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Patent application title: Sugar Cane Loader Equipped With C-Shaped Chain Piler And Multiple Rails For Guiding Grab During Loading
Michael Lynn Hinds (Thibodaux, LA, US)
IPC8 Class: AB65G5711FI
USPC Class:
Class name: Material or article handling hay stack shapers
Publication date: 2008-08-21
Patent application number: 20080199280
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Patent application title: Sugar Cane Loader Equipped With C-Shaped Chain Piler And Multiple Rails For Guiding Grab During Loading
Michael Lynn Hinds
W. Michael Dixon;Patent Department
Origin: MOLINE, IL US
IPC8 Class: AB65G5711FI
USPC Class:
A sugar cane loader is provided with a C-shaped chain piler including a
grab pocket flanked by a pair of guide rails and including a third guide
rail located at a central lower region of the grab pocket. The shape of
the chain piler is such as to increase the movement of the stalks for
better cleaning during piling, while the guide rails cause the grab to be
moved forward during loading such that the cane stalks are moved ahead of
tines projecting from the piler chains so that the tines and/or chains
are not damaged when the loaded grab is lifted.
1. In a mobile wholestalk sugar cane loader including a main frame, a
chain piler assembly supported at a forward region of said main frame and
including a pair of transversely spaced piler devices spaced from each
other to define a forwardly opening piler pocket and each pile device
including a chain support structure which carriers at least one set of
vertically spaced, upper and lower sprockets about which a roller chain,
formed into a loop, is trained, with the chain having a conveyor teeth
projecting from spaced locations along said loop and with the piler
assembly creating piles of cut sugar cane stalks in front of said piler
pocket as the loader moves forwardly along a windrow of cane stalks, and
a boom assembly coupled between said main frame and a grab assembly
having first and second grab tines to which are coupled a grab cylinder
arrangement for selectively opening and closing said tines, with said
boom assembly being operable for disposing first and second tines of said
grab assembly in fore-and-aft alignment with each other and with said
piler pocket and for lowering said grab assembly such that said first
tine enters said piler pocket, the improvement comprising: each said
piler chain support structure supporting said at least one chain so that
at least a forward run of said chain loop has a forwardly facing, curved
profile; said piler pocket having a back side containing a guide rail
arrangement; and said first tine, as considered when said grab assembly
is disposed with said first and second grab tines in fore-and-aft
alignment with each other and with said piler pocket, having a back side
provided with a contact surface arrangement so configured relative to
said guide rail arrangement that lowering of said grab assembly into said
piler pocket results in said grab assembly undergoing increasing rearward
rotation as the grab assembly is lowered, and finally causes forward
movement of said grab assembly until said first grab tine displaces cane
stalks forwardly from said conveyor teeth, whereby said grab assembly may
be lifted while loaded with cane stalks without causing damage to either
said chain or said teeth.
2. The loader, as defined in claim 1, wherein said guide rail arrangement includes a middle guide rail and first and second outer guide rails located behind, and spaced from opposite sides of, said middle guide rail; and said first grab tine having a lower bifurcated section defining a pair of lower tine segments having a free space between them which permits the middle guide rail to pass freely between the lower tine segments when the grab is lowered into said piler pocket; and said contact surface arrangement including first and second contact surfaces respectively located at lower rear locations of said pair of lower tine segments so as to come into contact with said first and second guide rails when said first grab tine is lowered into said piler pocket; and said contact surface arrangement further including a third contact surface located for contacting said third guide rail when said grab assembly is lowered an additional amount after initial contact between said first and second contact surfaces and said first and second guide rails, with said first and second guide rails being shaped to cause said rearward rotation of said grab assembly, and with said third guide rail being shaped to cause rearward rotation of, and said forward movement of, said grab assembly.
3. The loader, as defined in claim 2, wherein said first and second guide rails extend downwardly and forwardly to respective lower ends which are spaced above the ground when the piler arrangement is in ground engagement.
4. The loader, as defined in claim 2, wherein said third guide rail is inclined downwardly and forwardly to a lower end region having a forward extend approximately equal to that of located approximately at a forward surface of said chain support structures.
5. The loaded, as defined in claim 2, wherein said middle guide rail has a horizontal lower end which acts as a stop preventing further lowering of said grab assembly once said third contact surface comes into engagement with said horizontal lower end, said first tine being held above ground level when said third contact surface is engaged with said horizontal lower end of said middle guide rail.
6. The loader, as defined in claim 2, wherein said piler assembly further includes a push lifter located centrally in said piler pocket; said push lifter including a vertical plate structure having a leading edge including lower and central upwardly and rearwardly inclined sections joined by a horizontal section; said leading edge defining said middle guide rail, and said first and second guide rails being fixed to opposite sides of said vertical plate structure.
7. The loader, as defined in claim 6, wherein said horizontal section is spaced above ground level such that, when said middle contact surface is in engagement with said horizontal section, a lower send of said first tine is also elevated above ground level.
8. The loader, as defined in claim 2 wherein first and second rollers respectively define said first and second contact surfaces, and a third roller defines said third contact surface.
9. The loader, as defined in claim 1, wherein each chain support structure includes a leading edge disposed forwardly of said forward run of the piler chain carried by the support structure; and said teeth projecting forwardly from said forward run and beyond said leading edge.
[0001]The present invention relates to sugar cane loaders, and more specifically, related to grab and piler arrangements for such loaders.
[0002]In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/581,858, filed Oct. 17, 2006, a combined piler and grab structure is described for causing the grab to be rotated to the rear as it is being lowered into the piler pocket. It has been found that when using such a grab with a chain piler that is uniquely curved so as to be substantially C-shaped, as viewed from the side, the grab tines tend to pinch cane stalks against teeth projecting from the piler chains located at opposite sides of the piler pocket, resulting in damage to the teeth and/or chain when the grab is lifted after closing the grab tines into gripping engagement with the piled cane stalks.
[0003]The focus of the invention is to construct the chain piler and grab of the loader so as to avoid damage to the piler chains and teeth.
[0004]According to the present invention, there is provided a loader including an improved combined chain piler and grab arrangement.
[0005]An object of the invention is to provide a chain piler arrangement and grab arrangement wherein the grab is caused to be moved forwardly as it is moved down into the piler pocket so as to cause cane stalks to be freed from contact with the cane conveyor teeth carried by the piler chains prior to the grab tines being closed about a pile of cane existing at the forward side of the piler. This object is accomplished by providing the rear of the rear grab tine with an abutment surface arrangement, and the rear region of the piler pocket with a guide rail arrangement which cooperates with the abutment surface arrangement when the rear grab tine is lowered into the piler pocket so as to cause the grab to be guided forwardly.
[0006]This and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the ensuring description together with the appended drawings.
[0007]FIG. 1 is a right side view of a sugar cane loader equipment with a grab and chain piler arrangement constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
[0008]FIG. 2 is a left rear perspective exploded view of the grab shown in FIG. 1, but omitting the hydraulic grab cylinder.
[0009]FIG. 3 is an enlarged right side view of the chain piler assembly shown in FIG. 1.
[0010]FIG. 4 is a front view of the chain piler assembly shown in FIG. 2.
[0011]FIG. 5 is a left front perspective view of the chain piler assembly shown in FIG. 4, but omitting the piler chains and the right- and left-hand end push lifters.
[0012]FIGS. 6-11 are views like FIG. 1, but showing a progression of positions of the grab as it is lowered into the piler pocket during positioning for engaging and picking up piled sugar cane stalks.
[0013]Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a sugar cane loader 10 including a loader boom arrangement 30, a grab arrangement 50 and a chain piler arrangement 70.
[0014]The sugar cane loader includes a main frame 12 supported on front and rear pairs of drive wheels 14 and 16, respectively, with the rear wheels 16 being steerable, in a well known manner (not shown). Power for diving he wheels and for operating the various hydraulic functions of the loader 10 is supplied by an internal combustion engine 18 supported on a rear region of the frame 12. Provided on a forward region of the frame 12 is an opertor's cab 20 containing a seat 22 located within reach of various manually operated controls, of which only a steering wheel 24 is shown.
[0015]The loader boom arrangement 30 is mounted at a central region of the main frame 12, just to the rear of the cab 20. The loader boom arrangement 30 includes an upright mast 32 mounted to a pedestal 34 for being selectively rotated about a vertical axis, in a manner well known in the art. An inner boom 36 has a first end pivotally coupled, by a horizontal pivot arrangement 38, to an upper end of the mast 32 for being swung vertically by a first extensible and retractable hydraulic boom cylinder 40. The inner boom 36 has a second end pivotally coupled, by a horizontal pivot arrangement 42, to a first end of an outer boom 44, and a second extensible and retractable hydraulic boom cylinder 46 is coupled between the inner and outer booms 36 and 44 for pivoting the outer boom 44 about the pivot arrangement 42. Pivotally mounted to a second end of the outer boom 46, by a horizontal pivot arrangement 48 so as to be freely suspended, is a grab assembly 50.
[0016]Referring now also to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the grab assembly 50 includes a curved rear grab tine 52 and an angled, opposing front grab tine 54. A first cylinder mounting bracket 56 is carried on the rear grab tine 52 adjacent the pivot arrangement 48. Mounted between the cylinder mounting bracket 56 and an second cylinder mounting bracket 57 projecting upwardly from the front grab tine 54 at a location, approximately halfway along its length, is an extensible and retractable hydraulic grab cylinder 58. The grab cylinder 58 is selectively operates so as to open the grab assembly 50, when the cylinder is retracted, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, and to close the grab assembly 50, when the cylinder 58 is extended, as shown in FIG. 7. The front grab tine 54 includes opposite sides which terminate in a pair of spaced apart tine end sections 60 located for straddling a pair of tine end sections 62 of the rear grab tine 46 when the grab tine assembly 50 is completely closed.
[0017]Coupled to a back side of the rear grapple tine 52 in a region, which constitutes approximately the lower third of a length dimension of the tine, is an abutment assembly including a first roller 64 extending between an upper region of the tine end sections 62, as viewed in FIG. 1, and a lower pair of rollers 66, mounted one to a lower region of each tine end section 62. The first roller 64 is mounted for rotation about a shaft 68 having its opposite ends respectively fixed to the pair of end sections 62. The lower pair of rollers 66 are respectively mounted to a pair of shafts 69 that are respectively fixed to lower rear locations of the pair of end sections 62 of the rear grab tine 52. Thus, the first roller 64 is located to move in a path which is inward of separate paths followed by the lower rollers 66.
[0018]Referring now also to FIGS. 3-5, it can be seen that the piler arrangement 70 includes a frame assembly 72 including a pair of transversely spaced arms 74 joined at their forward ends to a cross beam 76 and having rear ends pivotally mounted to a lower front region of the main frame 12 for swinging vertically about a horizontal axis defined by respective horizontal pivot assemblies 78. A pair of upstanding brackets 80 are respectively joined to the pair of arms 74, and coupled between each bracket 80 and one of a pair of brackets 82 joined to the main frame 12, is an extensible and retractable, hydraulic piler lift cylinder 84. Formed at a lower end of each of the brackets 82 is a chain mounting bracket 86 containing a key hole shaped opening receiving a chain 88 having an end fixed to the cross beam 76 of the piler frame 72, with a selected link of the chain being placed in the smaller section of the key hole shaped opening, whereby the chain 88 serves as a down stop for preventing the piler arrangement 70 from being lowered to the extend that it digs into the soil.
[0019]The cross beam 76 of the frame assembly 72 includes a main beam member 90, of square cross section. Fixed to and projecting vertically upward from a upper front corner of the beam member 90 is an upper mounting strip 92 extending an entire length of the beam. Similarly, fixed to and projecting vertically downward from a lower front corner of the beam 90 is a lower mounting strip 94. Each of the mounting strips 92 and 94 contains a plurality of horizontally spaced mounting holes 96.
[0020]With reference especially to FIGS. 4 and 5, it can be seen that a middle cane stalk push lifter 98 is mounted to the upper and lower mounting strips 92 and 94 at a location centered between right- and left-hand cane stalk push lifters 100 and 102, respectively, mounted to opposite ends of the strips. The spacing between the middle push lifter 98 and the end cane stalk push lifters 100 and 102 is selected to be equal to the sapcing between adjacent cane stalk rows 104, with the lifters 98, 100, 102 being adapted for operating centrally between adjacent cane rows 104. The push lifters 98, 100, 102 each comprise a central, vertical plate structure 106 having a stepped, upwardly and rearwardly inclined leading edge having an upper end joined to a rear edge defined by a vertical edge section to which is joined a downwardly and forwardly inclined edge section, which is, in turn, joined to a horizontal bottom edge. Welded to the vertical edge section is a vertical mounting plate 108 that extends beyond opposite sides of the plate structure 106 and has a top and a bottom respectively located at a height above the upper mounting strip 92, and at a height below the lower mounting strip 94. The mounting plate 108 of each push lifter 98, 100 and 102 contains upper and lower sets of holes which register with selected ones of the holes 96 provided in the mounting strips 92 and 94, with bolt fasteners 109 being provided at the aligned holes for securing the push lifters 98, 100 and 102 to cross beam 76. Welded to, and extending beyond opposite sides of the inclined rear edge section, and all but a small forward region of the horizontal bottom edge section of the respective plate structures 106 of the push lifters 98, 100, and 102 is a plate defining a skid shoe 110 having a forward end section that is bifurcated and inclined upwardly and forwardly at opposite sides of the plate structure 106. This inclined forward end section of the skid shoe 110 presents a surface which tends to prevent the push lifters from digging into the ground. The inclined, has a covering strip assembly 114 welded thereto. Welded to a lower inclined section of the covered leading edge is a wear resistant rod 116 having an upper end that terminates at a lower step of the covered leading edge.
[0021]Concerning only the middle push lifter 98, that portion of the strip assembly 114, not engaged by the rod 116, forms a guide rail 118, which includes upper and lower horizontal sections joined by an upwardly and rearwardly inclined middle section. Also relating only to the middle push lifter 98, are right- and left-hand guide rails 120 and 122 that are joined to opposite sides of the vertical plate structure 106 of the push lifter 98 so as to be behind the guide rail 118. The guide rails 120 and 122 each have a relatively short upper end section 124 which parallels the middle section of the guide rail 118, a relatively short middle section 126, which extends substantially parallel to the mounting plate 10, and a relatively long, downwardly and forwardly curved lower end section 128 having a lower end which terminates vertically below the lower horizontal section of the middle guide rail 118. The purpose of the guide rails 118, 120 and 122 is to properly position the grab assembly 50, as explained in further detail below, during the operation of grabbing a load of cane stalks that have been piled by the chain piler assembly 70.
[0022]The inclined rods 116 and the relatively narrow strip assemblies 114 at the forward edges of the push lifters 98, 100 and 102 operate during forward movement of the piler assembly 70 to lift sugar cane stalks, lying in windrows on the ground, upwardly into engagement with a plurality of chain piler units including a right-hand pair of outer and inner chain piler units 130 and 132, and a left-hand pair of outer and inner chain piler units 134 and 136, with the inner and outer units being mirror images of each other. The right-hand pair of chain piler units 130 and 132 are mounted to the upper and lower mounting strips 92 and 94 so as to be centered between the middle and right-hand push lifter units 98 and 100, and are spaced from each other so as to be centered above a respective cane row 104. Similarly, the left-hand pair of chain piler units 134 and 136 are mounted to the mounting strips 92 and 94 so as to be centered between the middle and left-hand push lifters 98 and 102, and are spaced from each other so as to be centered above another one of the cane rows 104. A piler pocket 138 (FIG. 3) is defined between the inner chain piler units 132 and 136 into which the rear loader grab tine 52 may be inserted for picking up a pile of cane produced by the chain piler assembly 70, as is described in further detail below.
[0023]Each of the chain piler units 130, 132, 134, and 136 includes a vertical chain support structure 140 having a vertical rear edge to which is welded a vertical mounting plate 142 containing upper and lower sets of mounting holes 144 that are respectively brought into register with selected ones of the mounting holes 96 provided in the upper and lower mounting strips 92 and 94. Bolt fasteners (not shown, but like the fasteners 109) are inserted through the registered holes so as to secure the chain piler units to the cross beam 76. The chain support structures 140 each include a horizontal bottom edge 146 which terminates at a height spaced above the ground, which is slightly less than the height at which upper ends of the rods 116 of the push lifters 98, 100 and 102 terminate.
[0024]Extending between, and having opposite ends secured to an upper region of the chain support structures 140 of each of the right-hand pair of piler chain units 130 and 132 is a telescopic cross brace 148 which is fixed at an adjusted length by a plurality of fasteners 149 inserted through aligned holes provided in he telescoping sections of the brace 148. A similar brace 148 is provided between an upper region of each of the chain support structures 140 of the left-hand pair of piler chain units 134 and 136. The chain support structures 140 each include a forwardly opening, generally C-shaped front surface 150 which extends between a forward end of the bottom edge 146 and a front of a curved tip edge 152, the latter having a rear end which terminates at, and is joined to an upper end of, a rear edge 154 which inclines downwardly to an upper end of the vertical mounting plate 142.
[0025]Fixed to an upper region of the inner surface of the chain support structure 140 of each of the piler chain units 130 and 134, and to an upper region of the outer surface of the chain support structure 140 of each of the piler chain units 132 and 136, are respective head shaft guide assemblies 156, which each includes a pair of angle members 158 arranged parallel to each other and having first sides respectively fixed at opposite sides of an upwardly and forwardly inclined oval opening 160. Vertical sides of the angle members 158 each have a guide bar 162 fixed along its length. A hydraulic motor 164 includes an output shaft (not visible) defining a head shaft which projects through the opening 160 and mounted to the head shaft, so as to be on an opposite side of the chain support structure 140 from the motor 164, is a chain sprocket 166. A guide rail assembly 168 is fixed to the motor 164 and is mounted for sliding along the guide bars 162. An extensible and retractable hydraulic actuator 170 has a rod end coupled to a bracket carried by the motor 164 and a cylinder coupled to a bracket fixed to the chain support structure 140, with the actuator 170 being operable for selectively effecting up or down movement of the motor 164, and, hence, the head shaft, within the oval opening 160, for a purpose explained below.
[0026]Located in a lower region of each of the chain support structure 140 of the chain piler units 130, 132, 134 and 136 so as to be substantially vertically below the oval openings 160, are respective horizontally aligned openings. Received in the openings provided in the right-hand pair of chain piler units 130 and 132 is a first shaft 172, and received in the openings provided in the left-hand pair of chain piler units 134 and 136 is a second shaft 172. The shafts 172 are supported in bearing assemblies 174 fixed to confronting surfaces of the support structures 140 of the piler units 130 and 132, and in confronting surfaces of the support structures 140 of the piler units 134 and 136. Mounted to opposite ends of the shafts 172 are respective chain sprockets 176. An endless roller chain 178 (see FIG. 2) is trained about each set of sprockets 166 and 176, and fixed to an outer side of each of the chains 178, relative to the support structure 140, by link pins passing through the chain rollers, is a plurality of triangular, flat cane conveyor teeth 180. The path traveled by the chain 178 is determined by a chain guide arrangement 182 including an outer, generally kidney-shaped guide member 184 having upper and lower ends extending about the sprockets 166 and 176. A forward side of the guide member 184 is spaced behind and extends substantially parallel to the front edge 150 of the chain support structure 140. The height of the guide member 184 from the chain support structure 140 is such that the conveyor teeth 180 project beyond the guide member 184, with the teeth 180 being sufficiently long that as they travel adjacent a forward side of the guide member 184 they project forwardly beyond the front edge 150 of the chain support structure 140. Each chain guide arrangement 182 further includes front and rear guide members 186 and 188 which extend between the sprockets 166 and 177 and are disposed substantially parallel to each other and to a forward side of the outer guide member 184.
[0027]The operation of the loader 10, and in particular the grab arrangement 50 and the piler arrangement 70 is as follows. Initially, the piler arrangement 70 is lowered to a working height, as shown in FIG. 1, and the loader 10 is advanced forwardly over cane stalks which have been cut and laid generally crosswise to the cane row or rows 104 to form a windrow 190. The inclined rods 116 of the forward edge arrangements 114 of the push lifters 98, 100, and 102 contact the cane stalk windrow 190 and cause the stalks to be elevated into a zone in engagement with the forwardly curved edges 150 of the chain piler units 130, 132, 134 and 136, with these edges 150 acting to cause the cane stalks to roll forwardly and form a cane stalk pile 192. This rolling action causes soil to be dislodged from the cane stalks and is aided by the chains 176 which, at this time, are being driven counter clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 3, by the hydraulic motors 164. More specifically, this rotation of the chains 176 results in the conveyor teeth 180 engaging cane stalks, with the forwardly extending component of the upper region of the front runs of the chains 178 resulting in the cane stalks carried by the teeth 180 being ejected forwardly onto the forming a pile.
[0028]Once the pile 192 has been formed, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, the grab assembly 50 is opened fully, by completely retracting the actuator 58, and positioned with the rear and front tines 52 and 54 arranged in fore-and-aft alignment with each other and with the piler pocket 138. Because the grab assembly 50 hangs free at the pivot arrangement 48, the lower ends of the tines 52 and 54 are disposed in first and second, approximately horizontal planes due to the angled front tine 54 being shorter than the curved rear tine 52.
[0029]With the illustrated loader 10, the initial positioning of the grab assembly 50, as shown in FIG. 1, is accomplished by operating the first boom cylinder 40 so as to lower the inner boom 36 to an angle of about 28° to the horizontal and by operating the second boom cylinder 46 so as to dispose the outer boom 44 such that it makes and angle of approximately 99° with the inner boom 36. A seated operator can easily see when the lower end of the rear grab tine 52 is adjacent an upper, forward end of the chain piler units 132 and 136, which is the proper initial position of the grab assembly 50.
[0030]Referring now to FIG. 6, the next step in the operation is to lower the inner boom 36 by about 16°, which causes the rear tine 52 to enter the piler pocket 138, with the lower, spaced rollers 66 then respectively coming into engagement with upper regions of the outer guide rails 120 and 122.
[0031]Proceeding to FIG. 7, the next step is to lower the outer boom 44 by 1° degree which causes the lower rollers 66 to ride down the curved regions 128 of the outer guide rails 120 and 122, which results in the grab assembly 50 being rotated 8° to the rear (counter clockwise).
[0032]Proceeding to FIG. 8, there the boom 44 has been lowered by another 1°, which causes the lower rollers 66 to ride further down the curved regions 128 of the outer guide rails 120 and 122. The force imposed on the rollers 66, as the boom 44 is lowered, causes the grab assembly 50 to be rotated another 11° counter clockwise, or to the rear, about the pivot arrangement 48. At this time the upper roller 64 is just coming into engagement with the downwardly and forwardly inclined middle guide rail 118.
[0033]Then, upon lowering the outer boom 44 another 1/2°, as shown in FIG. 9, the force resulting due to the contact of the roller 64 with the middle guide rail 118 causes the grab assembly 50 to be rotated another 9.5°counter clockwise about the pivot assembly 48, which results in the lower rollers 66 being lifted off the outer guide rails 120 and 122. Finally, the outer boom 44 is lowered another 3°, as shown in FIG. 10, resulting in the top center roller 64 reaching the horizontal step of the bottom of the center guide rail 118, and in the grab assembly 50 undergoing another 32.7° rotation to the rear about the pivot arrangement 48. Most important however is the fact that this downward movement of the roller 64 has resulted in the curved rear tine 52 acting to force the cane pile forward of the teeth 180 of the piler chains 178. Neither the inner boom 36 nor the outer boom 44 can now move lower due to the center roller 64 being in contact with the horizontal step, with it being noted that the lower rollers 66 are now the lowest part of the grab tine 52 and are spaced above the ground level. Therefore, the operator is kept from forcing the rear grab tine 52 into the soil.
[0034]The operator will recognize when this condition exists and will know that the grab assembly 50 is now positioned for being operated to be clamped onto a load of cane stalks contained in the pile. This accomplished by actuating the hydraulic cylinder 58 so that it extends and closes the front tine 54 by effecting a 75° clockwise rotation of front tine 54, with such an amount of closing being sufficient to cause the grab to exert enough squeeze on the engaged cane stalks to keep them from falling out during the lifting phase. It is to be noted that because the can stalks are now free of the conveyor teeth 180, neither these teeth, nor the piler chains 178 to which the teeth are attached, will be subject to damage as the gripped load of cane stalks is lifted.
[0035]Once the tines 52 and 54 are closed sufficiently for the grab assembly 50 to hold a gripped mass of the piled cane stalks, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the booms 36 and 44 are raised by extending the cylinders 40 and 46, and the mast 32 is rotated so as to dispose the loaded grab assembly 50 over a mobile container (not shown) for hauling cane stalks. The tine cylinder 58 is then contracted so as to open the tine 54 and release the gripped mass of cane stalks into the mobile container. The operator then drives the loader 10 ahead so as to pile more cane stalks while once again lowering and swiveling the boom assembly 30 so as to position the grab assembly 50 for picking up the next bunch of piled cane stalks.
[0036]Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent the various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompany claims.
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Inflation of food prices
Massive bank and hedge fund speculation causes food prices to soar
The recent steep rise in wheat prices has raised fears of another global food crisis. As Tim Jones explains, it is the banks and hedge funds speculating on the price of food that are primarily responsible for this spike in prices.
IN just one month in July 2010, the price of wheat increased by 60%. The huge increase in the price has already led to people across the world paying more for the staple food. The sudden change in the price of wheat has had knock-on effects on other crops. The global maize price increased by 40% between the start of July and the end of August.
At the end of August, demonstrations against rising food and fuel prices were held in Maputo, capital of Mozambique. 'I can hardly feed myself. I will join the protest because I'm outraged by this high cost of living,' said Nelfa Temoteo, who lives in Maputo's crowded Malhazine suburb. Protesters particularly complained of a sharp increase in the price of bread made from wheat. Mozambique tends to import between 200,000 and 400,000 tonnes of wheat a year.
Drought and the consequent fall in Russia's wheat crop were quickly blamed for the spike in prices. Yet the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) pointed out that despite events in Russia there was still plenty of wheat in the world.1 The US in particular was producing a bumper wheat harvest. Hussein Allidina, head of commodity research at the bank Morgan Stanley, said: 'Fundamentals do not seem to support the rally, with inventories, especially in the US, abundant and poised to increase with the arrival of a good spring wheat crop.'2
The real reason for the large and rapid increase in wheat price lay in banks trading in exchanges in Chicago, US. Away from the wildfires of Russia, hot money flooded into the wheat markets in July 2010, betting on an increase in prices. Dan Basse of AgResource Co. in Chicago said historically low US interest rates were helping to fuel massive speculation in wheat contracts as financial institutions 'look for investable markets' amid concerns that Western economies might suffer a double-dip recession in the coming months.
The ugly face of banks and hedge funds speculating on the price of food had raised its head once again.
Speculation in derivatives
Financial speculation in food began in the 1800s when so-called 'futures contracts' were created for agricultural products traded in the United States. These contracts allow farmers to agree a guaranteed price for their next harvest well in advance, giving them greater certainty of income when planting crops.
However, in the early 1900s futures contracts started to be bought and sold by financial speculators who had nothing to do with the physical production, processing or retailing of food. This activity began to affect the actual prices of foodstuffs, causing them to become more volatile and to rise and fall more sharply. Following the Wall Street crash, the Roosevelt government in the United States recognised this problem, and introduced regulations to prevent excessive speculation.
In the 1990s and early 2000s these regulations were weakened in the face of intense lobbying by the financial industry. For instance, in 1991 lobbying by Goldman Sachs exempted many commodity speculators from the limits on trading created in the 1930s. At the same time, new and more complicated contracts, collectively known as derivatives, were created based on the price of food. Derivatives in food, just as in property and shares, expanded massively. Further deregulation in 2000 exempted many commodity derivatives from any regulation at all.
The number of derivatives contracts in commodities increased by more than 500% between 2002 and mid-2008. The US subprime mortgage crisis and following credit crunch led many financiers to take their money out of property and put it into commodities instead. The fuel and food price spikes of 2007 and 2008 were born.
From early 2007 to the middle of 2008 there was a huge spike in food prices. Over the period there was more than an 80% increase in the price of wheat on world markets. The price of maize similarly shot up by almost 90%. Prices then fell rapidly in a matter of weeks in the second half of 2008. There are various reasons to explain a general increase in food prices over this time. But only financial speculation can explain the extent of the wild swings in the price of food.
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, says: 'From about late 2006, a lot of financial firms -banks and hedge funds and others -realised that there was really no more profit to be made in the US housing market, and they were looking for new avenues of investment. Commodities became one of the big ones – food, minerals, gold, oil. And so you had more and more of this financial activity entering these activities, and you find that the price then starts rising. And once, of course, the price starts rising a little bit, then it becomes more and more profitable for others to enter. So what was a trickle in late 2006 becomes a flood from early 2007.'3
Many investors such as pension funds have made little if any return on the money they have put into commodity markets. The main beneficiaries have been banks which charge fees for arranging derivative contracts. They then use the information gained from their central role in commodities trading to gamble with their own money, often betting against their own clients. The World Development Movement has estimated that Goldman Sachs made a $1 billion profit in 2009 from speculating on food.
The UN Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary System, chaired by Joseph Stiglitz, concluded that: 'In the period before the outbreak of the [financial] crisis, inflation spread from financial asset prices to petroleum, food, and other commodities, partly as a result of their becoming financial asset classes subject to financial investment and speculation.'4
This analysis is widely shared within the financial industry itself. As early as April 2006, Merrill Lynch estimated that speculation was causing commodity prices to trade at 50% higher than if they were based on fundamental supply and demand alone.5 At the start of the 2007 and 2008 food price boom, one hedge fund manager told the Financial Times: 'There is so much investment money coming into commodity markets right now that it almost does not matter what the fundamentals are doing. The common theme for why all these commodity prices are higher is the substantial increase in fund flow into these markets, which are not big enough to withstand the increase in funds without pushing up prices.'6
The impacts of commodity speculation
The increase in the price of food has been disastrous for people across the world. There were 75 million more hungry people in 2007 and a further 40 million in 2008.7 The latest estimate by FAO in June 2009 was that over one billion people are now chronically malnourished due to 'the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food prices'.8
But the impact of high prices goes well beyond not getting enough to eat. Poor households in Southern countries tend to spend between 50% and 90% of their income on food, compared to an average of 10-15% in Northern countries.9 It is estimated that the food price spike increased the number living in poverty by between 100 and 200 million.10 As well as eating less food, households have been forced to:
* Eat less fruit, vegetables, dairy products and meat in order to afford staple foods.
* Reduce any savings, sell assets or take out loans.
* Reduce spending on 'luxuries' such as healthcare, education or family planning.11
Women tend to manage the food budget and often bear much of the suffering. Women may also try to increase income through taking on insecure and risky employment such as becoming domestic workers, mail-order brides and sex workers.12
High food prices affect poor farmers as well as the urban poor. A high percentage of rural households are net buyers of staple foods. In Kenya and Mozambique, around 60% of rural householders are net buyers of maize.13 Very few poor farmers produce a significant surplus to sell.14 In Zambia, 80% of farm households grow maize, but fewer than 30% sell any.15 In addition, any increase in income was for many producers negated by increasing costs of farm inputs such as oil and fertiliser. The cost of fertiliser almost doubled in 2007 and 2008.16
Furthermore, in general terms wild price swings make it difficult for farmers to make decisions about what crops to grow and in what they should invest precious resources. As Prof. Jayati Ghosh says: 'The world trade market in food has started behaving like any other financial market: it's full of information asymmetry . So farmers think, "Well, wow, the price of sugarcane is really high," and they go out there and cultivate lots of sugarcane. By the time their crop is harvested, the price has collapsed. So you get all kinds of misleading price signals. Farmers don't gain.'17
Volatility of prices is a huge problem for countries, whether importing or exporting commodities. FAO says: 'The wider and more unpredictable the price changes in a commodity are, the greater is the possibility of realising large gains by speculating on future price movements of that commodity. Thus, volatility can attract significant speculative activity, which in turn can initiate a vicious cycle of destabilising cash prices.'18
Pedro Paez, former Economy Minister in Ecuador, says both high and low prices are a bad thing: 'The oil price because of speculation on futures went as high as $150 per barrel, and then due to short-selling dropped in four weeks to less than $40. How, as an importer or exporter, can you plan a sustainable economy under those conditions?'
The food price spike is not over
Whilst food prices fell rapidly in mid-2008, they have still generally remained higher than before the 2007 and 2008 food price crisis. During 2010 food prices have shot up again, most notably wheat which has had knock-on impacts on crops such as maize.
However, other crops have also been subject to speculation. During the spring and early summer of 2010 a British hedge fund called Armajaro bought huge numbers of cocoa bean contracts, pushing prices up to a record 33-year high. Armajaro even went as far as buying real food, purchasing 7% of global cocoa production for storage in European warehouses.
Armajaro was attempting to manipulate the market, hoarding a huge amount of cocoa now to push up the price and profit later. In July 2010, 16 European traders said they were 'shocked with what is happening on the London cocoa market', claiming it was causing havoc for producers and consumers. The Association of the German Confectionery Industry said: 'What we are experiencing today is clearly a manipulation of the contract which is bringing the London market into disrepute, and which, we believe, should not be allowed.'
Another cash crop, coffee, has also been subject to big swings in price. The price of coffee traded in London shot up by 20% in just three days in early June 2010, yet there was no news about big falls in coffee production, or increases in coffee consumption. Instead, hedge funds had been betting on the price of coffee falling. This betting or speculation had depressed the price. When a large trader called the hedge funds on their bet, they were forced to buy back contracts they had sold, leading to a large and sudden increase in prices.
Response to the speculation problem
Government officials from several Northern countries have recognised the problem of commodity speculation. Gary Gensler, head of the US government commodity regulator, says: 'I believe that increased speculation in energy and agricultural products has hurt farmers and consumers.'19
Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for the internal market, told the European Parliament: 'Speculation in basic foodstuffs is a scandal when there are a billion starving people in the world. We must ensure markets contribute to sustainable growth. We have to look at derivatives. Speculation is linked to derivatives which are linked to raw materials. That is something we want to regulate very carefully in order to tackle speculation in raw materials.'20
The US financial reform act passed in July 2010 contained measures to counter the deregulation of the previous two decades, including forcing far more commodity derivatives to be traded on regulated exchanges, and setting limits on the amount of speculation financial actors can undertake. Whilst the rules on how these regulations will work are yet to be agreed, Dave Kane from the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns says the act 'contains reforms that will help stabilise global food and energy prices – changes that will especially benefit the poorest communities around the world'.
Despite the sentiments of Commissioner Barnier, the European Union is yet to take action on commodity regulation. The European Commission will make proposals on regulating commodity derivatives by the end of 2010, which will then be debated between the European Parliament and EU member state governments.
The European Parliament's key economic and monetary committee has called for 'the planned regulation of derivatives to include rules relating to the banning of purely speculative trading in commodities and agricultural products, and the imposition of strict position limits especially with regard to their possible impact on the price of essential food commodities in developing countries and greenhouse gas emission allowances'.21
Unfortunately the Commission's proposals are not currently expected to go as far as the European Parliament has called for. Some member states are thought to be resistant to commodity regulation, particularly those such as the UK where the government is highly susceptible to lobbying by the financial industry. London is the largest centre for commodity trading outside the US, and contains 80% of EU-based hedge funds.
Ideally action to regulate commodities would be agreed at the global level but the summits of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies have yet to agree on strong coordinated action on commodity speculation. However, at the end of August 2010, President Sarkozy of France said a key theme of France's Presidency of the G20 in 2011 would be to seek coordinated regulation of commodity derivatives. In September 2010, President Medvedev from fellow-G20 government Russia condemned 'speculators' for forcing up food prices. There is a growing momentum to take action against commodity speculators, which could turn into action in G20 summits next year.
With discussions on how to implement the US's new commodity regulations, proposals on commodity regulation in the EU, and the potential for coordinated action in the G20, 2011 will be a key opportunity to regulate commodity derivatives to stop banks gambling on food and hunger. Yet the lobbying of the financial industry threatens to derail the chance of achieving meaningful regulations.
Campaigners and social movements have begun to coordinate joint plans and activities. Strong country and global campaigns are needed to stop the recurring cycle of food and commodity price spikes.
Tim Jones is a Policy Officer with the World Development Movement, a UK-based anti-poverty campaigning organisation.
More information on WDM's campaign on food speculation is at http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-speculation. For more details on the campaign or to link into regional and global activities, contact WDM campaign officer, Gary Dunion <email@example.com>. WDM's report 'The great hunger lottery' is at: http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-speculation/great-hunger-lottery.
1 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/
2 Seib, C. (2010). Russia's scorched earth causes sharp increase in price of wheat. The Times. London. 03/08/10.
3 Ghosh, J. (2010). Interview with therealnews.com 05/05/10. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=
4 Stiglitz, J.E. et al. (2009). Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. United Nations. New York. 21/09/09. http://www.un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/docs/FinalReport_CoE.pdf
5 Thornton, E., Henry, D. and Carter, A. (2006). Inside Wall Street's Culture of Risk. Business Week. New York. 12/06/06. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_24/b3988004.htm
6 Financial Times. (2006). 10/04/06.
7 World Food Programme. http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats
8 FAO. (2009). One sixth of humanity undernourished – more than ever before. FAO. 19/06/09. http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/20568/icode/
9 http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/02/c1/Box1_1_2.csv
10 Delgado, C. (2010). Food security: The need for multilateral action. Paper presented at the Korea-World Bank High Level Conference on Post-Crisis Growth and Development, co-organised by the Presidential Committee for the G-20 Summit and the World Bank with the support of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. June 2010.
11 Wiggins, S., Compton, J. and Keats, S. (Undated). Food price crisis FAQs. Overseas Development Institute and Department for International Development. London. And Holmes, R., Jones, N. and Marsden, H. (August 2009). Gender vulnerabilities, food price shocks and social protection responses. Overseas Development Institute: London.
12 Holmes, R., Jones, N. and Marsden, H. (August 2009). Gender vulnerabilities, food price shocks and social protection responses. Overseas Development Institute: London.
13 Jayne, T., Chapoto, A., Minde, I. and Donovan, C. (2008). Presentation at African Agricultural Markets Policy Workshop. Nairobi. Kenya. 11/12/08. http://www.aec.msu.edu/fs2/outreach/
14 Wiggins, S., Compton, J. and Keats, S. (Undated). Food price crisis FAQs. Overseas Development Institute and Department for International Development. London.
15 FAO. (2009). The state of agricultural commodity markets: High food prices and the food crisis – experiences and lessons learned. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/i0854e/i0854e.pdf
16 FAO. (2009). The state of agricultural commodity markets: High food prices and the food crisis – experiences and lessons learned. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/i0854e/i0854e.pdf
17 Ghosh, J. (2010). Interview with therealnews.com 05/05/10. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&
18 FAO. (2009). The state of agricultural commodity markets: High food prices and the food crisis – experiences and lessons learned.
19 Gensler, G. (2009). Nominee for Chairman of the CFTC statement before the US select committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry. 25/02/09.
20 Reuters. (2010). EU executive to target derivatives speculation. Brussels. 13/01/10.
21 Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. (2010). Report on derivatives markets: Future policy actions. Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament. Rapporteur: Werner Langen. 07/06/10.
*Third World Resurgence No. 240/241, August-September 2010, pp 20-23

subset: commoncrawl


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One of United Front Games' producers has seemingly confirmed the news that the studio is no more.
Currently mourning the best job I've ever had, and the most wonderful team I've ever worked with.
The end of a great era.
Goodbye, UFG.
— Jen Timms (@Scarlettjen) October 18, 2016
Their upcoming title Smash+Grab is no longer available on Steam, even though it seemed fans and press were excited for it.
The studio worked on titles such as ModNation Racers, LittleBigPlanet Karting, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition and Sleeping Dogs. This is going to leave many people disappointed at the idea there will probably never be a Sleeping Dogs 2. Some are hopeful Square will see it right, but others speculate that the publisher is concerned with other, bigger titles like Final Fantasy, Hitman and Tomb Raider, and will probably wave a hearty goodbye to the studio and their franchises.
As it stands however, the studio has not given any word on their future, or the future of their games. While Smash+Grab purchase links are no longer there, the page and marketing are, and the website is still advertising.
Keep your eyes peeled, people!


text:
Frank Lautenberg News
Cory Booker Wins Race for US Senate Seat in New Jersey
After a sped-up race for U.S. Senate, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat, beat Republican Steve Lonegan, a tea party conservative and former mayor of Bogota, N.J., according to the Associated Press. The AP called the race with Booker leading Lonegan 55 percent to 44...
Eight States Go to the Polls: More Voters Cast Ballots Than Any Other Primary Day
Today more Americans are able to vote than any other day this primary season, in fact this number of voters won't go to the polls again until November. Eight states are voting today including Mississippi, Iowa, California, New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana, Alabama, and New...
It's Primary Season: Nebraska and West Virginia Go to the Polls
Another Tuesday, another Primary Day as Nebraska and West Virginia voters go to the polls today. The key race today is the GOP Senate primary in Nebraska and it is the tea party's best shot at victory, but it's not exactly a clear tea party...
'Unruffled' and 'Confident' Chris Christie Addresses Bridge Scandal at Fundraiser
MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J.–New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addressed the ongoing lanes closure scandal at a fundraiser Thursday evening for his one-time rival Steve Lonegan, and attendees said the embattled governor seemed unfazed by the controversy. Lonegan, a former candidate for Senate now running for
The Obamacare 'Six'
By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) NOTABLES AND THEN THERE WERE SIX: Capping off a trying week for the Obama administration, which has been forced to answer for the glitch-plagued roll-out of the new federal insurance marketplace, new documents reveal more striking news: Just six people ...
Washington Wakes Up From A National Nightmare
By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) NOTABLES 'A LOT OF WORK AHEAD': President Obama signed a bill shortly after midnight that ended a 16-day government shutdown after the Senate and House approved budget legislation and extend the debt limit, ABC's ABBY PHILLIP reports. With the president's ...
$174,000 to a Senator's Widow and Other Surprises in the Fiscal Compromise Bill
There are some interesting nuggets inserted into the bill designed to re-open the government and avert a default, which the U.S. Senate passed by an overwhelming margin Wednesday night. As pork goes, these are low-level on the outrage scale, such as a death benefit for...
New Jersey Votes to Fill Lautenberg Senate Seat
Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan vie for U.S. Senate seat in special election.
When Does Wall Street Cast Its Vote? (The Note)
By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) NOTABLES A GLIMMER OF A DEAL?: A House Republican leadership source says House GOP leaders are coalescing around a plan to provide a six-week extension of the debt limit – putting off the threat of default until early December and allowing...


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Hey guys! This is my very first fanfic. I need to know if I should continue with this story or not. So please review and let me know what you think.
*I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Nickelodeons THE TROOP*
Chapter 1
Jake ran as fast as he could. After all the monster took away all his weapons so what else could he do? There was only one thing on his mind; he had to get back to the base and fast. Why did he take on a monster by himself? He of all people knows the value of teamwork. Felix and Hayley would have definitely had his back. They proved that to be true when he tried to take on the Repticore on his own.
Sorry I didn't clue you guys in…Jake thought…what have I gotten myself into? Jake's thought was quickly interrupted after running into something. He fell hard and tried desperately to get up but couldn't. Something was holding him down. But what was it? He looked around but couldn't see anything in site, just woods.
Then there was a voice… "Well, well if it isn't Jake, a beloved troop member. Now what would you be doing in the woods? And with no back-up? I'm surprised at you."
Uh-Oh, Jake thought. He looked up to see Gus standing over him, smirking. That could only mean one thing…the Duolos was holding him down. But I thought we killed the Duolos, Jake thought confused.
Jake struggled to get to the arm with his communicator on it but Gus saw exactly what he was trying to and got to it first. "I don't think so; the other troop members can wait. This is your time Jake. You are exactly what I need to get back at Hayley."
"Get back at her for what?" Jake gasped as he tried wriggling out from under the Duolos. "She only tried to help you."
"No, she didn't." Gus yelled. "She made my life miserable. Leaving me for you and that stupid nerd, Felix. Her life could have been wonderful. I would have given her everything."
"Ok, I will admit that Felix is a nerd but he is a good guy. And Hayley would have never joined you."
"O, that's right because she is now with you is that right? At least that's what I'm hearing all over school. But not anymore." Gus smiled evilly. "Hayley will regret ever turning her back on me. "
"Dude, you need to sort out your priorities."
"Silence, Duolos take him to the lair."
Back at the base
"Where is Jake?" Felix asked Hayley. "This isn't usually like him. Where do you think he could be?"
"I don't know. He was kind of acting weird earlier. I'm a little worried. Do you think we should try to call him?" Hayley asked.
"Yea, I'll do it." Felix said. "Jake, Jake are you there? Jake come in." Felix quickly looked at Hayley with worried lines all over his face. "I've got a bad feeling about this…where do you think he is?"
"I don't know" Hayley said as she picked up a plasma ray. "But I am not going to wait around here for him to show up. I'm going to find him. You with me?"
"Yea I'm coming" Felix announced as he too picked up a weapon.
Gus' Lair
"Gus, what are you going to do when Hayley and Felix realize I'm missing?" Jake said
"It's Augustus and this is all part of my plan. I want them to find you. I want Hayley to find me" explained Gus. "You just wait and see the magic unfold."
"Like I'm going anywhere" Jake mumbled as he struggled with his bonds.
"You know what? I have a surprise for you" said Gus as he walked over to Jake. "This won't hurt a bit."
Jake looked at him confused. Gus untied him and he was picked up by the Duolos. The monster grabbed his arm and Jake heard a snap. He tried his best not to scream out but he couldn't keep it in. He was then set down where Gus tied him back up, making his wrist throb even more.
"Now, doesn't that make you feel better?" Gus said smiling. "There's plenty where that came from."
Jake looked at him with eyes watering. Sighing, he then looked up wondering how long it would take Felix and Hayley to find him. But how could they? They wouldn't know where to look. Maybe they'll find his weapons he thought hopefully.
But until then he'll just have to wait it out…


text:
Homemade Fig Bars
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Save and organize all of the stuff you love in one place.Got it!
If you like something…
Click the heart, it's called favoriting. Favorite the stuff you like.Got it!
Author Notes: A modern take on the classic Fig Newton of my childhood. —Ashley
Makes 6 bars
- 1 1/2 cups non-quick cook oats
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 6 figs, washed & stems removed
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper.
- In a food processor, add the dough ingredients, minus the maple syrup, and process until the ingredients have formed a fine powder. Spoon the mixture into a bowl, and mix in the maple syrup by hand until fully combined.
- In the same food processor (no need to rinse!) add in the figs, syrup, chia seeds and brown sugar. Blend for about 30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the processor, until fully blended. Let the fig mixture sit to thicken.
- Lightly flour your counter and roll out the dough using a rolling pin or wine bottle. Cut the dough into rectangles, and, once thickened, spoon the fig mixture onto one side of each rectangle. Using a spatula since the dough is fragile, fold the other side of the rectangle over the fig mixture, creating a little pocket. Use your spatula to move the bars onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake the bars for about 18 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Let the bars cool slightly before eating.


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Reformer with ideas for education
Sir John Carrick, AC
Sir John Carrick, AC
ONE-TIME Liberal education minister John Carrick, who was a mentor to former prime minister John Howard, has received an AC the highest honour for his services to educational reform.
His work for the advancement of early childhood education and his development and support of new initiatives in the tertiary sector are mentioned in his citation.
Sir John, 89, has been chairman of the Macquarie University Institute of Early Childhood Foundation since 2001. He held the education ministry in the Fraser government from 1975 to 1979. A Liberal senator for NSW from 1971 to 1987, he was national development and energy minister in 1979-83, and government leader in the Senate in 1978-83.
Several universities have awarded him honorary doctorates and the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was named in his honour in 2004.
Before his parliamentary career, Sir John was general secretary of the Liberal Party in NSW for many years. In their biography of Mr Howard, Wayne Errington and Peter Van Onselen wrote: "Howard learned more from Carrick than from any other politician."
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Follow the money, Juneau District Attorney Patrick Gullufsen told jurors who will consider his case against the man charged with raping and killing 19-year-old Maggie Wigen two years ago in Tenakee Springs.
In the trial's opening statements Monday he said evidence will show James Harmon suddenly came up with cash in late March 2003. That will be one of the things that ties him to Wigen's death, he added.
Gullufsen said she had injuries consistent with a sexual assault and would show evidence that he tried to rape her after a New Year's Eve Party at the beginning of 2003.
Wigen's death is a "tragedy," said an assistant public defender representing Harmon on charges including first-degree murder. After the evidence is presented, David Seid promised, "I'm going to come back and ask you not to compound the tragedy on an innocent man."
Wigen's body was found on April 1, 2003, buried in an earth dam in a stream near the cabin she rented.
Jurors were scheduled to visit Tenakee Springs today to see places that will be discussed at the trial. The Chichagof Island community, about 45 miles southwest of Juneau, has about 100 year-round residents. Gullufsen is set to begin presenting evidence Wednesday.
In addition to first-degree murder, Harmon, 26, is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree sexual assault, first-degree attempted sexual assault and second-degree theft, relating to Wigen's death.
Gullufsen said the evidence will show Wigen was strangled with her killer's hands and the T-shirt she was wearing, while she was being raped.
He described the victim as shy, reclusive in some ways, a pacifist who was "very much into natural living." He added that she was sexually inexperienced "by choice."
Wigen was born and raised in Juneau and moved to Tenakee Springs when she was 16, still frequently coming to Juneau, Gullufsen explained. When she left Juneau for the last time on March 20, 2003, her mother, Karin Wigen, gave her 14 $100 bills.
After buying supplies, including groceries and dog food, she may have had eight of the bills left. No money was found with her body or in her cabin, he said.
Gullufsen told jurors they will hear from witnesses who will say Harmon suddenly had "a big wad" of money, despite having complained of not having enough money for soy sauce days earlier and only cashing a $100 check in the community.
Witnesses saw him with multiple $100 bills, the district attorney said. Evidence also will show that about the same time Wigen's body was discovered, Harmon was in Juneau opening an account at Wells Fargo Bank with five $100 bills, Gullufsen said.
When questioned by state troopers before leaving Tenakee Springs, Harmon said any fingerprints they would find in the cabin would have been left from a visit from long ago.
Gullufsen said 18 fingerprints identified as Harmon's were found in the cabin. One was on a flashlight. Others were on things that weren't there long ago - dirty dishes, a jar of salsa and an open can of olives.
Seid told jurors the fingerprints show Harmon had lunch in the cabin. He also said the prosecution's money trail doesn't take into consideration money Harmon's family gave him. And people in the community report having seen Wigen after Harmon was supposed to have killed her, he said.
"These things don't fit," Seid said.
He charged that state troopers focused on Harmon, ignoring evidence that didn't point to him. He said there was at least one other suspect in Wigen's death who didn't get the scrutiny his client did.
Prosecutors don't have DNA evidence and don't have many fingerprints, Seid said.
Gullufsen said a search dog reacted at the dam where Wigen's body was later found. Seid countered that there was a stronger reaction from search dogs elsewhere, and that investigators ignored evidence that the body was moved there after his client had left the island.
Tony Carroll can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


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Given the power of multimedia, it's extremely important that the people who use it for teaching and training start from a solid, thorough understanding of human learning processes. The methods and architectures discussed here can help you create multimedia instructional materials that work.
By keeping them in mind as guidelines, you'll:
Four prevalent instructional architectures were presented to illustrate the range of instructional designs possible through multimedia. Each architecture has value for specific performance outcomes and learning audiences.
As you continue to work with Authorware, you may very well wish to learn more about instructional methods and instructional design. The more you know, the better you'll be able to realize the full potential of these marvelous tools. The references at the end of the chapter will get you started with some additional reading you can pursue and seminars you can take to learn more about designing and developing effective instructional materials.
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This award winning tea offers the lushness of a fancy ripe peach seasoned with the tingle of spicy ginger. This fresh and flavorful cup will make the head wiggle with delight. For thousands of years, the peach has been China's darling of longevity.
One Cuppas are 95% biodegradable by weight and compatible with these brewing machines: Keurig® (excluding the Vue®), Breville®, Cuisinart®, Mr. Coffee®
Use One Cuppas as directed on your beverage-maker manual. Open hatch, insert One Cuppa with foil top facing up. Close the hatch. Optimal beverage size is the "Medium" cup setting on your machine. Press appropriate brew button. The One Cuppa inside this box are packaged in a compostable bag.
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text: Meta Rate My Team PokéBase - Pokémon Q&A Login Register All Activity Questions Unanswered Tags Users Ask a Question Rules Chat Hidden power help on my Typhlosion? 0 votes 995 views the person in celadon said the type is "Grass" my Pokemon is lvl 62, bashful, somewhat vain hp=182 atk=123 def=125 s.atk=158 s.def=134 spd=149 (not properly EV trained, I know) i'm trying to compute for its power but online calculators always said there was something wrong. can someone help me?...Thanks in advance :) typhlosion evs heartgold hidden-power asked Apr 20, 2013 by bartz You have to know its ivs/evs commented Apr 20, 2013 by SkullBashGogoat Please log in or register to add a comment. Please log in or register to answer this question. 1 Answer 0 votes Best answer Unless if you know its EV's or IV's, then the answer is no. Sorry you cant know the power of your typhlosion's hidden power without its EV's or IV's. Source: experience answered Apr 20, 2013 by CWegz selected May 1, 2013 by Mewderator Please log in or register to add a comment. Related questions How can I get Typhlosion to learn hidden power (Grass)? Is Hidden Power Affected by the Weather? Where can I see a cyndaquil, quilava, or typhlosion in heartgold? Infernape or Typhlosion? Judging on power and the wide amount of moves I want to figure out my pokemon's hidden power, but I don't know my IV's or EV's Why did Typhlosion lose his fire on his back in Generation 6? Is Choice Scarf okay on a Typhlosion? Blaziken or Typhlosion on Black 2? Useful Meta Posts How to change your username How to add a user avatar Why was my post hidden? The points system Question etiquette Flags vs Downvotes Anime FAQ


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Didcot Didcot is a very affluent place situated in Oxfordshire. It has many employers in the engineering and scientific field. It is situated near the... read more
Bicester Bicester is a town located in northeastern Oxfordshire in England. It is a place with a rich history dating back to the times of... read more
Banbury The market town of Banbury is located on the banks of river Cherwell in the Cherwell district in Oxfordshire, England. The town situated approximately... read more


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Government of New Brunswick: Revamp the Crown Forest Act! Give Us Back Our Forest ! PLEASE SIGN ! !
- 1583 days ago - change.org
The Crown Forest in New Brunswick is our most valuable natural ressource yet we have received very little benefit for our ownership. Controling Crown Forest means controling government! Think about it! 4 companies contrôle 100% of our Crown Forest.
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I just tried out PhotoNest, a cool new way to view just the images posted to your Twitter stream. It picks up just the photos, and presents them in a slide format, captioned with the tweet they were posted with. You can quickly flick through and see what your friends are up to (based on the photos they post).
Given that Twitter doesn't have a genuine photo-posting mechanism, this seems like a grand idea to me. I've done something similar to collect and expand just the links posted to my stream, but this app does a great job of pulling photos posted with multiple services and presenting them in an easy-to-navigate format.
The only trouble I ran into with PhotoNest was a login issue: when I mistyped my password on the first try, it gave me an error and took me back to the login screen. After that, though, a correct password just kept landing me back at that screen without any message. However, quitting the app and starting it again logged me in automatically without a hitch, so I assume it's a small bug that will be squashed in the next update.
The app will also let you post photos (with a tweet) to your Twitter account, and you can filter your view based on favorite contacts. PhotoNest is available on the App Store for $1.99US. If your Twitter friends post a lot of photos (and people with iPhones tend to), it's a fun way to keep up and worth checking out.


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Engineering students are not chemists. But at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, engineering majors participate in an analytical experience normally reserved for chemists – conducting research on water contaminants.
The engineers of tomorrow collect and analyze sensitive data using the latest in high performance technology and equipment. A bit overwhelming, perhaps? Not really. Because the instruments in the laboratories at UMass Amherst are Waters instruments. So easy to use even wide-eyed underclassmen quickly grow comfortable operating the most sophisticated pieces of technology, like the ACQUITY UPLC System.
And with Waters equipment comes Waters professionals. When the students were recently faced with a challenging study, a team from Waters came on campus to help. Patiently, they walked the students through the methodologies, even suggesting alternatives in case of problems. In the end, an analytical perplexity that would have been a brain-bender for a laboratory full of highly trained chemists was completed by a classroom of student engineers.
The hope of UMass Amherst and Waters is that by involving students in this unique experience they become more attuned to the importance of water quality as both an environmental and public health issue. And armed with that knowledge, the projects they develop in the future, be they civil or environmental engineers, reflect what they learned in the classroom normally reserved for chemists.
David A. Reckhow, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UMass Amherst, focuses on drinking water and water quality. Learn how he translates analytical chemistry laboratory research into real engineering impact that can be immediately implemented to support public health.


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This Test Lab Guide Mini-Module describes how to install Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 on CLIENT1 of the base configuration test lab.
You download the evaluation .msi file, install Office 2013 Professional Plus, and then run Word 2013.
The result is that the suite of Microsoft Office 2013 productivity applications is available on CLIENT1 for evaluation and for cross-product scenarios and solutions.
First, at a minimum, you create the Base Configuration test lab, which can be based on one of the following environments:
For the isolated subnets lab environment, connect the CLIENT1 computer to a network that has Internet access and configure the TCP/IP protocol on the Local Area Connection as needed.
For example, if the network that has access to the Internet uses DHCP, no additional configuration is needed.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj192782.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_136_1_3, click
Get Started Now.
Sign in with your Microsoft account (Windows Live account).
Enter your name, location, email address, and version of the software on the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 web page, and then click
Continue. On the next page, enter your business information, and then click
On the Office page, print or copy the product key, select the language for the download, and then click
Specify that you want to store the download in a new
C:\Office2013 folder.
When the download is complete, exit the Download Manager.
From the C:\Office2013 folder, extract the files from the OfficeProfessionalPlus*.img file into the
C:\Office2013 folder. You might have to use a tool such as WinZip to perform this step.
From the
C:\Office2013 folder, double-click Setup.exe.
On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, click
I accept the terms of this agreement, and then click Continue.
On the Choose the installation you want page, click
Install Now.
On the Office page, click
Start, click All Programs, click Microsoft Office 2013, and then click
Word 2013.
On the Activate Office page, click
Enter a product key instead. Type the product key from step 5, and then click
On the Meet SkyDrive page, click
On the Hello User1! page, click
Close Word 2013.
For the isolated subnets lab environment, connect CLIENT1 to the Corpnet subnet and configure the TCP/IP protocol on the Local Area Connection as needed. For example, if the
network that had access to the Internet used DHCP, no additional configuration is needed.
If you are running this test lab in a virtual environment, you can create a snapshot of the CLIENT1 virtual machine (VM) to save this configuration.
For additional test lab guide resources, see
Test Lab Guides.


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Benefits of Gold Membership
- Instant access to unlimited messages
- Store messages for more than 30 days
- See who's been viewing your profile
- Priority Gold Member support
Upgrade to Gold Membership and find your ideal marriage partner today!
Hey. Thanks for checking out my profile. Nice move! well where to begin. Oh yea im very handsome (so my mother tells me)... and thats about it lol. On a serious note im a qualifying dentist, i have a unique sense of humour, am very ambitious and have a great smile..Hey you! You didnt expect me to say anything bad about myself did you :)
Well i cant accurately describe what i want as i am sure Eva Mendez isnt on this site lol :) looking to complete my deen inshallah.
I'm registering to find myself a partner


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Nice pics everyone! :up :up
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Nice pics everyone! :up :up
Well after a long search for this thread I finally found it. Here I am
Wow! Ruben's gal - what an awesome picture!
Great photos! I love getting a chance to see what people look like.
Aliasmg, relieved to see the word "granddaughter" there.Quote:
Here is my CHUBBY......Granddaughter.
Novalia and Gabriel, how you doin'? :smokin
As for me, my avatar is my photo so no surprise there ...
Since this is a TV forum, here's one of me with TV's "Eddie Munster" from "The Munsters" - Butch Patrick.
Nice pics everyone. Emerald Fox, it's nice to put a face to the person I run into in the wee hours on the BB live feed threads.
Super cool pictures everybody! :yay
Emerald Fox is another FORT hottie.
Emerald Fox, like that name by the way, you look a little like Emma Samms!
Just took a little stroll a few pages back - mighty nice looking FORTers. Funny how we develop an idea in our heads of what our FORT friends may look like. Then we see a pic and most of the time - I am waaay off.
However - GUTMUTTER - I have to say, you look much like I had imagined. I imagined you looking like you would fit right in to my circle of friends. Yep - I still believe that to be true. Love the short hair cut-and I agree with Muduh - it takes years off of your appearance.
Emerald Fox - I suspect Eddy Munster was more than happy to have a pic snapped with you. Did he ask for your phone number?


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November 14, 2007
Man Granted Plea in Father's Killing
By Malaika Fraley, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Nov. 14--WALNUT CREEK -- A 30-year-old man who shot and killed his abusive father at the family's Moraga home in 1998 pleaded no contest Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter.Jason Kish faces a 16-year prison sentence for the death of 46-year-old Rodney "Big Kim" Kish, an Oakland native who ran a pest control business.
Kish was scheduled to start his third trial on charges of first-degree murder Tuesday morning when Superior Court Judge Richard Arnason accepted a plea agreement amending the first-degree murder charge to voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm, according to the district attorney's office.
Kish's first trial ended in a mistrial in 2004 after Arnason ruled that the prosecutor improperly questioned a witness. His second trial, in 2005, ended in a hung jury, with jurors voting 11-1 in favor of conviction.
Prosecutors said that on April 4, 1998, Jason Kish drove to Moraga from the San Diego naval base, where he was stationed, after hearing that his father had beat up his mother. Jason Kish shot Rodney Kish in the head with a .22-caliber gun as he slept. Jason Kish's mother, Leslie, reported his death the following day.
The coroner's office initially reported that the 375-pound father likely died of aortic embolism. The medical examiner discovered during an autopsy that he died from a single bullet that traveled from the back of his face through a nostril.
Eight months later, police arrested Jason Kish, then 21, and his mother on suspicion of murder
and conspiracy, alleging that the pair planned the patriarch's death to rid their lives of his violence and inherit his business and insurance benefits.
Rodney Kish was convicted of battery in 1995 for beating his wife with a cane and served 90 days in jail and three years' probation. Leslie Kish had taken out several restraining orders against him that said he physically and verbally abused her and their three children.
During a preliminary hearing, Leslie Kish was cleared of all charges, and the conspiracy charge against Jason Kish was dismissed for lack of evidence. She declined to comment on Tuesday's events.
Defense attorneys, who could not be reached Tuesday, argued at the trials that the case against Jason Kish was built on circumstantial evidence, and that police had botched the investigation.
Police linked him to the case partly because of a speeding ticket he received driving south through Los Angeles County the day the death was reported. Jason Kish had told police he was in San Diego County that day.
Jason Kish has been free on $1 million bail since his arrest nearly 10 years ago. He is scheduled to turn himself in to the sheriff's office Jan. 4 and will be formally sentenced Jan. 7.
Moraga police Lt. Robert Priebe, who testified at Kish's preliminary hearing and both of his trials, said he was satisfied that the plea agreement would finally put the case to bed.
"It guarantees that he'll be off the streets for a long time, and that's a good thing," he said.
Reach Malaika Fraley at 925-945-4782 or [email protected]
To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.contracostatimes.com/.
Copyright (c) 2007, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.


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Height can be a problem during exercise but only when a person is not trained on good fitness exercise habits. For instance, a person who has much taller legs than his torso could have trouble doing lifting exercises but there are ways to make it easier to exercise. Wingspan can also be a problem for tall people when exercising. To lift weights a person has to apply force to counter the resistance of the weights. Regardless of how heavy a weight is, it exerts more strain on the body of a tall lifter. Let's now bring some physics into the argument. Work done is equal to force exerted multiplied by distance covered. In a lifting exercise such as full range squats, a shorter person moves much less distance than a taller person. This means that while doing the same number of reps, the taller person moves a lot more distance hence does more work. This helps to put fitness training into perspective.
Why go all the way to complete ROM?
Being tall does not always have to be a negative thing. The first thing to consider as mentioned earlier is range of motion (ROM). Tall people do not need to cut corners to avoid going through their full ROM. When a person goes through a full ROM more time is spent during a single rep. This gives the person enough time to produce more force and in essence have a better workout than shorter people. Adding size to a tall person is the ultimate challenge of health and fitness.
Increasing size when you are tall
It is one thing to build strength but size increases for tall people often go unnoticed. The reason is that additional weight is distributed over larger space and thus people might not notice it. For a tall person to grow visibly bigger there is no shortcut and exercising does little to help. Eating a lot is definitely a step in the right direction. Gaining a little fat is not bad for a tall person since it is not easily noticeable just like increasing muscle mass. Isolation training can also help to accentuate certain parts of the body creating the impression of increased size. If a person wants to get bigger when tall, the SAID principle should be taken into account. The essence of this principle is that when a person exposes his muscles to a lot of strain, the body has to increase muscle mass in order to deal with the additional strength requirements.
Tall people often have to ignore blanket cues
There are many blanket cues gyms give in fitness exercise instructions that can be broken by tall people while making minimal difference to the effectiveness of exercises. One of them is to prevent the knees from passing over the toes in standing exercises. It is very difficult to do this when a person has long legs and arms. Another blanket cue that can be broken is the one that instructs people to pull all the way to the chest in pull up or pull down exercise. For shorter people, the full lat contraction is often achieved when the bar is pulled all the way to the sternum. Taller people however have longer muscles and full lat contraction is achieved before the bar reaches the sternum. This means that pulling the bar beyond this point causes a person to activate muscles in the arm and this breaks the lat muscles' isolation exercise.
Relief for people with bad joints
The extremes of appendages for long people are significantly further away from joints as they are for shorter people. Exercises that require full range of motion can be particularly tasking when they involve heavy weights. A person should therefore seek to identify his weaknesses and adjust the routine accordingly.
In conclusion, tall people are at a disadvantage in many exercises because of their height. It is however not impossible to have meaningful workouts due to this disadvantage. Being smarter when working out is the solution and almost every exercise can be modified to suit the height of a person.


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Archive for April, 2012
So, in typical springtime style, I'm currently laid out with a nasty fever and chills. Like most type-A racer geeks, all I can think about is how I'm missing my workouts. The temptation before I had a coach (and coaching is something that not everyone can afford, including myself were it not that my team provides it at a price a student can afford) was to try and "make up" for lost time as soon as I was capable of throwing a leg over the top tube. I'm here to tell everyone who is currently getting the nasty flu that's out there right now to STOP RIGHT NOW.
DO NOT TRY AND MAKE UP YOUR MISSED WORKOUTS. This is like the best way to throw yourself deeper into the hole, get yourself sick again, or worse yet end your season early. Even if you aren't racing and just trying to 'stay in shape' like most of us are (and admittedly I don't race that much these days) you really have to get back on the horse S-L-O-W-L-Y.
Although you may feel better, you probably aren't fully recovered. Also, your workout schedule, especially in the case of coaching, is carefully planned not to overload your system. You go and overdo it on one day and you'll be forced to take a longer time to recover. The optimal 'fitness increases' in cycling are seen with consistant riding, with very carefully planned periods of effort and recovery, and even taking a week easy after a "training block" where you slowly increase the stress seen by your body.
Sure, you can get faster just going out and hammering every time you ride. This is especially useful if you can't ride very often, since your recovery days are taken up with the other things in life, like laundry, diaper changing, and your job. The best situation, though, is to be able to get in a little bit of work every day, and slowly build your fitness over a long period. An often used phrase is "you have to go slow sometimes to go fast."
So if you're feeling under the weather, resist the temptation and take it easy when you jump back in the saddle. The better you treat yourself in the long run, the more enjoyment you'll get. I see too many guys get burnt out on riding and racing when they take it too seriously. I was even at that point before I decided to back off a bit and just enjoy the ride.
See you out there!
The idea of owning a custom steel frame in this day and age of high-tech carbon mold bikes seems like something of a step backwards. After all, aren't these new materials better? There was a time only a few years ago where it was still common to have members of the pro peloton astride custom steeds rebranded as their sponsor's work in order to meet requirements. In fact, in the book "Come and Gone" author and ex pro racer talks about even re-stickering his suspension fork in order to avoid using the notoriously flexy first generation ROCK SHOX SID fork in favor of his previous year's gear. Although the practice may be dead in the age of the 10+ megapixel camera, which can quickly expose any quick "decal swappery" to even the most casual armchair "telai-istas" (frame builders/designers), the practice of owning a custom bike is far from dead.
You only need to look at your local forum or club to see that plenty of guys still ride custom steel rigs in favor of carbon. The weights achieved on most well equipped steel bikes ring in quite close to the "UCI Minimum" of 6.8kg or 14.9 lbs. A set of record or even SRAM RED would bring most frames in the 56cm and under category quite close. Owning a UCI mandated minimum weight bike is, in itself, an exercise in excess.
If you still feel that steel bikes are too heavy for your cat6 racing lifestyle, consider the following:
Will you really notice an extra pound or two on your weekend club ride?
Could you, in fact, stand to lose those one or two pounds around your midsection rather than on your bike?
When poaching your local Strava segment, do you ever find yourself shedding excess weight by throwing your full water bottles into oncoming traffic in a fit of aggressive macho-competitive rage? (consider lightening up on the steroids/EPO cocktail in this case…)
Have you weighed your smartphone lately? Mine, complete with waterproof case, came in at a KOM-polkadot-robbing 172 grams! That's .38 lbs! That's like the difference between a top of the line frame and a bottom of the line frame from a well known Italian carbon frame builder. If you're a true weight weenie, you'd be riding without your smartphone to make up the difference!
The point stands that obsession over weight can be something of a mental disease. Having ridden some of the ultralight components and then shed a carbon fiber tear as they broke to pieces during normal use, I can safely say that I'm over it.
Now, why would you choose to ride a steel bike? People sing the praises of their ride quality. I wasn't much of a believer and put about 20 thousand miles into a full carbon name brand race frame. I grabbed a steel cross bike because I thought carbon was a bit excessive for a sport that prides itself on destroyed derailleurs and components, and somehow I ended up putting the neglected carbon bike in the closet for everything but a few really nice days where I mistakenly thought a couple extra pounds shed would help me keep up with the fast guys (protip: they didn't. I still got dropped like a hot potato). There is something great about the way the bike connects you to the feeling of the road, while at the same time taking the sting out of it. Just a few minutes on the new lightweight carbon bikes and you realize that you truly can feel every single piece of pavement like it were some sort of braille butt-torture device. I like my cross bike a lot better now.
The other great thing is if you're not blessed to be in the middle of the curve for proportions (much like myself: try a 35 inch inseam on a dude who just barely breaks 5 foot 9 inches) you'll always be trying to make the bike fit you rather than the other way around. Seven and Serotta, specifically, have designed entire business models around making bikes fit the user perfectly. Sometimes, I can report, that the end result is a bike that handles like a truck but fits like a glove. If you happen to live in one of those flat boring states in the middle of the country (which comprises about 99% of everyone) you'd never notice, but to those of us for whom 50+mph descents are part of our daily afternoon ride, a bike that responds well to inputs is important too. The great thing about custom is that you can request this too. Yes, a Seven/Serotta MAY not handle as well as a Specialized Tarmac, but chances are that the Big S bike will be fitted with a huge stack of spacers and a short stem facing straight up which will end up having the same end result: a bike that fits and feels comfortable for going long distances in a straight line. If you're willing to suffer the yuppie filled yoga classes you too can achieve the pro-fit saddle to bar drop of a good handling custom bike too, but don't expect a fit specialist to lie to you and say you're going to be comfortable doing it until you achieve spinal nirvana first.
If you're still not convinced to trade in the high tech plastic for low tech metal, then there's only one thing left to do: go ride both for yourself and see what you think. In the end the best part about cycling is how one of the simplest machines out there can be so finely tuned and customized to the individual and represent a little piece of your own tastes and style. A brand new S-Works says as much about what kind of guy the owner is as a custom Rivendell touring rig complete with panini filled paniers.
Just go out and ride.


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A couple of days ago we showed you urban photography project featuring tall buildings and modern structures of mega cities. Today we've brought the last post of this series. [Part 3 / 44 BigShots]
Watch Part 1 / 50 BigShots and Part 2 / 50 Bigshots
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