cost billions in revenues, wasted the taxpayer money governments spent to enforce it and led to corruption.
When the stock market crashed in 1929 and The Depression set in, many people believed making brewing legal again would create jobs and give the economy a shot in the arm.
But the brewing industry didn't pick up where it left off overnight.
When the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933, only six area breweries came back – Bruckmann, Hudepohl, Foss-Schnieder and Schaller in Cincinnati; Wiedemann in Newport and Bavarian in Covington.
And Bruckmann, which had brewed near-beer up to the last days of Prohibition, was the only brewery ready to produce beer.
A few new breweries opened in facilities that other breweries had abandoned. Notably, Burger took over Windish-Muhlhauser's Lion brewery, Red Top replaced John Hauck, and Schoenling opened just north of Burger.
Also, Vienna Brewing Company replaced Gambrinus Stock, Clyffside Brewery replaced Mohawk Brewery, and Jackson Brewery replaced George Weber's Jackson Brewery.
In Covington, the new Heidelberg Brewery opened in 1934 but was seriously damaged by the Great Flood of '37. It was bought by Bavarian in 1949.
Red Top grew to become one of the largest breweries in Ohio, but consolidation and industry changes forced it to close in 1957.
That left five big companies to start a new era of brewing in Greater Cincinnati.
Bavarian And Wiedemann: Kentucky Gets In On The Act
While hundreds of breweries spread across the Cincinnati landscape in the 19th century, a few also rose in Northern Kentucky to become leading employers, city treasures and regional landmarks.
Bavarian started in Covington in 1882. Almost a century later, its unique brewhouse, designed to look like a castle and painted yellow, would catch the eye of many drivers on I-71/75. Inside, it had ornate staircases and iron railings.
Bavarian was the pride of Covington, and residents were loyal to Bavarian Old Style, which the brewery promoted as "A Man's Beer."
But returning from Prohibition was rocky. After reopening in 1935, it went into receivership. The pre-Prohibition management team of the four Schott brothers regained control.
Buying its short-lived Covington neighbor, Heidelberg, in 1949, gave Bavarian two operational breweries, and things were looking up. Bavarian bought land to expand its Twelfth Street brewery in addition to warehouse space in Cincinnati.
But Bavarian apparently wasn't looking at its sales numbers. Sales had fallen from 323,000 barrels in 1952 to 200,000 one year later.
Expansion was canceled, and the Heidelberg brewery was sold. When sales improved only marginally, Bavarian entered a 1959 merger agreement with Detroit-based International Breweries, Inc.
Bavarian got a boost with the opening of a $500,000 bottling plant in 1960, and it won first place at a European beer festival in 1962. But by 1964, Bavarian reported a loss of $500,000. In 1966, International closed the Covington brewery, putting 200 out of work.
Despite its legal setbacks during Prohibition, Newport-based Wiedemann had more success along the way but met a similar fate.
George Wiedemann and John Butcher opened their brewery in 1870 (Butcher sold out in 1874) and by 1890 it was the largest brewery in Kentucky, with a capacity of more than 100,000 barrels a year. After George Wiedemann died that year, his sons took over and continued to expand the business. The brewery filled five acres at Sixth and Columbia streets. By the turn of the century, Wiedemann was the largest brewery in the Southeast. The brewery included a stable of 150 horses to pull its delivery wagons.
It was Newport's biggest employer, and town's beer drinkers rewarded the brewery with their loyalty. Its Bohemian Special Brew and Royal Amber were favorites.
Its popular 1950s slogan, "It's Registered Pure," emphasized its attention to quality. Wiedemann claimed that every bottle and can of its flagship brand passed more than 83 tests.
Wiedemann took some positive steps in the '60s to try to keep afloat. It bought Pepsi of Cincinnati in 1963 and took over sponsorship of Reds radio broadcasts in 1966, hiring Joe Nuxhall for a five-year deal.
Long before, Wiedemann's devotion to baseball included having its own pre-Prohibition semi-pro team, the Brewers, that played against other traveling teams. In 1908, Wiedemann built its own 4,000-seat ballpark – the first lighted ballpark in Greater Cincinnati (the Brewers had a lighted park before the Reds did). Players included Reds great Noodles Hahn and Miller Huggins, who went on to manage the Babe Ruth Yankees.
But Wiedemann ultimately ran into the same problem as Bavarian. It had an older, inefficient facility and it didn't have the wherewithal to expand or compete with the big national breweries.
So even after recording $20 million in sales in 1966, it was sold to G. Heileman Brewing Co. of Wisconsin for $5 million in 1967. Heileman expanded the brewery in 1970 so it could be part of a national network of regional beer producers.
Wiedemann got a short burst of adrenaline from that, increasing sales 40 percent over 1969.
In 1971, Wiedemann had the distinction of becoming the first local brewery to produce 1 million barrels in a year.
But Heileman ended up with a surplus of breweries at a time of stagnant sales. Within a few years, the company acquired Pabst breweries, and its new facility in Perry, Ga., produced 6 million barrels in 1982 to Wiedemann's 1.3 million.
Heileman closed Wiedemann for good in May 1983 after 113 years of operation. It dispatched 400 workers with a 12-pack of beer and $70 for each year of service.
After a Pittsburgh brewer discontinued Wiedemann production, former beer reporter Jon Newberry and his wife Betsy acquired the brand name and started producing it in limited quantities in 2012. Newberry said he hopes to return Wiedemann production to Newport by as early as 2014.
Sponsoring The Reds: That's The Ball Game
When the Reds played in the 1972 World Series, the four remaining local brewers produced a print ad touting the fact that Riverfront Stadium was the only stadium in the world within one mile of four major breweries.
The ironic thing is that baseball also sounded the death knell for large-scale brewing in Cincinnati.
For decades, Cincinnati brewers had been major sponsors of the Reds – and later, the Bengals and the NBA's Cincinnati Royals. Beyond the outfield walls of Crosley Field, buildings were painted and plastered with beer ads. More signs were placed on the left- and right-field foul lines inside the ballpark. Breweries sponsored scorecards to further capitalize on the Reds' popularity.
More significantly, local breweries sponsored the Reds on radio and TV, starting with Burger on radio in 1942.
With Waite Hoyt at the mic, announcing on the "Burger Beer Broadcasting Network," the brewery benefited greatly from that daily exposure for 23 baseball seasons.
Burger also sponsored the Reds and Royals on TV and was the original radio sponsor of the Bengals when they started playing in the American Football League in 1968.
Meanwhile, Hudepohl became the original TV sponsor of the Reds in 1956 and maintained that association for two decades, through the Big Red Machine's world championships in 1975-76.
But as Burger revenues declined in the mid-60s, and the cost of broadcasting rights rose, Burger gave up the Reds mic to Wiedemann in 1966.
Five years later, when Wiedemann's contract ran out and it couldn't afford to continue, the unthinkable happened:
Stroh's, a Detroit brewery, became the Reds radio sponsor in 1971.
If Cincinnati beer drinkers didn't know their hometown breweries were in trouble, they knew it then.
And it got worse. By 1977, Hudepohl couldn't afford the Reds TV rights, and Pabst, a Milwaukee brewery, took over. That ended three decades of local brewery sponsorship of the Reds.
Only one thing could have been more irritating to loyal Reds and Cincinnati beer fans, and that happened in 1980, when Anheuser-Busch, owner of the Cardinals, bought out Stroh's and Pabst and became the exclusive TV and radio sponsor of the Reds.
By the late 70s, you could see the impact all over town, not just in popular, hip bars like Sleep Out Louie's on Second Street, Arthur's in Hyde Park and Zip's in Mount Lookout. National and European beers were taking over neighborhood taverns, too, not to mention home refrigerators all over town.
The national giants eventually took over sponsorship of Oktoberfest, the Riverfest fireworks, and other popular hometown events like concerts, community festivals and runs.
They were literally running the local breweries out of town.
Burger: The Secret Is In The Water
Burger started before Prohibition as a malt company, then decided to enter the brewery business once the 18th Amendment was repealed. Led by W.J . Huster, an office boy who became company president, Burger leased the Lion Brewery and bought it a decade later.
It quickly became a Cincinnati favorite with its "Vas You Efer in Zinzinnati" ad campaign, and Reds radio broadcasts, heard in eight states, put Burger on the regional map. But by the late '60s, Burger sales were falling off the charts.
In 1968, Burger made a bold/reckless decision to change from city water to artesian spring water from a well under the brewery. When somebody asked Schoenling, which brewed across the street, why it didn't use the same spring water for brewing, a brewmaster there said they didn't find the water suitable for anything but cleaning.
Burger hadn't gotten the memo, and even its most loyal customers said 'Ugh.' Cincinnati sales dropped 14 percent in one year.
Burger reintroduced one of its original brands, Red Lion Ale, but that had no positive impact.
In 1972, Burger started negotiating with Hudepohl to sell its assets. Hudepohl didn't want the brewery, and Burger closed its brewery operations in 1973, giving 225 workers the pink slip while continuing its profitable soft drink operations at four other plants.
It was sad news for its loyal drinkers and especially for Hoyt, who made Cincinnati his home even after his Reds broadcasting days were over.
The Cincinnati Post sent a reporter to Hoyt's apartment in Hyde Park with the bad news about Burger.
"It's a sad thing – it's a sad, sad thing. You become attached to an operation like this, and now it's gone," Hoyt told the reporter.
"I used to drink Burger," Hoyt said, "but I haven't had a drink in 27 years."
Back in the 40s, Hoyt publicly confessed that he had an alcohol problem. But Burger kept him as its Reds broadcaster and pitchman, and Hoyt was forever grateful.
When Burger dropped the Reds broadcasts after the '65 season, it gave Hoyt a 20-year contract as public relations director.
"Just the other night, I was told the contract will be honored right through, no matter what," Hoyt said. "I don't know how they would do it. I have nothing but the highest praise for these people. They've been letter-perfect with me."
Even Hudepohl execs lamented the demise of their rival. Hudepohl agreed to brew Burger, but it didn't market it to any large degree.
Ideas for turning the Burger brewery, on Liberty Street near Central Parkway, into a shopping mall didn't take off, and it was sold for manufacturing, though it was never used for that. The brewhouse and iconic smokestack were torn down, and the Romanesque Revival façade was finally leveled in 1993.
Ironically, the office building at the corner survived to become the headquarters of what became known as "Cincinnati's Brewery" after the two last-standing breweries merged.
Schoenling: The Tiny Brewery That Could
Schoenling made other breweries green with envy.
By size and outward appearance, its modest buildings didn't begin to measure up to its neighbor, Burger, across West Liberty Street, or Hudepohl or its bigger rivals in Northern Kentucky, but Schoenling was memorable for the large picture windows on Central Parkway that let passersby look in and see the bottles move along the line.
Most of all, Schoenling was memorable for those funky little green bottles of Little Kings Cream Ale and the brew that was a real Cincinnati success story.
When Prohibition ended, Edward Schoenling decided to change the family business from ice and fuel. What Schoenling lacked in size, it made up for in persistence and innovation.
While other breweries through the years basically made the same pale lager, Schoenling modified a largely-forgotten brewing process in 1958 and created a rich, creamy ale.
The 7-ounce green bottles happened by accident.
According to Holian, "Ribs King" Ted Gregory's tap system broke down and "workers who wanted a shot and a beer balked at paying more for standard 12-ounce bottles." So Gregory asked Schoenling to make a smaller bottle for use at his restaurant. Years later, the brewery gave Gregory a plaque acknowledging that it was his idea.
The success of Little Kings transformed Schoenling into a regional brewery. It spent money on marketing and expansion. By 1982, Little Kings accounted for 85 percent of Schoenling sales. Ultimately, Little Kings spread into 44 states. Schoenling introduced a light beer in 1986 – just one year after Miller Lite started the craze – and wasn't afraid to diversify. In the same year, it developed a wine cooler and produced them in four flavors.
For the time being, Schoenling management stayed in family hands. Despite the threat from the national brewing giants, and in contrast to its failed neighbor, the grass looked greener on Schoenling's side of the street.
Hudepohl: Rise And Fall Of A Giant
Hudepohl became the standard bearer for Cincinnati beer and produced some of its signature brews, notably Hudepohl 14K, Hudepohl Gold and Hudy Delight. It made a hit with Christian Moerlein Cincinnati Select, the first American beer to meet the German purity standard of Rhineheitsgebot, which permitted only barley malt, hops, water and yeast. It went into the low-calorie beer market with Pace Pilsner.
It did almost everything right, and if any local beer was going to survive the onslaught of the national giants, you would have expected it to be Hudepohl.
Co-founder Louis Hudepohl was Cincinnati's first American-born beer baron. He enjoyed singing in one of the city's social groups and fraternizing with his workers. The company sponsored regular picnics and outings for workers and their families.
Born Ludwig Hudepohl II, this son of German immigrants packaged liquor and wine and ran a real estate office out of a storefront on Main Street. In 1885, he and partner George Kotte bought the Buckeye Brewery on McMillan Avenue. After Kotte died, Hudepohl bought out his widow and changed the name.
The brewery was an instant success. In 1890, Hudepohl sold 40,000 barrels.
Although Hudepohl died in 1902, the brewery continued to operate as a family business for 100 years. After Prohibition, it bought out the Lackman Brewery on Sixth Street at Gest and operated from two locations until consolidating on Sixth Street in 1958.
By 1947, Hudephl was producing almost 900,000 barrels. By 1949, it was selling beer in 14 states. 14K, introduced in 1953, became the best-selling beer in Cincinnati.
Hudepohl sponsored the Reds on TV and the Bengals on radio and - almost as significant in one of the country's biggest bowling towns - 25 years of King of TV Bowling.
It marketed special beer cans for the Reds world championship teams of 1975-76 and the Bengals' Super Bowl seasons of 1981 and 1988. It sponsored the Riverfest fireworks, Octoberfest, Bockfest, the Stone Valley Bluegrass Festival and a 14K Brewery run.
Hudepohl management was on the ball. They expanded and modernized through the 1960s, and seemed to be fortressing themselves to survive the rapid decline of regional breweries.
Hudepohl produced successful specialty beers that gave it a leg up on the other local brewers and, seemingly, more staying power. In a bold and ingenious move, it took on Michelob and the Europeans in the super-premium market with Moerlein Select, a dark, rich and malty lager. It became the first American beer to win the international Chicago Beer Society competition and led to a variety of Moerlein spinoffs.
One of its off-beat products was the draft Beer Ball, which held more than five gallons and was packaged in an insulated box. Just put ice in the box and throw a party. Not surprisingly, Hudepohl first marketed the Beer Ball around college campuses.
When 14K sales sagged, Hudepohl marched out a new flagship brand called Gold and later revived its namesake brand.
Better late than never, Hudy Delight was a big local success and claimed 40 percent of the local packaged light beer market by 1982. The bad news was Miller Lite had 55 percent.
Hudepohl was still selling most of its beer within 150 miles of Cincinnati, and the market was being overwhelmed by national giants.
In the end, numbers don't lie, and the bottom line was this:
In 1976, Hudepohl produced just more than 400,000 barrels – less than half what it produced it in 1947. Spurred by Moerlein and Hudy Delight, Hudepohl's arrow rose for four years in the early '80s, but 1984 production fell off 13 percent to 324,000 barrels.
The end was near.
One year after Hudepohl celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1985, there were rumors it would be sold to Stroh's. Late in 1986, Hudepohl and Schoenling agreed to combine into one operation, with production at Schoenling.
The Hudepohl brewery closed after 130 years, going back to its days as Lackman Brewery. Schoenling absorbed some Hudepohl workers, but about 50 lost their jobs. To this day, most of the brewery is still standing vacant and in decay.
Cincinnati's big brewing industry was on its last keg.
Cincinnati's Brewery: Tea For Two
The Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company took the nickname "Cincinnati's Brewery" and revived 14K. It integrated Moerlein into the almost nationwide Little Kings network and achieved a coup with its first order from West Germany, followed by forays into Canada and Japan.
At the same time, the brewery picked up significant contract business from other regional brewers. It even made several Blue Moon ales for Coors.
And it filled small orders: It made Ribs King Red Ale for exclusive sale at the Montgomery Inn. One loyal customer, entertainment legend Bob Hope, bought 150 cases.
It was so far, so good. "Cincinnati's Brewery" made a record 515,000 barrels of beer in 1990, brewing and packaging seven days a week, even though a lot of it wasn't Cincinnati beer.
It created a subsidiary, Royal Class Import/Export, and acquired and distributed European beers. It began producing Snakes Eyes Alcohol Fruit Drinks, and then Tradewinds teas, lemonade and fruit drinks.
Tradewinds products were such a hit that the brewery went into seven-day production.
But while the tea party went on, local beer sales pooped out. Hudepohl-Schoenling tried one last gimmick, launching Hudy Bold with the promise that it was radically different than 14K or Gold. But Bold never made a statement with local drinkers.
The end of Cincinnati's big brewing era came in December 1996 when Hudepohl-Schoenling sold its brewery and assets to Boston Beer, maker of Samuel Adams Boston Lager. There was some bittersweetness to that, since Boston Beer founder Jim Koch's dad worked at Hudepohl in 1946 as an apprentice brewer.
Hudepohl-Schoenling wasn't done yet, though.
While Boston Beer brewed its namesake beers, along with Samuel Adams, Hudepohl-Schoenling built a microbrewery in the facility to brew limited quantities of specialty beers for draft-only sales in Cincinnati.
In 1999, the Cincinnati owners sold out to Cleveland-based Crooked River Brewing Company, whose owner, David Snyder, was a Little Kings drinker in college.
An Overwhelmed Market
At the end, as local breweries went out of business, the loyal customers they had left must have had a bad taste in their mouths - like taking the last warm sip from a can or bottle that had been ignored too long.
Cincinnati's big breweries had survived Carrie Nation and temperance, an anti-German backlash and Prohibition, but they could not survive an invasion from St. Louis and Milwaukee.
By 1992, Hudepohl-Schoenling had little more than 9 percent of the Cincinnati beer market; Anheuser-Busch had 43 percent.
The numbers for Ohio, where Hudepohl and Schoenling once had significant inroads, were even more lopsided. In 1991, Anheuser-Busch sold 3.7 million barrels in Ohio to less than 175,000 for Hudepohl-Schoenling.
By the time Hudepohl-Schoenling went out of business, Anheuser-Busch was selling 150 times as much beer as "Cincinnati's Brewery." (The market share is changing now. Read Dan Monk's report on the economic state of Cincinnati's local breweries at http://www.wcpo.com/money/local-business-news/business-is-booming-for-local-brewery-upstarts-but-is-the-trend-sustainable)
For a town that measures civic pride by its institutions, the frustration and hopelessness of losing its big breweries must have felt worse than losing 13-3 and 15-2 to the Cardinals on the same weekend.
Fortunately, Hampton, Hardman and a new generation of craft brewers are on their way to preserving the big-brewing heritage and reviving the art of beer-making in Cincinnati.
"We talk so much about pigs, and everybody knows 'Porkopolis,'" author Morgan said. "It's time we celebrate what the real history of this city is."
To read about Cincinnati's rebounding modern brew culture, go to http://www.wcpo.com/entertainment/local-a-e/cincinnatis-brew-culture-on-the-rebound-and-theres-more-where-that-came-from.
Read part 1 of Cincinnati's rise and fall as a brewery town before Prohibition struck a blow to the culture at http://www.wcpo.com/entertainment/local-a-e/cincinnatis-rise-and-fall-as-a-brewery-town-part-1-from-porkopolis-to-beeropolis-how-it-all-began.
Photos courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center, Kevin Grace of the University of Cincinnati, the Hamilton County Public Library and the Kenton County Public Library.
This story is the second in a three-part series on the rise and fall of Cincinnati's prominent beer-driven culture and economy. The series is part of WCPO's beer month celebrating the Queen City's beer heritage and bright future as a booming brewery town.


text: Services I've had the chance to work with the very best companies, partners, technicians and artist over the past 3 decades around the world to produce cutting edge imagery. If you need to capture several hundred megapixel images from the air or from the ground, or you need to shoot 8K footage with a 12-camera array - we've done it. Our work usually involves prototypes and figuring out highly customized solutions for clients that are asking for something that hasn't quite been done before. The group of mad artists and technicians that I work with have more often than not pioneered the cutting edge solutions or techniques we employ. Wether you're looking for still photography, video, air to air, air to ground, underwater, VR/ AR / MR / LIDAR - we have some of the most innovative approaches to tackle the craziest challenges. The more challenging the ask - the happier we generally are. We've even worked with several astronauts! (But sadly haven't had a chance to go to space ourselves...yet...) We've had the privilege of having many of the top companies collaborate with us for more than two decades on a variety of commercial, and motion picture projects as well as Keynote launches and art installations around the world.LAFORET PRODUCTIONS offers full production services for projects of all kinds (big and small and from the ground to 33,000 feet) in both the motion and still fields. Vincent is a DGA Director and has produced dozens of commercials, still campaigns, short films, and his fine art work is part of Fahey/Klein Gallery collection.


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Native Plants
Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.
Ziziphus obtusifolia
Ziziphus obtusifolia (Hook. ex Torr. & A. Gray) A. Gray
Lotebush, Lote-bush Condalia, Graythorn
Rhamnaceae (Buckthorn Family)
USDA Symbol: ZIOB
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
Densely branched shrub with small leaves and stiff branchlets ending in spines. Frequent in unshaded places with very shallow soil over limestone. Bark with light gray coating interrupted by fine, lengthwise cracks resulting from radial growth. Leaves in clusters or alternate, up to 1 1/4 inches long, but mostly about half this length, variable in shape and with serrate or smooth margins. Flowers inconspicuous, in small clusters. Fruit fleshy, black, about 3/3 inch in diameter.
From the Image Gallery
Plant CharacteristicsDuration: Perennial
Habit: Tree
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Fruit Type: Drupe
Size Notes: Up to about 8 feet tall. Often much shorter.
Fruit: Black
Bloom InformationBloom Color: Yellow , Green
Bloom Time: Mar , Apr
DistributionUSA: AZ , CA , NM , NV , OK , TX , UT
Native Habitat: Stream, river banks, Chaparral & brush country
Growing ConditionsWater Use: Low
Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry
Soil Description: Sandy, Sandy Loam, Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Clay
BenefitUse Ornamental: Fruits ornamental
Use Wildlife: Browse, Nectar-insects, Fruit-birds, Fruit-mammals, Cover, Nesting site
Attracts: Birds
From the National Organizations DirectoryAccording to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is on display at the following locations:
Fredericksburg Nature Center - Fredericksburg, TX
Sibley Nature Center - Midland, TX
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - Austin, TX
Herbarium Specimen(s)NPSOT 0418 Collected May 31, 1993 in Bexar County by Harry Cliffe
BibliographyBibref 354 - Native & Naturalized Woody Plants of Austin & the Hill Country (1981) Lynch, D.
Bibref 291 - Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife (1999) Damude, N. & K.C. Bender
Bibref 297 - Trees of Central Texas (1984) Vines, Robert A.
Search More Titles in Bibliography
Additional resourcesUSDA: Find Ziziphus obtusifolia in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Ziziphus obtusifolia in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Ziziphus obtusifolia
MetadataRecord Modified: 2021-11-11
Research By: TWC Staff


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Sriracha is the most complete condiment. You can put it on almost anything—eggs, pizza, noodles, sandwiches. Don't get me started.
Meet Microsoft's New Surface Laptops
But some Sriracha fanatics out there had the ingenious idea to put the delicious, delicious Thai hot sauce into a lollipop. It's a wonderful twist on Atomic Fireballs. A bag of four is $10, but if this savory candy tickles your fancy, you can get buy an entire case of 36 for $58. Just proceed with caution. That stuff is seriously spicy. Though a Sriracha-pop sounds like it could be disgusting, it's so strange, it might work. [Lollyphile via Cool Material]


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DK Science: Friction
If you kick a ball across a playground, it bounces and rolls on the ground's rough surface and soon comes to a halt. What slows it down is friction, which is the force between a moving object and whatever it touches. Cars travel faster if they are STREAMLINED to reduce a type of friction called air resistance. Friction can sometimes be helpful. Without friction between the tyres and the road, cars would not have enough grip to go around corners.
Slippery substances such as oil reduce the friction between two surfaces. This is known as lubrication. Machinery has to be lubricated to prevent its moving parts from wearing out due to friction. Most machines are oiled or greased when they are made and are lubricated from time to time as they are used.
When objects move, the air around them generates a type of friction called air resistance, or drag, that slows them down. Fast-moving objects such as cars, trains, and aeroplanes are all streamlined – designed with curved and sloping surfaces to cut through the air and reduce drag. This helps them to move faster and use less fuel. Boats can be streamlined too, to reduce water resistance.


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As part of an assigment I had from ProGen15, I had to create a Genealogy Research Guide. In working on this assignment, I decided to create one for the State of Zacatecas, Mexico which is where my paternal grandparents are from. I recieved a lot of constructive feedback on this assignment and have incorporated as much as I possible could. So without further ado, here is my Genealogy Research Guide for Zacatecas, Mexico. Make sure you have Adobe Acrobat reader to view it.
Genealogy Research Guide for Zacatecas, Mexico


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May 30, 2011
Desolation and Intrigue - Death Valley 2:05 PM
May 27, 2011
Zion National Park - Forces of Nature 2:47 PM
Below gathering storm clouds, the warm hues of immense rock walls reflect a subtle pleasant ambience. Standing at the base of towering sandstone walls, it's difficult to imagine that we are standing at the same elevation as the top of the Grand Canyon. Nearly a thousand meters more of solid rock ascend above us. The scale of not only our immediate surroundings, but the entire Great Basin extending beyond to the south and west inspire us. We hike a steep trail upwards, slowly, enjoying the vibrance of the occasional maple in autumn splendor. We follow the pace of our young explorers, climbing over rocks, navigating the narrow trail. We have the entire afternoon to our disposal, we aren't an a hurry. Elias and Frêney determine our pace and final destination.


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Freemasons, Friendly Societies and Trade Unions
Articles & Essays
Dr Bob James historical research highlights the neglect by many historians of the origins of Trade Unions as part of a broader movement of benefit societies, which includes Freemasons, Oddfellows, Friendly Societies and Fraternal organisations.
Craft, Trade or Mystery? Part One - Britain from Gothic Cathedrals to the Tolpuddle Conspirators.
by Dr Bob James
Updated and revised May 2002.
A major study (almost 90,000 words, over 700 footnotes and references) into the origins of Trade Unions, Freemasons and Friendly Societies. Understanding this history can contribute to redressing the directions and structure of these mutual organisations, and the directions for society in general.
Windows users:
Download the whole text as a winzip file
(294kb) for easy reading offline.
Problems with UK and US Odd Fellow Literature
by Dr Bob James
"It's well past time that all persons who like to think of themselves as 'Masonic' historians or 'Labour' historians or 'Friendly Society' historians got down off their high horses and began talking to one another, in a mutually critical but constructive way."
The Story of GUOOF and Traveller's Home in the 1840's and 1850's
by Dr Bob James
Following on from his published history of the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in Australia,
Secret Handshakes and Health Care in Australia
, Bob James has continued his research into the beginnings of the GUOOF in Australia.
- a paper for the Australian Friendly Society Association National Conference, Coffs Harbour, May 2000. A presentation by Dr Bob James on the demutualisation debate - includes a brief history lesson on the origin of Friendly Societies and Trade Unions.
Secret Handshakes and Health Care in Australia
Bob James
Provides us with the story of the spread of health care throughout Australia through the efforts of ordinary working people. The story of Friendly Societies, in this case the Grand United Order of Oddfellows, is a remarkable story of mutual aid which for too long has been ignored by labour historians.
Part One
tells the story of the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in Australia.
Part Two
is a more personal account of Lodge history told through an elderly woman in a letter to her grandchildren.
Secret Societies and the Labour Movement
Bob James
The Knights of Labour and their context
Bob James
Display of Secret Society Paraphenalia
Labour History Conference, Wollongong, October 1999
These two essays were published for the 6th Biennial conference of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, held in Wollongong, October 1999. In conjunction with the conference Bob James organised a
of historic photographs of banners, certificates, as well as stand up figures and regalia he has collected in his researches. These essays are of value to anyone interested in the origins of trade unions and working peoples organisations. As Bob James sums up in the last paragraph:
All lodges, today, are in decline, and the loss of membership of 'trade unions' is just one part of that. At a time when Australian mateship is being denigrated and generational dysfunction is widespread, there is little awareness of what used to tie communities together, what 'solidarity' can mean or how the 'labour movement' built itself in the first place.
The Tragedy of Labour History in Australia.
Bob James
This talk was given by Bob James to the Wollongong Labour History Society in August 1997. It was published as
Benefit Societies and Freemasons in Labour History
Illawarra Unity
, Vol 1, No 3, 1998, Journal of the Illawarra Branch of ASSLH. Bob asked for this to replace the notes for his talk he gave in Melbourne. Bob presents some provocative facts to challenge the Labour History orthodoxy. Includes information on secret societies, Benefit Societies and Freemasons in Labour History.
Other Sources of Interest
Radical Tradition:
Open University - Friendly Societies Research Group
Email Discussion List:
To examine issues relating to the development and history of friendly societies, co-operation, workers and consumers co-operatives, credit unions, building societies and other mutuals. To exchange information about their origins, their links, their activities and their future.
David Green & Lawrence Cromwell,
Mutual Aid or Welfare State. Australia's Friendly Societies
, published by George Allen & Unwin, 1984, ISBN 0 86861 664 8
The History of The Grand United Order of Oddfellows
As told through articles from the official magazine of The Grand United Order of Oddfellows written by Bro. E.W. "Bob" Lindop PGM/PGT
Fraternal World
"Is all about People Helping People." Lots of links to Fraternal societies, Benefit and Friendly Societies. Anyone interested in co-operative or mutualist organisation should explore these links. Located at: http://www.fratworld.org/
Toward a Fraternal History of Marin County
Toward a Fraternal History of Marin County: A Survey of Secret Societies being a General History of Various Fraternities and Their Specific Impact in Marin. By Stanley J. Bransgrove. Thought provoking history from California which mirrors in part the Australian research by
Dr Bob James
. Located at: http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/marin-fraternities.htm
Australian Centre For Fraternal Studies
. The Centre for Fraternal Studies (CFS) is a Research, Conservation and Display facility furthering the study of fraternalism and the neglected world of fraternal associations, ie, in the main, trade unions, friendly societies and Freemasons. The Centre is based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, where its Convenor and Co-ordinator is Dr Bob James. It is located within the Newcastle Regional Museum complex
How to contact
Dr Bob James
or to submit
general feedback
with questions or comments about this web site.
This Page is: http://www.takver.com/history/benefit/index.htm
Last modified: April 7, 2007


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This excerpt is from The Discovery of Global Warming, by Spencer R. Weart (Harvard University Press, 2008).
It is an epic story: the struggle of thousands of men and women over the course of a century for very high stakes. For some, the work required actual physical courage, a risk to life and limb in icy wastes or on the high seas. The rest needed more subtle forms of courage. They gambled decades of arduous effort on the chance of a useful discovery, and staked their reputations on what they claimed to have found. Even as they stretched their minds to the limit on intellectual problems that often proved insoluble, their attention was diverted into grueling administrative struggles to win minimal support for the great work. A few took the battle into the public arena, often getting more blame than praise; most labored to the end of their lives in obscurity. In the end they did win their goal, which was simply knowledge.
People had long suspected that human activity could change the local climate. For example, ancient Greeks and 19th-century Americans debated how cutting down forests might bring more rainfall to a region, or perhaps less. But there were larger shifts of climate that happened all by themselves. The discovery of ice ages in the distant past proved that climate could change radically over the entire globe, which seemed vastly beyond anything mere humans could provoke. Then what did cause global climate change — was it variations in the heat of the Sun? Volcanoes erupting clouds of smoke? The raising and lowering of mountain ranges, which diverted wind patterns and ocean currents? Or could it be changes in the composition of the air itself?
In 1896 the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius published a new idea. As humanity burned fossil fuels such as coal, which added carbon dioxide gas to the Earth's atmosphere, we would raise the planet's average temperature. This "greenhouse effect" was only one of many speculations about climate change, however, and not the most plausible. Scientists found technical reasons to argue that our emissions could not change the climate. Indeed most thought it was obvious that puny humanity could never affect the vast climate cycles, which were governed by a benign "balance of nature." In any case major change seemed impossible except over tens of thousands of years.
In the 1930s, people realized that the United States and North Atlantic region had warmed significantly during the previous halfcentury. Scientists supposed this was just a phase of some mild natural cycle, with unknown causes. Only one lone voice, the amateur G. S. Callendar, insisted that greenhouse warming was on the way. Whatever the cause of warming, everyone thought that if it happened to continue for the next few centuries, so much the better.
In the 1950s, Callendar's claims provoked a few scientists to look into the question with improved techniques and calculations. What made that possible was a sharp increase of government funding, especially from military agencies with Cold War concerns about the weather and the seas. The new studies showed that, contrary to earlier crude estimates, carbon dioxide could indeed build up in the atmosphere and should bring warming. Painstaking measurements by C. D. Keeling drove home the point in 1960, showing that the level of the gas was in fact rising, year by year.
Over the next decade a few scientists devised simple mathematical models of the climate, and turned up feedbacks that could make the system surprisingly variable. Others figured out ingenious ways to retrieve past temperatures by studying ancient pollens and fossil shells. It appeared that grave climate change could happen, and in the past had happened, within as little as a few centuries. This finding was reinforced by computer models of the general circulation of the atmosphere, the fruit of a long effort to learn how to predict (and perhaps even deliberately change) the weather. Calculations made in the late 1960s suggested that average temperatures would rise a few degrees within the next century. But the next century seemed far off, and the models were preliminary. Groups of scientists that reviewed the calculations found them plausible but saw no need for any policy action, aside from putting more effort into research to find out for sure what was happening.
In the early 1970s, the rise of environmentalism raised public doubts about the benefits of human activity for the planet. Curiosity about climate turned into anxious concern. Alongside the greenhouse effect, some scientists pointed out that human activity was putting dust and smog particles into the atmosphere, where they could block sunlight and cool the world. And indeed, analysis of Northern Hemisphere weather statistics showed that a cooling trend had begun in the 1940s. The mass media (to the limited extent they covered the issue) were confused, sometimes predicting a balmy globe with coastal areas flooded as the ice caps melted, sometimes warning of the prospect of a catastrophic new ice age. Study panels, first in the U.S. and then elsewhere, began to warn that one or another kind of future climate change might pose a severe threat.
The only thing most scientists agreed on was that they scarcely understood the climate system, and much more research was needed. Research activity did accelerate, including huge datagathering schemes that mobilized international fleets of oceanographic ships and orbiting satellites. After a few years the warnings of a new ice age (which only a minority of scientists had thought at all plausible) were dropped, and attention concentrated on global warming. After all, the dust and smog that humans were putting into the air only lingered for weeks, whereas carbon dioxide would stay for centuries, climbing decade after decade.
Earlier scientists had sought a single masterkey to climate, but now they were coming to understand that climate is an intricate system responding to a great many influences. Volcanic eruptions and solar variations were still plausible causes of change, and some argued these would swamp any effects of human activities. Even subtle changes in the Earth's orbit could make a difference. To the surprise of many, studies of ancient climates showed that astronomical cycles had partly set the timing of the ice ages. Apparently the climate was so delicately balanced that almost any small perturbation might set off a great shift. According to the new "chaos" theories, in such a system a shift might even come all by itself — and suddenly. Support for the idea came from ice cores arduously drilled from the Greenland ice sheet. They showed large and disconcertingly abrupt temperature jumps in the past.
Greatly improved computer models began to suggest how such jumps could happen, for example through a change in the circulation of ocean currents. Experts predicted droughts, storms, rising sea levels, and other disasters from global warming. A few politicians began to suspect there might be a public issue here. However, the modelers had to make many arbitrary assumptions about clouds and the like, and reputable scientists disputed the reliability of the results. Others pointed out how little was known about the way living ecosystems interact with climate and the atmosphere. They argued, for example, over the effects of agriculture and deforestation in adding or subtracting carbon dioxide from the air. One thing the scientists agreed on was the need for a more coherent research program. But the research remained disorganized, and funding grew only in irregular surges. The effort was dispersed among many different scientific fields, each with something different to say about climate change.
One unexpected discovery was that the level of methane and certain other gases was rising, which would add seriously to global warming. Some of these gases also degraded the atmosphere's protective ozone layer, and the news inflamed public worries about the fragility of the atmosphere. Moreover, by the late 1970s global temperatures had begun to rise again. Many climate scientists were now convinced that the rise was likely to continue as greenhouse gases accumulated. By around 2000, some predicted, an unprecedented global warming would become apparent. Their worries first caught wide public attention in the summer of 1988, the hottest on record till then. (Most since then have been hotter.) An international meeting of scientists warned that the world should take active steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The response was vehement. Corporations and individuals who opposed all government regulation began to spend many millions of dollars on lobbying, advertising, and "reports" that mimicked scientific publications, in an effort to convince people that there was no problem at all. Environmental groups, less wealthy but more enthusiastic, helped politicize the issue with urgent cries of alarm. But the many scientific uncertainties, and the sheer complexity of climate, made room for limitless debate over what actions, if any, governments should take.
There were some things that virtually all experts agreed on as of 1988. A rather straightforward calculation showed that doubling the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere... which would arrive in the late 21st century if no steps were taken to curb emissions... should raise the temperature of the surface roughly one degree C. However, a warmer atmosphere would hold more water vapor, which ought to cause another degree or so of warming. Beyond that the calculations got problematic. Cloudiness was likely to change in ways that could either enhance or diminish the warming, and scientists did not understand the complex processes well. Moreover, humanity was emitting ever increasing amounts of smoke and other pollution; again scientists were not sure how this might affect climate. Only better observations and computer models could attempt to project the outcome.
Scientists intensified their research, organizing programs on an international scale. Was the global temperature rise due to an increase in the Sun's activity? Solar activity began to decline, but the temperature soared faster than ever. Did computer models reproduce the present climate only because they were tweaked until they matched it, making them worthless for calculating a future climate change? Improved models successfully predicted the temporary cooling due to a huge volcanic explosion in 1991 and passed many other tests. In particular, the modelers could now reproduce in detail the pattern of warming, changes in rainfall, etc. actually observed in different regions of the world over the past century. Nobody had been able to build a model that matched the historical record and that did not show significant warming when greenhouse gases were added.
The physics of clouds and pollution remained too complex to work out exactly, and modeling teams that made different assumptions got somewhat different results. Most of them found a warming of around 3°C when the carbon dioxide level doubled, late in the 21st century. But some found a rise of 2°C or perhaps a bit less, a costly but manageable warming. Others calculated a 5°C rise or even more, an unparalleled catastrophe.
Meanwhile striking news came from studies of ancient climates recorded in Antarctic ice cores. For hundreds of thousands of years, carbon dioxide and temperature had been linked: anything that caused one of the pair to rise or fall had caused a rise or fall in the other. It turned out that a doubling of carbon dioxide had always gone along with a 3°C temperature rise, give or take a degree or two — a striking confirmation of the computer models, from entirely independent evidence.
The world's governments had created a panel to give them the most reliable possible advice, as negotiated among thousands of climate experts and officials. By 2001 this Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) managed to establish a consensus, phrased so cautiously that scarcely any expert or government representative dissented. They announced that although the climate system was so complex that scientists would never reach complete certainty, it was much more likely than not that our civilization faced severe global warming. At that point the discovery of global warming was essentially completed. Scientists knew the most important things about how the climate could change during the 21st century. How the climate would actually change now depended chiefly on what policies humanity would choose for its greenhouse gas emissions.
Since 2001, greatly improved computer models and an abundance of data of many kinds strengthened the conclusion that human emissions are very likely to cause serious climate change. The IPCC's conclusions were reviewed and endorsed by the national science academies of every major nation from the United States to China, along with leading scientific societies and indeed virtually every organization that could speak for a scientific consensus. Specialists meanwhile improved their understanding of some less probable but more severe possibilities. On the one hand, a dangerous change in ocean circulation seemed unlikely in the next century or two. On the other hand, there were signs that disintegrating ice sheets could raise sea levels faster than most scientists had expected. Worse, new evidence suggested that the warming was itself starting to cause changes that would generate still more warming.
In 2007 the IPCC reported that scientists were more confident than ever that humans were changing the climate. Although only a small fraction of the predicted warming had happened so far, effects were already becoming visible in some regions — more deadly heat waves, stronger floods and droughts, heatrelated changes in the ranges and behavior of sensitive species. But the scientists had not been able to narrow the range of possibilities. Depending on what steps people took to restrict emissions, by the end of the century we could expect the planet's average temperature to rise anywhere between about 1.4 and 6°C (2.5–11°F).


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Professor Helen Anderson joined the law school faculty in 1994. She teaches Legal Analysis, Research & Writing; Criminal Law; Advanced Criminal Procedure; and Persuasive Writing. She has also taught Professional Responsibility and directed an Appellate Practice Clinic. Professor Anderson's areas of scholarly interest are written advocacy, ethics, criminal law and procedure.
Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Anderson represented indigent criminal and civil clients in the state appellate courts, and maintains an interest in appellate practice. She is an editor and contributing author of the Washington State Bar Association's Appellate Practice Deskbook and past chair of the Washington State Bar Association Corrections Committee. Professor Anderson is also a founding member of the Washington Appellate Lawyers Association. She is a graduate of Carleton College and the University of Washington School of Law.


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- Power supply
Ordering internationally? No problem. We'll make sure the plug type matches where your sign is headed.


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According to Charlie Kindel, at cek.log, Google will abandon Android. Keep in mind this article is the opinion of the author. Google has not actually decided to abandon Android (yet). Why will Google abandon Android? In short order, Google will launch their tablet. And in doing so they will start down the path of abandoning Android. Here's what he means...
The Google tablet will be called the "Google Play". Brand is as much a part of the end-to-end experience as the user interface, device, OS, apps, and services. Google will distance itself from the Android brand; instead they will invest heavily in the Play brand. Fragmentation of Android will accelerate.
As he explained in his article on how to think about Android fragmentation, fragmentation is not the end of android, but means Google has lost control of Android. Google has lost control of both the Android platform and the Android brand.
Google is desperate to compete in the phone and tablet spaces (not to mention social networking). Android is a perfectly suitable technical platform to build on, but as a brand it is atrocious. In that article he suggested one of the tactics Google will try to use to regain control of Android would be to "Invest in the Nexus brand".
Nexus is Google's pure play. The idea is a phone with a more rigidly defined user experience, more consistent hardware, the latest OS with a consistent upgrade policy, a single marketplace, and consistent (Google-endorsed) services. Charlie loves this strategy from an end-user's perspective. Nexus phones will sell fairly well. But the numbers will pale in comparison to the non-Nexus phones sold. But Nexus will only be "fairly" successful because it is counter to what the carriers want and every dollar Google spends on advertising it incents the device manufactures and carriers to spend more on advertising their differentiated products. Nexus actually worsens fragmentation along most axes by introducing yet another "Android model" into the mix.
Charlie no longer believes Google will invest in the Nexus brand (at least for tablets). Instead he's betting the Google tablet will be called the "Google Play". This makes perfect sense given Google's recent rebranding of the Android Marketplace and consolidation of apps, music, books, and movies into a unified Google Play.
Moving forward, Google will invest heavily in the Play brand. To effectively create new brand you have to mute your usage of other brands in the same space. At the most, any further use of the term "Android" in consumer marketing and branding will be relegated to "ingredient brand" status ("Certs with Retsin!"). Google will start distancing itself from the Android brand completely.
Because Android has become an ill-defined mess of a brand that Google does not control. If Google wants to create a phenomenal end-to-end user experience that has a chance of competing with the iPad juggernaut in the tablet space they need to control all aspects of the experience. If they are smart (and Charlie thinks they are) they will recognize that brand is as much a part of the end-to-end experience as the user interface, device, OS, apps, and services.
Remember how much power the mobile operators and device manufacturers/OEMs are in the mobile space? For the same reasons Windows Phone 7 struggles, so do Google's Nexus branded phones. But tablets are not phones and the power of the MOs and OEMs is muted in the tablet space. A tightly controlled user experience, device, OS, and services model built around the Google Play brand can be successful even in the face of MOs and OEMs.
He predicts Google will go so far as to push the Play brand over Android even with developers. They've already started this with marketplace submission and you can bet there will be a new, more stringent, app certification program under the Google Play moniker in an attempt to raise the quality of apps for the new Google Play tablet. Watch for Google Play specific APIs and services as well.
Don't believe, for one second, Google building it's own tablet and getting behind a cohesive brand strategy will reduce Android fragmentation. It won't. It will accelerate fragmentation across all axes. Google knows this; which is all the more reason they will abandon the Android brand and focus on something they can control.
The tablet space is going to be hugely entertaining in the next 6-9 months as Google makes this transition, other Android-based tablet makers continue what they are doing, the iPad continues to sell like gangbusters, and we see how successful Microsoft is with Windows 8 ARM based tablets.
As seen here: http://ceklog.kindel.com
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Have you ever been recommended a book you really don't want to read? Working in a library, especially a small town library, I encounter this situation all the time. I never knew how to handle this situation until recently (keep reading to hear my fantabulous new response).
I love my patrons, really, I do. They bring me cakes and gourmet chocolates and knit me scarves and buy me Christmas presents. They totally rock. They're so nice and I really love spending time with them. They'll come in all excited over the latest book they just read and I get excited with them because I'm happy they're happy.
But then the dreaded recommendation comes. The, "You just have to read this book!" Usually I respond with something along the lines of, "Gee, thanks! I'll add it to my TBR" when really in my head I'm thinking something more like this:
Why don't I just stand my ground and tell them thank you but the book isn't for me? Well, frankly, because I'm a wimp. I'm shy and a pushover and I don't like confrontation. Plus, how do you say no when they bring cookies?
This response usually works at avoiding immediate awkwardness, even if I do sort of feel a little skuzzy for my white lies. It works, that is, until they start following up. They'll come back a week, a month, a few months later and ask me if I've read the book yet. And then they'll ask me again. And then again. After a while, the "Really, I just have a very long TBR" excuse starts looking a little thin (although, really, I do have a very long TBR....their book just isn't on it).
But now, I have a super fantastic amazingly fabulous response that totally gets me off the hook while allowing me to both glide away from confrontation while also telling the truth. What is this response? Here it is folks:
Ta da! The beauty of this response is that it's totally the truth, but it's vague enough that it allows each person to project their own feelings into my statement.
- Some people are impressed. OOooh I'm a snazzy book reviewer (they think I'm getting paid! Ha!)
- Some people feel sorry for me. Oh look, the poor adult who has to read all those kiddie books (little do they know!)
- Some people are excited because it turns out that they love YA books too (these people are awesome)
But everyone, regardless of what they think about YA, totally accept my response and don't try to push their books on me. Unless they are one of those people who fall into the last category. Then they actually do help my TBR grow and I actually do have every intention of reading their recommendations.
Ah, I can now breathe a sigh of relief.
How about you? Do you ever encounter the "Oh please don't recommend that book to me" situation? How do you handle it? Are you braver than me? What was a book recommended to you that you would least like to read? Tweet


text: AXIS T94B03L Recessed Mount is designed for discreet installation on walls or ceilings. The recessed mount is compatible with the AXIS M20 bullet-style cameras and applicable for indoor environments as well as outdoor use. It is also suitable for installation in plenum, as the back box is made of metal with a M20 1/2" hole for cable protection.


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Tuscany, Italian Toscana, regione (region), west-central Italy. It lies along the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas and comprises the province (provinces) of Massa-Carrara, Lucca, Pistoia, Prato, Firenze, Livorno, Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, and Grosseto.
Tuscany is a transitional region occupying much of the former grand duchy of that name near the base of the Italian peninsula. The characteristic landscape is a blend of gently rolling hills leading on to sharply peaked mountains that pose a formidable barrier between Tuscany and regions to the south. It is bordered in the north and northeast by the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Apuan Alps, these being separated by a series of long valleys from the sub-Apennine hills of Mount Albano, Mount Pratomagno, and others. South of Siena the surface rises to less fertile mountains and plateaus, such as the Metallifere Mountains, Mount Amiata, and Mount Argentario on the coast. The lowlands of Tuscany are either interior valleys, such as that of the Arno River, or coastal plains, such as the Maremma. Area 8,877 square miles (22,992 square km). Pop. (2022 est.) 3,676,285.
Historical Tuscany
The name Tuscany is derived from an Etruscan tribe that settled there about 1000 bce. Tuscia came into official use under the Roman Empire in the 3rd century ce. Politically united under the barbarian Lombards as a duchy with its seat at Lucca in the 6th century, Tuscany was next set up as a county by the Franks in 774. In the 11th century the area passed to the Attoni family, who, already holding Canossa, Modena, Reggio, and Mantua, became an important power of central Italy. The most famous representative of this line, Matilda, supported Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) in the Investiture Controversy. After her death in 1115, the cities of Tuscany gradually affirmed their independence, and the area lost its traditional unity. For the next four centuries these cities fought among themselves; supremacy was won first by Pisa and then by Florence, and the area became the greatest centre of Renaissance culture. After the advent of the Medici as rulers of Florence in 1434, with the family's gradual consolidation of power over the area, Tuscany was transformed into a principality.
During the foreign invasions of Italy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the Medici were twice expelled (1495–1512 and 1527–30), but they were restored by the Holy Roman emperor Charles V in 1530, and the Medici rulers used the title grand duke from 1569. The culture and economy of the area declined beginning in the 16th century.
In 1737, on the death of the last Medici grand duke, Gian Gastone, Tuscany was assigned to Francis of Lorraine, future husband of the Habsburg heiress Maria Theresa, beginning the rule of the Habsburg-Lorraine family. Under Francis and his son the grand duke Leopold I (later the Holy Roman emperor Leopold II), the great period of Tuscan reform took place. Internal trade barriers were removed, ecclesiastical privileges reduced, and the death penalty abolished. With the French domination of the peninsula, during the late 1790s, Ferdinand III was forced to flee from the duchy. In 1801 Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Tuscan kingdom of Etruria for Louis of Bourbon-Parma, nephew of the Spanish queen, but in 1808 annexed it to the French Empire and finally in 1809 gave it to his sister Élisa to rule. With the defeats of Napoleon in 1814, Ferdinand III was restored to Tuscany, but many of the reforms introduced by the French were retained.
Under Ferdinand and his son Leopold II, during the first half of the 19th century, Tuscany was noted among Italian states for its tolerance toward liberals and its progressive government. With the spread of liberal revolutions through Italy in 1848, Leopold granted a constitution, but increasing revolutionary agitation culminated in the proclamation of a republic (February 8, 1849) and forced the grand duke to flee. Leopold's return under the protection of the Austrians cost him the support of many Tuscans. When war between Piedmont and Austria (the Second War of Italian Independence) broke out in 1859, Leopold, after refusing both to grant a constitution and to join Piedmont in the fight, was expelled by the Florentines. With a provisional government controlled by the nobleman Bettino Ricasoli working for Italian unification under Piedmont, the Tuscans, in a plebiscite of March 11–12, 1860, voted overwhelmingly for annexation. Tuscany formally became part of the new Italian state with the proclamation of the kingdom on February 18, 1861.
The contemporary region
Tuscany is one of the most prosperous agricultural regions in Italy, specializing in cereals (especially wheat), olives and olive oil, and wines, notably those of the Chianti district near Siena. Vegetables and fruit are also grown, and cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry are extensively raised. Tuscan agriculture is characterized by the mezzadria system, with the landlord, who provides capital and current expenses, sharing the harvest with the tenant, who supplies the labour. There is, however, a growing tendency to the organization of agricultural cooperatives.
The storms and floods of 1966 dealt a severe blow to Tuscan agriculture, as well as inundating Florence and Grosseto. Watered chiefly by the Arno and Ombrone rivers, Tuscany has few rivers capable of supporting major hydroelectric projects, but borax deposits at Larderello produce enough underground steam to power a major generating station. Among the mineral resources, easily worked iron ore from the offshore island of Elba is nearing exhaustion, but lead, zinc, antimony, mercury, copper, and iron pyrites are still produced in the region. Lignite (brown coal) is mined around San Giovanni Valdarno, and the marble of Carrara is world famous.
Metallurgy, chemicals, and textiles are major industries; and the region is famous for its artisan industries, especially in Florence, the capital. Tourism is important at the coastal resorts and the historical centres of the region. Increasingly, Tuscany is also a retirement centre of choice for well-to-do people from around the world, especially from northern Europe. Livorno, the major port, has shipbuilding industries. Other important centres are Piombino, Lucca, Pistoia, Grosseto, Pisa, and Siena.The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica


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