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With life's busy schedule, it's hard for most of us to dig through all the information thrown our way. Each week we scour the media universe to find the most interesting and helpful articles, so you don't have to. Take a look at what we're reading this week.
How to avoid financial infidelity with your partner
Couples fight about money all the time. But if you're like 71% of these survey respondents, you've also lied to your significant other about money or a financial issue. Not only does this create distrust in a relationship, but it also probably doesn't help the financial problem. Check out this guide to avoiding financial infidelity. (Fox Business)
11 Mother's Day gifts for 'mums' obsessed with the royal family
If your mom is counting down the days until Duchess Meghan gives birth, you need to check out this list. With everything from "royal bingo" to Kate Middleton-approved essential oil, you'll be sure to make your own queen happy with one of these presents. (PureWow)
Best online grocery delivery services
In this day and age you don't even have to leave your house to go grocery shopping — so why would you? But before you hit up your go-to delivery service, you may want to compare with other companies. Check out this list that ranks online grocery delivery and can help you save money. (Consumer Reports)
Why do we still use QWERTY keyboards?
The most common layout for English keyboards dates back to the 19th century, but why hasn't it been updated since then? NPR's Planet Money investigates the economic lessons we can learn from our reliance on QWERTY. (NPR)
10 signs you're more stressed than you think
Typically when we get stressed out, we know it. But sometimes little things could be building up in the recesses of your mind without you realizing that they're taking a major toll on your mental wellness. Learn how to spot the signs of hidden stress and how to tackle it. (Brit + Co.)
What to expect as you're shopping for a new or used car
If you're looking to show up to summer with some new wheels, read this guide first. Whether you're looking for something new or something that's just new to you, make sure you understand the process and know what to expect. (Yahoo! Finance)
Comma mistakes you might be making
No matter which side of the Oxford comma debate you take, make sure you know how to use this piece of punctuation. Up your grammar game and send expertly styled emails with this explainer on common comma mistakes. (The Everygirl)
Interested in refinancing student loans?Here are the top 7 lenders of 2019!
|Variable APR
|Eligible Degrees
|Check out the testimonials and our in-depth reviews!
1 Important Disclosures for Earnest.
Earnest Disclosures
To qualify, you must be a U.S. citizen or possess a 10-year (non-conditional) Permanent Resident Card, reside in a state Earnest lends in, and satisfy our minimum eligibility criteria. You may find more information on loan eligibility here: https://www.earnest.com/eligibility. Not all applicants will be approved for a loan, and not all applicants will qualify for the lowest rate. Approval and interest rate depend on the review of a complete application.
Earnest fixed rate loan rates range from 3.45% APR (with Auto Pay) to 7.49% APR (with Auto Pay). Variable rate loan rates range from 2.14% APR (with Auto Pay) to 6.79% APR (with Auto Pay). For variable rate loans, although the interest rate will vary after you are approved, the interest rate will never exceed 8.95% for loan terms 10 years or less. For loan terms of 10 years to 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 9.95%. For loan terms over 15 years, the interest rate will never exceed 11.95% (the maximum rates for these loans). Earnest variable interest rate loans are based on a publicly available index, the one month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Your rate will be calculated each month by adding a margin between 1.82% and 5.50% to the one month LIBOR. The rate will not increase more than once per month. Earnest rate ranges are current as of September 6, 2019, and are subject to change based on market conditions and borrower eligibility.
Auto Pay discount: If you make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic, monthly deduction from a savings or checking account, your rate will be reduced by one quarter of one percent (0.25%) for so long as you continue to make automatic, electronic monthly payments. This benefit is suspended during periods of deferment and forbearance.
The information provided on this page is updated as of 09/06/2019. Earnest reserves the right to change, pause, or terminate product offerings at any time without notice. Earnest loans are originated by Earnest Operations LLC. California Finance Lender License 6054788. NMLS # 1204917. Earnest Operations LLC is located at 302 2nd Street, Suite 401N, San Francisco, CA 94107. Terms and Conditions apply. Visit https://www.earnest.com/terms-of-service, email us at email@example.com, or call 888-601-2801 for more information on our student loan refinance product.
© 2018 Earnest LLC. All rights reserved. Earnest LLC and its subsidiaries, including Earnest Operations LLC, are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.
2 Important Disclosures for SoFi.
SoFi Disclosures
3 Important Disclosures for Laurel Road.
Laurel Road Disclosures
However, if the borrower chooses to make monthly payments automatically by electronic funds transfer (EFT) from a bank account, the fixed rate will decrease by 0.25%, and will increase back up to the regular fixed interest rate described in the preceding paragraph if the borrower stops making (or we stop accepting) monthly payments automatically by EFT from the designated borrower's bank account.
However, if the borrower chooses to make monthly payments automatically by electronic funds transfer (EFT) from a bank account, the variable rate will decrease by 0.25%, and will increase back up to the regular variable interest rate described in the preceding paragraph if the borrower stops making (or we stop accepting) monthly payments automatically by EFT from the designated borrower's bank account.
All credit products are subject to credit approval.
Laurel Road began originating student loans in 2013 and has since helped thousands of professionals with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees consolidate and refinance more than $4 billion in federal and private school loans. Laurel Road also offers a suite of online graduate school loan products and personal loans that help simplify lending through customized technology and personalized service. In April 2019, Laurel Road was acquired by KeyBank, one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies. Laurel Road is a brand of KeyBank National Association offering online lending products in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. All loans are provided by KeyBank National Association, a nationally chartered bank. Member FDIC. For more information, visit www.laurelroad.com.
4 Important Disclosures for Splash Financial.
Splash Financial Disclosures
Terms and Conditions apply. Splash reserves the right to modify or discontinue products and benefits at any time without notice. Rates and terms are also subject to change at any time without notice. Offers are subject to credit approval. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in an eligible state and meet applicable underwriting requirements. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate. Lowest rates are reserved for the highest qualified borrowers.
5 Important Disclosures for CommonBond.
CommonBond Disclosures
Offered terms are subject to change. Loans are offered by CommonBond Lending, LLC (NMLS # 1175900). If you are approved for a loan, the interest rate offered will depend on your credit profile, your application, the loan term selected and will be within the ranges of rates shown. All Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) displayed assume borrowers enroll in auto pay and account for the 0.25% reduction in interest rate. All variable rates are based on a 1-month LIBOR assumption of 2.19% effective August 10, 2019.
6 Important Disclosures for LendKey.
LendKey Disclosures
Refinancing via LendKey.com is only available for applicants with qualified private education loans from an eligible institution. Loans that were used for exam preparation classes, including, but not limited to, loans for LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, and GRE preparation, are not eligible for refinancing with a lender via LendKey.com. If you currently have any of these exam preparation loans, you should not include them in an application to refinance your student loans on this website. Applicants must be either U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents in an eligible state to qualify for a loan. Certain membership requirements (including the opening of a share account and any applicable association fees in connection with membership) may apply in the event that an applicant wishes to accept a loan offer from a credit union lender. Lenders participating on LendKey.com reserve the right to modify or discontinue the products, terms, and benefits offered on this website at any time without notice. LendKey Technologies, Inc. is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse, any educational institution.
7 Important Disclosures for College Ave.
College Ave Disclosures
College Ave Student Loans products are made available through either Firstrust Bank, member FDIC or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply.
1College Ave Refi Education loans are not currently available to residents of Maine.
2All rates shown include autopay discount. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. Variable rates may increase after consummation.
3$5,000 is the minimum requirement to refinance. The maximum loan amount is $300,000 for those with medical, dental, pharmacy or veterinary doctorate degrees, and $150,000 for all other undergraduate or graduate degrees.
4This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a refi borrower with a Full Principal & Interest Repayment and a 10-year repayment term, has a $40,000 loan and a 5.5% Annual Percentage Rate ("APR"): 120 monthly payments of $434.11 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $52,092.61. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary.
Information advertised valid as of 08/01/2019. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation.
|2.14% – 6.79%1
|Undergrad & Graduate
|2.14% – 7.84%2
|Undergrad & Graduate
|2.43% – 6.65%3
|Undergrad & Graduate
|2.43% – 7.60%4
|Undergrad & Graduate
|2.14% – 8.01%5
|Undergrad & Graduate
|2.06% – 8.93%6
|Undergrad & Graduate
|2.74% – 7.24%7
|Undergrad & Graduate


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271 Items Tagged
Does Sex Make You Nervous? Here's How To Develop A Healthier Relationship With Sex
This is why our relationship to our own bodies is so strained.
Is Athleisure A Bubble Ready To Burst?
Are you ready to give up your yoga pants? Yeah, didn't think so.
Do We Need To Debunk The Detox?
Are there poisons in your body? Is your digestive system tired? Do you need a detox, or a reality check? We talk to doctors, nutritionists, and...
I Spent $1.50 A Day On Food. Here's How I Did It
Nearly 1.2 billion people in this world are struggling just to eat every day. They are living on less than $1.50 a day — the cost of half of my daily...
What Living In India Taught Me About Food
I distinctly remember getting off the plane in Chennai, India for my first overseas position with American Jewish World Service. I was 28 years old,...
The Secret To Perfect Happiness (And Other Lessons From Bhutan)
My trip to a country that builds a foundation on Gross National Happiness.
These 5 Spices Helped Me Lose 40 Pounds
With my Indian background, eating spicy, flavorful food was almost mandatory. At our family dinner table, anyone who didn't add hot peppers to pizza...
A Woman Paid Photoshop Pros In 25 Countries To Make Her "Beautiful"
Esther Honig took a picture of herself and paid Photoshop experts around the world to make her image look beautiful. The results, captured in a slide...
5 Rules To Keep Your Children's Internet Use Healthy
Like it or not, we now have a culture where many children have an online presence before they're even born, with their parents uploading regular posts...
10 Phases Of Holiday Homecomings
So you left your hometown, wherever that is, for a reason. You moved on to bigger aspirations, brighter lights, more opportunity, or something like...
Q&A With Peter Tunney: Legendary Artist Discusses Sobriety, Inspiration & Creativity
You've probably seen Peter Tunney's work but didn't know he was the brains behind it. Tunney's billboards, with inspirational phrases such as "The...
Anonymous Note In Restroom Goes Viral
This incredibly thoughtful note posted in the women's restroom at a university has gone viral on reddit.
The Biggest Farm Bill Loser (Video)
This video is funny, sad, and true. What do you think?
Portlandia - Meditation Crush (Hilarious Video)
We love this hilarious video for the upcoming season of Portlandia. (Thanks to our friends at Shambhala for the tip!)
What You Need to Know About the World's Water (Infographic)
We all know the global supply of water is limited, but this informative graphic puts some amazing numbers to the situation:
Project Utopia: Why Apocalyptic Thinking Is Lazy
The world lies in ruin. Everywhere buildings have crumbled. The sea boils with toxic spills. Nuclear fallout discolors the sky. The dregs of humanity...
My 10 Biggest Fears of Switching to a Plant-Based Diet
Rational or not, I have some real fears about my upcoming switch to a plant-based diet. Starting next week, I will be cutting out animal protein,...
My 3-Year-Old Is Texting?!
My parents were in town last week they watched my three-year-old during the day while I was working. While driving around downtown Boulder, my mother...
10 Life Lessons from Forrest Gump
Yes, Forrest Gump was one very wise man. Here are ten life lessons from the character that Tom Hanks made famous back in 1994.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hey! I kinda need your vid to post the poll if you don't mind!
Idk why but you seem pretty cool, and I like you RHG, so take mah friend request
The Universe In My Eyes
Junior Member
Woopsy daisy! You missed!
all I see is my failures
Senior Member


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Legal Casework – The Best Allowance Policy for Businesses
Authoritative abiding that you are accessible for any kinds of contest in your business is the best allowance you can accept for it. Businesses accept a lot of acknowledged things that charge to be dealt with appropriately and this is something you should attending into. A advocate that specializes on business law is something that you will acquisition to be actual accessible in your advance of business.
If it comes to business contracts, a lot of humans accept the accepted delusion of accepting able to yield affliction of it after a accounting contract. If it comes to the apple of business, these are the kinds of pitfalls that a business advocate can advice you with.
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Lessons Learned from Years with Experts
State laws are frequently complex in a lot of businesses and this is something you charge to understand. A advocate with a authorization in the accompaniment bar would be the one you will need. In this manner, you will be able to accomplish abiding that aggregate will be taken affliction of.
Why No One Talks About Casework Anymore
You charge to accept that altered states accept altered business laws. It's actual important that you acquisition the appropriate advocate in this. Authoritative the appropriate decisions will be something you can do with this.
It would be all-important for you to advance time in this to accomplish abiding that aggregate goes accordingly. You can aswell accomplish abiding that the acknowledged casework you charge will be something you get in this. Remember that the acknowledged casework they will be bringing to the table is the best allowance your business can get.
Through this, the things that could advance to the atrophy of your business will be something you can avoid. One of the things you will acquisition if it comes to this is that it will accompany you a lot of convenience. Among the allowances of this is beneath complicated accommodation authoritative in the future.
Seeking advice at atrocious times would not be the best advance of activity in this. To get the advantages, accomplishing it beforehand would be best.
The a lot of important affair if it comes to a business advocate is one that will be able to yield affliction of all acknowledged matters. The acknowledged fees should be discussed afore you appoint the lawyer.
This accommodation is castigation to make. This is a amount of abundant accent that should be taken in a austere manner. You can analysis out some added online writing to apprentice added about this. For added info, you can attending them up.


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History |
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Annotate |
Updated ButtonControl and SonarControl.
Finally, the behavior compiles. Had to fix a lot of problems involving misunderstandings with Publisher/Client/ServiceServer/ServiceClient confusion.
We can now run priya_behavior as an executable, though the process for generating behavior executables still needs some work.
Updated the licensing information in many files.
This is a broken commit because I decided to do this at a bad time. Sorry! The build will be working after next commit, I promise (and I won't push till then). This commit reflects the licensing in the files after I used my auto-add/remove script.
actually removing what I removed
Rewrote libbuttons to use objects (ButtonControl).
Also removed query_motors (motors node now responsible for publishing changes)
bugfix: removed -lmotors from manifest files (causing rosmake errors)


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Check BNN and Bulbanews for up-to-date Pokémon news and discuss it on the forums or in the Bulbagarden Discord server.
Chic (Japanese: ちゃも Chamo), known as Toro in Chuang Yi's translations, was one of the first Pokémon that Sapphire has received in the Pokémon Adventures manga.
Sapphire received Chic from her father, Professor Birch. She was first seen after Sapphire rescued Ruby from a pack of wild Mightyena and took him to her Secret Base, and the beauty-obsessed boy thought she was a Pokémon, and attacked after she started talking. Despite its type disadvantage against his newly received Mudkip, it was able to defeat it, and then fought a wild Seviper, though it failed to finish it off. She then took Chic on her journey to conquer the eight Gyms of Hoenn after she made a pact with Ruby, and fought the (then) Aqua Grunts Amber, Matt, and Shelly at Rustboro City, where it managed to defeat the latter's Ludicolo with a Castform's help. She failed to use it in her first Gym battle with Roxanne, though, because her Nosepass used its Magnet Pull Ability, leaving her unable to switch.
After intensive training at Granite Cave with Rono, she evolved into Combusken and defeated Brawly's Hariyama in the Dewford Gym after a tough battle where Rono, even after evolving into a Lairon, was nearly beaten in seconds. Sapphire then took Chic to the Abandoned Ship on Lorry's back, where it fought the Magma Admins Tabitha and Courtney, but thanks to the latter's devious use of an acidic berry, Sapphire was rendered unable to see, and had to rely on Ruby for assistance. Although they seemingly won the battle with Plusle and Minun's help, the two Magmas ultimately fulfilled their objective of stealing the Scanner which belonged to the two Pokémon's owner.
Afterwards, Sapphire soon headed to Mauville City, but ended up getting the Badge for free from Wattson anyway, something she despised as she felt she had to work for a Badge properly instead. Because, in the end, Sapphire never got to fight the old man even after rescuing him, Chic only gained a new comrade in Phado. She was next seen in Lavaridge Town after Sapphire arrived there, where it finally had a chance to battle but was easily caught by Matt's Azumarill and didn't get to defeat it. After Team Aqua succeeded in cooling Mt. Chimney's volcano, Chic had a friendly fight with Sapphire's new chum, Flannery's Magcargo, and though it didn't win, earned her the Heat Badge. A while later, Chic finally evolved into Blaziken during her battle with Winona, but lost against her superior skills, and Sapphire ended up in her tuition. After a fight with Ruby over Hoenn's fate, which the boy claims he doesn't care about, Sapphire was so enraged that she ripped off the clothes Ruby made for her, and went back to donning leaf branches. This fit of anger allowed Chic to go all-out on Winona's Pokémon, and earned her recognition, giving Sapphire the Feather Badge.
After the resolved this dispute, Chic teamed up with Ruby's "Mumu," now a Swampert, in a Double Battle against Archie and Maxie at the Seafloor Cavern, where they were obviously winning, but were dragged all the way to Sootopolis City, where Groudon and Kyogre fought a decisive battle, and the two were under the titans' influence. With a Meteorite she picked up in Mt. Chimney, Ruby and Sapphire were able to release the Red and Blue Orbs, which they were absorbed into their bodies, a fact Ruby deduced after they awakened at the Mirage Island. To better their chances of winning the next time, Ruby suggested that Sapphire teach Chic Sky Uppercut, which after undergoing much training to learn it, really did come in handy in the final battle against the two now-insane leaders at Sootopolis.
In the Emerald arc, Chic was Sapphire's most used Pokémon in the numerous Battle Dome and Battle Tower battles, but ended up losing against Tucker's powerful Salamence. After Emerald ended up freeing the five petrified Pokédex Holders, she learned the ultimate fire attack, Blast Burn, from Ultima's metal ring, and helped destroy Guile Hideout's enormous, fake Kyogre monster.
Chic reappeared in the Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire chapter.
Personality and characteristics
Blaziken, as a Torchic, appears to have shared many traits with her Trainer, Sapphire, as seen in her debut chapter. Overtime, she has gotten along with Ruby and Mumu, his Swampert, even after evolving.
Moves used
|A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Torchic, Combusken, and Blaziken.
|Sapphire's Pokémon
|On hand:
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Screenshots.com API
Screenshots.com provides collections of screenshots from around the Internet. Their automated system monitors web pages for visual changes and captures new images of each change. This provides them with an extensive collection of the change of a website's visual presence over time. Users can add their sites to the Screenshots.com capturing queue, and search for images by keyword or domain name. The Screenshots.com API exposes the image collection to developers and allows them to display selections on their web sites. It is a RESTful API that returns JSON-formatted data.


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[media-credit name="The Denver Post" align="alignleft" width="270″][/media-credit]
A whopping 67.2 million viewers across 11 networks watched Wednesday's Obama-Romney debate, Nielsen says. That's a 28 percent increase over 2008's Obama-McCain debate. That makes it the highest-rated first election-season debate since 1980.
Perhaps surprisingly, 12 million of those viewers were 18-34-year-olds. The bulk of the audience, 30 million, were age 55-plus. The full Nielsen release is here.
Fox News was the most-watched cable news network; ABC eked out a victory over NBC as the most-watched broadcast network. Here's the breakdown.


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Philips Saeco Espresso Machines
Automate your mornings with one of Philips Saeco's high-tech superautomatic espresso machines. If you're looking for convenient coffee at home, here is where to start. With a selection of machines from entry-level to top of the line, Saeco has something for everyone.
Learn More
The Original Superautomatic
Saeco earned their distinction in the easy espresso world all the way back in 1985 when they introduced the first superautomatic espresso machine to the masses. From there, Philips Saeco has never stopped innovating new labor-saving designs to get you coffee you love at home.
Italian Heritage: Modern Design
Designed to replicate traditional Italian espresso, Philips Saeco superautomatics do best when you're trying to recreate that Viennese ristretto or Milanese cappuccino from the comfort of your kitchen. Check out Philips Saeco's selection of machines below!
Saeco Incanto Plus HD8911/67 Superautomatic Espresso Machine
Regular Price: $999.00
Saeco Incanto HD8911/48 Superautomatic Espresso Machine$799.00


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For more posts like these, please visit my new home and lifestyle blog, Creating This Life.
I'm not a gardener. I'm what you would call indoorsy.
So once things are planted outside, it usually doesn't occur to me to actually go out there and bring them in.
But over the winter I found this pin on Pinterest and decided to try and recreate it for a book club gathering at my house.
I already had this set of three vases and some floating candles like these, which I use all the time.
I'm sure any neighbors who saw me outside with pruning sheers in February thought I had lost it at last. But I actually loved the result.
I love the seasons, including the starkness of winter, so its simplicity was pretty to me.
Last month I decided to try my hand at forcing branches. I clipped some off of a honeysuckle bush (I think it's a honeysuckle bush…someone correct me if I'm wrong) but they didn't bloom. The leaves just dried up and fell off.
I liked the green while it lasted though.
This week I decided to clip a couple of branches off of this dogwood tree (at least I think it's Dogwood…told ya I'm not a gardener).
This time the buds had already bloomed but have opened up even more over the past few days. So pretty and simple. I love them.
And they're lasting a lot longer than the $6.99 bunch of tulips I bought at the grocery store.
Do you like to garden? How do you decorate with nature?
Note: This post contains my referral links. See my disclosure policy for more details. This post is part of the William Morris Project, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Finer Things Friday, and From Pinterest to Real Life.


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The New Girl star and Death Cab for Cutie singer separated on Halloween
While Golden Globe nominee Zooey Deschanel's career has hit a high note, her personal life is a bit more bittersweet.
The New Girl actress, 31, filed for divorce on Dec. 27 from Death Cab for Cutie front man Ben Gibbard, 35, according to court documents.
The papers list their date of separation as Oct. 31 – Halloween – and cite irreconcilable differences.
PHOTOS: Over and Out! 2011's Biggest Bust-Ups
In November, a rep for Deschanel confirmed that the couple – married since 2009 – had separated.
In a later interview with PEOPLE, Deschanel declined to discuss the cause of the split, but said, "We're friendly. It's all fine."


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The Nature Collection is inspired by the rich color and patina of antique wood floors found in farmhouses and grand country estates. Made with state of the art digital glazing technology, the unique variation of grain, color and texture found in vintage wood is faithfully recreated in durable Porcelain Tile. Perfect for floors or walls, Nature will be at home in interiors ranging from traditional townhomes to modern office lofts.
Residential: All interior surfaces, exterior walls and pool lines. Commercial: All interior surfaces, including heavy pedestrian traffic flooring. Exterior walls and water features.See Resources | Usage Guide for more details.


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(March 21-April 19):
Have no fear of the damp and the dark and the cramped. In a place fitting that description, you can track down clues to a mystery that will inflame your curiosity and educate your soul; you can tap into a fresh surge of courage that\'ll render at least some of your suffering irrelevant. Expect a miracle to appear in the shadows, Aries. It could resemble a cornucopia spilling over with diamonds and potatoes, or maybe a charred fireman\'s helmet bedecked with sexual roses and fresh $20 bills.
(April 20-May 20):
Don\'t you dare get superstitious on me, Taurus. Just because you\'ve had more than your fair share of luck lately doesn\'t mean that you\'re now going to get less than your share. It *is* possible that you\'ll have to work harder to continue benefiting from what has been coming pretty easily. And it may be the case that you\'ll be pushed to take on responsibilities that you assumed were covered by other people. But that doesn\'t mean you should lower your expectations. If anything, you should ask for even more fun, fascination, and freedom.
(May 21-June 20):
Calling all you big fish languishing in small ponds, all you flashy amateurs who\'ve been avoiding tougher audiences, all you closet geniuses who have used shyness as an excuse to keep your idiosyncratic brilliance under wraps: This is your wake-up call. Sneak or saunter or leap up to the next level of excellence–or else! Or else what? Or else your pretty fantasies will start to decay. Sorry to be so pushy, but I\'m aching to see you seize the starring role in the unlived chapters of your life story.
(June 21-July 22):
Question: Which part of you is too tame, overcivilized, and super-domesticated, and what are you going to do about it? Answer, from Jason R., a Cancerian reader: \"I was like a mole in a suburban backyard. I had just one little path I trod each day: to the compost pile and back. I chewed on orange rinds and leftover cabbage. I was tamed by the comfort of my familiar environment, content to have a narrow vision. But then I was eaten by a hawk, and became part of a wild, free body. Now I perch on the tops of trees and the peaks of roofs. I survey giddy-wide horizons, from the river to the mesa and far beyond. I have a wealth of choices. Where to fly? What to hunt? Who are my allies? My thoughts breathe deep, like the slow explosion of sun on the morning lake.\"
(July 23-Aug. 22):
You\'re strong medicine these days, Leo. You\'re 100-proof mojo. You might want to consider pinning a warning label to your shirt or jacket. It could say something like \"Caution: Contents are hot, slippery, and under pressure. Use at your own risk.\" It\'s not that you\'re evil or neurotic. It\'s just that as you revisit and revision your deepest psychosexual questions, you have so much cathartic potency that you\'re likely to transform everything you touch into a more authentic version of itself. People with weak egos will be afraid of that, while those with strong constitutions will love it.
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Here are tips on how to get the most out of your time with the other signs of the zodiac during the next three weeks. With Sagittarius: Think bigger and go further than you normally do. With Libra: Enjoy beautiful things together. With Cancer: Make yourself easy to give to. With Taurus: Let him or her help you get less theoretical, more practical. With Aquarius: Collaborate in making the flow of ideas crackle and splash. With Capricorn: To deepen your bond, laugh at hypocrisy together. With Pisces: Join together in feeling rich emotions about a person or situation you both care about. With Gemini: Dare to express three of your different sub-personalities. With Aries: Remember that spontaneity leads to truth. With Leo: Playfully brag to each other. With Scorpio: Dive down together, going deeper than you could have by yourself.
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
\"Dear Rob Brezsny: Two months ago I met the first person with whom I am completely psychic. We fell deeply in love, of course. But it turned out that neither of us was ready or able to fulfill the potential of our connection because we are nowhere near as profoundly in love with ourselves as we are with each other. The good news is that through my love for him, I have intensified my desire to learn to love myself. The bad news is that we can\'t really be together as fate intended until we upgrade our self-love. -Lucky Yet Unlucky Libra.\" Dear Libra: I hope your testimony will inspire other Libras to boost their luck in love by deepening their love for themselves. Astrologically speaking, it\'s a perfect time to attend to this worthy project.
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
In the coming weeks, you\'ll attract cosmic assistance whenever you add to your repertoire, branch out artistically or socially, or start gathering seed money for a project that may take years to ripen. Mythically speaking, the coming weeks will also be a good time to have intimate relations with a fertility god or goddess, and to plant magic beans that will grow into a beanstalk that reaches the sky. \"Is that it?\" you may be asking. \"Nothing but good news?!\" My only caveat, which is pretty minor, is that you might add a few pounds to your frame. If you\'re a hetero woman, that could be caused by a pregnancy unless you\'re careful.
(Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
In a couple of weeks it will make sense to aggressively insert your vivid presence into the thick of the action. There will be dizzying opportunities to chase down and intoxicating connections to forge. But it\'s premature to get riled up about all that yet. For the foreseeable future, Sagittarius, take your inspiration from Franz Kafka, who gave the following advice in his book The Great Wall of China: \"You need not do anything. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, just wait. You need not even wait, just learn to be quiet, still, and solitary. And the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.\"
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
There are two basic approaches to manipulating people. In one, you manipulate people solely for your own good. In the other, you do it equally for your good and their good. In the second type, moreover, you deeply empathize with and even become more like the people you want to influence. You allow them to work their magic on you at least as much as you work your magic on them. Guess which kind I\'m urging you to express right now, Capricorn.
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Human beings have employed steel to make tools, weapons, and buildings for many centuries. But it wasn\'t until 1913 that they discovered stainless steel, a stronger and purer version of the metal that\'s virtually rust-free. I predict a comparable development for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius. Some essential resource that you\'ve been enjoying for a long time could become even better and more useful. It won\'t happen all by itself, though. You\'ll have to want it and seek it and agitate for it.
(Feb. 19-March 20):
\"Think dangerously!\" read the headline on today\'s bright yellow piece of junk mail. That sounded inviting. I\'m always eager for help in overthrowing my certainties. But the product being promoted inside the envelope was just a piece of propaganda: a magazine touting Libertarian dogma. I threw it in my recycling bin along with all the other doctrinaire crap I constantly get from fundamentalists of every stripe, including rightwing religious nuts and leftwing atheists, New Age pollyannas and intellectual cynics, science-haters and science shills. Now here\'s the climax of this horoscope, Pisces: Really think dangerously. Question every belief, your own as much as everyone else\'s. French author André Gide said it best: \"Trust those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.\"


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The CUNY Graduate Center is marking its 40th anniversary year with the culmination of a faculty recruitment drive that has brought some of the country's most prominent academics and public intellectuals to the school's already renowned roster of scholars. Ten new core appointments added this year ‹ two in the spring, seven last fall, and one to come next fall ‹ join more than a dozen who arrived over the past few years, all acclaimed leaders in their respective fields. In addition, two outstanding philosophers will be coming as long-term visiting professors.
Founded in 1961 as the City University's doctorate-granting institution, The Graduate Center has attained a highly respected academic stature in a relatively short period of time, and these recently recruited faculty will help ensure a noteworthy foundation of intellectual capital for many years to come. The essence of the school's success is a nationally unique consortial structure in which faculty are drawn from a pool of 1,600 leading scholars based on CUNY undergraduate campuses, augmented by a core of about 115 professors who are based solely at The Graduate Center.
The 2001/2002 recruits include (link to bios):
André Aciman, Comparative Literature (formerly at Bard College), whose memoir Out of Egypt is considered one of the great literary works of the 1990s;
Jean Anyon, Urban Education (formerly at Rutgers), known for her groundbreaking studies on inner-city education in the context of other social issues;
Sergei Artemov, Mathematics and Computer Science (formerly at Moscow State University and Cornell University), one of the world's leading authorities in logic and proof theory;
Martin Davies, Philosophy (Visiting, starting 2003), a renowned philosopher of language, mind, and psychology;
Mitchell Duneier, Sociology (formerly at the University of Wisconsin), has attracted widespread attention for his extraordinary participant-observer approach to socio-ethnographic studies;
Gabor Herman, Computer Science (formerly at Temple University), a pioneer in image processing for medical applications;
Victor Kolyvagin, Mathematics (Mina Rees Chair beginning fall 2002, formerly J. J. Sylvester Professor of Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University), known for a series of papers that fundamentally transformed number theory;
Saul Kripke, Philosophy (Visiting, retired from Princeton), an acclaimed genius in logic;
Glenis Long, Speech and Hearing Sciences (formerly at Purdue University), conducts important research based in sounds generated by the human cochlea (inner ear);
Robert Reid-Pharr, English (formerly at Johns Hopkins University), combines African American studies and queer theory into an important new perspective on both;
David Savran, Theatre (formerly at Brown University), among the country's top scholars of contemporary American theater
Domna Stanton, French (formerly Elizabeth M. Douvan collegiate professor at the University of Michigan), a preeminent feminist scholar of 17th-century French studies.
The new appointments join a movement already in process. The Graduate Center attained a distinguished reputation relatively soon after its founding with such faculty names as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Irving Howe, Alfred Kazin, and Sir Isaiah Berlin, and more than a third of The Graduate Center's rated Ph.D. programs achieved a top 20 ranking for scholarly reputation in the latest National Research Council survey. But with a stunning new campus in a landmark Fifth Avenue building, a $30 million capital campaign, and the dynamic leadership of President Frances Degen Horowitz, The Graduate Center is entering a new era of distinction. Spearheaded by Provost William Kelly, the school's recruiting efforts attract top professors by combining the above advantages with an outstanding faculty already in place, the unparalleled resources of New York City, and the school's unique environment as a doctoral studies institution.
Last year's new arrivals included cultural geographer David Harvey, formerly Professor of Geography at Johns Hopkins, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford, and Miliband Fellow at the London School of Economics; human rights scholar and statesman Francis Deng, formerly Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Representative of the UN Secretary General on Internally Displaced Persons, and former Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to the United States, and Permanent Representative to the UN; foreign policy scholar Susan Woodward, previously with King's College in London; modern European historian Richard Wolin, who was D. D. McMurtry Professor of History at Rice; Spanish literature scholar Lía Schwartz, formerly Dartmouth Professor of Spanish; world renowned philosopher Paul Horwich from the University College London; and computer scientist Robert Haralick, who had been the prestigious Boeing Egtvedt Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington.
Other recent additions include queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgewick from Duke, cultural critic and writer Wayne Koestenbaum from Yale, international studies scholar Thomas Weiss from Brown, sociocultural anthropologist Talal Asad from Johns Hopkins, cultural geographer Neil Smith from Rutgers, philosopher Michael Devitt from Maryland, musicologist Richard Kramer from SUNY-Stony Brook (where he had been Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts), and mathematician Lucien Szpiro from the University of Paris.
All the above recruits top off an impressive body of scholars already in place. Central faculty even before the recent recruiting drive included such names as Louis Menand (English), Edouard Glissant (French), Vincent Crapanzano (Comparative Literature), David Nasaw (History), John Patrick Diggins (History), John Mollenkopf (Political Science), and Frances Fox Piven (Political Science). Faculty members who also teach on CUNY undergraduate campuses include such names as Morris Dickstein (Queens) and Nancy Miller (Lehman) in English; John Corigliano (Lehman), Thea Musgrave (Queens), Ron Carter (City), and David Del Tredici (City) in Music (this Ph.D. program ranks 4th in the country and first in NYC and state); Blanche Weisen Cook (John Jay) in History; and literally dozens of other outstanding scholars.
The Graduate Center will be holding a 40th Anniversary Celebration with a convocation on Wednesday, March 20, 2002. Featured speakers include Council of Graduate Schools President Debra Stewart and Harvard University Starr Professor of Hebrew Literature Jame Kugel. Kugel, who earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the CUNY Graduate Center in 1977, will be the first recipient of the President's Distinguished Alumni Medal.
Bios of 2001/2 Graduate Center faculty appointments (beginning fall 2001 unless otherwise noted)
Professor André Aciman is an expert in seventeenth-century French literature, the contemporary Arab world, modern literature, and philosophy. His book, Out of Egypt: A Memoir (1995), an account of his Jewish-Turkish-Italian family's life in Alexandria, was called a "a classic memoir of modern Jewish life" by The New York Times. Aciman received his B.A. from CUNY's Lehman College, his Ph.D. from Harvard, and most recently taught at Bard College. He was a fellow at the New York Public Library's Center for Scholars and Writers and edited a collection of essays based on a series of lectures he organized there, entitled Letters of Transit: Reflections of Exile, Identity, Language, and Loss (1999). His recent book, False Papers: Essays on Exile and Memory (2000), is a collection of his own essays that further explore themes of identity, home, and exile.
Professor Jean Anyon is the author of the influential book, Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform. Published in 1997, and positively reviewed by The New York Times Book Review, the book is in its third printing. Anyon is widely regarded as an expert on urban education and inner city revitalization. She has been interviewed on numerous radio and television programs, and has been an invited speaker at universities throughout the U.S. and England. Anyon has published many scholarly articles on educational issues involving the confluence of social class and race. Several of her articles are widely reprinted - including a piece from 1980 now reprinted in 28 collections edited by others. She attended the University of Pennsylvania as an All-University Scholar, and carried out doctoral research at Penn and New York University, where she received her Ph.D. Previously at Rutgers University, she joined the faculty of The Graduate Centers new Ph.D. program in Urban Education in the spring of 2002, teaching courses in educational and social policy and urban schooling .
Distinguished Professor Sergei Artemov has recently worked on the automatic detection of flaws in mathematical proofs, a process that is used to help ensure that critical software (for air traffic control or banking, for instance) is free of errors. He comes to The Graduate Center from Moscow State University, by way of a visiting professorship at Cornell from 1996 to 2001. Artemov received his Ph.D. from Moscow State University in Mathematics. His areas of expertise are logic and proof theory, knowledge representation, and automatic deduction and verification. Among many honors, Professor Artemov has received the Russian President Award to an "outstanding scientist" in 1994 and the Spinoza Lecture from the European Association for Logic, Language, and Information in 1999.
Visiting Professor Martin Davies is internationally renowned for his contributions to the philosophies of language, mind, and psychology and his ability to bridge conceptual and empirical issues. Beginning Spring 2003, he will be joining The Graduate Center faculty for one semester each year. He is currently Professor of Philosophy at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Australia National University and last fall was Marshall Weinberg Distinguished Visiting Professor in Philosophy at the University of Michigan. He has also served as Professor of Philosophy and Wilde Reader in Mental Philosophy at the University of Oxford, was a tenured lecturer at the University of London, and was a Fellow by Examination at Magdalen College, Oxford. He has published dozens of books, articles, chapters, reviews, and encyclopedia entries.
Distinguished Professor Mitchell Duneier's dissertation and first book, Slim's Table: Race, Respectability, and Masculinity (1992) won the American Sociological Association's award in 1994 for Distinguished Scholarly Publication, an unheard of achievement for a dissertation. In researching the book, he spent four years eating at a cafeteria in Hyde Park, Chicago and listening to the stories of the men who gather there. For Sidewalk (2000) he spent five years observing the world of street vending among booksellers in Greenwich Village, and the book won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the C. Wright Mills Award. He is now working on Andrea's Dream, a book drawn from a series of articles he wrote for The Chicago Tribune about Chicago word processors that will include comparisons with analogous workers in third-world countries. Professor Duneier most recently taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and he received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago. He serves on the advisory board for National Public Radio's "This American Life." Professor Duneier began teaching this spring semester, 2002.
Distinguished Professor Gabor T. Herman is a pioneer in the field of computerized tomography (an important medical diagnostic procedure) and the author of more than a dozen books and over 100 articles including several classic works in the field. He is recognized internationally for his major contributions to image processing and its medical applications. Coming from Temple University, Herman earned his Ph.D. from the University of London in Mathematics. He was the leader of successful image processing groups at SUNY Buffalo and at the University of Pennsylvania and has garnered millions of dollars in research funding. Professor Herman is a highly accomplished scientist of international distinction and has been awarded honorary degrees from Haifa in Israel, Szeged in Hungary, and Linkoping in Sweden. Last fall he is a visiting research professor at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at Berkeley, and began teaching at The Graduate Center this spring.
Victor Kolyvagin will become, in the fall of 2002, the first to hold the Mina Rees Chair in Mathematics, named for The Graduate Center's first President, who was a distinguished mathematician. He is famous for a series of papers over several years culminating in one on "Euler Systems," which is considered a fundamental breakthrough. Among the most significant discoveries in number theory in the past quarter century, his discovery of Euler Systems continues to be used in the ongoing development of the field. Most recently he was J. J. Sylvester Professor of Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University and received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Moscow State University. In 1990, he received the USSR Academy of Science Chebyshev Prize.
Visiting Professor Saul Kripke is an eccentric genius who is recognized as one of the country's leading philosophers. In 2001, he won the Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy, which is given by the Swedish Academy of Sciences and is the equivalent in its field of a Nobel. He was a Junior Fellow at Harvard, was on the faculty of Rockefeller University, was John Locke Lecturer at Oxford (1973), and recently retired from Princeton, where he spent much of career. Known for delivering brilliantly clear lectures without notes, Professor Kripke rarely writes for publication, but some of his lectures have been recorded and transcribed into highly significant, influential publications, including Naming and Necessity (Harvard University Press, 1980) and Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language (Harvard University Press, 1982). Professor Kripke will be teaching an intensive half-semester course each year, beginning Spring 2002.
Professor Glenis Long's hearing research specializes in otoacoustic emissions, which are sounds generated by the human cochlea (inner ear) that provide a noninvasive way of evaluating cochlear mechanics. She comes to The Graduate Center from Purdue University, where she was a director of the Otoacoustic Emissions Research Laboratory. Her work represents an unusual combination of mathematical modeling with laboratory research. Professor Long received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Princeton University. She has been visible in a broad spectrum of journals, professional organizations, and government agencies, as well as academia.
Professor Robert Reid-Pharr brings an important perspective on African-American literature and queer theory to The Graduate Center. His first book, Conjugal Union: The Body, The House, and the Black American (1999), is a study of nationhood, domesticity, the black body, and gender in antebellum African American literature and culture. His second book, Black Gay Man: Essays (2001), explores his own emotional and intellectual confrontations with the modern world, and his next work, tentatively titled Once You Go Black, is a study of African American cultural and intellectual history in late twentieth century America. Most recently on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University, Reid-Pharr received his Ph.D. from Yale in American Studies. He has been awarded fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Professor David Savran, one of the country's leading theater scholars, has shown how contemporary American theater engages cultural issues and conflicts. An expert on modern American theater and drama, the sociology of culture, and gay/lesbian studies, he was previously a professor of English; Modern Culture and Media; and Theatre, Speech, and Dance at Brown. He earned a Ph.D. in Theatre Arts from Cornell, an M.F.A. in Directing from Carnegie-Mellon, and has a background in directing theatre and opera. Among his seven books, Taking it Like a Man: White Masculinity, Masochism, and Contemporary American Culture (1998) analyses how white males have viewed themselves as victims from the Beat Generation to Timothy McVeigh, and Communists, Cowboys, and Queers: The Politics of Masculinity in the Work of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams (1992) offers insights on the intersection of tradition, radical politics, and sexuality.
Distinguished Professor Domna Stanton is a renowned scholar of seventeenth-century and early-modern French studies with an influential feminist perspective. Her first book, The Aristocrat as Art: A Study of the Honnête Homme and the Dandy in Seventeenth- and Nineteenth-Century French Literature (1980), is considered a classic, and her impact on the fields of French studies and cultural studies has continued to grow. Her edited volumes include The Defiant Muse: French Feminist Poems from the 12th to the 20th Centuries; The Female Autograph; and Discourses of Sexuality from Aristotle to AIDS. Her most recent book as author is Women Writ, Women Writing: Gendered Discourse and Differences in Seventeenth-Century France (2001). Among her extensive professional accomplishments, she was the first female editor ever of PMLA, the journal of the Modern Language Association. Previously the Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan, she received her Ph.D. from Columbia University. Stanton is also a strong advocate for human rights and an active member of the board of Human Rights Watch.
Submitted on: FEB 1, 2004
Category: Distinguished Professor Appointments | Press Room


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Trinidad Destroys Mayorga
After he disposed of Ricardo Mayorga with an eighth-round knockout to conclude a rousing return to the ring Saturday night, Trinidad climbed the ring ropes and did the same thing. And Madison Square Garden, the Puerto Rican star's home away from home, seemed to shake. "I came back to win," Trinidad said after he pummeled Mayorga in the eighth round, knocking him down three times before the fight was stopped with 21 seconds to go in the round. "Before this fight, there were a lot of doubts. "I told [promoter Don King] I could win and I did it."
In his first fight in more than two years, Trinidad simply overwhelmed the game Mayorga with a barrage of punches, including a left hook that finished the middleweight fight in front of a raucous crowd of 17,406. "I've been in tough wars before, but I dominated this fight," Trinidad said. "He can take a good punch and he took a lot, which was bad for him."
Trinidad, 42-1 with 35 knockouts, lost the middleweight championship three years ago to Bernard Hopkins. After one more fight, he retired, unable to get a rematch with Hopkins. Instead, Trinidad spent "the good life" in Puerto Rico, he said. But at 31, he is back and he showed against Mayorga that he is in his prime -- and probably worthy of that rematch with Hopkins. "I came out of this in excellent condition," he said. "It was a tough fight."
Mayorga never had been knocked down, but he was cut under the left eye in the fifth round, and he had to stop from a low blow to the right thigh in the sixth. Referee Steve Smoger allowed him nearly two minutes to recover with 40 seconds to go in the sixth, but Mayorga never was the same the rest of the way. Mayorga, of Nicaragua, fell to 26-5-1. He knocked down Trinidad in the third and fought particularly well in the third and fourth rounds. "I felt good about my performance, but my eye swelled up and I couldn't see some shots," said Mayorga, who was taken to a hospital for observation.
Trinidad was well ahead on all three cards: 68-64, 68-64 and 67-64. "I knew I could keep the pace up thanks to my discipline," Trinidad said. "I did. That was our game plan, to be cool and calm, and it worked perfectly." Well, not perfectly. In the third round, Trinidad appeared to slip as Mayorga hit him with a right. Smoger ruled it a knockdown, and Trinidad was up quickly.
In the sixth came the low blow at a time when Trinidad was in command. And in the seventh, Mayorga again turned his back when hit with a left hook that appeared low and on the hip. Smoger, however, told him to continue. By then, Trinidad was smoking. Although Mayorga started well in the eighth, by mid-round Trinidad was landing all his punches. Mayorga went down for the first time in his career with about 1:15 left in the round. Mayorga was on the canvas again 25 seconds later. And then came the series of blows that ended it.
El Matador was on the canvas for a third time and Smoger was waving his arms, stopping the fight. "I'm a complete fighter," Trinidad concluded. Trinidad is a local hero for supporting victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and purchasing a fire engine for the FDNY. And he's the biggest sports star in Puerto Rico.
Moments after Hopkins was booed when introduced at ringside, Trinidad appeared in a red robe and red bandanna, both with Trinidad written in bold letters. Tito stood at the edge of the ring to lead his first series of before stepping between the ropes.
Mayorga, his hair dyed orange, received a good ovation, but nothing like what greeted Trinidad.
When it was over, Trinidad again became a cheerleader and got a deafening reaction.
(Source The Associated Press)
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Monday, July 13, 2009
WoW.Com Response: The BiS Trump Card
As many of you know I have covered this topic before, but I would like to inject counter points to those presented by Scott Andrews. I can't argue debate from the Plate vs Mail stand point since I have very little experience with either armor set or the classes that use them. So, I will look at this argument from my traditional Leather vs Cloth point of view.
Just so you know, Scott did say Balance leather is one of 3 sets where Blizzard has had difficulty producing well itemized gear, I highly recommend that you read his post before you go on.
WoW.com: Classes limited by armor type would be at a severe disadvantage
Counter Point: By limiting classes to their max armor type you maybe putting them at a severe disadvantage. Here is a link to all of the gear with a 239 ilevel currently in game. There are 21 pieces total, 10 of them are unaffected by armor type, 7 of them are Cloth, and 4 are leather. If you limited Moonkin to just leather drops then the most they could wear is 2 so that they could maintain the set bonus. A cloth wearer could use 3 and still maintain a 4 piece set bonus. I know its not the cloth wearers fault that there are limited options, but it's not the Moonkin's either.
WoW.com: Higher armor drops would go to waste.
Counter Point: This assumes that the Higher armor type has drops that are similarly desirable. Lets compare [Footsteps of Malygos] to the [Boots of Haste Revival]. The FoM are ilevel 213 and the BoHR are iLevel 226, yet both are rated about the same in terms of DPS. Yet, I would be denied cloth upgrades even though my other option was not an upgrade. Granted in this case there is some crafted gear that would be better then most of the options but that is not always the case. From a moonkin point of view the spell leather available is almost always inferior to the Spell cloth available. So, just because there is a leather options, that does not mean it is a good option.
WoW.com: For some classes and specs, the BIS list changes frequently.
Counter Point: Doesn't this argument cut both ways? It is definitely possible that the BiS list of any class could change, but why should the player with the higher armor type be punished while the player with the lower armor type not be. It is just as easy for a moonkin's needs to change from one patch to the next as it is for any clothy.
Obviously if the changes are already known, then those changes should be taken into consideration. However, you shouldn't punish some classes because of an irrelevant uncertainty.
WoW.com: Finally, the loot system would put a massive burden on the officers to know which items are BIS for every slot, for every spec in the game.
Counter Point: I agree with this statement but not the conclusion drawn. Of course we can't expect raid leaders to understand the gear needs for every class and spec in raid, but how does limiting Moonkin to leather limit this problem.
You already have 3 classes wearing cloth. The needs of a holy priest are different then those of a shadow priest, who's needs are different then a Mages and so on. Since we've already said we don't expect the Raid Leaders to know the gear needs of every class and spec, so the problem already exists. If the problem already exists, how do we currently manage it?
The answer is unsettling to some, but really quite simple. We trust the players to know what gear they need and to bid/roll responsibly. Many high-end guilds take this a step further and request that their members fill out a gear plan on the guild forums. This way the leaders know what the raiders are thinking, and the raiders can know what other players need.
Most importantly though it openes the door to communication. You don't know how many loot arguments I've heard that could have been prevented with a little upfront communication. Most players are not loot whores, and most raiders will pass on a piece of gear if it is better for the raid. However, they have to know the situation if they are going to make that choice.
On top of that all players need to be considerate of their fellow players when bidding/rolling on gear. A few weeks ago the [Boots of Fiery Resolution] dropped off of FL hard mode. They are my BiS boot, and I had the most DKP of the casters in guild but I passed. I did so because I had won the [Staff of Endless Winter] the week before. It would have been easy to argue that I had put in the effort to earn those boots, but after a little thought I didn't think it was fair that I had two pieces of hard mode gear while a vast majority of our guild had none.
Limiting Druids to leather or Paladins to plate are very popular rules for loot distribution systems. However, most of the arguments used to support the limitation can easily be reversed, and cause dissatisfaction with in a guild. Rules are not enough to make a loot system run smoothly, because there will always be a difference of opinion some where.
The way to make your guilds loot system run smoothly is to encourage communication between the members. When someone one seems to be getting out of line or tries to game the system, talk to them first. Most likely they will back off.
13 comments:
- Athryn said...
I endorse your views, and my guild runs on a policy where there are no armor restrictions. Of course, having a Moonkin raid leader helped with that decision. :D
- July 13, 2009 at 5:14 PM
- Phil said...
Do we just run instances for gear? I don't and neither should you. (Referring to the reader) I'd like to think am a voice of reason in vent when we have gear arguments. I'll pass on any cloth/leather when it's an upgrade for someone else. And I don't mind proving who deserves an item more although I act dumb most of the time to just keep things moving (had a big issue with a lock/moonkin over Dieing Curse). Is very simple to link what u have on and then the entire /roll group can see, well yeah I have a naxx 10 man item and you have a naxx 25 … I need it more. I like the 'I need it more' philosophy, but you can't just bring a lower geared toon and expect to get all the gear. Loot distribution will always be a HoT topic. I like the way my GM manages the distribution… /roll if you want it then we will see who needs it more and if it's off spec or not. He lets the guild keep running while he looks things up, might as well get rid of the trash. This way I find that people get more items in general and they go to the right people rather then all just going to DE. As a GM or RL it must be hard to deal with all the issues but that's your job… All else fails I promote letting the GM or RL decided and if you don't like it move on… It's a game have fun enjoy … forcing me, a ToL /Moonkin to only take leather is just ignorant as to the value of gear stats unless they do a lot of programming
~Gargen of Vek'nilash
- July 13, 2009 at 6:01 PM
I think this is a question mostly for more casual guilds. I can't see this being an issue in any guild that is even remotely concerned about progress.
- July 14, 2009 at 5:47 AM
As a sidenote, aren't Threads of the False Oracle BiS?
- July 14, 2009 at 7:30 AM
Thanks for addressing this Gray. I can't even express how angry I was when I read the post on Wow.com.
We recently went through this in my guild. For the past year we allowed people to roll on upgrades regardless of armor class. We brought in a new RL and he flipped out when I won a roll on a cloth item. He immediately left the guild over it. Of course this then had all the clothies questioning the rule again.
Having this argument over and over again was like beating my head against a wall. I passed guildleader to an officer and joined a raiding guild.
- July 14, 2009 at 8:02 AM
- Mooresnow said...
A few weeks back I bid on Bracers of Unleashed Magic (cloth with +hit) I was in bad need of a set of hit bracers, and was very excited knowing that I had the most dkp. Then an officer (a mage who also wanted them) dropped a bomb on me saying that it was guild policy that clothies have priority on cloth. Needless to say I had read the loot policy carefully and this was not in there. This was quite the shock for me and I was a bit vocal over vent mostly out of surprise.
While after a long talk with the officers after the raid this hasn't become guild policy and the mage got the bracers when they dropped next week. Communication is key, and raid leaders/officers please be sure not to change loot policies mid raid.
Ultimately, it does come down to trusting your fellow raiders to know what upgrades are available to them. If there were bracers with +hit I would have waited for them, but as it was I was in bad need of them. Unfortunately only us Moonkins realize that Moonkin leather pieces are few and far between =/
- July 14, 2009 at 9:38 AM
This was a hot topic of debate in my last guild. I was one of two moonkins that wanted to roll on cloth, and of course there was resistance. I was able to win over the officers (and many of the clothies) by doing two things.
First, I presented several different authors' weighted gear lists and pointed out that when you remove tier pieces from the picture, the top of the list is dominated by cloth. And I don't mean just the BiS position. It's common to see #1 cloth, #2 cloth, #3 cloth, #4 leather, #5 cloth, #6 cloth...
Second, (and this ties in with the first point) I explained how similar our ideal itemization is and then challenged the most vocal clothies to find pieces of leather they wish they could wear. Some didn't find any, others came up with slight upgrades.
After doing this, nearly everyone involved in the debate readily agreed that balance druids should be allowed to roll on cloth until a time comes when there exists leather pieces that are a clear upgrade over cloth that would compensate for not getting to wear cloth.
- July 14, 2009 at 10:56 AM
- Cerista said...
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I was a little irked when I saw that article. I agree with some of the points that were made, but overall it doesn't make sense to me to gimp raiders simply because they can wear a higher level of armor, which in some cases will have inferior stats.
You came up with some great counterpoints without making it sound like a rant. You're awesome.
Like you and some of the other people who commented said, this isn't a huge problem if people just communicate with each other and pick their battles well.
- July 14, 2009 at 12:35 PM
And please don't forget the obvious for druids is the +370% (was +400%) armor gained in Boomy form. There is a reason Blizz gave us that...
PLUS a Blue post rather recently that said they expect druids to roll on cloth and they do not have the time/resources to create huge numbers of duplicate gear for each class because most of it would be DE'd after a short time, and *everyone* would take longer to gear up for the next level of raiding. The is the final word, as far as I'm concerned and only players out-of-the-loop wouldn't know this.
The WoW.Com author, IMHO obviously has NO IDEA what he's talking about in regards to gearing up "utility spec" classes and has reached the wrong conclusion. It is too bad that he is actively giving out his faulty advice on such a popular blog. :(
- July 14, 2009 at 1:37 PM
- Jormundgard said...
WoW.com writes rarely know what they're talking about anyway...
- July 15, 2009 at 1:50 AM
Could you please revise your best in slot ulduar gear prefernces? There are a few items that weren't discovered when you made your list. I'd like to see an updated version please =D
- July 15, 2009 at 3:08 AM
- Kerry said...
To the person who mentioned the blue post expecting us to roll on cloth:
Apparently not all the devs are in agreement on this. Part of the druid Q&A with Ghostcrawler included this particular gem which, though the question is really about ferals, touches on us too (emphasis mine)....
"Q: Have we considered providing more tanking leather and to prevent extra loot clutter possibly finding ways for Balance and Restoration druids to use solely cloth item since they often use them already?
Ghostcrawler: No. Druids are a leather-using class. We are just going to have to make three types of leather (melee, ranged and healing). You have to understand that even though we have pushed bears and cats farther apart, we still consider them to be part of the same spec. We can't get into the business of itemizing for niches within a particular spec or we're just going to have too many items per tier. I can see the argument for having tanking and dps leather and making the casters use cloth. That's just a different design and we currently like for certain classes to be associated with certain types of armor. We like that druids look different from say priests or mages (even ignoring the forms thing). We like that we can kit druid tier piece armor to look a certain way."
So, one blue wants and even expects us to roll on cloth, and another wants us all in leather. But if GC wants us to do that, why isn't there already good moonkin leather? It's not like druids wearing leather is something new, and neither are moonkin themselves. If leather that's properly itemized for us comes out, wonderful. The other casters are safe from us "stealing their loot" and we don't have to worry about this kind of situation again.
For myself, I'm in a 10-man guild, so the BiS question doesn't really come up. I tend to pass on cloth until none of the clothies in my group need it anymore, to help avoid this sort of thing. We don't tell people they can't roll on lower armor, but priority tends to be given to those rolling for their highest type. There are also, obviously, other circumstances to consider, such as attendance, performance, how big the upgrade is, and how much loot has been won by whom already. It's usually not as clear a decision as the author makes it out to be, especially since the example belt is probably BiS for the shaman too, which rather changes the circumstances a bit.
- July 15, 2009 at 10:42 AM
- Phil said...
This statement by Anon, "and then challenged the most vocal clothies to find pieces of leather they wish they could wear" is a great sugestion. Thanks for this.
Hmmm do I want a 236 or a 212 from the same run off the same boss...
Gargen of Vek'nilash
- July 16, 2009 at 4:08 PM


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switchvideo needed a new button or icon design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 13 designs submitted by 6 freelance designers.
We need a female avatar/character created. Sophisticated. Upscale. Stylish. She will be the main character in a short video for a newly redesigned Audiology practice, for their website.
We need a character that "looks", or "resembles" the actress, Kate Walsh, in particular the "character" she plays in the Cadillac ad:
We would like the confidence and the pure luxury of the character driving the Cadillac captured in this character's presence. In our video she will be walking down the street and is attracted to a store window and stops to look.
She will be wearing a sophisticated outfit, like seen here (#8-cruise-2008-9-chanel-collection-5">http://www.chanel.com/fashion/8#8-cruise-2008-9-chanel-collection-5), with accessories seen here (http://www.chanel.com/fashion/8#8-f…ccessories) (NO BRAND NAMES PLEASE)
I need this in a layered psd, the highest resolution possible. If it is a vectored file we can re size.
- Expensively dressed and accessorized. She would be wearing the top designers, with jewelry and a leather bag.
- full body
- colours: please use some charcoal grey and baby blue, but also a third accent colour
- pose - confident, could be about to walk down the street...
- layered psd files, 2400x3600 RGB
- exact Kate Walsh knock off
- please have her arms and legs not touching her main body - they can be very close, but not connected


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This is the world's largest archive of modern slavery survivor narratives. Across more than a million words spoken or written by survivors of modern slavery, we see why slavery persists in particular hotspots around the world, can analyse patterns to understand trafficking routes, identify vulnerabilities and the challenges survivors face in liberation, and discover new antislavery solutions. Now as in the 19th century, the survivor narrative is at the centre of abolitionism: narratives offer the chance to systematically design new antislavery strategies based on the experiences, ideas and solutions of enslaved people themselves.
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This Maytag electric dryer offers:
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Lamb/Kid-Proof Portable Gate
Welded mesh near the ground stops baby lambs and kids crawling through bar gates and failing to find a way back. (Lambs and kids stranded from "mom" often become orphans.)
*This item ships LTL/Truck.
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- All parts are hot-dip galvanized. 6 ft long x 45" tall.
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Linking StakeItem #917800 -
Linking stakes are stronger and more versatile than all other methods.$8.10


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Few remember Anita Roddick's foray into the beauty world with her tiny retail establishment next to the town Mortuary in rural England. Aptly named the Body Shop, the now global powerhouse of a brand launched a sweeping new initiative last week under its L'Oreal parent. With new in-store design and carefully orchestrated customer experiences called "pulse", The Body Shop is poised to enter a new era.
Speaking to press Laure Levesque VP of Brand and Value for The Body Shop Americas underscored the companies core commitment to the environment, Human Rights, nurturing healthy communities, self-esteem and the fight against Animal testing. With the debut of the new Lily Cole Limited Edition Cruelty Free Makeup line as well as a slew of new Body Mists and butters, The Body Shop also launched it's initiative with Michelle Thew, Chief Executive of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection in it's continued efforts to make beauty thoroughly cruelty -free.
Makeup Artist Chase Aston had loads of great tips and tricks using the Lily Cole line and several of the line's core products. One of my favorites: Use the new Lily Cole purple liquid eyeliner to wisp lashed with a nit of color. Genius.


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Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers has book deal
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael "Flea" Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has embarked on a "sacred" mission: writing a memoir.
The 51-year-old bassist has a deal with Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. Grand Central announced Tuesday that the book, currently untitled, would be a window into Flea's "intense and dynamic life." He will cover his years with singer Anthony Kiedis and his "tumultuous" path with the Red Hot Chili Peppers over the past three decades. The band has sold more than 80 million records and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
In a statement released through the publisher, Flea says he regards books as "sacred" and that they had helped shape his identity.
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Founded in 1929, Illustration Ltd is a leading international illustration and animation agency with offices in London, New York, Hamburg, Paris, Mumbai, Shanghai, Rio and Sydney.
Illustration's 1 Million Trees pledge is about a lot more than offsetting our environmental footprint; it's about actively helping to recover lost ecosystems for the benefit of communities and wildlife around the world.
Our commitment to planting trees
In December 2012 Illustration Ltd made a formal pledge to donate 1% of global turnover to the systematic planting of trees for the foreseeable future. Specifically, we aim to plant 1 million trees every 5 years. Illustration is delighted to be part of a burgeoning movement of companies investing in a healthy planet.
The background to our thinking
On a two year sabbatical spent motorcycling around the world, Illustration's CEO Harry Lyon-Smith was shocked to witness the degree to which the natural world is being rapidly marginalised by the joined-up scale of urban and industrial expansion, in particular the widespread loss of forests.
In searching for a way in which Illustration could help, inspiration came from Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. Following Chouinard's example, in December 2012 Harry and the Illustration management team made the decision to donate 1% of turnover to reforestation, with the aim of planting 1 million trees every five years.
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Dominion RiverRock Returns to Belle IsleApril 30th, 2012
Looking for a little adventure this May? Well, Dominon RiverRock is the perfect outdoor festival for you to enjoy the spring weather and indulge your inner daredevil.
Dominion RiverRock will kick off the festivities Friday, May 18, and will continue to rock Belle Isle until Sunday, May 20. The fun starts out with the Miller Lite Filthy 5k Mud Run, with tough terrain including a rock hop, a little dip in the James River and a mud pit finish. Other events include an Adventure Race, bike free styling, paddle boarding, mountain bike racing, boulder climbing and slack lining. A wide variety of bands will play throughout the weekend with the headliners including Galactic, The Travelin' McCoury's and JJ Grey and MOFRO.
The Interactive Village gives the opportunity for everyone to join in on the fun. You can try out kayaking, paddle boarding, white water rafting, slack lining and rock climbing. This is fun for the whole family with interactive activities.
Admission to the event along with the concerts is free. Please note that there is a fee to participate in the Interactive Village. Step outside your comfort zone and enjoy the James at Dominion RiverRock.
For More Information: http://www.dominionriverrock.com/
See You Soon,
~Paula & Martin Ramirez
Paula and Martin Ramirez are the proprietors of Historic Mankin Mansion, a wedding resort and bed and breakfast just minutes from Downtown Richmond. They enjoy new restaurant finds, Virginia wines and discovering fun events and activities throughout the area for their guests.
Photo Credit: http://www.dominionriverrock.com/


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A man takes a beautiful blonde to his apartment. They're kissing in the elevator when she feels something in his pocket.
"What is that?" she asks. He replies, "Those are my golf balls."
She says, "Is that like tennis elbow?"
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Seated on a woven straw mat in a refugee camp in eastern Chad, Dr. Sondra Crosby of the Boston Medical Center listened with mounting distress as the women of Darfur came forward, one by one over 12 days, to tell her their stories of rape, beatings, hunger, and humiliation.
Their suffering had begun in the ravaged villages of their native Darfur in western Sudan after war broke out in 2003, but it didn't stop when they fled across the border into what they hoped would be the safety of refugee camps in eastern Chad. It goes on still, leaving thousands of women facing the specter of sexual assault each time they leave camp to collect firewood or visit the local market.
It is an endlessly unfolding tragedy the world hasn't summoned the will to do much about. Crosby and her colleagues suspected that six years into the conflict, no one had yet fully grasped the extent of the crisis of sexual crimes, and the relentless toll it is inflicting on its victims.
And so she and three other Boston-area medical specialists interviewed 88 women in November in eastern Chad. This morning they released the results in a report that offers unprecedented and disturbing details on the long-term effects of the assaults - as well as fresh evidence of the continuing violence against the women of Darfur, years after they fled the battlefield.
The study was issued by the Cambridge-based Physicians for Human Rights, partnering with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, two organizations with long track records in investigating rights abuses in conflict areas. While the use of rape as a weapon of war in Darfur has been noted throughout the conflict, the new report provides comprehensive evidence from detailed, structured interviews as well as physical examinations of the victims.
The 88 women interviewed reported suffering 32 rapes. Of those, 17 occurred in Darfur and 15 in Chad. Seven women reported being the victim of gang rape in Darfur, and three women reported being raped more than once. For two of them, rape in Darfur was followed by rape in Chad.
"What is striking is the extent of rape and fear of rape in Chad itself," said Susannah Sirkin, deputy director of Physicians for Human Rights. "So it's a two-fold revelation of real horror and shame and sorrow, and really of failure."
The story of one woman, in particular, transfixed Crosby, who lives in Dedham with her five adopted children and has made it her calling to investigate cases of torture and abuse.
"The woman told me . . . she was beaten on her arms so badly that she couldn't use them, and she was raped by four to six men," Crosby recalled. "She witnessed the same thing happen to others who were hiding with her. She was eight months pregnant at the time. She described giving birth to a dead baby, and how painful it was. After the rape her husband divorced her."
Later, she was raped again, and had a child by the rapist. And yet she has not given in to despair.
"Incredibly, she is resilient, strong, and proud despite everything that has happened to her," Crosby said.
In addition to conducting individual interviews lasting 90 minutes to two hours, the researchers carried out physical examinations of 21 of the women who reported assaults. Those exams followed the guidelines of the international "Istanbul Protocol" to assess the veracity of abuse claims, and the findings corroborated all 21 women's accounts, the report said.
Farchana Camp, where the interviews were conducted, is home to about 20,000 people, more than double its intended capacity. The camp, about 30 miles from the Sudan border, is one of 12 refugee centers in arid eastern Chad. It is unfenced, and only a couple of miles from Farchana village, so female refugees are vulnerable to assaults by local men - and also by Chadian soldiers who are based near the camp, the report says.
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More than 260,000 refugees from Darfur live in camps in Chad, a bitterly poor, landlocked country where the weak government is under threat from rebels said to be backed by the Sudanese government. The report says that while the government of Chad has not done enough to protect the women or prosecute those responsible, it is finally deploying more resources to protect the women.
Many officials still, however, remain blind or indifferent to the crisis. The study quotes a local official as saying that women who say they were raped are usually trying to explain away consensual sex.
Deteriorating security in eastern Chad makes it extremely difficult for UN officials and aid groups to operate, and the situation is worsening quickly as thousands more refugees flee into Chad to escape unrest in the Central African Republic.
Crosby, who adopted two of her children from Sierra Leone in West Africa after the brutal civil war there, understands the trauma of sexual violence. She is the director of the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights at the Boston Medical Center, which sees more than 500 patients a year from 60 countries, many of whom have suffered abuse or torture.
But the Chad trip was draining even for her. She was away for three weeks, her longest trip away from her husband, Alan, and her children. The Boston team flew to Paris, then to Chad's capital, N'Djamena, and took a UN flight to the eastern regional town of Abeche. From there, the doctors had planned to join an armed UN convoy for the several-hour drive to Farchana because of the risk of hijackers and bandits. But after just a few minutes, the impatient convoy sped away from the Boston group, leaving them to travel alone in two cars through the bush for hours. But the findings justified the effort, and hazards.
"What was very striking is that for many women this was the first time that they have been able to tell their story. It's our sense that sexual violence is extremely underreported," Crosby said. "And it has torn apart whole communities."
The report, titled "Nowhere to Turn," notes that the data cannot be used to make a quantitative projection of the prevalence of sexual violence. Rather, the goal was to understand in-depth the experiences of women who were raped or otherwise assaulted, and the long-term impact of living in continuing danger. Officials at the camp let it be known that visiting doctors were available to discuss assaults or other issues, and the women came to tell their stories. For many, depression was as serious a problem as the lingering physical after-effects of the assaults. And the women all reported that their families are constantly hungry.
"It was not easy to be detached," Crosby said. "It was a difficult experience for me, certainly, just to see the profound amount of ongoing suffering. As a doctor, at least when I see patients here who experience torture I can help them with the healing process. In the camp, these women have been traumatized again, and they have all these psychological and physical pains, and you feel helpless. We can't help them with the healing process, aside from listening to their stories, respecting them, validating their pain."
The interviewing was laborious. Most of the women spoke only their tribal language, Masalit, so their words had to be translated into Arabic and then into English.
The four health specialists were supported by six translators, drivers, and support staff.
Dr. Linda Piwowarczyk, Crosby's colleague at the Boston Medical Center, and Dr. Julia VanRooyen, a gynecologic surgeon from the Harvard project, also worked in the field, along with Karen Hirschfeld, a public health specialist who was director of Physicians for Human Rights' Sudan program at the time. She also did fieldwork and was the lead author of the report.
"I think the most surprising and distressing part of this for me was to find out that their nightmare is still going on in Chad," Crosby said. "It didn't end in Darfur. It's not as if they're now waiting it out in a safe place in Chad. Their trauma has been compounded. . . . It's just been an ongoing nightmare for them. It doesn't stop, it goes on every day."