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How Gillespie could pull off an upset
ROANOKE, Virginia — There's no doubt Ed Gillespie is the underdog in the Virginia Senate race.
He's polled well behind the man he's trying to unseat, Democrat Mark Warner. The incumbent is the richest member of the Senate and a well-liked figure in the state. Meanwhile, many Virginians still don't know who Gillespie is.
Story Continued Below
But Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, is an old hand at campaigns. And now that he's the candidate, he insists he can pull off the upset.
"I assure you I have never analyzed a race more carefully than this one, and it's a very winnable race," the 52-year-old said after nabbing his party's nomination at a convention this weekend.
( Earlier on POLITICO: Gillespie, GOP establishment win in Va.)
Fellow Republicans say a win is not out of the question, but that there are at least five things Gillespie has to do to have a shot in November:
1) Keep up with Warner on the cash front.
Gillespie raised more money in the first quarter than any other non-incumbent Republican Senate candidate. He's now raised more than $3 million since launching his campaign in mid-January.
But Warner already has raised $12.6 million this cycle. He had $8.8 million cash on hand in his war chest at the end of March. The Nextel co-founder also is the richest member of the Senate, worth an estimated quarter-billion dollars. He could easily drop in a few million bucks if things get close.
The big factor beyond Warner's control is whether right-leaning super PACs will come to Gillespie's aid. Gillespie was a prominent early supporter of American Crossroads and is close to its leaders, including Steven Law and Karl Rove, for instance.
( Also on POLITICO: Gillespie: GOP must be inclusive)
"Crossroads does not make it a practice to announce our involvement in races in advance, but Ed's strength as a candidate has made this race competitive in a swing state," emailed Crossroads spokesman Paul Lindsay. "We're watching it closely."
In his 2008 Senate race, Warner spent several times more money than Jim Gilmore, another former RNC chair, and won by 31 points. Because the race never looked competitive, Gilmore struggled to raise money and attract national help.
Gillespie may have a hefty Rolodex, but he's still at risk on the dollar front.
2) Strip the Teflon off Warner.
To beat Warner, Gillespie will have to run against Barack Obama.
Warner is a personable, popular politician who finished his term as governor with sky-high approval ratings. He constantly name drops conservative senators he sponsors bills with, loves to say how much he upsets liberals with his calls for entitlement reform and is endorsed by his Republican predecessor, John Warner, who beat him in a 1996 race.
"They are going to run the same kind of cookie-cutter campaign against me that they're going to run all over the country," Mark Warner recently said. "But I am not a cookie cutter kind of candidate and Virginia is not a cookie cutter state."
( Also on POLITICO: Rand Paul's summer plans revealed)
Republicans say Warner's Senate record does not match his public image, but they acknowledge they will need to more effectively tie him to Democratic leaders.
So it was not terribly surprising that several speakers during Saturday's convention mentioned Harry Reid as many times as they did Warner. The majority leader is a much easier bogeyman, and a long line of speakers framed the election as a chance to strip him – and the president – of power.
Noting that Warner ran as "a radical centrist" in 2008, Young Republicans Federation of Virginia President John Scott said, "The only thing 'radical' about Warner is that he's voted with President Obama 97 percent of the time."
Roanoke College pollster Harry Wilson said Republicans have a tough task. "You're talking about the most popular public figure in the Commonwealth," Wilson said.
Wilson's March poll showed Warner ahead by 27 points, 56 percent to 29 percent. He said he may skip a July poll to save money and wait to go in the field until the fall.
"I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth our while," he said.
3) Define himself before Warner does.
Gillespie has kept a low public profile since getting into the race. Because he's been trying to woo conservative activists and raise money, he has stayed mostly behind the scenes.
The result is that more than half of Virginians still don't know enough about Gillespie to offer an opinion.
Gillespie wants to introduce himself as a sensible, economy-focused Republican who has a record of getting things done. This week, he'll go on an 11-stop "economic growth" tour of Virginia. He plans to spend more time on the road trying to earn free media coverage from local television station and newspapers.


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The Plan: 2010-2011
Digital Services 2010-2011 Planning Document
As always, our primary focus is the digitization of selected content from Hoole Special Collections, to both publicize their holdings and to make valuable primary source material available online for researchers and patrons.
Looking forward over the next 12-18 months (from June 2010), we expect to be involved in the following efforts and tasks:
1) Assessment of scanning equipment in terms of speed and reliability, in order to develop recommendations for updates to the Digitial Services equipment before the EBSCO funding runs out. This assessment is taking place both in-house and via a survey on overhead scanners which has already been posted and publicized to several listservs. An article on the findings is expected to result as well.
2) Develop collaborative relationships with other likely digitization partners to lay the groundwork for a successful digitization grant. This involves clarification of needs and resources, selection and adoption of digitization and metadata standards, and development of workflows and shared goals and timelines. We have already begun this process with Tuskegee and the University of West Alabama.
3) Assess our current flow of information to determine if and how best to update our tools and processes. Already we have targeted input and updating of collection information, a process which crosses 3 departments (archivists, Digital Services, Metadata Unit), as information better handled via a web interface to an existing MySQL database, which is where that information ultimately resides. We need to analyze who needs to be able to do what when with that information, adapt the database to manage the additional information required, and then specify the requested web interface interaction for web services to develop when time permits.
4) Usability studies.
a) The Cabaniss usability study is planned for early fall, under the direction of Amanda Presnell, Project Manager. Web services has been contacted about adding a message to the web interface for volunteers; Amanda is coding the study into the software, and will be distributing flyers and contacting secretaries to get postings on departmental listservs, to ask for volunteers as well. This study already has IRB approval, and is required for the NHPRC grant. Analysis of the study will take place in late fall, and a peer-reviewed article is expected to result, also required for the grant.
b) The Metadata Pilot Project usability study needs to be finalized, submitted to IRB for approval, and scheduled, hopefully for late fall; early spring at latest. After analysis, an article and/or presentation is expected to result.
c) Acumen needs usability studies as well, of the iterative sort to support the directions taken in development. It is not yet determined who will design and implement these studies.
5) Preservation software testing: we need to determine what open-source operating system and software need to be stored with our archival content to provide digital archivists of the future with the capabilities to render and reconstruct access to our digital files. OLT will provide a testing computer, and Web Services will recommend an operating system and open-source imaging software. Digital Services will select and download targeted software, identifying and filling dependencies (possibly with the assistance of Area Computing Services), and will test the software against our archival files to determine if what we've selected is sufficient. With the help of Area Computing Services, the final selection will then be imaged and stored with the imaging software in the archive. Attendant documentation gathered about the operating system or hardware will be collected in plain text and added to the archive as well. This process is to be repeated every 2-3 years.
6) Preservation metadata: with the assistance of the DigiPres group and notably the Metadata Unit, we will determine the scope of information that needs to be gathered and stored with the archival files, define how it should be captured and by whom and when, and how it will be encoded. As this process takes place, we will codify our practice and build it into our regular workflow. We have already begun to examine the policies surrounding audio files, looking at such questions as whether and how much information to store about the original analog item, the conversion process, and the digital file itself.
Additionally, we will set up a process to determine when a descriptive metadata record (MODS) for an item is finalized, and store it in the archive with the archival objects.
7) We will complete the NHPRC-funded Cabaniss grant by the end of February 2011, fulfilling all the requirements to which we agreed, including another presentation about this project at a national conference.
8) We seek to improve accessibility to our digital content over the next few months. This takes several forms:
a) Add OAI (Open Archives Initiative) repository functionality to Acumen content. This will enable other service providers, including collaborative digitization efforts such as the ASERL project, to collect our descriptions (metadata), index it with that of other institutions, and provide searching over the combined content -- linking out to the digitized content where it resides here. To support this, we also need a MODS Editor for our Metadata Unit to be able to modify existing MODS records without returning to the spreadsheet. All of this will require the OLT programmer for implementation.
b) Add full text indexing to Acumen: the entire metadata file, the transcripts, and the OCR need to be indexed. In addition, corrected transcripts should be viewable beside the digitized item. Again, this falls to the OLT programmer for implementation.
c) Google indexing. We need sitemaps for all content submitted to major web search engines and updated regularly. We hope this will be implemen ted by the OLT programmer.
d) RSS feeds on new collections as they are added. Again, we hope this will be implemented by the OLT programmer.
e) We want to add collection descriptions to the catalog, linking out to the digitized content in a result list in Acumen, with the finding aid as the first item in the list. The first step will be to determine whether the exported MARC XML from Archivists Toolkit can be transformed into an appropriate record for uploading to the catalog, with the addition of a persistent URL for the collection.
f) We intend to implement linking out to digitized items from within the finding aids, and are in the process of sorting out the metadata challenges that stand in the way of implementing this programmatically. Data entry varies from the finding aid to the item description, so this is an ongoing process. Still, by next spring we hope to have most digitized items linked into the finding aids which are already in EAD (Encoded Archival Description) form.
9) If Tom Wilson's proposed Tools Grant is funded, we will be involved in developing and supporting this effort.
10) We need to upgrade the scripts and software that we offer open-source to others, so that it is more user-friendly and adaptable. Instructions should accompany the software such as the hardware and software requirements, for example; and the user should be able to input the directories to select rather than have them be hard-coded into the scripts.
11) We will continue to digitize, digitize, digitize, codifying our practice and policies and updating workflows to continually improve our quality, speed, and competence.

subset: commoncrawl


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#ilovefs Day report 2019
29 March 2019
Atenção: Esta página ainda não foi traduzida. Você está a ver a versão original da página. Por favor, consulte esta página para saber como ajudar com a tradução e fazer outras contribuições.
Valentine's Day traditionally is a day to show and celebrate love. So why do not take this as a chance to show your love for Free Software this year?
As every year, Valentine's Day will be celebrated on the 14th of February, which will be a Tuesday this year. Similar to last year, the FSFE is planning an online campaign to celebrate this day as an "I love Free Software" - Day. Additionally, there will be an "I love Free Software" - event this year in the Unperfekthaus in Essen.
Our online campaign aims at rising awareness to Free Software and the passionate, hard-working people behind it. show them that you appreciate their work – it could make all the difference! Others already did so, to get inspired you can read why they love Free Software.
Of course, there are lots of ways to declare one's love... Here are just some ideas about how you can go public and proclaim your love to Free Software.
29 March 2019
14 February 2019
05 November 2018
20 March 2018
08 March 2018


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'FastDiet' book is attracting dieters, and doubters
A new fasting diet recommends that men eat just 600 calories two days a week, women, 500.
Move over, followers of the Atkins diet, Mediterranean diet and vegan plans.
A new diet book — one that promotes fasting two days a week by drastically cutting calories and then eating normally the other five days — is catching on with dieters, but it already has its British author unexpectedly on the defensive.
The FastDiet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy and Live Longer With the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting (Atria Books, $24), by British physician Michael Mosley and writer Mimi Spencer, is No. 46 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. Mosley stars in an upcoming three-part PBS series. The first part, Eat, Fast and Live Longer With Michael Mosley, airs April 3.
The diet has a following in the United Kingdom, including some cardiovascular surgeons, TV journalists, chefs and celebrities.
But the book is generating a bit of controversy on this side of the pond. Obesity experts in the USA say the diet may be hard for many people to adhere to, and more research needs to be done to determine if it's safe and effective. And one U.S. researcher doesn't like how her work was used in the book to support the diet.
"I am a scientist at heart and I do not remotely claim that this is the be-all and end-all," Mosley says. "It's just the beginning of something interesting. People need to try it for themselves and see if it works."
Mosley, 55, who works for BBC as a medical journalist, says that when he first read about the alleged benefits of intermittent fasting, he was skeptical, too. "Nothing in my medical training had prepared me for this," he says. Although most of the world's great religions advocate fasting for faith purposes and some for health purposes, it seemed drastic and difficult to him.
But then Mosley had some medical tests done and discovered he had some risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, and he was a bit too heavy. "My doctor recommended I go on medication for high blood sugar and high cholesterol. She predicted that in 10 years I would be on eight different medications. I decided I wanted to find a different way."
So he asked his boss at BBC if he could use himself as a "guinea pig" to explore the science behind life extension, which focuses on calorie restriction and fasting.
Based on his review of the research, he created what he calls the "5:2 diet." Five days a week, he eats normally; two days a week, he eats 600 calories. For women, he recommends 500 calories on the fasting days. That would be about two poached eggs on a slice of whole-grain toast and a bowl of raspberries for breakfast, and roast salmon with green beans and cherry tomatoes for dinner.
Daily caloric needs vary depending on gender, age, height and physical activity level. An older sedentary woman might need only 1,600 calories a day to maintain her weight, while an active younger man might need 3,000.
Mosley divides his calories on the fasting days into two meals — breakfast and lunch. "You can have it all in one meal if you fancy. I found I was really quite irritable if I didn't have breakfast." He eats 300 calories at breakfast, often eggs with a bit of ham, and 300 calories for dinner — lots of vegetables and a lean protein. During the day he drinks lots of fluids, such as water, tea and coffee.
If people eat 500 or 600 calories on the two fasting days each week and don't significantly overeat on the "feed days" the rest of the week, they will lose weight in a steady fashion, he says. Mosley didn't find himself overeating on the feed days.
So what about feeling hungry? "I've gotten used to it. Hunger is one of those things that generally passes," Mosley says.
Where he used to grab sugary treats when he was hungry, he now snacks on vegetables. "I crave vegetables because they're what I satisfy myself with on a fasting day."
Some people worry that intermittent fasting will make them unable to focus, he says. "What I've discovered is that it sharpens my senses and my brain."
He thinks the plan may work for some people because it doesn't require the deprivation that characterizes many diet plans. Dieters still get to enjoy the foods they love, most of the time, he says.
Before he started intermittent fasting, Mosley, who is 5-foot-11, weighed 187 pounds and had a body mass index of 26, which put him into the overweight category. His waist was 36 inches; his neck, 17. His fasting blood glucose (a measure of diabetes risk) was too high, along with his cholesterol.
After two months on his program, he weighed 168 pounds, a loss of 19 pounds. He had a body mass index of 24, and his waist was 33 inches. His neck size was 16. His cholesterol and blood glucose and other factors fell to the normal range.
"I didn't want to lose any more because my wife, who is a doctor, said I was looking gaunt. These days, I fast one day a week, and often skip lunch on the other days."
One scientist who studies fasting takes exception to the way some of her work was used in the book. "My research on alternate-day fasting has been misrepresented in the book," says Krista Varady, an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois-Chicago. "He is using my research, which looks at fasting three to four days a week, to support his diet, which encourages fasting two days a week."
But Mosley says he was partly inspired to try the 5:2 approach after reading research done by Michelle Harvie, a dietitian in England who wrote The 2-Day Diet.
U.S. obesity experts say Mosley's plan may work for some, but many questions remain.
"I am aware of only one randomized, controlled trial that compared conventional daily calorie restriction with the 5:2 diet plan," says Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "In that six-month trial, weight loss and most health benefits from weight loss were the same in both groups.
"Additional and longer-term studies are needed to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the 5:2 diet approach and to determine which people might be more compliant with intermittent fasting than conventional daily calorie restriction," he says.
Klein says the real question is this: "Is it easier for people to starve two days a week than to reduce their calorie intake every day?"
"We do not know whether intermittent fasting has independent health benefits beyond weight loss alone," he says. "In rodents, alternate-day fasting has metabolic health benefits without a change in body weight," he says. However, alternative-day fasting in people causes weight loss, so it's difficult to separate the benefits of intermittent fasting from those of the weight loss itself, he says.
Tim Church, director of preventive medicine research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, says, "We know that one diet doesn't fit all. This style of caloric control may work for some people, but we need more research to test the proposed mechanisms and benefits."
The bigger question is whether people can stick with a fasting diet, given the amount of time and energy it takes, he says.
To learn about the science behind fasting, Mosley interviewed several researchers, including ones with the National Institute on Aging and at several major universities across the country. Much of the research on fasting has been done on rats and mice, but there have been 11 human trials on it, Mosley says.
Some of the medical benefits of fasting involve the hormone insulin-like growth factor 1, called IGF-1, Mosley says. People need adequate levels when they are young and growing, but high levels later in life appear to lead to accelerated aging and cancer, including breast cancer and prostate cancer, he says. Fasting appears to reduce the levels of IGF-1, and it appears to switch on a number of repair genes. The reason it happens is not fully understood, he says.
Mosley says fasting may also increase production of a brain-derived neurotropic factor that seems to improve mood and protect the brain against the ravages of dementia, Alzheimer's disease and age-related mental decline. "This is based on animal research, and they are doing human studies now."
Marji McCullough, a nutrition epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, says, "Higher levels of IGF-1 have been linked to several cancers, including breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. Whether reducing IGF-1 levels will lower cancer risk is plausible but not proven."
The key for any diet is whether or not people can stick with it and keep the weight off, she says.
Mosley believes fasting has "undone" some of the damage he has done to his body over the years and hopes that it will help him live longer and healthier.
He recommends seeing your doctor before starting a fasting program. He says fasting is not recommended for people who are pregnant, those who are underweight, people with diabetes (especially type 1), and children and teenagers who aren't fully grown. And he wouldn't recommend it to people who have issues with food, although "there is no evidence it will trigger anorexia or bulimia," Mosley says.
Although plenty of people have reported their weight-loss success stories to him, not everyone is going to get the results they want, Mosley says. "No diet is going to agree with everyone. Some people find that they don't lose weight as fast as they thought. That's probably from overeating on the other five days. It's not magic."


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Faith in Vermont: Local Politics: House of...Cushions?
My husband and I have been enjoying "House of Cards," the Netflix political drama starring Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, the ruthless, manipulative House Majority Whip turned Vice President, and Robin Wright as his equally manipulative wife, Claire. According to this series, there are no redeeming characters inside the Beltway. Washington politics is a series of dirty backroom dealings in which everyone uses everyone else; even people who appear sympathetic are just playing nice to get their own way.
With my political education up-to-date by way of television, I felt totally prepared for last week's Town Meeting Day.
The first Tuesday in March is always Town Meeting Day throughout Vermont. On Town Meeting Day, the residents of about 40 Vermont towns hold public forums to discuss local business, followed by a vote for various articles and offices.
This year, I expected my own Town Meeting Day to be as cutthroat as "House of Cards," because this year Middlebury residents were voting on The Infamous Article 6. If you're local, this is old news; if you're not local, you may not care, so I'll summarize briefly: Article 6 asked residents to approve a new town office building and recreation center; the old town offices and gym would be handed over to Middlebury College, which would in turn pay for the bulk of the new buildings.
On the surface, that may not sound very controversial, but I assure you that it was. The town was atwitter. I wasn't aware of any backroom dealings, but there were many intelligent and impassioned op-ed pieces in this paper. There were question and answer sessions, and a pre-vote referendum. It all seemed like democracy as it was meant to be, but I was sure there were dark doings behind the scenes. I expected the annual meeting, held on the eve of Town Meeting Day, to be a chaotic display of self-serving drama disguised as principle, like the scene in "House of Cards" in which protesting Republican senators are carried into a vote in handcuffs in order to reach a quorum.
Unfortunately I couldn't attend the annual meeting, because it interfered with my children's swim lessons, dinner, and bedtime. Which is probably why, in "House of Cards," Frank and Claire Underwood are childless. From what I hear, the meeting was lengthy but civilized, like democracy as it was meant to be.
No matter; real power comes through voting, and vote I did. I tried to channel Robin Wright as Claire Underwood: dressed in black, shellacked my hair, held my head high to appear two feet taller, and looked inscrutable. It was hard to pull off while pushing a stroller and chasing a toddler, but I think I managed.
When I entered the town gym to vote, everything seemed orderly and…pleasant. I gave the polling attendant my most regal Claire Underwood smile, and she beamed back as she handed me my ballot. "Your children are beautiful, and you can vote over there," she said.
Turning in my ballot and preparing to leave, I nodded coolly across the room at Middlebury's Zoning Administrator. Our daughters attended preschool together; definitely a connection to manipulate if I ever need a zoning permit.
On the morning after Town Meeting Day, everything was quiet. Peaceful. A fresh layer of snow had blanketed our town, as if to cover the bloodstains from the previous day's political battles. Article 6 had passed, but when I drove into town that morning I saw no protests, heard no rage-filled shouting. It was like democracy as it was meant to be.
And – good news -- a friend and neighbor had been elected to her first term on the ID-4 school board! That gave me influence; influence I could surely use to my advantage. But how could I sway the school board to suit my own needs? Then it hit me like a D.C. Metro: year-round school! No more summer vacations; my children out of my hair – um, learning – twelve months a year!
I wanted to text my new school board connection, like they do in "House of Cards," but I have an old fashioned cell phone that requires you to push each button three times in order to type one letter, so I settled for Facebook. I sent my friend a congratulatory message, and informed her of my intention to manipulate her in order to achieve year-round school.
Then, I began planning my approach. I know who plows her driveway; maybe if I paid him off during the next big snowstorm….
My scheming was interrupted by a reply from my school board contact. "What a good idea!" she said. I couldn't believe how simple it was to lobby her; no carrot or stick required. Perhaps it was because she's a fellow mother, or because she's new to politics.
Then I saw her next Facebook post: a thank-you to all who had supported her campaign, followed by a reference to my proposal – in what can only be described as a joking tone – as "The Moms' Sanity Act of 2014."
Humor and transparency in an elected leader? That sounds like democracy as it was meant to be.
Clearly Vermonters have a lot to learn about how politics work.
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, four young daughters, one anxiety-prone puppy — and writing for her blog, The Pickle Patch.


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*Fulltime POSTDOC in Semantic Technologies, STI International, Vienna* To strengthen our team we are seeking a candidate with a PhD degree and at least 2-3 years working experience with a strong technical background in Semantic Technology and Computer Science. Experience in management of projects, in international working environments, with writing research proposals, creating and editing publications and having participated in research or open source communities are a particular plus for respective candidates. *About STI International: STI International is organized as a collaborative association of interested scientific, industrial and governmental parties. The aim of the STI International is to support the successful and enduring development of semantic technologies as a central pillar of future ICT systems. In order to support the research, technology developing and commercialization processes in the emerging field of semantic technologies, STI International coordinates, integrates, and consolidates the activities of interested academic, industrial, and governmental organizations. *What we offer: -A stimulating environment of a leading research initiative in the area of semantic technologies -Excellent connection and cooperation with research groups worldwide through our member network -Opportunity to work with internationally established academic and industrial partners -Challenging position in a new fast growing worldwide research association -Up-to-date infrastructure and resources, including funding for attending international conferences and other events *What we expect: -An excellent PhD degree, or equivalent academic degree, in Computer Science or related disciplines. -Research interest in at least one of the areas Knowledge Representation, Logics (e.g. Description Logics, First-order Logics, Logic Programming), Ontology Languages, Semantic Web Services or related Semantic Web topics. -The willingness to combine formal scientific work with application-oriented research in projects funded by the European Commission and national Austrian agencies. -High management and communication skills -High willingness for travelling -Excellent English skills , with basic German skills as a plus We are looking for individuals who will be able to continue their existing field of research within our ongoing and new research projects. *Working location: Vienna, Austria *Working start: at the latest 1.7.2008 *Duration of the contract: unlimited *How to apply: For further information regarding this position and our institute, please see www.sti2.org. We invite you to submit your application to email@example.com. Please include a CV in English, a list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities. Applications should be submitted not later than 28.2.2008. -- Lejla Ibralic Halilovic Semantic Technology Institute International Amerlingstrasse 19/35 A-1060 Vienna, Austria (+43) 1 23 64 002 - 18 lejla.ibralic-halilovic(at)sti2.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Wednesday, 2 March 2016 11:10:19 UTC


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As unbelievable as this might seem, I travel more than 150 miles (one way!) to get a haircut.
For more than a decade now, I have only trusted my mop top to the skillful hands of Grand Junction's own Faye Carpenter, hair stylist/barber extraordinaire. So when I get shaggy to the point that Big Foot sightings increase in southeast Utah, I know it's time to make the long drive from Monticello to the madness that is North Avenue.
But each trip forces me to view the corpse of a very dear friend. When my beloved old Dewey Bridge burned to death in 2008, torched by a seven year old playing with matches, it was almost more bad news than I could bear.
As one relic after another of the rural West's past vanishes, this was one remnant I thought would survive.
The bridge had been brought in pieces, from Chicago in 1916, and assembled across the Colorado River, 30 miles upstream from Moab, UT. For a while, it was one of the longest suspension bridges west of the Mississippi.
A few years ago, Jennifer Speers, the millionaire with a soul, bought up the adjacent Dewey Bridge subdivision from a developer. She plowed under the roads, dismantled the infrastructure and tore down a $600,000 home in order to restore the area to the way it had been.
It was a rare place of hope. Now this. The fire triggered memories of my first visit to Dewey, more than 30 years ago.
I first heard about Dewey Bridge, believe it or not, from my mother.
In 1973, I was still living in Kentucky, trying to scrape together enough money to come West again, if only for a month or so. The previous winter, I'd passed through Moab for the first time, on one of the coldest days in recorded history. I stopped only long enough to gas up and then drove all the way to Grand Junction, where I used my dad's Gulf Oil credit card for a warm bed at the Holiday Inn.
But I'd seen enough of this country to plan a return visit. The next summer, my parents went west themselves and told me about a dusty unpaved, corrugated "highway," designated Utah State Route 128. And they told me of a narrow old one-lane suspension bridge that I needed to see.
Weeks later, my dog Muckluk and I came West ourselves. We found the old road and passed through Cisco—it was rapidly approaching ghost town status even then. There was one café still open, "Ethel's", which I later learned did double duty as a brothel of sorts for lonely prospectors.
But I didn't stop. Soon, I spotted a gravel and dirt road, Utah 128, and turned left toward the river. I saw no one. Not a car or motorhome. No trucks or RVs. No ATVs. Nothing.
We came to the river, my dog and I, and figured the bridge was just ahead, but it was late afternoon, so I pulled into a stand of cottonwoods to make a camp. I pitched my cheap little blue nylon tent, fed Muck, cooked some beans on my Coleman stove and walked over to the Colorado to eat. The river was low, but the current was swift. I saw a Great Blue Heron, heard the Canyon Wren for the first time. And I could hear the rustle of the leaves in the great cottonwoods above me.
Finally, as the canyon filled with shadows, I heard the whine of a motor, coming down the grade from Cisco. It was a pickup truck, a local rancher I guessed. He saw me and waved and kept going. I could hear his truck for a few minutes and then the silence returned.
That night was one of the happiest of my life. An evening of "quiet exaltation" as someone once said.
The next morning, I found the bridge. We stopped for a while, and Muckluk, that damn dog, jumped in the river for a swim so she could later smell up the upholstery on my car.
It was a glorious morning. I knew it would be the first of many visits to Dewey Bridge. It never occurred to me that any of this would change or disappear.
But in 1974, much of the gravel and dirt road from Cisco to Moab was paved, though the asphalt was rough and pitted, and the "improvements" were negligible. Even better, because Dewey Bridge was only one lane wide, barely eight feet, large vehicles could not get across it. It was one kind of discrimination I could live with and even applaud. For another decade the road from Moab to Cisco remained quiet.
In 1985, however, UDOT construction began on a new bridge, just down river from the old one. And a year later, when it opened, traffic on highway 128 increased dramatically.
Further "improvements" have brought still more cars and motorhomes and trucks. Sometimes it is downright congested. Still, it's a beautiful drive and those discovering it for the first time will be awestruck. But they'll never be able to understand just what it felt like on that summer night more than 30 years ago. I'm not even sure they'd care to.
Recently, I stopped at the old bridge site. The parking lot adjacent to it is now a staging area for mountain bicyclists and on this day, about a hundred brightly clad participants were prepping themselves and their bikes for a ride over the Kokopelli Trail.
I felt peculiarly out of place in my Wranglers and Redwings—as much of an anachronism as the old bridge once was. I walked to the south abutment. The fire had burned every sliver of wood; all that remains are the cables. I stood there for several minutes, still almost paralyzed by the sight.
One of the bikers walked up to me and said, "Hey I hear they might rebuild it... It'll be just like it was before."
I looked at him, smiled, and went back to my car.
(Jim Stiles is publisher of the "Canyon Country Zephyr -- Planet Earth Edition" now exclusively online. He is also the author of "Brave New West." Both can be found at www.canyoncountryzephyr.com. Stiles lives in San Juan County and can be reached at email@example.com.)


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Senate poised to pass budget
Senate Democrats are on the cusp of securing enough GOP votes to break a filibuster next week on the bipartisan budget, temporarily ending the fiscal crises that have dominated Washington for the past several years.
With 53 Democrats and two independents expected to back the measure, four Republicans — John McCain of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Richard Burr of North Carolina — said that they would vote to cut off debate on the budget, putting proponents just one vote shy of advancing the measure to final passage.
Story Continued Below
Several additional GOP senators signaled Friday that they may also vote to advance the deal, including Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Hoeven of North Dakota, giving proponents new confidence that a messy and acrimonious first session of the 113th Congress appears close to ending just before Christmas.
( Also on POLITICO: Inside the budget agreement)
The Senate is poised to hold the critical procedural vote on the budget bill on Tuesday. And several GOP senators said while they may oppose the underlying bill, they would join with Democrats to advance the measure for a final up-or-down vote.
"I'm not OK with it," McCain said Friday, "but I think it's better than shutting down the government."
Added Collins: "I will vote for cloture. I'm still weighing [final passage] but I'm inclined toward it … The advantages of having a budget outweigh the reservations that I have."
The last week of the budget fight has amounted to an unusual role reversal for the House and Senate. For much of this Congress, it's been the Senate that's passed bipartisan deals, only to see House Republicans balk. But this time around, House Republicans — who were burned by the last government shutdown — pushed the bipartisan deal through their chamber, only to see their GOP counterparts in the Senate scoff at the measure.
The differing views speak to the party's continued divide over fiscal strategy as conservative groups rail against the measure, and senators up for reelection or eying higher office — such as Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida — have all come out strongly against the plan.
( Also on POLITICO: Budget deal rolls back spending)
The Senate developments come after the House gave overwhelming approval to the two-year budget bill Thursday evening, pushing the measure through on a resounding 332-94 bipartisan vote.
The big House vote appears to have convinced at least a handful of GOP senators to break a filibuster, but the margin is expected to be much narrower in the closely divided Senate.
Despite strong support from House Speaker John Boehner, Senate GOP leaders are expected to oppose the bill. GOP senators who are facing tea party-inspired challenges next year also are opposing the plan, including the defense hawk Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who said the proposal would cause "disproportionate harm" to military retirees. And an increasing number of GOP senators began to lash out at the proposal.
Democrats were surprised when one of McCain's like-minded colleagues, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, announced she would oppose the bill. She — along with McCain and Graham — traveled the country last year warning of the dangers of the sequestration cuts to national security and was furious about the October government shutdown.
"I cannot support a budget agreement that fails to deal with the biggest drivers of our debt, but instead pays for more federal spending on the backs of our active duty and military retirees — those who have put their lives on the line to defend us," Ayotte said.
An undecided Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) added: "Does it begin to accomplish what a budget deal should accomplish?"
( WATCH: Budget deal by the numbers)
With Ayotte's vote no longer in play, the focus shifts to several other potential "aye" votes, including Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Murkowski.
The agreement, Murkowski said, "is weighing heavily on my mind as I leave the chamber on a Friday afernoon."
Asked if she would vote to break a filibuster, Murkowski said: "I might."
Corker said he could not support final passage of a bill that breaks budget caps that he has long sought to protect, but predicted at least five Republicans would vote to break the filibuster and said he's considering doing so himself.
Supporters of the plan, drafted by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), are hoping some other Republican senators who periodically break ranks will vote in support of the agreement. GOP Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Hoeven are also seen as swing votes, though it's unclear how they would come down.


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World War I irrevocably changed the view of warfare in a number of ways. The trench bogs, the introduction of tanks, weapons of mass destruction (mustard gas) and the last-gasp reliance on horses for either hauling artillery or cavalry officers through the endless mud and muck.
Animals were integral to the war effort. According to the RootsWebAncestry.com website, the US Army had six classes of animals to fulfill military hauling requirements. These were:
• For the cavalry: Active horses from 950 to 1,200 pounds
• For hauling light artillery: Strong active horses from 1,150 to 1,300 pounds
• For hauling siege batteries: Powerful horses from 1,400 to 1,700 pounds
• For hauling wheelers above 1,150 pounds or leaders above 1,000 pounds: pack and draft mules
Naturally, these animals required care and the Veterinary Corps stepped in to help out. Below, is some film footage from 1918 showing some of the various steps taken to prepare a horse for the war effort.
While today's military veterinarians still take care of the ceremonial horses, they also look after sniffer dogs currently helping out troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.


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Oral Testimony of Leo Jordon,
Past Chair of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section and a Member of the House of Delegates,
Before the American Bar Association
Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice
August 8, 1999
Atlanta, Georgia
The Commission next heard from Leo Jordon, past chair of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section and a member of the House of Delegates. The Section has over 30,000 members. He thanked the Commission for the work it had undertaken and the opportunity to seek some understanding of the issues at a hearing. The Sections questions relate to its type of practice that encompasses plaintiff, personal injury lawyers, and defense counsel as well as insurance companies and other financial service organizations. At this point these practitioners do not recognize that the concept of MDP has been client-driven. That is, the clients that they work with on a day to day basis have not insisted on this type of one-stop shopping so the Section members question the origination of the concept and whether it is ultimately client-driven. He related an episode that had occurred to him not long ago. He was in a conference room with about 10 -15 lawyers and hadn't realized that the other law firm had a small public affairs subsidiary, some members of which were also in the room. As the discussion went on it became clear that there were nonlawyers in the room and it had a major negative impact on the discussion. The discussion was not in any sense complete because the question arose immediately as to how confidential the discussion was. The concept of what is confidential communication is of extreme importance to the profession. There are other questions. Would a personal injury law firm be permitted to establish a truly full-service MDP? What, in fact, would be a full-service personal injury law firm? Would a law firm specializing in financial planning be permitted to associate with a life insurance agent to facilitate one stop shopping? Would the profits of the MDP encompass the commission of the insurance agency and would that put undue influence on the client? TIPS honestly does not know the answer to these questions and needs time to reflect on the effect and long term implications of an MDP. With these thoughts in mind TIPS will support deferral within the House and hopes additional time will give them an opportunity to come back and have a more enlightened response to some very important developments.
Dean Powell asked if TIPS might use its resources to draft proposed ethical provisions with respect to the questions the Section asked and Mr. Jordan said they would be delighted to have that opportunity. Steve Nelson commented that the Commission has wrestled with an issue raised by a number of other speakers. Its the epistemological question - how do we know what the clients want? The Commission hasnt just made an assumption: there is a resolution of the American Corporate Council Association very strongly in favor of MDPs (indicating they wouldnt necessarily all use MDPs but they feel they should have that choice); representatives of consumer groups have made a very strong argument that it is in their clients interest, something their clients want; and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York issued what he considers a very thoughtful paper that comments that it cant be proved what clients will actually use or want unless it actually exists. He said it would be very helpful if TIPS could assist the Commission in figuring out a better way of evaluating that critical question. Mr. Jordan responded that the Section Council the day before had set up a well-balanced group that includes court representation as well as plaintiff and defense lawyers (he commented that the plaintiff lawyers represent individuals) who will try to do a balanced and objective study. To demonstrate that the MDP Commission included people who were users of legal services, Herb Wander raised the point that there are two members of the Commission who were corporate counsel at the time they were appointed, Bob Mundheim (Salomon Brothers) and Roberta Katz (Netscape) and they indicate they would like to have the choice. He thought a number of comments the Commission had heard fail to consider the model where the lawyer could either remain a traditional law firm and assure loyalty, independence and competence, or the lawyer could choose to be in a multidisciplinary firm and the privilege may not be as rock solid because nonlawyers are a part of the practice and some benefits may be lost, but the firm can provide more efficient and global services. Why not let the client choose? He hopes TIPS will consider that model. Mr. Jordan said that the real interest is whether the client is in the position of having informed consent. Mr. Wander referenced the new definition of informed consent being used by Ethics 2000 and said it is very hard to say that a multinational corporation with a large General Counsel staff isnt capable of informed consent. He thinks, based on the comments received, that there are ways of ensuring plain English information is given to the clients so they can make that judgment. To counter the suggestion that the Commission heard handpicked client representatives, Reporter Daly asked those who were aware of client representatives who had differing views to encourage them to come forward.


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A good mattress is one of the most important investments you can make in your life. You spend a third of your life sleeping and having a good mattress can help you rest, and awake the next morning alert and ready for your day. A great way to improve the longevity of your mattress is to cover it in a waterproof mattress protector. What exactly does a mattress protector do for you though?
A mattress protector is great for any young child's mattress, help them stay healthy by providing them a clean and safe sleeping environment that also protects their mattress from accidental stains.


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Claude Knighten (301) 734-5271
Larry Hawkins (916) 930-5509
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2007-The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today implemented a Federal Order to restrict the interstate movement of certain regulated articles, including nursery stock, cut flowers and greenery, from several counties in California and the entire state of Hawaii to prevent the spread of the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana.
Under the Federal Order, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo counties in California and all Hawaiian counties must meet certain conditions before shipping articles interstate.
APHIS confirmed the presence of LBAM in Alameda County, Calif. on March 22. Surveillance and trapping have since identified the pest in seven additional California counties.
Under the Federal Order, all California shipments of host articles originating within 1.5 miles of a LBAM detection must be visually inspected and certified as free of the pest prior to movement. Outside of the 1.5 mile area, but still within the quarantined counties, host-article production facilities must undergo a one-time visual inspection and be certified as free of LBAM before moving their products outside of the quarantine area. This Federal Order expands upon initial regulatory action taken by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) on March 28.
APHIS included Hawaii in the Federal Order because LBAM is known to be established in the state but no data exists on the exact distribution of the pest. All individual shipments of host commodities leaving Hawaii must be visually inspected and certified as free of LBAM before leaving the state.
The order also requires survey trapping, nursery treatment applications, and precautionary production practices be implemented within quarantine areas to mitigate the risk of LBAM infestation. APHIS and CDFA continue to work together to conduct trapping and surveillance activities.
LBAM is native to Australia and is also found in New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The host range for LBAM is broad with more than 250 plant species known to be susceptible to attack by this pest. Major domestic hosts of concern are stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots), apples, pears, grapes, cherries and citrus.
The pest destroys, stunts or deforms young seedlings; spoils the appearance of ornamental plants; and injures deciduous fruit-tree crops, citrus and grapes.
Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS home page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov and click on the "News" button. Also, anyone with an e-mail address can sign up to receive APHIS press releases automatically. Send an e-mail message to firstname.lastname@example.com
and leave the subject blank. In the message, type subscribe press_releases.


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NEW YORK (AP) — A motorcyclist accused of instigating an encounter with an SUV on a New York City highway that ended with the SUV driver being chased and beaten is due in court Wednesday for arraignment.
Christopher Cruz of Passaic, N.J., faces charges of reckless endangerment, reckless driving, endangering the welfare of a child and menacing.
The Manhattan district attorney's office says it decided not to prosecute Allen Edwards of Queens, a second motorcyclist taken into custody Tuesday.
An Internet video shows a group of bikers surrounding the SUV on the West Side Highway on Sunday after an altercation. The SUV driver took off, plowing through the crowd. Police say the bikers chased the driver, ambushed his car and attacked him.
The driver needed stitches. His wife and toddler were in the car but weren't injured.


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A Ford logo is seen on the grill of a 2015 F-150 truck outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York
DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co is recalling more than 750,000 vehicles, most of them Escape sport utility vehicles, in North America to address possible software and door-handle problems.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker is recalling 692,487 Escape SUVs and C-Max hybrids from model years 2013 and 2014 for a potential software problem that could delay deployment of the side curtain rollover airbags in certain accidents. About 65,000 of the vehicles are the C-Max, a spokeswomen said.
Of the recalled vehicles, almost 595,000 were sold in the United States and its territories, more than 78,000 in Canada, and about 19,500 in Mexico, Ford said.
Ford said no accidents or injuries related to the problem have been reported. Dealers will reprogram the restraint control module.
Separately, Ford is also recalling 692,744 Escape SUVs from the 2013 and 2014 model years to address potential faulty door handles that could prevent doors from latching properly. The company said doors could open while driving, increasing the risk of injury.
No accidents or injuries related to the issue have been reported, Ford said. Dealers will inspect and, as needed, reposition the handles.
Of the recalled vehicles, almost 583,000 were sold in the United States and its territories, more than 89,000 in Canada, and about 20,000 in Mexico, Ford said.
In both recalls, Ford said there may be additional vehicles affected in other markets.
Most of the Escapes being recalled have both problems. The recalls are the ninth and tenth for the 2013 model of the Escape.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Peter Galloway)


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Buy online front row tickets for all Concert, Theater and Sporting events, and tickets to all sold out major events.
Sport, Concert and Theater tickets are hot and Frontrow.org has tickets to all your favorite events, including the Miami Heat Games, College Football and Super Bowl. We can get you "In the door" or the best seats to all games and events. Talk to one of our specialists or order online 24/7. Frontrow.org has a solid reputation of over 22 years in the business selling tickets. Front row can get you tickets for all the, Playoffs and all NBA Games.
The ATP Tennis is home to some of the most exciting sports from around the world. From the Outback of Australia to the hard courts of New York City there is always a chance to get the tennis tickets you want and be there for the live action. Great athletes and champions like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Venus Williams and, her younger sister Serena Williams will be competing all year in an attempt to win one of the prestigious four grand slam tournaments: The Australian Open, The French Open, The Championships at Wimbledon, and the US Open. Reserve your tennis tickets today to be sure you don't miss out on any of the action.
The first grand slam tournament of the year is the Australian Open. The Australian Open is competed at Melbourne Park during January. The traditional starting kickoff of the tennis season, the Australian Open tournament offers some of the toughest competition of the tennis season, and often times the toughest competition is the hard court surface and the intense summer heat of Australia. It's a grueling spectacle of endurance and fierce battles on the court, making Australian Open tickets a major prize on the tennis circuit.
Next it's off to Paris and the Stade Roland Garros, home of the French Open. The French Open, or Roland Garros to the local Parisians, is played every year during the last week of May and into early June. The surfaces of the Stade Roland Garros are clay. The clay surface is a little slower creating a disadvantage for big servers. The French Open baffled the great American player Pete Sampras, and the ATP tour's biggest server, Andy Roddick, has never won the French Open. In recent years the exciting Spaniard Rafael Nadal has dominated the French Open.
The third grand slam tournament of the year is The Championships at Wimbledon. Wimbledon is often considered the most prestigious of all the grand slam tournaments. Wimbledon is played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. During Wimbledon the competitors are required to wear white clothes as they compete on the grass courts making for fast and furious scoring. Another sub plot of Wimbledon is the question of the who will be the next British champion? Decades of have gone by since Fred Perry won Wimbledon in 1936, and the current hope is top five player Andy Murray.
Finally there's the US Open, which is held in Queens, New York City during the week before and after Labor Day. The US Open is held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and is played on a hard court surface. The surfaces of the US Open, as well as those of the US Open Series, are blue which provide a better view of the ball. The US Open series takes place the six weeks prior to the US Open and allows players to accumulate points, which can enhance the prize money they earn at the US Open. The US Open Series is played throughout the USA and in Canada. As a result, no matter where you live in the USA you will be able to catch some of the action as the competitors make their way to the US Open.
A fan of any sport would be remised not to grab Tennis Tickets to see any of the great tennis events that take place around the globe throughout the year. Don't let the opportunity to see Nadal and Federer compete to see who is the worlds' number one or will Andy Roddick fulfill his potential and win another grand slam tournament? Tennis is serving up excitement all year long, so get your Tennis Tickets now!
Check out Frontrow.org for all your tickets needs. We've got great sources for any event ranging from concert tickets to NFL tickets, Hamilton tickets, and Las Vegas show tickets. And don't forget the chance to score big on Broadway tickets and once in a lifetime events like the National Final Rodeo, the 2019 Super Bowl or the Daytona 500. Our inventory covers all types of entertainment and special events. With the biggest selection of concerts, sports, and theater tickets around, you can't go wrong with tickets from Frontrow.org.


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Wanted Tx Adoptable pitbull
Why buy from a breeder when there are plenty of homeless pups in shelters???
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
Wanted Tx Adoptable pitbull
Hey Im looking for a GROWN pit to adopt/ It must be ok around other animals or at least my other puppy. Im 180 miles west of dallas in west texas..........................................thanks
Gitrdone wrote:do they have a webpage? Do they adopt them to out of town residence?
Main in Houston:
Go to www.pbrc.net too they have a ton of doggies
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Tomorrow (March 14, 2015) is a very important Pi Day. This year's local Princeton Pi Day Party and other global celebrations of Albert Einstein's birthday look to be truly stellar, which is apt given this is arguably the closest we will get to 3.1415 in our lifetimes.
Leading up to the publication of the forthcoming The Proof and the Pudding: What Mathematicians, Cooks, and You Have in Common by Jim Henle, we're celebrating the holiday with a recipe for a classic Apple Pie (an integral part of any Pi Day spread). Publicist Casey LaVela recreates and photographs the recipe below. Full text of the recipe follows. Happy Pi Day everyone!
Notes on Jim Henle's Apple Pie recipe from Publicist Casey LaVela
The Proof and the Pudding includes several recipes for pies or tarts that would fit the bill for Pi Day, but the story behind Henle's Apple Pie recipe is especially charming, the recipe itself is straightforward, and the results are delicious. At the author's suggestion, I used a mixture of baking apples (and delightfully indulgent amounts of butter and sugar).
All of the crust ingredients (flour, butter, salt) ready to go:
After a few minutes of blending everything together with a pastry cutter, the crust begins to come together. A glorious marriage of flour and butter.
Once the butter and flour were better incorporated, I dribbled in the ice water and then turned the whole wonderful mess out between two sheets of plastic wrap in preparation for folding. The crust will look like it won't come together, but somehow it always does in the end. Magical.
Now you need to roll out and fold over the dough a few times. This is an important step and makes for a light and flaky crust. (You use a similar process to make croissants or other viennoiserie from scratch.)
I cut the crust into two (for the top crust and bottom crust) using my handy bench scraper:
The apples cored, peeled, and ready to be cut into slices. I broke out my mandolin slicer (not pictured) to make more even slices, but if you don't own a slicer or prefer to practice your knife skills you can just as easily use your favorite sharp knife.
Beautiful (even) apple slices:
Action shot of me mixing the apple slices, sugar, and cinnamon together. I prefer to prepare my apple pie filling in a bowl rather than sprinkling the dry ingredients over the apple slices once they have been arranged in the bottom crust. I'm not sure if it has much impact on the flavor and it is much, much messier, but I find it more fun.
The bottom crust in the pie plate:
Arrange the apple slices in the bottom crust:
Top with the second crust, seal the top crust to the bottom with your fingers, and (using your sharp knife) make incisions in the top crust to allow steam to escape:
The apple pie before going into the oven (don't forget to put a little extra sugar on top):
The finished product:
There was a little crust left over after cutting, so I shaped it into another pi symbol, covered it in cinnamon and sugar, and baked it until golden brown. I ate the baked pi symbol as soon as it had cooled (before thinking to take a picture), but it was delicious!
Apple Pie
The story of why I started cooking is not inspiring. My motives weren't pure. Indeed, they involved several important sins.
I really am a glutton. I love to eat. As a child, I ate well; my mother was a wonderful cook. But I always wanted more than I got, especially dessert. And of all desserts, it was apple pie I craved most. Not diner pies, not restaurant pies, and not bakery pies, but real, homemade apple pies.
When I was six, I had my first homemade apple pie. It was at my grandmother's house. I don't remember how it tasted, but I can still recall the gleam in my mother's eye when she explained the secret of the pie. "I watched her make it. Before she put on the top crust, she dotted the whole thing with big pats of butter!"
Several times as I was growing up, my mother made apple pie. Each one was a gem. But they were too few—only three or four before I went off to college. They were amazing pies. The apples were tart and sweet. Fresh fall apples, so flavorful no cinnamon was needed. The crust was golden, light and crisp, dry when it first hit the tongue, then dissolving into butter.
I grew up. I got married. I started a family. All the while, I longed for that pie. Eventually I set out to make one.
Success came pretty quickly, and it's not hard to see why. The fact is, despite apple pie's storied place in American culture, most apple pies sold in this country are abysmal. A pie of fresh, tart apples and a crust homemade with butter or lard, no matter how badly it's made, is guaranteed to surpass a commercial product.
That means that even if you've never made a pie before, you can't go seriously wrong. The chief difficulty is the crust, but I've developed a reliable method. Except for this method, the recipe below is standard.
For the filling:
5 cooking apples (yielding about 5 cups of pieces)
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
2 Tb butter
1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon
lemon juice, if necessary
1 tsp flour, maybe
For the crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup lard or unsalted butter (1 1/3 sticks)
The crust is crucial. I'll discuss its preparation last. Assume for now that you've rolled out the bottom crust and placed it in the pie pan.
Core, peel, and slice the apples. Place them in the crust. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Dot with butter. Roll out the top crust and place it on top. Seal the edge however you like. In about six places, jab a knife into the crust and twist to leave a hole for steam to escape. Sprinkle the crust with the teaspoon of sugar.
Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes at 450° and then another 35 minutes at 350°. Allow to cool. Serve, if you like, with vanilla ice cream or a good aged cheddar.
Now, the crust:
Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Place the lard or butter or lard/butter in the bowl. Cut it in with a pastry cutter.
Next, the water. Turn the cold water on in the kitchen sink so that it dribbles out in a tiny trickle. Hold the bowl with the flour mixture in one hand and a knife in the other. Let the water dribble into the bowl while you stir with the knife. The object is to add just enough water so that the dough is transformed into small dusty lumps. Don't be vigorous with the knife, but don't allow the water to pool. If the water is dribbling too fast, take the bowl away from the faucet from time to time. When you're done, the dough will still look pretty dry.
Recipes usually call for about 5 tablespoons of water. This method probably uses about that much.
Actually, the dough will look so dry that you'll think it won't stick together when it's rolled out. In fact, it probably won't stick together, but trust me. This is going to work.
Tear off a sheet of plastic wrap and lay it on the counter. Place a bit more than half the dough on the sheet and cover it with a second sheet of plastic.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough out between the two sheets. Roll it roughly in the shape of a rectangle.
It won't look great and it probably would fall apart if you picked it up.
Don't pick it up. Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap and fold the bottom third up, and fold the top third down, then do the same horizontally, right and left.
Now replace the top sheet of plastic wrap and roll the dough out gently into a disk.
This time it should look pretty decent. This time the dough will stick together.
You should be able to remove the top sheet of plastic and, using the bottom sheet, turn it over into the pie pan. The crust should settle in nicely without breaking.
Form the top crust the same way.
This method rolls each crust twice—usually not a good idea because working the dough makes it tough. But remarkably, crusts produced this way are tender and light. I'm not sure why but I suspect it's because the dough is fairly dry.
• Cooking apples are tart apples. The best I know is the Rhode Island Greening, but they're hard to find. Baldwins and Jonathans are decent, but they're hard to find too. The British Bramleys are terrific. I've made good pies from the French Calville Blanc d'Hiver. But we're not living in good apple times. Most stores don't sell apples for cooking. When in doubt, use a mixture.
• The lemon juice and the larger quantity of cinnamon are for when you have tired apples with no oomph. The cheese also serves this purpose. It should be a respectable old cheddar and it should be at room temperature.
• Consumption of too many commercial pies makes me loath to add flour or cornstarch to pie filling. The flour is here in case you fear your apples will be too juicy. I don't mind juice in a pie, in moderation. If adding flour, mix the apples, sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl before pouring into the crust.
• Lard is best. Its melting point is higher than butter's. It successfully separates the flour into layers for a light, crispy crust. Butter is more likely to saturate the flour and produce a heavy crust. Some like half butter/half lard, preferring butter for its flavor. But the flavor of lard is nice too, and its porkiness is wonderful with apple.
This recipe is taken from:
The Proof and the Pudding
What Mathematicians, Cooks, and You Have in Common
Jim Henle
"If you're a fan of Julia Child or Martin Gardner—who respectively proved that anyone can have fun preparing fancy food and doing real mathematics—you'll enjoy this playful yet passionate romp from Jim Henle. It's stuffed with tasty treats and ingenious ideas for further explorations, both in the kitchen and with pencil and paper, and draws many thought-providing parallels between two fields not often considered in the same mouthful."—Colm Mulcahy, author of Mathematical Card Magic: Fifty-Two New Effects


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Oklahoma State Completes Second Cotton Bowl Practice
EULESS, Texas – The Oklahoma State football team held its second Texas-based practice for the AT&T Cotton Bowl early Saturday afternoon at Euless Trinity High School. The Cowboys practiced outside in clear, sunny conditions on artificial turf while wearing helmets and pads. Coach Mike Gundy talked with Okstate.com following the workout. His comments:
Coach Mike Gundy
On how the practice went
"We had a good practice today. We had a heavy day with pads and players' spirits are great. We've had a great time so far at the bowl, but they focused in and had a good practice."
On how he would describe his team to someone who hasn't seen it play
"I would say we are a sound defense and we've improved throughout the year in the kicking game. Offensively, we've tried to run the ball and throw the ball down the field, and we've accomplished that for the majority of the season."
On what impresses him about the Cowboys as a whole
"They've got good leadership and good work ethic. They've gotten better every game since the West Virginia game. That's all we can ask of them is to improve every day in practice and get better for each game."
On what impresses him about the defense and the offense
"On defense we've been able to force turnovers and take advantage of scoring on defense. On offense we've taken care of the ball, for the most part, which gives us a chance to be successful in the end."
The 78th AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic is Friday, Jan. 3 on FOX. Airtime is set for 6:30 p.m. CST with kickoff scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Making their fourth appearances as members of FOX's broadcast crew, Gus Johnson and Charles Davis will describe all the action and will be joined by Kristina Pink reporting from the sideline. FOX is broadcasting the Classic for the 16th consecutive year.
ESPN Radio returns as the Classic's national radio partner for a second-straight year. Brad Sham, the "Voice of the Dallas Cowboys," will partner with Ed Cunningham offering color commentary and Ian Fitzsimmons adding analysis from the sideline to provide the call of the 78th Classic to hundreds of affiliate stations around the country as well as subscribers of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio in the United States and Canada.


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March 5, 2014 – Great advocate for public service ... highly sought-after volunteer … champion in the fight for ensuring access to justice for all Wisconsin's residents … role model for young lawyers. Comments like these have garnered this year's Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award for Karen Bauer.
Since law school, Bauer has been dedicated to public service and to serving the bar. She will receive the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award, which recognizes a young lawyer who is active in community service, works to strengthen the profession, create better client services, and make the practice of law more rewarding for lawyers.The award will be presented at the Fifth Annual Young Lawyers Leadership Conference (YLLC) on March 21 in Green Bay. The half-day event is free for all young lawyers.
"The YLD Nominations and Elections Committee received nominations from across the state for the fifth Annual YLD Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award," said Nomination Committee chair Ben Lane." The committee was challenged with may qualified candidates. As with the previous winners of this award, Karen is another deserving recipient."
In her nomination letter, former YLD President Jill Kastner wrote, "Karen is a champion in the fight for ensuring access to justice for all Wisconsin's residents, regardless of economic status or disability. She is currently a valued staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, providing free civil legal services to Milwaukee's poor and underserved residents."
"Karen has a passion for her work, despite facing constant pressures to provide legal services when funding could disappear," wrote former YLD President Sherry Coley in her nomination letter. "She tirelessly represents her clients in foreclosure and consumer disputes and works to make sure Wisconsin's consumer protection laws are upheld. There are always more cases than resources. What always strikes me about Karen is that she has such determination and drive; she tirelessly represents her clients and they are lucky to have her."
State Bar Pro Bono Coordinator Jeff Brown recalls, "I first met Karen in her role as a 'new' staff attorney at Wisconsin Judicare. Although she was technically a new lawyer, she knew far more than I did. She was a great resource for me on a range of consumer law issues that arose in pro bono matters. At the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, she has been a vital resource for homeowners in one of Wisconsin's signature responses to the foreclosure crisis, the Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program. As a member of the YLD and the Public Interest Law Section boards, Karen has also been a great advocate for public service work in general and for loan forgiveness as one way to support new lawyers. Karen is obviously a highly sought-after volunteer and for good reason; she is innovative, a pleasure to work with, and she has the intellect to match her seemingly boundless energy."
A newly minted lawyer in 2009, Bauer wasted no time becoming active in the State Bar. She was a YLD board member from 2009 to 2013 (a natural transition since she served as the U.W. Law School student liaison to the YLD for three years). She also chaired the Technology Committee and started the YLD Facebook page.
Coley remembers, "Karen was always willing to help with any YLD project and was especially willing to tackle more difficult projects. Karen used her tech savvy to promote YLD efforts and expand our reach to young lawyers. One of her largest accomplishments during her time on the YLD board was organizing the second Young Lawyers Leadership Conference in Madison. Karen managed to find sponsors, speakers, and participants. Her efforts helped ensure the success of that event.
In 2012, then State Bar President Jim Brennan appointed Bauer to the Challenges Facing New Lawyers Task Force, which recently released its findings. Coley specifically asked that Karen help with the task force because, "she was more knowledgeable than anyone I knew about loan repayment programs, and she worked for Judicare in Wausau at the time. She knew what it was like to juggle debt and provide legal services to those in need."
As her tenure on the YLD came to an end last year, Bauer ramped up her involvement with the Public Interest Law Section. A board member since 2010 with terms as treasurer and secretary already under her belt, she is the chair-elect and begins her term as chair on July 1. She also has been a Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program (WisLAP) volunteer since 2009 and is now a member of the WisLAP Committee.
Bauer's mission is to enable every young lawyer to be able to afford to repay their student loans. She recently expanded her practice at Legal Aid to include Student loan defense. Bauer presented her first Student Loan Repayment CLE program at the 2008 State Bar Annual Convention when she was a 3L and has offered the program at the Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm Conference.
Also as a 3L, she co-authored Career: Financial Help Puts Public Interest Careers in Reach, on the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 in Wisconsin Lawyer™ magazine. In 2012, she authored Career: Repaying Law School Debt, in the April issue of Wisconsin Lawyer magazine.
In her nomination letter Coley wrote, "When most individuals would find quiet moments to enjoy time alone, Karen still finds time to give back to her community. For years, Karen has volunteered with Operation Santa in Montello. Operation Santa provides toys and food to families with children during the holidays. This community program was started by Karen's father, Rick, and has become a family tradition as Karen's husband dons his Santa Claus outfit along with a team of other "Santas" to deliver toys and groceries to needy families in Marquette County.
"Karen lives every moment of every day, and takes time from her busy schedule to help those who are less fortunate," says Coley. "She probably never expected to be recognized for these efforts, which is the very reason why she deserves the award. Karen upholds all the ideals that make her a valuable member of the bar."
Kastner noted, "Karen is also a new mom, who balances her work life, bar, and community leadership, volunteerism, and a young family. Her dedication and leadership inspires other young lawyers to serve their community and become more involved in the bar."
Bauer will receive the award at a luncheon preceding the Fifth Annual Young Lawyers Leadership Conference in Green Bay on March 21. The luncheon begins at noon. The Hon. William C. Griesbach, Chief Judge, U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Wisconsin, will deliver the keynote address. The conference, 2-5 p.m., is free for all young lawyers. Membership in the Young Lawyers Division is automatic for attorneys who are either under 36 years old or in their first five years of practice following admission to the State Bar of Wisconsin. The conference will be submitted to the Board of Bar Examiners for CLE and EPR credits.
A limited number of rooms are available at the Tundra Lodge at a discounted rate of $129; the special rate expires on March 6.
Register for the conference.


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LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Lewiston's mayor is drawing criticism for remarks he made in a radio interview about Somali refugees in his city.
Robert MacDonald told the British Broadcasting Corp. this month that immigrants are costing the city a lot of money and that they should "accept our culture and leave your culture at the door." The BBC's segment focused on the resettlement of nearly 6,000 Somalis to Lewiston over the past decade.
Those comments are disturbing and divisive, said Houda Daud, a 23-year-old who was among the first Somalis to arrive in Lewiston a dozen years ago. She told Maine Public Broadcasting Network that the Lewiston community has been welcoming — except for the mayor.
"If he's the mayor and he's representing us as a community, he needs to represent us as a community. He cannot divide us," she said. "We've been here for long. We feel like we belong here. We work hard, pay taxes as anybody that lives in Maine, so being pushed aside is not OK."
Mohammad Muktar said religion is a big part of people's culture, and no one should ever ask someone to leave their religion at the door.
"So if I tell you right now to leave your religion, I don't think you're going to accept, you know," he said.
MacDonald said he has a good rapport with the Somali community and that his comments were being overblown.
"I don't care if you're European, Asian, South American, Australian, whatever, OK?" he said. "We have a unique culture in this United States and we have prospered by it. We don't need people coming in here tinkering with it."
MacDonald's comments rekindled memories of a decade ago when then-Mayor Larry Raymond wrote a letter asking Somali leaders to discourage friends and family from relocating to Lewiston, saying the city's resources were "maxed-out".
The subsequent uproar from the letter spurred 4,000-person rally at Bates College urging Mainers to embrace the new wave of immigrants. A small number of white supremacists who called for the expulsion of the Somalis gathered elsewhere in the city at the same time to express their views.
Information from: WMEA-FM, http://www.mpbn.net/index.html
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Lewiston mayor's Somali comments criticized
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Lewiston's mayor is drawing criticism for remarks he made in a radio interview about Somali refugees in his city.


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Aaron's 715th still a wonderful moment 40 years later
The debate over Babe Ruth's "Called Shot" in Chicago's Wrigley Field -- did he or didn't he? -- never will be definitively resolved.
But Henry Aaron, according to an eyewitness kneeling about 40 feet from the batter's box in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, did indeed call a home run that was even more historic than the Bambino's in the 1932 World Series.
The debate over Babe Ruth's "Called Shot" in Chicago's Wrigley Field -- did he or didn't he? -- never will be definitively resolved.
But Henry Aaron, according to an eyewitness kneeling about 40 feet from the batter's box in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, did indeed call a home run that was even more historic than the Bambino's in the 1932 World Series.
Today is the 40th anniversary of Aaron's epic 715th career home run, the one that eclipsed Ruth's hallowed record of 714. It was a rainy night in Georgia, bitter cold, and Dusty Baker was right there, watching his mentor reach the mountaintop on April 8, 1974.
Baker, the Braves' 24-year-old center fielder, raised a fist from the on-deck circle as Aaron's drive arced toward left-center field. Clearing the fence, the home run sent a sellout crowd into a collective delirium normally reserved for another sport in football-mad Georgia.
Baker still clearly recalls Aaron's words as he headed toward the plate to face Dodgers veteran Al Downing in the fourth inning.
"Hank told me he was going to do it," Baker said of their brief exchange in the on-deck circle. "Hank was a student of hitting; he always studied pitchers, their tendencies. As he went up to hit, he said, 'I'm going to get this thing over with right now.'
"After he hit it, I didn't want to go to the plate. I was closer to the catcher and pitcher than anybody, but that was Hank's moment -- a great moment. He earned it."
Baker was among a select few close enough to Aaron to grasp what the great slugger had endured emotionally in the days, weeks and months leading up to April 8, 1974. Venomous mail, racist and threatening, found its way into Aaron's hands.
"I was aware of most of it," Baker said by phone from Texas, where he was enjoying his first NCAA basketball Final Four after all the years otherwise occupied as a player, coach or manager. "I lockered right next to him. I could see him stare at a letter. Sometimes he'd drop it on the floor. I'd pick it up and read what these people had written. It was terrible, man.
"The other side was people who'd send him things to let him know they were behind him. When they'd send him some hip records, he'd hand them over to me and say, 'Here, you take this.' That wasn't Hank's style."
One hate letter in particular stands out in Baker's mind all these years later.
"It was a death threat from somebody who said he'd be in the ballpark in Atlanta, in a red coat," Baker said. "Me and Ralph [Garr] said, 'We're down with you, Hank.' We were looking all night for some dude in a red coat. Hank was Hank -- cool as always. He got threats all the time."
Aaron, who turned 40 two months before breaking Ruth's record and had hit No. 714 in Cincinnati in the season-opening series, took Baker and Garr, his young partners in the Atlanta outfield, under his wing. They had dinner at the home of Rev. Jesse Jackson and also met prominent figures in the civil rights movement such as Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young.
"We went to visit Jimmy Carter and his mother when he was the governor," Baker recalled. "All these important people wanted to connect with Hank. One of his heroes was Jackie Robinson, for everything he'd gone through [in integrating baseball]. Hank wanted to carry it on in his quiet way -- and he did. He had a tremendous social impact."
When he was drafted by the Braves in 1967 as a multi-sport star out of Del Campo High School in the Sacramento, Calif., suburb of Carmichael, Baker had to convince his parents that baseball, not college, was the way to go.
"I had signed a letter of intent to Santa Clara [University]," Baker said. "Hank promised my mom he would take good care of me -- and he did. Me and Ralph went over to his house almost every night.
"After they had the ceremony on the field for him that night, I was the next hitter. I heard the clicking of seats, people leaving, when I went up to hit. It was the coldest night I can remember in Atlanta -- and one of the greatest nights of my life."
Downing was 22, not yet known as "Gentleman Al," when he met Aaron for the first time. Downing was embarking on his rookie season as a flame-throwing lefty for the New York Yankees, having appeared in six games the previous two seasons.
"I was first introduced to him by [Yankees catcher] Elston Howard in Spring Training in 1963, in Florida," Downing recalled. "The Braves were in West Palm Beach. I remember Elston introducing us and thinking, 'This is the nicest, most gracious guy for a superstar.' Hank never really changed."
Eleven years later, Downing answered to "Ace" in the Los Angeles clubhouse. At 33, a 20-game winner in 1971, he was entering his fourth season with the Dodgers.
|"I walked him first time up, and everybody booed me. It was the second pitch [in a 1-0 count], and I was trying to get the double play. I wanted to get a fastball down in the strike zone, hoping he'd roll over. It was elevated -- and 'The Hammer' put the hammer on it."
|-- Al Downing
It was his destiny to be known in baseball lore for a fastball launched into history, one No. 44 throwing it to another. Downing was the right guy in the right place.
"It couldn't have worked out any better, really," said Davey Lopes, playing second base behind Downing that night. "Al is such a secure person, he understood the big picture. It was like when Rickey Henderson was Nolan Ryan's 5,000th strikeout victim. Rickey embraced it. Al was never bothered at all by being part of Hank's big moment."
Downing recalls every detail: three rain delays, the game situation, his characteristic nap before his start, what he was trying to do with the pitch. And he also remembers Aaron's poetic swing: so relaxed, so pure and powerful.
An error on Darrell Evans' grounder leading off the inning had Downing -- protecting a 3-1 lead he'd helped create with an RBI single -- thinking about a double play as he prepared to face Aaron.
"I walked him first time up, and everybody booed me," Downing said, Aaron scoring on Baker's double after the free pass. "It was the second pitch [in a 1-0 count], and I was trying to get the double play. I wanted to get a fastball down in the strike zone, hoping he'd roll over. It was elevated -- and 'The Hammer' put the hammer on it."
Downing had been informed that if Aaron went deep, there would be a ceremony.
"I went to the dugout," Downing said. "It rained all night. They wanted to make it official, so they were going to wait out the rain."
When play finally resumed, he walked Baker and Davey Johnson, then was replaced by Mike Marshall.
As the crowd numbering 53,775 gradually dispersed into the cold night, Downing headed to the clubhouse. Holding court with legendary author George Plimpton and a young, wide-eyed Dodgers beat writer during a rain delay, Downing was as cool and analytical as ever. He praised Aaron, talking about the respect Hank commanded, and eventually left the park in a cab with Plimpton, who had a plane to catch.
"This was a very impressive moment, a magnanimous moment for sports," Downing said. "Baseball was not big in Atlanta; football was reigning supreme. The Braves had made it to the playoffs in '69 when the Mets beat them, and that was the only time the city really got into it. This was a crowning moment for baseball in the South."
The following afternoon, Downing was sitting in the dugout with the young beat reporter when Aaron motioned him toward the batting cage. The pitcher came over, writer in tow, and the two men talked.
"He was telling me, 'I'm glad it's over,'" Downing said. "He asked me how I was doing, and I told him I was fine. He said, 'You're still a good pitcher; don't worry about it.' I have a photo of that [scene]. I'm shaking his hand behind the batting cage."
Downing and Aaron sat together at the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards Dinner in January in New York. They shared some memories along with the Willie, Mickey and The Duke Award presented by the New York chapter.
"We had fun at the dinner," Downing said. "We've always had a good relationship."
Lopes was on the money. It could not have been scripted any better.
When Dodgers left fielder Bill Buckner was unsuccessful in his attempt to climb the left-field fence and claim the prized No. 715 home run ball, it was caught by Braves reliever Tom House, who raced to home plate to present it to Aaron.
As he toured the bases in his inimitable style -- and as a pair of exuberant fans were running from the stands onto the infield -- Aaron shook the hand of Lopes as he approached second base. It was the rarest of baseball scenes, especially in those times when fraternization among opposing players was heavily frowned upon.
"That was a special moment," said Lopes, who impulsively had extended his hand to Aaron. "That wasn't anything I prepared to do. It was spontaneous. I have tremendous respect for Hank, for what he accomplished and the man he is.
"Just like Jackie was the one to handle all the racial overtones of breaking the barrier, Hank was the guy to break the home run record. He's very quiet, very humble. There are a chosen few, and Hank was one of them.
"Hank and Al, their personalities are very similar. I don't think it's been a burden at all on Al. It wasn't like Bobby Thomson's home run off Ralph Branca. It was almost an honor for Al to be associated with Hank [in a historical context]. People who know themselves well see things clearly, for what they are."
That young writer, so fortunate to have been in Atlanta 40 years ago, is still knocking out copy, knowing he'll never experience anything quite like April 8, 1974, on a rainy, magical night in Georgia.
Lyle Spencer is a columnist for MLB.com.


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Drawing Your Paper Engineering and Pop-up Designs
If you're marking your card with a pencil and ruler rather than designing on your computer, you can do a few things to help the process and keep things neat. Keep the following paper engineering and pop-up drawing pointers in mind:
Draw your design with a pencil rather than a pen so you can correct any mistakes. Don't press too hard with your pencil; you want the line to be easy to erase.
Keep your pencil well-sharpened or use a thin mechanical pencil. A thin line is more accurate than a wide line.
If possible, draw on the back of your design in reverse. That way, you can keep the front of the design clean and tidy.
Always use a ruler for straight lines. To be most accurate, measure your lines twice, once at each end, and then join the two marks.


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Weeks before the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination this fall, a TV network will take another look at the killing in a docudrama that suggests a Secret Service agent accidentally fired one of the bullets that felled Kennedy.
ReelzChannel's "JFK: The Smoking Gun" is based on the work of retired Australian police Detective Colin McLaren and the book "Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK" by Bonar Menninger.
McLaren spent four years combing through evidence from Kennedy's death on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. He and Menninger also relied on ballistics evidence from an earlier book by Howard Donahue.
The two-hour docudrama airs Nov. 3 in the U.S., Canada and Australia. It suggests that agent George Hickey fired one of the bullets that hit Kennedy. Hickey, who is now dead, was riding in the car behind Kennedy's limo that day.
"What we're saying is that we believe it was a tragic accident in the heat of that moment," McLaren told the Television Critics Association on Sunday.
When Lee Harvey Oswald fired his first shot, McLaren said Hickey responded by trying to fire back on Oswald's position using his Secret Service-issued rifle. But because he was inexperienced with the weapon and the car lurched forward, McLaren said the shot went awry and accidentally hit Kennedy, who was struck in the neck but quite possibly not fatally wounded by Oswald's second shot.
"We don't suggest that he was in any way involved in a conspiracy," McLaren said of Hickey.
The Warren Commission report in the 1960s concluded that Oswald was the lone gunman in officially explaining the assassination.
And here's what Hickey said happened:
'At the end of the last report I reached to the bottom of the car and picked up the AR 15 rifle, cocked and loaded it, and turned to the rear.
'At this point the cars were passing under the over-pass and as a result we had left the scene of the shooting. I kept the AR 15 rifle ready as we proceeded at a high rate of speed to the hospital.'
After Menninger's book was published in 1992 – making a similar claim about Hickey – he sued Menninger in 1995. But a judge ruled that the statute of limitations had run out.
The show's producers say that advances in forensic science and documents released during the Clinton administration have added credibility to Menninger's theory.
"Our documentary is going to be the only one that has opened the case forensically and looked at the evidence from the beginning and examined everything that happened that day in Dealey Plaza," Michael Prupas, the film's executive director, said, according to the Huffington Post.
The program is ReelzChannel's second Kennedy-related offering. In 2011, the cable channel aired "The Kennedys" after History Channel dropped the miniseries amid reports that the real-life Kennedy family was unhappy about the project.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.


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TrustCloud API - Developers
TrustCloud is a service that rates how trustworthy its users are. Based on trustworthy behavior indicators developed by Charles H. Greene such as Credibility, Reliability, Familiarity, and Consideration, TrustCloud issues reports on users. These reports take the form of Badges and Scores. The information for these scores is harvested from available social network data. Their RESTful API allows developers to access users members' data. It returns JSON-formatted responses.