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Poop, there it is: New test for exotic civet coffee
- The Asian palm civet is a small mammal native to Southeast Asia
- The omnivore eats coffee cherries and excretes beans
- More rigorous research is needed%2C experts say
Some coffee drinkers pooh-pooh the exotic and expensive coffee that comes from the Asian palm civet's poop, but it has become a tempting target for fraud. And there has been no standard test to determine whether products labeled as civet coffee, sold for $150-$227 a pound, are the real thing.
Now, scientists say they have developed a way to authenticate civet coffee, according to a study published online July 27 in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
The making of authentic civet coffee begins in fields in countries such as Indonesia, where the small mammals pick ripe coffee cherries. They digest the soft fruit surrounding the beans and excrete the beans, which are then cleaned, wet-fermented, sun-dried and roasted. The coffee is sold in stores in Southeast Asia and is available online.
Scientists have found what they call a "metabolic fingerprint" that allows them to verify "real Kopi Luwak" (Indonesian for "civet coffee") using metabolomics technology, Eiichiro Fukusaki, a corresponding author of the study, says in an e-mail. The unique chemical fingerprint reflects higher levels of citric acid and malic acid as well as a certain inositol/pyroglutamic acid ratio.
Metabolomics is research that focuses on metabolites, which are substances produced during metabolism (chemical processes such as digestion). A metabolic fingerprint consists of metabolites that can be detected by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.
Fukusaki, a professor in the biotechnology department at Osaka University in Japan, says the method of authenticating the coffee by its fingerprint could eventually be widely used, but technical improvements would first be needed.
Stanley Segall, a spokesman for the not-for-profit Institute of Food Technologists, a scientific society based in Chicago, says the study is a "very good beginning" but more research is needed.
"It's the first study of this type, and it's not clear to me that they were really rigorous in terms of sample selection," says Segall, who was not involved in the study. It would have been useful if they had compared two sets of coffee cherries from the same tree, with one passing through the civet and the other not going through the animal, to see if there was a fingerprint difference between the two treatments, he adds.
It would have been interesting to contrast the scientific analysis with cupping, or tasting, data, says Segall, professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Although some sellers claim that enzymes in the civet's stomach break down proteins in the beans, resulting in smoother coffee, Segall says it's open to question whether the animal's digestive process affects flavor.
A difference in taste may be more related to the selection of coffee cherries.
The civet picks the ripest coffee cherries because it wants to eat them, says Rocky Rhodes, president of International Coffee Consulting, based in Simi Valley, Calif. A low-paid farmworker who is having a bad day may not be as consistent in picking ripe cherries, he adds.
Using beans taken from the civet's feces is not associated with health concerns, he says. "If anything, I would say it would be less risky coffee health-wise, because I don't think the civet is going to consume anything that smells like bad fertilizer when it has lots of cherries to choose from."
Although the study found that civet coffee has higher concentrations of certain acids than conventional coffee, those components may not necessarily affect flavor, Rhodes says.
He has tasted several civet coffees, and says a coffee's flavor depends on the selection of coffee cherries and the handling of the coffee through various stages, including roasting.
The story behind civet coffee is what is appealing, he says. "The unique processing, rare nature and mystery of the coffee have been causing the price increase. There is the 'eww' factor for some people; there is the 'wow' factor for others."


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text: Karl Ouimette attends 2016 NJ Youth Soccer Presidents Cup; Six Champions Crowned Tweet Karl Ouimette and NJYS Presidents Cup Champions © New Jersey Youth Soccer's 2016 Presidents Cup concluded on Sunday, May 1 as Karl Ouimette of the New York Red Bulls was present to congratulate the winners. Six champions were crowned for boys and girls age groups U-15 to U-17 with the winners set to represent New Jersey in regional competition against out-of-state champions. Ouimette, a current Canadian National Team member, was on hand to congratulate the players on their achievements. "We had a similar state cup tournament growing up in Canada," said Ouimette. "It is great the players have an opportunity to compete against the best teams in the state for a chance to play the best teams regionally." The US Youth Soccer Presidents Cup is a national tournament designed to create a high-level competition for those looking to play against teams of similar abilities for a regional or national title. The 2016 NJ Youth Soccer Presidents Cup tournament was decided at Bordentown Friendship Field and concluded the statewide competition that included teams representing the U-15 to U-17 age groups. Winners of the NJYS Presidents Cup will now represent New Jersey in regional competition against other state champions. Winners in six age groups, three for girls and three for boys, were crowned representing teams and clubs throughout the state. "We are proud of these players' dedication," said Buddy Hart, NJYS Games Commissioner. "Their hard work and skilled play propelled their teams to the next level. New Jersey Youth Soccer looks forward to the seeing these champions represent New Jersey at the Region I competition." NJ Youth Soccer Presidents Cup Champions U-15 Girls Union SC Crimson Tide U-16 Girls Marlton Lightning U-17 Girls Union SC Lady Dragons U-15 Boys Kearney United Reds U-16 Boys Real NJ Atletico 99 U-17 Boys Cape Express SC 98/99 For more information on NJ Youth Soccer tournaments, visit NJyouthsoccer.com. Back to news


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Anime animals has been something of an interesting concept to draw because there is so many different creatures you can have fun drawing in anime style. Today, I chose to do a lesson on "how to draw an anime bat", step by step. Bats are amongst my favorite animals in the world. I know there are so many people that think that bats are gross, creepy, and straight out ugly. I do however share some of those views. I too think bats are creepy, but in a good way. The drawing in general is going to be moderately complex for novice artist, and somewhat easy for intermediate artist. I like how the finished drawing came out because it looks so much like your typical anime style animal. As you know bats come in all different sizes, and shapes. Speaking of which, did you know that there is actually a bat in existence that is smaller than two inches? It's true, the bat in question is from the Philippines, and it is called a Philippine bamboo bat. It weighs about one twentieth of an ounce, and measures in at one and a half inches in length. Pretty cool huh? Anyway, this lesson will show you how easy it can be to learn "how to draw a anime bat", step by step. All the instructions are easy to read, and the steps are drawn out to be simple to follow. I still have three more tutorials to submit, so stay alive and keep on drawing. Adios amigos, and have a happy drawing day!
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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MICHAEL SMERCONISH, GUEST HOST: Newt takes a tumble. Let`s play some HARDBALL. Good evening. I`m Michael Smerconish in New York, filling in for Chris Matthews, who`s taking a short break after his tour for his book, "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero." He`ll be back on Thursday. Leading off tonight: Down goes Newt. Roughly one week ago, Newt Gingrich looked like he was on his way to becoming the Iowa nominee. But two Iowa polls out today show Ron Paul -- yes, Ron Paul, leading, with Gingrich crashing. For that you can thank a week`s worth of negative advertising aimed squarely at Newt. And it won`t stop. This week the Romney campaign and PAC are expected to vastly outspend Gingrich in Iowa. Right now, Gingrich is paying the price for his disorganized campaign. Plus, Gingrich has a creative idea for what to do if a judge makes a decision that you don`t like. Ignore it, and if necessary, arrest the judge. It may not be constitutional, but it`s excellent politics on the right. Also, are we finally seeing the Republicans splintering into Tea Party and non-Tea Party factions? Hours after Senate Republicans agreed to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, House Republicans said, No way. Now even some in the GOP, like Senator Scott Brown, have had it with the Tea Partiers. And we`re learning more about what people at Penn State knew, when they knew it, and how little was done about evidence of serial sexual abuse of children. Finally, last week Michele Bachmann felt insulted by the way that Newt Gingrich treated her at the Fox debate. Let`s see how she feels about Ron Paul now that he`s said she hates Muslims. That`s in the "Sideshow." We start with the apparent collapse of Newt Gingrich in Iowa. Howard Fineman is an MSNBC political analyst and the Huffington Post Media Group editorial director. David Yepsen is a political columnist and the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. Howard, is this the continuation of what we`ve discussed previously of how this wave of support moved from Bachmann to Perry to Cain to Newt, and it just seems like continual discontent, or is this different? HOWARD FINEMAN, HUFFINGTON POST MEDIA GROUP, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it`s different because it`s more intense. I think Newt Gingrich being the famous guy that he is, the controversial guy that he is, excited great acclaim when he managed to survive the beginning of his campaign and became sort of the last man standing. But now he`s really in it. Talking to our people out in Iowa -- and I`m talking about John Ward, our lead reporter for HuffPost, and Todd Richardson, who`s the regional editor for our Patch local sites -- they`re telling me, first of all, that Newt is announcing this afternoon that he`s going to go on a 44-city and town bus tour for the last several days of the campaign. And I`m sure Dave Yepsen can affirm that when you head on a bus tour for 44 towns, that`s not necessarily a strong sign. Newt Gingrich has been pummeled, absolutely pummeled by at least $3 million or $4 million worth of negative advertising from independent PACs, from Ron Paul, and so forth. And what went up in Iowa seems to be really rather dramatically going down big-time, in a hurry. SMERCONISH: Well, David, let`s look at the numbers that Howard makes reference to. Newt Gingrich`s support in Iowa -- and you`re close to this -- is on a steep downward slide. This is the latest PPP poll and it`s got Ron Paul at 23 percent, Mitt Romney 20 percent, Newt at 14 percent. But two weeks ago, it was a different story. At that time, this poll had Ron Paul at 18 percent, Mitt Romney at 16, and Newt Gingrich leading at 27 percent. Meanwhile, the RealClearPolitics trend lines in Iowa from November 1st until today tell the story there. You`ve got Gingrich making a steady and steep climb until about December 11, and then his support drops off a cliff. At the start of November, Romney was in his low 20 percent comfort zone, and then he began a slide that didn`t turn around until early December. Now he`s back in the 20 percent range. And Ron Paul has had a fairly steady rise in the polls to the point where he`s now the front- runner. David Yepsen, diagnose what`s going on here for Newt Gingrich. DAVID YEPSEN, SO. ILL. UNIV., POLITICAL COLUMNIST: Well, there`s an ebb and flow to this for all the candidates. There`s a lot of uncertainty in this electorate. Even those people who have made a decision, if you push them, they`ll tell you, well, they might be persuaded to change their minds. In the case of Newt Gingrich, I think Howard`s right. I think candidate Newt was doing quite well, and he was hit with a tsunami of attack ads and of criticism, and so caucus-goers took a second look at him. And you know, I think this thing with the judges that you mention strikes a lot of caucus-goers as maybe just a little bit weird. And so I think that some of the social conservatives are having some trouble with Newt Gingrich. So it fits a pattern of what we`ve seen throughout this entire campaign of a candidate rises, gets hit by something, has a gaffe, and so Newt Gingrich has fallen victim to that. SMERCONISH: But it`s almost... YEPSEN: And you`re right, he doesn`t have much on the ground... SMERCONISH: David, it`s almost like a game of musical chairs. And now with 15 days to go, as they continue to remove the chairs, there aren`t too many places left for those folks to go who are dissatisfied and have moved from candidate to candidate to candidate. I guess my question is, who benefits in this environment? YEPSEN: Right now, I think Mitt Romney does because as sort of the moderate candidate in the race, he`s the odd man out. We saw this pattern happen in Iowa in 1980 when George Herbert Walker Bush won. And the conservative vote was all chopped up among several other candidates, and he was able to win with a plurality. I think Romney is hoping to do that same sort of thing with the conservative vote all chopped up. We haven`t mentioned the social conservatives, who are having a great deal of difficulty agreeing on who they`re for. And also, one thing that does get overlooked. Not everybody`s a social conservative in the Republican Party. And even among social conservatives, issues like jobs and the economy are what drive -- is what`s driving this. But every Republican you talk to say they like certain things about some candidates, they don`t like other things about them. And So they`re having a real difficult time making up their mind. SMERCONISH: Howard Fineman, you made reference to the ad spending. Let`s take a look at that spending in Iowa. In the first national election since the Citizens United ruling allowed unlimited campaign spending by PACs, it`s clear to see the impact. In just the coming week in Iowa, here`s the breakdown on TV ad spending. "Restore Our Future," that`s the pro-Romney PAC, is going to spend $713,000 in Iowa, far more than the Romney, quote, "campaign" will be spending, $258,000. And the Newt Gingrich campaign is going to spend $222,000, combing PAC money and campaign money -- Mitt Romney outspending Newt Gingrich, by our count, 4 to 1. FINEMAN: Well, there are a couple things going on here. And David, when he was covering for "The Des Moines Register," knows exactly how this works. In a multi-candidate field with a long race ahead, there are complicated strategies in Iowa. For Mitt Romney -- it`s a bigger priority for Mitt Romney that Newt Gingrich lose than that Mitt Romney wins. If Mitt Romney wins, it`s gravy. But if Newt Gingrich loses, having become the front-runner nationally, that is a tremendous victory for Romney, even if it`s Ron Paul who ends up being the ultimate winner. On the social issue conservatives, a couple things. The judge issue - - from my understanding, what our reporters are saying, the judge issue -- you know, arrest the judges, all the things Newt`s been saying -- that plays with some social conservatives. But that is a very disruptive and sort of overly dramatic way to appeal to social conservatives. Newt Gingrich has to do that because he has other problems with social conservatives, given his personal biography, et cetera. And so he`s using an issue that`s popular in Iowa with the far right, namely, dislike of judges. But it may turn off the moderates, who do also participate, as David says, in the Republican caucuses on caucus night. SMERCONISH: David, to what extent do endorsements hold the key to why all of a sudden now Newt is tanking and Mitt Romney seems to be strengthened? YEPSEN: You know, I don`t think endorsements mean very much anymore. I think newspaper endorsements are a bit of a throwback to the old days. Certainly, "The Register`s" endorsement -- you know, that`s a paper with an editorial policy on the left-hand side of the spectrum. It just doesn`t have credibility with Republicans -- it does on the -- I`m sorry, on the right-hand side of the spectrum. "The Register" has credibility on the left-hand side of the spectrum in a Democratic primary fight. But you know, and even -- the only endorsements I think that count in a caucus fight are ones that either bring money or organizational support, shoe leather. So for example, in a Republican caucus fight, you want to get the support of social conservatives because a lot of those pastors have networks of members that they work. And in a Democratic fight, you want to get support from organized labor. But endorsements of individual politicians or newspapers, I don`t think they make much difference. SMERCONISH: Howard, is there any prospect that Ron Paul wins in Iowa, builds on that and puts himself on a path to capturing to GOP nomination? FINEMAN: Well, we keep saying no. I suppose it`s not impossible. I covered Ron Paul`s campaign pretty closely in New Hampshire last time around, four years ago. I thought he would do better in New Hampshire than he ended up doing in that sort of libertarian-oriented state. But if he wins Iowa and gets the validation there, then he has to be considered a chief contender in New Hampshire. And once that happens, who the heck knows? Everybody seems to think that Ron Paul is somehow too out there, and surely enough, some of the things that he said about Iran, and you know, Iran being justified in getting a nuclear weapon, and you know, a lot of the other things that Ron Paul has said would seem to put him out of the mainstream of American politics. But we`re at such a weird point in the Republican Party`s history, a kind of collective nervous breakdown here, where they`re kind of at the end of an era. They don`t know quite what`s next. The Reagan era is over. George Bush and the Bush father and son kind of followed on Ronald Reagan. Now the Republican Party is split in a million ways. They don`t know where to go. Ron Paul represents a consistent, if minority, part of the Republican Party, which is the strict libertarian view -- anti-government, anti- defense spending, no foreign aid, no foreign entanglements, no Federal Reserve, you name it. And for 15 to 20 percent of the hard-core Republican electorate, that`s where they`re at. SMERCONISH: It just seems like the numbers outside of Iowa and New Hampshire have been consistent for him and not showing any surges. I`m going to show you both something. Mitt Romney used the reliable criticism against Gingrich again. It was on Sunday. Let`s listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), FMR. GOV., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Republicans came together and proposed a program to make sure that Medicare is sustainable. Paul Ryan was the author of the plan, but almost every single Republican in Congress voted for it. And the world watched to the see, OK, are we going to have progress? And the speaker said, This is right-wing social engineering. I mean, talk about unreliable! (END VIDEO CLIP) SMERCONISH: David Yepsen, is it that voters in your state of Iowa are rallying to Mitt Romney, or that they`re abandoning Newt Gingrich? Which is it? YEPSEN: I think it`s -- I think they`re abandoning Newt Gingrich. I think they -- I think they -- you know, a lot of Republicans, they like the way Newt Gingrich bashes the Democrats. He`s articulate. You know, it`s kind of red meat. But when you start thinking about making him your party`s nominee, there`s a little buyer`s remorse that sets in here. That pattern has happened several times already in this race, and Romney`s quite content to keep fueling it because he`ll be the last person standing, could win or do well with a plurality. And I think Howard`s right. I mean, the Ron Paul factor is very real. He certainly could win. You can`t look at that polling and say he`s out of the picture. He`s doing what a lot of candidates have traditionally done, try to do well in Iowa and use that media attention to break out of the pack and try to generate some support later down the race. He`s got a lot of young people who are showing up at his events, and that`s a wild card. We haven`t seen a lot of those people (INAUDIBLE) SMERCONISH: Howard, real quick, final comment. Go ahead. FINEMAN: I was just going to say, I doubt that Ron Paul could win. It would be a little bit like Pat Buchanan -- I mean, Pat Robertson winning the Republican caucuses. But I`ll say this also. Newt Gingrich has done Mitt Romney a favor because Newt has made Mitt come out of his shell, start doing interviews, start being more user-friendly. The thing that`s made Mitt Romney look halfway decent or at least acceptable is the presence -- the gigantic presence of Newt Gingrich. SMERCONISH: Amazing, by the way, that it took Newt to bring him out of that shell. FINEMAN: Exactly. Exactly. SMERCONISH: Thank you, Howard Fineman and David Yepsen. Appreciate your being here. Coming up: We may be witnessing the Republican Party splintering into Tea Party and non-Tea Party lines. After the Senate agreed to extend the payroll tax cut, the Tea Partiers in the House ditched that deal. That`s ahead. You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) SMERCONISH: For years, Iowa has been criticized as having an out- sized influence in presidential politics. Critics say the state is too small, too rural, its population too white to lead the rest of the country in picking a presidential nominee. "The New York Times" points out another fact about Iowa that puts it out of the mainstream, at least this year. It`s too economically healthy. The unemployment rate in Iowa is about 6 percent. That`s nearly 3 points lower than the national average. We`ll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) SMERCONISH: Welcome back to HARDBALL. It looked like Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement over the weekend that would extend the payroll tax cut beyond its year-end expiration. The Senate voted overwhelmingly Saturday, 89 to 10, to back the compromise. For a minute, it looked like a bipartisan Christmas gift for American workers. Well, not so fast. Speaker of the House John Boehner appears to be facing a revolt from the right. That`s the right flank of his party. And when the House votes on the deal later today, it`s expected to reject what the Senate passed. As a result, we`ve seen Republicans in the House and Senate trading blame all day. And everyone is wondering, what exactly happened? How did Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner wind up on such different wavelengths? The most important question, though, is whether political brinksmanship in Washington will mean millions of Americans are in for a tax hike next year. We`re joined by Congressman Jack Kingston, a Republican of Georgia. Congressman, what went on here? Were McConnell and Boehner not on the same page? REP. JACK KINGSTON (R), GEORGIA: Well, apparently, they weren`t. We thought that by passing an unrelated appropriations bill that we had last week prepared to do, that we had strengthened Senator McConnell`s hand in terms of negotiating the payroll tax deduction. That wasn`t the case. Eighty-nine senators elected to do a two-month. They wanted to punt rather than finish up the program for an entire year, which, by the way, that is the president`s position, Let`s do it for a year. That`s what the president said repeatedly throughout the fall, as did most of the Democrat leadership in the Senate. And so when 89 senators voted to just take the two-month, Let`s get out of town and live to fight another day route, we were pretty disappointed in it because we believed the American workers deserve a one- year solution to this. This is too important to the economy and to the American families. SMERCONISH: But here`s the part -- here`s the part that confuses me. Initially, when the debate first began, the position of the Republicans seemed to be that there should not be an extension of the payroll tax cut at all. And now, somehow, we`ve moved to a position where the Republicans are saying, Not only do we want it extended, it`s not being extended long enough in the scenario that`s been proposed. KINGSTON: Well, I think what we wanted to do, Michael -- we were working with the White House, and again, the president laid down the gauntlet. He said we need to have a one-year solution to this. And through the negotiations of the fall, we took him for the word -- took him for his word. We put in other issues, some of the reforms on unemployment insurance. We put in the Medicare so-called "doc fix," and we put in the Keystone pipeline, and so one of the EPA rules on boiler regulation that we thought was onerous, we had it removed. Now, we are willing to compromise on those things. But we felt like the line in the sand was a one-year fix. And you know, I guess there has been an evolution in terms of where we are and where the Democrats are, and it might seem like we`ve reversed positions. I know a lot of the House Democrats last week who voted against the one-year bill were saying that they felt it would be better than a two-month solution. But now they`re going to have to vote for the two-month solution if they feel like that`s the president and their party`s position. But you know, this isn`t a huge deal, Michael. I mean, this is -- I`ve been in Congress for 19 years. We go to conference committees routinely. We`ve done that for over 200 years when the Senate and the House disagree. We`ve got 11 days. I`ve seen bigger issues resolved in a lot shorter periods of time. And all we`re saying is, you know what, we don`t like what you did on your way out of town. Let`s go to a conference committee, iron out our differences, and come up with something better for the American worker and the American job creators. SMERCONISH: Are you prepared to let it expire? KINGSTON: No, I don`t think so, and nor do we need to let it expire. Again, 11 days is plenty of time. When I was in the private sector, I worked Christmas Eve routinely. Congress can do that. We don`t have some special buy that we have got to get out of town by the 20th of December. SMERCONISH: Congressman, the criticism is not all coming from members of the Democratic Party. Here`s what your Republican colleague in the Senate, Senator Scott Brown, said just today -- quote -- "The House Republicans` plan to scuttle the deal to help middle-class families is irresponsible and wrong. The refusal to compromise now threatens to increase taxes on hardworking Americans and stop unemployment benefits for those out of work. During this time of divided government, both parties need to be reasonable and come to the negotiating table in good faith. We cannot allow rigid partisan ideology and unwillingness to compromise stand in the way of working together." What`s your response to your Republican colleague? KINGSTON: Well, what I would say, picking out his own words, he said we need to negotiate, we need to come to the table to compromise. That`s the only thing we`re asking. We`re saying, you guys want a two-month deal? That`s not in the interest of the American recovery. People need to know that this tax break and these Medicare reimbursements are going to be there for more than two months. And what we`re saying to the Senate is, we do not like what you did, but we certainly are willing to negotiate. It does not have to be our way or the highway. That`s not what we`re saying at all. So, taking Senator Brown`s words, as we did with President Obama, let`s negotiate. And we`re willing to do that. And we`re willing to do that tonight, tomorrow, on up to Christmas and after Christmas, and we`re going to get this thing done. I want it done. John Boehner wants it done. The House Republicans want it done. But we do not think that the American workers should accept a two-month extension on something so key to this. You know, Gene Sperling, who is an economic adviser to the president, said November 30 this could create 600,000 to one million jobs. That is within our grasp. So let`s do it. You can`t create those kind of jobs with the two-month extension. We need to have a one-year agreement. SMERCONISH: Congressman, we will see what happens next. Thank you for joining us. KINGSTON: Thanks, Michael. SMERCONISH: Ron Paul vs. Michele Bachmann, it`s a feisty little fight on the GOP`s undercard, and now it`s in the "Sideshow." You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) SMERCONISH: Back to HARDBALL. And now for the "Sideshow." First up, picking a fight? Ron Paul made his way to the late-night scene on Friday, appearing on "The Tonight Show." But don`t think for a second that he avoided the chance to make some digs at his opponents, one in particular. Let`s watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO") JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Mitt Romney. REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He used to be governor of Massachusetts. Maybe that`s where he should stay at. (LAUGHTER) LENO: Newt Gingrich? PAUL: He maybe should run for speaker of the House again. (LAUGHTER) LENO: Michele Bachmann? PAUL: She doesn`t like Muslims. She hates Muslims. LENO: Wow. Really? PAUL: Yes. She hates -- she wants to go get them. (END VIDEO CLIP) SMERCONISH: Well, there`s the kicker. And if Michele Bachmann wasn`t at home on Friday night, she apparently caught wind of Paul`s comment later on, and she`s not laughing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It`s an outrageous statement that Ron Paul made, and I call on him to apologize. It`s important to note that there`s -- there really are haters, and the haters are the president of Iran and the mullahs, who have already stated their desire is to be -- they are genocidal maniacs. They want to take Israel off the face of the map. That`s haters. That`s a hater. I`m not a hater. (END VIDEO CLIP) SMERCONISH: Well, Bachmann may be demanding an apology, but Ron Paul isn`t exactly one to cave under pressure. But, speaking of that, as Newt Gingrich becomes the latest candidate to start slipping in the polls, a lot of people are starting to ask a question that up until now has seemed like a real pipe dream. Could Ron Paul really snag the nomination? According to a RealClearPolitics editorial, not if the Republican establishment has anything to say about it. What awaits the Paul campaign if the candidate does manage a win in Iowa and New Hampshire? Quote: "If those two unexpected events do occur, then all hell will rain down upon the Paulistas. The GOP establishment will throw everything, including the kitchen sink, the garage door opener, and two dozen pair of oversized baboon dentures, at Paul to keep him from becoming the nominee. But I`m getting ahead of myself." It`s still a big unknown who will win in Iowa and New Hampshire, but Ron Paul is no stranger to getting pummeled by the Republican establishment. And, finally, date night for the first lady? You will be surprised to find out I`m not talking about with the president. Late last week, first lady Michelle Obama was donating gifts at a military base in Maryland when one of the cadets mustered up the courage to ask that she join him at next year`s Marine Corps Ball as his date. Apparently, the first lady said that she`d love to go, but needed to speak with the president first. And the will she or won`t she speculation even made its way into Friday`s White House press briefing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) QUESTION: Let me follow up on the first lady. She had a Marine Corps Toys for Tots event today, and a 20-year-old asked her to be his date at the Marine Corps Ball next year. JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Is that right? QUESTION: And she -- he claims that she said she would love to do it, but had to check with her husband. Has the president... (LAUGHTER) CARNEY: If the president`s watching this, this might be the first he`s heard of it. QUESTION: Is there anything new at this point? CARNEY: I don`t know. But I think that`s -- I think it`s -- you know, the first lady`s commitment, to military families is very strong, indeed. So I`m sure she was flattered by the invitation. (END VIDEO CLIP) SMERCONISH: I guess the jury`s still out. My guess, by the way, is it will be a yea. Up next, Newt Gingrich has a novel plan for what to do if a judge makes a decision he doesn`t like. First, ignore it, and then, if necessary, arrest the judge. That`s ahead. You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRIAN SULLIVAN, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Brian Sullivan with your CNBC "Market Wrap." And, apparently, the big guy is stuck in a chimney because investors all but giving up hope of a Santa Claus rally. The Dow fell 100 points, the S&P down 14, the Nasdaq off 32. It was banks that led the way lower, and it was on word the Federal Reserve had failed to convince regulators in Switzerland to relax capital requirements for the next rounds of reform, if you followed that. It has to do BASEL III. Anyway, retailers struggled on word that huge Black Friday discounts and demand are resulting in a surprisingly large slump in pre-holiday sales. But if you`re an investor in Winn-Dixie supermarkets, congrats. That stock soared 70 percent after Bi-Lo agreed to buy it for $560 million in cash. Airline stocks slipped, despite a midday dip in oil prices, maybe a bit of profit-taking after some made some solid gains last week. And some big breaking news after the bell. AT&T giving up on its bid to buy T- Mobile. It`s accusing government regulators that moved to block the merger are refusing to accept the speed at which the industry is growing. That is it from CNBC, first in business worldwide -- now back to HARDBALL. SMERCONISH: Welcome back to HARDBALL. Newt Gingrich returned to an old favorite on Sunday. He went after activist judges. And he said, in a Gingrich administration, he`d arrest those he says are too radical. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST, "FACE THE NATION": One of the things you say is that if you don`t like what a court has done, that Congress should subpoena the judge and bring him before Congress and hold a congressional hearing. Some people say that`s unconstitutional, but I will let that go for a minute. I just want to ask you, from a practical standpoint, how would you enforce that? Would you send the Capitol Police down to arrest him? NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sure, if you had to. (CROSSTALK) GINGRICH: Or you would instruct the Justice Department to send a U.S. Marshal. (END VIDEO CLIP) SMERCONISH: This kind of tough talk red meat for the base, but can it stop Gingrich`s drop in the polls? And what is -- is it constitutional, that which he says? Jonathan Turley knows. He`s a professor at George Washington Law School and a constitutional law expert. J.C. Watts is a former U.S. congressman who today endorsed Newt Gingrich for president. Congressman, be careful what you wish you, because when your party is office, do you really want such a subpoena being issued by the president? J.C. WATTS, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, I think, Michael, what Newt was saying -- the basis of what he was saying was is, how do we stop activist judges? How do we help judges to understand that you have got a legislative branch and executive branch? And he said, if a radical judge or if a judge makes what is seen to be a radical case, that you bring them before Congress and ask them to explain it. So I think -- I think there`s a -- you know, a thought process there - - a thought process out there that says that should be the case. We should have them explain, why do you think -- in this case, what he was talking about, "under God" or God being removed from the pledge, or a judge saying that you will put a superintendent in jail if he hears the word benediction or invocation, those type of things. So, that is somewhat extreme. SMERCONISH: But can you imagine -- but, Congressman, can you imagine if President Obama were to issue a subpoena and say, I would like to have Scalia, Roberts, and Thomas show up here at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and explain to me their rationale in how they vote perhaps next year on the health care bill? There would be a hue and cry, and appropriately so. WATTS: Well, I think judges -- I think judges have an opportunity -- or they do take opportunities across the country to go into different forums to talk about different issues. I have seen on C-SPAN and other forums where judges, Supreme Court judges, appellate court judges, district judges, I have seen them go into different venues and talk about, you know, ideology or talk about the law, the Constitution. And I don`t think there`s anything wrong with having a judge come before members of Congress to give their thoughts. They have done that on many occasions. SMERCONISH: Professor Turley, in a blog post today, you write -- quote -- "It is the very definition of demagoguing to dangle out the image of judges being clapped in irons to satisfy citizens angry over decisions by judges. Article III is designed to guarantee independence from people like Gingrich, so that judges can rule in favor of the Constitution, and, yes, at times, take positions disliked by the majority." I think you went on to say, other than that, it`s fine with you. (LAUGHTER) SMERCONISH: I`m joking. Respond, if you would, to Congressman Watts. JONATHAN TURLEY, CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Well, there`s a great deal wrong with this. It`s perfectly Robespierrean. You know, this is part of the danger that lies in any free nation, is that you can cause self-inflicted wounds. You know, John Adams warned that a democracy often ends in wastes and exhausts and murders itself. What he was referring to is that, in a pure democracy, citizens can do great harm to themselves in the passion of the moment. What Gingrich is describing here is truly horrific. I understand that there are red meat speeches during a campaign. This isn`t a red meat speech. This is something more closer to cannibalism, one branch devouring the other. And he is threatening the very thing that gave stability to our system. If you look back in our history, the rock that we have based our system on has been an independent judiciary. It`s what George Washington called the strongest cement of good government. He was referring to that system of law and that court system. And so... WATTS: And I... (CROSSTALK) SMERCONISH: Well, is history -- is history on Newt Gingrich`s side? Because he injects the reference to President Jefferson and talks about how three circuits were abolished under his watch. TURLEY: Yes, he`s wrong. I mean, the -- I got to tell you, I don`t know which concerns me more, his rather misinformation about the law or his misinformation about history. The historical examples he gave are simply wrong. I mean, he refers to -- for example, to Lincoln... (CROSSTALK) SMERCONISH: Well, I`m going to show it to you. May I interrupt and show it to everybody? TURLEY: Yes. SMERCONISH: Because he defended his position by invoking Abraham Lincoln, as you say. Let`s all watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FACE THE NATION") GINGRICH: Are judges above the rest of the constitution, or are judges one of the three co-equal branches? SCHIEFFER: But isn`t the other side of that, are the rest of us above the Constitution in obeying the law? GINGRICH: No. SCHIEFFER: Don`t, at some point, you have to say this is a nation of laws and we all have to... (CROSSTALK) GINGRICH: We do. But I will go back to Lincoln, who people generally think respected the law. Lincoln explicitly instructed his administration to not enforce Dred Scott. And he said, flatly, it`s the law of the case, not the law of the land. And it`s in his first inaugural. (END VIDEO CLIP) SMERCONISH: Professor Turley, is that true? TURLEY: No, that is absolutely not true. Dred Scott -- the thing that undid Dred Scott was the 14th Amendment. The Emancipation Proclamation did not conflict with Dred Scott, unfortunately, what -- because Dred Scott said you could not give citizenship to African-Americans. The Emancipation Proclamation did not give citizenship. It actually was in compliance with the rather mutated view of Dred Scott. So, that`s simply not true. Ultimately, the 14th Amendment got rid of Dred Scott. So the -- the history here is pretty shaky, but the message is really scary, because what he`s suggesting is that a president can simply ignore the court and become a government unto himself. SMERCONISH: Congressman Watts, go ahead and respond. And along the way, please speak to the issue of whether this is violative of a separation of power, this notion that all of a sudden an executive branch or a legislative branch would be able to call members of the judiciary on the carpet. WATTS: Well, Michael, what the speaker was -- the essence of what the speaker was saying or trying to say, and I`ve heard him talk about this before, what he was saying was is that, you know, an activist judge, basically, it is the responsibility of the judge to interpret the law, not to make the law. That`s the legislative branch`s responsibility to create laws. And the speaker went on to say, in his interview with Bob Schieffer, he said, you know, if the judges -- if judges render a decision that Congress and the president could overrule that decision, that they did have a say, that they did not -- that they were not necessarily final word, because the president and the Congress could overrule or could create a law saying we disagree with that. So, I think he was the essence of what he was talking about was trying to say, how do we -- do we have any say over a judge making a ruling, saying we should take "Under God" out of the pledge, as they said in the Ninth Circuit. The speaker was saying, implying that, yes, we do have some say in that, and some authority to say, you are not the final word, through the Congress and through the administrative branches of government. SMERCONISH: Final question, if I may, for you, Congressman Watts. I know that you came out today for House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Why have more members of that class of `94 not done likewise? WATTS: Well, for whatever reason. I don`t need anybody to, you know, hold my hand and tell me who I should support. You know, I think what we`re seeing is, is that the establishment and the Republican Party I think is trying to lead everybody to Mitt Romney. Republicans -- you know, we don`t fall in love, we fall in line. And I -- you know, I think Newt Gingrich, I know Newt. I don`t think he`s a saint, and neither do I think Mitt Romney or Michele Bachmann or Rick Santorum or Rick Perry or any candidate that we have out there, that they`re a saint. But I think we need somebody that`s prepared to do the heavy lifting, to get us to where I think we all want to go. And I think when you look at Newt`s leadership in terms of what he did as speaker, we had balanced budgets, we paid down debt, we took on entitlement programs and reformed them. SMERCONISH: OK. WATTS: And we did those things with a Democrat president. So I think his track record as speaker is pretty good. SMERCONISH: Congressman, thank you. Appreciate your time. And also, Professor Jonathan Turley, we appreciate your being here. TURLEY: Thank you. SMERCONISH: Up next, new information about what the officials at Penn State knew, when they knew it, and why they did so little when confronted with evidence of child sexual abuse. You can follow me, by the way, on Twitter, if you know how to spell Smerconish. This is HARDBALL, only on MSNBC. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) SMERCONISH: U.S. officials are keeping an eye on North Korea, where the tradition of power to Kim Jong-il`s son is underway. The North Korean state media announced this morning that Kim Jong-il had died over the weekend and now, his 27-year-old son, Kim Jong-un is taking control of one of the world`s most repressive and enigmatic governments. U.S. officials say they`re very concerned about instability in North Korea, given the country`s nuclear ambitions. We`ll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) SMERCONISH: We`re back. Mike McQueary, the key witness in the sexual abuse case against Jerry Sandusky, testified publicly for the first time on Friday at a preliminary hearing for two Penn State officials accused of lying under oath about what they`d been told about Sandusky sexually abusing a child. McQueary testified that in 2002, he witnessed extreme sexual activity between Sandusky and a young boy in a locker room shower. However, McQueary is on record as having told varying versions of the story to several different people. Joining me now to talk about McQueary is Kathleen Kane, a former prosecutor, and a Democratic candidate for attorney general of Pennsylvania; and Buzz Bissinger, a "Daily Beast" contributor, Pulitzer Prize winner, and author of "Friday Night Lights." I want to ask you both, what stands out, because I know the three of us has been paying very close attention. What stands out from the Friday testimony? I want to put something on the screen that will leave me to make my first observation. It`s what McQueary said. He was questioned about why he never approached the police about what he believed he had seen, and he said he believed he`d pursued the proper protocol by talking to Penn State vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley. Quote, "I thought I was talking to the head of the police, to be frank with you. In my mind, it was like talking to a D.A. I was talking to the police who knew what to do and what to do with this it." That`s a reference to Schultz. And what strikes me, to both -- what strikes me, Kathleen and Buzz, is that we now have confirmation that Schultz was in the loop in the 1998 incident that was not prosecuted by a local D.A. albeit, he said he didn`t know much about it, but he was in the loop. So, now it`s 2002, when McQueary tells him whatever it is he told him, about having seen this conduct in the shower. And my point is that a foghorn should have sounded at that point. It was four years after that first incident. You`d think that Schultz would have said, my God, it`s Sandusky again. Instead, six more years go off the clock, all the while, presumably, more abuse is taking place. That`s what I found to be significant. Buzz, how about you? From Friday, what was striking? BUZZ BISSINGER, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: Well, I mean, that certainly was striking. I thought McQueary was an incredibly credible witness, despite all this (INAUDIBLE) dragged before. But what was really intriguing and disturbing to me, actually, were the notes of grand jury testimony read into the record, particularly from Paterno. I find it fascinating that his first reaction to what McQueary told him, which was clearly extremely sexual in nature, that`s what McQueary says, Joe`s first reaction is, look, there`s not much I can do. He doesn`t work for me anymore. And that seems to me it`s really now a liability issue. It`s a legal issue. He waits a day, because it`s a Saturday, doesn`t want to disturb anyone on a weekend, says he wants to think about it. Think about what? Think about what? Think about the fact that a former coach former coach has apparently sexually abused a child? And, Michael, you and I talked about this. The next day when he meets with Curley, why is Mike McQueary, the eyewitness, not there? McQueary should have been there and Joe says, listen to what Mike has to say. He`s not there, why? Because Paterno wanted to control the flow of information and have this thing go away. SMERCONISH: Buzz, you`re right, we have discussed that. And I have said to you that I think it`s far too serious a matter to play whisper down the lane and for one individual to assume responsibility for that version of events and pass it on to somebody else. To be a contrarian, I guess I could say because McQueary has so soft-pedaled it, that Paterno didn`t fully recognize what he had on his hand. I know you don`t buy into that. BISSINGER: You know, I don`t buy into that because I mean -- I think, you know, Paterno slumps into his chair, according to Friday`s -- what was read into the testimony on Friday. He slumps in his chair. He says to McQueary, "I`m sorry you had to see that." So McQueary must have told him something. Now, he did not use the words anal intercourse out of respect for the coach. But obviously Paterno saw some disturbing. And it seems what wonder me, that you get the eyewitness, you get McQueary there and you say, look, this is what Mike saw, Mike is going to tell you -- and the whole tenor of this thing might have changed. SMERCONISH: Kathleen, what stands out from Friday? It was an important day in court. What did you find most significant? KATHLEEN KANE (D), PA. ATTY. GENERAL CANDIDATE: As a prosecutor, from their standpoint, I thought the testimony was strong, it was credible and it was consistent. We were worried that maybe McQueary wasn`t going to be consistent. But he was. And I agree with Buzz. All of the actions of the -- Coach Paterno afterwards show that he knew the significance of it. I think that it goes right back to that culture of sweeping it under the rug, of the good old boys club, and making sure that they control that situation despite the fact that that little boy was clearly in trouble and every little boy that came after him. As a prosecutor, I thought the testimony went in very well, I thought the case was very strong both against Curley and Schultz as well as against Sandusky. But as the mother of two little boys, again, I was shocked and I was disgusted and it left me wondering, where is the goodness of these men? When are they going to stop? When are they going to tell the truth, come clean and why do they have such little respect for our system of justice to continue to keep up this lie? SMERCONISH: Kathleen, the cross-examination of McQueary is still to come, as you know from the rules that applied to the preliminary hearing. We`ve still not yet found out, did, in fact, Dr. Dranov tell a grand jury that Friday night that three times he asked McQueary, was there sex? And three times McQueary said no. Quick response to that and then a final word from Buzz because limited on time. KANE: Well, I don`t agree with hearsay on hearsay. It`s unreliable. It`s inconsistent. Let`s hear from that witness himself. Let`s put him under oath and let`s put him before a trial and a jury. SMERCONISH: That is going to happen. Hey, Buzz Bissinger, I`ve only got 30 seconds left, you can take it. BISSINGER: Well, I think Kathleen is right. It seems like the victim, the alleged victim -- I hate to use the word alleged -- he`s at the bottom of the pile. I don`t think Paterno really cares about him. Curley doesn`t care about him. Schultz cares about him. McQueary cares about him but doesn`t do enough. I think the issue is, how are we going to get out of this? And they say, let`s blame it on Second Mile, on Jerry Sandusky`s foundation. It is not our problem. SMERCONISH: Got to end it there. Thank you, Buzz Bissinger and Kathleen Kane. When we return, I have a final thought or two about the Penn State scandal I want to share. You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) SMERCONISH: Last Friday, there was an important hearing in the Penn State case. It featured two hours of testimony from Mike McQueary, a former Penn State football who in 2002, at a time when he was a graduate assistant, claims to have witnessed Jerry Sandusky raping a boy in the football locker room showers. While what McQueary saw and said is being challenged, one thing we know is that no one called the police in 2002. No, the police were not called until 2008 as a result of the courage of a high school student who went to his principal and said that he was being victimized by Sandusky. He`s referred to in the grand jury summary as victim number 1, not because he was the first to be victimized but because he was the first to come forward. And because of him, there are now a total of ten known victims and 50 charges of abuse pending against Sandusky. And frankly, it strains credulity to believe there are only 10 victims if there`s one real victim. My hunch is that there are many more than 10. But where would we be without victim number one? Arguably, the case would still be the stuff of cover-up. That`s what I kept thinking while reading minute by minute tweets last Friday from media members in the courtroom for the preliminary hearing for former athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. Remember, there was a report of abuse by Sandusky that was investigated by Penn State police and referred to a local D.A. back in 1998. The D.A. declined to prosecute. Four years later is when McQueary saw something in the showers. He told the athletic director about it and the vice president in charge of campus police, a man who was in the loop on the claim four years prior. No matter how McQueary described it, you`d think a foghorn would have gone off, alarm bells would have sounded and an investigation launched at the time that he brought this to their attention in 2002. But that`s not what happened. Instead, six more years passed and it wasn`t an adult who brought this to an end, it was a young man who had been victimized. He`s paid a price for his courage. As "The Patriot-News" newspaper said this weekend regarding victim number 1, his story gave others the strength to come forward to share their stories with authorities. Together, their testimonies have built a mountain of evidence against Sandusky and led to the fall of men once thought untouchable. Without him, it might still be continuing. Once he came forward, others did likewise -- others who until that moment were presumably suffering in silence. We ought to take a moment and reflect upon how a brave boy confronted an evildoer at a time when cowardly adults had simply closed their eyes and shut their mouths. The grown-ups at Penn State, it seems, can learn a lesson in personal responsibility from the children they`re supposed to be protecting. That`s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us. "POLITICS NATION" with Al Sharpton starts right now. THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END


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The Politics of Parallelism
Is it called the server room? Computer operations? The rack closet? Joe's office? I've lost track. Seems like there's a different name for it wherever I go -- the place in the organization where all the heavy duty (important) computers are kept.Whatever it's called these days, I was recently in such a place at an organization I was visiting. I just happened to be standing in the way of the guy that was setting up a new batch of computers. I noticed the computers were all from the same vendor, all had the same configuration and were pretty much getting the same software treatment.
I asked the chap that was setting up the computers what the CPU/core specifications were for the computers he was setting up. He politely told me what the specs were. I then asked him were they going to be clustered. He politely told me that he wasn't sure but he thought they would be. I then apologized for being so inquisitive, and then proceeded to ask him what kind of application would be running on these computers. He also was not quite sure, but he knew it would be server software of some type. Finally I asked him who made the decision to get these computers with these specs. He told me that he did and he proudly stated that they were the best bang for the buck. He went on further to tell me that he got most of the quotes for the organization and setup the computers when they came in. Some department would call him with a request for X number of computers and he would proceed to get the best bargain.
Now, I don't know why I found that amusing. But once I got back to my car, I lost it a little. For some reason I reflected on the various purchasing-responsibility-schemes that I have come across. I never really thought about it until that day. I've seen scenarios where the network administrators decide what hardware is going to be purchased because it had to be compatible with their networks. I've seen scenarios where the system administrators were the major decision makers because they were going to be the ones who would be responsible for maintaining whatever boxes were purchased. I've even seen situations where purchasing department was in charge of deciding what kind and how many computers were going to be purchased because they were somehow in charge of the fiscal budget. I guess the one that I've seen the most is when the software vendor dictates what kind of hardware will be purchased to run their application. So what about the software development group or software engineering group's two cent? Not that I've been everywhere, but I've been around. I don't recall many scenarios where the software development or software engineering group got to decide what the hardware specs would be. It's been my experience that the network administrator's or system administrator's view of multiple cores of parallel processors is a little different than the developer's view. I definitely know that the purchasing department's take on which multicore computers to buy will be different than your average software development group's take.
Now that quads, 8 core, and 16 core (and soon to be massive multicore) computers are the order of the day, do we need someone that understands something about parallelism, CMT, multithreading, or multiple cores to be involved in computer selection? Does it matter that parallelism requirements of the application might not match the parallelism capabilities of the computers being purchased? Has computer purchasing become such a no-brainer that it simply doesn't matter who orders the computers as long as they get the "best bang for the buck"? Is it the case that the salesperson at the neighborhood superstore can tell your CFO everything he/she needs to know about multicore computers?
I can't quite put my finger on what had me laughing so hard in the car that day. Maybe its the fact that I am routinely mired down in system analysis, use case analysis, software requirements, and performance metrics in my decisions in what hardware is needed. But it seems like for many those are things of the past, obsolete, time wasters. Maybe it was the juxtaposition of the recent Petri net design that I had been struggling with and the cheapest-price-works approach to parallelism that I had just encountered. Or maybe it was the contrast of my infatuation with capturing the nondeterministic behavior in the software requirements with all the hard work the chap must have put into getting the best quote from the short list of computer vendors available. Maybe me and Tracey are reading too much into this multicore thing. Maybe all this Petri Net, Pram Model, Nondeterministic-AI-complete mumbo jumbo has already been worked out and somehow me and Tracey missed the memo. Which in and of itself is funny (maybe that's why I laughed so hard). But whatever the case is, when it comes to multicore computer purchasing, whether the decision is ultimately made by the database administrators, or network administrators, or system administrators, or Joe the computer guy, it appears to be a simple matter of organizational politics with very little regard to what part parallelism plays in those politics. Who makes the decision in your group?


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KLAMATH FALLS, ORE. – Oregon Institute of Technology received superior rankings in U.S. News and World Report's survey of undergraduate programs – "Best Colleges 2014" – released today. The report shows Oregon Tech as No. 6 among best baccalaureate colleges in the Western Region. The university also earned the No. 2 spot for Top Public Regional Colleges and No. 45 as Best Undergraduate Engineering program.
In the Best Regional Colleges category, Oregon Tech received the second highest peer assessment score among its peers. The Western Region is comprised of colleges in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
U.S. News ranks undergraduate engineering programs accredited by ABET based on a survey of engineering deans and senior faculty at all accredited programs. Oregon Tech earned a No. 45 ranking in the nation, sharing the spot with California Maritime Academy, New York Institute of Technology, and Northern Arizona University, among others.
"It is an honor to know that Oregon Tech's recognition, reputation, and brand continue to have such high regard nationally," said Dr. Chris Maples, president. "As the Pacific Northwest's only public polytechnic university, Oregon Tech will continue to expand upon our central mission of high-quality, hands-on, undergraduate-focused education at an affordable price with high return on investment."
U.S. News & World Report bases the overall university rankings, which have been published annually since 1983, on a number of criteria, including peer assessment, retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rates, and alumni giving. Highlights of the rankings of more than 1,500 four-year schools in the United States are available today at www.usnews.com/colleges and the 2014 "Best Colleges" guidebook will appear on newsstands Sept. 24.
The university is no stranger to accolades. Oregon Tech was also ranked among the top 20 percent of all four-year and graduate universities in the U.S. by Forbes' magazine annual ranking of Top Colleges and as one of the Top 25 Colleges for Best Return on Investment by AdvisorOne.
To view a full list of Oregon Tech accolades, please visit www.oit.edu/news/university-accolades-rankings.


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Setting Up a Tomb
Building Tombs[edit]
In addition to basements, you can build tombs to give your Sims (or others online) new challenges. Tomb construction requires the use of cheats, and you can't make any quests associated with your tomb, but it is a spot for treasure. Or, if you want to cheat outright, you can just make a one-room "tomb" as a giant treasure spot to quickly gather relic collections. Regardless, this section will show you how to build a simple tomb.
Okay, before we go any further, as usual, we're going to not try to say what makes a "good" or "bad" tomb here. If you make a tomb to share, it can be as hard or easy as you wish, decorated however you want, and there's no real way to quantify quality of your work. We won't say that our way is the "best" way to make a tomb or anything, but our advice on layout is somewhat general and should at least be considered as you make yours.
First things first: you can only make a tomb in a foreign country. That may sound obvious, but still… no looting and getting tons of relics across the street. However, you can set up object links (explained in the next subsection) in your domestic home. You could, for example, force people to push a switch to even get into your house. It doesn't stop the magic teleporting repoman or anything, but it might be neat to make a little hidden room of your house.
For now, we need to travel abroad. To go to a different country, go to Edit Town, then select any country icon from the top-left corner. I'm picking Egypt for this example. Next, find a vacant lot; keep in mind the lot size, because you'll be constrained by it. We're going with a grassy lot on the Nile, located at 75 South Riverway. After clicking the icon, I choose the button that swaps lot type. Then, I change the lot to a commercial lot, with the dropdown box set on "Landmark Tomb." I confirm it, then go into the lot in Build/Buy Mode.
Now, tombs can be above or below ground, or both, just like any normal lot. Because this is a very, very simple one, I'm going to just stick with some basic stuff on the surface and not worry too much about landscaping. I'll touch it up a bit before I upload it to the Sims Exchange for your downloading pleasure, but really, if you're skilled enough to be building tombs, chances are you already know about landscaping and we won't have to go over it. Oh, except for this: as we mentioned in the Building Basements section, the ground will have to be flat in order to accommodate any extensive basements.
Now we go into the lot, and we have to activate two cheats to get anything accomplished. I'll mention the point of the cheats in a second, but the sooner we enter them, the better. Press CTRL + Shift + C to bring up the cheat console, then type the following cheat:
testingCheatsEnabled on
If you did it right, the cheat console will close itself and it won't look like anything actually happened. If the cheat console reports "Unknown command," you probably just misspelled something. Note that the only space in that is between "cheats" and "on"; "testingCheatsEnabled" is all one word.
Once testing cheats are active, hit CTRL + Shift + C to bring up the cheat console again, then type:
buyDebug on
Again, after hitting Enter, if you typed it right, then you'll have no visual indication that anything actually happened other than the cheat console disappearing.
Okay, let's roll up our sleeves… we're ready to do some tomb building.


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Contacts Per Hour
One of the four banners I travel with for clinics no matter where in the world I go, is a banner with the title of this blog. It is a way to summarize the motor learning principle of increasing opportunities to respond. As we learn by doing, not watching, one of the core ways to get better faster than your opponents is to train in gamelike ways which also increase the number of touches each of your players are getting in that precious deliberate practice time. I am always amazed at how coaches somehow fail to maximize this principle, so a few thoughts on how to do such are what I am going to share…
Teams of Three
Every time we trained in FIVB or CAP clinics, I arrive in the gym and look for ways to get my yellow rope up down the middle of the normal training court. We use referee stands, basketball backboard raising cables, and anything we can make happen, so that the team can do its warm ups and up to half the practice on the shorter, but "double net" single court available. Now if you are our USA National team at the Anaheim Sport Center, you have some 18 guys training each morning, and some 20 full courts available. So they do not put a rope down the middle to get to small team competition courts, having so many to choose from. Then they too play 2v2 and 3v3 games for more than a little of practice, perhaps upwards of a third of practice even, they compete 3v3. Why? You are doubling or more your contacts per hour in a gamelike way.
This one both saves time and wastes time. For teams that have players who sprint in to each roundup call of the coach, those that run, save time compared to those who walk in. You get a lil' conditioning sprint too, and depending on the amount of time you call your players in to talk, you save time and get in shape all in one gym tradition of value – sprinting into the coach. The other place that bears mention that is worth running, is AFTER you serve, even in 1 min (or God forbid, 10 minutes long) serving sessions. The powerful tradition is to serve and watch, rather than what you do in every game you play, serve and sprint to your defensive spot. Get your players to serve and sprint, and skip the running of lines, as noted below.
The wastes of time with running come from three other general traditions which are quite vast in their application.
1. Running the mile in under X minutes – This tradition just has no value in developing volleyball players. As I have said before, conditioning is homework, not something to do with the team when you could be playing over a net. That you might be in shape enough to run a mile or more fast does not significantly make you a better volleyball player. It does not help you jump better either, that comes from jumping, not running. Specificity in training cannot be ignored, but many do. If running a mile really mattered to being a good volleyball player, runners like Alberto Salazar would have been on the Olympic volleyball team for sure. Indeed, you can watch an adult match where in great shape 20 year olds take on out of shape skilled 40 year olds, and just about every time, the experienced, better reading, hardly jumping old players whump the youngsters. In our game on the skill to fitness scale, skill is more important than fitness at virtually every level of the sport.
2. Running lines – Another old tradition that wastes contacting the volleyball time. Especially when it is done as a punishment for losing in any form. At this developmental level, you are sending the clear message that getting in shape is a punishment, rather than a desired training objective. They don't need to get better at running; they need to get better at volleyball.
3. Running for "warm up" – For years, teaching the way I was taught, I would have my players jog for several minutes, then sit and stretch, sometimes up to 20 minutes or more each session while the net sat there, "ignored." While getting the body temperature up is important, the best way to do this is to play small sided, short court games over the net. This vastly increasing your contacts per hour while teaching your players the ball control and reading that so many athletes do not have NEAR the net. Play 1 vs. 1 competitively, and in five minutes you are plenty warmed up. Again, they know how to run; they don't know how to play volleyball as well. The team can talk, chat and bond, as they work on setting new ball control records by scoring "cooperatively." Then, having seen how many three contacts/net crossing combinations they can do in a row, they can even go to competitive scoring.
I think the urge to teach running rather than volleyball also comes from being frustrated as a teacher, in not seeing the level of play expected and desired, and, rather than continue teaching or creating new ways to get the reading and ideas across you expect, coaches stop teaching and tell players to run. What a waste of contact learning time…
Losers Watch
This is another too common error that coaches make, by having losers watch the winners. Now, growing up, I would put my name on the paper list put on the beach court 12x12 post, and watch. Then when my name finally came up, I would challenge, and lose like 2-11, as the games were short but still sideout scored and they wanted turn over. Then I would sit down and watch, learning the lesson that "Winners Stay on" and not the tradition so many coaches err with of, losers run/sprint/do push-ups, etc. In my case however there was no other place to play. What we see happen too often in grassroots and school trainings, is that the losers, who could be playing the other losers or someone else, or even taking their losing team and splitting them into two and play on the other court or half court, rather than watch. This means you double the amount of learning. Sure there are a few times to watch and cheer the "championship" match, but the key thing is that you do not waste a chance to increase your contacts per hour rate.
Coaches Tossing
They lose the chance to read, and the players may get good at reading the variances of the toss of each individual coach, but such a "skill" has ZERO value to their ability to read. Indeed, as a young coach, coaching the way I was coached, I recall how I would stand at the net and fling balls for players to run down and pursue, heaving them underhanded from corner to corner as the players weaved and flopped around pursuing the balls I was tossing.
Coaches Hitting
There have to be some coach initiated drills, but there is a HUGE, and I mean HUGE loss of learning going by the coach being the one who gets good at putting the third ball over, not the players. Not to mention the fact that by the end of the practice, the coach often has amassed many hundreds of contacts, by starting every round of a drill, while the players have 1/10th the total number of contacts on an average. It is important to understand that, as a teacher first, you can't teach the essential "game between contacts" when you are hitting the ball. You have to focus on your toss/hit and can't see the things happening before you make contact. You simply can't teach well if you are a hitting/tossing machine.
Let me say this again – when you hit to a player, who digs/passes it to the setter and then the ball is attacked, you - the COACH - is getting to be good at hitting the "third" ball over. Who needs to be great at this all important 3rd ball over contact? The PLAYERS, not you ever. They need your wisdom and guidance into being crafty, slimy, un-readable, creative third-contact-over-the-net-to-zones-one-and-two players. You will NEVER hit a third ball over in a match, you will sit and watch them do it, so increase their numbers of contacts by entering, from all over the outside, and even running inside, of the court the SECOND contact and let them get great at the third one. Throw it low and get them to forearm pass mean balls to the "gold medal" court areas we know as one and two. Throw it higher and have them overhead shoot pass mean balls to the same court area (not areas three, four, five or six, those are much easier for the setter and all sorts of other not-good-for-the-team things happen). Throw it even higher and teach them to effectively standing spike a nice accurate shot to the gold zone. Throw it even higher still and teach them to jump and spike hard into the court. The tradition we MUST change here is that the players need to get these contacts per hour, rather than the coaching staff.
Too Much "Explaining"
As the coaches' coach, I would present a drill example or skill to acquire in camp, then watch and see how long it took until the last court was contacting volleyballs. Some new coaches would take 3-5 times longer re-explaining the game to play, than our demonstration took for the whole camp. Remember --- I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I DO and I understand. Let them show you what they think they saw, and correct/explain things one on one, as the game continues. Say the same thing to four different groups of three, rather than stop everyone and explain things to all. It's about time on task, not about time listening to you. Remember also – The more you know, the more you try to tell them, the more you confuse them. Help them through questions in guided discovery as they play, rather than traditionally telling them the answers.
Use Stations More
The concept of creating "stations" so that your groups can train in smaller sizes – especially when teaching 40 kids on one court as PE teachers may be faced with – is an important way to get more contacts, rather than standing around watching. Remember, these contacts per hour need to be gamelike, and thus contacts one and three really need to be moving over the net as often as possible. So a station of passing/setting/spiking a ball repetitively against the wall, while traditional, is a pretty non-gamelike read. While the read is not too gamelike, if you do create "wall" stations, remember to teach positive errors first, not the negative ones traditional wall passing develops. So "serve" the ball at the wall over the 7'4 ¼ " net line, then "serve receive" the first contact ball UP to yourself, then set yourself, then spike the third contact over the net line, not at the floor as in "under the net." These are reaction habits we want to make be positive in the reaction, not the traditional negative ones so many teach still.
Enter the Ball Faster
This is what wash scoring has done to traditional scrimmaging, giving 20-25 percent more contacts per hour over a regular scrimmage. There are just so many other areas in training we can get better at getting the ball back to flying over the court(s). In the great game of "monarch of the court" the tradition is for the challenging team to watch and wait for the winning team to run under the net, or get ready on the other side. NO! If you are playing double or triples games, have the next server simply yell out loud "ONE ONE THOUSAND TWO….then serve, even if the other team is not ready. They will learn to hustle faster under and get ready in short order. If you are playing four person games, the server can serve immediately after the ball goes dead, so that the setter nearest the net of the new monarch of the court, has to turn, watch/read the server while backpedalling to where the ball goes and while their teammates are still coming under the net. The intensity of the game will go up about 50 percent and the number of contacts per hour…gosh, it shoots up too. Divide the court in two as noted at the start, and you can have four teams playing on the two courts, with the losers in of the monarch side running to the other court, and vice versa. Gosh, running with a purpose and to increase contacts per hour, not just for the sake of running, what a concept…lol.
The game of Speed Ball, where there is not running under the net, just the losing side waiting serving over the same side losing team leaving the court, essentially keeps the ball in the air the entire time. You can do that with Monarch of the court, once the players really start hustling, but it is automatic in Speed Ball.
Hope these ideas help you grow the game faster in your area. Feel free to comment below with more ideas to share with all, or email me at email@example.com. As always, thanks for coaching and giving back to our sport.
The following comments were made on our previous web platform and have been transferred here to maintain the historical record.
On August 26, 2010 Dan Mickle wrote
It is actually funny you post that. I coach club, college, boys and girls high school (yea, way too much). One of the things I changed this past spring (boys season) was the amount of times I personally do an action, like putting the ball in play for a drill. We are now 2 weeks in to the girls season and I can see the difference in both my mood and the reading and reaction of the girls. Such a simple concept with such huge rewards.
On September 04, 2010 Heidi Price wrote
@ Dan - there's no such thing as "way too much" volleyball!! @ Coach Kessel - thank you for everything you do for our sport. I always look forward to your blogs, as I'm a bit of a volleyball junkie myself, and I learn so much from you and so many others who post their volleyball adventures!
On December 13, 2010 John Kessel wrote
To all who seek to run "gassers" or waste skill learning time by conditioning in practice, this recent NY Times article is a must read. As noted above, you increase contacts per hour by training fast, but need not waste time doing lines and such... read this, it has a large number of good teaching principles included... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/magazine/05Football-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
We very much welcome additional new comments, to be contributed below:


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Some questions on Homing. Throughout all of this I'll assume that the Homing power in question has Range: Ranged. Also, as the text of the Homing power feat is essentially identical in core and Ultimate Power, I'll assume the answers are the same for both books unless you say otherwise.
Your answer to slaughterj here states
However, your earlier answer to Scholz, here statesSteve Kenson wrote:Homing attacks require "a free action to maintain".
[Case 1] The GM may choose to interpret this as equivalent to a sustained duration, and rule that switching to another Alternate Power aborts the remaining homing attacks (the attack dissipates, veers off course, or what have you).
[Case 2] I'd recommend a Homing attack be treated as essentially Independent: you can switch Alternate Powers, but you don't control the Homing attack once it's launched; it keeps trying to hit the target until it does or runs out of chances, or you are rendered incapable of taking free actions.
1) These answers appear at odds; this answer to Scholz seems to imply that Homing is intended to work as Case 2 above, but your answer to slaughterj leaves the possibility open that it wasn't intended to specifically mean either Case 1 or Case 2. Which is correct?Steve Kenson wrote: The Homing attack is treated as a lasting duration, so it continues even if the attacker switches to a different power in an array.
Your answer here states:
2) If you use an attack that has Homing and use Power Attack or Accurate Attack, I assume that the changes in damage from these feats do not apply to the subsequent attack if the Homing power misses on the first round, since the changes in attack bonus also do not apply. Is this correct?If a homing attack misses the first round, what modifiers does it use when it comes back on the next round?
A Homing attack uses the character's base attack bonus for that type of attack on each and every subsequent attack.
3) If you have the Sneak Attack feat and use an attack that has Homing and it misses, but then comes back around for a second attack, is it possible to get bonus damage from Sneak Attack (under the appropriate circumstances), or is the power 'out of your control' so you can't direct it sufficiently well to get the bonus damage?
4) How do you determine whether an attack with Homing takes range penalties on subsequent attacks from the Homing power feat (after you've missed with the initial attack)? Or do range penalties not apply on the follow-up shots?
5) How far from you can a (Range: Ranged) Homing attack go? The usual 100 feet x rank of the power that would be the maximum range of an initial homing shot?
5b) If so, would this be from your initial point when you used the power, your current point, from the last point where homing tried to hit the opponent, or something else?
5c) If your target went outside the Homing attack's maximum range, would the attack simply dissipate (possibly hitting randomly near the end of its range)? Or something else?


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MOVIE REVIEW- Fawkes you: One part 'Phantom,' two parts Moore
Fans who flock to V for Vendetta because they hear Natalie Portman is showing a lot of skin may be disappointed when they find out it's only the skin on top of her head. The movie has enough compensating factors, however, that you won't dwell for long on what's missing.
V for Vendetta is a newfangled, old-fashioned swashbuckler with as much political edge as last year's acclaimed dramas and the previous year's heralded documentaries. It's set in London in the near future when England is under the totalitarian rule of High Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt), who rose to power by frightening the citizenry about the dangers of terrorism and such.
Sutler's mouthpiece is "The Voice of London," broadcaster Lewis Prothero (Roger Allam), who rails against the forces of "godlessness." He's an early victim of a man known as "V" (Hugo Weaving), a revolutionary who's never seen without his Guy Fawkes mask. He takes over the airwaves to announce plans to finish what Fawkes started in 1605, blowing up Parliament, come next Guy Fawkes Day, November 5. ("V" is also for the Roman numeral for five.)
Inspired by his favorite movie, The Count of Monte Cristo, V brandishes an assortment of swords, which work well against the guns of government lackeys. One night he uses them to save Evey Hammond (Portman) from being raped. The next day she helps him, turning herself into a fugitive, and he takes her to live in his underground lair. The setting, the mask, the potential romance all scream "Phantom"; but the politics are closer to Michael Moore.
Back stories include a detention center whose inmates became guinea pigs for biological warfare tests (another AIDS metaphor?) and the story of Valerie (Natasha Wightman), a film star punished for loving women. She had no regrets: "For three years I had roses and apologized to no one." (Expect V for Valerie t-shirts to become chic lesbian apparel.)
Searching for V while becoming more and more sympathetic toward his views are Chief Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea) and his assistant, Dominic (Rupert Graves). Stephen Fry pops up as TV star Gordon Deitrich, whose love is unable to speak its name.
V may be the most literate action hero ever. When he's not alliterating with V-words, he's quoting Shakespeare or coining such catchphrases as "ideas are bulletproof," "artists use lies to tell the truth" and "a revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having."
Based on the comic books and graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V for Vendetta was adapted by The Wachowski Brothers, but they left the directing to James McTeigue, who assisted them on the Matrix films. He does an excellent job for a novice on such a large-scale movie, and the Wachowskis' screenplay is probably their best ever.
V for Vendetta comes along at a time when I was despairing of seeing a good film from a major studio again. Although it's set in England with historical references that will mean little to most Americans, it quite obviously delivers a big "Fawkes You!" to the Bush administration.