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I previously posted a route profile for the Chanteloup climb near Paris, France. This is a climb with an amazingly rich cycling history, going back to Velocio who used it to demonstrate the superiority of multi-gear bikes to the fixed-gear bikes which dominated professional racing in the early 20th century. Later it became the sight for the "Poly de Chanteloup" event, which was contested by randonneurs and professional racers. The randonneur event unfortunately seems to have died, but the professional race continued as the Trophée des Grimpeurs, a traditional last race of the season until sponsorship was lost in 2010 and it also expired.
Jan Heine, in his highly recommended book "René Herse", has the following quote about the gearing of the winning tandem in the 1949 randonneur contest. I posted this last time but I repeat it here because I find it remarkable:
A single chainring was sufficient for the 14% of the climb of Chanteloup, which had to be climbed eight times. In 1950 a report listed the gearing of their tandem: a single chainring with 46 teeth and a 5-speed freewheel with 13-15-18-21-22 teeth. They never used the 22-tooth cog, and they made their attack with the 46-18.
How could they ride a tandem up the climb whose profile I got from Strava? It boggled the mind.
But it soon became obvious to me something was amiss. First I checked StreetView, and the hill simply didn't look as steep as advertised. That's not uncommon, but the places where the grade changed dramatically in the profile weren't reflected in the StreetView.
The other factor was the profile failed to match the crude one published in Heine's book on page 175. That profile, "le profil du parcours", was obviously taken from some old race guide.
The nail in the coffin was when someone on the Weight Weenies forum who'd ridden the climb said it "wasn't more than 12%".
As is often the case, I'd succumbed to laziness, taking the first available data. The problem is when one defines a segment on Strava, the data from the activity used to define the segment is taken as the reference data. Unfortunately ride data varies substantially in quality. Data from position data without altimetry is interpolated by Strava onto reference altitude data. This can be quite good, except position errors, particularly from older iPhones, translate into altitude datas from slopes transverse to the road, and these transverse slopes are often considerable (grades of 100% not uncommon). A 10 meter position error could yield a 10 meter altitude error and an error of 10 meters in the difference between altitudes of two nearby points is obviously going to have a profound effect on extracted road grade.
Worse, perhaps, is GPS altitude. GPS-only altitude, reported for example by the Garmin Edge 200, varies substantially in quality, and is unreliable.
Barometric altimetry is better. There the unit measures the ambient pressure and temperature, converts the combination into an altitude, and reports that. This is better for short-term differences in altitude. It becomes even better if the unit uses GPS altimetry as calibration.
The Garmin Edge 500 is fairly good with altitude once it has equilibriated with the outdoor temperature. Edge 800 is even better. So if I can find data from either of these units, I use that in preference to other sources. (Aside: the best of all is perhaps iBike, since that measures grade directly, which I can combine with the reported altitude to generate data which has good grade to even small length scales, but iBike data is rare and isn't found on Strava).
The issue with looking at Strava segments is there is no direct indicator from where the data used to generate the profile came. Activities are tagged, but when an activity is used to define a segment, the segment is not.
So better than using the segment data directly is to take data from the activities in the leaderboard. I prefer recent activities near the top of leaderboards, especially if the leaderboard is deep. Then I check to make sure the activity was recorded with a trusted unit (Edge 500, 501, 800, or 801, for example) and that the position data track the road or path nicely. That's the best approach, the approach I didn't take in my previous blog post.
revised profile, using data from Strava KOM
So here's a revised profile, showing as well the profile from Heine and the data I used last time. I vertically displaced the Edge 500 data to match the peak altitude of the Heine profile. On the Heine profile the first and last point were explicitly listed, but the center point was not, so I eyeballed it to match the graphic in the book. The result is the Edge 500 data falls in close agreement with the data from Heine, while the data from the Strava segment shows the climb to be much steeper, gaining more vertical.
so the conclusion is the climb sustains around 4.3% for awhile, then after a brief flattening sustains 10%, then finishes with a very brief 16% or so gaining only 8 meters. 10% is a steep climb, for sure, especially on those gears, but this a big difference from the much higher numbers concluded from the Strava segment data.


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Tire rotation is the removal and relocation of each tire on your vehicle. Each tire on your vehicle wears differently, depending on their position on your vehicle, your personal driving style, your vehicle's weight distribution, and performance characteristics. Front tires typically tend to wear more quickly than rear tires, because of steering/cornering forces and the difference in weight on the front tires. Drive tires tend to wear more quickly than non-drive tires. Rotating the position of your tires periodically promotes more even tread wear, and will help you get the most miles out of your tires, the best traction, and improved driving safety. During the service, we'll rotate your tires according to your owner's manual recommendations. Rotating tires is an important routine maintenance service for your vehicle, like oil changes.
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subset: commoncrawl


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"The 60s," it is sometimes said, didn't really commence until late in that decade, with many of the worst excesses actually taking place in the early 1970s. But Terry Teachout identifies 1962 as the year when the popular culture began to change.
When did the world in which we now live take fully recognizable shape? I suspect that most middle-age Americans would point to 1968, the annus horribilis when Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. But it was in 1962, not 1968, that the curtain first started inching up on our age of full-color anxiety. Turn the clock back exactly a half-century and you'll find yourself in a different America—but one fraught with subtle signs and portents of what was to come.
"The caldron of change was already bubbling away" in 1962, Teachout says:
Take a. . .glance at the guest list for Carson's "Tonight Show" debut [in 1962] and you'll note the unexpected presence of Mel Brooks, whose raucously, unabashedly vulgar movies would soon help to undermine Hollywood's long-established sense of the appropriate. Nor was Mr. Brooks the only portent of things to come. Nineteen sixty-two was also the year when Bob Dylan cut his first album. Andy Warhol's first solo show, an exhibition of Campbell's Soup cans, opened in Los Angeles in 1962, and Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opened on Broadway. As dissimilar as these now-venerable objets d'art may seem to us now, they all had in common the iron determination of their creators to break decisively with the earnest, self-confident tone of postwar culture.
If Teachout is correct about 1962, and I think he is, then we should question the familiar narrative that views baby boomers as the driving force behind the rise of the counterculture. Baby boomers were too young to drive cultural change in 1962, nor at that time did Mel Brooks, Edward Albee, and Andy Warhol have much appeal to boomers. Their appeal was to older generations, including portions of the one dubbed "the Greatest."
At a minimum, then, we should conclude that the cultural disconnect between baby boomers and older generations, including that of their parents, has been overstated. But we should have suspected this all along, considering how little resistance the youth culture of the late 1960s encountered, by and large, from the would-be guardians of the pre-existing culture.
Via Emily Esfahani Smith at Ricochet.


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Consider the following stochastic process.
We begin with an undirected graph on $n$ vertices, exactly one of which is ''infected.'' Now at every time step, each infected node infects one of its non-infected neighbors uniformly at random. For example, if a given node has $3$ neighbors that are infected and $5$ that are not, then it infects exactly one of those latter $5$, each of which has probability $1/5$ of being the one chosen.
Now its clear that after $n-1$ steps every node becomes infected, since at every step at least one non-infected node becomes infected. However, I suspect that the infection actually spreads faster, because as the number of infected nodes grows, more and more non-infected nodes become infected at every stage.
My question: Is it actually true that every node is infected after $O(D)$ steps, where $D$ is the diameter of the graph?


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The American Council of Learned Societies is pleased to announce the results of the 2013-14 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship competition. This year, 64 fellowships were awarded to advanced graduate students pursuing promising and ambitious PhD research from 32 universities and more than a dozen humanistic disciplines. Fellows were selected from a highly competitive pool of nearly 1,000 applicants through a rigorous, multi-stage peer-review process.
"This fellowship program intervenes at a critical juncture in a scholar's professional development," said Matthew Goldfeder, director of fellowship programs at ACLS. "It aims to support fellows in the final year of dissertation writing as they improve the project that will form the basis of their early postdoctoral research agenda and publications."
ACLS is pleased to announce an increase this year in the fellowship stipend to $30,000, plus additional funds for research support and university fees, helping to ensure that fellows are able to focus on completing the dissertation. The program also hosts an intensive job market seminar to better equip fellows to embark on their postgraduate careers. Now in its eighth year, the program is made possible by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
SAH Member Michael Patrick McCulloch, Architecture, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor was awarded a fellowship for Building the Working City: Designs on Home and Life in Boomtown Detroit, 1914-1929. Prior to working on his Ph.D, Mr. McCulloch was a practicing architect.
Read more here.


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Here are the top 3 that shocked me the most -- did they shock you?
|Photo copyright: Atlantic Cities Bruno Marguerite/RATP
I thought hell would freeze over, thaw, then freeze over again before anyone in this country would grow the balls to admit that *sometimes*, French people cross the line separating jerks from complete douchecanoes.
I think my heart skipped a beat when I read this article which claimed the French surveyed thought they were "rude, stroppy, and slothful".
Stroppy? Really?? If you know someone who uses the word "Stroppy", raise your hand. Put your hand down, you do not, you freaking patho-liar. Something's off here, I'm thinking this was faked, and I will devote my life to making the truth come out. (*wink*)
Anyway, who cares if it's real or not because the result is the Parisian metro was littered with campaign posters like this article shows.
Conclusion? Entire World Who Hate Assholes: 1. French: 0.
2) The Seine is gross.com
So they vetoed a huge Seine-swimming event. What's more surprising I ask you:
a) That the French wait until less than a month before the event to put the kabosh on it destrolishing the hopes and dreams of over 2,000 people who signed up for the swimming event
b) That 2,000 people actually thought the Seine was clean enough to swim in.
If I'm being honest here, part a) doesn't surprise me at all -- in fact, it feels par for the course. Regardless, we probably saved 2k moridions from drowning in putrid. Yay French gov't!
3) It's totally legal to be a cockjuggling manwhore, you guys.
This is the scandal that will not finish. (tee hee.) Strauss-Kahn's trial continues, and the prosecution is squeezing him (lol) to find out if he has ties to a prostitution ring.
His defense against these claims? Being "libertine" (swinger to us anglophones) is not illegal!
Where was this guy when Clinton needed a pep-talk? How awesome would that speech have turned out to be if they had been pals. "I totally porked her, so sue me, it's not illegal b***!".
I never thought I'd say this, but I admire Strauss-Kahn's wrinkly old balls right now.


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February 5, 2019 | 1 comment
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July 16, 2019
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Odonata, insect order comprising the dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) and the damselflies (suborder Zygoptera). The adults are easily recognized by their two pairs of narrow, transparent wings, sloping thorax, and long, usually slender body; the abdomen is almost always longer than any of the wings. Large, active by day, and often strikingly coloured, they are usually seen flying near water. Adult odonates are voracious predators, as are the aquatic larvae.
The name dragonfly is commonly applied to all odonates, but it is also used to differentiate the suborder Anisoptera from the suborder Zygoptera. The order Odonata is small and well known; the total number of living species probably does not greatly exceed the 5,000 or so already described. Odonates are globally distributed from the tropics, where they are most numerous and varied, to the boreal forests of Siberia and North America. They are also found throughout the Southern Hemisphere, with the exception of Antarctica.
While the basic structure of adults is uniform, coloration is highly variable—hues range from metallic to dull, sometimes in combination. There is also a wide range of sizes; damselfly species have both the shortest and longest wingspans—about 18 mm and 19 cm (0.71 inch and 7.5 inches), respectively. However, some fossil ancestors of today's odonates had wingspans of more than 70 cm (28 inches).
Odonates are among the few insects that have secured a major place in folklore and art. In Japan, where a journal (Tombo) has been devoted to reports of their biology since 1958, dragonflies (Odonata) traditionally have been held in high regard. In other Asian cultures they are considered benign and auspicious, but in Europe they have often been perceived as threatening, even though they do not injure humans. Long-standing vernacular names such as horse stinger, snake doctor, and devil's darning needle testify to their formidable appearance.
The young, termed larvae or sometimes nymphs, are functionally wingless and live in a variety of shallow freshwater habitats including tree holes, ponds, marshes, and streams. They are often bottom-dwelling and are well-camouflaged, their mottled or drab colours matching the sediments or water plants around them. Although large numbers of mosquitoes and other insect pests are consumed by larvae and adults, odonates are generally indiscriminate feeders that seldom affect humans economically. Larvae, however, have been used successfully in Myanmar to interrupt transmission of the mosquito-borne disease dengue.
Natural History
The larval stage
Eggs are laid in or very near water (exceptions include the terrestrial larvae of a few Hawaiian damselflies (Megalagrion) and Australian woodland dragonflies of the genus Pseudocordulia). The hatchlings then develop through a series of stages, or instars, molting at the end of each instar into similar, but larger and more developed, versions of themselves. Very soon after leaving the egg, the first instar (prolarva) sheds its cuticular sheath, releasing the tiny, spiderlike larva. Because it is aquatic, the larva differs markedly in structure and behaviour from the flight-oriented adult. Wing sheaths are not even apparent in the early instars; it is not until about halfway through larval development that they appear, becoming rapidly larger during subsequent molts. Larvae molt approximately 8 to 17 times, and some grow to more than 5 cm (2 inches) in length. The number of instars varies both within and between species. Early instars feed actively on various small water animals, including tiny crustaceans and protozoans; during later instars the larva feeds on larger prey such as midge larvae, aquatic beetles, snails, and even small fishes.
Larval development can range from three weeks to more than 8 years, depending on the species and habitat. Tropical species generally take less time to develop than those of colder climates. Many temperate species spend their last winter in the final instar and emerge during the spring and early summer. Others spend their last winter as eggs, earlier instars, or immature adults. Odonate larvae are preyed upon mainly by fish but also by frogs, birds, crayfish, and each other. Both larvae and adults are sometimes parasitized by flukes, tapeworms, and mites; minute wasps can parasitize eggs. During emergence odonates are particularly vulnerable to predation by birds, spiders, amphibians, and reptiles.
There is no pupal stage among odonates, but toward the end of the last instar the larva stops feeding, and its organs transform into those of an adult within the larval skin. A few days later it climbs out of the water on a suitably robust support (usually vegetation) and molts to disclose the adult—a process known as emergence. If the air temperature is high enough, the largest dragonflies will leave the water after sunset and take flight just before sunrise; smaller species typically emerge during the day.
The adult stage
The newly emerged adult dragonfly is soft, pale, and reproductively immature. After the wings straighten and the body hardens, one of its first actions is to fly away from water and begin feeding, although a day or more may separate the first flight from the first meal. Once it has left the emergence site, the adult has few regular enemies. In flight adults are able to evade almost all predators except for extremely agile birds such as bee-eaters and falcons. Frogs are regular predators at egg-laying sites.
Adult life consists of two phases—the prereproductive, or maturation, period and the reproductive period. Maturation generally lasts about 2 weeks but can take anywhere from 1 to 60 days, depending on species, climate, and weather. When the maturation period serves to bridge dry or cold seasons, however, it can last nine months or more.
The reproductive period begins when a sexually mature adult dragonfly flies to the mating rendezvous, usually the margin of a body of water where the eggs will be laid. Males assemble there slightly earlier than females and space themselves along the shore or over the water. At the rendezvous site defense by males ranges from negligible to intense. Actively defending males establish an area of characteristic extent, much as birds defend territories. Where sites are intensely defended, an individual may return to the same perch for many successive days and expel intruders. When a male adult approaches or enters a territory occupied by another individual of the same species, the occupant acts aggressively, and an aerial agility contest often ensues; thus, territories are held by the most vigorous males. Violent confrontations between rival males sometimes result in injury or death. If a female adult approaches or enters a territory, the resident male tries to mate with her. In some species mating is preceded by a courtship display during which the female accepts or rejects the male, who tries to guide her to an egg-laying site in his territory. Usually, however, there is no evident prelude and mating occurs immediately.
The mating posture is unique among insects. With the claspers at the end of his abdomen, the male grasps the top of the female's head or prothorax, thus forming the tandem position. The male's movements then induce her to bring the tip of her abdomen forward so that it meets his accessory sex organs at the base of his abdomen, where he has deposited the sperm. This so-called "wheel" position enables the female to receive her partner's sperm. The wheel can be formed in flight, and, although mated adults usually alight promptly, many odonates are able to fly together this way—a remarkable and elegant sight. The couple remains joined in this way for a few seconds to several hours, depending on the species. Little of this time, however, is spent actually transferring sperm. Instead, the male is mainly occupied with using his accessory sex organs to displace sperm that may have been deposited in the female by previous mates.
After mating, the female usually lays eggs immediately. She may do so alone, or her partner may be still attached in tandem or hovering nearby, darting at other males that approach. Such guarding is extremely important to the male, as the one that mates last with the female is the one whose sperm first fertilizes the eggs laid during the next day or so. Eggs are laid in several ways. Species with a well-formed ovipositor place them either within or on plant tissue, above or in the water. Some climb beneath the water's surface to lay and may remain submerged for an hour or more. Species without an ovipositor dip the abdomen in water (sometimes while in flight) and wash the eggs off or stick them onto leaves of plants close to the water's surface. Others drop them through the air onto the water's surface. Eggs that are laid in running water usually possess adhesive or tangling devices that prevent their being swept downstream.
Form And Function
Basic structure
The principal structural features of adult odonates reflect adaptations to flight. Adults have two pairs of narrow, typically transparent wings and a long, slender abdomen consisting of 10 segments. The head has prominent eyes and inconspicuous antennae, and the thorax is tilted along the body's axis. The sloping thorax accommodates very large wing muscles and sets the legs forward, where they can best grasp prey. Consequently, odonates are well adapted to perching but are largely unable to walk on flat surfaces. Where the head joins the thorax, a delicate orientation organ maintains equilibrium during flight.
Odonates are considered to have excellent vision, and the large compound eyes, acutely responsive to movement and form, play an important role in capturing food and interacting with other individuals. In most dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) the compound eyes meet at the top of the head and can consist of 30,000 individual optical units, or ommatidia. Their large eyes give some anisopterans a nearly 360-degree view of their environment. Among certain dragonflies of the family Aeshnidae that fly only in subdued light (e.g., Gynacantha), the eyes occupy almost the entire surface of the head. Damselflies (suborder Zygoptera), on the other hand, have eyes that are well separated. Odonates also possess three tiny simple eyes called ocelli.
At the opposite end of the body, another structural difference between the two suborders can be seen: male damselflies have four tail appendages, whereas dragonflies have only three.
Wings and flight
The large wings are strengthened by a complex network of veins. Each wing also has a thickened patch (the pterostigma) on the leading edge of the wing tip. The forewings of dragonflies are narrower than the hind wings, which in certain migratory species (genera Libellula, Pantala, and Tramea) are expanded, permitting gliding flight.
Odonates use their wings in a unique manner. Whereas other insects with four wings beat them synchronously, odonates can beat the fore and hind pairs independently. This allows three different modes of flight in which the pairs beat (1) synchronously, as those of other insects, (2) alternately between the two sets, or (3) synchronously but out of phase with each other. Such variations allow odonates a repertoire of aerobatic abilities that include hovering, backward flight, and turns of such tight radius that they are virtually midair pivots. Odonate aerodynamics have even been studied in the hope of applying the flight principles involved to aircraft.
The unique wheel position exhibited by Odonata can be regarded as a special way of transferring sperm. Instead of placing sperm on the ground or a leaf for the female to pick up (as certain primitive insects do), the male transfers it from genitalia near the tip of his abdomen to accessory sex organs at the base of his abdomen that are specially constructed to receive and transmit sperm to the female. Odonates that appear very similar may actually be different species; the sex organs are highly intricate and species-specific. Males have evolved various means of displacing the sperm of previous mates. Mating between species is hampered by the fact that odonates of the same species have interlocking structures on the male claspers and female head or prothorax that enable the wheel to be formed and made secure.
Basic structure
Like the adults, odonate larvae have large eyes, and anisopterans are generally stockier than zygopterans. The most immediate method of distinguishing between larvae of the two suborders is by inspecting the abdomen. In most Zygoptera there are three external leaflike plates at the tip of the abdomen that function as gills. Among anisopterans the gills are internal growths of the hindgut wall that are ventilated as water is pumped in and out of the anus. Both respiratory systems are used in emergencies as methods for locomotion; jet propulsion via the anus is a particularly effective escape tactic employed by Anisoptera. Many zygopterans, on the other hand, use their leaflike plates to swim much as a fish uses its tail.
Unlike the adults, the larvae show many structural variations that reflect the demands of different aquatic microhabitats with respect to respiration, locomotion, feeding, and concealment. Species living within fine sediment (Aphylla), for example, are more or less cylindrical in cross-section, with a terminal siphon that maintains respiratory contact with the water above; those residing on the surface of mud or sand (Ictinogomphus) often are flattened, with prominent lateral spines on the abdomen; those living among plants near the surface (Anax, Lestes) are streamlined and very active.
A larva captures prey in a very unusual way. Typically, it remains motionless until a victim is detected by sight or touch. When prey comes within range, the larva shoots out its highly developed, prehensile lower mouthpart (the labium), seizing the victim with the pincers at the end of it. The prey is then drawn back to the mandibles, where it is chewed and consumed. In the resting position the labium lies beneath the head and thorax, sometimes obscuring the front of the head; hence, it is commonly called the "mask." It can be extended almost instantaneously (under 3/100 second) by a localized increase in blood pressure that is controlled by abdominal muscles.
Evolution, Paleontology, And Classification
The odonates have an unusually long and rich fossil record. Ancestors date from more than 300 million years ago (the Late Carboniferous Epoch) and predate the dinosaurs by nearly 100 million years. Closely resembling present dragonflies, they had already diverged from other orders of winged insects, including their closest living relatives, the mayflies (order Ephemeroptera). The oldest odonate ancestors are of the extinct order Protodonata, and even they possessed a complete series of alternating upwardly and downwardly curving wing veins, as do today's odonates. Protodonate wings, however, lacked the pterostigma. Also extinct is the suborder Meganisoptera of the Carboniferous and Permian periods (about 359 million to 251 million years ago). This suborder includes well-preserved fossils of gigantic dragonflies such as Meganeura monyi, which had a wingspan of more than 70 cm (28 inches).
The order Odonata contains four extinct and two living suborders. Extinct suborders are Protanisoptera and Archizygoptera of the Permian Period (299 million to 251 million years ago), Triadophlebiomorpha of the Triassic Period (about 251 million to 200 million years ago), and Anisozygoptera of the Triassic to Cretaceous periods (251 million to 65.5 million years ago). The only living suborders are Anisoptera and Zygoptera. Two odd and primitive species, both of the genus Epiophlebia (family Epiophlebiidae), live in the mountains of Nepal and Japan; until recently, they were classified as Anisozygoptera, a suborder intermediate in form between current dragonflies and damselflies. Another relict, or "living fossil," group is the family Hemiphlebiidae. Like the epiophlebiids, members of this family (found only in a small Australian locale) are primitive and sufficiently different from all other odonates to warrant their own superfamily.
Taxonomy and classification
Features used by taxonomists when classifying adult members of the order Odonata are the structure of the male sex organs, shape and vein patterns of the wings, distance between the compound eyes, form and development of rear appendages, and presence of an ovipositor. Larvae are classified according to the type and form of respiratory organ, labial structure, number and arrangement of body spines, and shape of the abdomen.
The members of the order Odonata occupy a uniquely isolated position in the phylogeny of insects, representing a remarkable mixture of primitive and specialized characteristics. The classification given here is essentially that of F.M. Carpenter (1992) and C.A. Bridges (1993); it takes into account the fossil record of ancestral odonates. Other recently proposed classifications exist.
- Order Odonata
- Odonata, meaning "toothed-ones," comprises over 5,000 living species, all of which are assigned to suborders Zygoptera (damselflies) and Anisoptera (dragonflies). The number of species in each suborder is roughly the same. The 8 living superfamilies are divided into 27 families and slightly over 600 genera.
- Suborder Zygoptera (damselflies)
- Nineteen living families among four superfamilies. Two extinct families are not listed. Almost half of all zygopteran species are of the family Coenagrionidae.
- Superfamily Hemiphlebioidea
- Family Hemiphlebiidae
- Superfamily Coenagrionoidea
- Family Coenagrionidae
- Family Isostictidae
- Family Platycnemididae
- Family Platystictidae
- Family Protoneuridae
- Family Pseudostigmatidae
- Superfamily Lestoidea
- Family Lestidae
- Family Lestoideidae
- Family Megapodagrionidae
- Family Perilestidae
- Family Pseudolestidae
- Family Synlestidae
- Superfamily Calopterygoidea
- Family Amphipterygidae
- Family Calopterygidae
- Family Chlorocyphidae
- Family Dicteriadidae
- Family Euphaeidae
- Family Polythoridae
- Suborder Anisoptera (dragonflies)
- Eight living families (including Epiophlebiidae, formerly classified in Anisozygoptera) among four superfamilies. Five extinct families are not listed.
- Superfamily Aeshnoidea
- Family Aeshnidae
- Family Gomphidae
- Family Neopetaliidae
- Family Petaluridae
- Superfamily Cordulegastroidea
- Family Cordulegastridae
- Superfamily Epiophlebioidea
- Family Epiophlebiidae
- Superfamily Libelluloidea
- Family Corduliidae
- Family Libellulidae


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C. Boyden Gray deployed distortions about "nuclear option" on Hardball
C. Boyden Gray [1], former White House counsel for President George H.W. Bush, made false and misleading claims to promote the so-called "nuclear option" to ban Senate filibusters on judicial nominations. On the May 3 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Gray noted that more judicial vacancies existed at the end of the George H.W. Bush administration than following the Clinton administration, but he failed to mention that this higher number was due largely to the 85 new judgeships created by Congress in 1990. Gray also misrepresented the work of University of Chicago law professor Cass R. Sunstein [2], citing Sunstein's evaluation of judges confirmed under the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations to claim that even Democratic allies agree with Republicans that the nominees Democrats have filibustered are not "extremist right-wing judges."
Gray, who is also chairman of the conservative Committee for Justice [3], claimed that the "most relevant" figure in the filibuster debate is that "there were significantly more vacancies left unfilled at the end of [the term of] Bush 41 [George H.W. Bush] than there were at the end of [the second term of] Clinton." But the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way (PFAW) noted [4] a crucial fact that Gray omitted:
What Gray doesn't point out is that in the middle of Bush I's term, at the end of 1990, 85 new judgeships were created [5]. Then-President Bush was slow to send nominees for the new positions to the Senate. As a result of the new positions and slow response, the overall vacancy rate at the end of Bush I's term was 12% and the vacancy rate at the end of Clinton's term was 8%.
The PFAW report also documented that Gray's argument collapses when one examines appellate nominees alone: "[T]here were actually more appellate court vacancies at the end of Clinton's terms (23 -- for a vacancy rate of nearly 13%) than at the end of Bush I's term (17 -- for a vacancy rate of under 10%)."
Later on Hardball, Gray suggested that even Sunstein, whom Gray labeled "the leading consultant for the Democrats," does not consider the filibustered Bush nominees "extremist right-wing judges":
GRAY: The charge is, these are extremist right-wing judges. But the leading consultant for the Democrats, an academic named Cass Sunstein, professor at Chicago, has said that there's extraordinary consistency between the nominations of Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. These are the same, cut out of the same mold as previous nominations that have gone through Democratic Senates.
Sunstein, who describes himself [6] as a moderate and has served [7] in the Justice Department under former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, co-wrote an October 30, 2004, Washington Post op-ed [8] which noted that "there are no significant differences among the voting records of Reagan, Bush I and Bush II appointees" in the course of arguing that the courts have been "growing much more conservative." But Sunstein's study examined only decisions by confirmed judges, not all judicial nominees as Gray claimed. Thus, Sunstein's study did not examine the 10 Bush nominees that Democrats have filibustered, whom Gray falsely suggested Sunstein's study vindicated against charges that they are "extremist right-wing judges."
In addition, while Gray implied that Sunstein concluded that George W. Bush's judges were no more extreme than his father's or Reagan's, in fact, Sunstein reached a slightly different conclusion: that Bush's nominees have followed the trajectory established by Reagan and George H.W. Bush, whose appointees represented a significant move to the right, a trajectory continued by George W. Bush's appointees relative to previous administrations, including Richard Nixon. In a September 2004 article [9] in Washington Monthly, Sunstein asserted that because of a successful long-term effort by conservatives to "reshape the judiciary," "reactionary" judges are now considered "mainstream." An April 11 Salon.com report [10] quoted Sunstein observing that "we have more extremely conservative judges -- like Antonin Scalia, or Clarence Thomas -- than we've ever had." According to a November 5, 2004 report by Cox News Service, Sunstein advised Bush to seek a consensus choice such as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor or Justice Anthony M. Kennedy as the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: "They are conservatives, there's no doubt, but they're not extremists. ... That would be a strong signal to people that he won't try to do anything radical."
- Posted In
- Government [11], The Judiciary [12], The Senate [13]
- Stories/Interests
- Filibusters/Nuclear Option [14]


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Michael Crichton
Pirate Latitudes
Michael Crichton
Pirate Latitudes
Release Date: 11/24/2009
LIST PRICE: $27.99 (you save $8.02)
Main description:
Jamaica in 1665 is a rough outpost of the English crown, a minor colony holding out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, Jamaica′s capital, a cut-throat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses, is devoid of London′s luxuries; life here can end swiftly with dysentery or a dagger in your back. But for Captain Edward Hunter it is a life that can also lead to riches, if he abides by the island′s code. In the name of His Majesty King Charles II of England, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking. And law in the New World is made by those who take it into their hands.
Word in port is that the Spanish treasure galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is stalled in nearby Matanceros harbor awaiting repairs. Heavily fortified, the impregnable Spanish outpost is guarded by the blood-swiller Cazalla, a favorite commander of King Philip IV himself. With the governor′s backing, Hunter assembles a roughneck crew to infiltrate the enemy island and commandeer the galleon, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloody legends of Matanceros suggest, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he finds himself on the island′s shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry are all that stand between him and the treasure.
With the help of his cunning crew, Hunter hijacks El Trinidad and escapes the deadly clutches of Cazalla, leaving plenty of carnage in his wake. But his troubles have just begun. . . .
Review quote:
"It's not an ironic pirate novel. It's not a pirate novel with a secret gimmick. It's simply an entertaining tale filled with crafty privateers, despicable villains, treasure hoards, double crosses and a sea monster. Go figure."
Review quote:
"Offers unexpected turns and plenty of yo ho ho's."
Review quote:
"Pirates Latitudes has the loot: Gore, sex, action…. A lusty, rollicking 17th century adventure…. History as entertainment…. Crichton has done his homework."
Review quote:
"The plot sucks you in like the giant kraken monster that nearly sinks our hero's galleon."
Review quote:
"Unabashed fun."
Short description/annotation:
"Crichton's ultimate adventure."
—San Francisco Chronicle
"Pirates Latitudes has the loot: Gore, sex, action….A lusty, rollicking 17th century adventure."
"Riveting….Great entertainment….The pages and minutes fly by."
#1 New York Times bestselling author, the incomparable Michael Crichton ("One of the great storytellers of our age" —Newsday) takes to the high Caribbean seas for an irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates, lost treasure, sword fights, duplicity, and hair-breadth escapes in the New World.


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Ok, i need serious advice with my Vinny...
Posted by Karlene, 06 February 2010 · 2,831 views
Hello, i am a fairly new (9 months) owner of 2 rescued IGs. They are 9 year old littermates, and the male - Vinny, has really been struggling with a few issues i need help with as I'm still trying to understand this breed. First, he's about 24lbs, which is about the size he came to us as, and we've been dealing with it with no success. He is large in overall stature, twice the size of his sister Bella, who is 10 lbs. He stands at least 6-8 inches taller than her, and is more the size of a small Whippet (so i'm told). He eats everything, and will drink constantly if we leave the bowl filled for him. Bella picks at her food, and eats when she's hungry. Vinny, will literally inhale his food, then steal food off the counters, in the garbage (if left unlocked) and will walk around like a vaccuum sucking up any scrap he can find (he's eaten crayons, napkins, in the past... he tries everything!). Both dogs are easy as far as food tolerances go, and we originally started them both out on Canidae dry food, but when feeding became a problem and his eating shot up along with his weight, we've tried switching to other formulas for "less active", senior dogs. Still, he eats way more than i know he should and his weight is what i think is unhealthy. I even tried keeping the bowl full, and seeing if he could handle grazing and self-feeding, but he just constantly ate the large portions given to him. Any ideas? Is this behavioral, specific to just him, or in need of a vet's attentinon? How much should the dogs be given to eat daily? Both these dogs are otherwise very healthy and happy, no other medical issues. Vinny also has been having bladder accidents more lately (though I wonder if they're accidental!). I am noticing he whines to go out to pee every several hours, and sometimes more than once in an hour. I actually wondered if he was diabetic, with his increase in eating, drinking, and peeing. Last night, in a kitchen full of family members, he squatted and pee'd.... without warning.... infront of everyone. He had just been out a couple hours earlier, and is always good about letting us know when he has to go out, but this time, he just stood in the middle of all of us who were talking, and went! Again, otherwise, he seems happy, gets lots of attention, sleeps well, and is close with his sister. Any thoughts i'd appreciate, including the name of a good quality dog food to suggest. Thanks everyone!


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From The Archives
1846 Antebellum
1846 Raised Carolina Cottage
|Full Baths
|Half Baths
- 1st Floor Bath
- 1st Floor Bedroom
- 1st Floor Laundry Room
- Basement
- Dining room
- Entry Hall
- Kitchen
- Laundry Room
- Living room
- Sunroom
- Unfinished Basement
- Walk out Basement
- Master bedroom downstairs
- 2 Car Garage
- Dormers
- Driveway - Dirt
- Patio
- Porch
- Storage Building
- Fireplaces
- High Ceilings
- Original wood windows
- Wood floors
- Shingle Roof
- City sewer
- City water supply
- Range
- 12-foot Ceilings
- Sleeping Porch
No Contact Information.
This listing is archived and is not for sale.
Contact information is not available for archived listings.
Beautiful, cultural, antebellum community just 35 miles from tuscaloosa! 1846 raised carolina cottage has approx 4000 sf of living space with another 1000 sf in the basement that could easily be converted to living space. The center front hall welcomes you into this home that has 12 ft ceilings with two front parlors (17 x 17 each), a formal dining room (17 x 17), a spectacular sunroom (17 x 20), four bedrooms (two downstairs and two upstairs), two full and two half baths, a large kitchen with eat-in area, laundry room and two screened-in porches. There are five mantles and fireplaces! The brick courtyard is lovely and leads to 2.5 private and gorgeous acres with some of the original plantings still growing.
Eutaw is featured in the book "10 most beautiful villages of the south". Eutaw provides a beautiful backdrop for its historic properties, many of which have been or are in the process of being revitalized. You will enjoy a peaceful and relaxed lifestyle where there are still social activities that include supper clubs and bridge clubs, as well as a very active historic society.
Archived in February, 2013
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"The CDA allows one community to limit what the entire nation is allowed to discuss, to read or to view on the Internet," says John Wirenius, the attorney for the lawsuit. "That is unconstitutional because the First Amendment does not allow any one locality to impose its morality on the nation." For more information about the CDA lawsuit, go to: www.ncsfreedom.org.
Expert witnesses who will be called and cross-examined include Arthur C. Danto, A.D. Coleman, Jeffrey Douglas, Ben Laurie, Seth Finkelstein, Candida Royalle, Tristan Taormino, Charles Moser, Dov Hechtman, Leigha Fleming, and Susan Wright. Their testimony will cover the technological impossibility of complying with the CDA; the artistic and social importance of sexually explicit speech concerning alternative sexual practices; and the chilling affect the CDA has had on artists and writers within the communities served by NCSF.
Plaintiff Barbara Nitke (www.barbaranitke.com) will be making appearances in San Francisco in September for an exhibition of her work, slide show talks, book signings and benefits to raise funds for the CDA lawsuit expenses. Mark I. Chester and Dr. Carol Queen's Center for Sex and Culture are sponsoring "Sex, Art & Politics," the series of events on radical sex photography and artistic freedom to coincide with the Folsom Street Fair. For more information on these events, see the calendar below.
Barbara Nitke is president of the prestigious Camera Club of New York, on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts in New York, and author of a book of fine art photographs, Kiss of Fire (Kehrer Verlag 2003). National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is a national organization committed to protecting freedom of sexual expression among consenting adults.
Calendar of September Events in San Francisco with Barbara Nitke:
- Sat. Sept. 18th - 8pm-midnight "Opening Party for Sex, Art & Politics" Radical sex photography including Barbara Nitke's loving SM photographs, book signing, and entertainment. Suggested donation $5- 10+. Mark I. Chester studio, 1229 Folsom St./SF
- Sun Sept. 19th - 2-4pm - "A Romantic View of SM" Barbara Nitke's slide show talk and discussion of the CDA lawsuit. $15 for the general public. $5 for members of Janus and reciprocal leather organizations.
- Tues, Sept. 21st - 8-10pm - Book signing by Barbara Nitke for her book of loving SM photographs, Kiss of Fire. Good Vibrations, 603 Valencia St., at 17th St./SF
- Wed, Sept. 22nd - 7-10pm "Sex, Art & Politics Community Benefit" Co- sponsored by Mark I. Chester and the Center for Sex and Culture, with Charles Gatewood, Fakir Musafar, Phyllis Christopher, Michael Blue/Midori and Shilo McCabe. Suggested donation $10-$20+ with proceeds benefiting the CDA lawsuit. SF Citadel, 245 8th St/SF
- Sat/Sun, Sept 25/26th-noon-6pm - Mark I. Chester will take a FREE digital portrait of anyone who visits his studio to see the radical sex photographs on display. Sun. 9/26, the show will be open during the Folsom St. Fair. Mark I Chester studio, 1229 Folsom St./SF
September 7, 2004
Contact: Susan Wright, Spokesperson


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Trinidad and Tobago
Facts & Figures
President: Anthony Carmona (2013)
Prime Minister: Keith Rowley (2015)
Total area: 1,981 sq mi (5,131 sq km)
Population (2014 est.): 1,223,916 (growth rate: –0.086%); birth rate: 13.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 24.82/1000; life expectancy: 72.29; density per sq mi: 659.2
Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Port-of-Spain, 66,000
Monetary unit: Trinidad and Tobago dollar
- Trinidad and Tobago Main Page
- First Female Elected Prime Minister
- Anthony Carmona Succeeds George Maxwell Richards as President
Trinidad and Tobago lie in the Caribbean Sea off the northeast coast of Venezuela. Trinidad, the larger at 1,864 sq mi (4,828 sq km), is mainly flat and rolling, with mountains in the north that reach a height of 3,085 ft (940 m) at Mount Aripo. Tobago, at just 116 sq mi (300 sq km), is heavily forested with hardwood trees.
Parliamentary democracy.
When Trinidad was explored by Columbus in 1498, it was inhabited by the Arawaks; Carib Indians inhabited Tobago. Trinidad remained in Spanish possession, despite raids by other European nations, until it was ceded to Britain in 1802. Tobago passed between Britain and France several times, but it was ultimately given to Britain in 1814. Slavery was abolished in 1834. Between 1845 and 1917, thousands of indentured workers were brought from India to work on sugarcane plantations. In 1889 Trinidad and Tobago were made a single colony.
Partial self-government was instituted in 1925, and from 1958 to 1962 the nation was part of the West Indies Federation. On Aug. 31, 1962, it gained independence and on Aug. 1, 1976, Trinidad and Tobago became a republic, remaining within the Commonwealth. While the country is a stable democracy and enjoys the highest living standards in the Caribbean thanks to oil revenue, tension between East Indians and blacks has underlined much of political life. In 1970 the tension was the underlying cause of riots, protests, and an army mutiny for the end of foreign influence over the economy. These events prompted a state of emergency which lasted for two years.
Eric Williams, "Father of the Nation" and leader of the People's National Movement (PNM), which is largely supported by blacks, governed from 1956 until his death in 1981. In Dec. 1986 the multiracial National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), based in Tobago, won a parliamentary majority, promising to sell most state-owned companies, reorganize the civil service, and reduce dependence on oil.
In 1990, to protest the NAR government, some 100 radical black Muslims blew up the police station in an attempted coup, in which the prime minister and other officials were held hostage for six days. The NAR was defeated in 1991, and the PNM returned to power. In 1995, the East Indian–based party, the United National Congress (UNC), led by Basdeo Panday, formed a coalition government with the NAR. In 2000, Panday narrowly won another term.
In Dec. 2001 elections, the governing UNC Party and the PNM Party gained 18 seats each. The two parties agreed to allow President Robinson to select the prime minister to end the impasse. But when Robinson chose Patrick Manning of the PNM because of his "moral and spiritual values," the opposition angrily called for new elections. In the Oct. 2002 elections, Manning's party declared victory. Maxwell Richards, a university dean, was selected president by parliament in 2003.
In April 2006, former prime minister Panday was sentenced to two years in prison for committing fraud in public office. Richards, running unopposed, was reelected in February 2008.
First Female Elected Prime Minister
Prime Minister Manning called early elections in 2010 to prevent a no-confidence vote against him, and the People's Partnership coalition won 29 of 41 seats in the May vote. The ruling People's National Movement took 12 seats, bringing to an end four decades in power. Kamla Persad-Bissessar became the country's first female prime minister.
Anthony Carmona Succeeds George Maxwell Richards as President
On February 3, 2013, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced the ruling party's nomination of Anthony Carmona to succeed President George Maxwell Richards. The Opposition People's National Movement (PNM) party also supported the nomination, but questioned Carmona's eligibility since he left the country from 2001 to 2004, pointing out that a president must live in the country for a full ten years prior to being elected. Government officials met with legal experts and they determined that Carmona was eligible.
Carmona assumed office on March 18, 2013. He had previously served as a Judge of the International Criminal Court and on the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago.
In the 2015 parliamentary elections, Keith Rowley led his People's National Movement party to victory, winning 23 of 41 seats. Leader of the opposition since 2010, Rowley became prime minister on Sept. 9, 2015.
See also Encyclopedia: Trinidad and Tobago .
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Trinidad and Tobago


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Read the original article in The Oregonian here.
One wall of the dean's office at the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University functions as a giant whiteboard. Information on the wall changes, but a list on the right side receives only occasional tweaks. It contains Dean Renjeng Su's five-year goals for the engineering school:
1. Build up a number (in the order of 10) of world-class research groups, based on the existing strengths in the college.
2. Team with public and private organizations in the Portland area to lead the nation in urban sustainability.
3. Cultivate an innovation culture in Maseeh College.
4. Establish deep partnerships with regional companies for student and faculty success.
5. Develop a distinctive brand.
PSU has made some impressive strides on those goals, while racking up some high-profile achievements. The engineering school also has recorded a 23 percent increase in enrollment over the past five years -- to 2,306. The engineering school has succeeded in large part because it has taken a very pragmatic approach, an example that stands out in a state where goals often are more aspirational than practical.
A key to the school's successful approach -- one that should serve as an example of how to foster economic growth and promote innovation -- has been building and expanding relationships with local businesses. The most visible example is the school's relationship with Intel. In addition to employing about 1,000 PSU graduates, Intel funds scholarships at the engineering school and works with PSU to support a number of K-12 science-education initiatives. "It's been a really strong, very successful relationship," said Morgan Anderson, Northwest higher education manager for Intel.
The relationship produced a major award for PSU this spring when a team of engineering students won the Cornell Cup college engineering competition. All four students were at PSU as part of the Intel Vietnam Scholars Program, a partnership that demonstrates PSU's willingness to craft programs to meet the needs of employers.
When setting up the program, PSU sent representatives of the engineering school to Vietnam to visit Intel's plant and meet managers. The Vietnamese students receive full scholarships, including living expenses, from Intel. By coming to PSU, they get access to better equipment and instruction than they could get at home. PSU gets top-flight students. Intel gets well-trained employees for its Vietnam operations, where the scholarship recipients must work for three years after graduation.
Another partnership exists between PSU and Mentor Graphics. The Wilsonville-based company recently made an $820,000 gift to Portland State to build a lab and fund a tenured professorship for a program focused on the use of computer emulation equipment. Mentor previously had donated a new emulator, a machine used for design verification, to the school.
Like Intel, Mentor is one of the biggest employers of PSU engineering graduates. Mentor spokesman Ry Schwark said the company has between 1,200 and 1,300 PSU grads on payroll and the majority are engineers. But Mentor doesn't need workers who are trained to use an emulator. Instead, Mentor benefits because its customers need those employees.
PSU has made more progress on creating partnerships than it has on some of the other goals on Su's wall, but it's making noticeable gains in most areas, including an innovation culture. This spring, the engineering and business schools combined to launch the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Su encourages students to generate ideas by offering $1,000 from the school to any student who has an innovative idea he or she wants to pursue.
Su said it's important to offer the money for "any ideas, not just good ideas," to develop an innovation culture. "Go for quantity and hopefully some will survive," he said. The winning Cornell Cup entry, a prescription drug identification device, was one of the ideas that survived.
We look forward to seeing how many more PSU engineering students' ideas survive, and how they help the Oregon economy.


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What should you do if you don't like your engagement ring? How long is too long for an engagement? Our experts have all the answers to your burning engagement-etiquette questions.
I hate my engagement ring. Can I tell my fiancé?
You must absolutely tell him how you feel! And together you can pick out an engagement ring of equal or lesser value. Most guys will understand that your opinion counts for a lot, since YOU are the one who will be wearing the ring—and literally wearing it every day! And guys are cautioned all the time to discuss ring styles with their partner before making a purchase, so you have good reason to speak up. If you think his feelings will be really hurt or if you think voicing your thoughts will make him angry and resentful (and take away from the joy you are both feeling upon getting engaged) wait a year before saying anything.
In general, a new ring is in order if you dislike the color of metal, you dislike the shape or cut of the diamond (round vs. square, emerald-cut vs. cushion, etc.), the ring is too modern/too glitzy/too old-fashioned-looking/too plain, and your style is just the opposite.
However, it is NOT okay to say you want a different ring because you think the stone is too small or of poor quality. Because that's like saying, "You didn't spend enough money." You would never want him to feel that his choice was inadequate in that regard—surely he bought you the most beautiful ring he could afford, so if everything else about the ring works for (metal, stone shape, style) then hold your tongue. Five years from now you can discuss upgrading to a diamond of better quality.
You Might Also Like:
64 Engagement Rings Under $5,000


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The Hope College orchestra and organist Dr. Huw Lewis will premiere a piece commissioned for the college on Friday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The "Concerto for Organ and Orchestra" was written by Benjamin Boyle. The piece was commissioned by the college to celebrate the refurbishing of the Skinner Organ. This concert is the fifth and final performance of the Skinner Organ Rededication Series.
Boyle was selected as Young Concert Artists (YCA) Composer-in-Residence for the years 2005-07 and holds YCA's William B. Butz Composer Chair. During this time, YCA commissioned two works from him, which were premiered by YCA artists in the Young Concert Artists Series. Boyle's compositions include opera, chamber music, art songs, and sacred and orchestral music.
Boyle holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Music in composition from The Peabody Conservatory, and a Bachelor of Music in piano from the University of South Florida, where he studied with Robert Helps. He has studied with an impressive list of renowned composers including Narcis Bonet, David del Tredici, Christopher Theofanidis, Samuel Adler, Lukas Foss, and Nicholas Maw. He also studied for several years with Dr. Philip Lasser at the European-American Musical Alliance (EAMA) program at L'Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, where he returns each summer as a faculty member.
The performance will also include the "Overture to the 'Barber of Seville'" by Giocchino Rossini and "Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13" by Peter Tchaikovsky.
The Hope College Orchestra performs under the direction of faculty member Richard Piippo. Dr. Huw Lewis is college organist and professor of music at Hope.
The Skinner organ's recent restoration by the A. Thompson-Allen Company--which emphasized preserving its original character--took nearly two years, from January 2005 through the latter part of 2006. The entire organ, including all 2,932 pipes and the console, was removed and taken to New Haven, Conn., for the work, through which the instrument was repaired and restored to its original factory specifications. In addition, the chambers housing the pipes were renovated and the chapel's roof drainage system was modified to repair and prevent water damage caused by the building's original design. The most major work previously done on the organ had been conducted more than 40 years earlier, in 1963, when it had been cleaned, refurbished, releathered and regulated.
The concert is also part of the college's annual Parents' Weekend. A reception with Benjamin Boyle will follow the performance.
Major funding for the commission and the series comes from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Freedom Village of Holland, and many individual donors.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.


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Submitted by Pat Wallace
Executive Director,
Henry County Chamber of Commerce
Treasures' Flea Market at 5245-5247 South Main Street (formerly Shoppers Mart) in Eminence is not your typical business. Yes, it is a flea market meaning it has many and various items for sale, both new and lightly used, but it goes much deeper than just a flea market.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Henry County Local, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


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- I periodically use W3C's free link checker to identify broken links in my blogs and Web pages.
- I have downloaded and sometimes use Xenu's Link Sleuth.
- The HTML code for each of my Web pages is saved in a folder on my hard drive; and the HTML code for my blog posts (copied and pasted from the HTML tab while editing in Blogger) is saved in the nifty little programme Treepad. If someone tells me that a domain address or specific URL has changed, I can easily find out exactly where that link appears in my blogs or Web pages. I simply use the powerful search functions in Treepad (for my blogs) and Powerdesk (for text files with the HTML code for my Web pages).
Have you found other ways to tackle the problem?
(You can see more of my tips here. 'Tuesday's Tip' is a theme used by Geneabloggers.)


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I especially like what you did with the ESS and Daggerwrist.
You really managed to disturb me with the Assim, y'know?
Atleast I managed to put a pair of mouths insinde the legs so it would feed through its feet, just like in the series.
Although looking at him might suggest otherwise, the Great Mostacchio is actually the all-powerful ruler of a galactic spice-smuggling mafia.
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Lindsay Lohan Won't Face Charges in NYC Nightclub Altercation
(NEW YORK) -- Lindsay Lohan will not face criminal charges in New York City stemming from an alleged nightclub altercation last November.
It's a rare bit of good legal news for the troubled actress, who earlier this month agreed to three months in mandatory rehab as part of a deal with prosecutors in Los Angeles. There, she faced charges that she lied to police about whether she was behind the wheel in a June car crash that sent her to the hospital briefly.
The New York City case involved an alleged altercation between Lohan and a woman named Tiffany Mitchell at Club Avenue in Manhattan.
A law enforcement source tells ABC News that nightclub video which purported to show the altercation was inconclusive. The source adds that despite a thorough investigation, there were not enough eyewitness accounts to bring a case. Furthermore, the source says, Mitchell fell outside the club as she was being escorted out by police, and the fall may have been the source of her injuries, not the alleged altercation.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to comment on the case.
In a statement, Mitchell's lawyer, Gloria Allred, left the door open to a potential civil suit against Lohan, saying, "Ms. Mitchell is considering all of her legal options in the civil justice system because of what she suffered that night."
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio


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Lenovo unveils Ion-inside netbook
But Intel's inside if you're European
Lenovo has launched itself into the netbook space with a 12.1in machine using Nvidia's Ion graphics chipset, well, depending on where you live.
Lenovo's S12: Nvidia Ion will be a US-only option
The firm's new S12 machine – apparently its first 12in netbook - is based around Intel's N270 Atom processor, but only North American customers will be able to swap out the integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics for Nvidia's recently launched Ion chipset.
Exactly why European customers must settle for the GMA 950 option's still somewhat sketchy. But Adrian Horne, a spokesman at Lenovo, told Register Hardware that the firm's decision is based upon "simplification".
...but Ion options may appear in Europe post-launch
"We prefer to offer Europe a single configuration netbook, at least for the time being", he said. So there's a little glimmer of hope that European buyers will, at some point, be offered an Ion-inside option.
The S12's other specifications should, we'd hope, mirror those found in North America. For example, you'll get up to 1GB or DDR2 Ram and a minimum 160GB hard drive.
Two Wi-Fi set-ups are on offer, one supporting b/g and the other supporting b/g/n, but an Ethernet port and Bluetooth are included as standard.
The S12's based on Intel's N270 Atom
You'll also get three USB ports, a single Express card slot, one HDMI port and a four-in-one card reader.
Lenovo said the S12 will be available in the UK during the last two weeks of July, priced at £349 ($522/€396).


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Start Of Game Delayed Two Hours By Thunderstorms
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A long night had a heartbreaking ending for the Yale men's soccer team. Brian Rogers knocked in an Adam Rousmaniere cross with 7:07 left in the second overtime to lift eighth-ranked Harvard to a 1-0 victory over Yale on a rainy and stormy night at Reese Stadium.
The start of the game was delayed by nearly two hours due to persistent thunderstorms in the New Haven area, and much of the first half was played in a torrential rain. Nevertheless, it was an extremely well-played game, despite the conditions.
"This game will be remembered for a long time," said Yale head coach Brian Tompkins. "I thought our guys really competed well."
The Crimson (7-1, 1-0 Ivy) had the better of the play in the first 45 minutes, outshooting the Bulldogs 12-1. Both teams had seven shots in the second half and the Crimson had five shots, including the game-winning goal, in the extra periods.
"We got better as the game went on," Tompkins said. "Our confidence grew, and we gave them a lot of problems."
Goalkeeper Travis Chulick was outstanding for the Bulldogs (2-4-2, 0-1 Ivy). He finished with eight saves. His best stop came early in the second half when he dove to his right to deflect Andre Akpan's shot from the right side of the box.
The Crimson posted its fifth shutout of the season.
Both teams were playing their Ivy League opener.
It was Alumni Day, and Yale's 1999 team was honored at halftime. The Bulldogs won a school-record 13 games that year and upset Rutgers in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Yale is back in action on Tuesday, playing at Boston College. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity
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Faith in Vermont: Squish

 A picture of four mud-soaked and delighted children was recently posted on the Facebook page of a children's museum that we frequented when we lived in California, under the caption: This is how kids should be playing.

 I chuckled when I saw it, with a mixture of amusement and bitterness. In that instant, here's what I thought:

 -This is what my own kids, and our dog, have looked like for the past month.

 -YES, at my core, I do believe that's how kids should be playing.

 -It's very easy to sit in Berkeley, California -- where THERE IS NO MUD SEASON -- and say that's how kids "should" be playing. Never, in the five years I lived in the Bay Area, did I see kids who really looked like this.

 It's mud season here in Vermont, that fifth season that marks the transition between winter and spring. The snow melts, the ground thaws, and until the trees burst open green leaves we spend weeks squishing through inches of mucky mud.

 My own yard, which is more crabgrass than actual grass, is a muddy soup, with a couple of watery pits that might actually qualify as swampland. Our dog, who is of the free-range variety and spends most of her days outdoors, looks as if she's wearing brown knee socks by evening.

 My children look even worse than the dog. This year, they've decided that they LOVE mud; that "mud is more fun than snow!" On one level, I'm thrilled to have three girls who aren't afraid of getting dirty. YES! That's how kids should be playing! But then there was the afternoon that I pulled up at my daughters' preschool and saw what looked like a brown-paper cutout of a small child lying on the front steps. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the formerly pink-and-purple snow pants, mittens, and boots of my middle daughter, completely caked in mud. SO caked in mud that her teachers apparently couldn't bear to bring them inside.

 So these days, I take a deep breath (and a few extra plastic bags) whenever I pick up my two oldest daughters from preschool. I've solicited the opinions of more experienced parents on the best way to deal with the mud-festation. It turns out that, like most unpleasant things in life, there is no shortcut. The best way to handle mud-soaked clothes is pretty much what you'd expect: let them dry out (in the case of my middle daughter's mittens, this took three entire days), then whack them against something -- preferably outside -- to remove the worst of the caked mud, and let the washing machine deal with the rest.

 Needless to say, with three muddy children and a dog, every entryway in our house is littered with flakes of dried mud. And our mudroom is finally coming by its name honestly; the flooring could now best be described as "multicolored slate with a dried mud finish."

 It just so happens that this mud season, a friend loaned me the first two seasons of the popular BBC drama "Downton Abbey." For those who haven't followed the "Downton Abbey" craze, this television series depicts the lives of a noble British family and their servants in a sprawling country manor during the early 20th century. It's gripping, but not the best viewing material for mud season; as the final credits roll after each episode, I always find myself thinking, "I could handle mud season, if only I had some STAFF around here!"

 This is the second year that I've lived in Vermont, but I consider it my first real mud season. Perhaps because winter wasn't terribly impressive last year, I wasn't impressed by mud season. This year, with more melting snow to soak the thawing earth, mud season has gotten my attention. And I must say, my feelings are extremely mixed.

 On the one hand, mud season seems a little cruel -- or at least taunting. It's not a consistent season; things don't progress neatly from winter to mud season to spring. Instead, we'll have a week of warm temperatures, melting snow, and mud, followed by a blast of frigid air that refreezes the ground and brings another coating of snow. Winter's been long and cold and dark, and of course we're all longing for the warmer, brighter, greener days of spring. But in the depths of my soul I feel relief every time the ground refreezes and the snow falls again; at least I know I won't have to contend with a dirty dog and muddy outerwear for a few days. Mud season makes me lazy, complacent: I'd rather stay in winter than have to pass through mud season to reach spring!

 On the other hand, thereis an undeniable thrill to mud season. My children won't grow up saying that they never made mud pies! The days are longer and we can play outside before dinner! Listen to those birds calling! See those green shoots poking through the ground! And there's hope: that maybe tomorrow I'll wash the snow pants for the last time and pack them away until next year, maybe tomorrow the ground will be firm, maybe tomorrow I can finally scrub that mudroom floor without it seeming futile.

 In the end, perhaps the true beauty of mud season lies in its difficulty. It's not hard to welcome warm and verdant spring and summer after a cold winter, and it's not hard to welcome the crisp cool blaze of fall and the first lovely snow after the heat of late summer. But mud season forces us to overcome our laziness and complacency, to cling to hope, and to accept that sometimes the most fun comes with the most mess.

 That's how kids -- and the rest of us -- should be playing.

 Faith Gong has worked as an elementary school teacher, a freelance photographer, and a nonprofit manager. Since moving to Addison County in 2011, her work has involved caring for a house in the woods, three young daughters (with another on the way), one adorable puppy — and writing for her blog, The Pickle Patch.