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juuli 28
Anchors Aweigh: Race in Germany's Triathlon capital on July 28, 2019. The harbor city with its enormous port area awaits you!
General Registration Sold OutRemind me ▻
*Click here for the full list of the 2017 IRONMAN Athletes' Choice Award winners.
The North Sea's fresh breeze, urban architecture, and vast public green spaces add up to make Hamburg a sight to see and a bustling metropolis with an unparalleled quality of life. With its enormous industrial port area, Hamburg is known as Germany's gate to the world. The city's numerous parks, meadows, and forests combine to make it one of Europe's greenest major cities. The city of Hamburg truly offers a unique and unforgettable race for all athletes, known as the capital of triathlon in Germany.
Why race with us?
Experience the Hanseatic City Charm
Swim in the famous Alster river
City Hall Finishline
The course includes the Jungfernstieg pier in the very heart of the city as the start point of the 3.8 km swim course, which goes through the Binnen and Außenalster lakes. The two-loop 180 km bike course leads athletes through southwards into the harbor, past the well-known Hamburg Großmarkt, and towards the idyllic Vier- und Marschlande region. Get ready for some serious crowd support as you close in on the turning point near the Zollenspieker Fährhaus. The final 42.2 km run course consists of four loops along the Alster Lake in the city center, taking in the vast shoreline, before culminating at the famous Rathausmarkt. The Town Hall market square will feature great spectator support as the home of the iconic finish line.
Hamburg is looking forward to welcoming thousands of athletes from around the world on 28th July 2019 for another superior event in the city center.
2019 IRONMAN Hamburg offers 40 qualifying slots for the 2019 Vega IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
Watch the race trailer:


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Australian Christian Academy Supports Homeschooling
The Australian Christian Academy (ACA) is the largest non-government homeschooling provider in Australia and the South Pacific. Over 1,500 families have enrolled their children under this private school covering. Families with the ACA have access many differnt curricula to suit their academic requirements. The year 2002 is their 20th anniversary.
Terry Harding, the president of ACA, has long been an active proponent of homschooling, even teaching at home all five of his children. (His eldest now teaches at a local university at age 22.) Harding's master's of education thesis asked the question: "Why do families choose home education?" He is currently working to complete his doctorate and has been accepted into Queensland University of Technology's "Center for Innovative Education." In October he presented a paper to the prestigious Australia and New Zealand Educational Law Association conference addressing the question, "Who is responsible for the education of the child, the parent or the State?" Harding has set a ten-year goal to work on changing the laws in the states of Australia.
The six states of Australia and two territories all have different education law. However, they share the same core philosophy: homeschoolers must have permission to home educate and the state's approval regarding curriculum choice. This mentality is assumed and expressed in varying ways in different education acts in each state and territory.
One state, Victoria, is trying to break from the mold. Victoria has an education law that provides that parents have the responsibility to determine the educational path of their child. This is called a "first instance" authority. The state has the authority in the "second instance" only if the parent chooses to delegate this authority by enrolling the child in a state-approved school. All other Aussie states operate their educational assumptions in reverse of that model: i.e., the State is the authority in the first instance, and if a parent wishes to home educate, permission must be sought from the state to do so.
A major hope among homeschoolers in Australia is to see the government recognize the God-ordained responsibility of parents to educate their own children. Terry Harding says, "I want those parents who believe the state has the first responsibility to ensure the education of children to not hinder the efforts of other parents who wish to see the law recognize the God-ordained responsibility of parents to educate their children."
Harding reports that most ACA families do not seek the permission from the state, but a growing number of homeschoolers around the nation do. He adds, "It is a monumental task to win on this issue in our Parliament when the matter does not affect a large majority of the population."

subset: commoncrawl


text: Welcome to the 13th official Bombing Science sketch battle. The guest judge for this battle is Pose (MSK, D30), from Chicago. Here's the breakdown of the prizes: 1st Place: - Touch Twin 36 markers set ($100 value) - $25 Bombing Science gift certificate 2nd Place: - Touch Twin 24 markers set ($70 value) - $25 Bombing Science gift certificate 3rd Place: - $25 Bombing Science gift certificate And now, the rules of the battle: - Deadline: May 18th 2008 - Word to sketch: DYSM - Can be any color, with or without background. - Medium: Pencils, Pen, Markers (no computer...) Send your sketch at the address below before the deadline: email@example.com Important: rename the image file with your artist name (example: yourname.jpg) The judge of this battle will announce the winners a few days after the deadline. All the sketches that will be submitted to us will also be posted online. Good luck!


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Kariba Climate & Weather
Kariba Climate and Weather
Zimbabwe has a sub-tropical climate with a summer season from October to April. Kariba is somewhat hotter than Harare. The days are generally hot and sunny, with maximum temperatures regularly hitting 93ºF (34ºC), often with afternoon thunderstorms. Rain occurs mostly between November and March. The winter climate is pleasant with warm, dry days from June to August, when the maximum temperature is about 78ºF (26ºC).
Become our Kariba Travel Expert
We are looking for contributors for our Kariba travel guide. If you are a local, a regular traveller to Kariba or a travel professional with time to contribute and answer occasional forum questions, please contact us.


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Palo Alto school board members Tuesday night (Dec. 13) elected Camille Townsend to lead the board as president for the coming year.
She took the gavel from outgoing president Melissa Baten Caswell.
Board member Dana Tom was elected board vice-president.
Townsend, first elected to the board in 2003 and re-elected in 2007, also served as board president in 2006-07.
In rare split votes of the board, she has parted with the majority on the 2009 decision to adopt the Everyday Mathematics curriculum for Palo Alto elementary schools, and a decision this year to shift the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic calendars to an earlier school start date in order to end the first semester before the December holidays.
Townsend is an officer of the Palo Alto Recreation Foundation, which sponsors the Palo Alto Black & White Ball, a fundraiser for recreational and youth activities in the Palo Alto area.
She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, a master's degree in public policy from American University and a law degree from Loyola University of Chicago.
She has publicly commented that although both her parents did not go beyond the eighth grade, all eight of their children went to college and beyond.
Her two daughters are graduates of Palo Alto High School.
Townsend's second term -- along with the first terms of board members Caswell and Barbara Klausner -- had been due to expire last month. However, following the resounding passage last year of a Palo Alto measure to consolidate City Council elections with even-year county and state balloting as a cost-saving effort, the Board of Education in January voted to follow suit.
As a consequence, school board elections were moved from November 2011 to November 2012, adding a year to the board tenures of Caswell, Klausner and Townsend.


text: National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1979 (ICPSR 6843) Version Date: Nov 23, 2015 View help for published Cite this study | Share this page Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn × Citation United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1979. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-11-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06843.v5 Export Citation: RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.) EndNote Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Drug Abuse Series: National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) Series https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06843.v5 Version V5 Analyze Online Slide tabs to view more At A Glance Data & Documentation Variables Data-related Publications Export Metadata Staff Project Description Alternate Title View help for Alternate Title NHSDA 1979 Summary View help for Summary This series measures the prevalence and correlates of drug use in the United States. The surveys are designed to provide quarterly, as well as annual, estimates. Information is provided on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and nonmedical use of prescription drugs among members of United States households aged 12 and older. Questions include age at first use, as well as lifetime, annual, and past-month usage for the following drug classes: cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, alcohol, tobacco, nonmedical use of prescription drugs including psychotherapeutics, and polysubstance use. Respondents were also asked about their knowledge of drugs, perceptions of the risks involved, population movement, and sequencing of drug use. Fifty-seven percent of respondents were asked specific questions about their perceptions of the consequences of marijuana and alcohol use. The other 43 percent were asked about heroin use among friends. Demographic data include gender, race, age, ethnicity, marital status, educational level, job status, income level, and household composition. Citation View help for Citation United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1979. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-11-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06843.v5 Export Citation: RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.) EndNote Funding View help for Funding United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Drug Abuse Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms alcohol alcohol abuse alcohol consumption amphetamines barbiturates cocaine demographic characteristics drug abuse drug use drugs hallucinogens heroin households inhalants marijuana methamphetamine prescription drugs sedatives smoking stimulants substance abuse substance abuse treatment tobacco use tranquilizers youths Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage United States Restrictions View help for Restrictions Users are reminded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that these data are to be used solely for statistical analysis and reporting of aggregated information and not for the investigation of specific individuals or treatment facilities. Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s) Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Scope of Project Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s) 1979 Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection 1979-08 -- 1980-01 Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes Data were collected by Response Analysis Corporation, Princeton, NJ, under contract with National Institute on Drug Abuse. The data and codebook were prepared for release by Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, and the codebook was initially distributed by National Opinion Research Center, Chicago, IL, under contracts with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For selected variables, statistical imputation was done following logical imputation to replace missing responses. These variables are identified in the codebook as "...LOGICALLY IMPUTED" and "...imputed" for the logical procedure or by the designation "IMPUTATION REVISED" in the variable label when the statistical procedure was also performed. The names of statistically imputed variables begin with the letters "IR". For each imputation-revised variable there is a corresponding imputation indicator variable that indicates whether a case's value on the variable resulted from an interview response or was imputed by the hot-deck technique, which is described in the codebook. The "basic sampling weights" are equal to the inverse of the probabilities of selection of sample respondents. To obtain "final NHSDA weights," the basic weights were adjusted to take into account dwelling unit-level and individual-level nonresponse and further adjusted to ensure consistency with population projections from the United States Bureau of the Census. To protect the confidentiality of respondents, all variables that could be used to identify individuals have been encrypted, collapsed, or deleted. These modifications should not affect analytic uses of the data. New editing, revised handling of missing data, and different sampling weights were applied to the original 1979 NHSDA data file to make it more comparable with later NHSDAs. This resulted in several differences between the original and public use files. Although differences in prevalence estimates are generally small, published findings of the 1979 NHSDA cannot be replicated using the public use file. The codebook, which includes the data collection instruments, is provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. For some drugs that have multiple names, questions regarding the use of that drug may be asked for each distinct name. For example, the use of methedrine and desoxyn are measured separately in this study even though they are both methamphetamine. Methodology Sample View help for Sample Multistage area probability sample design involving five selection stages: (1) primary sampling units areas (e.g., counties), (2) subareas within primary areas (blocks or block groups), (3) listing units within subareas (housing units or group quarters), (4) age-group-smoking classes within sampled listing units, and (5) eligible individuals within sampled age-group-smoking classes. A total of 103 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were selected to represent the total United States population. These PSUs were defined as metropolitan areas, counties, groups of counties, and independent cities. The rural supplement consisted of an additional eight rural PSUs. The two race classifications used were white and Black/other, and the two race/ethnic group choices were white and Black/other. Minorities and younger household members were oversampled. Five age divisions were usually classified into three groups: youth (ages 12 to 17), young adult (ages 18 to 21 and 22 to 25), and older adult (ages 26 to 34 and 35 and older). Each age group was sampled separately, and the probability of selection decreased with the prospective respondent's age. One youth and/or one adult could be chosen per household. The basic national sample was supplemented by a sample of residents of rural areas. Universe View help for Universe The civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the coterminous United States (Alaska and Hawaii excluded) aged 12 and older. Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation individual Data Source View help for Data Source personal interviews and self-enumerated answer sheets (drug use) Method of Data Collection View help for Method of Data Collection survey data Response Rates View help for Response Rates The overall interview completion rate was 83 percent. The interview completion rates for the three age groups were: 86 percent for youth, 84 percent for young adults, and 80 percent for older adults. Version(s) Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date 1998-01-13 Version History View help for Version History 2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was: United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1979. ICPSR06843-v5. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-11-23. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06843.v5 2015-11-23 Covers for the PDF documentation were revised. 2015-02-03 Created a separate Questionnaire PDF that was extracted from the Codebook PDF. 2013-06-19 Updated variable-level ddi files released. 2008-06-18 A duplicate page was removed from the pdf codebook. 2008-06-03 New files were added. These files included one or more of the following: Stata setup, SAS transport (CPORT), SPSS system, Stata system, SAS supplemental syntax, and Stata supplemental syntax files, and a tab-delimited ASCII data file. Also, the CASEID variable has been added to the dataset. 1998-01-13 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:Performed consistency checks.Created online analysis version with question text.Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes. Notes The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution. The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. Please see version history for more details. This study is maintained and distributed by the National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program (NAHDAP). NAHDAP is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).


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Will Brinson seems to have written for just about everybody but is currently a senior blogger for CBS Sports.com. I got to know Will during our time at AOL Sports' FanHouse. He's hilarious, and if the dictionary had an entry for "great guy," his smiling picture should be next to it. It is best to read this Q&A hearing his voice in your head because he has an all time great radio voice–soothing and pleasantly gruffled.
Hope you enjoy this Panthers Q&A as much as I do. After the Q&A, I have a few of my comments about the game.
Explain what you can about how the 2011 Panthers team is different/same as previous years?
"There are two specific differences between these Panthers and years past. One, a coaching staff that isn't opposed to scoring points or passing. And two, Cam Newton. Those go hand-in-hand to create a much different team than people have seen in years past. Under John Fox, the Panthers were a team that limited mistakes on offense by running the ball and playing defense; now they like to sling it everywhere with Cam and sometimes run the ball with $43 million man DeAngelo Williams. Also different: no Jimmy Clausen, which means they are now watchable."
Any key Panther injuries?
"Can I list anyone who's not injured on this team? The defense is basically all backups at this point except Charles Johnson, Greg Hardy and James Anderson. The offensive line is in shambles right now — Jordan Gross missed last week and Ryan Kalil was injured against the Falcons. Nothing says "keeping your rookie quarterback safe" quite like "only losing your Pro Bowl linemen.""
What do you think are the strengths of this Carolina team?
"The biggest thing that's impressed me about the Panthers this year is how well Rob Chudzinski's scripted out early series for the Panthers offense. They've put a lot of good teams on their heels early by coming out with a great gameplan on offense. Cam's rushing ability creates serious problems for defenses, especially when he's on his game as a passer. Steve Smith's playing out of his mind right now and Williams/Jonathan Stewart have been effective on the ground all season, albeit underused. Defensively, we are still able to put 11 people on the field."
And fans concerns with the Panthers?
"The only real concern lately is Olindo Mare, who got $12 million this offseason as an elderly kicker, because he keeps shanking short field goals. The Panthers record isn't good, obviously, but having Newton on a roster keeps the optimism flowing for the fans right now, especially given all the injuries this season."
What do you think is the best way to beat Carolina? In other words, how do you stop that Cam Newton thingy from happening?
"You can't really stop the Cam Newton thingy from happen. He's going to do his thing. But the Texans will win because the Panthers are terrible against the run — I'd be willing to bet that Arian Foster and Ben Tate both average over six yards per carry on Sunday. (I'm also interested to see if Houston tries to throw a lot with T.J. Yates or if they're comfortable enough with him to conceal his stuff from getting on playoff opponents film.) The Panthers have struggled late this year too, so don't be too scared if you get down early. Just keep running the ball and eventually Houston will break a couple runs."
Who are some Carolina players that Texans fans may not know about who could have an impact on the game, positively or negatively?
"Kealoha Pilares has been a pretty darn good kick returner this season, and if he can help change the field position, I think that helps the Panthers a lot. James Anderson is a stud on a defense full of backups. And while Jonathan Stewart isn't really lesser known, he's been ridiculously effective in the passing game this year for a running back, particularly on screens."
Any question you would like to answer that I didn't ask?
"No questions I want to answer, but I would like to ask one: How did we get through a Panthers-Texans preview without a mention of David "Mister Mittens" Carr? Are things going that well for these franchises these days?" [Steph note: I am going to pretend like Brinson did not mention HWSNBN. Sometimes it is best to leave history a part of history].
Thanks to Will for his Q&A.
Always great to have an excuse to visit with Will. Thanks for your time putting this together.
The Panthers this year remind me a little of the Texans last year. No, not that Cam Newton and Matt Schaub are similar players. But in generalities: a great offense, can play good teams tough, many injuries, plays hard, defense lets them down in last quarter.
Panthers-Texans by the Numbers:
Obligatory disclaimer. Despite what some misread into my writing, I do not think stats are the be-all, end-all. They are one of many tools to look at a football game, and are a good frame of reference and common point to start conversations. This is what the numbers currently say:
Panthers: Points (12th), Yards (5th) Pass offense (8th), Rush offense (5th). Defense (24th), Pass defense (20th), Rush defense (23rd)
Texans: Points (5th), Yards (9th) Pass offense (17th), Rush offense (2nd). Defense (1st), Pass defense (3rd), Rush defense (4th)
Football Outsiders Efficiency Ratings (Considers per play situation compared to league average factoring in opponent–more than just total yards in conventional stats. More info at FO FAQs page)
Panthers: Overall (21st), Offense (4th), Pass offense (14th), Rush offense (1st). Defense (31th), Pass defense (30th), Rush defense (31st) , Special Teams (32nd)
Texans: Overall (2nd), Offense (6th), Pass offense (4th), Rush offense (9th). Defense (6th), Pass defense (5th), Rush defense (11th), Special Teams (13th)
This to me is a huge test for the Texans defense. It's not that they are playing a good offense, but that they are playing a good offense that is very unconventional and hard to prepare for. The Texans defense though playing outstanding, is still learning. Facing this sort of offense is a challenge for any defense, and this will be a tremendous test. The Panthers offense averages 375.4 yards at home and 426 yards on the road. Interestingly, the Texans defense averages 248.8 at home and 297.3 on the road. Something's got to give.
The Carolina offense has been able to move the ball against some good defenses this year. According to Football Outsiders, they've had only two below average offensive performances this year (against TN, the first ATL game), and their last two games, they played above average run defense (against TB, the second ATL game).
Your Thoughts?
I'll be at the game so I don't know exactly when the post game post will go up. I expect the tailgating and the game to have huge energy. If you are there, be sure to say hi.


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Industries ANGTP
|February 7, 2019 - FERC staff sends Twenty-Seventh Report to Congress on progress made in licensing and constructing the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Report
Open Season Regulation Provisions (Order 2005)
- Require that project proponents file open season plans for Commission approval (90 days prior to the open season).
- Follow provisions Standards of Conduct Orders, while conducting an open season.
- Include procedures for the allocation of capacity.
- Include the criteria for and timing of any open seasons.
- Promote competition in the exploration, development, and production of Alaska natural gas.
- Cover voluntary expansion open seasons which must then provide the opportunity for the transportation of natural gas other than from the Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson.
- Include an
assessment of in-state needs, and a listing of prospective delivery points within Alaska.
The open season regulations apply to:
- Any initial or (voluntary) expansion capacity on any Alaska natural gas transportation project.
- Does not apply to involuntary expansion if one is ordered under the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act of 2004 (ANGPA)


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SLurl to Old Europe
Oct 1st - Oct 31st.
The Fall Full Perm Fair-Top Creators-MESH-Sculpties-Textures-Templates-
Features the top creators of full permissions fashions,furniture,building components-templates ALL CATEGORIES- 40 Creators will be offering their newest releases,fair exclusives and special discounts for the fair. SHOP-COMPARE-$AVE! Join The Full Perm group at the entrance and grab the great full perm free gifts.visit and also JOIN the Full Perm on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/764547213617221/


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Miracle-Gro® Enriched Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss
Overview & Benefits
- Feeds plants up to 3 months with Miracle-Gro® Continuous Release Plant Food
- Easy to work with
- Unique water holding capabilities so plants need less watering
- Absorbs water faster than baled peat moss for ease of use
- Learn
- Gardens
- Product Specs
Coverage area
Coverage will depend on how much is mixed into the media. A 2 cubic foot bag can cover eight to twelve square feet.
How to use
For Flower or Vegetable Gardens or Landscape Beds:
Apply 2-3 inches of peat moss. Roto-till into native soil to a depth of 6 inches. Begin planting, follow planting instructions on plant tag or seed packet.
For Planting Trees, Shrubs and Roses:
Dig a hole twice as wide but no deeper than the root ball of the plant. Mix the soil at rate of one part native soil to one part Miracle-Gro® Enriched Sphagnum Peat Moss. Build a mound in the hole so top of root ball is 1 to 2 inches above grade. Score root ball to encourage lateral spread. Backfill hole with amended soil.
When to apply
This product can be used any time of the year.
Overview Tips
- Soil amendment that feeds plants for up to 3 months with Miracle-Gro Continuous Release Plant Food.
Fertilizer Analysis
0.19 - 0.11 - 0.15


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Chef's Challenge
"Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to have an "Iron Chef" cooking competition birthday party. I've wanted to have one for years and it surpassed my expectations!"
Have you ever longed to be a contestant on a competitive cooking show? Elaine Bell Catering is here to make your dream a reality!
Working with both corporate and social teams, our Chef's Challenges inspire creative, interactive and unique events that will leave your guests feeling as though they have made their own culinary mark.
Here is how it works:
Guests are divided into teams and the general rules for the evening are revealed. Teams are invited into our 5,000 square foot commercial kitchen where they find their pre-assigned cooking stations and don their team aprons and chef's hats. Next, they meet their Team Event Chef, at which time the full competition rules are exposed. Each team has ten minutes to discuss the preparation and plate design of their given menu course. Then the creativity begins! Each team has one hour to complete their menu for the judges.
Judging is based on:
• Presentation • Taste • Creativity
Following the competition, guests will enjoy the hors d'oeuvres and three course meal each team has prepared. This is the time for guests to sit back, relax, enjoy a glass of wine, and of course, reflect on their performance.


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Beastie Boys co-founder Adam Yauch has died of cancer at age 47. Yauch is best known for his music career, as the New York hip-hop trio's vocalist and bassist, MCA. But in the last years of his life, Yauch focused his artistic attention on the world of film, as co-founder of Oscilloscope Pictures.
In 2008, Yauch founded Oscilloscope with ThinkFilm Vice President David Fenkel, and the company quickly made its mark by snatching up unusual festival titles such as the Oscar-nominated 2009 Woody Harrelson drama "The Messenger," the 2010 Michelle Williams Oregon trail yarn "Meek's Cutoff" and the 2011 Tilda Swinton maternal horror story"We Need to Talk About Kevin."
Yauch also directed many Beastie Boys videos and a 2006 concert film, "Awesome I ... Shot That" under the pseudonym Nathaniel Hornblower; the movie played at the Sundance Film Festival. He helmed a 2008 documentary, "Gunnin' for That #1 Spot," about a group of top high school basketball players.
In a 2008 interview with the L.A. Times, Yauch recalled the idea for the basketball film came to him as he was sitting on the sideline of a pickup basketball game with a friend, Kris Stone.
"He started telling me about this all-star high school basketball game he was organizing. He then asked about how to document it, so I started throwing out suggestions. And I guess between his enthusiasm and me thinking about my own ideas, I thought, 'I want to do it.' "
"Gunnin'," which was favorably compared to the 1994 documentary"Hoop Dreams,"followed eight of the country's best high school players as they prepared to compete with 16 other top-ranked prep school standouts in the first Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic. Unlike other all-star games, the Elite 24 didn't choose its participants by grade level or shoe affiliation.
The first part of the film consists of hometown interviews with the chosen eight — including sure-to-be upcoming NBA lottery picks Michael Beasley, Kevin Love and Jerryd Bayless — and their inner circles of family, friends and coaches. The second half follows the game itself, which took place in 2006 at Harlem's Holcombe Rucker Park. Known for being a mecca of street basketball, Rucker has seen the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving and Kobe Bryant (not to mention other pro legends) grace its asphalt.
"I get bored with organized basketball," said Yauch, a Brooklyn native who considered himself a fair-weather Knicks fan. "I like the anarchy of street ball; just a bunch of guys going for theirs."
Yauch returned to Sundance in 2011 with a short film, "Fight for Your Right Revisited."
Yauch directed the 20-minute movie as a kind of bizarro companion piece to the Beasties' smash 1986 frat boy anthem "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)." The film follows actors impersonating the group in period-perfect costumes in the denouement to the wild party depicted in the video. Seth Rogen portrayed the Beasties' Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Elijah Wood embodied Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz and a trash-talking Danny McBride channeled '80s-era Yauch via a four-day growth of beard and sleazy leather jacket.
Upcoming Oscilloscope releases include the 2012 Sundance Film Festival opening night title, "Hello I Must Be Going," the love story "28 Hotel Rooms" and a documentary about dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem, "Shut Up and Play the Hits."
On Thursday, it was reported that Fenkel would step down as president of Oscilloscope and move into a consulting role; executives Dan Berger and David Laub were promoted to oversee marketing, distribution and acquisitions.
— Rebecca Keegan
This article first appeared at latimes.com.


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Kick off your fundraising events the easy way. Browse the collection of wholesale bracelets, pins and ribbon jewelry at Fundraising for a Cause today, and get ready for an awareness campaign that screams success.


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I'm grateful for open doors which come in all sizes, often unexpectedly, and often hold great treasures of opportunity, growth and amazement.
I haven't the faintest idea of what THIS particular open door (or, perhaps more accurately, "open window") holds behind it, but the light certainly carries a tempting invitation!
PS - recording update to come. Today was packed w/ interviews and outings for a promotional video (I know..."puff, puff!") and tomorrow a big patch session...so sensible rest beckons!
PPS - this photo is from the "Grand Place" which is easily one of the most breathtaking squares in all of Europe!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Gratitude - Day 103
Posted by Yankeediva at 4:31 PM
3 comments:
- Olga said...
I just LOVE your positivity
and the coherent sense of identity
of the Grand Place, too.
- April 24, 2008 at 10:55 AM
- Yankeediva said...
Thank you!
- April 24, 2008 at 5:13 PM
- Susan said...
What a great "imagination" shot - as in, what do you imagine is going on in that room with the golden light?
- April 24, 2008 at 9:16 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Feb 10, 2013
NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA –The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's upcoming basketball and hockey games have been rescheduled once again.
The Little East Conference doubleheader against Eastern Connecticut State, which was postponed Saturday, has now been reset for Monday evening at the Tripp Athletic Center, and it will be Senior Night for the women's basketball team.
The hockey game against Westfield State has also been rescheduled. The game, which was postponed Saturday, has now been scheduled for Tuesday evening at 8:35 p.m. at the Amelia Park Arena in Westfield.


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I guess I'm overdue in spilling the secret about where I spent my day on the Thursday before Oracle OpenWorld…been struggling with a serious case of writer's block, which is typically the case when I touch on important new subjects.
So, writer's block aside, it's time to spill the beans: that Thursday was spent on a "deep dive" inside Oracle's Usability Lab at Oracle HQ. The Oracle Applications User Experience ("OAUE" - I'm lazy so I like acronyms) team there rolled out the red carpet and showed me, in detail, how they do what they do.
But first let's jump into the WABAC Machine (with apologies Sherman and Mr. Peabody) and set it for last July, when I had the opportunity to participate in the first wave of Fusion Applications user validation testing (I wrote a post on the experience here). The elements of Fusion Applications that really jumped out at me were related to increases in productivity and ease of use…very cool stuff that got me thinking: "how can I bottle the magic and use it when developing custom apps in my own shop?" This deep dive visit to the Oracle Usability Lab was all about answering that question.
More background. The OAUE team's motto is "It's how you work, not just how you click." The first thing I got out of that motto - usability as defined by the OAUE team is about much more than designing an attractive User Interface (although that's definitely part of it). User Experience ("UX") efforts are a much broader scope than the more traditional User Interface ("UI") design. You can read more about it on the OAUE team's website (from which I "borrowed" the following bullet points), but the core of the user experience effort is:
- Increased productivity: helping your employees become more effective at the work they already do.
- Increased collaboration: breaking down the boundaries that keep your employees from connecting.
- Increased insight: supporting rapid, effective judgments.
Notice how all three points here start with "increased"? UX is really about increasing the value returned from your investment in Oracle Applications…regardless of which Oracle Applications you're using.
Oracle seems pretty darn serious about realizing the benefits of strong UX. They've built an in-house team over 130 professionals, with some people specializing in fields I never heard of before. A sample cross-section includes people specializing in the following fields:
- Ethnographers, Cognitive Psychologists, and Behavioral Research Scientists; these folks have PhDs in Social Anthropology, Human Factors, Cognitive Psychology, and Information Science.
- UX Strategy and Architects; experts in Human-Computer Interaction, Usability Engineering and Product Engineering
- Product Designers and Graphic Artists; world-class visual and interaction designers
- UI Developers
- Interaction Designers
- Usability Engineers
- Visual Designers
Big investment here, even before we count the smart boards, the eye-tracking gear, the studio equipment, etc. Yeah, Oracle is very serious about this stuff.
So now let's set the WABAC Machine to the Thursday before OOW, so ya'all can get a taste of what I learned. The goals for the day were to squeeze information into my pea-sized brain regarding UX. Working with the OAUE team's Misha Vaughan and Shannon Whiteman (both these women are quick wits and I had to work to keep up; paraphrasing the words of David Crosby, don't ever play mumblety-peg with either of them…they'll steal your leg), we decided to emphasis development processes, interactive design methods, and review use cases of UX design in Fusion Applications, Apps Unlimited, and recent UX developments with the Global Business Unit apps. The idea was to construct "A Day In The Life Of The Oracle Usability Lab".
So my day went something like this:
After a brief breakfast chatting about BBQ, cooking and other personal things to break the ice, we launched into an overview of how UX fits into Oracle's overall software development lifecycle ("SDLC"). I was struck here by how similar Oracle's SDLC for apps development is to the Unified and Spiral methodologies. I spent this meeting with Jeremy Ashley (the Oracle VP leading the OAUE team for obvious reasons - I saw his great eye for design repeatedly manifested throughout the day), Katie Candland (Sr. Director - Fusion UX; Katie's an incredibly smart and articulate person, who shares her knowledge without blustering about her intelligence), Laurie Pattison (Sr. Director and general guru on SDLC - we immediately fell into mutual deep professional "like" over our mutual backgrounds in manufacturing…most of the good process people come from manufacturing), and Patanjali Venkatacharya (User Experience Architect, an enthusiastic UX evangelist, and a trained chef - yeah, I picked his brain).
We then moved into a great discussion on UX process-related "war stories". This session was especially rich with information because of the cross-section of people involved in the discussion - UX people, project managers, and strategic/functional people. Scott Robinson (Sr. Manager - Financials UX and a walking, talking bundle of pure energy) and Victoria Anderson (Mgr. Payments - I immediately trusted her comments because it was obvious she calls 'em as she sees 'em).
The next series of meetings involved reviewing the specific use case regarding the role of UX in HCM development. Again, the discussion of people was great because of the cross-section of people involved. Funny thing, though, is that I started to notice some recurring themes coming from all of these sessions. More on that later. We lost Scott and Victoria here, but gained Aylin Uysal (Sr. Manager - HCM UX) Rohini Panchapakesan (Director - HCM Product Development), and Ivy Leung (Principal Interaction Designer). These folks turned on the light for me about things in the design process I'd never considered. We also gained Meg Bear (VP - HCM Development, an old Twitter pal, and one of the most insightful people I know),
Next came an overview on how to incorporate UX into an Agile project. Most of the folks in the room broke away for other activities, but we did gain Natti Zick (Mgr - GRC and Projects UX; Natti's an old pal now, as we worked together during my Fusion Apps user validation sessions in July). Pretty interesting on how consistent the process remains, even though you're breaking the work into not just incremental but also iterative chunks. Natti did a great job of showing me that, with UX, the same practices apply irregardless of the overall project approach.
So that was my morning…spent a working lunch comparing notes with several of the folks from this morning, as well as Dilip Chetan (Sr. Usability Engineer and another great person I've worked with before) and Casey Edgeton (Interaction Designer - a new friend for me).
The afternoon started with a tour of the Usability Lab. Jatin Thaker (Sr. Manager - Usability Labs) led the tour. Jatin also led my group tour of the Usability Lab last January during the User Group Summit (amazingly enough, he remembered me - I guess this much ugly in one package really does leave an impression). I saw test and feedback sessions conducted with both individual users and groups of users. I also had the chance to work with the new Talent Management application using a Smart Board (no mouse, no keyboard…not much training required - this really made my eyes light up and my ears spin).
After the tour, George Hackman (Sr. Director - Operations UX) gave me an overview of the UX guidelines, principles and standards used within Oracle for Fusion development (George and I think alike - I think this was the beginning of a long and productive relationship). The first thought that struck me here: how valuable this information would be if it were exposed to Oracle customers. Many of us are developing with Fusion development tools. Many of us may soon be extending Fusion Applications. If Oracle shared their information in this area, the value to users would be substantial. Even more value would be a mechanism for feedback from Oracle customers to continually improve these guidelines, principles and standards. We'll see…
I then had the chance to roll up my sleeves and provide a customer's perspective on designing LOVs with George and Sherry Mead (Architect - Technical UX; a virtual fountain of technical information). This was an absolute hoot and I hope my input provided some value. In any event, it was great insight into the thought process that goes on behind the design decisions.
Next was an orientation for the Oracle Usability Advisory Board ("OAUB"). I committed to joining the OAUB before I visited the Usability Lab (I was sold once I saw the impact on Fusion Applications), but it was very nice to meet Anna Wichansky, the Oracle Sr. Director over the OAUB, face-to-face. Another benefit is that I'll be able to work more with my friend, Oracle Usability Engineer Alisa Hamai; I'm really looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to working with the OAUB, hearing the strides other enterprises are making in the field of UX, and kicking in my own two cents.
Due to a lucky break with timing, I participated in a quick user feedback session on a collaboration tool prototype. It was pretty neat to see collaboration of an instant messaging type embedded in enterprise apps. I've never been a big believer that IM should be be a part of enterprise apps, but this prototype had some features that caused me to reconsider my thinking.
The day wrapped up with a review of what I saw, heard and thought, followed by a great dinner with several members of the OAUE team…plus Sachin Agarwal and Gangadhar Konduri from the WebCenter team (their WebCenter demo is definitely worth attending if you get a chance).
My takeaways from my "day-in-the-life" with the OAUE team really came from what I observed as a series of themes repeated in one form or another throughout the series of the day's meetings:
- The benefits of successful UX absolutely rock. I'm a convert. Building apps according to the way users work does increase the value returned from investing in applications.
- Oracle is building serious momentum in rendering benefits to customers through a strong UX. I see it baked into Fusion Applications, especially in terms of the "shallow navigation" (never more than two or three clicks away from getting the job done) and the ability to easily identify and resolve exceptions. I see it in PeopleSoft, especially in the way some of the process flows are being improved. I'm starting to see it in the E-Business Suite with elements of the UI and the emphasis on analytics to report exceptions. I expect it to have an impact in the world of Global Business Unit industry-specific applications.
- A consistent, repeatable process is key to pulling UX off successfully. Without the process, you'll get widely-varied results and a truckload of frustrated users.
- Everything I just said about a consistent, repeatable process also applies to design standards. A consistent application of pre-defined design principles leads to a consistent result…which means that improving the design principles leads to improved results.
- Research matters...I mean it really matters! You can't improve the usability of a product until you know the types of users and how each type of user works. I was very impressed with the amount of research and analysis performed by the OAUE team at the beginning of any UX design work.
- Designing the interaction between product and user is more important than most of us in IT realize. .Apple is a great example of this. Why would I use a smart phone that, until recently, couldn't copy & paste, edit docs or spreadsheets, or even send multimedia texts? It's because the design of the interaction between my iPhone and me is unequaled - heck, even unpacking the phone was an experience (the box is still in my closet - just can't bring myself to throw it away). Ditto for the Apple operating system, OS X - heck, there's a whole community dedicated to porting OS X to other hardware platforms…just because the interaction between user and operating system is so well-designed.
- You can't over-communicate. Users, developers, designers, project managers, whoever. Bring 'em on board early and communicate very, very frequently.
- Of course, a huge part of communication is listening. Listen to the users. What you think may be a great business process and wonderful UI may come across like a steaming pile of virtual compost to the people who need to use the product. Take criticism well and take notes.
So, in all, it was a valuable day from my perspective. I ended the day with a truckload of principles and specific ideas I'll be taking back to share with my own shop. I'm grateful to all the Oracle folks who took time away from their "day jobs" to spend time with me, and I'm especially grateful to Misha Vaughan for putting this whole thing together.
If you every do get a chance to spend some time at the Oracle Usability Lab, grab it. It's a day well-spent.
Questions go in the Comments...


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The Saints have officially listed running back and return man Darren Sproles as questionable on their injury report for Sunday's game at Oakland, but the Saints' coaching staff sounds optimistic that he'll be able to handle a full workload if swelling in his surgically repaired hand isn't a problem.
Sproles, who has missed the last two games after breaking his hand, participated in practice today and still had some swelling. But Saints coach Joe Vitt said that if Sproles is able to play at all, he'll be back to handling the team's punt and kickoff returns.
Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael also said that Sproles will get time on offense in the four-running back rotation with Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram, and that Carmichael is ready to call the plays that take advantage of the skills of all four running backs. According to Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Carmichael said he might end up featuring one running back over the others, but that would be a matter of riding the hot hand, not holding Sproles back because of his broken hand.
So despite talk when Sproles first got hurt that his injury could keep him out for four to six weeks, it appears that he'll be back after missing just two weeks.


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By PwC
Globally, Tax Rate Policies Vary As Economies Continue to Reform Tax Compliance Systems
Moscow 19 Nov 2013 — Economies around the world are adopting a range of policies as they strive to strike a balance between raising tax revenues and encouraging growth, according to a new report from the World Bank Group and PwC. This year, 14 economies significantly increased their total tax obligations or the amount of tax a case study company has to pay, while 14 others lowered theirs. In most regions around the world, the rate of decline in the total amount the firm has to pay in taxes continues to slow. The study also reveals that since the study was initiated nine years ago, corporate income taxes have consistently fallen, while labour taxes borne by companies have been more stable and now represent the largest component of the total tax obligations.
The Paying Taxes 2014 report found that 32 economies continued to take steps during the period from June 2012 through June 2013 to make it easier to pay taxes. The study of tax regimes in 189 economies, released today, found that for the third consecutive year the most common tax reform was the introduction or improvement of online filing and payment systems for tax compliance. The compliance burden (the time to comply with tax obligations and the number of payments) has continued to fall in 2012, but the rate of decline has slowed.
Press Release and Documents
Rowena MearleySenior Manager, Global CommunicationsUnited email@example.com-+44 7730 598 643


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The Resignators - Down in Flames LPCD
The Resignators, Australia's premier ska‐punk band, kick off lucky 2013 with a big bang by releasing their new LP "Down in Flames" on March 15 on Care Factor Records, produced by Craig Harnath (Living End, Jet, Oasis, Wilco, Bodyjar) and guitarist Steve Douglas (GWAR), and mixed by Jez Giddings at Hothouse Audio in Melbourne.
The 7 year old 7 piece band runs the gamut of "innocence to experience" with an astounding 40 year span in the member's ages, representing 3 generations of musical background and influences, from 1st wave Jamaican ska to today's hardcore punk.
The Resignators have always been about having fun, onstage and off, but "Down in Flames" is different from previous recordings in that it reveals a more serious side of the band, with lyrics and musical content that reflect The Resignators' concerns with a number of topical issues that the band feels should be expressed.
The sound of the new LP is appropriately huge with monster guitars, epic organ, heavy drums, thunderous bass, and one of Australia's best horn sections – laying a bed for passionate vocals that cry out the meaningful messages of these new songs, all the while propelled by the dance-able drive of a ska backbeat infused with punk energy that is The Resignators trademark.
1. Rocket Ship
2. Down in flames
3. Summer Girl Smile
4. Blackjack Swing
5. I wish I wish
6. Lest We Forget
7. Pretend Friend
8. Old Friend (Rancid cover)
10. Summer Girl Smile (ideology remix feat. Jono James)


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This License is not run through the state office
The National "B" License Course is designed to introduce concepts that are targeting toward coaching players age 16 to college level. The National "B" License focuses on recognizing the principles of the game and its technical applications in 9v9 game situations. Candidates will learn to teach and implement these principles through functional training sessions leading up to the 9v9 game. The course will help candidates get a better understanding of the responsibilities of coaching at advanced levels and will prepare those coaches who wish to pursue the National "A" License.
Prerequisite: Applicants must be at least 19 years of age and have held the National "C" License for 1 year.
This course is SOLD OUT!
To learn more about the National "B" License, click here.
Washington Youth Soccer coaching education courses and schedules.
Related Events:


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ComScore: Facebook Ads Work if You Know Where to Point Them
Jun 13, 2012 10:33 AM PT
Facebook can be an effective platform for advertisers, according to a report released Tuesday by comScore.
The results appear to counter the findings of a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll in which four out of five respondents claimed they were never influenced by advertisements or comments on the site regarding products or services.
The comScore report, however, found that Facebook users who were fans, or friends of those fans, of brands such as Starbucks, Target and Amazon were more likely to purchase from those companies than Facebook users who were not fans.
In the case of Target, Facebook fans were 19 percent more likely to purchase from Target in the four weeks following brand exposure on the site compared to a control group. Friends of those Target fans were 27 percent more likely to buy. ComScore saw similar positive results from fans of Starbucks.
Facebook users become a "fan" of a certain brand by "liking" it on Facebook. Then, they'll receive updates from that company just as they would from their other Facebook friends. Brands can use that opportunity to post ad campaigns or pay Facebook for Sponsored Stories and Promoted Page Posts, which guarantee more exposure.
Still Feeling Out the Platform
The study comes about a month after Facebook went public and and faced stiff questions from investors about whether the site could maintain profitability in the ad space going forward, particularly in the mobile space. The company's stock has had a rough first month out of the gate.
The study could help shed some new light on the most effective ways to use Facebook as an advertising platform, comScore said. That kind of knowledge is necessary, added Jennifer Sheahan, founder of FBAdsLAB, since placing ads via social networks is a relatively new method of branding.
"The reality is ... Facebook is an entirely new platform," she told the E-Commerce Times. "We're selling in a social context, and this requires a fresh approach."
That approach requires a new way of thinking outside of traditional methods of advertising, she said, which will result in a branding scene in which even small companies can compete with the likes of Starbucks, Target and Amazon.
"The bottom line is, you can't use billboard-style advertising and expect direct response results," she said. "Far too many companies think they can throw up generic branding ads and see an instant boost in sales. The cool thing is, this strategy is very effective for small and large businesses alike. It has leveled the playing field."
Since the platform is in its infant stages, part of the learning process is understanding how to measure and quantify results, said Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group.
"There have always been effective ways to use Facebook, and a good agency paired with a client who has goals which are consistent with optimal ways to use Facebook can use it effectively," he said. "Just because people don't click on ads doesn't mean they don't work."
To Target or Not to Target?
Since the comScore study revealed that Facebook ad effectiveness is tied largely to whether users are already a fan of the brand, it becomes part of a larger debate over how much personal information websites can use to target ads. Facebook and other websites, perhaps most notably Google, have come under fire from privacy advocates for the amount of data they collect from their users.
Google and other sites argue that even a few small pieces of information it can gather about a consumer, such as their location and eating habits, can help make search or ad results more efficient. For instance, a vegetarian in San Francisco who searches for nearby restaurants would be directed toward a vegetarian restaurant in the city rather than a steakhouse in New York.
Still, many consumer advocacy groups warn that there's no end to the data sites like Facebook can collect, and that their gathering methods are too invasive. But studies like the one from comCast show that consumers might be growing accustomed to the more targeted ads, and even beginning to appreciate them, said Sheahan.
"Effective Facebook ads are narrowly targeted, using gender, location and interest targeting, and are written to encourage a response from viewers," she said. "We've found consumers are far more likely to purchase from brands they know and interact with regularly."
Facebook didn't respond to our request for comment.


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The Price of FameMay 12, 2003
Hopefully the last I'll be posting about the Garden for a while; I'd like to go back to regular posting soon. Quickly, now —
MetaFilter and BoingBoing both linked within the past 48 hours. I freaked out, but thanks to a sympathetic host, I was allowed to just bump up my account type as opposed to getting a huge bill at the end of the month. Thanks guys! I'm in good shape.
I've had a wonderful offer for free hosting in Florida which I think I may just take over the long term. I'll have 10GB transfer/month on my current account come June (40GB super–extra–strength account for May, to get through the deluge) but it's debatable whether or not that will keep the Garden going.
A .zip file of Garden submissions is also in the works, for learning purposes. I debated this initially, since it makes it that much easier to steal the graphics. Remember that while the CSS is free to use given attribution, the graphics belong to their respective owners. I'll let the copyright owners decide themselves — I don't see a problem with creating the archive with select designs removed if their owners would rather them not be included.
Payola: Visit BradSoft and buy lots of copies of TopStyle. I have started playing around with my complimentary copy, and it looks rather promising. Let it be noted that while I don't think it will be necessary to put up a PayPal button on the Garden, I am not remotely opposed to accepting free things. I've had a few other offers, which I may just post about when the items show up.
This project has started some great discussion about the role of CSS on the current web. The reaction seems to be 95% in support, 5% still seeing too many problems with the Garden to use CSS in real–world scenarios. Note to the latter: the glass doesn't have to be half–empty, guys. I made some mistakes, specifically around fonts, but designer error doesn't mean the technology doesn't work.
Don't miss Wicked Grove, RPM and Dead or Alive, the latest three additions.
Oh, and for the record: it's 'Shea', not 'Shae'.
Reader Comments
Dave – I've been a regular reader for a couple of weeks now, and I have to say that the garden blew me away. Thank you for showing me (and the world…) how powerful CSS based design can be – and how great it can look!
When I see a site like yours, it gives the vastly under utiltized left-side of my brain a welcome jolt. Better than that, it makes me want to create. And hell, as a fellow Canadian (sorry 'bout the Canucks by the way – I know how you feel, I'm a Leafs fan…), you've even managed to stir my patriotism. So, thanks for the inspiration and keep up the good work :-)
Thanks, Jason! It's been great hearing about the inspiration this project has provided, and I hope that doesn't subside any time soon. It's been particularly exciting for me to see some of the great submissions that have come in so far. I was worried that there weren't yet enough people out there capable of both the design and CSS needed to create a really great submission; it's nice to be proven wrong on that count.
Who says Canada's just good for hockey, eh?
Hi Dave - found you thru Zeldman - This is exactly what I've been wanting to do with a couple of my sites! Thanks for the inspiration - these pages even look terrific in Opera.
Hey Dave! The second I entered the css Zen Garden, I was hooked! I have very recently been inspired to expand my knowledge of CSS into the realm of using it for layout, but the Garden was what gave me that final shove. I support the site 100%, and even hope to submit a couple designs in a month or so, once I've learned some more.
Thanks so much! :)
BTW, if you're such a CSS-fanatic, why has mezzoblue not yet made the transfer?
Hey Adam, good to hear it's inspiring people to take the plunge. I'm a CSS fanatic? I must have missed that memo…
CSS is one way of doing things. Tables are another. Not every situation will lend itself to a CSS-based design, even right now. It's about using your head and figuring out which solution is the right one for each project.
As for this site? See the little boilerplate text, bottom right, with the xhtml/mail buttons? No way of putting that there in CSS. Seriously.
That's all just a fancy way, of course, of saying I haven't found the time to convert this. But it was why I designed it with gratuitous tabling in the first place. See this older version for a table-free design. I'll go that direction shortly. Maybe next redesign, maybe sooner.


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Sept. 26, 2009
STANFORD, Calif. -- The Gaucho women and men both took sixth place at the Stanford Cross Country Invitational, held on a hot Saturday afternoon at the Stanford Golf Course.
The women appeared to be on their way to a top-5 team finish, but Amanda Moreno was forced to retire due to an asthma attack with less than a kilometer remaining in the race. She was in 15th place overall at the time.
Breanne Strenkowski was the first Gaucho to cross the line, in 18th place with a time of 21:36 over six kilometers. Katie Voigtlander was next, in 32nd place at 21:58.
The other scorers were Crystal Reed (38th, 22:08), Andrea Jacobs (48th, 22:19) and Ashley Beechan (60th, 22:39). The team scored 198 points, behind fifth-placed Chico State (187) and ahead of seventh-placed Cal Poly (201).
The men were missing their top two runners, Scott Smith and Julian deRubira, due to health issues. The team fielded a squad of three seniors and four redshirt freshmen.
The top Gaucho was Waleed Totari, who took 13th place with a time of 24:38 over eight kilometers. He was followed by redshirt freshmen Juan Paredes, who took 24th at 24:54, and Bhavik Kanzaria, who was 42nd at 25:24.
The other scorers were Jeff Campbell (51st, 25:34) and Baxter Frick (59th, 25:45). The team's 187 points placed them behind Long Beach State (168) and ahead of Loyola Marymount (219).
Stanford won the men's race with a perfect 15 points, taking the top five places. The individual winner was Chris Derrick.
Stanford also won the women's race with 24 points. The individual winner was Tara Erdmann, who was running unattached. The top collegiate runner was Jessica Pixler from Seattle Pacific, who took second.
The next meet for the Gauchos will be in three weeks, when both squads travel to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Pre-National Invitational.
Join the GKids
UCSB Athletics is proud to introduce GKids - its new official kids club! GKids members will receive a free GKids t-shirt, free admittance to tons of Gaucho games, opportunities to be ball boys and girls at games, a special birthday greeting from Olie (the new GKids mascot) and much, much more! For more information on GKids, or to become a member, please click here.
- UCSBgauchos.com -


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Dramaturgie im zeitgenössischen Tanz ist ? positiv gemeint ? ein heißes Eisen. Idealerweise sind Dramaturginnen und Dramaturgen während der Erarbeitung eines Stücks die besten Freunde der Choreografen. more
Neue Zürcher Zeitung 30.11.2007
Every now and then an Islamist is thrown into jail in Austria but the country has not been seized by hysteria, Paul Jandl reports. After all this former monarchy looks back on a long history being a multiracial state, which has lived with Islam since the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1879. Jandl sums up the situation in the country: "Whereas in 2001, 14 percent of the population had a background of migration, in 2007 this figure has risen to 16 percent. The majority of immigrants live in Vienna, a city where up to a third population is not Austria-born. But there is no need for any reflex fears about the balkanisation of the country. The majority of the new citizens no longer originate from classical gastarbeiter countries, but from the EU. The largest group of immigrants are Germans. Can it be that in Austria the clash of cultures is less extreme than elsewhere? Even the headscarf has not turned into a contentious issue. On the contrary, when the city of Vienna recently presented its new official working uniforms for cleaning staff, a headscarf for Muslim women was included."
Neue Zürcher Zeitung 29.11.2007
Romanian author Mircea Cartarescu points out that it was the Romanians themselves who forced the Roma into poverty and delinquency â through slavery. "Over the course of centuries the Roma could be bought and sold, families were torn apart, children separated from their mothers, women from their menfolk, young women were regularly raped by their owners, and the so-called 'crow-scum' was the target of widespread contempt and discrimination. There was one voivode who would have the Roma climb trees and shoot them down with arrows. Hunting crows, he called it. Tied to localites and kept like animals, the gypsies in the Romanian principalities multiplied faster than anywhere else in Europe. So we created the gypsy problem ourselves. This is our historical responsibility." (Read our feature on Cartarescu, 'Bucharest in a trance')
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 29.11.2007
Muhabbet, the popular Muslim rapper and poster boy for successful immigration, has graced many a headline of late. After recording a rap song with the German and French foreign ministers he also turned up at the award ceremony of the Prix Europa where Esther Schapira won the current affairs prize for her film about the killing of Theo van Gogh. According to Schapira, Muhabbet told her that van Gogh was lucky to have died so quickly as he personally would have tortured the man before killing him and furthermore, Ayaan Hirsi Ali deserved a similar death. The singer has since denied the allegations. But Esther Schapira knows what she heard and cannot understand there has not been more public outrage. "I am increasingly lacking in the composure that the foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier alludes to when he says that people 'should not overreact' to the fact that his singing partner Muhabbet endorsed the brutal murder of the Dutch filmmaker. It makes me very angry. I just cannot get the images of this malicious killing out of my head. Theo van Gogh was massacred in broad daylight in a public place." And she has this to say to Steinmeier: "Politicians must face reality, not deny it."
Süddeutsche Zeitung 29.11.2007
One important reason for the failure of French integration policy is the "unabated ghettoisation" that the country has pracised for the last two decades, explains the French migration researcher Catherine Withol de Wenden (more here), in an interview about the fresh outbreak of unrest in the banlieues. "Our research has shown that immigrants from areas with good access to public transport have better chances of integrating into society. Social mobility is closely linked to physical mobility these days. Many of the suburbs were built in the seventies when the car was still the principal mode of transport, which meant the public transport was virtually non-existent. And the situation is very similar today."
Frankfurter Rundschau 28.11.2007
Director Leander Haußmann talks in an interview about his new film "Warum Männer nicht zuhören ..." (why men don't listen). He explains why he didn't want to continue working in the theatre forever. "All theatre directors who have careers that span more than 20 years and who want to maintain their quality of living have to direct at least two plays a year. You cannot prepare yourself for this in the long-term. First of all you work through everything you know or that you've read. Then you have to re-orientate. This is something Stefan Bachmann has managed very well. Despite being the leading director in Basel, he has taken time off to travel round the world. What does Thomas Ostermeier know of the world? He's hasn't left his theatre for years. Where is he getting this world that he talks about?"
Die Welt 27.11.2007
"I'm going to miss them," writes Andrzej Stasiuk, maintaining that the fun will go out of Polish politics now that Donald Tusk is taking over from Jaroslaw Kaczynski as prime minister. "The Kaczynski brothers at the helm were theatrical beings. Each of their gestures, each word, each appearance had an element of drama. They could be as funny as a comedy, but never trite as a soap opera. Within their chubby bodies and beneath the masks of their childish faces seethed emotions that banned the dullness of modern politics to a shameful, hidden existence. The brothers gave a voice to the deepest human emotions. They were so authentically resentful, vengeful, reckless, full of complexes, malicious and petty, that it was painful to see. This is why the simple people loved them."
Neue Zürcher Zeitung 27.11.2007
Renate Lachmann presents the Croatian author Miljenko Jergovic, whose novel "Ruta Tannenbaum" has won the literature prize of the Bosnian city Tuzla. Jergovic's prose will no doubt do much to reconcile the former Yugoslavian countries, Lachmann writes. "'Ruta Tanenbaum' deals with a taboo issue in Croatian history, and attracted the wrath of Croatian critics when it came out. In it, Jergovic locates Zagreb at the centre of a creeping, steadily progressing Croatian anti-Semitism. At the same time, the book tells of the city's loss of identity at the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, when certain sectors of the popultion started out on careers of power in radical national and patriotic institutions."
Frankfurter Rundschau 27.11.2007
Norman Lebrecht explains why Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter sings Lieder from Theresiennstadt concentration camp on her new album. Her father, a Swedish diplomat, learned of the extent of the Holocaust in August 1942 from SS officer Kurt Gerstein. "After convincing himself of Gerstein's credibility with a look at his papers, von Otten spent the next six to eight hours in the corridor of the train, listening to a detailed report on the modus operandi of the genocide, the gas chambers and the mass graves. Gerstein left nothing out: neither the names of the responsible officers, nor the face of a small girl as she was pushed naked into the death chamber. 'I've seen more than ten thousand people die,' he sobbed."
Frankfurter Rundschau 26.11.2007
Writer, painter and composer Florian Havemann has published "Havemann", a thousand-page so-called "factual novel" about the lives of his grandfather, his father Robert Havemann - a prominent East German dissident - and himself. Yaak Karsunke is severly critical of the work, calling it a product of the East Bloc "tonne ideology," the preference of quantity over quality in planned economies. The more insults, for example, the better: "Wolf Biermann and Robert Havemannn are not the sole hate objects in this monstrously bloated gossip column. Anyone who is even marginally more successful than the author has a good chance of getting dragged through the mud. What Florian Havemann likes best is to wash other people's dirty laundry - and then his own hands in innocence. He himself is free from guilt, he intimates, all he's doing is stating the facts, giving his own view of things in endless self-reflections all meant to show what a sensitive, reflective, creative soul he is. 'Because I'm an artist, as he never stops repeating."
Die Tageszeitung 24.11.2007
Dominic Johnson reports shocking scenes from a hospital in Congo. The war-torn region of Kivu has "the most appalling conditions in the world," Johnson writes: "The things you witness in the ward for raped women in Panzi Hospital in the East Congolese city of Bukavu outstrip the human power of imagination. Women shot in the vagina after being gang raped are not uncommon. One woman was raped while her bound husband was forced to look on. He was then dismembered alive, and she had to eat his sex organs. 'I haven't been able to sleep without sleeping pills for ten years,' says Christine Schuler-Deschryver, in charge of the women's ward in Panzi Hospital on behalf of the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). This isn't a war, it's sexual terror'." Johnson writes of a "genocide by other means" carried out by Hutu militiamen before the eyes of a passive world.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung 24.11.2007
The cross-border spread of East Asian pop could give the region a new identity, writes Hoo Nam Seelmann. It all started with "Hallyu" - the Korean wave (read our feature "Yodelling for Asia" on Hallyu). "For the first time in modern history, the 'Hallyu' phenomenon has made it possible to talk about a cross-border East Asian pop culture. The media in all East Asian countries have dealt extensively with the topic, while sociologists, cultural critics and columnists have given detailed analyses of the emergence, interdependence and transformations in mass culture. Discussion is even more intense in the virtual world of the Internet, where chat forums abound and all manner of information is exchanged. At long last, this public discussion is allowing East Asians to take stock of their shared cultural roots."


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Ausar Walcott, the rookie linebacker who was cut by the Browns a day after he was charged with attempted murder, says he was acting in self defense.
The Bergen Record reports that Walcott's attorney filed court papers saying that Walcott and some friends were surrounded by 10 to 20 men who were making threatening comments to them. According to his attorney, Walcott was moving away to avoid a fight and threw a punch only after he was "accosted."
That one punch was enough to put the man he punched, Derrick Jones, in the hospital in critical condition with a serious head injury, but Jones has now recovered well enough that he has been released.
Walcott's lawyer says he "in no way was the aggressor" in the incident and that he should not have been charged with attempted murder.
Whatever happens with Walcott legally, the charge may have been enough to end his NFL career: Walcott was an undrafted free agent who faced an uphill battle to make it in the NFL even if he avoided off-field trouble. Now Walcott will be ineligible to sign with any team until NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell first clears him. Because he was a marginal player anyway, Walcott may be viewed as not worth the trouble, even if a judge or a jury believe his claim of self defense.


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By Michael Greger, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Michael Greger is the director of public health and animal agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States, and author of 'Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching.' The views expressed are his own.
In 1969, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. William Stewart declared "The war against diseases has been won." We had penicillin. We had conquered polio and smallpox. Even Nobel laureates were seduced into the heady optimism. To write about infectious disease, one Nobel-winning virologist wrote in a 1962 textbook, "is almost to write of something that has passed into history." "[T]he most likely forecast about the future of infectious disease," he pronounced, "is that it will be very dull." Recent headlines belie the fact that it has become anything but – from the mysterious SARS-like virus discovered in London, to Hantavirus in Yosemite and plague in Colorado to West Nile virus in Texas and the new Heartland virus in Missouri.
We've seen an unprecedented rise in infectious diseases in recent decades, 75 percent of which are "zoonotic," meaning they come from animals. About 300 new animal-to-human diseases have emerged in the last 60 years.
This summer, the International Livestock Research Institute released a report estimating that zoonotic diseases cause 2.5 billion cases of human illness each year and 2.7 million human deaths worldwide. Most of these illnesses and deaths are caused by diseases spread from farm animals.
Meanwhile, we've seen a dramatic spike in pork and poultry production. Tens to hundreds of thousands of caged animals under a single roof allow for zoonotic diseases to emerge, amplify and spread. Of all the emerging threats, the greatest concern is influenza, the only known virus with the potential to infect millions of people within months.
New chicken and pig flu viruses have emerged at an alarming rate in recent decades. The latest swine flu virus, dubbed H3N2v, claimed its first human victim last month in Ohio. Up until the 1990s, only about a dozen human cases of swine flu infection had ever been reported. In the last year alone, in contrast, H3N2v has infected 300 people, sending 15 to the hospital and one to the morgue. The H1N1 virus that emerged from pigs in 2009 infected an estimated 60 million Americans, resulting in 12,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Both H3N2v and the pandemic H1N1 share genetic origins with the "triple reassortant" strain that spread throughout the U.S. pork industry in 1999, a virus that combined genes from bird, pig, and human strains. Our first discovered hybrid strain – a human-pig mutant – was found in August 1998 in an industrial pig operation in Newton Grove, N.C. It may be no coincidence that the new strain was found in a region with the single highest pig population in the nation, or that it was found in a "sow stall" operation, in which thousands of pregnant sows were confined in crates barely larger than their bodies. (The stress of life-long confinement is thought to make animals more susceptible to infection).
Bird flu followed a similar trajectory, from rare cases to a multitude of new chicken flu viruses now causing sporadic human outbreaks around the world. The greatest concern is that with increasing numbers of circulating pig and chicken flu viruses capable of infecting humans, a virus with the human transmissibility of H1N1 could combine with a virus with the human lethality of H5N1, a bird flu virus that has killed 359 of its 608 known human victims. Imagine the implications of 60 million Americans coming down with flu with a 60 percent mortality rate.
While budget strapped public health agencies struggle to detect and prevent emerging strains, and researchers work on unlocking genetic codes, the pork industry specifically has a vital role to play in preventing a human pandemic, and it begins with transparency and better animal welfare. Animal health regulations only require producers to notify authorities of pathogens that pose a risk to the national herd, such as hoof and mouth disease. But those regulations were put in place before we realized that swine flu viruses could pose a risk to the national human population. Yet producers still don't have to share the results of their swine flu testing programs with health agencies. Even if a person is infected on a farm, health authorities are barred from testing pigs without express consent from the owner of the operation. Especially in light of the hundreds of new human cases, the U.S. pork industry can no longer be allowed to simply self-regulate and keep public health authorities in the dark.
For years, the public health community has warned about the risks of intensive livestock confinement. In 2003, the American Public Health Association called for a moratorium on concentrated animal feeding operations. In 2008, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, which included a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, concluded that industrialized animal agriculture posed "unacceptable" risks to public health. A key recommendation was the phasing out of extreme confinement practices such as gestation crates, which "induce high levels of stress in the animals and threaten their health," the commissioners wrote, "which in turn may threaten human health."
In response, the pork industry appeared more interested in changing the name of swine flu than in changing the practices that are exacerbating it. An editorial in one leading U.S. agribusiness publication responded this way to a United Nations report on the human health risks of industrialized animal agriculture: "FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations] claims to use scientists to generate its reports, but I wonder if those scientists don't resemble a bearded man living in a cave in Pakistan who wants the U.S. on its knees."
Rather than shooting the messenger, it would be more prudent to allow the public health community's concerns to inform agriculture policy, and for test results to be shared to eliminate the most extreme forms of animal confinement.
We (humans) are now seriously out of balance with the rest of the planet. Nature ALWAYS seeks a balance. If we don't get our population, pollution, and environmental devastation under control nature WILL balance us. We won't like how nature does this.
This is an excellent piece and we have been warned. If our culture continues to treat the animals we eat this barbarically, maybe we deserve what will happen. No offense to God, but clearly giving man dominion over animals was a mistake.
Dr. Greger needs to be on CNN to talk about this.
The author works for a vegan organization that tries to pass itself off as a "charity" that helps animals. Geiger himself is a vegan so it is now wonder he tries to scare people about contact with animals
We eat meat because we need protein.
We can find protein in so many other food products.
•Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce
•Tuna, 6 oz can – 40 grams of protein
Eggs and Dairy
•Egg, large – 6 grams protein
•Milk, 1 cup – 8 grams
•Cottage cheese, ½ cup – 15 grams
•Yogurt, 1 cup – usually 8-12 grams, check label
•Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz
•Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz
•Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz
Beans (including soy)
•Tofu, ½ cup 20 grams protein
•Tofu, 1 oz, 2.3 grams
• Soy milk, 1 cup – 6 -10 grams
• Most beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc) about 7-10 grams protein per half cup of cooked beans
• Soy beans, ½ cup cooked – 14 grams protein
• Split peas, ½ cup cooked – 8 grams
This is not only an issue for emerging diseases, but current diseases too. The threat of antibiotic resistance is growing steadily everyday due to the increased use of antibiotics in food animals (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18031331). Worse yet, there is nothing we can do about the damage already done. Recently, researchers have found identical drug resistant strains of Campylobacter coli among BOTH conventionally raised pigs and antibiotic-free pigs (http://phys.org/news/2012-09-antibiotic-resistant-pathogens-persist-antibiotic-free-pigs.html). This is alarming because it shows that these drug-resistant strains (that were evolutionarily selected because of the use of antibiotics as growth promoters) are now running loose in the general environment.
What damage has already occurred is irreversible, but what damage may come is dependent on whether the US will continue to use antibiotics in livestock growth and management.
Agreed that we need to regulate. How about this... Taiwan is under heavy scrutiny and facing serious backlashes by the USA because they outlawed the importation of American beef because it does NOT meet Taiwan health standards. USA meat doesn't meet Taiwan health standards. That's pretty sad.
West Nile virus (WNV) is most commonly transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. You can reduce your risk of being infected with WNV by using insect repellent and wearing protective clothing to prevent mosquito bites. There are no medications to treat or vaccines to prevent WNV infection. Fortunately, most people infected with WNV will have no symptoms. About 1 in 5 people who are infected will develop a fever with other symptoms. Less than 1% of infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, neurologic illness.;,-^
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Community members are invited to comment on the instructional materials being considered to meet elementary social skills competencies. The Second Step curriculum materials can be viewed Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Leander ISD Administration Building, 204 W. South Street, Leander, TX 78641 from June 26-June 29 and July 10-July 13. Please note that district offices will be closed from July 3-7.
After reviewing the curriculum, please submit community comments here. The window for providing instructional materials community comments is open from June 26 to July 13, 2017
Engage, inspire, achieve for lifelong success.


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TMZ is reporting that former boxing champ Adrien Broner was arrested on Monday (Feb. 12) in Atlanta, Georgia for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.
According to the news outlet, Broner was in Lenox Mall when he allegedly inappropriately groped an unknown woman. "Broner denied the allegation -- but after being interviewed by cops, they believed there was enough evidence to arrest him for misdemeanor sexual battery," TMZ reads.
BSO also reports that the assault occurred in front of a Louis Vuitton store. Broner was soon handcuffed and taken out of the mall. Then, he was into custody at Fulton County Jail. Broner was later scheduled to see a judge this morning (Feb. 13). Where not sure how that court appearance went, as of yet.
This isn't the first time that the former boxing champ has been in legal trouble. Just last year, he was accused of punching a guy in the face, while out in Las Vegas. The Shade Room posted videos of Broner being arrested. Take a look below.
Photo: Getty Images


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Yesterday the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) announced that it expects to see a 3 percent increase over 2009 in air travel this winter holiday period, which spans from Dec. 16, 2010 through Jan. 5, 2011.
Just like we saw over the Thanksgiving holiday, more travelers are using air travel this year as it continues to be the safest form of transportation.
Despite reports of backlash against the TSA's new airport security measures, this uptick in air travel shows that travelers are willing to endure some inconvenience to ensure a safe flight.
Daily passenger volumes are expected to range from 1.7 million to 2.3 million during the holiday. The busiest days are expected to be Dec. 21 to 23, Dec. 26 to 30, and Jan. 2 and 3, according to the ATA.
If you're one of the expected 43.6 million passengers to head to the airport this holiday, just remember one thing: keep your cool. I've said this before, but I think it's important to reiterate during the holidays. A friendly smile and a polite request will not only make someone else feel good, but will produce the best results for you.
If you want some more statistics on air travel, the new TSA security measures, and how to avoid some common travel fees, here a few posts you can thumb through.
Holiday travel: Is it safe to fly? November wasn't a good month for the air travel industry. Every few days brought with it reports of air cargo bombs, fuselages ripping apart, and engine failures. But despite the reports, the latest statistics along with an infographic demonstrate how safe air travel really is.
Navigating the TSA's new airport security measures this Thanksgiving. In light of the TSA's new airport security measures, here's a detailed list on what you should expect at the airport this holiday. With this knowledge, you'll find it easier to get through the check-in process while doing your part to ensure safety as you travel.
10 travel gotchas to watch out for. No one likes to get hit with unexpected fees when traveling. Even I, an experienced traveler, sometimes get tripped up by extra airline and hotel costs. To help you avoid getting snagged too, I've listed my top ten fees to watch out for. Some of these you might not even know exist.


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Over the course of a weekend, Project Olds goes from granny to racy with some scuff-and-shoot paint and fresh graphics
After a while, sometimes the old ride just doesn't have the same appeal that she used to. When the initial love affair subsides, the eye starts wandering and you want something new—but does that mean you necessarily have to give up on old Sally? Maybe the ol' girl just needs a makeover. We've been there with Project Olds, our '65 Cutlass project car. At first, the novelty of ripping up the autocross in a machine with a distinctly geriatric vibe was great fun, but eventually our enthusiasm waned. "It looked like a grandma car with bigger wheels," car owner and PHR photographer extraordinaire Robert McGaffin opines. "Over the course of the build, the performance of the car got ramped up big time. It's been on several road courses, the autocross, and driven across the country. The Cutlass needed a more aggressive look to match its performance, so it was time to give it a makeover."
It's been a while since Project Olds made its last appearance, so here's a quick refresher. Not long after purchasing our '65 Cutlass, we yanked the 330ci small-block and two-speed slushbox, and stuffed in a 514hp big-block Olds and Tremec TKO 600 five-speed stick. To plant the barrage of lb-ft dished out by the 461ci mill, the decrepit stock underpinnings got chucked for a complete Detroit Speed and Engineering suspension working in concert with 18-inch Rocket Racing wheels and some super-gooey Nitto rubber. Although building a Pro Touring car can easily become a pricey affair, we've tried to keep costs down throughout the entire build, and we had every intention of sticking with that theme with a makeover on the horizon.
Freshening up the look of any project car without spending a small fortune is no small feat, especially when laying down paint is involved, but it's definitely possible to spice things up over a weekend given enough planning and determination. Our simple plan called for trading in the two-tone look for a monochrome paint scheme highlighted with a racing stripe and refinished wheels. "According to the paint code, this was originally a blue car with a white top, but during its last restoration someone painted it red with a silver top. I don't mind the two-tone look, but wanted something more aggressive," McGaffin says. "In 1965, there was a 4-4-2 vinyl stripe kit that you could buy from the dealership. It's not a rally stripe, it's not centered, and it looks unusual, which are all things I liked about it. I found the original dealer instructions posted on www.442Bro.com that shows measurements for locating the stripes and used that as a template."
In addition to scuffing and shooting the roof red to match the body, we decided to paint the wheels silver to match the stripe. With the plan in place, we headed down to Windy City Rods and Restorations (www.WindyCityRR.com), where Miguel Menendez and Glen Shar put the makeover in motion. The beauty of a project like this is that just about anyone can do it over the course of a weekend in their own garage.


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Switching a Windows Live ID for Zune and XBox
I got a shiny new Windows Phone 7 yesterday, I was so excited. I chose the Samsung Focus from AT&T. I excitedly added my Windows Live ID to it during initialization, and the first thing I did was go to set up the XBox Live hub, anxious to see my XBox Live avatar show up. … Read more


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Story highlights
- Indictment charges four former officials of Peanut Corporation of America
- FDA said plant shipped tainted peanut paste that wound up in crackers, other foods
- Salmonella outbreak in 2009 blamed for nine deaths, hundreds of illnesses
- Food recalls are common, but criminal charges around them are rare
Four former officials of the now-closed Peanut Corporation of America were indicted Thursday on charges related to salmonella-tainted peanuts and peanut products, the Justice Department said.
A 2009 salmonella outbreak that prompted a massive recall of peanut goods led to nine deaths and more than 700 illnesses in more than 40 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 76-count indictment, unsealed in Georgia, alleged mail and wire fraud, the introduction of adulterated and misbranded food into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead, and conspiracy.
A plant in Blakely, Georgia, roasted and processed raw peanuts. Its peanut paste was sold to customers nationwide and used in crackers, cookies, and other items.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the company shipped tainted product it knew had tested positive for bacteria linked to the salmonella outbreak.
U.S. Attorney Michael Moore of Macon said the accused are expected to appear in court in Albany next week.
The defendants were identified as Stewart Parnell, 58, of Lynchburg, Virginia; Michael Parnell, 54, of Midlothian, Virginia; Samuel Lightsey, 48, of Blakely; and Mary Wilkerson, 39, of Edison, Georgia.
Three of the four were also charged with obstruction of justice, Justice Department officials said.
Authorities said Daniel Kilgore, 44, of Blakely pleaded guilty to similar counts this week.
Food recalls are common, but criminal indictments around them are not.
Charges in this case appear to have been prompted, in part, by the defendants' alleged knowledge of the salmonella-tainted product shipment and an alleged cover-up.
Those charged could face stiff jail terms, if convicted.


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Famed orthopedist Dr. James Andrews says Rob Gronkowski is "right where he should be" in his recovery from reconstructive knee surgery.
Still, the New England Patriots tight end isn't about to rush his return from the torn ACL and MCL he suffered in a Week 14 win over the Cleveland Browns. Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman reported Wednesday that Gronkowski plans to "take his time and then take more time," according to a source close to the player.
Tom Brady's top target was methodical last season returning from back surgery and multiple procedures on his left forearm. Freeman was told Gronkowski is prepared to "take more time, and be more patient than ever before."
Can you blame him? Gronk's early career has been derailed by a laundry list of serious injuries, with back-to-back offseasons consumed by strenuous rehabs. On the field, he's one of history's premier playmakers at his position, but the Patriots can't count on his talents out of the gate come September.
Gronkowski is a strong candidate to open the year on the physically unable to perform list, while New England has emerged as a logical target to unearth new talent at tight end in next month's draft.
The latest edition of the "Around The League Podcast" covers the Aldon Smith arrest and analyzes the offseason movers and shakers in the NFC East and NFC South.