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|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|0 - 7 nights
The recent renovation works have preserved the character and atmosphere typical of the Umbrian farmhouse with exposed beams and a large fireplace. The property is furnished with a mix of antique, rustic and modern pieces and works of art and has been equipped with all the comforts and amenities which are expected of a top holiday accommodation, including air conditioning, satellite wifi internet access, an infinity pool with natural stone steps and adjacent pool house and a state of the art, latest technology Mantoflex tennis court in the shade of the oak trees. On the grounds there is a natural pond inhabited by tench and carp where angling is possible (with one's own equipment). The result is a captivating combination of comfort, authenticity and charm. The area is rich in natural, historical and artistic attractions, with numberless destinations in all fields of interest - history of art to shopping, wine tasting to cycling - in the close vicinity.
This is my second stay at Podere Marella! It is a beautiful place which combines the old charm of Italian countryside and modern comfort and convenience. The setting is very peaceful and private. It is very well appointed and has amazing staff who are both very friendly and helpful yet never in the way. There are a number of gathering spaces, inside and outside. The pool and pool area are great for hanging out and entertaining. When I stayed there the first time, I loved it so much that I re-booked it and brought my family along for a two week stay. We were 10 of us with plenty of space for all. They are now asking me when will we be going again :)
The Estate is also in a great location at the borders of Tuscany and Umbria with short drives to so many beautiful towns like Cortona, Assisi, San Gimignano, Sienna, and so many others. I cannot say enough good things about this place. And an extra bonus, their organic wines, they are great tasting.
Podere Marella is a captivating place. Utterly relaxing - but you also feel an energy that I think comes from it being a working organic vineyard. We were two families: four adults and three children aged 9-11. It was perfect for us. We played tennis everyday and we all loved the pool and pool house area. The children in particular spent all their time swimming, and as it was very hot when we were there it was excellent to have the shaded seating and a place to get a cool drink, or make lunch. We loved exploring the area but were always torn to leave the house and gardens. The property manager and the extended team at Podere Marella made us feel very welcome. We were particularly interested in the wine, and that association was one of the things that attracted us to this as a pace for our holiday. Drinking it, of course (!) but also learning about the process, exploring the vineyard and understanding the history and the family's commitment to the organic and biodynamic cause. I think it is partly this sense of history and a family story that gives Podere Marella such a unique quality. The house is extremely well equipped, clean and efficiently set up and run. It's a gorgeous part of Italy and easy to get to lots of great places. We did eat out a couple of times, including in Castiglione, by the the lake (places recommended in the very comprehensive house guide book). As you can probably tell, we are very keen to return some time! Thank you to everyone for a super holiday.
We recently spent two splendid weeks at Podere Marella. We were a party of 10. Five of the group were aged between 19 and 22. There is plenty of room for everyone to find their space whether that be on the tennis court, by the pool or quietly in the shade. We chose to cook in each evening which was great fun.We certainly tried all the wines from the winery and became very fond of the Marella. The house has been beautifully restored and the service from beginning to end was wonderful. I would have no problem in recommending this property and have every intention of returning.
We stayed for one week for the second time.
We were a group of three families (6 adults, 6 kids; this is about the maximum number of people for the house).
Everybody loved it. The term luxury country house describes the place very well. Great features are: the overall beauty of the house and the estate, absolute privacy, excellent air conditioning, a well equipped kitchen, modern bathrooms and showers for each of the five rooms, WiFi, a beautiful pool with pool house, and an excellent tennis court. We had great meals at the spacious dining table, luckily one of our friends is a passionate cook.
There are many nearby places to visit for sightseeing and for eating out, we particularly liked Cortona but also Castiglione.
Dealing with the owner and the property manager was always pleasant, they were very helpful and provided great service when needed.
We definitely recommend the house to groups of families or friends.
We held our re-union with girl friends in this gorgeous property for one full week from 20th till 27th June 2015. There were 9 of us and we rented cars to drive around the region. The property is in the middle of country side, close to the lake and in total tranquility. It has 5 bed rooms with comfortable beds, exquisitely clean sheets and towels and bathrooms.
The kitchen was new and fully equipped with good quality cutlery and tableware. It even has a food processor!! The panty has a big capacity to hold all the food stuff you have to buy if you are crowded.
We were impressed by the swimming pool and its adjacent facilty with a fully equipped kitchennette and sofas and chairs to relax. I personally do not like to swim in a pool with chlorine. This pool was great as it was cleaned by oxygen and we did not have any nasty smell of chlorine.
Train station is just 8 min.s away. We visited many historic towns only 20- 50 mins drive from Podere Marella. If you want to eat out, there are good restaurants only 15 mins drive.
I will definitely go back there again to stay for longer period.
After staying at 2 other very very nice places during our trip this one proved to be even better: in terms of beauty, quietness and comfort it really was beyond expectation. We had a great time, because the place is a haven of peace in a beautiful vineyard setting with an old oak tree forest next to it. The place is unique and we cannot wait to go back. Even for a big family or group of friends or families there is enough space to do different things without bothering anyone else. There are plenty of spaces for relaxing inside and outside. There is the garden, the tennis court, the swimming pool, the terraces, the barbeque area, all in very good condition. Sitting on the outside stairway overlooking the vineyard as the sun goes down with pre-dinner drinks is a moment where it is impossible not to relax. The interior also cannot be faulted. The kitchen was brand new when we were there, the beds were comfortable and the bed linens were better than a 5 star hotel. Although the nearest 2 towns are only a few miles away you need a car and as it is in the countryside it is pet-friendly as long as your pets get on with the 3 resident pets of the vineyard which are daughters fell in love with and had them throwing tantrums when it was time to leave. There are good local restaurants where they also serve the wine from the vineyard. But if you do not want to relax on the property every day then there are pictoreque towns and a large lake nearby. There are places nobody has ever heard of when you mention the region. Without hesitation a place to recommend in an unknown spot far from the local and tourist crowds.
Special interest holidays:
Wine tasting on the estate.
Cookery and tennis courses can be organised on request.
Bio-dynamic cranio sacral balancing and anti stress and relaxation massages by a qualified professional can also be arranged.
The nearest sandy beach on the Trasimeno lake is 6 km away, while more extensive water sport facilities can be found in Castiglione del Lago and other villages nearby.
Even the sea is not too far, as both the Tirrenean and the Adriatic shores can be reached in approximately 2 hours.
Use of car is indispensable. Car hire at all airports and opposite Chiusi railway station.
The nearest highway exit is 5 km away.
Terontola railway station is 6 km away, with direct connections to Rome, Florence, Arezzo and Perugia.
The nearest airports are
Perugia Sant' Egidio (53km)
Florence (125 km)
Forlì (164 km)
Ancona International Airport (165 km)
Pisa (192 km)
Bologna (217 km)
Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino (232 and 214 km respectively)
The nearest shop for food staples and a very good olive oil producer are 4 km away in the hamlet of Petrignano, while more extensive facilities (supermarkets, post office, banks, police station, etc.) can be found in Terontola (5 km), Castiglione (10km) and Cortona (15km). There are many excellent restaurants and trattorias in the area, the nearest one being only 1.5 km from the house. During the summer the local villages offer quite a lively night-life, with live music and village fairs.
Further Details:
The area offers an incredible array of the most diverse activities, the most prominent one being sightseeing, with a large number of beautiful ancient villages and masterpieces of Italian art - Etruscan to Renaissance - nearby. Among them Castiglione del Lago (10km), Cortona (15km), Montepulciano (23km), Chiusi (24kms), Panicale (26km), Pienza (36km), Cetona (39km), Arezzo (44km), Perugia (47km), Assisi (65km), Siena (68kms), Orvieto (78km), Gubbio (80km), Todi (85km), Spoleto (105km), and of course Florence (120km) and Rome (200km). Most of them are easily reached thanks to the free highway that runs 5 km from the property and which cuts across Tuscany and Umbria. The spa resorts of Chianciano Terme (30 km), Bagno Vignoni (42 km), Rapolano Terme (42 km), Bagni San Filippo (50 km) and San Casciano dei Bagni (52kms) offer an alternative for a spacial day out. As for shopping, on top of many top wineries and oil mills, the area is rich in local artefacts, especially hand painted pottery and textiles. Umbria and Tuscany are also the home of many top names of Italian fashion, who run their factory stores locally (among them Prada, Gattinoni, Brunello Cucinelli...). A large Outlet Village selling all categories of goods from top brands is right next to the Valdichiana motorway exit (20 km on the free highway).
All sorts of sports can be practiced locally, from sailing and water skiing to cycling and horseback riding. Please enquire on the specific activities you may be interested in and we shall be happy to provide further information.
|No additional mandatory fees
|Stay tax
|$1.11 per night, per person. This amount will be due to the owner upon arrival. Does not apply to children under 14 years.
The Stay Tax is due for a maximum of 5 nights (i.e. max €4.50 p.p.)
Earliest check-in time: 5pm
Latest check-in time: 7pm
Latest check-out time: 10am
We kindly ask our guests not to arrive/leave outside stated times, as we need the time to get the property clean and ready.
Notes on prices:
Rates do not include cleaning and heating/AC. Weekly cleaning will be €180 and heating/AC charged according to consumption.
€700 security deposit payable 60 days prior to arrival. It will be refunded within 14 days of departure, provided the rental contract provisions are met.
We urge our guests to take out travel insurance against cancellation charges.
30% non refundable deposit payable upon booking.
Balance + €700 security deposit + cleaning charges 60 days prior to arrival.
Cancellations will entail a 30% charge if made 61 or more days prior to arrival (i.e. the booking deposit will be withheld), or a 100% charge if made 60- days prior to arrival. The security deposit and cleaning charges will be returned.
Please note that the Owner's Cancellation Policy outlined here below does not apply.


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- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release Date: Jun 18, 2001
User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 39 Ratings
User score distribution:
Positive: 32 out of 39
Mixed: 4 out of 39
Negative: 3 out of 39
Review this game
- User score
- By date
- Most helpful
LyncN.Oct 8, 2001Although playing single player gets a little monotonous after a while, playing this game with a friend or two is not only very addictive but is almost as much fun as going to the court and dogging someone out in person.
ChasenL.Aug 5, 2001This game has very cool graphics, moves, and dunks.
HeyWould'JaJan 15, 2002I believe this is the most under-rated game on the PS2. It's so perfect. A lot of the games ranked higher I can find flaws with, but not with this one. Very fun and polished game.
GaryC.Jan 5, 2002This game has some phat skills with blowd move. I rated this game a 10, because of the realistic graphics, the commentator's busts (mouth), and because o how physical you can get.
MohamedB.Jul 9, 2002Nothing can touch this game and the afro guy is wack... my fav will alwayz be kobe though... abaha waas.
JackI.Jul 12, 2001It's so much fun, and such a coooool game.
SeanB.Jul 17, 2001This game is very good. Its just like watching an And 1 video. The passing, the dunking, the crossingover, and the fun that you have all make you wanna cry. The graphics are wild and the game is good. The thing I liked a lot was getting to be Michael Jordan, because he is the man. The game's great, what else can i say?
TyroneJ.Jun 24, 2002The best game ever.
[Anonymous]Jul 29, 2006A classic for years to come that shows consistent simplicity overpowers sinking a gamebreaker two jumpshot' from halfcourt with Shaq in volume 2 or all the flips and somersaults in part 3, the perfect soundtrack and beautiful gameplay to go along with intensity brings a great time to whoever wants next to 21 by 2 points. Enjoyment for all ages, EA sports BIG started on the street.
MikeW.Jun 24, 2001This game is INCREDIBLE...The graphics are among the best I have ever seen...The excitement of blocking shots and dunking on dudes takes this game all the way to the top of my list....I extremely suggest you go out and make this purchase..you will be very happy...EA Sports did a good job here!
MattP.Aug 27, 2001The game is very fun and entertaining to play, especially when you hit a 154,000 point gamewinning game-breaker dunk.
JoseV.Sep 27, 2001Excellent graphics and simple game play. Great fun with a few friends, the game loses something in singleplayer mode.
ZiggyStardustAug 13, 2002EA has a pretty clean track record. First SSX came out, then Street, and thirdly SSX Tricky. I can"t wait for Sled Storm, their next release. NBA Street is one of my favorite games. I like it better than metal gear solid, final fantasy 10, devil may cry, and nhl 2002 (among quite a few others in my very nice collection). This site actually influenced many of my purchases, and has really EA has a pretty clean track record. First SSX came out, then Street, and thirdly SSX Tricky. I can"t wait for Sled Storm, their next release. NBA Street is one of my favorite games. I like it better than metal gear solid, final fantasy 10, devil may cry, and nhl 2002 (among quite a few others in my very nice collection). This site actually influenced many of my purchases, and has really helped to weed out the duds before purchasing. I"ve been reading some of the comments here and how way off the complaining ones can be. There is a tonne of replay value in NBA Street. Not only does it take literally hundreds of games to beat it in one player (if you win every game), but the 2 player game simply is a blast. If ya want an exagerated sports game for the PS2, this is the ultimate choice. I also regretably picked up NHL Hitz 2002. The graphics and depth of that game are seriously lacking. I really tried to like it too, since I"m a canadian hockey fanatic. Damn, I should have taken into consideration it"s placing on the rankings. Opp, a little off topic here. What I wanted to say is that NBA Street rules. … Expand
Oct 3, 2010The first game of it's kind in the PS2 and definitely the best. It is truly the first game that brings the old NBA jam feel to the modern age. Developers should try to create something similar and follow this as a good example.
Nov 11, 2011Few sports games have been as addicting or fun as NBA Street. Pick 3 players and go 3on3 against other players. You can even create your own player.
Awards & Rankings
#47 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2001
#76 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2001
While its disappointing that only two people can play simultaneously, NBA Street is nonetheless a great choice for arcade-style sports fans.
Total Video GamesThe inclusion of Michael Jordan, while it doesn't necessarily add anything to the gameplay, certainly improves the game in the eyes of most basketball fans.
Through its brilliant use of an SSX-styled trick system and the way that the developers have managed to make blocked shots as important and every bit as exciting as slam dunks, NBA Street has taken the arcade basketball genre to all-new heights.

subset: commoncrawl


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RockersNYC T.V. is proud to present an exclusive interview with the Japanese doom metal band Gallhammer. This all-girl group has broken stereotypes of Japanese women with their heavy and apocalyptic sound. Gallhammer has captured the attention of metal fans and critics around the world, and were called "the greatest metal band of all time" by Metal Hammer. They sat down with Vivian Slaughter, the lead singer and guitarist, to talk about the band and their recent European tour. Watch it here below!
What To Read Next


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Steve: Marking One Year
Hello, I'm Steve Forbes. It's a pleasure to introduce a special edition of Intelligent Investing. We've been talking a lot about anniversaries lately, including the fall of Lehman Brothers and the beginning of the worst financial crisis in generations. Here at Forbes, we saw an opportunity amidst the mayhem to bring more information, better insight and knowledge, and even a touch of wisdom, to you: our readers and users.
As we mark the beginning of our second year of Intelligent Investing, we're taking a look back at our first. In the last 12 months, I've interviewed more than 50 of the best minds in business, from leaders of stock exchanges to successful fund managers, regulators past and present, and some of the great legends of Wall Street. We hope you enjoy this anniversary compilation of some of the great conversations from Intelligent Investing.
Follow Intelligent Investing On Twitter.
Sign Up For The Daily Intelligent Investing Newsletter.
The Regulators
Steve Forbes: If you look at the bad mortgages and actual real defaults, it's bad but seemed no worse than the crisis that we faced 20 years ago.
Sheila Bair (FDIC chairman): So, I think derivatives and structured finance had a lot to do with it. So, even if, you know, you're only having $100 billion of losses or so on a particular category of mortgages, that could be multiplied hundreds of times through all these CDOs and CDO squares, or the mortgages, the original pool of mortgages, the interest in those would be sliced and diced into another securitization.
Which would be sliced and diced into another securitization. And, of course, you had derivatives trading, CDS markets trading off of the performance of those mortgages as well, with hundreds of billions, if not trillions of exposure there too. So, I think the losses and then the leverage, the nature of the leverage underlying those instruments also magnified losses when they started going down. It used up returns. But it magnified losses going down. So I think there is, again, some need for some basic, commonsense oversight of derivatives as well.
Forbes: You were an economist at the Federal Reserve. So, you know that institution as well as any human being does. How would you rate what they've done during the course of the crisis? Inactive? Too active? Getting it right? Not getting it right?
Dr. Henry Kaufman (former Federal Reserve Bank of New York economist): Well, Steve, I would divide that into a couple of sections. I believe the Federal Reserve was late in recognizing the crisis. There were a whole series of events that led up to this period. And once it finally started to recognize that there was a problem, which was not even when it went in and the merger with JPMorgan of Bear Stearns was negotiated. It was later on. The real problem, really, the Fed came to the problem in August and September and in October of last year.
That's a belated recognition. Once it finally got going, then the degree of intervention, the type of intervention was quite good. But its failure to deal with the problem as it started to crystallize, there it did very poorly. And this problem got going over a period of practically two decades. It isn't just a problem that was initiated in one year or so. So I give it mixed reviews.
Harvey Pitt (Former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman): Our system is really antediluvian. So what would be needed, I think, is the government should have the capacity to require any enterprise that takes money from the public for investment financial purposes, and any entity that has an impact on the system and the economy to provide government with a continuous stream of steady information that is significant.
The question of what information will vary from time to time, and government should have the flexibility to require the data. Once government gets the data, there should be an obligation on government to analyze it. You can't just collect it and put it away in a file room. You have to actually analyze it. And this is part of the problem that I saw at the SEC when I came in, is that it's a lawyer's agency. But its functions are largely economic.
Exchange Chiefs
Forbes: You think your firm now has some trading efficiencies which are highly important. Can you quickly enumerate some of them?
Duncan Niederauer (NYSE Euronext CEO): I think what's unique is the market model that's different. I think we have an ability, I view it as a real-time lever, where we've got a floor, we can intervene human judgment, and no other all-electronic marketplace can. Even our own all-electronic marketplace. We run the NYSE Arca platform that's all electronic to compete with the other all-electronic markets like Nasdaq, like Direct Edge, like BATS.
We're going to keep the floor at the NYSE, because we think what makes it unique is you look at a period like September and October, volatility explodes, clients wanted to trade blocks of stock, not 500 or 1,000 shares at a time. We were the only market that was effectively positioned to do that at any time during the day. So I think that makes it fairly unique. At the same time, we had to get fast enough to be competitive with the rest of the marketplaces. So when I got there with some of my key lieutenants, one of the things we embarked on was an 18 to 24 month redo of the technology, so that our technology is now as fast as everyone else, just about, when we need it to be. But then we have that ability to intervene human judgment, real time, if we have to, too.
Forbes: How do you stay ahead of the competition in terms of technology? Because even though you move a step ahead, you know everyone else is trying to get three steps ahead of you.
Robert Greifeld (Nasdaq OMX Group CEO): Sure enough. And so, we have to continue to invest in the research and development of our technology. We look at the message traffic we handle. We know we're stressing the bounds of conventional technology. And some of the things we had to do are then really innovate and come up with creative ways to handle the challenges.
But we also would say that our fundamental marching orders of Nasdaq OMX are to make sure that we are leveraging massive scale against extreme efficiencies. So standard exchanges have the advantage of having scale. But they tend to be bureaucratic. The upstarts have the advantage of starting new and having a low-cost structure but don't have volume. So, we want to be the first exchange that is established but takes that scale, leverage it to be massive scale by the acquisitions we've done, and make sure we have the same efficiency as a small upstart operator, say, in Kansas City.
Joe Ratterman (BATS Exchange CEO): You look at Nasdaq, who's got the largest single equity book in the U.S. And they run about 18%, maybe 19% on a daily basis. And you look at that, and there's been a level of fragmentation in the U.S. that I don't think a lot of people expect, because that number would have been 35% or 40% just a few years ago. So it's under 20%. NYSE operates two books. They operate the electronic Archipelago book. That one runs about 14% or 15% on a daily basis, of all the trading in the U.S. NYSE also operates the floor, which most people think of as the stock market. That's what you see on TV. It's only about 12% of the market, if you look at what trades there as a percentage of all trading in the U.S.
And then BATS comes in between 10% and 11% and 12% on any given day, so we're kind of in there. There are other ECN markets out there that are coming up. The next largest book size is probably 7%, 7.5% of the market. And that's an ECN, another ECN, that's attempting to become an exchange.
Forbes: Direct Edge?
Ratterman: Yeah. So the level of fragmentation, I think, is really surprising to a lot of people. You know, we don't have two large exchanges anymore in the U.S. We have several people competing.
And you know, the smart order router infrastructure in the U.S. has adopted to that. And so, firms really don't care, as long as they get their order executed. Everything is so fast and connected.
Chief Executives
Forbes: How do you bring out the best in government instead of the worst?
Jacqueline Novogratz (Acumen Fund founder): Well, you know, we've seen a lot of the corruption in the private sector, too, so it's on both. I think it's, one, taking a stand that this is who you are and that, again, with patient capital, we can afford to wait and do things in the right way. And, second, I think when any community, including government, sees success that really works, there's an excitement about providing support. So with A to Z bed nets.
Forbes: So they can take credit.
Novogratz: And, you know, we're happy to share credit with anybody who wants that credit. Because at the end of the day, it's the results.
Forbes: Right.
Novogratz: And so President Kikwete's government in Tanzania has done incredible things to help facilitate this company's expansion. I've learned so much about the power of a single manufacturing company that scales.
Once you're at 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 employees, a lot changes, including how energy is directed into a local community because, of course, you need it, how customs works, and even taxation and distribution issues so that now you're starting to see a local manufacturing environment that has dramatically improved because of a single company.
Seth Merrin (Liquidnet CEO): What I've done over my entrepreneurial lifetime is take a look at large problems that need to be solved. The first company that I created was I was 24-years-old, and it was called Merrin Financial. And I thought it was a great idea, and it was certainly a large problem.
What I did not do well is I had to educate that market to inform them that there was a problem. It wasn't a well-known problem established already. I had to take the time and the effort.
Forbes: What was the problem?
Merrin: We automated the trading of the institutions. It was all manual, it was all paper based.
Forbes: But this was when you're 24-years-old?
Merrin: Yes, this was 1985. And the PC was considered a toy by Wall Street. And we took that PC, and we captured those trade tickets, and we automated it and computerized it. And it took a very long time to educate the marketplace. Liquidnet is a massive problem that we're solving, but at least I learned you go into a marketplace where the prospects are well-educated, and there is a big desire to solve that problem. If I had to give any advice to entrepreneur, make sure that you have those three check marks checked: that it's a big problem to solve, that there's knowledge that there's the problem, and that there's a desire to solve that problem.
Forbes: So is real estate going to recover faster than media in these tough times?
Mort Zuckerman (New York Daily News owner): Well, let's disaggregate media. Let's talk about print. I don't know why I bring this up between the two of us. I do think that, and you all have learned this lesson well before many others, that the brand that we bring to the Web sites that we develop is going to make a huge difference. And that part of our business is really doing well. The traditional role of print media, magazines and newspapers, is going to be a much more difficult role as it goes forward. The Web sites that are based on the brands we have established will make up some of the difference. But for the moment, we are losing dollars in print advertising and gaining nickels on Web site advertising. That is not a formula for long-term success. But there is no doubt that Web site businesses will become increasingly successful. You just have to wait for the lions to cross.
Money Managers
Forbes: In an environment like this, are you able to do much investing? Or do you have to worry about redemptions and that sort of thing? Are you able to look and say, "OK, two or three years, I know this company's going to hit it out of the park"?
Chuck Royce (The Royce Funds president): Well, that's the right attitude. Most of our funds are open-end funds. We do have a few closed-end funds. And, of course, that's where you get more stability of capital. We've had very little, knock on wood, redemptions thus far.
And we've had some positive cash days in the last couple weeks, which I'm thrilled with. We are putting the money to work. We definitely believe that out there, three years, five years, a sort of reasonable horizon, there's tremendous--100%, 200%--possibilities.
Forbes: Looking out three, five years, seven years, how do you see T. Rowe Price moving to take advantage when we get through this valley?
Brian Rogers (T. Rowe Price chairman): Well I think over the next five to seven years, our outlook is good. I mean, I believe this is a bump in the road.
If we keep our investment organization together, if we offer our clients a good value proposition, if we provide them with great service, if we run the company with integrity, which I think is important, and clients feel rewarded by investing with us, I think we'll do fine. And I think when the economy begins to recover and you know if you read what Tom Friedman writes, which is very front page these days, the world is getting much more, much more flat in terms of economic activity. I think the outlook for companies like T. Rowe Price over the long-term is very positive.
Forbes: Why isn't there more of an industry in analyzing funds, do you think?
Don Phillips (Morningstar managing director): Well the real thing that surprises me is not that there's not more fund research, but there isn't more what I would call fundamental fund research. You know, the vast majority of fund research is superficial. And I mean that in a literal sense. You're just looking at the historical price movement of the fund. And from that you can calculate a lot of total return statistics. You can calculate a lot of volatility measures. But, what you really need to do if you want to understand funds is roll up your sleeves, look at the whole portfolio, enter the portfolio into your systems, understand the characteristics of the stocks or bonds in the funds so you can really understand what drives the fund, and know where it fits into a portfolio.
And that's been I think by far the richest vein that we've been mining is moving away from just how the fund has behaved in the past and looking more at tearing apart what the fund is doing today.
Forbes: Do you try to size up a management? Do you look at cash flows? What kind of metrics do you use that you find particularly helpful? EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes] I don't think is one of them.
Jean-Marie Eveillard (First Eagle Funds senior adviser): No, EBIT is not one of them.
Although we are partial in terms of valuations to enterprise value to EBIT, because enterprise value introduces a balance sheet, which price earnings ratio does not. And EBIT admittedly, interest and taxes have to be paid, but to the extent that not always, but most of the time, we buy the stocks of companies that are financially safe, as Marty Whitman puts is, and where there is very little or no debt, then there is no interest expense.
Marty Whitman (Third Avenue Management founder): I think two things happen to value investors. One, a lot of people were in cheap stocks and suffered permanent impairments.
And they ought to be distinguished from people like us that, by and large, in our portfolio, we never suffered permanent impairments. We never had Bear Stearns. We never had Fannie Mae. We never had Countrywide.
Forbes: How did you avoid those? So many people--
Whitman: Emphasis on credit worthiness.
Forbes: OK.
Whitman: It was easy. You know, we probably missed a lot of good things. And we probably will continue to miss a lot of good things. But the insistence on credit worthiness, we avoided permanent impairments.
The Analysts
Barry Ritholtz (FusionIQ CEO): I know that when I find the stock that I like and I do the research and you become a little bit of a cheerleader, and you start rooting for the stock, and you wrap up some of your ego in that stock. And you don't want to admit you're wrong. And you don't want to say, "Gee, all this research and affiliation is for naught." So, you start hoping. And, you know, the slope of hope is the bad, bad way to invest money.
Meredith Whitney (Meredith Whitney Advisory Group head): I am staying away from bank stocks still.
Forbes: Any hope for the regionals? Is there some difference between the regionals and the five biggies?
Whitney: I have a view of what I want to happen. And I don't know how much, how many legs it has in D.C. Because it's hard. But there are small regionals. And by regionals, I mean, well below the top 100 banks, or even, well, let's say safely, the top 50 banks that have clean balance sheets, that want to lend, that have ample deposit bases.
But they don't have scale. So, the best thing about this market is, you have 8,000-plus banks that are healthy and want to lend. The worst thing about this market is, they don't matter because they don't have any market share. So, two-thirds of the lending market for both mortgages, and then for credit cards, is dominated by the top five banks. So, you've really got to dislodge that to make any material improvement in the system. And I don't think the government is prepared yet to dislodge that because it's too disruptive and too uncertain of an economy.
Forbes: Have the markets priced in at the regionals? Have they already, in effect, taken the hit that's going to come in terms of their stock prices today?
Dick Bove (Rochdale Securities senior vice president of equity research): I think so. I think that if you would take a look at the theory, or, as we said, the hysteria in the fourth quarter, there was a serious belief that the banking industry would be nationalized and that these companies would fail. And therefore, the prices of these stocks plunged to unusually low prices in March of this year. When it became apparent that the industry would not fail, would not be nationalized, the prices of these stocks then doubled or tripled. Which really doesn't mean very much, because they came from a low level. And now the issue is whether these stocks can go higher based upon their underlying fundamentals.
And I'm going to make an extreme statement to you. I think that the banks will show somewhere between 300% to 500% increase in earnings over the next four to five years, because they've restructured their balance sheets in a fashion to produce that type of result.
The Legends
Forbes: You used words like "croupiers" and things like that. Can you go into that how much money we spend on what you think is services that we, perhaps, really don't need?
John Bogle (The Vanguard Group founder): When you think about it this way, Steve, for a minute, the financial markets generate--
Forbes: And how you came up with the word "croupiers" for some of these guys.
Bogle: Not a lot of people on Wall Street here really want to be seen anywhere near me, but I start off with how does the financial system work? What can we not control, we investors and speculators together? We cannot control the return on the stock markets, the bond markets to deliver. They're going to do it without any help from us. So let's assume, for the purpose of argument, to make the point clear, that stocks deliver, let's say an 8% annual return. So we all divide up, all investors as a group, divide up 8%. I mean, the mathematics are not exactly complicated. Then the croupiers take their 2.5% to 2% a year, which is around the cost of the financial system. So we earned 5.5% , maybe 6%, in an 8% stock market. Well, that doesn't sound terrible.
I mean, it certainly doesn't sound very good. But compounded, we're back to Einstein, the miracle of compounding interest, it turns out it's the miracle of compounding returns is overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs. Because when you get out a compound interest table maybe some of your viewers will want to do that and compare 8% over let's call it an investment lifetime of 50 years compared to 5.5%, which is the after after-cost return, and I haven't even taken taxes out of that second return, it would make it much worse. It turns out that you get about, you who put up 100% of the capital, you who took 100% of the market risk, are getting about 25% of the market's return. And the croupiers, who of course put up 0% of the capital and took 0% of the risk are getting 75% of those compounded, long-term returns. So to not pay attention to the cost is probably the biggest dumb mistake that investors can possibly make.
Jeremy Grantham (Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo chairman): Well, first of all, the magnitude of the overrun in 2000 was legendary. As historians, you know we've massaged the past until it begs for mercy. And we saw that it was 21 times earnings in 1929, 21 times earnings in 1965 and 35 times current earnings in 2000. And 35 is bigger than 21 by enough that you'd expect everyone would see it. Indeed, it looks like a Himalayan peak coming out of the plain. And it begs the question, "Why didn't everybody see it?" And I think the answer to that is, "Everybody did see it." But agency risk or career risk is so profound, that even if you think the market is gloriously over-priced, you still have to get up and dance. Because if you sit down too quickly--
Forbes: Famous words of Mister Prince.
Grantham: If you sit down too quickly, you're likely to get yourself fired for being too conservative.
Forbes: You broke the barrier getting on the floor. Tough, tough thing to do. They did everything they could to keep you off. You've made mention that women have made great progress. But you don't see them on the, heading the trading desk. You don't see them head of the big houses. What is next for women on Wall Street?
Muriel Siebert (Muriel Siebert and Company CEO) : I think--
Forbes: What advice do you give to women?
Siebert: I tell them to come on in, there's great opportunity. They may not make No. 1, but you can't have that many No. 1s. But there's--
Forbes: Well, they could start a firm like you did.
Siebert: Well, I had to. Jerry Tsai gave me the idea. I asked Jerry where I could be paid equally because I was doing commissions based on my research. And the men were making twice as much as I was. And I said, "Jerry, what large firm can I go to and be paid equally?" And he said to me, "Don't be ridiculous. You won't. Buy a seat. Work for yourself." And I said, "Jerry, don't you be ridiculous." And he said, "I don't think there's a law against it." But the day I was sworn in, they gave everyone else that was sworn in that day a badge and a scroll, except Muriel Siebert. And there was a ladies room on the floor from the Korean War. But nobody told me about it for two and a half years. So I was going upstairs on the sixth floor. So, I won.
Forbes: Mickey, thank you for being with us.
Siebert: My pleasure, Steve.
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We believe it is imperative to exhibit the highest ethical standards — as a company and as individuals. Our aim is to be defined by a culture that reflects our core values.
In This Section
Waste Management was recently named to Ethisphere magazine's list of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" — the only company listed in the environmental services and equipment category. We realize that success in the long run relies upon a vibrant and diverse workforce performing at their very best for the company, as well as for the businesses and communities we serve.
- To create an environment where employees understand standards of ethical conduct and abide by those standards
- To allow employees to confidentially or anonymously communicate breaches in ethical or inclusive behavior without fear of retribution.
- To supply training to educate employees on Waste Management standards of and commitment to ethical conduct, diversity and inclusion.
- Ensure that every employee has a current and relevant Code of Conduct, titled "Focus on Integrity and Inclusion." The code outlines the company's core values of honesty, accountability, safety, professionalism, respect, inclusion, diversity, and employee empowerment and emphasizes the need for fair and honest business dealings in all aspects of the company's business, and provides general guidance.
- Operate an Integrity Help Line (1-800-265-9381 or Click Here to access the reporting portal) to assist employees who have questions about a business issue or wish to report a suspected violation. This multilingual, confidential and/or anonymous toll-free service is available to all employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.
- Comply proactively with all EEO and OFCCP regulations
For more information contact us via:
Email: Ethics and Diversity


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Design a Logo
Orçamento $50-80 USD
Buenas noches, el nombre de de la marca es Idees (catalán) (ideas en ingles), el eslogan sera "Inspiración para tu hogar" venderemos principalmente: sabanas, colchas, blancos y artículos de decoración para el hogar. Me gustaría algo elegante y fino.
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weather for Mexia
One of the prime indicators we use to judge American economic health is the U.S. stock market. By stock standards, 2013 was a banner year, seeing a 26 percent annual gain and finishing at a record mark of 16,576.
Do you feel the economy is off and running again? Are your pockets overstuffed with cash? In most of the country – where we don't spend all day trading stocks on Wall Street – we missed out on that historic success.
Corporate America dodged the New Years hangover with a very profitable year in 2013. Walmart saw profits rise 10 percent to $16 billion. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer pocketed $17 billion, and Apple led the top 10 with $46 billion in profit. Among the top 10 were two oil companies, two banks and three computer/software companies. Among them, they earned roughly $240 billion in profits last year.
By MIKe Eddleman
Editor and Publisher
I don't care what inspired Miley Cyrus' hair. I don't care to see Kim Kardashian's latest "selfie" or how treacherous Kanye West believes his stage show can be. I don't care who is pregnant on "Teen Mom," "Teen Mom 2" or "16 and Pregnant."
When Justin Bieber wipes out on a skateboard, it is not headline news. Is it important to us to know who the best celebrity dog parents were in 2013?
Before the age of mass media we had a pretty clear definition of news. Today everything is treated like news and we blur the lines of what holds significance in our world. We believe in the United States that we are well-informed, educated consumers of news, but I am not always so sure. It all depends on how we define "news" today.
I wanted to give a big shout out to the parents, grandparents and guardians in our community! Because of your cooperation in having your children ready to be picked up by the bus each morning, you assist our drivers in having them at school on time to eat breakfast and be in their classes on time! Thank you so much for your cooperation. I further want to thank you for talking with your children about bus safety rules and the importance of these rules to ensure their safety and being respectful to the bus driver and their procedures in getting them to and from school. On behalf of the Mexia ISD transportation department we want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful and safe New Year! If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call, email or fax me. I will be more than happy to answer any concerns. Again, thanks for your support!
Alvis Minter
Mexia ISD Director,
Transportation, Custodial and Maintenance
It is that time of year when we all toy with the idea of New Years resolutions.
Will we resolve to diet and exercise more, stop smoking, save money, work harder or call home more often?
Resolutions are as plentiful as the people who make them and often fade as we settle into the grind of the new year. Perhaps, though, we do not give ourselves enough opportunity to succeed with these plans to better ourselves. If for months we have done nothing to curb our sweet tooth and chosen not to exercise at all, then a new diet void of cake, cookies, fried food and soft drinks and a strict workout regimen seem awfully unrealistic.
We are a goal-oriented society, and without specific milestones to reach we often flounder, but if we simplified our plans we might find more success every day. What if your goal was better your life every day?
Slowing down to be thankful for all the good in our lives is something far too often left out of our busy schedules.
This time of year we are best at being thankful, though, by reminding friends and family what they mean to us. We display our gratitude for the good things in life and the strength to manage the challenges and pitfalls during the holidays better than at any other time.
But it is important we do not stop with words of thanks, but mix in the deeds of giving that share our good fortune with others. We must remember that it is the giving spirit that best shows our thanks.
Both Michael Morton, convicted in 1987 of murdering his wife, and Ken Anderson, the district judge and former district attorney that prosecuted Morton, will be enjoying the holidays at home with their families.
The travesty here is that Morton does so after being wrongfully convicted of murder and spending 25 years of his life in prison. Anderson is home following a 10-day sentence for contempt of court.
Our judicial system should be embarrassed that it can dole out a life sentence to an innocent man then turn around decades later and send the man found guilty of withholding evidence in the case to jail for a little over a week.
Tuesday marks the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln's historic speech at the dedication of the national cemetery established to honor those killed at the battle of Gettysburg.
It was in the midst of a time the United States was struggling over many issues, slavery among them.
Slavery was not an American phenomenon, but a tragic circumstance of humanity dating back to our beginnings. Emancipation in the United States put us on the path to righting this wrong, but we should not turn a blind eye to the realities of slavery worldwide today.
It is estimated that 30 million people live in slavery today, primarily through indebtedness or international sex trade. If we stop for a moment and think about how inconceivable it is for us today to believe one person could have the right of ownership over another, we know this is a practice that can't be ignored and certainly never tolerated.
By Mike Eddleman
Have you ever heard yourself sing? I don't mean hearing yourself in real time as you sing along at the top of your lungs to your favorite tunes. I mean going through that emotional meat grinder of being faced with the evidence of your special brand of musical butchering.
If you haven't, I suggest you do, as it is very revealing. It is also humbling, painful and, if you are really lucky like me, it will be so bad not even you could take it seriously enough to keep a straight face.
I believe we make two key mistakes in communicating. The first is we do not listen to what other people have to say. The second, which I believe to be more problematic and ties directly into the concept of listening to our own singing voices, is we don't listen to what we ourselves have to say.
"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
George Bernard Shaw could have never dreamed that this quote could say much more than the 14 words he took to say them. Communication is the beginning and the end of many great relationships. Shaw, however, never knew that communication would grow the lengths that it has today.
Texans have the opportunity to consider nine amendments to the Texas Constitution Tuesday, Nov. 5.
The nine amendments cover a variety of topics from reverse mortgages to eliminating an already-obsolete State Medical Education Fund.
The key ballot issue, though, is Proposition 6, which would add funding and new financing options for future state water planning.
The amendment would allow the state to take $2 billion from the Rainy Day fund for water projects. It would also establish two new funds separate from the state's general fund to finance future water projects. The Rainy Day Fund is currently estimated to be at $8 billion.
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|Kirsten's Viewer, Popular Third Party SL Viewer, Becomes Crowdfunded Project - Here's Why You Should Invest
|Geschrieben von: SLHamlet
|Montag, den 17. Oktober 2011 um 20:36 Uhr
Click here to visit the Crowdfunder page of Kirsten's Viewer, the popular third party Second Life viewer. Crowdfunder is a UK-based funding site, similar to Kickstarter in the US. As I noted last month, Kirsten's Viewer developer Lee Quick (Kirstenlee...
Weiterlesen: New World Notes


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Customer Service available Mon - Fri 9am to 6pm EST
Carmen Margarita Zapata (born July 15, 1927) is an American actress. Zapata was born in New York City to a Mexican father and an Argentine mother. She has been in over one hundred movies and shows, including Batman: The Animated Series, Married... with Children, Sister Act, and she was Carmen Castillo in Santa Barbara. One of her longest-running roles was on the bilingual children's program Villa Alegre, where for nine years she played lead character "Doña Luz." In 1972, Zapata co-founded the Screen Actors Guild Ethnic Minority Committee with actors Ricardo Montalban, Edith Diaz and Henry Darrow. Additionally, she founded The Bilingual Foundation of the Arts (BFA) was founded in 1973 with Cuban-born actress, playwright, and director Margarita Galban, and Argentine-born, award-winning set designer Estela Scarlata. Her Lorca traslations are some of the most celebrated.
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- By Kory Kinslow
The Uconn Huskies won the NCAA Championship of Men's Basketball tonight by defeating the Kentucky Wildcats by a narrow margin. Uconn came out of the gates strong and while Kentucky made run after run, the Huskies proved to be more experienced and mentally tougher. The game really came down to the inability of Kentucky to make free-throws. It could have simply been nerves. Randle did not play his best game, but I felt that Young showed that he too, will be a major factor in the NBA in the future and I'm sure in the draft this summer.
Uconn rolled over Florida in their way to the Championship game. The Huskies were simply more talented. Florida went most of the season on physical ability, but ran into a freight train with Napier and the Uconn back court. Florida proved the toughness of the SEC throughout the tournament. They won each game by will and determination. They simply didn't have the fire power to keep up with Uconn in the Semi-final.
Kentucky's version of the "Fab 5" had a great tournament run in the NCAA and SEC tournaments. They played hard and showed their talent at times. They are Freshman and played like it. The free-throws that they missed and some inopportune fouls simply did them in. They proved, though, that Calipari's coaching and recruiting will keep Kentucky a top the basketball world for years to come.
The performance that they, Florida, and even Tennessee put on made the SEC look very good and the fact that there were so many SEC teams in the NIT, and only one of them did not win a game proves that the SEC will be on the rise next year and in the future. I think that the SEC will get much more respect next year. Congrats to Kentucky and Florida for great tournament runs and let's look forward to more than a meager three teams in the tourney next year.
We'd love to hear your comments and/or opinions. If you submit them here, other visitors can read them, rate them and comment on them. An e-mail address is not required.
SEC Falls to Uconn Twice in Tournament, but Proves the Conference Stronger than Thought to SEC Basketball
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The property located at 1832 King Edward Street is comprised of three single-storey industrial buildings with approximately 73,819 square feet of leasable space. The buildings were originally constructed between 1977 and 1979 and are located in Winnipeg's St. James Industrial Park, in close proximity to major trucking routes in the area as well as the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport.


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#1 Ranked Children's Hospital by U.S. News & World Report
MyPatients provides referring primary care providers with secure access to their patients' information.
Boston Children's has launched the world's 1st program dedicated to offering hand transplants to children who qualify.
Innovation insider is a semi-monthly e-newsletter analyzes innovations at Boston Children's, other academic medical centers and from industry.
Read the latest blog by a Boston Children's doctor, clinician or staff member.
There are many ways you can help children and their families get the care they need.
Many kids (and adults, too) are afraid of the same things that children with phobias fear. But the difference between a "normal" fear and a phobia is the degree of anxiety involved, and the length of time that a high level of anxiety persists. A child with a phobia has a high level of anxiety and dread—and even abject terror—when he comes into contact with the object of their phobia. If a child has a phobia, he experiences this level of fear for a period of six months or more.
What is a phobia?
A phobia is an extreme fear of something specific, such as:
Phobias create feelings of fear so intense that they disrupt the child's daily life and routine. They go far beyond the ordinary fears of childhood, and do not subside even with reassurance from parents or other caregivers.
Some common phobias in children include:
Many kids struggle with a specific fear of being physically separated from their parents or other family members. This is known as separation anxiety disorder (SAD).
Children with phobias might worry about the same subjects as children who don't have an anxiety disorder. The difference is that for a phobic child, there is no "on-off" switch for the fear: It's ever-present and so extreme that it interferes with her ability to relax, concentrate and enjoy activities.
What causes a phobia?
A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, a condition that activates the "fight or flight" response and creates feelings of imminent danger that are out of proportion to the reality of the situation. Kids can develop anxiety disorders for many reasons, including:
What types of phobias do children experience?
Children may experience specific phobia, panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) or social phobia.
Specific phobia
A child with specific phobia feels and exhibits intense fear of a particular person or type of person, place, object, activity, or situation.
Panic disorder
Panic disorder can develop at any age, though it most often emerges in adolescence or young adulthood. This disorder causes unexpected, unpredictable periods of intense fear and anxiety, often in response to "triggers" that may not be readily apparent.
Some children and adolescents experience panic disorder combined with agoraphobia, an intense fear of the outside world. In these cases, children are so terrified of encountering or experiencing the object of their fear that they feel unsafe anywhere but at home, and will resist venturing out for any reason.
Social phobia, also known as social anxiety disorder, is rare, estimated to occur in only 1.4 percent of children and adolescents. Symptoms typically emerge during early adolescence, but can develop in younger children, as well.
Children with social phobia experience intense fear of one or more social or performance situations. While specific fears may vary, at the root of any case of social phobia is the child's overwhelming dread of being humiliated.
Here are some Q & A about social phobia with Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich, MD, chief of Boston Children's Hospital's Psychopharmacology Clinic:
What are the typical features of social anxiety disorder?
Those with social anxiety disorders have an intense and persistent fear of situations in which they're exposed to unfamiliar people or scrutiny. In social situations, they're afraid that people are looking at them, and overestimate the chances that people are going to reject them or that they're going to be embarrassed. Exposure to these situations provokes anxiety responses like panic, freezing, blushing, tantrums, crying and clinging. People with social anxiety disorder tend to avoid these situations for obvious reasons. Over time, this gets in the way of social development and can become a real cost to them in terms of education, family functioning, employment and overall happiness.
How are children affected by social anxiety disorder?
The rate in children is thought to be 0.5 percent to 4 percent. In adolescents, it may be as high as 7 percent. It's not known why certain children are affected, but it's thought that it may be hereditary. Parents with panic disorder, for example, have a higher rate of children who have social anxiety disorder.
Read more.
What are the symptoms of a specific phobia?
Symptoms of specific phobia can include any or all of the following:
What are the symptoms of panic disorder?
The extreme fear and anxiety caused by panic disorder can manifest in such physical symptoms as:
Experiencing four or more of these symptoms in a single episode is referred to as a panic attack. While panic attack symptoms can last for several hours at a time, they usually peak and then subside after 10 minutes.
What are the symptoms of agoraphobia?
Children with agoraphobia will resist or outright refuse to leave home (or another place deemed "safe") for any reason.
What are the symptoms of social phobia?
Children with social phobia experience intense fear of one or more social or performance situations, including:
While specific fears may vary, at the root of any case of social phobia is the child's overwhelming dread of being humiliated. Children with social phobia:
feel extreme levels of anxiety while anticipating or experiencing a situation that may cause them embarrassment
usually will seek to avoid potentially embarrassing situations at any cost
often resort to drastic measures to avoid or escape these situations (for example, refusing to go to school on the day of a book report or feigning illness when invited to a social gathering)
Q: How common are phobias in children?
A: Up to 9.2 percent of children and adolescents are believed to experience some type of phobia.
Q: How can I tell if my child is experiencing a phobia or just going through a phase?
A: It's important to distinguish phobias from normal childhood fears, also known as transient fears, which are temporary.
Nearly all infants and toddlers go through phases of one or more of the following at some point:
Many kids struggle with a specific fear of being physically separated from their parents or other family members. This is known as separation anxiety disorder (SAD).
Similarly, most older children go through periods of fearing and worrying about:
However, your child may be suffering from a phobia, and not a transient fear, if she:
Q: How can I tell if my child is suffering from social phobia, or is just shy?
A: A shy child may feel uneasy when meeting new people or getting up in front of the class, but won't take extreme measures to avoid these situations and won't experience significant disruptions in their day-to-day lives.
By contrast, a child with social phobia has a degree of fear and anxiety so severe that it:
Q: Can I prevent my child from developing a phobia?
A: There's no known way to prevent phobias. However, you can make a significant difference for your child by being proactive and seeking the help of a trained clinician at the first sign of symptoms. The sooner you seek professional treatment, the better your child's chances of successfully overcoming the phobia.
Here's some advice from Gary Gosselin, MD, medical director of the Psychiatry Inpatient Service at Children's:
"The signs of anxiety in a child can be difficult to pinpoint because all children should have a certain amount of normal anxiety. Beyond basic fears of the dark or strangers, younger children are exquisitely sensitive to their caregivers and environments. A child's danger warning circuits signal them when things are unsafe. For example, the distress call of "Ma!" by the toddler unable to locate their mother quickly in an unfamiliar situation.
Absence of caregivers, neglect of basic emotional and physical needs and exposure to other stressful environments can push a child's anxiety response too far. This is not to say that a child from a perfectly happy environment is immune to anxiety. In anxiety disorders, warning circuits in the brain can be too sensitive, causing worry or fear responses in safe situations.
There are signs of anxiety difficulties that parents can notice when a child's fears seem out of proportion to reality and begin to interfere with life. Do they interfere with your child's ability to go to bed, get in the car or go to school? Is anxiety consistently undercutting your child's ability to function in social settings? School work and the social aspects of school can cause anxiety, especially when a child is being bullied." Read more.
Q: What is the long-term outlook for a child with a phobia?
A: Your child may continue to have some symptoms of fear and anxiety and have difficulty with treatment at times—but the majority of children with phobias see substantial improvement when treated with talk therapy or a combination of therapy and medication. By closely working with the treatment team, you can help your child go on to enjoy a fulfilling family, school and community life.
Boston Children's is so much more than a hospital—it's a community of researchers, clinicians, administrators, support staff, innovators, teachers, patients and families, all working together to make the impossible possible.


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Pedals by tone overdrive part 2
By KenBJammen on Jun 25, 2010 | In Reviews
Two days after ordering the pedal, it was right there on my doorstep. The pedal was packaged better than I would expect a Faberge egg packed. It was marked fragile everywhere! I wondered if I got the wrong package.
Well I opened up the package and found a well packed pedal double packed.
This is a real pretty pedal. The first thing I noticed it that this thing is LIGHT! Most boutique pedals this size have a little bit of weight to them. This was lighter even than a stock Boss pedal. This pedal is #7 (the seventh one made) in this style of pedals.
Follow up:
I opened the pedal up to see what was inside and to check to see if it shipped with a battery. This is what I saw when I removed the screw covers.
The only thing I noted with the construction is the LONG cable for the battery. Here is picture of the battery cable pulled to the side.
Now I am not a fan of using batteries, but according to what I can tell, the FET uses very little battery power and the battery should last 20-30 hours of play time (based on the level/drive the pedal is set at and the almost non existent pull a FET preamp pulls). I pulled the battery anyway and the tone samples that I will be posting later. The battery cord looks like it is something that could be a potential long life problem if it is not cared for properly. The long cord just seems like it could easily get pulled out, or screwed in the side of the casing when you put the back plate back on. This is the first effect I have seen with a long battery cord. I kind of know I am rambling, but this is the first thing about this pedal that I really don't like. I would recommend that you power this by an adapter to avoid problems with the battery cord.
Well, inside or out does not matter if the pedal does not perform as expected. I hate to make you all wait till next week for the final chapter(s) of this review, but I am going to make you wait! There will be several clips of this pedal through different tube amplifiers.
|« Pedals by tone overdrive part 3
|Pedals by tone overdrive part 1 »


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Earth : Europe : Balkans : Romania : Transylvania : Sibiu
Sibiu [11] is a town in southern Transylvania, Romania 282 km from Bucharest. The city's historical centre has been recently renovated in 2006 and looks spectacular.
Known in German as Hermannstadt and in Hungarian as Nagyszeben, Sibiu has always been the centre of Romania's German minority since medieval times. Even today, it contains Romania's largest German community, and due to initiatives by the local government, the Germanic feel of the area has been maintained. Sibiu also has a significant Hungarian minority, remnants of Transylvania's past as part of the Hungarian Empire and, later, Austria-Hungary. Despite this, Sibiu is also distinctly Romanian (95% of the population are ethnic Romanians) and manages to fuse these three cultures, as well as smaller minorities of Roma, Slovaks and Ukrainians into a city that is as wonderful as it is vibrant.
Today, Sibiu is one of Romania's cultural and tourism capitals, attracting tourists due to its wonderful medieval charm, excellent views of the surrounding landscapes, great food, and stunning parkland. Sibiu today is also doing excellently economically, having an income per capita higher than the Romanian average.
Much of the city has been reconstructed due to it being the European Capital of Culture in 2007 and has benefited greatly from the funds made available. The people in Sibiu are much more relaxed and friendly than in Bucharest, and much of the city is pedestrian-friendly. There are even bicycling facilities (a rarity in car obsessed Romania)!
Get in
By bus
Sibiu is well connected to Bucharest and Cluj Napoca. From Cluj Napoca there are buses almost every hour, provided by Dacos, Fany and Transmixt, taking around 3.5 h. The buses are smooth-running, very comfortable and cheap.
By train
Despite Sibiu's location in the centre of the Romania, it is quite a lot harder to get here than to other cities like Brasov and Cluj-Napoca, mainly due to Sibiu's location outside the main railway line which joins Bucharest to Hungary and beyond. However, train remains the easiest, cheapest and most comfortable way to get here. Remember, though, that from Bucharest, there are just two trains daily to Sibiu (one in the morning, one in the night). Also, Sibiu is one of the only cities of Romania not served by the modern and snazzy InterCity network from Bucharest, even though there are InterCity trains from Cluj Napoca.
From Bucharest, the train most tourists take is the day train A 1621 which leaves Bucharest North at 10:30AM and arrives at Sibiu at 17:31, nearly 7 hours later and stopping at most towns along the way. The train is pretty uncomfortable and crowded- hopefully, however, CFR Romanian Railways will soon introduce InterCity trains on this route.
Coming from Cluj Napoca, the main city of Transylvania, is a much better opportunity to get to Sibiu. In fact, many tourists do just that, as part of their Transylvanian tour. From Cluj Napoca, there are two fairly-convenient trains a day, one at 5:41AM and one at 2:57PM, taking around 3.5 h. The trains are smooth-running and very comfortable.
The train schedule changes every summer and winter so it is better to check it online. [12]
By plane
If you're not coming to Sibiu from another Romanian town, plane is an excellent option, as there are direct connections to Sibiu International Airport [13] from many European cities, especially those in Germany and Italy.
Carpatair [14], Transylvania's largest airline, offers daily connections to Munich, Bergamo and Treviso, and connections three times a week to Bologna, Verona, Rome and Stuttgart.
TAROM [15], Romania's national carrier, as well as LUFTHANSA [16] flies five times a week from Sibiu to Munich and also five times a week to Vienna. For those with money to splurge, there are also flights three times a week to Bucharest, even though you're better off taking the train if you're coming from inside Romania. There are frequent specials, though, so look at the TAROM website before deciding one way or the other.
Blue Air [17], direct low cost flights to Cologne, Stuttgart and Madrid.
Get around
Sibiu, a city of 170,000 people, seems quite large for its population, even though most tourists won't have to venture outside the conveniently-walkable city central area. In fact, try to walk as much as you can, as only in this way can you sample Sibiu's more remote gems, hidden behind lanes in the middle of the city and crooked, cobbled alleys taking you a step back in history.
If you need a guide to take you on a private and personalized tour of the city and the surroundings ask at Casa Luxembourg and they will recommend reliable people. Bike rentals are available also from the info centre at Casa Luxembourg.
Public transport
If you do need to venture outside the medieval city limits, the local public transport operator TurSib [18] offers reliable services. These services may be useful if you're staying in hotels, pensions or homestays outside the city centre or would like to visit some of the wonderful villages surrounding Sibiu, for a taste of Romanian country life and stunning Transylvanian scenery.
During both visits to Sibiu I always enquired beforehand the price of the journey from the taxi driver. In this way rather than renting a car I could agree on a price and have the driver run me to the place I desired, some distance out of town, wait for me for about half an hour, with the mete off and start the meter again on the return journey. In this win-win situation I had the taxi at my beck and call, and the taxi firm saved on petrol from having the taxi get back empty to the city and being called again to the outlaying village. At times I was lucky in having the hotel reception finding me a taxi driver who could speak English. In particular I found one of German descent who was very courteous, knowledgeable and found him agreeable. He was a fast but safe driver, unlike another one who even had the cheek to bring along his girlfriend at one time! So be warned, they come in all sorts.
Cars can be rented from the following operators:
Many small tourism agencies also intermediate for renting cars. You can find such agencies scattered throughout the city centre.
T-shirts and other souvenirs from Casa Luxemburg located in the Piata Mica.
In addition, there are tons of great souvenir shops around the old town if you wander around. There is a House of the Arts in the Piata Mica. It is a huge building right beside the Liar's Bridge and it has all of the traditional Romanian crafts you could want.
In the old town there are many restaurants, fast foods and cafes where tourists and locals can enjoy not only good food from the local and international cuisine but also good music and cosy atmosphere. The Small Square (Piata Mica) became in the last few years the best place to go out in Sibiu because of the big range of restaurants, cafes and pubs which also have terraces during the summer. The quality of restaurants and the service delivered is also generally higher in the Small Square as it is more for the locals.
When staying in Sibiu you should try the local dish "Ciorbă", a sour soup which has different variants with meatballs and/or vegetables.
The food and drink available in Sibiu is of a higher standard generally than the equivalent restaurant in Bucharest and is cheap by Western European standards, though prices are comparable to Bucharest. You could expect to have a good meal for two people with drinks and 2 courses for around €25 total.
A local speciality is a "meter" of beer served in pubs.
Get out


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FRISCO, Texas -- The Revolution found another way to lose an MLS Cup yesterday. They took the lead in the 113th minute on a Taylor Twellman goal, then surrendered the tying goal off the restart and fell to the Houston Dynamo on penalty kicks, 4-3, after a 1-1 tie, their third losing performance in the final in five years.
"The ball was in our court, we had seven minutes to defend and we lost track for 12 seconds and gave up a goal," Twellman said. "We have lost in every possible way in the final. Hopefully, we will have one more try, because it can't happen any other way. It's tough right now and this is going to sting for a while. I hope we can come back but you never know."
Twellman converted the first Revolution goal in 346 minutes of MLS final play, the team having overachieved in 2002 and underachieved in 2005 in 1-0 overtime losses to Los Angeles. This time, the Revolution seemed to have enough momentum and were able to control possession enough to have the edge over the Dynamo. And after Twellman scored on a left-foot shot from 16 yards, following a Khano Smith run on the left wing, the Revolution appeared in control in the eighth minute of the second session of extra time.
Twellman and several teammates ran 100 yards toward the opposite corner of Pizza Hut Park, where the Revolution lost last year's final, to acknowledge the cheers of a section of New England fans, then set up for the kickoff. The Dynamo, who won the 2001 and '03 MLS Cups as the San Jose Earthquakes, tied the score just after the kickoff, 71 seconds after Twellman's goal.
The tying score was set up by a Brian Mullan cross from the right that deflected off Avery John. Brian Ching snuck between Jay Heaps and Michael Parkhurst before heading inside the left post.
"The key was we lose a goal after we scored," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "We expect us to be solid, they get a deflection and a great header. It wasn't a great ball. But when you score so late in the game the one thing you expect is to be solid and tight."
After 120 minutes of play, Houston won the penalty kick shootout as Pat Onstad stopped Heaps's low, slow-rolling shot in the fifth round. The Revolution's Pat Noonan sent a penalty off the top of the crossbar in the third round but Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis saved Brad Davis's shot in the fourth. Ching converted the next Houston kick, sending the shot into the right side of the net, and Heaps was stopped.
"Unfortunately for Heapsy, he didn't strike his as well and the goalkeeper saved it," Nicol said.
Clint Dempsey (ankle), who entered the game as a second-half substitute, and Steve Ralston (groin) were not among the top five Revolution penalty-takers because of injury, Nicol said.
The Revolution struggled in the opening minutes, sending the opening kickoff over the end line. Houston nearly capitalized after the goal kick as Davis hit the left post off a cross from Mullan. Houston's best first-half opportunity by Mullan went high (20th minute) and Twellman's header (25th) was saved by Onstad following a quick-strike buildup involving Heaps, Ralston, Twellman, Andy Dorman, and a Joe Franchino cross.
The Dynamo, who started the game in a 4-4-2 setup, began struggling to gain possession and switched formations to match the Revolution's 3-5-2 later in the first half. Yet, the Revolution had the best of play after halftime.
Reis stopped a point-blank Wade Barrett shot at the back post after Ching whiffed on a Mullan cross (66th minute). Dempsey barely missed a Noonan cross (71st) from the edge of the goal area, defender Craig Waibel clearing. The Revolution continued to pressure through regulation time, Ching clearing in the goal area off a Heaps header (86th).
The Dynamo sent every player into defense, dropping Ching and substitute striker Alejandro Moreno into the penalty area to contend corners and only selectively counterattacking. Houston's only serious threats in extra time before the tying goal were an advance by Moreno that was halted (93d) by Parkhurst and a long drive by Dwayne De Rosario deflected by Shalrie Joseph (108th).
Meanwhile, the Revolution went on the attack, playing through Daniel Hernandez and Joseph in midfield and adding Smith (53d) and Dempsey (62d) in place of Franchino and Dorman. Barrett headed a Dempsey header off the goal line (98th). And Revolution pressure led to cautions issued by referee Jair Marrufo to Ryan Cochrane (99th) for a foul on Dempsey and Waibel (103d) for taking down Smith.
Smith set up the first goal by going past Mullan and running 50 yards with the ball, then laying off for Twellman near the top of the penalty area, Twellman sending a left-foot shot to the far side of the net. Less than two minutes later, though, the game was tied again.
"Houston had the wind and we obviously knew they were going to come at us," Twellman said. "It was a fluke goal and you know it's not your day when that happens. After 120 minutes of pure running, it's a crappy way to lose a game and a crappy way to win. You want to either win or lose on a normal goal."


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Obama vs. Romney: Final Presidential Debate (Live Blog)
Moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS News, the topic of the final clash between the candidates is foreign policy.
It all comes down to this.
Well, not really -- election day is not for another two weeks -- but tonight's debate in at Lynn University in Florida will be the last chance that President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney will have to go head-to-head and address each other directly.
The debate is of the utmost important for Obama; after a drubbing in the first debate three weeks ago in Denver, he lost his entire lead to the GOP nominee in general election polls (in some places, falling behind), and it took a strong performance last week to simply stop the bleeding. The two are now tied, trading statistically insignificant leads in national surveys.
Foreign policy has largely been a back burner issue in this campaign, in large part because there are fewer differences between the candidates on the issues within. Obama, who authorized the "surge" in Afghanistan, has pledged to remove all troops from that country by 2014.
Romney largely agrees with that timetable, though he wants more flexibility to keep forces there. The GOP standard bearer is advocating a hard line against Iran and its nuclear program, calling Obama weak on that issue and the defense of Israel; Obama will point to joint military exercises the US is performing with the Jewish state at this very moment. The NY Times reported that the US was going to enter into one-on-one talks with Iran about its nuclear development, though the administration denied the report.
On the issue of Libya, Romney may look to blame Obama for attacks in Benghazi that killed four Americans, but new CIA reports may undercut his message; in the last debate, Romney insisted that Obama hadn't called it an act of terror, and said it was perpetrated by al Qaeda, but it turns out that it may well have been in response to that amateur Innocence of Muslims film after all.
ROMNEY: "America is going to come back, and for that to happen, we're going to have to have a president who can work across the aisle."by Matthew Keys via twitter 10/23/2012 2:33:00 AM
Romney: I'll get us on track to a balanced budget. I'll get people back to work with 12M new jobs. America is going to come back. #debatesby politico via twitter 10/23/2012 2:33:03 AM
SCHIEFFER, quoting his mother: "Go vote, it makes you feel big and strong." #debatesby Matthew Keys via twitter 10/23/2012 2:34:08 AM
I leave you Twitter with the words of my mom: "Turn down your damn music Andrew."by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:34:58 AM
Schieffer closes debate with the words of his Mom, who said, "Go vote. It makes you feel big and strong." #debatesby politico via twitter 10/23/2012 2:34:59 AM
If someone can show me where Romney ever said he supported govt loans to Detroit PRE-bankruptcy i would appreciate it.by Sam Stein via twitter 10/23/2012 2:35:35 AM
Yeah not bad. RT @guypbenson: Agreed. RT @ezraklein: Schieffer did an excellent job, I thought.by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:36:19 AM
"If you're scoring this like a boxing match, Obama…landed more punches." -CBS's Norah O'Donnell. #debatesby Matthew Keys via twitter 10/23/2012 2:36:54 AM
Obama and Tagg.by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:36:59 AM
When do they leave the stage. They're not Bruce Springsteen.by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:37:49 AM
RT @philipaklein: Loser of the debate: George Bush's foreign policy posture circa 2004.by Sam Stein via twitter 10/23/2012 2:39:01 AM
#POLITICOLIVE post-debate analysis with John Harris,@JimVandeHei, @mikeallen starts now: politico.comby politico via twitter 10/23/2012 2:39:22 AM
RT @RameshPonnuru: David Gergen on Romney: "He passed the commander-in-chief test."by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:40:05 AM
You just got Tagg'd! p.twimg.comby Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:40:54 AM
Let's try this link again. VIDEO: Obama snarky in last debate
www.politico.comby politico via twitter 10/23/2012 2:41:01 AM
Humblebrag: @ReutersPolitics passed 20,000 followers during tonight's presidential debate. #debatesby Matthew Keys via twitter 10/23/2012 2:42:07 AM
Twitter: 6.5 million tweets during tonight's presidential debate. #debatesby Matthew Keys via twitter 10/23/2012 2:42:34 AM
Romney supported government help for the autos AFTER they went through managed bankruptcy. not before. it's very clear.by Sam Stein via twitter 10/23/2012 2:42:35 AM
Twitter: Peak tweets at 105,767 tweets per minute during Obama's "horses and bayonets" moment. #debatesby Matthew Keys via twitter 10/23/2012 2:43:11 AM
Twitter says 6.5 million Tweets tonight.by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:43:30 AM
RT @ezraklein: Glenn Kessler fact checks the auto bailout argument, says "Obama has the edge": www.washingtonpost.comby Sam Stein via twitter 10/23/2012 2:43:58 AM
MSNBC is like an Obama infomercial right now.by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:44:02 AM
Twitter says "we also have fewer horses and bayonets" was high tweet moment go the debate. 105K tweets sent per minute.by Andrew Kaczynski via twitter 10/23/2012 2:45:00 AM
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In This Week's Magazine
- 'Game Of Thrones' Star Michelle Fairley Just Crushed Our Lady Stoneheart Dreams
- In Commemoration of the 5-Year Anniversary of Michael Jackson's Death, Here Are 20 Interesting Facts About MJ You Didn't Know
- Adam Levine Knows You Think He's A Douchebag
- Russell Brand Calls Fox News A 'Fanatical Terrorist Propagandist Organization'


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CULTURAL STUDIES; Can a Mom Get A Break?
By JANICE MIN
Published: August 19, 2012
SOMEHOW, my local manicure ladies always feel inclined to turn my $35 finger-and-toe sessions into a barrage of myriad personal questions. In halting English, they will pepper me with, ''How old are you?'' ''Where you born?'' ''How much you make?'' ''What your husband do?''And then more recently, ''When your baby due?''
First, I'm irked. Then embarrassed. And then when I answer, ''Actually, I just had a baby,'' I am met with blank stares. As if there is no other possible explanation for why all the other moms sitting at the salon in their Lululemon are sporting Pilates-hewn six packs, and I look like I've hidden one of those Heineken mini-kegs under my T-shirt.
The reason being is that I pushed out a 6-pound-10-ounce baby girl nearly four months ago. And I'm 42 to boot. Can't I get a free pass?
But this is Los Angeles, where kale is the official food, zero (as in size) is every woman's lucky number, and fat is something actors only wear in fake suits for ''funny'' roles.
So from this land of all-things-ersatz, from breasts to reality TV, has arisen another irresistible illusion: the Momshell (mother-as-bombshell). And she makes no allowances for my maternal paunch.
There, in the stacks of periodicals at the nail salon, these genetic aberrations smile at us from celebrity magazines, or from our computer screens, wearing bikinis on the beach in Cabo weeks after Caesarean sections, or going straight from recovery room to Victoria's Secret runway. Shortly before Mother's Day this year, People magazine anointed Beyonc?s ''World's Most Beautiful Woman'' with a cover line ''Back After Baby!''
You see, in today's celebrity narrative, just two kinds of desirable maternal female physiques exist: the adorable gestating one (with bellies called ''bumps'') and its follow-up, the body that boomerangs back from birth possibly even better than before. Me? I'm currently stranded on an island like the one on ''Lost,'' only this one is inhabited exclusively by still-pudgy moms struggling to find their way back.
I am partly to blame for my own physical netherworld. As the editor of Us Weekly, covering the Suris and Shilohs of Hollywood for six years, I delivered what the young female audience wanted: cute moms and babies. So much so that Tom Wolfe once remarked, ''The one thing that Us Weekly has done that's a great boost to the nation is, they've probably increased the birthrate.''
When the infant-industrial complex took hold during the economic boom of the aughts (around the time every mom in SoHo suddenly had a status symbol Bugaboo), the Olympian efforts that star moms from Gwyneth Paltrow to Gisele B?hen employed to get thin again seemed just Hollywood spectacle; their sideshow, not ours. Weight loss was female entertainment.
But in the same way that gray hair went from natural to unacceptable in part because of Clairol's relentless marketing in the 1960s, ubiquitous imaging of ''sexy'' moms has rewired society's expectations. Tropical cultures have no native words for ''snow''; ours used to be devoid of words to describe a sexual or sexy mother. Now, we have terms like ''yummy mummy'' and ''cougar.''
On TV, June Cleaver and Roseanne have been replaced by Sofia Vergara's Gloria on ''Modern Family,'' Courteney Cox on ''Cougar Town'' and cocktail-swilling, Botox-frozen ''Real Housewives.'' At school drop-off, sweat pants have been banished, as Balenciaga bags and blowouts make every day seem like mommy dress-up. (Yes, I like to look nice, too, but there are only so many tricks I can pull off before 7:30 while packing lunchboxes.)
Lately, though, signs are showing that this 1 percent of lucky mothers with the time, money and good genes to be skinny in their skinny jeans have informed our judgment of the other 99 in a sort of trickle-down mean-girls effect. Shortly after People magazine put Beyonc?n its cover this year, TMZ ran photos of the actress Bryce Dallas Howard with her 4-month-old daughter, Beatrice, for no reason -- except, perhaps, to let commenters verbally stone her.
''Her next role is Mama Cass,'' said one. Said another, ''1 word=LAXATIVES!!! STAT!!!'' In total, the post about a respected actress, who had earlier poignantly written about her postpartum depression and 80-pound gain from her first pregnancy, racked up 297 comments (and counting).
Jessica Simpson, whose 70-pound gain during her recent pregnancy hasn't quite reversed course, also is in the eye of a schadenfreude storm. Last month, she said, ''After you have your baby, it's like, 'Oh, my God, what happened to my body?' ''
The Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai, six months after giving birth, was featured in a much-viewed YouTube video entitled ''Shocking! Fat Aishwarya Rai!'' that juxtaposed before-and-after photos against the sounds of an elephant (some news media blamed ''Western values'' for the uncivilized pile-on).
Even the actress Hilary Duff discovered that her Twitter account was brimming with nasty remarks after she gave birth in the spring. ''I read comments on my Twitter page about how I'm waddling into Pilates and I go: 'Wow, that's a really mean thing to say. I just had a baby three weeks ago!,'' she said.


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If you've been anywhere around the web for the past few weeks, I'm sure that you're aware that the George Lucas-produced film Red Tails almost didn't happen. Mr. Lucas himself even said that Hollywood studios were leery of funding the film because of it's all black cast. Of course, that was a slap in the face to many, but it's not too hard to believe.
It's important to see diverse pictures of all people, so it's important that you support Red Tails. The story is a piece of American history that we all should be proud of. Check the trailer below, and see it at your local theater this weekend.
Related articles
- George Lucas: 'I'm Retiring' (news.moviefone.com)