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Turnkey asset management for financial planners
We align investments with each client's financial plan and handle the reporting, billing, account aggregation, and white-labeled client portals so that you can focus on what matters most.
Customized strategies to fit each client's plan
Intelligent Laddering
When your client wants to fund future spending needs with income investments, we use our proprietary system to find municipal bonds, corporate bonds, CDs and/or agencies that match their spending needs.
Growth Time Targeting
Since most clients cannot afford to fund their lifetime spending needs with fixed income, we built growth portfolios that use game theory algorithms that seek to improve a client's probability of reaching a time-based goal.
Principal Protection
When your client wants to protect their principal and reduce their exposure to rising interest rates, we look for investment grade income securities that are at advantageous spots along the yield curve and hold them until maturity.
Lifetime Investing
Using your client's projected spending needs and portfolio mix, we can provide historical context to their investments by showing how the portfolio's underlying asset class performed during every relevant rolling time-horizon going back to 1928.
Back office and technology solutions included with every account
Any account that we manage will enjoy account aggregation, billing, reporting and technology services at no additional charge. Those accounts we do not manage can also enjoy these benefits for a quarterly fee.
Portfolios Managed to a Higher Standard
We understand that the way a portfolio is implemented and maintained can have a significant impact on long-term returns, so we've established some best practices. Click on each to learn more.
Tax Efficient Fund Usage
Whenever possible, we seek to reduce the client's tax liability by using the most tax-efficient versions of the desired funds.
Capital Gains Sensitivity
We incorporate legacy positions into our model until you and your client are ready to strategically realize the gains or cut emotional ties with a certain security.
Transaction Fee Minimization
For each Dimensional fund that we use, we found the most highly correlated, no-transaction fee fund at Schwab, Fidelity and TD Ameritrade. Then we compared the expense ratios, transaction fees, geographic deviations, and asset class deviations to calculate a minimum trade threshold for every security at each custodian. By doing so, we can put smaller contributions to work without the unnecessary transaction fees.
Bond Downgrade Tracking
If one of the major rating agencies downgrade a fixed income security held in one of your clients' portfolios, we notify you with a recommendation.
Holistic Trading
When we implement a portfolio, we look to reduce trading costs by implementing across the household. Additionally, we seek to build around external assets such as 401K accounts, so that the client has a holistic portfolio.
Tactical Rebalancing
We understand that the cost of rebalancing often outweighs the benefit of doing so. Therefore, we utilize tolerance bands and minimum trade thresholds for each security.
Cash Monitoring
We monitor the cash levels in each account and either notify you, invest, or raise cash in accordance with the settings you defined in the investment policy statement.
Tax Aware Asset Location
Unless told otherwise, we will place less tax-efficient assets, such as bonds, in tax-deferred retirement accounts and more tax-efficient assets, such as stocks, in taxable accounts. By leveraging these asset location preferences, we can potentially reduce an investor's tax liability.
Low-cost Securities
Unlike the industry simple-average equity fund expense ratio of 1.37%, the simple-average expense ratio of the equity funds that Asset Dedication uses is .33%. In addition, we often use individual fixed income securities that don't carry expense ratios.
Industry simple-average equity fund expense ratio source: Investment Company Institute® | 2014 Investment Company Fact Book
Asset Dedication expense ratio source: Morningstar® | October 27th, 2014
The expense ratios stated above do not include management fees.
An Academic Approach to Planning-centric Investing
What started as a University of San Francisco research project to make personalized pensions available to the everyday investor, first turned into numerous white papers, then a book, and is now a strategy adopted by many of today's leading practitioners and academic institutions.
Strategy Deep Dive with The American College
Want to gain a deeper understanding of how we think about financial planning and investing? We encourage you to watch the videos below.


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April 13-15, 2015 – Exhibit Booth 931, Interoperability Showcase Booth 2034 McCormick Place, Chicago, IL
Connecting care with
information that matters
April 13-15, 2015 – Exhibit Booth 931, Interoperability Showcase Booth 2034 McCormick Place, Chicago, IL
The healthcare landscape is changing rapidly. You have an increasing number of business and technology issues to navigate, including EMR implementation, meaningful use, and accountable care. Healthcare reform demands health IT solutions that bring you greater value so you can connect, innovate and transform.
Easily and securely connecting devices, systems and people across the full health continuum is essential. Our interoperable software and solutions help you evolve traditional care models and remove boundaries.
Join us at HIMSS 2015 to learn how we can support you by serving up the health information that truly matters in ways that are easily accessible, contextually relevant, and actionable anywhere.
The pressure on healthcare has never been greater. New approaches are needed to optimize efficiency and effectiveness today, while introducing new, more sustainable, patient-centric models for care tomorrow. Learn more about how IT solutions are enabling the future of healthcare.
The HIMSS Interoperability Showcase™, in partnership with IHE, is a live interactive demonstration where Philips collaborates with other health IT solution providers to maximize the collective impact of our technologies. Illustrated through several patient journeys, Philips will be highlighting real time and spot check monitoring solutions for the acute care and general care environment, including event notification as well as radiology informatics solutions. They include:
Tuesday, Apr 14
Breaking Down Data Silos to Innovate and Connect Care
Dr. Joseph Frassica, Philips Chief Medical Officer and Chief Technology Officer for Patient Care and Monitoring Solutions
Business Risk in Connected Care
Hear Phil Raymond from Philips sharing his perspectives on the value proposition for IEC 80001 and the primary benefits for healthcare organizations. The intended audience is the decision makers and executive IT management structure within hospitals who own responsibility for the networking infrastructure. Speaker(s): Phil Raymond, Todd Cooper
Philips is proud to be a founding partner of HX360, an event aimed at reinventing care delivery by harnessing the right combination of human and fiscal resources, process change and technology.
Monday, Apr 13
Change Management Delivered – Leading in a Time of Technology Transition
What's different about leading provider organizations in an era when technology is changing everything - in the office, in the clinic, and at home?
Amazing Analytics
Healthcare is at the dawn of the era of data analytics, facing extraordinary opportunities for health and wellness and improved healthcare delivery made possible through cloud computing, the Internet of Things and the availability of patient-generated health data collected by personal connected health apps and devices. This panel will explore the possibilities and the daunting challenge of capitalizing on them to facilitate consumer-driven health, efficient healthcare innovation, and better healthcare.
Tuesday, Apr 14
Entrepreneurship Inside, Alongside and Outside Health Systems
Carla Kriwet, Executive Vice President and CEO of Patient Care and Monitoring Solutions
The Innovation Challenge will identify, highlight and recognize digital health, healthcare IT and IT-enabled healthcare services companies that are making the most significant contributions to improving patient experience relative to hospitals and health systems. Over several rounds of competition, four finalists, selected from a field of up to 64 companies, will present their solutions before a panel of expert health system judges during HIMSS. Located at McCormick Place in the Lakeside Center, Room E350 on April 14, 2015, this will begin at 2:30 pm.
Improving experiences of patients, providers and caregivers means moving outside the hospital walls and into a connected world. In today's healthcare environment, it's not enough to just diagnose and treat. Patients and clinicians alike are looking for ways to manage health conditions before issues arise, and to stay healthy long after treatment. Our solutions are strategically developed to work cohesively across the patient journey.

subset: commoncrawl


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Liberty News
School of Aeronautics draws attention at Leesburg expo
|A flight simulator was a popular feature of the Liberty University School of Aeronautics display at the Aviation Education & Career Expo on Oct. 25.
Liberty University School of Aeronautics representatives attended the Aviation Education & Career Expo at the Leesburg (Va.) Airport on Oct. 25 to showcase its diverse programs available for high school students who are looking to take their degree to the skies.
More than 600 students attended the expo to hear from renowned speakers and learn about the various opportunities available at aeronautics programs across the country.
Liberty's promotional display included a chance to pilot planes in a flight simulator. The display was manned by Kevin Martin, associate director of training at the School of Aeronautics, his wife Katy, who works as the chief dispatcher for the school, and recruiter Jake Holland who answered prospective students' questions concerning Liberty's award-winning aeronautics program.
"I believe we had the absolute best display that we have ever had. We had quite a few folks tell us that we had the best display of the expo," Martin said.
|High school senior Hannah Thomas (center) was awarded a $12,000 scholarship from Liberty's School of Aeronautics by Kevin Martin, the school's associate director of training, and his wife, Katy, who works as the school's chief dispatcher.
During the event, Liberty awarded a $12,000 Aviation Training Scholarship to high school senior Hannah Thomas, who won an essay-writing contest.
Thomas plans to enroll in Liberty's Missionary Aviation program.
Liberty has participated in the event for the past three years. Martin said the flight simulator was a popular attraction and there was a constant line of students waiting to try it.
"Having the extra technology at the booth really drew the folks in and kept them around," he said. "The quality of the students and the amazing interest was awesome. Out of all of the years we have been going, I think this was biggest and most fruitful."


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Nokia 701 Video clips
More Videos
Nokia 701 features a 3.5" IPS-LCD display with the ClearBlack technology, which Nokia claims is the brightest smartphone screen out there in terms of nits. So far that crown had been reserved for the LG Optimus Black with its 700 nits, so the Nokia 701 should be even brighter, which would make for better sunlight visibility, so we can't wait to get one and test it outside. The Nokia 701 actually looks a lot like a more compact Nokia C7 at the front, has the same 8MP fixed focus cam with flash and 8GB of onboard memory, but it is powered by a 1GHz processor, and has a 11 x 56.8 x 117.3mm body with 4.62oz (131 grams) of weight. The battery is rated for close to 9 hours of talk time in 3G mode, which sounds pretty good, and the phone is pentaband.


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Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
Walls are so underutilized, just sitting there holding up the ceiling, while the floor does all the work of supporting everything that we do. Jiminez Lai of the Bureau Spectactular designed the Phalanstery Module, where all surfaces can be occupied. He designed it for a hypothetical zero gravity environment, but it appears to work on earth as well. — treehugger.com
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Starfish offer you contemporary styled accommodation perfect for long or short breaks. Our accommodation is ideally located in the heart of Whitby.
Enjoy Value, choice and space it is significantly better value to book our serviced suites than hotel or B and B rooms, especially when it is for more than 2 persons. The accommodation can be hired either room only, self catering, bed and breakfast or half board.
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A little extra, Please call our office for details of our current offers.
Indulge -a range of extras- celebration cakes, champagne, fresh flowers and chocolates.. to make your stay special.
All of our holiday cottages, whether bed and breakfast or self catering in Whitby are stylish contemporary and furnished to a high standard for your comfort and relaxation.
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Our private leisure facilities heated indoor pool, sauna and Giant Scalextric track are available for your exclusive use.
Our office is open hours 9:00am-5:00pm seven days a week for enquiries 01947 821598.
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For more quality holiday cottages in Whitby, self catering in Whitby & bed and breakfast in Whitby click here.
YTB Website of the Year finalist.
Welcome to Excellence Host and Host Plus awards.
Winners !
2007 Award for Self Catering Accommodation.
10% Discount
Available for previous guests (within the last 12 months).
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Seasonal offers
range of offers giving
better value.


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More than 40 witnesses will be called for the committal hearing of accused wife killer Gerard Baden-Clay in March next year.
Baden-Clay was arrested in June and charged with murdering his wife Allison and interfering with her corpse at Kholo Creek, in Brisbane's west.
His case was mentioned briefly in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.
Prosecutor Danny Boyle told the court he and defence lawyer Darren Mahony agreed 43 witnesses would be called for Baden-Clay's committal hearing, which would likely run for four days.
The witness list was only finalised on Monday morning and would primarily consist of experts, Mr Mahony said.
Due to scheduling conflicts, the hearing was listed for three days from March 11, meaning it might not be finished in the allotted time.
Baden-Clay was not in court and no application for bail was made.
He will be required to appear in court for cross-examination at the start of the committal hearing.


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MONTEREY >> It's not quite Sophie's Choice, but music fans will have an option of two epic festivals in late August: Monterey's second First City Festival and the 13th annual West End Celebration in Sand City.
Tickets go on sale Friday for First City, to be held Aug. 23-24 at the Monterey County Fair and Event Center. The biggest new event in the Monterey Bay area attracted more than 10,000 fans each of its two days last year.
This year's lineup includes indie godfather Beck, fresh off his latest critically acclaimed album "Morning Phase."
Also booked is The National, the Ohio band that snagged a Grammy nomination for its critically acclaimed album "Trouble Will Find Me"; The Naked and Famous, the New Zealand band breaking worldwide thanks to its latest recording, "In Rolling Waves"; the New York electronica duo Phantogram; and the popular Southern California duo Best Coast.
Among the other bands coming to the festival are Cocorosie, Cults, San Fermin, Sleepy Sun, Blind Pilot, Dawes, the Stepkids, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Tokyo Police Club, Geographer and more.
A craft beer and wine garden, with gourmet food, and a vinyl record marketplace will add to the overall experience, which also includes the return of the carnival. And this year, the rides are included with your ticket.
First City is presented by Goldenvoice (AEG), the concert promoter behind the world-famous Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Southern California.
First City tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at firstcityfestival.com. Two-day general admission tickets are $159.50, and VIP passes are $289.50.
Guitar legends at West End
The West End Celebration — a free festival featuring all manner of arts — also announced its lineup for Aug. 23-24 on Monday. Headliners are blues guitarists Sonny Landreth and Chris Cain.
Landreth is known as "the King of Slydeco," a moniker that blends his talents on slide guitar with his penchant for zydeco, a style that blends Cajun music, blues and rhythm and blues. Cain returns by popular demand. His hometown paper, the San Jose Mercury News, said that "more than anyone else, anywhere, Chris Cain represents the future of the blues."
Also featured this year are California Roots Festival favorite Thrive; San Francisco Bay Area psychedelic jam band Moonalice, which can practically call the Monterey Bay area their home away from home; Americana rockers Tommy Faia & The Juice; and indie-folk singer-songwriter Lia Rose.
Additional music venues will be scattered throughout the city.
A kick-off party Aug. 22 — a fundraiser to benefit the nonprofit Guitars Not Guns — features a night of singers, musicians and songwriters, with Nina Storey and local favorites Casey Frazier and Dave Holodiloff. The shindig will be at Carmel Stone Imports in Sand City. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. They're available now at www.tix.com or at City Hall, Sweet Elena's Bakery and Post No Bills in Sand City; DoReMi Music in Carmel; and the Pacific Grove Resource Center.
In addition to the musical performances, the festival includes cutting-edge art from more than 100 painters, sculptors and multimedia artists. This year's theme is "Imagine/Create." Artists have until July 25 to submit a piece to be included in the showcase exhibit.
For more information, including artist applications, see www.westendcelebration.com.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel contributed to this report.


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Dayana Mendoza Fired on Celebrity Apprenticeby Free Britney at .
Dayana Mendoza's luck finally ran out this week on Celebrity Apprentice.
A current six-time boardroom veteran and one-time target of Lisa Lampanelli racial slurs, Dayana took charge as Team Forte's project manager this week.
Arsenio Hall stepped forward and led Team Unanimous to victory.
Dayana was in trouble from the start, as Clay Aiken took over the creative process and Lisa was just ... being Lisa. She threw a tantrum and stormed out.
On the plus side, Clay and Lisa bonded over their collective frustrations with Dayana.
Arsenio and Aubrey O'Day exchanged many evil looks, meanwhile, but Aubs' "Hollaback Girl" cheerleader theme for the song won out ... and won the task.
O'Day dominated the spotlight and discounted her teammates in the process, but when you win, the charity getting the prize money won't be complaining.
In the boardroom, Lisa and Clay threw Dayana under the bus, and after so many close shaves this spring, The Donald sort of reluctantly sent her packing.
Were you surprised to see Dayana go? Did she deserve it?


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One Cup a Day project is an experiment on creativity and rapid manufacturing,
by ideating, designing, modeling and making available for production and purchase a coffee cup within 24 hours, everyday during one month.
The project was exhibited at the Ceramic Event VII in Brussels.
By the end of each day, a new espresso coffee cup was made be available for sale here.
The cups are printed in Glazed Ceramics by Shapeways & i.Materialsie.
*the following images are computer generated visualizations of the cups, not the actual objects.
As 3D-printing in ceramics is a novel and experimental process, the 3D-printed cups might look different than the images below.
Design one yourself
This project is open for collaboration,
Here I make available the source files (as .3dm & .3ds files) of a template basic cup,
please, feel free to play around and modify it.
3D Print it yourself
The OctoCup is shared at Thingiverse, feel free to grab the files, experiment with it and share the results.
I printed one with a RepRap and it looks nice, (useless, but nice).
done! I made it; Design 30 cups in 30 days,
They are all at the store, ready to be 3DPrinted on demand.
Surprisingly, the idea generation has been the easiest part of the project,
I still have tons of cup ideas on my head that were not designed: (Banana Handle cup / Toilet cup / Matrioska cup / Melted cup / Mustache cup…)
The hardest part of the project has been preparing the 3D geometries and files for 3DPrinting.
The 30 designs can be grouped into 3 categories
Morpho-jokes = cups adopting shapes from other contexts with a funny result.
Uselessly nice = cups whose striking uselessness makes them interesting.
Texture Analogies = cups wrapped by textures.
I really enjoyed the project format, the challenge and the results.
3D Model vs. 3D Print:
The first 3DPrinted Cup in Ceramics just arrived,
and it looks fantastic!
The glazed layer is quite thick and it hides a lot of the original detail, which is OK for the OctoCup, but it might be a bit too soft for other designs, like the Knitted Cup or the LowResolution Cup.
It has an overall look and feel of a hand-made product, which is very interesting, because this object was "untouched by humans" (except for finishing and shipping), meaning that it was designed in computer, with perfect radiusess, and perfect proportions, Then, it was 3DPrinted with a computer controlled machine accuracy, but the result is bumpy and imperfect, and it is nice.
It almost feels like an craft object, but this cup is entirely a computer-born and grown object.
Update: Shapeways improved their 3DPrinting process and the results are much better now.
About the design:
The cups are designed as a creative exercise and as a proof of concept for digital fabrication, in order to achieve something unthinkable some time ago: Create a product from the idea to the consumer in less than 24 hours.
Some designs are compromised due to time constrains, but that's OK.
Not all the cups are ment to be the best and most functional of all coffee cups ever, they are designed with style, fun and diversity on mind.
About the material:
The coffee cups are 3D Printed in Glazed Ceramics.
Glazed Ceramics are food safe, recyclable and heat resistant. The glaze is heatable up to 1000 degrees celcius, at which point the glaze will start to damage.
3D Printed Glazed Ceramics material properties are exactly the same as standard ceramics as it is produced with fine ceramic powder which is bound together with binder, fired, glazed with lead-free, non-toxic gloss finish. For some designs with clear bottoms, the bottom side may remain unglazed.
Glazing reduces definition of design details, for example grooves will fill with glaze. up to 1 mm of glaze can be added in certain areas.This means that some cups might look much smoother once printed than how they look on the drawings, keep that in mind if you purchase any of them.
Step 1. 3D Printing, it takes about 4 hrs to print a 4 inch piece. During this step, binder is deposited on a bed of ceramic powder. After one layer is done, a new layer of ceramic powder is spread on top and binder is again deposited on that layer.
Step 2. After all the layers are printed, the box of ceramic powder is then put in an oven to dry, the models in the box solidify during this process.
Step 3. After the models solidify, the models are taken out out of the box and depowdered. During this stage, the models are solid but in a brittle, fragile state.
Step 4. Afterwards, the models are fired in a kilm with a "high fire." This firing will lock in the structure of the model. After this step, a base model is created. The surface finish is very rough.
Step 5. Pre-glaze coating spray, a water based spray, is then applied. Then the models are fired away in a kiln at a lower temperature. Afterwards, the model is a bit more smooth and ready for glazing.
Step 6. The glaze spray is applied, and the models are again fired in the kiln. After this process, the model becomes shiny and smooth.
Note to buyers:
All cups are available for purchase here:
The cups are espresso size; about 65mm tall.
They might look quite small.
The images in this page are computer generated, not photos from the real cups.
3DPrinting in Ceramics is a novel and experimental production process, the resulting objects might loose detail and look different than the above images.
Production: Orders, payment, producing-printing, quality control, delivery & customer service processes is handled by Shapeways.com, a 3rd Party Company not related to Cunicode.
Pricing: 3DPrinting in Ceramics is quite expensive, that's why the cups are very small, to keep the price down. Cunicode gets $5 per cup sold only, the rest goes to the producing company,
Further development
Thanks for the interest and support,
special thanks to ignant.de / Swiss-Miss / Neatorama / BoingBoing & others fantastic sites for writing about the project.
I'd like to 3DPrint all the cups and prepare an exhibition.
Please contribute to make it happen.


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I intent to create an Online image editor like http://pixlr.com/editor. I want to use ASP.NET as the P-language and so prefer windows hosting.What should i look for like Bandwidth,Space,Database etc.I wonder how many concurrent users can use the site(with/without db connection)
closed as not a real question by paulmorriss, Su', danlefree Sep 12 '12 at 0:49
It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, visit the help center. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
I would go for a dedicated or VPS and upgrade as you see fit, start small and expand. The real queestion is how many people will use it, as thats what governs the resources


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DiscoverBB necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 186 diseños de 71 diseñadores freelance.
IT Development and consultancy firm is relaunching it's website and needs a new logo to reflect it's new image.
The Keysina Company is an umbrella company for a number of divisions. These divisions are:
* IT Consultancy
* IT Quality Assurance
* Bespoke Development
We also run a number of websites under the keysina umbrella. All of these websites are Web2.0 applications. Each of these sites have a distinct persona but also form a part of the whole company.
We are very proud to be a Canadian company.
Keysina stands for "It's freaking cold" in Algonquin Indian.
- A Web2.0 Logo that encompasses our IT company, Canadian heritage, and professional image.
- The 'essensce' of completness, or many parts making up a whole.
- Trusted professional colors: Blues and Greys but am open to other schemes as long as they reflect a professional IT company. Final logo needs to be provided in Photoshop or Illustrator format.
I have paid out over $3000 in prizes for my discoverBB set of competitions and take the 99designs designs seriously and provide feedback quickly.
- A rehash of the existing keysina logo.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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This site has moved GitHub.
OpenSearch is a collection of simple formats for the sharing of search results.
The OpenSearch description document format can be used to describe a search engine so that it can be used by search client applications.
The OpenSearch response elements can be used to extend existing syndication formats, such as RSS and Atom, with the extra metadata needed to return search results.
For everyone
- Frequently asked questions
- Search clients that support OpenSearch
- Directories of search engines that support OpenSearch
For developers
- OpenSearch 1.1 (Draft 6)
- OpenSearch extensions
- OpenSearch Referrer extension
- OpenSearch Relevance extension
- OpenSearch Parameter extension
- OpenSearch Suggestions extension
- OpenSearch Geo extension (Draft)
- OpenSearch Time extension (Draft)
- OpenSearch Advertisement extension (Draft)
- OpenSearch Commerce extension (Draft)
- OpenSearch Mobile extension (Draft)
- OpenSearch Spelling extension (Draft)
- OpenSearch SRU extension (Draft)
- Archived specifications
- License
- OpenSearch specification changelog
- Developer "how to" guide
- Developer "best practices" guide
- OpenSearch and microformats
- OpenSearch response stylesheet
- OpenSearch 1.0 to 1.1 upgrade guide


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Peter Jackson's version of The Hobbit has been causing a stir, because people expect its high frame rate—48 frames per second, no less—will make it look a bit like a 70s soap opera. At least you'll be able to tell for yourself, because 450 theaters across North America are equipped to show the film at its high frame rate.
The LA Times reports that the 48fps version of The Hobbit will play in more locations than previously expected. The total of 450 screening venues is small relative to the typical 4,000 screens for movies of a similar stature, but Warner Bros. claims that moviegoers in most major and mid-sized cities should be able to find a 48fps showing.
Everyone else will just have to watch it in boring old 24fps, like every other film. At least that way you won't have to read the FAQs, which explain why the high frame rate version looks kinda funny. [LA Times via Verge]


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Use the form on the right to contact us.
You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
Long Island City
Mike makes stuff. Mostly involving words, notes, thoughts, and images. Also a podcast. Enjoy.


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Saturday, May 4, 2013
¡Adios, pelota!
Perhaps Buster Posey is not quite perfect--in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and one out he had a chance to win it with a sac fly but instead offered up an easy DP grounder. Of course, he probably knew his backup would get the chance to deliver the big bomb in extras, and being a gentleman, deferred to the other fellow. Buster can turn failure into success. What a guy.
Unlike last night, tonight was not about the pitching. Santiago Casilla came up with the best stretch at the best time, getting the last six outs and giving the team a chance for a walk-off. Marco Scutaro (on base five times), Pablo Sandoval, and Posey were a combined 7-for-11 with six walks and six runs scored, but it was almost all for naught because Ryan Vogelsong had a meltdown in the 5th inning. He was charged with seven runs! The funny thing is that he looked good in the first four innings, much like the guy we saw last fall smoking the best teams in baseball. Fellow starter Matt Cain has yet to put it all together this season as well, yet the team is playing .600 ball and tied for first place. I imagine Ol' Boch will push his horse tomorrow and expect lots of innings as the 'pen has been well-used in the first two games.
Congratulations to "Q" for his huge homer off a tough closer, and for inserting his own interesting story into the great LA-SF rivalry. I didn't think the 2013 Giants would be full of so many surprises, but that's what makes every season so much fun as you just never know what is in store. And there's lots more to come.
p.s. Tonight the Giants had a player hobble off the field as Angel Pagan tweaked a hammy. I hereby promise not to make any more cracks about the crippled Dodgers. Bad karma, man. Perhaps Francisco Peguero will get a start.
6 comments:
Hey, it's not-so-Anonymous back again after a long hiatus. How is everyone? Sorry if it seemed like I died, lots of stuff happened within the last year or so, just checking up on the blog again. Hope all is well. As always, Go Giants!
- Sun May 05, 12:27:00 AM PDT
- M.C. O'Connor said...
- Sun May 05, 10:12:00 AM PDT
- Brother Bob said...
Welcome back, Anonymous!
(How do you get those cool upside-down exclamation points?)
I guess it's time to officially worry about Vogelsong. It's so hard for pitchers to maintain a high level of performance. Maybe one great Major League season is all Vogelsong ever had in him. It's more than most athletes get in a lifetime.
- Sun May 05, 10:46:00 AM PDT
- M.C. O'Connor said...
Hold down the 'alt' key and use your keypad (not the numbers above your letters) to enter 173. There are 'alt' codes for everything.
- Sun May 05, 11:08:00 AM PDT
- Shankbone said...
Great games the past 2 nights. Here is hoping this site's namesake can have a better May. Go Gigantes!
- Sun May 05, 02:26:00 PM PDT
- Brother Bob said...
- Mon May 06, 10:38:00 AM PDT


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Posts Tagged 'Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882'
Beck, Bachmann & the U.S. Census: Fears vs. Facts
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. — from Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural address
It may or may not be a coincidence that census worker Bill Sparkman was found dead with a rope around his neck on 9-12 — the word "FED" scrawled across his chest — on the same day that Glenn Beck's "9-12 Project" descended on Washington, where the teabaggers, deathers and birthers gathered to protest what Beck & Bachmann have warned are "the systematic efforts" by everyone from Obama Administration and certain Democratic members of Congress, to health care reformers, environmentalists and the folk at with the U.S. Census,"to destroy our wonderful country and threaten to wipe away our God gifted liberties."
And it may or may not be a coincidence that Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Steele, Michele Bachmann and other Capitol Hill GOPs have used the media and organizations such as Glenn Beck's the "9-12 Project" as a forum for exercising their own "God gifted liberties" to stoke fear, hatred and conspiratorial disinformation about the Federal government, in general, and the U.S. Census, in particular — as if this 220-year-old, constitutionally mandaded U.S. Census (Article I, Section 2) were somehow a recent invention by the Obama Administration, designed to intrude into our lives and impose Nazi, socialist of communist (take your pick) control over the citizenry:
Certainly the collection of this information is going to be part of an ongoing political campaign by this administration. — RNC Chairman Michael Steele on the U.S. Census
I've made it very public what my position is, and I think there is a point when you say 'enough is enough' to government intrusion. — Michele Bachmann, explaining her plan to boycott the U.S. census
Can they, um, because I've considered not filling it out when I get it, but I want to make sure that they don't use this as a loophole to say that I can no longer have a permit for my gun. — Glenn Beck, during his interview with Michele Bachmann, hinting that the Feds might take away his 2nd Amendment rights, should he refuse to fill out his census forms — even as both have have just factually acknowledged that the Census Bureau's stated fine for such is between $100-$5,000.
It is of no coincidence, however, that a certain percentage of citizens in this country have fallen under the spell of this "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror" that has been spun by these GOP peddlers of terror, who have suggested that the census will be used by the Obama Administration to intrude into their lives, take away their guns and throw them into internment camps (the latter fear is courtesy of Michele Bachmann). A sampling of comments from Beck's "9-12 Project" website reveals the extent of the terror, anger and hatred felt by their audience:
AMMO UP!!! I suggest ammo you don't use yourself also. Never know when someone else could use it or trade for goods! Buy cheap/inexpensive ammo. I have my .308, .40 and 5.56.
I always thought they could only ask 2 questions? I am prepared for jail time! These are incredible times.
Why is the "census" so important right now? Two guess, [sic] it is the control this administration wants !
With the economy down and so many people out of work and worrying, the Dems are doing their best to side track this country . This is a cruel administration and it is doing everything it can to undermine our American way of life.
I think the best way to fight this, is to not participate in it. If it is going to be political and not fair anyway, why contribute to the fraud. When you get your census, just mark it, I refuse to answer these questions due to probable fraud.
Time to be sqirrels [sic] or whatever else cracks acorns. "When your [sic] a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
We have allowed, yes allowed the left to push us around for far too long. We have bowed and bent to every politically correct, tree-hugging, capitalist hating scheme they've come up with for fear of being called a racist, homophobe, hatemonger. I tell you what, they don't know what a hatemonger is. It's time to push back.
No, it's no coincidence that our country is ripe for a lynching. After all, the Becks, Bachmanns, Steeles, Wilsons and Limbaughs of America have spent the past year working on the GOP tag team, taking turns goading their audiences into stocking up on assault rifles, ammo and grudges.
It doesn't have to be this way. There's still time to make a U-turn before something truly horrible happens.
And since Bachmann, Beck, Dobbs, Steele, Wilson et al show no signs of changing the incendiary tone of their rhetoric, it is up to each of us, as individuals, to unequivocally reject the agenda they are promoting:
- first, by calling these people out — as have former president Jimmy Carter, Rep. John Lewis, Nancy Pelosi and others — whenever the rhetoric embraces hatred, threats and/or violence, and
- second, by taking every opportunity to allay fears with facts.
Here is my contribution:
FEAR: Bachman says that she does not feel "comfortable" giving her personal information to an ACORN worker.
FACT: Since 1970, the U.S. Census has been sent out and returned by mail. It's simple. Citizens fill these out in the privacy of their own homes, then mail them back to the U.S. Census Bureau. Not to ACORN. Those citizens who do not return their form, or who return an incomplete form, are contacted either by phone or by an in-person interviewer, who was likely hired through one of several government contractors, including ACORN, so that the form may be completed. Mailing the fully completed census form to the Census Bureau entirely avoids the need for an in-person interview. (Read here for info on the federal laws that safeguard the U.S. Census Bureau's "Data Protection and Privacy Policy," and read here for more info on the use of GPS by the U.S. Census Bureau).
* * * * *
FEAR: Michele Bachmann doesn't understand why the government needs information, such as her phone number.
FACT: Had she actually bothered to seek an answer to this question, rather than rather than resort to passing on her fearful ignorance and suspicions, Rep. Bachmann would know the reason for each and every question, as these are painstakingly explained throughout the U.S. Census Bureau documentation, as well as on their website, including info on how long each question has existed on the census. Regarding phone numbers, these are requested in case the U.S. Census needs to contact those folks who didn't properly fill out their forms. Calling these individuals on the phone saves the time and expense of sending a personal interviewer to the house. Oddly, Bachmann & Co. were silent over the Bush Administration's wiretapping program, which made it legal for our government to listen into our private conversations, sans the formality of a warrant. Maybe it's just me, but I feel more threatened by having the government listen into my phone calls, than by the rote gathering of phone numbers, which are available to anyone with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Worst-case scenario regarding phone numbers (should the above facts not allay Rep. Bachmann's fears), according to the U.S. Census website, her phone number is not required by federal law, which she would know, had she bothered to look before leaping to conclusions.
* * * * *
FEAR: Michele Bachmann states that the U.S. Census short-form is 28 pages .
FACT: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, "The 2010 Census questionnaire will be one of the shortest in history, consisting of 10 questions. It takes about 10 minutes to complete." The 2010 short-form is 6 pages long, with the aforementioned "10 questions" being covered on one single page. The other 5 pages allow optional space for documenting up to 12 other household members, if applicable, and requests only basic information, such as race, age, gender, etc.
* * * * *
FEAR: Michele Bachmann states that the U.S. Census short form is 28 pages .
FACT: Perhaps Rep. Bachmann, in her confusion, was referring to the 14-page American Community Survey (ACS) component of the U.S. Census, which went into effect during the Bush Administration, under a Republican majority Congress in 2005. The ACS replaced the now-obsolete U.S. Census "long census form," which had been in use since 1940 and used on only a sampling of the population (5% of households in 1940, compared to 16% in the last several census counts). Today's ACS asks essentially the same questions that were asked in the 100-question "long form" during the last two census counts, the only difference being that — rather than being used every 10 years, the ACS is (and has been since 2005) used on an ongoing basis every year. The theory is that, with our rapidly-changing demographic, economic, and housing data, there needs to be a more accurate system for tracking this data between censuses. (As an example of how rapidly our demographics change, the population increase from 1930 to 1940 was just under 9 million, whereas the population increase from 1990 to 2000 was nearly 33 million). Too, the ACS uses a smaller sampling of households. Unlike the previously used "long-form" which was sent to 1 in 6 households, the ACS has been sent to an average of 1 in 9 households over a 5-year period. For those who have questions on how to fill out the form, a 16-page instruction guide available, but even this (the 14 page questionaire +the 16 page info guide) doesn't add up to 28 pages.
* * * * *
FEAR: Bachmann states that the census asks for the number of live births.
FACT: The census has never asked for the number of "live births," although it does seem logical that — since the primary goal over its 220-year history has been to keep an accurate count of the U.S. population — there would be at least some question directed toward tracking birthrates. Perhaps Rep. Bachmann was referring to question #23 (left) which has been part of the U.S. Census for 80 of the past 110 years. This information is reportedly used both to project population growth, as well as to serve as a planning tool for the Dept. of Health and Human Services to implement programs, per statutes. (see this U.S. Census Bureau pdf document for more specifics on this)
* * * * *
FEAR: Bachmann states that the census asks how many bathrooms you have.
FACT: No census has ever asked how many bathrooms a person has. The census has asked, since 1940, whether a household has plumbing. This information is asked on the ACS form, not the short-form, which most households will receive. This information is used for various reasons, such as gauging poverty, determing risks for groundwater contamination, and for policy development by the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development. (see this U.S. Census pdf document for specifics on this).
* * * * *
FEAR: Bachman states that the census asks what time you leave for work and come home.
FACT: This question has been part of the census since 1960, and is one of several regarding transporation and the use of public highways. According to the U.S. Census:
"Transportation planners, using journey-to-work information, to plan for peak volumes of traffic in order to reduce traffic congestion, plan for parking, and develop strategies, such as carpooling programs and flexible work schedules. Decisions are made to build new roads or add capacity to existing roads, and to develop transit systems, such as light rail or subways, by projecting future needs." Check the U.S. Census site (see pg. 35 of this 65-page pdf to both view the actual questions and to get more info on why this information is collected).
As Rep. Bachmann could attest, it would be much easier — and certainly less intrusive — for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to simply pull this data out of thin air, as she does with so many of her "facts." However, this approach is not particularly helpful to transporation planners when designing the highway and mass transit infrastructures that our government provides equally to all citizens, in much the same way that all American citizens are given equal access — regardless of income, disability, ethnicity, country of origin, gender, age or race — to public schools, fire departments, law enforcement and, hopefully one day, health care.
* * * * *
FEAR: Michele Bachmann states that the U.S. Census does not ask if people are U.S. citizens.
FACT: The U.S. Census has been asking this very question for most of the past 180 years, beginning in 1820, when it was #13 of thirty-three questions, asking specifially for the "number of foreigners not naturalized" in the household. As Bachmann has also expressed some fear over the government's interest in asking about age (part of the census since 1800), race (part of the census since 1790) and gender (part of the census since 1790) , it may be of interest to note that all but five of the 1820 census questions were devoted to asking the gender and ages of whites, slaves and "free colored persons." For the record, question #8 on the 2010 census plainly asks, "Is this person a citizen of the United States?" Also, in April of this year, the U.S. Census acting director, Thomas Mesenbourg, announced to the media, "We'll Work with 'Community Organizations' to Count All Illegal Aliens in 2010."
* * * * *
FEAR: Michelle Bachmann fears that information from the census will be used to round up Americans into internment camps, (as was done to Japanese and other immigrants in 1942, in the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor), and states that she wishes that the FBI, instead of the White House, were in charge of the census.
FACT: First of all, the the U.S. Census Bureau operates through the Department of Commerce, not the executive branch of the government, nor ACORN. Regarding the FBI's role with the census, beginning in 1939, it was the FBI who used the information from the U.S. Census to profile Japanese and other immigrants and to eventually "round up" Japanese, Italians, Germans and Jews into internment camps, per an executive order signed by Roosevelt in 1942. The U.S. government officially apologized for this and awarded $1.6 billion in reparations in 1988, with President Ronald Reagan stating, as he signed the legislation, that the government's actions had been based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership."
The reason there was no mention of the U.S. Census in Reagan's apology is because it was anti-immigration fervor — not the census — that ultimately led to these internment camps. The pity is that folk like Bachmann — having neglected to learn their history before speaking authoritatively on it — doom the rest of us to re-witness our most despicable histories. A good starting point for absorbing some historical perspective on the internment camps is the draft for an article, written by Eleanor Roosevelt, aptly titled, To Undo A Mistake Is Always Harder Than Not to Create One Originally.
What Michele Bachmann, in her defiant ignorance, failed to tell her audience is what actually led to the internment camps. It was certainly not the census. It was, in great part, the culmination of 150 years of xenophobic fear and hatred toward Asians — stoked by the Bachmanns & Becks of the day — that was nearly as old as our country, itself, beginning with the Naturalization Act of 1790, which barred U.S. citizenship not only to slaves and blacks, but to Asians. This law was followed throughout the 19th and early 20th century with various Alien Land Laws, which barred the ownership, leasing or renting of land by those residents who were ineligible to citizenship (read that: slaves, blacks and Asians). The Naturalization Act of 1790 was amended in 1875 to allow citizenship to Africans, still barring citizenship to Asians.
This nativist hatred of "the yellow peril" only intensified during the 60 years leading up to WWII and the internment camps — with anti-Chinese, anti-Japanese sentiments being epidemic from the 1880s through the 1940s, along side the existing prejudices against blacks, Jews and Catholics. This period saw the passage of a series of laws directed specifically against Chinese, Japanese and/or Filipino immigration — from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (which barred Chinese labor and immigration), to the Gentleman's Agreement of 1907 (in which Japan agreed to not allow its citizens to emigrate to the U.S.), to Immigration Act of 1917 (which barred immigrants from most of Asia), to the Quota Law of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 (both of which sharply reduced the immigration of Catholics, Jews and the Japanese, who were deemed "aliens inelibible to citizenship," with the 1924 act finally barring Japanese immigration entirely). Anti-immigration became, in the wake of WWI, the cause célèbre of the KKK and other nativist groups and fraternal orders of the day, which targeted immigrants for intimidation, threats and lynching, the most infamous being, perhaps, the 1915 KKK lynching of the Jewish pencil manufacturer, Leo Frank..
As the Depression descended during the early 1930s, job scarcity only escalated the anger and fear toward immigrants — not unlike the climate being cultivated today in the rhetoric of Beck, Bachmann, Dobbs and others — with the rise of WWII facism only seeming to justify old fears, while also justifying new fears of subversive facist and communist elements within the U.S. In 1939-1940, the FBI began the "Custodial Detention Index Program," which targeted not only the Japanese and Chinese, but also Italians, Germans and Jews, categorizing these immigrants into several classes of "subversives."
With the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor — and the U.S. officially at war with Japan — long-simmering hatred toward Japanese escalated to a flash-point, sparking both threats and actual acts of violence against Japanese-Americans. From this specific climate and turn of events, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the order to authorize the internment of Japanese Americans.
It was not until the 1950s-60s that the anti-immigration laws barring citizenship and land ownership to the Japanese began to be lifted. Speaking before Congress in 1960, Senator Warren G. Magnuson — who, himself, had earlier been a proponent of the Japanese internment camps — urged a repeal of the alien land laws, describing the climate of fear that had led to these laws and, ultimately, to the internment camps:
I am convinced that these anti-alien land laws helped substantially to create the prejudices which were fanned by hysteria in 1942, into and incident that has been described as 'our worst wartime mistake.' I have referenced to the mass military evacuation of 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, regardless of citizenship, age, or sex from their homes into interior interment camps.
It was not until the Immigration Act of 1965 that barriers against Japanese immigration were effectively lifted, allowing the Japanese an equal path with other nationalities to citizenship and, thereby, putting to rest 175-years of laws that served to legitimize prejudice within our immigration policies.
It is of no coincidence that the Immigration Act of 1965 coincided with the Civil Rights and Votings Rights Acts of 1964-65, which afforded, after some 250 years, equal rights of citizenship to blacks. But as any white supremacist could tell you, it's one thing to make a law; it's another to enforce it. There continue to be in this country certain elements that work, like rust, to undermine the rights of non-whites. Harry Dent picked up the cause for white supremacist politicians in 1964, passing the torch to Lee Atwater in the 1980s, then to Karl Rove. Today, this same torch is being carried by Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachmann and, by virtue of their silence on the matter, by the entire Republican Party, who are exploiting old fears to further political agendas — stoking fear, hatred and, potentially, violence in the process.
To borrow from the words that came back to haunt Roosevelt, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." It is this fear that ultimately led to the internment camps, and it is this fear — not the existence of the U.S. census — that could ultimately doom us, as a country, to repeat old history.
* * * * *
America's history with race and immigration is infinitely complex. I can no more do justice to this history in five or six paragraphs than Bachman, Beck, Limbaugh or Dobbs can lend in the various one-liners they broadcast over the airwaves each day, their dire predictions designed to raise ratings and political capital, entirely at the expense of the people they terrify and the victims who pay the price of this terror.
Henchmen to Road Rage? To a Lynching?
To date, we don't know. But the fact that we are even asking these questions speaks volumes about the fears that have been cavalierly tossed about and taken root over the past year or so.
This is how history repeats itself — by the perpetuation of old fears and old ignorance. It has taken me several hours to track down the facts and write them here for public consumption to set the record straight on just a tiny fraction of the irresponsible disinformation that it took Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann just a few minutes to broadcast to a national audience.
That's the thing about terror. It clutches at peoples' hearts, entirely by-passing their minds, propelling them into survival mode. They'll do whatever it takes to protect themselves from the enemy, the bogeyman. These terrified folk don't ask questions. They believe what their politicians tell them. They believe what they hear on the TV box. They believe, with all their hearts, that the government is, in the words of Glenn Beck, out to "destroy our wonderful country and threaten to wipe away our God gifted liberties." Too, there are a certain percentage who may know better, but are, indeed, acting on old hatreds.
From there, all it takes is a small spark. Perhaps an angry man in a pick-up truck who, seeing my Obama bumper sticker, rushes up behind my car on a rural road in South Carolina, threatening to rear-end my car, then nearly side-swipes me as he tries to run me off the road. Or, perhaps, a simple knock on the door by a census worker. That's all it would take to incite the sort of rage that would compel men to murder complete strangers or to, perhaps, lynch a Boy Scout leader, a cancer survivor, a teacher, a single father to a son.
Whether or not the truth of the latter is fact or fear is a question that has yet to be answered. But it is a question that more and more American face each day — from the President, to members of Congress, to ordinary citizens like myself. It is a terrifying question, to be sure — one that no one should ever, ever again have to ask in this country. Yet, there are some in this country who would doom us to repeat it.
Again, it's not too late. We can still make that U-turn before something truly horrible happens if, indeed, it hasn't already.
VIDEO ABOVE: Michele Bachmann's approach to stopping health care reform: "We have to today make a covenant, slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass."
VIDEO ABOVE: The Young Turks show broadcast on some of Michele Bachmann's more bizarre statements, including her "slit our wrists" covenant, from the previous video.
by Mantis Katz for the canarypapers


text:
When Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote ��Tis better to have loved and lost/ Than never to have loved at all,� he obviously never heard of Linkin Park.
Last time out on the band�s nihilistic, near-missed, nu-metal masterpiece �A Thousand Suns,� Linkin Park�s singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda were singing, rapping, screeching and screaming about the end of days.
This time out, the rap-metal pioneers from Agoura Hills, Calif., (which also features guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave �Phoenix� Farrell, drummer Rob Bourdon and turntablist Joseph Hahn) are singing, screeching and screaming about the end of a dysfunctional relationship with a no-good woman (in the nu-metal universe, is there any other kind?) and make parting with such sweet sorrow sound like the end of humanity as we know it.
Alas, Linkin Park have loved and lost, like the most of us. But, unlike mere mortals, their romantic bellyaching and bile-spewing tirades are overly inflated to Biblical proportions. It�s a broken heart for Pete�s sake, not an outbreak of boils, an infestation of frogs or swarms of locusts.
An unhealthy relationship festers into something ugly and unholy on the leadoff track, �Lost in the Echo.� Shinoda once offered unconditional love and devotion to the object of his affection (and/or infliction) until he realized that he was being played. He confronts his toxic, two-timing torturer-temptress the only way he knows, by boasting how cool he is. Shinoda snaps, �I don�t hold back. I hold my own/I can�t be mapped. I can�t be cloned/I can�t C-flat. It ain�t my tone/I can�t fall back. I came too far.� While the self-serving raps and screaming demon chorus (courtesy of the usual choirboy sounding Bennington) are enough to do the trick, the sputtering synths, staccato guitars and ricocheting backbeats collide to form the foundation for this unflinching primal scream therapy set to music.
Sifting through the wrecking of his recent dating disaster, Bennington does an inventory on the irreversible damage and lingering phantom pain on the provocative, pity-party power ballad, �In My Remains.� Serenading his serrated heart with the accompaniment of dirge-like synth chords that devour everything in its unsuspected path, Bennington comes up with the unsettling mantra, �Now in my remains/Are promises that never came/Set this silence free/To wash away the worst of me.� With a military, rat-tat-tat drum roll, Shinoda suggests that the broken-hearted (at least, in Linkin Park�s case) have a kinship with grunt soldiers that are unmercifully mowed down in battle. Heavy-handedness aside, �In My Remains� unfolds like an exquisite, eternal struggle for one�s sanity and one�s sense of self.
Bennington and Shinoda want to break the cycle by adding fuel to the fire on the album�s by-the-number assault on one�s senses, �Burn It to the Ground.� The official anthem of this year�s NBA playoffs (what the Linkin Park guys� personal hell has to do with playing hoop, other than strategic commercial placement, is anybody�s guess), �Burn It to the Ground� has a built-in, fist-pumping but brain-numbing chorus that might put couch potato sports enthusiasts into a tizzy but, as a whole, the blaring synth chords, whip-cracking electronica beats and the fire-breathing sentiment is not confrontational or combustible enough to make it truly work.
Linkin Park sets out to �show ya exactly how the breaking point sounds� on �Lies, Greed, Misery.� Alongside sputtering synths that sounds like they�re being played by an organist at a hockey game suffering a seizure, a hellbent Bennington unleashes blood-curdling screams, as well as the stinging sentiment �I want to see you choke on your lies/Swallow up your greed/Suffer all alone in your misery�You did it to yourself.� Who needs a Hallmark card when you can unleash the fury of hell?
Bennington makes his long overdue exit from his unhealthy, abusive relation on �I�ll Be Gone.� Shrouded in crunchy guitars, crashing drums and cascading strings (the latter courtesy of Arcade Fire�s arranger Owen Pallett), Bennington bemoans, �When the lights go out and we open our eyes/Out there in the silence, I�ll be gone/I�ll be gone.� Don�t let the door hit your backside on the way out.
�Castle of Glass,� Linkin Park�s haphazard stab at alt-country, features Shinoda trying to sing, rather than rap (bad move) and a cumbersome, over-extended metaphor about �a crack in this castle of glass.� First, Shinoda, who doesn�t do the sniffling wimp well, wrestles with a bad case of Ed Kowalczyk envy, singing about such Live staples as having one�s souls cleansed and becoming whole again at the riverbed, before suffering with a bout of Icarus envy, flying to the heavens but sounding like a moron who fell to earth.
Linkin Park finally goes for the jugular on the venomous revenge opus �Victimized.� While Shinoda is singing about snakes in the grass, Bennington goes all screamo, unleashing his inner-Trent Reznor with throat-shredding vocals that are enough to send shivers down your spine.
Shinoda unleashes a trash-talking tirade that produces more giggles than goose pimples on �Until It Breaks.� Busting out rhymes with the finesse of a bull in a china shop (and make as much sense as why a bull would be in a china shop in the first place), Shinoda delivers such inane drivel as, �You ain�t got a sliver of a chance/I get iller. I deliver while you quiver in your pants� and, my personal favorite, �I don�t run the track. No I make the track run.� Well, now there�s a useless super-power if I�ve ever heard one.
Bennington, who can sing, comes in near the tail-end, pontificating about a rising sun, kingdom come and how �the body bends until it breaks and sings again no more� which, in this case, couldn�t come soon enough.


text:
Tumblr beat out Facebook in a recent survey of what teenagers use online.
Inspired by Branch co-founder Josh Miller's recent post about how his 15-year-old sister uses the Internet, Y Combinator partner Garry Tan surveyed a bunch of teenagers and young adults to find out which services they use regularly.
With help from YC-backed Survata, Tan surveyed a total of 1,038 people from two different groups: people aged 13-18, and 19-25.
He asked them to report how often they use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Snapchat.
Surprisingly enough, Tumblr is actually the most used site among all respondents. Tumblr is a blogging platform that lets users post things like text, images, videos, links, and audio.
But as Miller wrote, teenagers seem to be using Tumblr mostly to look at photos from celebrities.
In addition to teenagers, investors have also shown quite a bit of interest in the microblogging site. Tumblr has raised $126 million to date and is currently valued at $800 million.
After feeling pressure from investors to turn the site into a real business, Tumblr flipped the switch on its first true monetization effort last year and generated $13 million in a matter of months.
But Tumblr still has a long road ahead, Jeff Bercovici at Forbes recently wrote. That's because it needs to be able to show that its hockey-stick growth will continue.
Tumblr has tens of millions of registered users who have created 86 million blogs, which drive about 18 billion page views per month. After Tumblr raised its last funding round, its traffic doubled.
Teenagers, and investors alike, have also recently shown interest in Snapchat. Snapchat is the mobile app that lets you take self-destructing photos, and is the newest of all the services in the survey.
Given Snapchat's explosive growth and news of the app raising $8 million from the same firm that backed Instagram, it was obviously worth asking about.
Here's what Tan found:
- Tumblr is the most used site. 59% of all respondents reported using Tumblr regularly, while only 54% reported using Facebook regularly.
- Facebook is still doing well among kids. 55% of those aged 13-18 reported using the social network regularly.
- Snapchat appeals more to the younger generation, with 13% of those aged 13-18 reporting using it regularly.
- Only 4% of respondents aged 19-25 reported using Snapchat regularly.
Head on over to Tan's blog to read more about the survey.
Get the latest Snap stock price here.


text:
Tribesmen on the loose! A bunch of clueless Viking raiders have stranded on a group of tropical islands - much to the annoyance of the local Natives. Help the tribesmen settle their disputes in this fast paced realtime strategy game.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


text:
Post-Soviet corruption and a lot of natural resources have led to an enormous amount of unrecorded and untaxed economic activity in Russia.
Just how large the underground economy is was identified in a report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI).
As you can see in the chart below, Russia's underground economy blows away other major countries in terms of the size of the underground economy relative to GDP. Even Italy, where the Mafia became the largest bank in January 2012, doesn't come close to the shadiness-relative-to-GDP of the Kremlin.
A closer look at Russia reveals that its underground economy — fed largely by oil and gas kickbacks — keeps growing, topping out at 19 trillion rubles ($630 billion) in 2011:
The report concludes that the "massive illicit flows from Russia and how they both drive and are driven by its huge underground economy are symptomatic of weak overall governance," adding that implementing the recommended policy measures should be "the highest priority by the Russian Government."
Given Russia's glut of natural resources and how much President Vladimir Putin has benefitted from the current system, it doesn't seem likely that curbing the underground economy will become Moscow's highest priority anytime soon.