text:
Bill Shakespeare, Bill Shatner and Patrick Stewart
The official Star Trek Convention will take place this month in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's a special event in that it's the forty-fifth anniversary of the first episode of Star Trek. The guest appearances make up a pretty formidable list of stars, far too long to honour all the celebrities who will participate, but some of the big names are Leonard Nimoy (Mr Spock), Michelle Nichols (Lt Uhuru), George Takei (Mr Sulu), Walter Koenig (Mr Chekov), Brent Spiner (Data), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), and who could forget the beautiful nurse of the classic series, Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney?
There is a notable English actor among them. David Warner is a distinguished Shakespearean actor with a celebrated performance as Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1965, and many other Shakespearean roles.
But the prime spot is reserved for two special guests on August 13 who will be appearing together. Captain Kirk will meet Captain Picard to reminisce about being star ship captains. But there is more that William Shatner and Patrick Stewart have in common. How many of you know that, long before you first saw Canadian actor, William Shatner on screen in the Canadian Howdy Doody Show he had appeared in several Shakespeare plays on stage? As a trained Shakespearian actor he cut his teeth on Shakespeare. Then he landed the role of Captain James Kirk. Some may say that was the beginning of Shatner but some will say that it was the end of him because after Star Trek his acting career became difficult: he had by that time become thoroughly type-cast. I remember once in the seventies, at the cinema, watching a cowboy movie, one of the baddies was Leonard Nimoy. When he appeared a ripple went round the audience. 'That's Mr Spock' everyone told everyone else. To see him without his Vulcan ears and his lack of emotion was too much for me. I was far too distracted to take his outlaw character seriously. That. I fear, is what's happened to Bill Shatner.
Patrick Stewart is one of the most famous English actors. He will be best known to American audiences as Captain Picard, but he appears regularly on television in the UK, playing a range of roles, usually in dramas by the classical writers, including writers like spy story writer John le Carre. He has played scores of Shakespeare roles and is currently performing at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, England, as Shylock in Shakespeare's controversial play, The Merchant of Venice.
If you tune in to television transmissions from Las Vegas, there they will be, together. I wonder whether, as they reminisce about playing star ship captains, they will mention Shakespeare, the writer who has been so good to both of them, at all?


text:
Move Your Money
As another bank bonus season begins, it can be enraging to see powerful banks, most of which have slowed or stopped lending, reward themselves with six-, seven-, and eight-figure sums.
A few friends—including Rob Johnson, a former economist at the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Budget Committee; Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post; and filmmaker Eugene Jarecki—were having dinner and got to talking about what could be done to "help end the era of Too Big To Fail." They reminded one another they could pull their money out of Wall Street banks and deposit it into community banks. Recalling Frank Capra's classic film "It's a Wonderful Life," Jarecki made a video drawing comparisons between the classic film and our banking options.
"Community banks are typically more conservative about how they manage their money, they're more closely connected to the people and businesses who live near them, and they're more inclined to make loans they know will get paid back. In other words, they have the values that more people would want banks to have," the friends explain on the Move Your Money website.
The site includes information and a search engine about finding and researching community banks and credit unions.
Move Your Money serves the dual purpose of sending a message to big banks while supporting local financial institutions—a strong, pragmatic response to the era of powerful banks.
Interested? Find out more about or check out YES! Magazine's special issue .

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
skippy's tuesday nite music club
Labels: comedians, hanukkah, holiday, skippy's music club, things that make you go hmmmm
former obama budget director, peter orzsag
citigroup inc., recovering from its $45 billion bailout in 2008, is in advanced talks to hire former white house budget director peter orszag, people with knowledge of the matter said.
so...really. where's that change in washington? really...come on. this isn't good for the country.orszag, 41, may take a job in the new york-based firm's investment-banking division, the people said, declining to be identified because the discussions are private. an announcement may come as early as today, one of the people said. - bloomberg
Labels: banking, lobbyists, revolving door, wall street
mister moose
here's singer nataly dawn doing her version of the 50's standard mr. sandman (while jack conte, the drummer-now-keyboardist...acts goofy)
pomplamoose - mr. sandman
her deadpan delivery, along w/the simple home-made (yet highly professional) approach to their videos, make them a big online seller (100,000 songs in 2009).
w/guest ryan lerman on lead guitar
deja news
who would have guessed it would be joe scarborough that stands up to sarah palin?
joe gandelman sees the gop as the blue bloods vs. the hot bloods
2nd federal judge holds obamacare is constitutional
go ahead, gop....
rep. gary ackerman of new york, a veteran liberal representing brooklyn, just issued a scary/hilarious dare to the conservative incoming house leaders who are "pledging" to repeal all of the federal health reform.
he's filing a series of bills during the lame duck session of congress, each intended to repeal a popular and consumer-protective portion of the federal patient protection act. the repeals will collectively be called the hipa-crit act.
"this will be the big chance for republicans to do what they've vowed to do," said ackerman. "these bills will be their chance to at long last restore liberty and repeal the evil monster they've dubbed 'obamacare.'"
...the first volley of hipa-crit is a bill, hr 6454, to repeal the ban on retroactive cancellation of health insurance policies when patients fall seriously ill, a practice known as rescission.
other bills will propose reinstating insurers' right to deny coverage to adults and children because of pre-existing conditions, removing the prohibition on annual and lifetime coverage caps and canceling a requirement that allows children to remain on the policies of their parents until age 26. - consumer watchdog
Labels: congress, gop, healthcare, new york, right hypocrisy
this 'n that
sign the petition: tell the fcc to stop comcast from blocking netflix
the good ol' days: army court-martialed jackie robinson for not moving to the back of the bus
good ammunition for debating: the dummies' guide to climate science
and here's david zucker's inside look @ leslie nielsen
tweet of the day
lol! #toserveman rt @smendler: seti newsconference:"good news & bad news. good news: we are not alone. the bad news: we are tasty."
Labels: tweet of the day, tweets, twitter, ufo
Monday, November 29, 2010
skippy's monday nite music club
Labels: movies, music, passing, skippy's music club, star wars
to honour the late leslie nielsen
[playing chess] tanya peters: what are you doing?
lt. frank drebin (nielsen): oh! i was, uh, just conjugating my next move.
peters: your bishop's exposed.
drebin: it's these pants.
tweet of the day
this trip to chuck e cheese just confirms it: i am the motherfucking king of whack-a-mole!
Labels: tweet of the day, tweets, twitter
no environmental oversights
in the name of job creation and clean energy, the obama administration has doled out billions of dollars in stimulus money to some of the nation's biggest polluters and granted them sweeping exemptions from the most basic form of environmental oversight, a center for public integrity investigation has found.
the administration has awarded more than 179,000 "categorical exclusions" to stimulus projects funded by federal agencies, freeing those projects from review under the national environmental policy act, or nepa. coal-burning utilities like westar energy and duke energy, chemical manufacturer dupont, and ethanol maker didion milling are among the firms with histories of serious environmental violations that have won blanket nepa exemptions. - tuscon sentinal
the republican propaganda channel
fox news is helping a former republican congressman spread the myth that president barack obama was born in kenya.
appearing on fox news monday, john leboutillier explained that his new fictional book uses "real things" like obama's grandmother once claimed she was present for his kenyan birth.
..."once again, the book is fiction," doocy pointed out.
"or is it?" leboutillier added.
"i think it's both," kilmeade concluded. - raw story
Labels: faux news, liars, propaganda
death of american dream
well today for a span of at least this one daily kos diary, you will get to see what the american plutocrat owned media never wants you to see, and that is how europe in particular and the world in general has come to see america as a country in decline, whose people are so badly misinformed by the media, they actually don't realize that america is the only major industrialized nation in the world that by right of law does not offer universal medical access, paid sick leave, paid maternity leave and paid annual leave. it just seems almost impossible to get that word out to the american people. even diaries on that subject at the kos top out at just over 2,000 views. let's please remember the purpose of the plutocrat owned commercial media isn't so much to inform us but rather to sell commercial advertising space.
therefore this diary today will try to do something different. It will show you what the european media is saying about the american dream and you will be shocked! - democrats ramshield's diary at daily kos
Labels: america, daily kos, europe, healthcare, unemployment
the media = lapdogs to authority
...the mainstream media in the uk are serial offenders. newspapers that have no compunction about invasions of privacy or about shrill comment devote precious little time or energy to challenging authority through rigorous investigative journalism. most political "scoops" are merely stories planted by politicians on pliant lobby hacks. editors and senior journalists are habitually invited into mi5 and mi6 for briefings. these are affable occasions, often over lunch. there is no harm in that. what tends to happen, however, is that journalists are tickled pink by the attention. they love being invited to the "d-notice" committee to discuss how they can all behave "responsibly". it makes them feel important. many suspend their critical faculties as a result.
far from being "feral beasts", to use tony blair's phrase, the british media are overly respectful of authority. newspapers and broadcasters tend to be suspicious of those who do not play the game, people like mr assange who are awkward outsiders. some editors are quite happy to help the authorities in their denunciations of him, partly out of revenge for not being in his inner circle.
...once this latest flurry is over, prepare for the backlash. mr assange's industrial-scale leaking may lead to legislation in a number of countries that makes whistle-blowing harder than it already is. Perhaps the most curious aspect of the wikileaks revelations is not that they have happened, but it took someone as mercurial as mr assange to be the conduit. rather than throwing stones, newspapers should be asking themselves why they did not have the wherewithal to hold truth to power. - the independent
Labels: multi-millionaire media, wikileaks
rip leslie nielsen
true movie and sci-fi geeks will recognize leslie as the star of forbidden planet, as well as from his appearances in a myriad of forgettable roles in various unremarkable films in the 50's, 60' and 70's. nytimes:
in the 1960s and '70s, as his hair turned white and he became an even more distinguished figure, mr. nielsen played serious military men, government leaders and even a mob boss, appearing in crime dramas, westerns and the occasional horror movie.
then, in a low-budget, big-money-making the 1980 disaster-movie parody "airplane!" he was cast as a clueless doctor on board a possibly doomed jetliner. critics and audiences alike praised his deadpan comic delivery, and his career was reborn.
"airplane!" was followed by a television series, "police squad" (1982), from the film's director-writers. it lasted only six episodes, but mr. nielsen, his goofy character, lt. frank drebin, and the creators went on to three successful feature-film spinoffs.
the first, "the naked gun: from the files of police squad" (1988), was followed by "the naked gun 2 ½: the smell of fear" (1991) and "the naked gun 33 13: the final insult" (1994), whose cast included priscilla presley, o. j. simpson and anna nicole smith.
other filmmakers cast mr. nielsen in a variety of comedies, including "repossessed" (1990), an "exorcist" spoof with linda blair; "dracula: dead and loving it" (1995); "spy hard" (1996); and "2001: a space travesty" (2000).
none were received as well as the "naked gun" films, but mr. nielsen found a new continuing role as the paranoid, out-of-control president of the united states in "scary movie 3" (2003) and "scary movie 4" (2006).
addendum: from the comments section @ the gawker remembrance for leslie, some more of his greatest hits:
rest in peace, leslie nielsen. surely you're at peace now.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
skippy's sunday nite music club
for a little inside info on the historic television show, i love lucy, i highly recommend you listen to kurt anderson's 360 show on it. very interesting. (told you i was catching up on my podcasts.)
Labels: music, skippy's music club
stuff n' nonsense
both warren buffet and bill gates say don't extend bush tax cuts for the wealthy
copenhagen planning bike superhighways
and the twitter debate over abstinence only is happily resolved
the ship of state is leaking
the cache of cables contains specific allegations of corruption and against foreign leaders, as well as harsh criticism by us embassy staff of their host governments, from tiny islands in the caribbean to china and russia.
the material includes a reference to vladimir putin as an "alpha-dog", hamid karzai as being "driven by paranoia" and angela merkel allegedly "avoids risk and is rarely creative". there is also a comparison between mahmoud ahmadinejad and adolf hitler. - the guardian
the cables, a huge sampling of the daily traffic between the state department and some 270 embassies and consulates, amount to a secret chronicle of the united states' relations with the world in an age of war and terrorism. - nytimes
never before in history has a superpower lost control of such vast amounts of such sensitive information -- data that can help paint a picture of the foundation upon which us foreign policy is built. never before has the trust america's partners have in the country been as badly shaken. now, their own personal views and policy recommendations have been made public -- as have america's true views of them. - der spiegel
Labels: afghanistan, england, germany, internets, Iran, wikileaks
environmental news stories sunday
houston, oil capital, takes steps toward green. - houston, the nation's fourth-largest city and the sprawling capital of the oil industry, has recently embarked on a variety of green initiatives. houston is transforming itself into an electric-car hub, a national leader in wind-power investment and an advocate for energy efficiency - austin texas tribune
rain runoff crawls with bacteria; work to limit the sources. - we need to cut the amount of harmful bacteria that make their way to our creeks and streams. this means trying to cut down on pollution from sidewalks, roads, trash containers, and other exposed surfaces. reducing these non-point source of pollution requires personal responsibility. - ventura county star
perils of firefighting linger long after the blazes are out. - numerous studies have shown that firefighters have higher rates of cancer and other health problems, and at least one study has found that the highest cancer risk of all is testicular cancer - long beach press telegram
california recyclers find market for toxic trash. - five years after california launched an ambitious effort to control pollution from electronic waste, much of its e-waste is being shipped overseas, where it is contributing to a legacy of pollution and disease that would not be tolerated in this state - sacramento bee
lake invaders may be killing birds. - the hunt is on in the upper reaches of lake michigan to count what's believed to be thousands of bird carcasses that have washed ashore this fall — a staggering toll blamed on the disruptive powers of invasive species that have taken root in the great lakes - chicago tribune
atlantic ocean sharks get new protections. - international delegates saturday adopted new protections for seven species of shark in the atlantic ocean but rejected restrictions for bluefin tuna and swordfish, leaving the future of some of the world's most imperiled marine predators uncertain - washington post
when new hurricane protection levees settle, u.s. won't have to help pay repair costs. - congress will no longer require the federal government to help pay the cost of raising new hurricane levees when they subside, a rule change that flood managers in louisiana argue could make it impossible to properly maintain the new system now being built - nola times picayune
billionaire louis bacon battles to protect his ranch from big utilities' solar-power plans.
reclusive billionaire louis moore bacon is emerging from the shadows in a southern colorado showdown over solar-power transmission lines - denver post
bat genocide. - bats are crucial to ecosystems—devouring insects, dispersing seeds, and pollinating flowers. but in the u.s. an insidious new enemy, a fungus, is causing massive die-offs - national geographic magazine
a billion people will lose their homes due to climate change, says report. - devastating changes to sea levels, rainfall, water supplies, weather systems and crop yields are increasingly likely before the end of the century, scientists will warn tomorrow - london observer
an attack on the local food movement? - is the food safety modernization act now being debated in the Senate the death knell for vermont's family farms, farmer's markets, farm stands, csas and even your home garden? It depends on who you talk to - brattleboro reformer
Labels: animals, california, ecology, energy, environment, farmers, food safety, great lakes, houston, michigan, solar, texas, toxins, water
Saturday, November 27, 2010
morning in blogtopia**
gulf seafood petroleum residue double what fda deems acceptable
man charged w/resisting arrest by covering his head while cops beat him
copies of george w. bush's new book "mysteriously" finding their way into the "true crime" section of bookstores all over the world
** yes! we coined that phrase!
Friday, November 26, 2010
note to faux channel
Best, Christmas, Song, Ever...
Labels: music
don't touch my junk
barack obama - don't touch my junk
black friday fracas
and now a word from the gop: "sabotage"
sarah palin's bizarre view of obesity
obama gains ground w/independents
Thursday, November 25, 2010
skippy's thursday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
tweet of the day
it's not really thanksgiving until an uncle shows the rest of the family an after dinner slide show of his time at fantasy fest.
Labels: holiday, tweet of the day, tweets, twitter
after-tryptophan tidbits
steve cooley concedes, welcome new cal. att. general kamala harris for a 100% dem sweep of statewide offices!
insurance industry plotted to smear michael moore's 'sicko'
is this like evil spock?
thanksgiving miscellany
here's some things that progressives are thankful for this year
actor mark ruffalo put on terror watch list for anti-drilling activism
you may disagree w/the order, and that some have been left off, but you'll love salon's top 30 political hacks
happy turkey day!
Pilgrim the Turkey
Originally uploaded by santa barbarian
"but obviously, we've got to stand with our north korean allies." - sarah the 1/2 term governor. full time nimrod.
Labels: idiocy, palin, tea baggers, things that make you go hmmmm, turkey
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Because I'm Tired of This Guy...
I am sorry, but it had to be said...
Labels: it is what it is, pop culture
melech ben krim
Labels: music
the democratic state of california
Labels: california, politics
kindle in the wind: american zen
american zen is a 150,000+ word, 429 page (or 626 kilobyte) mash note to rock and roll, the culmination of the last 30 years of my life employing personal experiences, actual conversations as well as characters based on people i've known over the past three decades. it also struck me that very few good american novels are told from a liberal, progressive perspective while many are written from the conservative point of view. i thought it was high time someone changed that. if you're a fellow liberal, i suspect you've felt the same way.
it tackles issues such as gay rights, religion, political and corporate corruption, the overhyped consumerism that's supplanted american culture and, at its deepest level, the means by which how each of us seek meaning and salvation in our lives. american zen is what i call a dramatic ensemble piece featuring characters so real you can practically see and hear them.
mad about airline passengers
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
skippy's tuesday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
palin loses popular vote again!
what's the difference between zombies and palinites? at least after eating, the zombies have brains
Question of the Day...
guess who wants to host saturday night live?
first it was the katy perry video. then it was the clever old spice spoof and the delightful video celebrating african american hair.
sesame street has had quite a year and is showing the world that its children's program still has legs.
its latest publicity stunt is a youtube video featuring cookie monster auditioning for "saturday night live," and it's actually quite funny.
...sesame street is serious about cookie monster's wish to host "snl," and they've created a facebook page called cookie monster should host saturday night live - sfgate
stuff n' nonsense
david niewert, the best writer in blotopia (and yes, we coined that phrase), reports on the symbiotic relationship between the tea party and far-right extremists
despite considering a run in 2012, sarah palin can't give concrete answers as to what she'd do as president
also: sarah palin's alaska ratings plummet
various n' sundry
drugs reduce hiv among gay men by 44%
where's that gop mandate? poll shows majority of americans want health care kept and/or expanded
10 epic failures of the bush tax cuts
this 'n that
midterm miscellany
sen. franklin wants an anti-trust probe of the comcast deal
cartoons are truth-tellers?
and o'reilly responds
talkleft voted for jennifer and dereck!
republicans don't want to protect consumers
republican reps. spencer bachus of alabama, the leading contender to take the reins of the house financial services committee, and illinois rep. judy biggert, the top republican on the panel's oversight and investigations subcommittee, sent letters to the inspectors general of both the treasury department and the federal reserve, directing them to conduct an investigation into the work being done to establish the new bureau. - wsj
Labels: consumerism, republicans, wall street
Monday, November 22, 2010
skippy's monday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
november 22, 1963
Labels: jfk
another one bites the dust
nobody is safe.
velma hart, who burst onto the media scene after telling president obama she was scared about her financial future, has been laid off. hart was let go as the chief financial officer for am vets, a nonprofit maryland-based veteran services organization.- wapo
good luck, velma in searching for your next opportunity. i'd hire you.
Labels: economy, jobs, unemployment
wall street, good god, ugh, what is it good for?
Labels: financial markets, greed, wall street
political google
aside from many commentors pointing out that the searches may not be benign or supportive in nature (ie, "sarah palin + nude"), and that nate's hypothesis leaves out the searches for "barack obama" altogether, commentor kyrol makes an interesting point:
while governor palin is polling very well in iowa and new hampshire, we should not ignore the devil's continued strength in the other early states: nevada and south carolina. the devil is polling particularly well among spanish speakers (enjoying a 5-1 margin) and younger voters (more than 20-1 in hilton head, sc). if the devil can mobilize these voters, governor palin will have a real race on her hands.
sarah palin ------ the devil -----
seriously, nate, if we based our political choices on internet searches, this would be our next president:
come to think of it, that may not be so bad!
there will be blood
the fact is that one of our two great political parties has made it clear that it has no interest in making america governable, unless it's doing the governing. and that party now controls one house of congress, which means that the country will not, in fact, be governable without that party's cooperation — cooperation that won't be forthcoming.
elite opinion has been slow to recognize this reality. thus on the same day that mr. simpson rejoiced in the prospect of chaos, ben bernanke, the federal reserve chairman, appealed for help in confronting mass unemployment. he asked for "a fiscal program that combines near-term measures to enhance growth with strong, confidence-inducing steps to reduce longer-term structural deficits."
my immediate thought was, why not ask for a pony, too? after all, the g.o.p. isn't interested in helping the economy as long as a democrat is in the white house. indeed, far from being willing to help mr. bernanke's efforts, republicans are trying to bully the fed itself into giving up completely on trying to reduce unemployment. - nytimes.
this is political and class warfare as we have never quite seen it before. this time, with folks from the g.o.p. screaming for "2nd amendment remedies", there might be more than rhetorical blood being shed.
Labels: class warfare, gop, krugman, politicians, politics, unemployment
Copyedit of the Day, Software Development Edition
Apparently, Proposition 19 came early to software development in general and IBM's Rational suite in particular:
An object is a thing, an entity, a noun, something you can pick up or kick, anything you can imagine that has its own identity. Some objects are living, some aren't. Examples from the real world include a car, a person, a house, a table, a dog, a pot plant, a check book or a raincoat.
-- Mike O'Docherty, Object-Oriented Analysis and Design: Understanding System Development with UML 2.0, pp. 13-14.
This doesn't quite rival Gary Becker's declaration that wives need to be drugged for a household to run properly, but it does make it easier to understand why they're called "objects." Though whether this is the way for Silicon Valley to maintain its competitive advantage is left as an exercise.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
skippy's sunday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
stuff n' nonsense
warren buffet asks: please raise my taxes
ronald reagan (and sarah palin) speaks out against medicare
find the foreclosures in your neighborhood
happy 6th blogiversary, bryan
thank you. here's to at minimum, 6 more.
Labels: bloggers, blogiversary
jobs and murdoch preparing ipad only daily newspaper
a choice? unemployment benefits or tax cuts for the rich
10 year old boy catches thief via twitter
environmental news story sunday
precious natural resource may soon run dry. - the prospect of south africa losing up to 80% of its fresh water supply in the next few years because of rising levels of pollution has given a wake-up call to government agencies and the public - johannesburg mail & guardian
dwindling water supplies hurt rice yields in asia, irri says. - dwindling water supplies in asia are hurting rice production causing widespread food security concerns, according to the international rice research institute. - manilla bulletin
great lakes in jeopardy. - recently, the u.s.-canadian governmental body overseeing the great lakes said it is concerned enough about dropping lake levels that it is looking at engineering options to offset the loss - detroit news
environmental disaster hits eastern syria. - the ancient inezi tribe of syria reared camels in the sandswept lands north of the euphrates river from the time of the prophet mohammad. now water shortages have consigned that way of life to distant memory. drought in the past five years has also killed 85 percent of livestock in eastern syria, the inezis' ancestral land - reuters
none flew over the cuckoo's nest: a world without birds. - could we be facing a future without birds? according to some researchers, the threat of ddt has been superseded by a relatively new class of insecticide, known as the neonicotinoids - london independent
u.s.-backed pesticide spraying in guatemala draws fire. - for most of three decades, the u.s. has financed massive aerial spraying of pesticides over a large part of guatemala in an attempt to eradicate the mediterranean fruit fly, but common precautions to limit exposure to the toxic chemicals are not being followed - scripps howard
rainwater catchment workshops helping county residents seize the storms. - when rain falls onto roofs, thousands of gallons of water surge through downspouts, down streets and storm drains, and into the ocean. then people pay thousands of dollars to buy gallon after gallon of water to irrigate their lawns and landscapes. - santa cruz sentinel
climate bill's death ends carbon credit program. - programs that paid farmers for not tilling their land and taking other carbon-conserving measures are shutting down with the death of a climate bill that would have imposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions - de moines register
arnold schwarzenegger, us politician. - he always said he would be back. now arnold schwarzenegger, the governor of california, has revealed he is set to make an imminent return to us politics after his term of office in the sunshine (sic. "golden") state ends next year - edinburg scotsman
dire messages about global warming can backfire. - dire or emotionally charged warnings about the consequences of global warming can backfire if presented too negatively, making people less amenable to reducing their carbon footprint, according to new research from the university of california, berkeley. - spx
blue ribbon commission on america's energy future co-chair brent scowcroft says reprocessing nuclear waste is on the table. - for the first time since the 1970's, the united states is seriously considering reprocessing nuclear fuel to deal with its growing nuclear waste problem - washington dc bureau
groups say pollution fees are too low. - some environmental groups are asking gov. bobby jindal to increase the fees industries pay to emit air pollution, saying the fees are too low - thibodaux daily comet
golden state prepares to flush out toxic barstow water. - golden state water company has identified and shut down wells in barstow that show unsafe levels of perchlorate, a toxic chemical used in rockets, fireworks, explosives and matches. but it is still asking residents not to drink tap water until the system can be flushed and tested. - barstow desert dispatch
Labels: africa, bees, california, climate change, drought, ecology, environment, food shortages, global warming, governator, great lakes, michigan, nuclear power, pesticide, pollution, toxins, water
Saturday, November 20, 2010
this thanksgiving could get expensive
....the transportation security administration (tsa) is warning that any would-be commercial airline passenger who enters an airport checkpoint and then refuses to undergo the method of inspection designated by tsa will not be allowed to fly and also will not be permitted to simply leave the airport.
that person will have to remain on the premises to be questioned by the tsa and possibly by local law enforcement. anyone refusing faces fines up to $11,000 and possible arrest. - sun sentinel
Labels: airlines, holiday, transportation
the left eats itself
however, something has to account for a sudden rash of circular firing squads on the left as of late.
the biggest surprise, of course, is that peter daou is suing arianna huffington. now, we are all for suing arianna huffington, a bigger dilettante you will not find. but peter says the huffington post was his idea:
• we presented our ideas at the meeting in arianna's living room - ken and arianna have claimed on numerous occasions that they "hatched" the idea for the huffington post at a december 3, 2004 meeting in arianna's brentwood home. but arianna had a transcript made and she circulated it. it shows that ken did not say a single word at that meeting and arianna moderated. only peter spoke forcefully at the meeting about the internet and the need to create a new online strategy for democrats, based on the plans we had for the website.
• we had an agreement to work together - starting in november 2004, we had a series of meetings, conversations and email exchanges with ken and arianna, and we all agreed to build the site together. as late as december 22, 2004, we were sharing full plans, with budgets, staffing and other details, with them. they simply took our ideas, our concepts and our agreement to work on the site together and used them to raise money to do the site without us, failing to live up to their part of the joint venture. we have documents and emails reflecting this course of events.
• we were friends with arianna, and that is how we approached her - of all the attendees at the december 3 meeting, the only one actually staying at arianna's house was james. in the years before and after arianna supposedly 'rejected' working with us, she was very happy to take our posts, links, contributions, suggestions, and guidance, and to praise us profusely privately and publicly. we have numerous such emails and communications.
(also, we wonder if peter is going to take credit for the idea of not paying the writers of huffpo? genius!)
otherwhere, and on a lesser scale, balloon juice, the militant centrists of blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase, seems to be eating itself.
firstly, it was radley balko of reason magazine blog vs. balloon juice. then ed kain, the conservative front-pager @ bj, commented on radley's blog that he was "ombudsman" of bj.
the less conservative writers of bj, dougj and anne laurie, took offense.
ed kain tried to backpedal, saying he didn't mean "ombudsman" as much as "loyal opposition" or something. then, like a high school drama queen, he said he'd take his ball and go home. cole said no.
we like reading balloon juice on a regualr basis. we do think, however, that they are militantly superior in their own minds to almost everybody else, left and right, in blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase. this sometimes makes reading that blog a less than pleasant experience.
example: we enjoy the passion of firedoglake, but we don't recommend it (the passion, not the blog) for ourselves on a regular basis. hey, we have high blood pressure already. however, balloon juice sees fdl as childish anarchists w/nothing to contribute to the national discourse. that attitude on bj's part is not only extreme and unproductive, but condescending.
personally, we take the road that leads to "everybody's got their own opinion, and if we all listen hard enough, we might actually learn something from each other."
we wish the writers at balloon juice would calm down and take this approach more.
but they still have great pictures of pets!
update: at least we made john cole laugh!
this 'n that
this article enumerates specific reasons outlining that which we have always maintained: there were more factors bigger than ralph nader at work in the election of 2000
thousands march in london against afghan war
leave it to scotland: scottish scientists discover how to run cars on whiskey
Friday, November 19, 2010
skippy's friday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
a charlotte-area flight attendant and cancer survivor contacted wbtv after she says she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a pat-down. - wbtv
Labels: airlines, cancer, homeland security
u.s. in vast insider trading probe
federal authorities, capping a three-year investigation, are preparing insider-trading charges that could ensnare consultants, investment bankers, hedge-fund and mutual-fund traders and analysts across the nation, according to people familiar with the matter.
...in another aspect of the probes, prosecutors and regulators are examining whether goldman sachs group inc. bankers leaked information about transactions, including health-care mergers, in ways that benefited certain investors, the people say- wsj
Labels: financial markets, goldman sachs, investigations, lawlessness, wall street
stuff n' nonsense
telling it like it is: former clinton advisor jami floyd called sarah palin an "extraordinary ass"
joe miller sues to stop lisa murkowski from winning alaska election
dems send letter asking gop congressjerks to give up their govt-provided health care
(thx & a tip o'the kangaroo tail to io9 for the link!)
name that agency!
total sexual assault?
touch stuff agency?
put your suggestions in comments - winner gets a free radioactive scatter scan
Labels: airlines, big brother
Thursday, November 18, 2010
skippy's thursday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
tweet of the day
Labels: food safety, tweets, twitter
kibbles n' bits
loser (to the tea party) repubbb bob inglis blasts gop for climate denial
gop sues over ballots in undecided minnesota gov. race
lisa murkowski declares victory
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
skippy's wednesday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
while the rest of america suffers
despite a long and deep recession, the collective personal wealth of congressional members increased by more than 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a study released wednesday by the center for responsive politics.. - cnbc
speaking of npr
house republicans announced wednesday they plan to force a floor vote on defunding npr in response to the firing of analyst juan williams last month. - the hill
Labels: congress, faux news, hate mongering, npr, radio
they won by demonizing government subsidized healthcare
"if your conference wants to deny millions of americans affordable health care, your members should walk that walk," four democrats write in the letter, which is addressed to senate republican leader mitch mcconnell and house republican leader john boehner. "you cannot enroll in the very kind of coverage that you want for yourselves, and then turn around and deny it to americans who don't happen to be members of congress." - cbs
Labels: congress, healthcare, right hypocrisy
podcasts i have known...or rather heard
a couple recent of note.
fresh air - terry gross interviews keith richards on his new book, "life"
in an interview on fresh air, richards recounts how he woke up just long enough to record the famous opening riff of "satisfaction" on a cassette player he'd placed next to his bed.interviews with the filmmaker of client 9, the rise and fall of eliot spitzer.
fresh air with dave davies.
"it's hard to imagine that he didn't think he would get caught in some way," gibney tells fresh air's dave davies. "he knew very clearly that he had some very, very powerful enemies who wanted him to fall — and [paying for sex] was courting danger in the most extreme way possible."
the filmmaker thinks spitzer underestimated the power of his enemies. "he had no friends," gibney says. "his style was so combative."with guy raz.democracy now's amy goodman interviews john le carre.
in this rare us interview, le carré also discusses tony blair's role in the iraq war, us policy toward iran, and international money laundering.
Labels: internets, iraq war, movies, music, npr, podcasts, spitzer, writing
morning in blogtopia
gotta laff: willow palin's facebook homophobic slurs
lisa murkowski leads joe miller by more than 10,000 votes
mad about tsa pat downs
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
skippy's tuesday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
senator kyl
hey. president obama. they don't want to work with you. they want you to fail. they want you out of "their house." they will not work with you on anything. period.
a key republican senator cast doubt tuesday on the obama administration's chances of passing the nuclear treaty with russia during the lame duck session of congress.
....french ambassador pierre vimont recently said that after he and other diplomats reported back to europe about the possibility of congressional opposition to the treaty, "people ask us, 'have you been drinking?'"
the world simply doesn't understand how hysterically ridiculous the republican party of the 21st century has become. why would american lawmakers reject a treaty that benefits america? the notion that a legislature would hate their president more than they love their country just doesn't seem plausible. - washington monthly
Labels: foreign policy, gop, mental illness, nuclear weapons, obama, republicans, russia
Labels: california, politics
Monday, November 15, 2010
skippy's music club
Labels: horses, ireland, music, skippy's music club, youtube
tweet of the day
obama and dems - grow some - do not cave to the craven republicans - their goal is to sink us for their shear power.
Labels: democrats, food safety, obama, tweet of the day, tweets, twitter
another casualty of the worldwide economic downturn
thousands of homeless horses now run wild across ireland - another consequence of the economic recession as the animals are abandoned by owners who can no longer afford their upkeep.
animal welfare organizations such as the dublin society for the protection of animals say the problem can only be solved by a mass national cull.
ireland has the highest horse population per capita in europe and an estimated 20,000 horses could now be ownerless.
..."they face a winter of starvation and in those circumstances sadly the only humane solution is to put those animals down. it is better that they are culled than left to starve to death which is shameful given ireland's reputation for breeding and loving horses." - irish times
it's my tea party and i'll cry if i want to
only those lobbyists who have attended a weekend seminar with deepak chopra will be allowed to influence political policy.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
skippy's sunday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
happy 10 years
environmental news story sunday
for energy chief, race is on to find fuel alternatives. - it isn't easy to foster innovation or choose economic winners; many policymakers say government shouldn't even try and that there are better ways to create jobs. but president obama, egged on by chu and others, thinks that money can lay the seeds for a more competitive, energy-efficient economy. - nytimes
investigation shows elevated levels of lead in grocery bags. - publix officials will revamp their lineup of re-usable grocery bags sold in their stores after a tampa tribune investigation found elevated levels of lead in material of some bags - tampa tribune
protecting abundant water. - when nestle announced plans to tap and bottle underground water in western michigan, many residents became worried, and decided to act. there's now a growing movement to turn michigan's groundwater into a public trust...owned by state residents - living on earth
as glaciers melt, scientists seek new data on rising seas. -scientists long believed that the collapse of the gigantic ice sheets in greenland and antarctica would take thousands of years. but researchers have recently been startled to see big changes unfold in both greenland and antarctica. many scientists now say that sea level is likely to rise perhaps three feet by 2100-- and the rise could exceed six feet. - nytimes
uc santa cruz scientists find toxic algae in open ocean. - once thought to be a problem plaguing only the coast, causing fisheries closures and wildlife deaths, recent research shows that open sea algae populations also occasionally bloom into toxic soup. and the toxicity explodes when iron is added. unfortunately, adding iron is one plan to combat climate change - santa cruz sentinel
ocean waves getting bigger, and stronger. - a small band of pilots braves often-treacherous conditions to guide ships across the columbia river bar. the pilots also confirm what marine scientists have just started talking about: ocean waves are becoming bigger and more powerful, and climate change could be the cause. - mcclatchy
pipeline companies may seek eminent domain. - jim rosenberg may look out on his 49.5 acres one day soon and see a natural gas company digging a 50-foot-wide marcellus shale pipeline through his property -- regardless of whether he approved of it. - pittsburgh post gazette
fantastic as plastic gets organic. - plantic technologies' cutting-edge bioplastic, also called plantic, is made from starch and is not only 100 per cent compostable but also completely dissolves in running water - melbourne age
as carbon market stumbles, other environmental markets succeed. - though the future of a u.s. carbon market now looks grim, other environmental markets are up and running, and attracting investor attention. acid-rain emissions, water rights, renewable energy certificates and energy efficiency certificates are all good examples of such specialized, yet fragmented micromarkets. - cnbc
vermont's environmentals look ahead with optimism. - the recent election left environmentalists around the country battered and dispirited, but in vermont they emerged with their agendas intact - and with optimism. vermont has a governor-elect who lists climate change as the state's biggest environmental challenge. - burlington free press
owls' clue to climate change. three years of excavation have recovered undisturbed bones representing what has been on the owls' menu for the last 13,000 years – helping researchers study how local ecology responded to past climate change, and how warming expected in the coming decades will affect great Basin animal communities - scripps howard news service
climate change worsens plight of iraqi farmers. frequent dust storms and scarce rains are stifling iraq's efforts to revive a farming sector hit by decades of war, sanctions and isolation - reuters
bottom lines: government offering new incentives for solar energy. - the department of housing and urban development announced tuesday that starting early next year, it will make available low-cost financing of as much as $25,000 for residential energy-efficiency improvements - atlantic city press
sacramento wants solar farm at site of former landfill. - the city of sacramento is in talks with german solar energy provider conergy projects inc. to develop a solar farm at the city's 28th Street landfill. - sacramento bee
what's up? roofs that help save energy. - when scott harris and sarah jack did a major renovation of their 1925 teaneck colonial in the summer of 2009, they kept the environment in mind — for example, choosing kitchen counters made of cement and recycled glass. - bergen country record
others may follow ge in buying electric-car fleets. - general electric co.'s move to buy as many as 25,000 rechargeable cars, almost half of them from general motors co., may herald more purchases of electric vehicles for corporate fleets - bloomberg news
kitty research could offer insight to gulf oil spill cleanup. - have you ever watched your kitty drink her milk, and wondered, "how does that work?" a team of scientists asked that question, and the answer could hold the key to clean-up efforts in the gulf. - marketplace
Labels: animals, cars, climate change, energy, environment, farmers, financial markets, general motors, global warming, gulf coast, iraq, ocean, oil, plastics, sacramento, science, solar, water
frank rich asks the question
"...that's a good question, all right, but it's not the question. the bigger issue is whether the country can afford the systemic damage being done by the ever-growing income inequality between the wealthiest americans and everyone else, whether poor, middle class or even rich. that burden is inflicted not just on the debt but on the very idea of america — our horatio alger faith in social mobility over plutocracy, our belief that our brand of can-do capitalism brings about innovation and growth, and our fundamental sense of fairness. incredibly, the top 1 percent of americans now have tax rates a third lower than the same top percentile had in 1970.
how can hedge-fund managers who are pulling down billions sometimes pay a lower tax rate than do their secretaries?" ask the political scientists jacob s. hacker (of yale) and paul pierson (university of california, berkeley) in their deservedly lauded new book, "winner-take-all politics." if you want to cry real tears about the american dream — as opposed to the self-canonizing tears of john boehner — read this book and weep. the authors' answer to that question and others amounts to a devastating indictment of both parties. - nytimes
as if we need another one
Saturday, November 13, 2010
skippy's saturday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
apparently, our financial overlords
g20: profound and complete disappointment for the us treasury
early friday i went through the g20 communique for the wall street journal; a marked up copy is available on-line.
it is hard to imagine how the summit could have gone any worse for the us treasury and the president. the spin machine is now working overtime – and you'll see big efforts to get more positive stories over the coming week – but on all fronts the outcome is very bad. - the baseline scenario
Labels: europe, financial markets, spin, treasury, wsj
tweet of the day
#teaparty publishes #gop's cell phone numbers http://bit.ly/bi1WQQ - we own u -
Labels: cell phones, gop, tea baggers, tweet of the day, twitter


text:
Tribe-Yanks shows changing face of offseason
CLEVELAND -- They arranged separate news conferences for Nick Swisher and Travis Hafner in the hours leading up to the Indians-Yankees series being played at Progressive Field this week. The New York media wanted to reflect on Swisher's four years with the Yanks, and the Cleveland media wanted to capture Hafner's thoughts on returning here after 10 seasons with the Tribe.
As early-season storylines go, these were hand delivered by the gods of cut and paste.
CLEVELAND -- They arranged separate news conferences for Nick Swisher and Travis Hafner in the hours leading up to the Indians-Yankees series being played at Progressive Field this week. The New York media wanted to reflect on Swisher's four years with the Yanks, and the Cleveland media wanted to capture Hafner's thoughts on returning here after 10 seasons with the Tribe.
As early-season storylines go, these were hand delivered by the gods of cut and paste.
This dual reunion, though, is interesting for reasons that extend beyond the reunions themselves. For the signings of these two sluggers tell us quite a bit about the direction of two distinctly different franchises and maybe even baseball, as a whole.
The Indians brought Swisher to Cleveland to become the franchise face they had struggled to draft and develop in-house. Swisher, almost frighteningly energetic and ebullient, has unsurprisingly embraced the task, enjoying his role as a centerpiece of the Tribe's marketing efforts and recognizing his responsibilities in the community at large (as evidenced by the hefty donation he formally delivered to a local charity, Providence House, before Monday's home opener).
"They've just treated me like a king over here," Swisher said.
The Yankees, meanwhile, brought Travis Hafner to the Bronx to be a cost-effective elder statesman in their star-studded -- but injury-ravaged -- lineup. The man known as Pronk, Swisher's polar opposite in terms of personality, has proven worthy of the investment in the early going, looking svelte and staying healthy enough to grip a bat and drive in six runs in his first seven games in pinstripes, including a four-RBI onslaught against the Indians on Monday.
"The franchise, the ballpark, having a chance to play with Hall of Famers and really good leaders," Hafner said of his decision to sign with the Yankees, "those were things I was really looking forward to."
Time was, the Yanks were the ones signing the studs of the free-agent class (Swisher received a four-year, $56 million guarantee and a vesting option for 2017), while the Indians were the ones desperately trying to squeeze just a little more toothpaste out of the tube, signing declining vets to relatively low-risk deals (Hafner signed a one-year, $2 million deal with incentives).
But this past offseason forced us to recalibrate our brains to baseball's new realities.
The chief reality here is that the Yankees have fundamentally adjusted their financial approach -- some would say necessarily. It's not just about avoiding the luxury tax, though that's obviously the No. 1 priority at play. The Yanks were hit with an $18.9 million luxury tax penalty by MLB at the end of 2012, and $189 million -- the luxury tax threshold for 2014-16 -- has become the backbone of every payroll decision general manager Brian Cashman and Co. make.
But it's no secret that Cashman has long sought an organization that doesn't abuse its robust revenue resources to the detriment of the development system or the 25-man roster at large. He fought against the massive extensions of Bernie Williams in 1998 and Alex Rodriguez in 2007, and he took the bold stance of publicly challenging Derek Jeter to find a better offer elsewhere when he knew the Yankees were the only serious bidder for Jeter's services in 2010. Had Robinson Cano remained engaged with Scott Boras, it's quite possible Cashman would have let one of the best players in baseball suit up elsewhere in 2014 -- a possibility that seems less likely now that Cano is affiliated with the Yankees-loving Jay-Z.
Granted, Cashman's hard line against outrageous expenditures hasn't affected the bottom line much. The Rodriguez extension happened, the Jeter contract happened, the Cano contract will probably happen. CC Sabathia took advantage of his opt-out clause in 2011 and made his huge contract even huger. A slew of Spring Training injuries prompted the Yanks to take on two years' and $14 million worth of Vernon Wells.
But if recent months are any indication, Cashman's desire to eventually turn the Yankees into an organization that does more with more, rather than spending frivolously on whatever shiny objects the market presents, is starting to become a reality, if only because of the punitive effects of the luxury tax. And this 2013 season -- a season that, to date, has been a barrage of bad news on the injury front -- is an awfully interesting test of the limits of the Yanks' mystique and the strength of the club's evaluative might.
Saddled as this Yankees roster is by the burden of backloaded contracts, 2013 could be an uphill struggle all the way, unless guys like Hafner, Wells and Kevin Youkilis -- each of whom has gotten off to a strong start -- are as productive in July, August and September as they've been in early April.
The other reality at play here is that baseball's robust revenue streams, brought on in no small part by an influx of national television dollars, affords small-market clubs like the Indians the ability to at least take a swing at the free-agent market.
Now, understand, the old rule still applies to these clubs: More often than not, they have to overpay, and it's difficult to dispute that the Indians overpaid for the 32-year-old Swisher. Because that national money is spread evenly across the 30 teams, the less-desirable landing spots will have to pay a premium (or, in the Indians' case, incorporate Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer into the recruiting process to tug at Swisher's Ohio State heartstrings).
But as Indians club officials have told me, there is absolutely, positively no way the Swisher deal gets done without that TV-aided assistance that's arriving in 2014 and beyond. And because those dollars have their limits, it seems doubtful that the Indians will have the flexibility to be as impactful a presence on the open market in future winters as they were in the winter of 2012-13, when they reeled in both Swisher and Michael Bourn.
This is but one example among many in the game today, but the Swisher/Hafner dynamic is a tell-tale illustration of the business of baseball today. As I wrote last week, a free-agent market already fraught with risk is going to get thinner and thinner in the coming years. So the smartest (or luckiest) teams, be they big-market clubs like the Yankees or small-market clubs like the Indians, will have drafted and developed and extended enough in-house talent to need only finishing touches, not franchise faces, in the open market.
Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his columns and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince.


text:
Friday, 22 April 2011
A Scent by Issey Miyake
It comes in a chunky glass bottle, the design is simple, pure and modern.
It contains notes of verbena, hyacinth, jasmine and galbanum. On initial application I found this quite sharp, my husband has used quite a few Issey Miyake scents and says you always need to let them dry down for about 20 minutes before you get the true scent. I waited the 20 minutes and it settled down into a fresh, crisp,very grassy scent with floral and woody hints.
I think this is a clean, lightweight fragrance suited well for the spring/summer months however its just not me. For reference my favourite fragrances are Jo Malone Blue Agava & Cacao, Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche and Jimmy Choo.
This fragrance is currently on offer at Escentual.com, with over 45% off the RRP of the 30, 50 and 100ml sizes
Disclaimer: This was sent to me for free for review purposes.
8 comments:
I love the bottle!ReplyDelete
The scent sounds lovely
I could not get on with this either as after the initial sharp smell (which lasted longer than I would have expected) it fades to almost nothing. Because the dry down took so long I wouldn't have wanted to keep refreshing either. I'm sure this would smell great if you have the right body chemistry but I don't think this is a suits everyone kind of perfume.ReplyDelete
Jane x
I have never heard of a scent "drying down" before. Very interesting!ReplyDelete
Like Vintage Makeup above, I love the bottle. However, I'm not really into fresh scents. I much prefer something a little bit headier -my Mediterranean heritage no doubt lol.ReplyDelete
Have a lovely Easter with your beautiful family my dear!
Nina x
Hi Vintage Makeup,ReplyDelete
I really like the design of it as well, seems to stand out from the normal ones.
Hi Jane,
I know what you mean, I have been spraying myself with it this Easter break but its not a perfume I'd wear to work x
Hi AKB,
I've learnt not to base my thoughts on the initial spray as the perfume seems to always change after a while :)
Hi Nina,
Yes, I think the scents I go for are a bit more full on. I hope you are having a lovely Easter break too x
This sounds like one I may investigate as I like scents that are on the fresh side- Have you ever tried the Philosophy scents (AG and PG) I enjoy those and don't get a migraine from them. I wonder how this would compare? Thanks for the HONEST review! Happy Easter! x jeanieReplyDelete
Hm, I keep reading reviews of this scent and am a bit intrigued. Might give it a 'sniff' next time I'm in Debenhams Or HOF or wherever :-)ReplyDelete
I'm a scentaholic, so always interested in EVERY new fragrance
Hi Jeanie,ReplyDelete
I have had both of those Philosophy ones and would say this one is very different, its a lot more green,grassy if that makes sense, one to try before buying I think x
Hello Miss A,
LOL at scentaholic ;) It is worth a sniff, I'd say its grown on me but still isn't my typical type of scent :)


text:
Teen took life after comments, father says
JERSEYVILLE - Police are investigating the apparent suicide of a 15-year-old boy who became distraught, his father said, after a woman revealed that he had been accused of sexual abuse when he was 10 years old.
"As far as I'm concerned, she killed him," said Ollie "Junior" Price, 62, of Jerseyville, the father of Daniel C. Price, 15.
"We are looking into it and checking any comments that might have been made," Jerseyville Police Chief Brad Blackorby said.
The father said the boy was processed through the juvenile court system at age 10 and had received two years of counseling. Lately, he had no troubles with other people and got along well with fellow students.
Price said he was a single parent and raised the boy from birth. The boy's mother was absent because of personal problems, he said.
Price said the record of his son's past was supposed to be sealed, because he was a juvenile at the time of the offense. The offense involved a minor act, the father said.
However, during a recent martial arts class that the teen was attending, a woman - a parent - came in and blurted out something about the incident five years before, Price said. He said the woman apparently showed a newspaper article and a photo, although he did not know more.
"When he came out of there, he was shaking like a leaf. He told me, 'Dad, I can't go back there; I can't go to school,'" Price said.
The class was at the city's Susnig Recreation Center, but its director, Angie Sullivan, said the instructor was renting the space from the city. The center personnel had no involvement in the class, and it was entirely under the control of the instructor. He had been renting the space for about 15 months, she said.
The instructor, Dave Beiermann, said he didn't witness any such incident. He said he has not been able to track down any information about who might have said something about the boy's past. He said he has talked to the police about the matter and has done some checking on his own as to who might have made a comment.
He said he was distraught that rumors are circulating to the effect that an instructor had revealed something, but he is the instructor, and he insists that simply is not true.
"This absolutely bothers me," Beiermann said.
He noted that the boy seemed listless and tired during Thursday night's class. Daniel Price did not act like himself, and he told others that he had not slept for two nights, the instructor said.
Beiermann said he has been told a lot of conflicting stories about what happened, including the contention that the information was exchanged at school.
Jersey School District Superintendent Ed Settles said the rumors that bullying occurred at school are untrue, as far as he and his staff have been able to determine.
He said officials are distraught over the loss of a student, and they have had meetings on the subject and are making counseling available to students and staff.
"It is with great sadness that one of our students is no longer with us," Settles said. "There has been much speculation and numerous rumors regarding our loss.
"Upon an internal and external investigation, there is no evidence that this tragic event was caused by bullying.
"We have a student that was loved by all around him and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends," Settles said in a prepared statement.
Price said he urged his child to keep going to school, but the boy insisted he would not. He said he didn't care what happened, he was not going back to school, Price said in an interview Monday. He said his son made good grades, but his grades fell because he was having trouble adjusting to high school.
Price said his son used an old "goose gun," a shotgun, to take his life. It had been around the house for some time, "gathering dust," he said. The boy knew about guns because they often would go hunting together.
"I was just sorry I had to walk in and find him," the father said.
Daniel Price was a freshman at Jersey Community High School. He was a member of the football and track teams.
A woman whose family was close to the teenager, and who asked not to be named, said "Danny" was like a member of her family, because he was close friends with the children.
"He was with us a lot. We even hung a stocking for him at Christmas," the woman said.
"He was one of us. You couldn't ask for a nicer kid," she said, although she acknowledged he had a "troubled childhood."
Price liked lifting weights and karate.
"He was particularly excited about beginning his driver's education courses at the school," his obituary read.
"He was a beautiful kid," the father said in the interview.


text:
Apple Approves 500,000 Apps...and counting
To celebrate Apple (unofficially) reaching the 500,000 apps milestone, 148Apps, Chillingo and Chomp got together to create an infographic. The 500,000 Apps infographic uses a cool blend of visual styles to explore the history of Apple's App Store.
Early this morning, Apple approved app number 500,000. For that, we salute the hard working developers and the enthusiastic community of app seekers (you!).
Because Chomp wouldn't be here without all of these glorious apps plus our amazing community of app seekers, we've put together an infographic highlighting an array of app milestones along the way, including apps you've loved since the beginning.
Pie chart, timeline, bar chart, area chart, doughnut chart, stacked area chart and plain old BIG NUMBERS combine together to tell the story of the Apple App Store.
I'm disappointed that the data sources aren't listed on the infographics. That opens up the discussion to challenge the numbers and the validity of the overall infographic.
Cool design by Stefanie Kraus (@stefaniekraus)
Three cheers for Team Chomp member, Stefanie, who is responsible for 'beautifying' all of the 150+ data points into what is now being dubbed the longest (and most stunning) infographic you may ever see.
Don't worry Stefanie, I've seen LONGER infographics…
Found on The Unofficial Apple Weblog


text:
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You don't need to be a fashionista to be on trend, foodies can enjoy the trendy life, too. After all, even vegetables go in and out of style. And this year, there really is something for everyone. Whether you're a health nut, cooking kid-friendly, or have a major sweet tooth there is a trend for you! Here are six of the most delicious food trends of 2014. Which one are you going to try?
Savory Yogurts: Greek yogurt has been on trend for awhile now, but while most of us are still eating ours with honey or strawberries, the new way to eat yogurt is in a savory dish. Try these savory yogurt parfaits layered with raisins, chickpeas, grated cucumber, yogurt mixed with mint, and topped with walnuts from betacyanin.
Cauliflower: Call this the vegetable of the year! It's showing up everywhere. It even appeared at many Super Bowl parties coated in buffalo sauce as a chicken wing substitute. Cauliflower is a versatile vegetable that can be substituted for a healthier version of many of your favorite foods – like this cauliflower pizza crust from ifoodreal. Gluten-free, low carb, and seriously delicious!
Ancient Grains: Ancient grains continue to take center stage. Make it your goal to try a new one every month. If you're new to the ancient grain game, we recommend starting off with the very palatable quinoa. After you mastered that, you can move on to other grains and start substituting them into the foods you love like this Slow Cooker Mushroom Barley Risotto (sans rice).
Non-Wheat Noodles: This trend isn't just about gluten-free noodles that can pass off as traditional pasta. It's about varieties like sweet potato noodles, which take a radical departure from what we associate with pasta. Use a spiralizer or a mandolin to "pastify" your sweet potatoes. If you don't have this special equipment on hand, you can use a vegetable peeler to make fettuccine style noodles. Blanch them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. They'll taste great with tomato sauce but if you want to try something special, we like this Kale Pesto recipe from Gourmande In the Kitchen.
Middle Eastern Flavors: There's no better way to spice up dinnertime than to infuse it with Middle Eastern flavors. Try these Middle Easter Chicken and Couscous Wraps with Goat Cheese. They're loaded with flavors and textures like pistachios, sun-dried tomatoes, cinnamon, olives, and tahini. The beauty of wraps is you can play around with the recipe, add what sounds good to you, what's in the pantry and it's sure to be delicious.
Ice Cream Sandwiches: What's the sweet treat of the year? Gourmet ice cream sandwiches. The beauty of this trend is there is so much room for creativity. Of course, you can't go wrong with the traditional cookies and ice cream, but think beyond that. Sandwich your ice cream between brownies, donuts, graham crackers, or our personal favorite, waffles!


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Wardrobe Staples Women Must Have among Their Clothing Items
There are some items that you absolutely need ready and waiting in your closet. These make up the basis of your wardrobe; they're the must haves, no matter what your style — the wardrobe essentials. To be considered a wardrobe essential, an article of clothing has to have several important attributes:
It must be versatile. This is the most important quality of an essential piece of clothing. One key factor in versatility is color. Because wardrobe essentials have to go with lots of other clothing, they tend to be monochromatic and neutral in color. They also must work with different outfits. A blazer that you can pair with a skirt, pants, or a pair of jeans is a good example.
It has to be of good, perhaps even exceptional, quality. A wardrobe essential makes a statement, and anyone looking should be able to tell that it's top shelf. High quality also means that it wears well — very important for a garment that you'll rely on again and again.
It should be in a classic style. You don't want your wardrobe essentials to ever really go out of fashion.
It must be a 10. These garments, like everything in your closet, should have all the qualities of a 10, and because they form the basis of your stylish wardrobe, it's okay to spend a little more for these than you would other, less essential, items.
A lot of wardrobe must-have items are black. Black garments offer many pluses: No one knows how often you wear them. Stains are difficult, if not impossible, to see. The color is flattering on every person and every body type. And with a black basic, you're free to add color in other areas of your outfit and have fun with prints or great accessories.
Little black dress (LBD)
Ah, the little black dress. It should be sexy, yet sophisticated. It should be well-made and fit like a glove. It should hide your flaws and accentuate your attributes. It can go from day (wear it to the office with a cardigan or blazer and a set of pearls and leather pumps) to night (take off the blazer or cardigan and add some makeup, jewelry, and heels).
Choose a LBD in the style that suits you, makes you feel comfortable, and looks most like you. It can be sleeveless, have cap sleeves, or have 3/4-length sleeves. It can have a V-neck, boat neck, crew neck, or square neck. It can be knee-length, a little longer, a little shorter, or miniskirt length. The LBD is both universal and individual at the same time. Find one that makes you feel fabulous and make the investment because this is one piece that really gives you your money's worth!
Black blazer
The black blazer is key in your wardrobe. Because it's black, it goes with virtually everything. You can change the look just by changing the accessories.
Although it doesn't need to be ridiculously expensive or high-end, the blazer does need to fit you perfectly and work with your body type. If you want to appear taller or longer, choose a blazer that's longer. If you want to accentuate your beautiful waistline, make sure it's fitted in the waist area. Also make sure it's current. Avoid one that looks like something from the 80s — oversized with enormous shoulder pads.
You can wear a single-breasted blazer comfortably and fashionably either open or closed, and you have the option of wearing it over dresses or skirts, as well as pants.
Don't be afraid to make the blazer your own: Add a favorite pin to the lapel if you want to jazz it up when the occasion calls for it. A black blazer doesn't have to be boring. Again, it's a basic that you can build your outfit around.
Crisp, white button-down shirt
The white button-down shirt should fit you well. At first glance, your white shirt may look no different than the one your husband or boyfriend wears under his suits, but yours is made and cut specifically for a woman. It should be flattering and accentuate your best features.
You can wear a white shirt on its own, tucked in or out, under a sweater, under a jacket, or as part of a suit. Keep the following things in mind as you decide on your white shirt:
Style: The more expensive shirts look a little dressier and need to be pressed (otherwise, they look messy), but if you're buying only one, a dressier shirt is the way to go because it's more versatile. If you have a great waist, buy a fitted shirt; if not, buy one that is cut straight.
Less fancy shirts are also an option if you're planning to wear the shirt only as casual dress. This type is good with jeans or tied at the waist over a bikini, for example. These shirts aren't as structured and don't need to be pressed.
Material: Whether dressy or more casual, the white shirt is generally made of cotton. If you can, go for combed cotton, which means that longer fibers were used; these fibers are stronger and give the material a more luxurious appearance.
Many shirts designed for office wear are made of cotton in an oxford weave. Although a comfortable type of cotton, these types of shirts don't wear as well, and tend to pill at the collar and cuffs. Cotton broadcloth is sturdier and resists soiling.
Construction: Because your collar is usually at eye level, make sure it's sewn properly. Women's button-down shirts don't generally have actual buttons on the collar that button down to the shirt, so make sure there are no puckers in the material and that it lays flat.
Black trousers
A pair of high-quality, flat front, black trousers are a necessity in every wardrobe. Stay away from pleats because they only accentuate an area that no one really needs accentuating! If you can buy only one pair of trousers, select a length that matches the heel height you most commonly wear. And choose a lightweight wool that will work in summer or winter.
If you can buy another pair of trousers, ivory is great to have (even in the winter). Winter white is a refreshing change in the darker months, and it shows that you have style and are daring enough to let everyone know it.
Knee-length black skirt
Every woman should have a knee-length black skirt that fits perfectly and gives her a slim appearance. The particular style is up to you (and what looks good on your body type): It can be a pencil skirt or an A-line skirt. So that it can go from season to season, look for one that's a lightweight wool.
Classic beige trench coat
The classic trench is a necessary staple because it never goes out of style and you can wear it in just about any season. If you stick to a classic trench coat, it will last you for years. When choosing a trench coat, follow these suggestions:
Make sure the coat fits in the shoulders. You don't want to be drowning in your coat. You should always be wearing your clothes; they should not be wearing you.
Choose a style and length that gives you the look you want. Decide whether you want it to cinch at the waist or be looser fit. A belted trench flatters your waistline in contrast to your shoulders and the overall volume of the coat itself.
If you plan to wear it over dresses and pants, make sure it's long enough that your dresses aren't sticking out the bottom. You can get away with a shorter trench if you are only going to wear it with pants or jeans.
Make sure the coat doesn't overwhelm you. If you're on the smaller side, pick a coat that's less busy, that is, has less going on with the pockets, lapels, buttons, and so on, and make sure it's single-breasted. If you're taller, you can carry off a more traditional looking double-breasted trench.
Black leather bag
A black leather bag is a perfect everywhere bag, a bag you can wear to work, to lunch, to dinner, and even shopping on the weekend. It goes with everything, and you'll feel comfortable using it with whatever color or prints you may be wearing. It should be medium-sized: large enough to hold whatever you need during the day but not so large that it looks awkward if you find yourself running straight out to dinner with it.
Quality blue jeans
Everyone should have a pair of favorite jeans — you know, the kind of jeans that make you feel sexy, pulled together, and comfortable. These jeans should be current in style, and the cut should be one that flatters your best assets. The great news is that nowadays jeans companies are making jeans to accommodate every body type. So figure out what your body type is, then pick the cut of your jeans accordingly. Some suggestions:
If you have great legs, you may want a pair of skinny jeans.
If you want to direct attention away from your waist area, choose a flared jean.
If you have a great waistline and want to draw attention to it, go for a pair of high-waisted jeans.
If you are only investing in one pair of jeans, go with dark denim. They are more slimming and more versatile. You can wear them totally casual during the day, and you can dress them up for night.
Pair of black pumps
Black pumps go with everything, they won't get too dirty, and they can also go from day to night. If you can afford only one pair of black pumps, go with a dressier pair; shoes are generally easier to dress down than to dress up.
When buying shoes, make sure they're comfortable! Don't expect them to "break in." You're going to spend some money on them because shoes tend to cost a bit more, so make sure they fit right.
White and black cardigan sweaters
Cardigan sweaters are great for those times when you don't know what the weather will be like or if it's the middle of summer and you get stuck in a ridiculously cold air-conditioned restaurant or office. If you get warm, you can always throw the cardigan over your shoulders and tie around your neck, and if you're chilly, you can wear it.
If you can afford it, get your cardigans in a light cashmere. If you can't afford cashmere, a great cotton does the trick! Whether cotton or cashmere, a good-quality cardigan sweater should last a very long time.
Set of pearls
A set of pearls can be a beautiful accent to any outfit. They're perfect for the office and for a formal affair. Obviously, real pearls are expensive, so if you can borrow from Grandma — lucky you! If not, you can buy fakes. Just play around with them.
Pearls aren't just for those who prefer classic styles. There are many ways to wear them, and a long strand can be worn with a funkier outfit.
Diamond studs . . . or cubics!
You definitely don't want to leave your ears bare, and diamond studs go perfectly with everything. If you are heading to work in a suit and then out at night in jeans and a blouse, studs are the perfect complement. They're classy, and you can throw them on without worrying whether they go with what you're wearing because diamonds go with everything!
Don't have the money for genuine diamonds studs? Don't worry. Buy cubic zirconia instead; just keep them small.


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Best Seller
Volumizing mascara for fuller-looking lashes with a panoramic effect. The formula is also water resistant. The thick yet creamy texture applies easily and is buildable. The lashes are well defined and clump-free.
The improved formula has active ingredients that help nourish the lashes.
The new hourglass-shaped brush evenly distributes the texture. The brush's square ends reach the shortest lashes and those in the corners of the eyes. The innovative formula and brush together ensure extremely curly, volumized lashes with a panoramic effect.
The linear and modern packaging has been created exclusively for KIKO by the celebrity designer Makio Hasuike. Available in one colour.
Ophthalmologically tested.
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Volumizing with a panoramic effect. From roots to tips, the curled lashes are fuller-looking. The eyes have depth and take center stage. Excellent hold, water resistant.
Thanks to the special fiber wand, you can achieve perfectly sculpted lashes in just a few steps.
Using small, horizontal zigzag movements, run the mascara brush along the lashes until you achieve the desired effect. The volumizing effect is instant.
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Shipping times may vary depending on the service chosen. In the countries served by Swiss Post (Asendia) only, delivery takes an average of 6-7 working days (up to a maximum of 10) from the order being dispatched. In countries where the Skynet service is also available, the shipping time is 2-4 days after being dispatched by courier. More information
Purchases made on KIKO are secure and guaranteed. All information relating to payments, including personal information and credit card information, is protected through an advanced encrypted data transmission system. Under no circumstances will KIKO file your credit card number, nor will it use or keep the information you provided on its own systems.
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To use a promotional code, select "Have you got a promotional code?" on the shopping cart page and insert the characters indicated in the appropriate field. If your code is inserted correctly, the amount and/or content of the Shopping Cart will be recalculated based on the promotion applied.
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I was at the point of signing up my twins for the next available kids
yoga dance class. Fortunately, I looked at the general class calendar
and noted your hostility toward fat people before I made that mistake.
The suggestion that the point of exercise is to get rid of that "jelly
belly" or "lose that belly by belly dancing" rather than to increase
fitness is disturbing. You have assured me through your class
descriptions that my daughter would not be welcome in your classes.
Current nutrition and fitness research includes an approach known as
Health At Every Size (HAES). You might want to look into it if you
don't want to alienate potential customers.
Mary -------
A Letter to a Local DanceYoga Studio
I was at the point of signing up my twins for the next available kids
I am scared of what is happening to my body.
Of what is happening to me.
Despite getting up at 5:30 every other morning to work out, albeit at a pathetic half of my usual (is it really former already?) pace, I am making grocery decisions based on which store has the best motorized scooter carts. I'm in burning pain during workouts, exhausted afterward and sore the next day as if I'm pushing myself hard instead of slacking.
I'm getting tested for cancer and emphysema.
For months I've been struggling with thoughts that I am making a mountain out of a molehill and hence won't be believed. I'm over that now. There's really something wrong besides laziness or deconditioning or hypochondria. I wish I could go back to the comfort of doubting myself.


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sponsored by
CHRIS COYNE, agent - State Farm Insurance
into action for patients in need
Red Cross blood drive April 16
Send a link to a friend
10, 2014]
PEORIA — With the arrival
of spring come sunnier days, warmer temperatures and a chance at a fresh
start. The American Red Cross encourages eligible donors to make blood
donation part of their spring ritual and help support patients like
5-year-old Nathan Pennington.
"Nathan wouldn't be here without
lifesaving blood donors —
it's as simple as that," said Corey Pennington,
Nathan's father. "Our family will always be grateful to all the
blood donors who make sure patients like Nathan have the blood they
Make a difference this spring by
rolling up a sleeve for patients in need. Visit
www.redcrossblood.org or
call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to learn more and schedule an
Upcoming blood donation opportunity
in Logan County:
How to donate blood
Simply call 1-800-RED CROSS
(1-800-733-2767) or visit
www.redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or for more
information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply
for patients. A blood donor card or driver's license or two other
forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who
are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh
at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible
to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of
age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight
[to top of second
Facts and figures
The Red Cross must
collect about 15,000 pints of blood each day to
serve patients at approximately 2,700 hospitals and
transfusion centers.
Red blood cells have a
shelf life of only 42 days and platelets just five
Every two seconds, a
patient in the U.S. relies on the generosity of
blood donors.
The No. 1 reason
people give blood is because they "want to help
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Emergency Procedures
In the event of an emergency on campus, students, faculty and staff will be notified via the emergency alert system. Learn more about the alert system, and log in to ensure your contact information is correct at this link Click Here.
Fire, evacuation, hazmat, bomb
Evacuate building, leave lights on, shut office or classroom doors, move 100 feet away from building
Shelter in Place
All personnel move to designated shelter area. Security will check the building for total evacuation, and then man the doors. Maintenance shut down HVAC system and seal doors with plastic and duct tape.
The Code Orange team will respond to the paged area. Campus Police will then direct the team on appropriate procedures to follow.
Security, Campus Police, maintenance, and custodians report immediately to assigned exterior doors.


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BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Explosions and other violence in Iraq resulted in the deaths of at least 29 people Monday, with about 70 injured, security officials said.
The incidents were concentrated mainly in Babel and Diyala governorates, the Kuwaiti news service KUNA reported.
Security officials said police and armed forces were sent to help secure the areas where the violence occurred.


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floor vent
Author: linda frey
Date: 4/28/2008 3:53 pm EDT
i am installing a new floor in my laundry room. the only difficult cut i see is the floor vent. can you tell me the best way to make the cut and with what?
Author: Chris
Date: 4/28/2008 10:17 pm EDT
To make any curved or circular cuts an angle grinder with a dry cutting diamond blade designed for cutting porcelain will work well.
Author: Journeyman
Date: 4/29/2008 9:32 am EDT
Linda I'm reasonably sure your floor vent is not curved - they never are.
A right-angle grinder with a diamond blade would be the tool-of-choice for a professional installer but this isn't a tool a homeowner doing a one-time tile installation is likely to have available to them.
The floor vent would be easy enough to cut if more than one tile was involved because you can measure and mark your tiles and cut from the edges, your wet saw would do the trick.
IF, the required hole falls inside a tile and you can't cut from the edges you must "plunge-cut" with your saw. You would accurately mark your cut locations then (depending on the type of saw you are using) "carefully plunge" the blade into the tile or "carefully plunge" the tile into the saw blade. Either way will work.
Once you make your top-cuts to the corner marks for accuracy, you can then turn the tile over to complete the cuts into the corners. Cuts on the back of the tile can be slightly "over-cut" if need be to complete a cut.
The more you can cut with the saw, the less likely you are to crack the tile when finally removing the waste.
If this isn't clear to you say so and I'll try to clear it up for you.
If you require curved cuts, then that would be a floor vent cut requirement I have never seen, but it could be done.
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The brick and mortar store has faced many threats including mail order catalogs, telephone marketing and, more recently, Internet retailers, but now, the biggest threat could also be its savior.
The mobile handset is making m-commerce—as in mobile commerce—a reality, and unlike e-commerce, it isn't entirely about being tethered to a computer or about shopping online.
Because the phone can go to the store along with shoppers, the mobile phone as a tool for shopping actually has the potential to bridge traditional retail and digital retail in a way that couldn't have been otherwise possible.
"Mobile has that one piece that connects traditional retail with digital," says Michael Becker, North American Managing Director of the Mobile Marketing Association. He says that when it comes to mobile commerce, we need to step back and first think about its definition. "In the strictest sense, it is about the exchange of something of value with a mobile device."
Comparing, Deciding, Buying
Becker suggests that the exchange is not necessarily limited to a product for money. Mobile commerce could also be about allowing the consumer to make a more informed decision while shopping. While web-based commerce has already allowed for consumers to compare prices, read reviews and make informed purchases at their computer and thus before heading to the store, the mobile component allows shoppers to do all this while in a retail environment.
"This is what we call the scan and scram shopper," says Greg Gerard, Program Director for Retail Merchandise Strategies at IDC Retail Insights. "It is those who can find an item and compare by scanning and determine whether they're seeing if for less money."
Thus, they may even delay or forgo the purchase entirely, says Gerard, who notes that this shopping warrior class accounted for about 24 percent of last season holiday sales. And those numbers are only going to increase. According to recent IDC Retail Insight findings, these hyper-connected individuals will account for 28 percent or $127 billion of the $447 billion predicted that consumers will spend this holiday season.
Recent findings from Forrester Research confirm that consumers are looking to their handsets more and more while shopping, both with mobile websites and with retailer-specific shopping applications. According to the findings, six percent of U.S. consumers say they have used a mobile shopping app in the past three months.
"From a bricks and mortar perspective, the winners are those retailers that can create apps that drive users into the store and then engage them further."
Usage has risen as key retailers including Target, Best Buy, JCPenney, Apple and Barnes & Noble have launched dedicated mobile shopping apps. Additionally, during the last holiday season, 12 percent of U.S. adults also said that they plan to use their mobile phones to find or redeem coupon codes during their seasonal shopping.
These numbers will likely increase as smartphone adoption grows. While current numbers estimate that between 25 and 35 percent of adults have a smartphone, such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android device, this is also on the rise. And this trend is growing well beyond North America and Western Europe.
"Most people in the developed world will end up having smartphones over the next several years, and even those in the less developed world will have them sooner than many observers think," says Scott Ellison, Vice President of Mobile & Consumer Connected Platforms at research firm IDC.
"That is the thing with mobile, it always happens much faster than you think. Prices are dropping fast, competition among device vendors is intense, and people with smartphones frankly do spend more than those without it. The mystery is where do people get the money to buy state of the art devices in this economic climate, even in some of the poorest countries in the world."
Consumers and Retailers Benefit
The results of this adoption is that the biggest winners in all this could actually be the consumer.
"First and foremost, the primary winners are mobile users," says Ellison. "Information that is of value, that saves you time, or that saves you money is a good thing—and apps are becoming primary ways to deliver those values. There are already stories circulating of retailers beginning to put their own private barcode stickers over manufacturer packaging barcodes in order to prevent mobile users from comparison shopping while in the retailers' store."
Ellison adds that it is a potential win-win, as it serves the retailer as well, at least those that do it right.
"From a bricks and mortar perspective, the winners are those retailers that can create apps that drive users into the store and then engage them even further. A great example is Puma and their in-store iPad app that allows you to create your own shoe while looking at swatches of materials in your hand. That transforms the online ordering experience at home to one that a shopper wants to go to the store to do, and of course once in the store the cross-selling opportunities abound."
One question that remains is whether the smart money will be on the mobile websites or retail apps?
"It is going both ways," says Gerard. "We will likely see many retailers putting a mobile component on the front of their sites, and this would work with most mobile browsers on the three big platforms."
But Gerard says that the smart retailer may also hedge their bets.
"Web-based applications for retailers doing something attractive for a smartphone remains a chore for them." But, says Gerard, "those that have done it have done a good job."
He notes that watchmaker Fossil has kept the brand style and feeling intact as they bring the consumers experience to a smartphone. However, says Gerard mobile websites do have an advantage over apps.
"When you're creating a front-end for a browser you just have to do it once, but creating an app that lives on the smartphone has to be done at least three times, one for each of the major platforms."
Why Location-Based Techology is Crucial
What the apps do offer is something that brick and mortar stores also know, and that's it about three things: location, location, location. In this case, it is also location-based.
"Location is absolutely a key element of mobile commerce, and there are numerous ways that the two are being integrated," says David Diggs, vice president, wireless Internet development, CTIA-The Wireless Association.
"There are plenty of examples of location being coupled with social networking to locate friends. Some apps allow shoppers to hunt for nearby retailers that may have a better price or broader selection for a product they're considering."
Location could also play the role with the contextual experience says Becker, as this is increasingly true as consumers use their phones not just to make purchases, but in how to get to the brick and mortar locations.
"The mobile phone is a great device and becomes a remote control for local intent."
According to Forrester, 26 percent of consumers have already shown an interest in using their mobile phones to get directions from their current locations to a store, and location-based services allow customers to find the nearest stores and obtain driving directions.
This has resulted in a near-experience for users that has garnered the buzz word "geofenced," as in when a user comes within proximity of a retailer. The best practices say the experts would be for retail apps to remain permission based and let the consumer opt in for notifications and other information they may desire, but there are concerns this could result in potential spam.
"Information overload is definitely a risk," says Ellison. "But the great thing about apps is that if you don't like 'em, you just delete 'em. The apps that succeed are the ones that provide continuous value over time, good customer experiences, and don't overwhelm you with extraneous information."
The upside, or downside depending on your view, adds Becker is that this could result in even more personalized search and advertising, "Eric Schmidt of Google at Mobile World Congress noted that over time services will learn about consumers needs more than they know themselves."
And isn't knowing what the consumers want before they know it the ultimate dream of every retailer?
Watch CNBC's coverage of the 2011 CTIA Wireless convention on Tuesday, March 22 and Wednesday, March 23 from Orlando, Fla. Technology correspondent Jon Fortt will report live from the convention floor, Jim Cramer will host a special edition of "Mad Money" on Tuesday at 6pm ET, and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera will co-anchor "Power Lunch" from the event on Wednesday at 1pm ET.