text:
Quakes, Angels, City of Rancho Cucamonga Schedule Press Conference
The Anaheim Angels line up before a 1999 exhibition game at Lake Elsinore.
I received a press release in the mail Thursday afternoon from the Quakes. It announced that a press conference is scheduled for Monday afternoon featuring Quakes ownership and management, Angels' GM Tony Reagins and farm director Abe Flores, and various Rancho Cucamonga city officials. The conference is scheduled for Rancho Cucamonga City Hall.
That's a lot of horsepower for a routine press conference.
If I had to guess, they're going to announce extending the affiliation between the Angels and Quakes, although past announcements were much more low key.
So I'm wondering if there's more afoot.
Although unlikely, one thought that crossed my mind is that maybe Quakes owner Hank Stickney is selling the team to the Angels. I kinda doubt it, but you never know.
A more plausible possibility is the resumption of the traditional exhibition game that was played in Lake Elsinore at the end of spring training in the 1990s. Lake Elsinore was the Angels' California League affiliate from 1994 through 2000. For several years in the late 1990s, the Angels returned a day early from spring training and played a Thursday night exhibition game at Lake Elsinore before returning to Anaheim for the Freeway Series with the Dodgers.
When Bill Stoneman took over as General Manager in November 1999, the Angels put an end to minor league exhibition games. Soon after, the Basic Agreement between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball was amended to stipulate that minor league teams could not demand exhibition games as a condition for agreement to an affiliation. The Angels had to play an exhibition game mid-season in 1999 at their Double-A affiliate, the Erie SeaWolves, stopping off on the way from New York to Seattle. I remember the Mariners had to play an affiliation mid-season with their Low-A affiliate in Appleton, Wisconsin.
So far as I know, there's nothing to prohibit a parent club from playing an exhibition game with an affiliate if they're agreeable. Now that former farm director Tony Reagins is the general manager, perhaps he has a different perspective on the issue.
If you've been reading this blog in recent months, you know I've been researching the history of the Angels minor leagues, starting with the inaugural 1961 season. During their historic first spring training, the Angels were based in Palm Springs but played exhibition games all over the Inland Empire. The 1961 Angels Media Guide shows games scheduled for San Bernardino and Indio as well as Palm Springs. I know from interviews that the Triple-A squad was based in Riverside.
So maybe the Angels have decided to resurrect their old history of playing spring training exhibition games in the Inland Empire.
Nine years have passed since the last exhibition in Lake Elsinore, and the Inland Empire's population has exploded since then. So if that's what they're going to announce, expect The Epicenter to quickly sell out for that event.
Whatever it is, I plan to attend the press conference and will videotape the event. Look for the video on-line by Monday evening.


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more information on weddings from the priest-in-charge:
Your church wedding in York
Congratulations! We are here to help and support you as you prepare for your wedding day.
We are delighted that you are considering a church wedding in the historic and beautiful city of York. There are now more churches to choose from for your special day and for generations to come. Our churches in York city centre are All Saints' Pavement, St Denys, St Helen and St Olave, Holy Trinity Micklegate and St Lawrence. We also look after St Martin's in Coney St – you may have a blessing service there but not the marriage service.
What do we need to do first?Please contact the Reverend Jane Nattrass who will be happy to guide you through the legal steps and ensure that your wedding day is personal, meaningful, spiritual, beautiful……
Email Jane at email@example.com or phone 07568 530503.
And, if you're marrying in a church that's not where you live, your local church would still love to support you as you prepare for the wedding, and afterwards too.
There are some things about marrying in church that you just can't get anywhere else. You may attend or visit the place where you will be marrying as often as you like, there is usually a rehearsal for you and close family and friends – it's a very special time as you prepare for your wedding day. It's your wedding. Let us help you make it personal, meaningful, spiritual, beautiful.
Where can we marry?
Use A Church Near You to find out which parish you live in or have a connection with. All you need is your postcode.
You can marry in a Church of England church if you can show that you have a connection with the parish.
That one of you: has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months, or was baptised in the parish concerned, or was prepared for confirmation in the parish, or has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months; That one of your parents, at any time after you were born: has lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months, or has regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months or That one of your parents or grandparents: was married in the parish
If none of the above apply to you, it is still possible to get married in one of our churches. This is usually by attending church for six months and becoming a member of that church. You can then meet the legal criteria as detailed above. You can normally make plans for the marriage service, book your reception and so on during this time. The vicar will guide you with all of this.
How much does a church wedding cost?
You can view this at the Church of England website YourChurchWedding.org
There are other costs to take into account when getting married in our churches in York:- Verger £40* – the city centre churches rely on vergers to ensure that your ceremony takes place without interruption from passing public and tourists. Everyone is welcome in our churches but it is important that your marriage service is not disturbed.
Other optional costs, depending on which church you choose:- Organist £65-100* Choir £240-£375* Bells £140 - £250* Heat £35* (September – April inclusive) Recording fee for DVD etc £65-£100* *these are for 2017 and will be revised for 2018 onwards
We are here to help so please do get in touch as you prepare for your wedding day.

subset: commoncrawl


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LEHI, Utah – As Real Salt Lake navigate their way through a congested schedule over the remaining two months of the season, they will have to rely on the depth of the team to wade through the bog. For the defending MLS Cup champs, that depth often comes in the form of youth.
Several young players have recently logged some valuable minutes and have performed quite well, but the most outstanding have been Tony Beltran and Nelson Gonzalez.
Beltran, 22, has been in the starting rotation along with Chris Wingert and Robbie Russell over the last couple of seasons, and has shown himself worthy of seeing time on the pitch.
Gonzalez, 21, has emerged as both a late-game substitute and even a starting option filling in at the left side of midfield amidst absences by Will Johnson, who has been called into the Canadian National Team on two separate FIFA dates. Gonzalez brings enthusiasm, energy and technical skill with his game.
Reserve goalkeeper Kyle Reynish, 26, and central defender Chris Schuler, 23, have seen very limited action this season, but both players received the start a couple of weeks ago in Seattle and played exceptionally well. The two could prove to fill vital roles going forward in securing the area in front of the net.
Two additional youngsters, Collen Warner, 22, and Jean Alexandre, 24, haven't seen many minutes as of late. But they played key roles earlier in the season in the midfield. Warner has background as an attacking midfielder and has some creativity in his game, while Alexandre is a big, bruising defensive midfielder who can fill in for Kyle Beckerman when needed.
Finally, Real Salt Lake have seen some recent sparks from newly acquired forward Paulo Junior, 21, who scored six minutes into his RSL debut in a CONCACAF Champions League match. He followed that up by nearly scoring in his first minute of league action, sending a shot off the woodwork against Chicago.
All of these youngsters are likely to be relied upon over the next couple of months as Real Salt Lake finish out the group stage of Champions League play and continue their quest for the Supporters' Shield.


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Which Witch is Which?[edit]
In The Sims 3 Supernatural, the term "witch" is applied to a Sim of either gender. Witches are magically inclined Sims who, through the use of playing with magic and having spell casting duels, can develop spells to augment their every day lives... or seriously mess up someone else's.
When a Sim is a witch, he or she will have a pink mana bar just below his portrait. This bar drains as spells are cast, with more powerful spells casting more mana. As long as the mana bar doesn't completely empty, it will automatically fill back up as time ticks by.
Be careful: a fully depleted mana bar applies a debuff moodlet for six hours and stops any automatic recovery. After six hours, the mana bar will completely refill. It's still much faster to let the bar fill back up on its own; you just have to make sure it doesn't fully deplete. When a witch is on high Free Will, he'll try to constantly play with magic, even if it makes the mana bar deplete. You'll need to keep a careful eye on any witch operating under Free Will.
Becoming a Witch[edit]
Not every Sim can become a witch. First of all, if your Sim is already one of the other supernatural races (Mummies, Vampires, Fairies, Werewolves, or genies), that Sim cannot be a witch. Though witches don't look any different than normal human Sims, they are treated as their own, unique race.
If not created outright, some Sims are simply born magically inclined, and will gain a lot of their abilities when they hit the Teenager life stage. Failing that, you can buy or make a potion called "Bottled Witches' Brew" to convert yourself into a witch.
Note that you do not need to be a witch in order to practice Alchemy, so it's possible to just study Alchemy until you get the ability to make the potion and drink it yourself. This will take a long time.
If you wish to simply buy the potion, you'll want to check in with the Alchemy consignment shop every day. They rotate their stock daily, and you might get lucky... but know you'll be shelling out about two grand to get your hands on a single dose.
All witches come equipped with a magic wand if created outright in Create A Sim, but new Wands can be bought through Buy Mode. Specifically, you can buy wands in the Entertainment sort and Hobbies & Skills subsort of Buy Mode. When examining a wand, you'll see two important stats: Spell Accuracy and Magic Cost Efficiency. These are rated by word, going from Lowest to Highest. So for example, the Verdant Magic Wand costs $720 and features medium spell accuracy and high magic cost efficiency.
When buying Wands, accuracy may be more important than mana cost. Some of the backfires are pretty extreme; the backfire to the Haunting Curse will instantly kill the caster!
Anyone can buy Wands any time, even non-magically inclined Sims. However, only witches can actually do anything with the wands.
Developing Magical Abilities[edit]
Unlike most facets of The Sims 3, magic is not a job skill. You'll never properly know how far along you are in studying magic, but you'll always gain new spells in the same order. You can read more about what specific spells do on the Spells page.
Magical abilities are gain in three ways: casting spells you already know, playing with magic, and having spell casting duels. The last one is a little unreliable because, unless you're micromanaging your neighborhood, you won't know by sight who's a witch and who's not.
Playing with magic is the easiest way to learn magic. While you have a witch selected, simply use the self-interaction "Play with Magic." The Sim will wave his or her wand in the air for a while, and will gain experience while entertaining themselves. Remember that you'll never be able to see exactly what their progress is, but playing with magic at all is better than doing nothing.
The Play with Magic command lasts a finite length, unlike many job skill commands. However, you can queue up as many Play with Magic commands as you wish, letting your witch-in-training spend the day working at it.
Other Witch Notes[edit]
Witches benefit from a full moon. Spell accuracy seems to go up and mana costs are halved during a full moon. The bonus is applied even during the day, before the moon is actually out. Note that the bonus isn't actually indicated anywhere as a moodlet or anything, but you'll notice it as you start casting spells. New moons don't seem to negatively affect witches.
Witches gain an automatic boost while studying or performing Alchemy. It doesn't work the other way; having any amount of Alchemy doesn't affect a witch's abilities. Note that you're not required to be a witch to study Alchemy, it's just a lot easier to do so.


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Independent Age, the older people's charity which tackles older people's poverty and loneliness through the "ABC" of advice, befriending and campaigning, has launched a new freephone number for its advice service.
The launch of the freephone number comes at a time of year when Independent Age typically sees an increase in calls to its advice service from people who have been left concerned for an older person or relative following a Christmas visit. Often Christmas can be one of the few occasions when families visit older relatives, and many therefore notice a deterioration in their relatives' health or an increase in general frailty.
Independent Age's advice service offers free and confidential advice and information for older people, their families and carers. Its team of trained, experienced advice workers offer practical advice on issues such as social care, welfare benefits, befriending services and other social support. Independent Age also produces up-to-date information guides and factsheets about the most common issues affecting older people. These can be downloaded for free from the website or ordered by calling Independent Age on freephone 0800 319 6789.
Victoria Richards, Head of Advice and Support at Independent Age, says, "With the cost of living increasing, Independent Age recognised the importance to older people of providing a means of contacting the charity for free. We're particularly pleased to be launching this new freephone number at a time when we receive a higher volume of calls from people concerned about older relatives they have seen over Christmas."
Independent Age freephone 0800 319 6789


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Farmers Market opens Saturday, March 2
- Details
- Category: Community
- Published on 01 March 2013
- Written by Mount Vernon Optic-Herald
The Farmer's Market returns to the downtown Mount Vernon square on Saturday, March 2
to begin its fifth full year of operation. The local farmer's market is open every Saturday through November. For more details and a listing of items suitable for sale, see the Feb. 28 edition of the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald.


text:
JERUSALEM, May 22 (UPI) -- Protesters in Jerusalem Friday said the Israeli government should not rest until it has freed Gilad Shalit, a soldier captured by Palestinians three years ago.
Carrying signs reading "Don't abandon him" and "Gilad is screaming for help yet the Israeli government ignores it," nearly 30 individuals demonstrated outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ynetnews said.
"I'm not telling my government what to do and whether to release terrorists or not, but I don't want my government to be indifferent," a protester identified only as Nechama said. "A person has been in captivity for such a long time and nothing is done to bring him back."
Shalit, a French citizen, was captured by Palestinian militants June 25, 2006, and ensuing negotiations by the Israeli government with Hamas to secure his release have been futile. Hamas is demanding the release of 450 Palestinians held by Israel.
"A soldier has been in captivity for nearly three years. We don't know where he is, what his condition is, and nobody visited him," protestor Orna Shimoni told Ynetnews of the detained soldier. "We also don't know what is being done for Gilad's sake. Our goal is to ensure that nobody sleeps well at night as long as Gilad is in captivity."


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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Craptastic Meter. Do you have one?
I was rewriting my first chapter, which of course is daunting since the balance of all humanity rests on it. Okay, well, maybe not. But it feels that way.
So a fellow writer who's been donating a little of her Beta-reading time tells me, "Send over your new chapter. I'd love to read it."
I write back, "I'll let it sit for a day or so. Then I'll reread it. And my Craptastic Meter doesn't go off, I'll send it over."
And that's when I learn, "Oh geez. I have a Craptastic Meter. It goes off all the time. It's fueled by a clear mind, a good night's sleep, and an absence of excessive caffeine/stomach viruses/the occasional glass of wine."
I also knew I couldn't possibly be this witty in my adjective discovery, and of course it's in the Urban Dictionary.
So. How's your Craptastic Meter working today?
Posted by Lydia Kang at 6:00 AM
18 comments:
- B.E. Sanderson said...
LOL, Craptastic Meter. I love it. Since I just finished the latest round of edits on my WIP, the Craptastic Meter is swinging wildly between 'okay' and 'full of it'. Once it has a chance to calm down, I'll send the work out for beta reads. Here's hoping my readers' meters don't go off.
- March 31, 2010 at 8:14 AM
- Linda Kage said...
Craptastic Meter! What a great idea. I think mine was on the blitz yesterday. Read over my work; thought it sounds pretty darn good. Then got some sleep, read it again, and wow. Who wrote this crud?
- March 31, 2010 at 8:18 AM
- Kirsten Lesko said...
"An absence of stomach viruses..." LOL!
Yes, I have a craptastic meter. It has a lot of foresight, though. I know without re-reading how craptacular a scene is just based on which draft it is.
Nobody ever sees anything before about the 5th or 6th rewrite. I just can't take the response to really rough stuff.
- March 31, 2010 at 9:36 AM
- Elana Johnson said...
Mine is hovering in yellow. I feel like my WiP is on the verge of derailment and I don't like it. I want to go back and "fix" everything so it stays on track, but I know I'll only screw it up more. Le sigh.
- March 31, 2010 at 11:26 AM
- Tahereh said...
oh gosh.
i think mine goes off too often.
great post!!
- March 31, 2010 at 12:10 PM
LOL! The important thing to remember about the Craptastic Meter is that it needs frequent re-callibration. At least once a week, if not daily. ;)
- March 31, 2010 at 2:44 PM
- Lindsay said...
Yay, I finally know what to call that sinking feeling I get at certain points in my MS.
- March 31, 2010 at 3:24 PM
- Unknown said...
well I don't have a craptastic meter but as the mayor of Sucktown, I should
- March 31, 2010 at 4:31 PM
- lexcade said...
mine typically dances between, "hey, you've got talent after all!" and "if you ever show this to anyone, the computer will blow up in protest." it depends on the day and how much sleep i've had. i'm a lot harder on myself when i'm sleepy...
- March 31, 2010 at 9:09 PM
- Deb Salisbury, Magic Seeker and Mantua-Maker said...
Mine is broken. Le sigh. I loved my fourth novel, and my crapometer stayed green - but no one else seems to like it. I'm stuck in the middle of the fifth one, and way into the red zone. Blast!
- March 31, 2010 at 10:05 PM
- Danyelle L. said...
This meter always shoots over to red after I send it to my beta readers. >.<
- March 31, 2010 at 10:39 PM
- Bidisha said...
My craptastic meter is spinning inconsistently. Sigh.
My poor, poor WiP!
- April 1, 2010 at 6:25 AM
- Zoe C. Courtman said...
Ahhh....*says in awestruck voice*The Craptastic Meter. Legendary tool, that. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster that you've got one built-in, cuz, verily, it'll tell you the truth. And I HATE it when that happens! It went off for me about two weeks ago and I had to slice away about 2,500 words. Ouch!
Oh! Left you a "Creative Writer" award over on my blog! :):)
- April 1, 2010 at 8:31 AM
- Kathryn Hupp-Harris said...
Is that what that noise is?
I thought I was developing tinitus.
- April 1, 2010 at 12:36 PM
- J.B. Chicoine said...
That's funny--I can't tell you how many times I'v re-read my stuff the next day, and thought, 'I knew I couldn't be that good.'
- April 1, 2010 at 4:50 PM
- Lydia Kang said...
Here's to hoping that all your CM's point to green! Mine is hovering in the puce region. Which isn't good.
- April 1, 2010 at 8:11 PM
- * said...
Craptastic meter, I love this!!!!
New to your blog & loving it in every writerly way possible.
Write on!!
- April 5, 2010 at 12:15 AM
- Lydia Kang said...
Hey Terresa, welcome!!!!
- April 5, 2010 at 8:35 PM


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Auburn quarterback Cam Newton has private workouts scheduled with at least eight NFL teams, ensuring that roughly half of those in the top half of the NFL draft's first round will have a closer look at one of the most intriguing prospects.
Newton's father, Cecil, told NFL.com senior analyst Gil Brandt on Wednesday that four of the teams are the Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins.
A league source later told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora that Newton also is scheduled to work out for the Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns.
In each case, the team's head coach will conduct the workouts at undisclosed locations.
The Panthers and Bills already have had private dinners with Newton and his representatives, NFL Network's Michael Lombardi reported. Carolina owns the top overall pick in April's NFL Draft, while Buffalo has the third overall selection. Both teams are in the market for a quarterback.
Washington, which owns the 10th pick, has Donovan McNabb, but both parties are looking to part ways, and a trade is likely after a new CBA is in place. Neither Rex Grossman nor John Beck are considered long-term solutions for the Redskins.
Minnesota is in the market for a quarterback after Brett Favre retired and the team decided not to tender a contract to Tarvaris Jackson, which likely indicates he will not return to Minnesota. Joe Webb, Patrick Ramsey and Rhett Bomar are the only quarterbacks the Vikings currently have on their roster. The Vikings reportedly had interest in Kyle Orton, but the Broncos have stated publicly that Orton is their starter.
The Bengals, who pick fourth, could be searching for a new starter if incumbent Carson Palmer makes good on his threat to not play in Cincinnati again.
The Titans, who hold the eighth pick, have said they plan to trade or release Vince Young, leaving them with 38-year-old Kerry Collins and unproven Rusty Smith.
The Dolphins, who have the 15th pick, have Chad Henne as their starting quarterback, while the Browns, who select sixth, finished the season with rookie Colt McCoy as their starter.
Cecil Newton also told Brandt that his son plans to stay in the Atlanta area if there is a work stoppage and take college courses over the Internet in hopes of earning his degree. He is 18 credits short, according to his mother, Jackie.


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9335 WaveProcessor
The "WAVE PROCESSOR 9335" software can display, print, convert, and calculate on large volumes of waveform data that has been recorded and collected by instruments in the "MEMORY HiCORDER Series."
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text:
Sealab: Trailer
Preview: Season 31 Episode 2 | 30s
In 1969 off the California coast, a US Navy crane carefully lowered a massive tubular structure into the waters. An audacious feat of engineering — a pressurized underwater habitat, designed for an elite group of divers to spend days or even months at a stretch living and working on the ocean floor. The little-known story of the daring program that tested the limits of human endurance.
Aired: 02/12/19
Buy Now:
Problems Playing Video?
Corporate sponsorship for American Experience is provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Consumer Cellular. Major funding by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.


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dealerpix necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 43 diseños de 21 diseñadores freelance.
I need a logo...click for details...
Accepted File Formats:
I need a logo for a new site called AcmeCast.com. This is a new podcast website set to officially launch in February. We will be posting automotive reviews and test drive videos on the website, iTunes and YouTube. I really don't have a specific logo design in mind, though based on the name, all I ask is that you be creative. It can be 3d'ish, a great vector design, whatever. I just want something I'd see and say, "now that is AcmeCast!" Please don't ask for examples of what I want, I am relying on your creativity to come up with something. Any other questions, ask away. This is a free site, so I don't have a huge budget for it.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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The most obvious statement I can make is, I haven't posted in a while here. Despite my best intentions, I only seem to post sporadically even when able to post regularly.
Recently Rick from @RJsFro approached me with an offer to post over at a new site, Padres Public. I would post under the Padres Trail title but the post would be hosted at Public. I hesitated, but when he told me who else was involved - virtually every other independent Padres blog - I jumped on board.
And so that's where it stands. I'm posting every Tuesday morning at Padres Public, and randomly during the week if the right topic presents itself. Since I'm a packrat and borderline hoarder, I've no intentions to shut this site down. It may come to pass I have something I want to talk about that really doesn't fit at the Public and I need an outlet; time will tell. For now, look for me at Padres Public.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
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Mplus Home
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Modeling unreliability of a categoric...
Mplus Discussion
Categorical Data Modeling
Jim Prisciandaro
posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 8:35 pm
I am interested in testing the predictive ability of a categorical diagnosis (i.e., 0 = doesn't have disorder, 1 = has disorder). I would like to incorporate the unreliability of the diagnosis (e.g., inter-rater reliability) into my model. How would I attempt such a thing?
Jim Prisciandaro
posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 9:38 pm
Almost forgot, let's say that my estimate of the diagnostic category's reliability is in the form of kappa (because that's probably what's available in the literature).
posted on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 - 7:34 am
That's a tricky one. You could try to work with a binary latent class variable c that has a fallible binary indicator u like is done in "Hidden Markov" modeling (see UG ex 8.12). This means that when c = 1 as opposed to 2, u is not necessarily 1, but is 1 with probability say 0.8, where 0.8 reflects the amount of reliability. Fixing these probabilities (which means fixing threshold values as seen in 8.12), you can predict from c instead of from u. I have not tried this approach however.
Jim Prisciandaro
posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 6:05 am
Hi Bengt,
This is
going to clearly show my ignorance of categorical modeling, but I was
concerned that this method could potentially increase the error in the
latent diagnosis variable (instead of removing the unreliability from
the observed diagnosis) because cases would potentially be sorted
incorrectly. For example, if there is a conditional probability of .8
for individuals who are positive on the observed variable to be positive
on the latent variable, then 20% of individuals who are positive on the
observed variable will not be appropriated to be positive on the latent
variable. However, if these 20% of individuals are chosen at random,
then it is possible than many individuals who are true positives on the
latent variable will be assigned to the be negative on the latent class
because the sorting is random (and this would increase error).
Now, this logic doesn't feel right to me, and I would think the
procedure that you are recommending would be less faulty than how I am
describing it; I just don't know the correct logic of how the
procedure would work. If you could explain how this procedure would
overcome my hypothetical problem, I would greatly appreciate it.
posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 8:03 am
The conditional probability of 0.8 that I mentioned is the probability of being positive on the observed variable given the latent, not the other way around as you state it. I don't understand what you mean by the 20% chosen at random. It is true that the observed variable, even when acknowledging its unreliability this way, will not precisely capture the latent variable. You do better if you have many observed indicators of the latent variable - as you do in repeated measures modeling such as latent class or latent transition (Hidden Markov) modeling. This is a matter of precision in estimating the latent variable "scores" (to use factor score estimation terms).
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Add a stylish touch to your home décor with limited edition silk screen prints featuring Barbie® doll's fashion illustrations. Black Dress features an elegant classic that never goes out of style. Hang it alone or arrange in a group of two or more, including Red Dress, White Jacket, and White Dress.
Unframed. Print measures 12"W x14"H. Limited edition, with no more than 300 of each design printed! Each one is numbered and includes a certificate of authenticity.


text:
Sage Publications, Feb 10, 2000 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 240 pages
Combining humanistic rhetorical criticism with social scientific concepts, Ralph R. Smith and Russel R. Windes examine how the discourse of the progay/antigay debate shapes the self-understanding and strategies of the two opposing sides.
The struggle over issues such as lesbians and gay men serving openly in the military, same-sex marriage, and inclusion of "sexual orientation" in anti-discrimination and hate crime laws have evolved along with the development of rival progay and traditionalist antigay communities. In the process of presenting their arguments to the wider society, the two sides exercise extraordinary influence on each other. As a result of the public policy debates, the progay movement has moved toward an essentialist, non-sexual identity, while the traditionalists have shifted toward a secular public self-representation. Progay/Antigay also analyzes the internal disagreements within the two movements.
The same-sex marriage debate illustrates important dimensions of the contest over sexuality. The authors examine rhetorical strategy and counter-strategy in this specific institutional context. Progay/Antigay also discusses how the study of the variant sexuality issue provides the opportunity to assess paths for reconciliation and to judge concepts of political pluralism and multiculturalism.
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Emergence of the Variant Sexuality Issue Culture
Analysis of Communication in Contests
Appeals in Progay and Traditionalist Discourses
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Progay/Antigay: The Rhetorical War Over Sexuality
Ralph R. Smith,Russel R. Windes
Limited preview - 2000
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Intimate Citizenship: Private Decisions and Public Dialogues
Ken Plummer
No preview available - 2011
Criminology: A Sociological Introduction
Eamonn Carrabine,Paul Iganski,Maggy Lee
Limited preview - 2004


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Courtney Love Exchanges Holiday Tweets With Frances Bean Cobain, Slams Nirvana Members
Although their relationship has been rocky and very much in the public eye, Courtney Love and her estranged daughter Frances Bean Cobain are communicating again. Of course, most of the dialogue is coming courtesy of Love, but hey, at least it's a start.
Love and Cobain exchanged brief pleasantries on Christmas, which isn't a surprise, since most people, especially those at odds, tend to put their differences aside during the holiday season ... even if its just momentarily.
Love reached out first on Twitter, and Frances Bean offered a short reply, calling her mother "kooksmcgee," which led to a longer correspondence from the troubled mother.
Merry Christmas Bean!! love you more than you could ever know.xmamma
— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) December 25, 2012
@courtney merry Christmas kooksmcgee.
— Frances Bean Cobain (@alka_seltzer666) December 26, 2012
that was best Christmas gift ever. proudest mama in the worldthank you Bean. means the world to me
— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) December 26, 2012
@alka_seltzer666that beautiful little head, and those long legs.Oh and by the way, sorry about the second hand smoke thing re: baby pic
— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) December 26, 2012
@alka_seltzer666but am trying these new e-cigs, the @njoyecigs so far are the best ones ive tried. maybe they should pay us for this plug?
— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) December 26, 2012
Love, who spends a lot of time online, then commented on a Facebook post by the Everyone Loves Our Town blog about the Seattle scene, talking about her disdain for former Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. Her post is littered with typos, cuss words and lacks punctuation, but the gist is that she and Frances Bean are emailing.
Below is her unedited post, which also references drug use and Kurt Cobain's stomach problems.
i just dont like the unkindness here i dont think its look i know what kirst and dave did, look uop who owns the seattle weekly itll say krist but its part iof nirvanan inc its a couokd 100 MILLION dollars that frances and i dont get and illegal as hell i might if i can do it and find it in all my photos post it and tag you so you can see some of it for yourself. but the point is that im telling the truth so why are you guys calling me "crazy" all the time it hurts my feelings and its not true, my spellings s--tty and i wanst all that well until i quit adderall but frances and me are emailing and she didnt even know about the restatinign order she was rightfullly mad at me for trying to protct us by finding the money and allowing people into my lifer that took her dads money, i dont blame her, for being angry with me, but she isnt anymore so please stop it, it really hurts my feelings a lot. i know you guys dont even factor kurts stomach into his death but you didnt see how much pain he was in how people didnt believe him, the whole thing just makes me f---ing sad.
And when she's not trolling the Internet or using it to reconnect with her only offspring, she is staging impromptu acoustic performances in New York City, which took place at the Electric Room on Dec. 29. She also reportedly hit up the Jane's Addiction show at Terminal 5.


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ObamaCare debacle much worse for constitution, presidency than Katrina was for Bush
Last week's delay of the Affordable Care Act's insurance mandate has observers declaring that President Obama's Hurricane Katrina has made landfall. Or so declare pundits in the national papers and on the TV talk shows. But ObamaCare is no Katrina. It is much worse, at least for the presidency and the constitution.
Katrina ruined President George W. Bush's second term. The images of desperate families trapped in the New Orleans Superdome, coupled with the Iraq insurgency, displayed impotence in the executive. A massive Republican defeat in Congress soon followed.
Mr. Obama's incompetence in implementing his own health care scheme may seem like another presidential failure in the making.
His administration had already delayed requirements for employer-provided insurance, in violation of his own law's deadlines. It could not roll out a functional marketplace for insurance policies, even though it had three years to prepare.
His waiver of his own law's regulation notwithstanding, Mr. Obama has now broken his promise to voters that "if you like your policy, you can keep it." His ratings are diving to record lows and his congressional allies are jumping ship. Almost 40 House Democrats voted for a Republican bill to temporarily waive ObamaCare requirements for all health policies.
These ObamaCare setbacks, however, represent failure of a wholly different dimension. Bush had to respond to unpredictable events: an act of mother nature in New Orleans and an act of war in Iraq.
For the Framers of our Constitution, such unforeseen challenges justified the very creation of a strong president. They concentrated the nation's executive power in a single person who could act with "decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch," Alexander Hamilton explained in "Federalist 70."
Diffusing executive power among multiple parties would sow confusion and destroy accountability and frustrate the nation's ability to respond to "the most critical emergencies of the state."
Bush's second term ran aground because he failed to use the president's powers effectively in the very setting for which they were created. He eventually recovered with the surge in Iraq, a brave decision that showed the presidency at its best.
Obama is hitting the shoals for the exact opposite reason. ObamaCare's collapse does not result from an act of nature or the attacks of a foreign enemy. Instead, it is a perversely self-inflicted, man-made disaster that replaced the efficiency of the private markets with the tangle, confusion, and ideological bias of government bureaucracy.
By suspending the insurance mandate for a year, Mr. Obama does not use the powers of the presidency to protect the nation from unforeseen events. He instead uses the executive to protect the American people from himself and his signature policy.
Every time he waives yet another ACA regulation, Mr. Obama blocks himself from acting and allows the return of the private market that existed before his election.
The Framers never vested the presidency with great powers for such purposes. To avoid responsibility for his policies, Mr. Obama must violate his constitutional duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."
According to long practice, a president may selectively choose the cases to prosecute because the federal government does not have the limitless resources needed to chase down every violation of the laws.
But the executive power over prosecution does not allow a president to refuse to simply enforce all cases under a law. That amounts to a suspension power that the Framers consciously rejected by including the Take Care Clause in Article II of the Constitution.
"A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution," Hamilton argued in "Federalist 70," "and a government ill executed, whatever may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government."
Executive vigor should support "the steady administration of the laws." Presidents can only refuse to execute an Act of Congress when it conflicts with the higher law of the Constitution – the same right that gives the courts the power of judicial review.
Mr. Obama introduces enormous instability into our constitutional system by playing pick-and-choose just for policy reasons.
Unfortunately, it is the same tactic he has used before when he cannot persuade Congress. He suspended the deportation of young illegal aliens because Congress would not pass the Dream Act; his Justice Department refuses to enforce the anti-drug laws in states with liberal marijuana laws; his administrators have gutted federal welfare-for-work requirements by defining "work" into nothing.
Such dereliction of duty deprives the rule of law of the necessary virtue of certainty, it subjects private citizens and the markets to arbitrary and conflicting legal duties, and it destroys the ability of future Congresses and presidents to trust each other.
Turnabout will ultimately be fair play. Imagine the howls of Democrats when President Ted Cruz unilaterally introduces a flat tax in 2017 by ordering the IRS not to pursue people who pay no more than 15 percent income tax.
Mr. Obama's supporters might respond that the modern American voter wants the president to tame the beast of the welfare state. The electorate understands that government is too large to coordinate coherently, too sprawling to be controlled, to disorganized to act rationally.
Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and even Bill Clinton found success by campaigning against bureaucracy.
Reagan attacked wasteful spending, Clinton signed welfare reform, and Bush to tried to overhaul education and stop environmentalism.
They understood that government cannot distribute goods and services and make social choices as effectively the free market and civil society.
Mr. Obama, however, cannot believably take on their mantle because he has served as the welfare state's greatest enabler since President Lyndon Johnson.
He has overseen the greatest expansion of federal spending and the national debt in American peacetime history. He and his party have federalized vast swaths of private life, such as energy, finance, automobiles and now health care.
Mr. Obama does not want to defeat the bureaucracy, he wants it to win.
For most presidents, restoring one-sixth of the American economy to the free markets would be cause for celebration, but for this one it is an admission of failure. It is a failure only exceeded by the violation of the Constitution and the distortion of the American political system.
The Framers expected the separation of powers to be self-correcting by pitting "ambition against ambition."
Congress must fulfill the Constitution's design by letting ObamaCare go down in flames, repealing it, and replacing it completely with pro-market reforms.


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Executive Guide: Oracle MySQL Cloud Service
Industries are being disrupted and totally reinvented by digital transformation. Digital technology rapidly and radically transforms how capital is raised, how new products are created, how sellers engage with customers, and, social media accelerates and amplifies all of those changes. Businesses and other large organizations must come up with good ideas more rapidly than ever before, make better decisions in hours rather than weeks, find and hire world-class talent more quickly, spot emerging trends and opportunities before competitors do, and move as fast as their customers move.
In this white paper, we will first review why digital changes everything, and why digital transformation is at the center of the CIO's agenda, along with other priorities including security, cloud services, Big Data and cost control. We will then consider how MySQL, the world's most popular open source database, can help executives drive digital transformation, addressing their priorities and helping them to achieve their goals.


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"I went up into the rarefied skies of my most fantastic imagination and set off cascades of fireworks. Fantasy and ingenuity broke forth, with complete indifference not merely to what people would say but even to what was practical. I sought only an absolute freedom of expression, and a daredevil approach, with no fear."
– Elsa Schiaparelli
I recently finished reading Elsa Schiaparelli's autobiography, Shocking Life. She isn't so well-known today, but in the 1930s Schiap (as she was called by friends) was among the most élite couturiers in Paris, internationally famous for her whimsical approach to fashion. I love her because she continually incorporated Surrealist art into her collections, collaborating with avant-garde masters like Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. Her self-described "crazy" and "fun-loving" designs echoed the Surrealist interest in juxtapositions between differing realities. Double images in Surrealist art prompt the viewer to question routine assumptions about the world. Schiaparelli accomplished the same visual response with her fashion designs because she rejected traditional conceptions of what, for example, a hat should look like. Thus, Schiaparelli challenged the fashion establishment and turned a new page in the history of fashion design.
Schiap's most oft-cited innovation was her inventive use of color, specifically a bright shade of fuchsia she called "shocking pink." While other designers were following the lead of Mademoiselle Chanel (God love her) and her somber black dresses, Schiap's outlandish hue became her trademark. She continued to use it throughout her oeuvre, applying it to her logo, and she even kept an enormous pink bear in her shop, which was dyed and installed with drawers by Salvador Dalí, an ubiquitous inspiration and collaborator. As one might guess, this was not the typical furnishing of a high-end Parisian boutique of the 1930s. (For a contemporary take on the color, look at no farther than Betsey Johnson.)
Schiaparelli also rattled the fashion world with her use of animal prints, shoulder pads, zippers, and tweeds. (She was the first to use animal prints, and she invented shoulder pads as an ingenious technique for narrowing the woman's waist through optical illusion. Her use of zippers was unusual because she turned them into decorative features, and she was the first to use tweed for evening ensembles.) She also put padlocks on suits, faux-enameled nails on gloves, and cascades of monkey hair on ankle boots. Most of the surviving pieces are things that I find, even now, terribly wearable. I want all of them. (If you want to see more than what I've been able to post here, search the Costume Institute archives at the Metropolitan Museum.)
Unsurprisingly, the Parisian press responded to Schiap's designs with indignation and contempt, but Schiap, in a typical display of pluck and wit, simply used the disparaging articles written about her as the basis for newspaper-printed fabric, which was then produced in a selection of colors and used for blouses, scarves, hats, and bathing suits. I find this appropriation and transformation of the media to be particularly clever, because she was able not only to take control of her image but to turn bad press into something quite practical. Newspaper print fabric was innovative, never before attempted in the textile business, and, though I can't find any photos of the fabric, I can imagine that it must have looked pretty cool. Right?! It's worth noting that Galliano did his own version of the newspaper print in his Fall 2000 collection for Dior, printing dresses with an imaginary "Christian Dior Daily." (The dresses became famous when Carrie Bradshaw wore one in Season 3, and then again in the second SATC movie. See it here.)
One of Schiaparelli's most notorious designs was her Lobster Dress, created in the Spring of 1937 in collaboration with Dalí. Dalí had recently created a Surrealist sculpture of a telephone with a lobster mounted on the receiver, an iconic example of Surrealist juxtaposition between the ordinary and the unexpected. (See the Lobster Telephone here, in the Tate Modern's permanent collection.) The white organdy gown caused a sensation when it appeared in American Vogue, modeled by Wallis Simpson, one of Schiap's myriad élite clients. (Simpson, an American divorcée, is the woman that the Duke of Windsor chose to marry rather than become King of England. Aside from a range of aristocrats, Schiaparelli's celebrity clients included Katherine Hepburn, Mae West, Anita Loos, and Amelia Earhart.) I think the shape of the dress is quite lovely, and I love the lobster because, well, why not? Why can't a lobster, or the zodiac, or music notes be used as decorative embellishment on a gown? It's amusing and fun and original.
"Working with artists like Bebe Bérard, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dalí, Vortès, Van Dongen; and with photographers like Honingen-Huni, Horst, Cecil Beaton, and Man Ray gave one a sense of exhilaration. One felt supported and understood beyond the crude and boring reality of merely making a dress to sell."
I'm just going to go ahead and say it: fashion designers tend to take themselves pretty seriously. Perhaps, at times, too seriously. Chanel once declared, "I don't do fashion, I AM fashion," and Lagerfeld, in the manner of his predecessor, has proclaimed, "Vanity is the healthiest thing in life."
But Schiaparelli's attitude was different. As a glimpse through her creations demonstrates, she was more interested in the enjoyment of the creative process than in the achievement of financial success. (Not that financial success isn't great, 'cause it is, but there's something very refreshing about Schaip's take on all that.) Furthermore, though the latter was a natural byproduct of her ingenuity, she was decidedly unpretentious about her achievements. In the preface of her autobiography she describes herself as "disarmingly simple" and "intensely human." Her writing is infused with matter-of-fact modesty and objectivity. I respect her all the more for her unaffected manner.
It's always fun to read about someone you admire and discover common opinions or interests. There are several passages that make me want to shake Schiap's hand and gush, "I think that too!" I will share my favorite example: Reflecting upon her first years living in Paris, she opines, "To wander aimlessly through the night, to sit in cafés and do nothing, are privileges that seem to be unimportant, but in reality they make the taste of living so much more pungent and complete." Dude, I couldn't agree more. Having spent more time in Paris alone than with companions, wandering aimlessly through the night and sitting in cafés has become my own personal Paris tradition. Perhaps it sounds lonesome, but I always feel that Paris herself keeps me company. I love to wander through Le Marais by moonlight, and spend hours at a café's terrace with a carafe of Côte du Rhone and a book, reading very lazily and watching the world pass by. For me, there is nothing more peaceful.
Alas, I'm getting off track, so I think it's time to wrap this up.
Here is a link to the V&A edition of Schiaparelli's autobiography. It's also on Amazon, of course, though I bet your LOCAL bookshop would be happy to get you a copy if they don't have one in stock.


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A man has been charged with handling stolen goods in connection with an investigation into a series of robberies across West Yorkshire.
Zafar Iqbal, 39, of Clipstone Street, Bradford, has been charged with handling stolen property in relation to a robbery at a property in Rooks Close, Wyke, on January 5.
He appeared at Bradford Magistrates' Court today (Saturday) and is due to next appear on February 8.
A 26-year-old man from Bradford arrested on January 7 in connection with the robbery series has been released on bail.
Police have been investigating six robberies, in Kirklees, Leeds and Bradford, in which high performance cars were stolen.


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Climb Ev'ry Mountain
(1) Find the source of the attacks on Bitter Springs. (2) Tell Captain Gilles about Oscar Velasco.
Important Items...[edit]
Are you friendly with the NCR? Then we have some good news for you, because you should be able to undertake this particular side quest with no issues. Unfortunately, if you're not friendly with the NCR (or worse yet, are friendly with the Legion in lieu of the NCR), then chances are this side quest simply won't be available to you. Either way, to undertake it, you're going to have to head to a location known as Bitter Springs. You can find it near the northeastern edge of the Mojave Wasteland, west of Ranger Station Bravo, and east of Bloodborne Cave. Once there, you'll find what looks to be a Great Khan encampment with refugees living in it, and an NCR encampment atop a hill nearby. That NCR encampment is where you'll want to head.
It appears the NCR has taken control of an abandoned Great Khan camp, which is only verified when you find and speak with a female NCR officer named Captain Gilles. The captain seems to be a little stressed, and for good reason. She's dealing with a lot of issues right now that have her, her troops, and the nearby refugees living in a precarious situation. Speaking with her and offering to help her will unlock a Side Quest known as No, Not Much . And it's a part of that side quest, to help rid the camp of a mysterious sniper taking aim at everyone from the nearby mountains, that's the key to this particular associated side quest. Once you accept the plea to help and receive this particular side quest, mark it as active on your Pip-Boy. Then, head into the mountains surrounding the camp, going towards the lone location on your on-screen compass. Don't be confused -- there are multiple hidden Great Khan Supply Caves around here. But the one in particular you want to find (which isn't easy to get to) is marked specifically on your map. Keep jumping if you can't make it up steep land, and keep an eye out for some creatures that may attack you en route, too.
Once at the cave in question, head inside. You'll almost immediately find yourself assailed by a man named Oscar Velasco. Oscar, as you can clearly see, is a Great Khan. But the Great Khans haven't lived at Bitter Springs for some time, so what's he doing there? Well, it appears that he hasn't quite let go of what happened at Bitter Springs. While this confrontation with Oscar can turn violent, you'll find that you can use a pretty basic Speech check to convince Oscar to go meet up with the Great Khans at their new home at Red Rock Canyon, which averts a violent conclusion to this side quest. If you can't do that, however, expect things to take a different turn. One way or another, when Oscar has vacated the cave, you can then return to camp to report on the good news. Things may be difficult for the NCR at Bitter Springs still, but at least they don't have to worry about the mountainside sniper anymore.


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Holidays in Lagundo/Algund
Like something from an impressionist painting, the terraced vineyards and orchards of Lagundo have been dubbed the garden village. This region of carefully constructed cultivation and flowering plants forms the gateway to the spa town of Merano. Located between 320 and 1,360 m, holidays in Lagundo combine both simple pleasures and plenty of activity: Stay low to enjoy the Mediterranean flair of the valley as well as the village's proximity to Merano, or hike or take the cable car to ascend to new levels of holiday bliss. Though they differ in length and degree of difficultly, the almost flat Waalweg irrigation canal in Lagundo and the Meraner Höhenweg ridgeway are equally panoramic and impressive.


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The Washington Post is reporting Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas has reached a plea deal that could save him from serving jail time, according to sources close to the case.
Arenas is facing one count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to documents filed in D.C. Superior Court. The charge is punishable by a sentence of up to five years in jail. His attorneys reportedly hoped to plea to a misdemeanor and avoid jail time.
Arenas is expected in court Friday. Sources said he is expected to plead guilty.
Arenas's attorneys have no comment at this time.
"We are aware of the charge filed against Gilbert Arenas today and will continue to follow the ongoing legal process very carefully," the Wizards organization said in a statement released Thursday evening. "We will also continue to cooperate fully with the proper authorities and the NBA. Beyond our previous statements on this serious and unfortunate matter, will have no further comment at this time."
Arenas has said he stored the guns in his locker to keep them away from his house and children and he pulled the guns from his locker as a joke.
According to the New York Post, Arenas pulled the guns on teammate Javaris Crittenton on Dec. 21 during a dispute over a gambling debt. TMZ has reported that Crittenton then produced a gun from his locker.
Arenas surrendered his guns to authorties on Dec. 24. Several of his teammates have testified before a grand jury.
NBA commissioner David Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely on Jan. 6 after the star guard acknowledged keeping guns in his locker at the Verizon Center.
Arlington County, Va., police executed a search warrant at Crittenton's apartment Thursday morning reportedly in search of the gun he allegedly produced in the locker room. Nothing was seized.


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Sydney's Haymarket throngs with late-night punters hungry for their next bite. Vicky Frost takes in the sights, sounds and tastes of the city's Asian food hub with chef Dan Hong. On a Friday-night tour of some of Sydney's Korean, Thai, Chinese and Malaysian restaurants, they drop in at the very simple and the very plush, new openings and much-loved favourites//
FACEBOOK COMMENT by JETZTKAUFEN.INFO - best online store


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CONTEST: Eve will give one lucky commenter a copy of Chance's Game. She's going to make it super simple to enter. Just leave a comment with your email address. No trivia, no hoops to jump through, just a simple hello and a way to contact you if you win. Using a random number generator on the web, she'll then draw a number to see who wins on February 6th. Thanks in advance for participating. :-)
AL: Hi Eve! Thanks for being in the "Author Spotlight" this week.
Eve: Thanks for dragging me out of my writing cave to visit lol.
AL: So, tell us what's happening with you.
Eve: It seems like my life is a never ending hustle and bustle. The kids are definitely keeping me hopping this winter, between school, sports and other activities, it seems like our family is always on the go. And to mix things up, each week they're bringing home some new illness from school. Thank goodness for my hubby who helps me keep my sanity.
AL: Do you have a current, or upcoming release you'd like to tell us about?
Eve: I'd love to tell you about my fantasy romance, Chance's Game, scheduled to release with Champagne Books on February 7th. A little different from my more erotic pieces, Chance's Game is a sensual fairytale type story with lots of magic, some meddlesome gods and tons of adventure. Oh, and sexual tension. The heroine is determined to avoid marriage and men, but she didn't count on a wizard making her decision hard to uphold. If you enjoy humor and lots of build up to the main event, then this full length piece will be a definite treat for romance lovers.
AL: What other spicy tales are you weaving for us?
Eve: I'm always hard at work on creating entertaining stories that veer off in new and naughty directions. Right now, I'm working on my third installment in my Princess Of Hell books. It's a hilarious series following the life and adventures of Satan's daughter. I'm also mentally fleshing out a new werewolf piece featuring a delicious alpha
AL: How do you decide upon your settings? What about the names of characters? Do you ever change either mid-stream into a story?
Eve: I actually spend little time on settings, concentrating more on character interaction via dialogue and action. I tend to try and keep my settings generic so readers can picture the story happening wherever they happen to live. That is unless I'm somewhere fabulously unique like Hell. When my story demands we leave the mortal plane, I love to let my creative juices flow to create a unique world that has twisted parallels to earth.
AL: What was the defining moment when you realized you wanted to be a writer?
Eve: I always wanted to be a writer from the first time I penned a story in grade school. However, the bills had to be paid and reality pushed that dream aside for a long time. Just under two years ago after almost 20 years of writing nothing, the urge to try my hand at writing hit. Since then, I've been typing furiously with great result. In retrospect, I don't consider those 20 years wasted though as I think life experiences have given me the maturity I needed to create believable characters not to mention the perseverance to write.
AL: What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?
Eve: Write. And then write some more. I see a lot of newbie authors worrying about who they'll submit too, should they use an agent, did they use the word was or just or seems too many times. The thing they forget it seems is that the most important thing is to finish that story. Get it down in its entirety, then revise. But don't overdo it. Send it out once it's cleaned up so you can start on the next piece. A person could spend months or years editing and agonizing over their work, but they'll never know if it's any good until they send it out to some publishers and get some feedback.
AL: It's time to get personal! When you have time just for you (if only) what do you do?
Eve: I read. LOL. I am a huge book worm and devour paranormal romance when I get the chance. I also enjoy playing video games and watching reality shows like Hoarders, Survivor, Big Brother and Property Virgins.
AL: What decadent delight must you have no matter what?
Eve: Chips, and if I can dip. My husband calls me a chip-aholic. I don't like to share and I have been known to groan in delight when munching on them.
AL: What annoys you enough to be considered a pet peeve?
Eve: I hate being late. I would rather be stupidly early than even one second late. My husband drives me nuts because he's the kind of guy who thinks a minute or two late is no big deal.
AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?
Eve: Lots and lots of writing :-) I've got some series begging for sequels, a couple of awesome ideas kicking around in my head, and a hand itching to get it all typed. Writing is like an obsession and I don't see that stopping anytime soon.
AL: Fun question! You have just won five thousand dollars! But...you have to spend it all today. What will you buy?
Eve: OMG, can I be responsible and say pay off the mini van? LOL, I am debt obsessed. If I had to splurge though, I'd have to go with a hot tub. A good long soak that leaves me boneless like jelly and wrinkled like a prune would be heavenly.
AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.
Eve: Here's a giggler from Last Minion Standing:
"Cursing technology but wondering who could be calling at this hour, I let go of Bob--it's not like I was getting anywhere--and grabbed my cell. A glance at the display showed a number I didn't recognize. Maybe if I was lucky it would be an obscene caller who'd have suggestions on how I could get off.
I answered in my sexy voice. "Hello."
"Are you touching yourself?"
I almost dropped the phone in shock. I hadn't actually expected a naughty caller. Things were looking up."
AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Eve.
Eve: My pleasure, Ann. I'd also like to thank anybody who took the time to pop by and read. It's nice to meet you :-) I do hope you'll leave a comment and enter for a chance to win an e-copy of Chance's Game.
AL: If you'd like to find out more about Eve please visit:
The God of Chance is bored--mortals beware!
Breanna is a rare sort of shapeshifter, even for a world where magic is rampant. Rare enough that she catches the attention of the God of Chance who sends her on a quest to free magic. Simple you say? Not for this girl who has to keep avoiding the men who would claim her, while getting to know a twin she just discovered. Then to make things even more fun, Chance throws in a super sexy wizard to go on the quest with her. As you can imagine, the outcome ends up magical.
Lots of magic, danger, meddlesome gods and romance await and when the quest is done, the world as we know it, will never be the same again.
"You will be mine," said a self assured voice from behind her--a hated, nasal voice belonging to one who followed his words with a grab for her ass that she quickly dodged. She'd had enough practice in the last few years. It still pissed her off though. All men are pigs!
Breanna spun around furious. "Get your filthy hands away from me, Cedric. For the hundredth time, I will never be yours. Go bug someone with no taste."
The young man named Cedric, narrowed his eyes and sneered at her rebuke, making his unattractive, angular face even uglier. Yuck–imagine waking up to that nasty face every morning? Not!
"Who said you had a choice in the matter, Breanna? I've already spoken to my father; he's willing to give your father a sizable dowry. It won't matter what you want. If your father accepts, you will be my wife."
Breanna laughed, a throaty sound that sent more than one admiring male look her way. "My father has a lot more sense than you and your father combined. He won't be bought, so you and your father should shop elsewhere for a bride. Now go away. Can't you see I'm busy?" She shooed him away with an irritated sweep of her hands. I wonder if you can call browsing odd and ends looking for something interesting, busy? Still better than wasting breath talking to an idiot though.
"When we are married," Cedric continued obstinately. "I will beat that sharp tongue out of you. Your father obviously did not do his duty by you and teach you the proper manners required of a woman. I'll teach you how to act respectfully with great pleasure. It's time you learned your place in the world--on your knees in front of me." Cedric brayed in laughter at his own poor jest.
Breanna just gaped at him in disbelief. The Higher Powers save her from stupid men, which in the last couple of years seemed to have multiplied, judging by the obscene number of pick-up lines she'd been subjected to. Like "Hey baby, I've got a sausage you can chew on." Or how about, "I'd like to wrap your legs around my head and wear you like a feed bag!" And finally the most common one, "I know you want it, so stop playing hard to get." Eew! Seriously, do any of those actually work?
And what was with this subservient crap they all seemed to expect from her. If she ever did marry, which at this point seemed less and less likely, she'd want someone who would respect her as an equal. Just because she lacked something between the legs did not make her stupid or weak. Unfortunately, though she kept pointing out this most obvious fact, her would-be suitors seemed deaf and persisted in their belief that she would eventually swoon at their crude attempts to coerce and bully her into marriage and their beds. Not bloody likely.
"Go away, Cedric. You're boring me. I am not going to marry you. Why don't you crawl back to the hole you came from?" Breanna knew she shouldn't have said it. Her father always told her that her smart mouth would get her into trouble one day. But she'd had quite enough of Cedric, actually of all men in general.
Being an idiot though, Cedric couldn't grasp the idea that she just wasn't interested and he latched an iron grip, stronger than she would have credited him with, around her wrist and started yanking her towards the alley between the shops.Oh come on, he can't be that stupid. Breanna opened her mouth to give him a chance to let her go before she hurt him, when a deep voice spoke from behind her. "I believe the lady is unwilling."
Cedric stopped pulling and sneered at her would be rescuer over her shoulder.
"Mind your business stranger. The lady will be willing enough once I get her skirts high enough. I mean to have her one way or another. Now go about your business before things go badly for you." A knife appeared out of nowhere in Cedric's free hand and Breanna gasped.
Now this is going too far and she opened her mouth to say so, but before she could say a word, her unseen saviour chuckled in amusement and the deep throaty sound sent a shiver through her. Mmm, does the rest of him look as hot as he sounds? Breanna almost gasped aloud at the direction of her thoughts. Since when do I care what a man looks like?
"Did your father never teach you to respect women? Or an even better, a lesson about not threatening wizards?" said her would-be hero in a sexy menacing tone and Breanna held back a giggle at the look on Cedric's face which turned quite green when he heard the word wizard.
Breanna felt a tingle of power from behind her and the blade in Cedric's hand turned cherry red as it heated up. Cedric dropped it with a yelp and shoved his blistered fingers into his mouth.
Nice trick, Breanna thought, but unfortunate as resorting to magic probably means my rescuer is going to be some pale, gangly youth with knobby knees. A real hero would have known how to disarm a poor excuse for a man like Cedric. Hell, another minute and I'd have had him crying for his mother.
"Bloody wizard," Cedric said, finally letting go of Breanna and backing away. "This is not over, Breanna," he threatened, still unbelievably stupid given the situation, then he shape-shifted into the rat that he truly was and scurried away.
She made a mental note of Cedric's shifting animal for the next time--knowing there would a next time, his brain apparently couldn't comprehend the word 'No'. She looked forward to his next attempt for she knew a certain feline that would delight in pulling off his pink rat tail. Meow!
Breanna whirled to thank her hero, even though she hadn't really needed rescuing, and her eyes went wide when she beheld him.
Wow, he most definitely does not have knobby knees.
Tongue tied, she could only gape at him, for the first time in her life stunned by the looks of a man. And what a man!
Towering over her was the epitome of masculinity. Over six feet with shoulders that must surely brush doorways, he had a lean body that tapered at the hips. Nothing weak looking here. His entire being oozed power from his snug breeches hugging his heavily muscled thighs to his square jawed, rugged face. Thick, wavy blond hair brushed his shoulders, silky looking, enough that Breanna had to fight an urge to run her fingers through to see if it the texture was as soft as it looked. He had perfectly arched brows, and even though he was light haired, he had long dark lashes to frame the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Wow.
Breanna mentally shook herself. What the hell had come over her? Since when does the sight a man--even one this gorgeous--strike me dumb? And the tingles in my tummy.... Must be hunger, never mind the fact she'd had lunch less than an hour ago. She must be hungry again already, there could be no other explanation for the way she felt.
As those gorgeous eyes crinkled at her perusal, Breanna gathered her wits and said, "Thank you sir wizard for your timely intervention." Although if he'd given me just another minute I would have handled the situation myself. Just like a man to assume a woman needs saving.
"'Twas my pleasure," he drawled, the corner of his lips lifting in a half smile. "Perhaps you could thank me by joining me for lunch."
Men, they're all the same, thought Breanna huffily. First he saved her, now he wanted lunch. What next, a roll in the hay? Although her tummy still tingled. Maybe a small bite...
REMEMBER: Eve will give one lucky commenter a copy of Chance's Game. She's going to make it super simple to enter. Just leave a comment with your email address. No trivia, no hoops to jump through, just a simple hello and a way to contact you if you win. Using a random number generator on the web, she'll then draw a number to see who wins on February 6th.


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The number of Tennessee State men's basketball commitments has now reached double-digits, as Montez Loman (Boiling Spring Lakes, N.C.) has signed a Letter of Intent to play for Dana Ford this upcoming season.
"Montez is a combo forward who is blessed with incredible athleticism," Ford said. "He has a seven-foot-two wingspan and I like his ability to score around the basket and alter shots. He also has a tremendous motor and energy level, and I look forward to bringing him into the program."
Loman will have two years of eligibility left as he has spent the last two seasons playing for Brunswick Community College in Supply, N.C.
The six-foot-six small forward started 29 of 32 games as a freshman, shot 50-percent from the floor, led the team in blocked shots and ranked second in rebounding. He averaged 6.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
He contributed more as a sophomore as he led the Dolphins in rebounding, blocked shots and steals while also ranking among the top scorers. He averaged 10.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and 1.6 steals to earn second-team all-region honors and the Region 10 Defensive Player of the Year award.


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iMac (early 2011) full review
The latest iMac models introduced by Apple benefit greatly from new Intel processors and greater device connectivity. Both changes offer users unprecedented speed from the iMac lineup. See: New iMac 2012 reviews (27-inch and 21.5-inch reviews)
Apple offers four standard configuration models. The new entry-level £999 21.5in iMac has a 2.5GHz Core i5 quad core processor, a 500GB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics with 512MB of video memory. The £1,249 21.5in iMac has a 2.7GHz Core i5 quad core processor, a 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics with 512MB of video memory. The £1,399 27in iMac has the same processor, memory, and graphics as the £1,249 iMac. At the top of the line sits a £1,649 27in iMac with a 3.1GHz Core i5 quad core processor, a 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 1GB of video memory.
All iMacs include an Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse. If you buy an iMac through the Apple Online Store, you can swap the Magic Mouse for a Magic Trackpad at no additional cost. If you think that the Magic Trackpad is a better input device, that's good news.
Each new standard-configuration iMac features a Core i5 quad-core processor. Based on Intel's Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, the processors integrate the CPU, cache, and memory controller on one chip, allowing for fast data access over fewer buses. Each iMac has 6MB of shared L3 cache and support for Intel's Turbo Boost 2.0, which allows the processor to automatically speed up cores when needed.
However, the Core i5 processors in the standard-configuration iMacs do not have Intel's Hyper-Threading technology, which creates two virtual cores for each physical core present in the processor, improving performance. To get an iMac with a processor that has both Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading, you'll have to select the £160 Core i7 upgrade option for the £1,249 21.5in iMac or £1,649 27in iMac. (The standard-configuration Mac Pros and MacBook Pros have both Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost.)
All iMacs come standard with 4GB of memory, installed as a pair of 2GB modules. When you order an iMac through the Apple Online Store, you have the option to upgrade the memory to 8GB (a pair of 4GB modules) on all iMac models for £160, or to 16GB (four 4GB modules) on the 27in models for £480. The iMac has four memory slots located at the bottom of the iMac that are user-accessible. Since two slots are empty when you buy a standard-configuration iMac, you can easily add more memory. The 21.5in iMac has support for up to 16GB of memory; third party companies are offering 32GB memory upgrades for the new 27in iMac.
The £999 21.5in iMac has a 500GB, 7200-rpm hard drive and no upgrade options. The three other iMac models each have a 1TB 7200-rpm hard drive and options to upgrade to a 2TB hard drive for £120, a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) for £400, or a combination of a 256GB SSD and either a 1TB 7200-rpm hard drive (£480) or a 2TB 7200-rpm hard drive (£600). Do-it-yourself storage upgrades are possible with the new iMac, but it requires a good amount of skill and intestinal fortitude on the user's part – opening up the case involves using suction cups to remove the front pane of glass that is held in place by magnets. Such upgrades void your warranty, which may also be a deterrent from performing the surgery.
The new iMacs have support for Serial ATA-3 (SATA-3) drives capable of 6GBps speed, but the drives Apple installs and the BTO storage options conform to the SATA-2 specification and are capable of 3GBps speed. SATA-3 drives are becoming more common, however, and it's possible that Apple could offer SATA-3 drives in the future. Some companies, such as OWC, offer iMac upgrade services that can be used to install a SATA-3 drive.
The new iMacs have a slot-loading, 8X SuperDrive that can burn dual-layer DVDs at 4X speeds, and a SDXD card slot for easy transfer of photo and video files from SD cards used in cameras and camcorders.
The 27in iMac has two Thunderbolt ports. They are indicated by the lightning-bolt icons and are located between the FireWire 800 and ethernet ports.A new external connection called Thunderbolt can be used to attach Mini DisplayPort monitors. Introduced earlier this year with the latest MacBook Pros, Thunderbolt can also be used with Thunderbolt-equipped storage devices. Thunderbolt offers data transfer speeds up of 10Gbit per second, which is 12 times faster than FireWire 800 and 20 times faster than USB 2.0. The 21.5in iMacs have one Thunderbolt port, while the 27in iMacs have two.
The catch is that at the time of the iMac's release, Thunderbolt cables, drives, or adapters were not available, and it may be a while before Thunderbolt peripherals hit the market. When Thunderbolt was introduced with the MacBook Pro earlier this year, several companies said they had Thunderbolt products in the works, but many did not provide a solid timeline as to when products will be available to the public. So right now, Thunderbolt isn't the sole reason you should buy a new iMac, and fortunately, the iMac didn't lose any ports to make room for Thunderbolt. The iMac has four USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire 800 port to connect external hard drives, printers, and other devices.
The 2010 27in iMac allowed for external HDMI-based video sources (such as a Blu-ray player or game console) if you had an HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter – those adapters won't work with the new iMacs, which require an HDMI-to-Thunderbolt adapter that isn't available yet. If you have a Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro, you can use the new iMac's Target Display Mode feature, which allows you to use the iMac as a second display for the MacBook Pro. But again, the Thunderbolt cable that's required to use the Target Display Mode feature wasn't available during this review.
Glass displays
The new iMacs use the same bright, colourful, glass-fronted, 16:9 aspect ratio, LED backlit, IPS displays as found in the previous iMac. The 21.5in iMac has a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, while the 27in iMacs are 2,560 by 1,440 pixels. IPS offers wide viewing angles, and the bright glossy screen helps give photos depth.
As we've experienced from past iMac reviews, many readers complain about the glare and reflectiveness from the iMac's glass display, but it should be apparent by now that Apple prefers these screens and an anti-glare option will probably never be available. With a desktop computer like the iMac, you'll have to plan your workspace appropriately to cope with the glare and reflections.
Looking at a variety of test images on the four iMac models, we didn't find any uniformity issues on the displays, but we did find one stuck pixel on the 27in 2.7GHz model that we hadn't noticed until viewing a completely black screen.
FaceTime HD
At the top of the iMac sits a new FaceTime HD camera. With the FaceTime application, the new camera allows you to make video calls to other FaceTime clients in 720p resolution. Some applications, such as PhotoBooth, don't yet have support for 720p resolution. It's up to the application developers to update their software.
We found subtle differences between the iSight camera on the older iMacs and the FaceTime HD camera when video chatting with a person, but there was a much higher level of detail from the FaceTime HD camera when looking at a document held in front of each camera.
Speedmark scores
The new £999 iMac even beat out last year's high-end standard configuration model, a 27in 2.8GHz Core i5 quad core iMac by nearly 10 per cent. In this case, the processor-intensive tests were very close, but the file duplication, zipping and unzipping a folder, and opening a Word document in Pages were all considerably faster on the new £1,249 iMac.
The new £1,399 27in 2.7GHz Core i5 iMac was 25 per cent faster overall than the 27in 3.2GHz Core i3 dual core iMac from last year. The older 3.2GHz Core i3 iMac outperformed the new 2.7GHz Core i5 iMac in its file duplication and unzip tasks, but the new 2.7GHz system was faster (up to 70 per cent faster in MathematicaMark tests) in all of our other tests.
The new 27in 3.1GHz Core i5 iMac was 16 per cent faster than the previous high-end standard configuration iMac, a 27in 2.8GHz Core i5 quad core model with a 1TB 7,200-rpm hard drive, and ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics with 1GB of memory.
Surprisingly, when compared to each other, the new iMacs logged similar performance numbers. In fact, only 12 Speedmark points separate the entry-level £999 21.5in 2.5GHz Core i5 iMac and the top-of-the-line £1,649 27in 3.1GHz Core i5 iMac.
Last week, we posted a complete rundown of our iMac Speedmark 6.5 testing, including results with individual applications that make up the Speedmark 6.5 test suite. You can also see how the new iMacs compare to other Macs in Apple's current lineup, as well as how the new iMacs compare to older Macs.
Graphics boost
When running Call of Duty 4 at a relatively low resolution, the frame rates were nearly identical across the line. Cranking the resolution to 1,920-by-1,080 (the 21.5in iMac's native resolution) the benefits and weaknesses of the different graphics cards became apparent. The 3.1GHz iMac with its 6970M graphics had frame rates that were 40 per cent faster than the 6770M graphics in the 2.7GHz iMacs, and 66 per cent faster than the Radeon HD 6750M in the low-end iMac.
We also tested using the game Portal. The 3.1GHz iMac's framerate was 49 per cent higher than the 27in 2.7GHz model and 35 per cent higher than the 21.5in 2.7GHz iMac. At 1280-by-720 resolution, the 21.5in 2.7GHz model was 11 per cent faster at Portal than the 27in 2.7GHz iMac when running in a window, or filling the screen.


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There's A Lot To Be Thankful For
One of my favorite times of year is now upon us. No, it's not when the nation gets its once-a-year look at the Detroit Lions. But it's when we all take the time to reflect and eat…and eat. I have a lot to be thankful for, as I'm sure most everyone does. But I won't bore you with my sentimental list of good things happening in my life. There is only one thing more trifling than someone taking inventory of all their personal blessings – and that's someone that thinks you would like to hear all of their problems.
Instead, I'd like to focus on all the good things that are going on in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Since Thanksgiving of 2009, there have been many, many good things to happen to this series we follow. In no particular order, here are a few…
IZOD as the series sponsor: OK, this happened a little more than a year ago. It actually became official on November 5th, last year. But at this time last year, all we had to go on was a list of promises and a glitzy announcement. In the past year, IZOD has made good on their word and I have this feeling that we haven't seen anything yet. Now that IZOD has gotten the lay of the land, I think that they will really be putting their stamp on the series in 2011. Their marketing power is unquestioned and they give other potential sponsors a good reason to take a long look at this series.
The Indianapolis 500 Centennial: For the past two years, we've been hearing about the Centennial Era of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 2009, the Speedway celebrated the centennial of the opening of the facility. That was a unique look back with historic balloon races and such. 2010 was an awkward year because there was nothing significant to celebrate other than the first races run on bricks a hundred years ago. But, get ready! For those of us that really get excited about the history of this sport, the spring of 2011 promises to be one nostalgic trip after another. It has already started with Donald Davidson's daily "Gasoline Alley Unplugged" at Indy500.com. If you haven't stumbled upon these two-minute narratives, go give yourself a treat.
Sometime next month, I plan to do a post examining all the possibilities the Speedway might have in store for us in the upcoming month of May. I have my own suggestions, but I have an idea they've pretty well got things under control.
Finally retiring the current Dallara: Although I was significantly under-whelmed with this summer's announcement that Dallara would be the sole provider of a common tub that other groups could design bodywork for – it's better than the status quo. I was in favor of multiple companies building completely different chassis. However, I understand the economic climate we are in makes that very impractical. Hopefully, we'll at least have some different looks on the grid in 2012. With all of the hoopla surrounding the centennial of the Indianapolis 500, we'll need something to get us through the summer months after Indy is over. Looks at different aero-kits should keep us tantalized throughout the second half of next season.
New engines, new manufacturers: When new engine requirements were announced for 2012 last summer, I'm not sure anyone really thought that the list of engine suppliers for 2012 would look any different than it did in 2010. I'm not sure anyone thought any different at the beginning of November. Then suddenly, we heard that Chevy was coming. Less than a week after Chevy's official announcement, Lotus announced they would be joining the party. Amidst those stories were rumors that Fiat was taking a close look – possibly for their Dodge brand or maybe Alfa-Romeo. Although the deadline for 2012 has officially passed, I think that if Fiat came calling in the next few weeks – I doubt that they would be told "Sorry, it's too late. Try back next year".
Suddenly, what has been a single-engine series since 2006 has suddenly become a three-engine series for 2012.
Last, but not least…IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard: I was one of the first to scoff at the idea of a guy from Professional Bull Riding who had never seen a race, being the one to save the IZOD IndyCar Series from a slow, but seemingly eventual demise. I've never been so glad to be wrong in my life. If I had to narrow everything down to one item that the series should be thankful for – it would be Randy Bernard.
He came along at just the right time to form a synergistic relationship with IZOD. He has proven to be a quick study in the one hundred year history of this sport. He has embraced the traditions of the Indianapolis 500 and wasn't arrogant enough to think that IndyCar racing began in 1996. He recognized that the Milwaukee Mile needed to be on the schedule and he had the wherewithal to tell ISC to take a hike.
But above all the wonderful things he has done in the past nine months, the best thing he has done is to actually listen to us – the fans. He doesn't sit there and patiently nod and go about fulfilling his agenda. Instead, he actually listens and has acted on many fans concerns – the most recent example being that fans wanted competition among manufacturers.
So, there is a lot to be thankful for if you are an IndyCar fan. Last year at this time, I was cautiously optimistic about the series. Now, I'm downright giddy and bullish on the future. I can't wait to see our list of blessings this time next year.
George Phillips
Unrelated shameless plug: Be sure and catch the third annual "Blogger Night" on Trackside with Cavin & Kevin tonight on a special Wednesday night edition from 8-10 EST; featuring many of the IndyCar bloggers, including yours truly. When they call me, I'll be driving for the weekend with plenty of road noise, my daughter and my yellow lab in the car. It should make for an interesting conversation.
*Note – I will be traveling over the Thanksgiving weekend to visit with family. Rather than be rude and blog during family time, I will take a little time off. There will be no post this Friday Nov 26, nor Monday Nov 29; as I'll be traveling on Sunday. I will return here on Wed Dec 1. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend. – GP
10 Responses to "There's A Lot To Be Thankful For"
I voted for Randy because he is the driving force behind most of the other things, but an all of the above choice would have been nice. i am also thankful for bloggers like you, george. You brighten my day 3 times a week with your posts.
I would be a fan of you if u were a writer…
very well written…<3 😀 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving, George! Enjoy the eats and your family!
Here's what I think I'm thankful for, at least in the Indycar world. I'm thankful that–despite the beer-swilling ovalista's absolutely hating twisty tracks and the tea-sipping twisty supporters hating oval racing–that Indycar is a mixture of both types of racing–and a very difficult test for these drivers. Could the tracks–both oval and twisty–be improved? Absolutely. But I think the 50/50 mixture is something unique to Indycar and will help to define the series as different from Nascar or F1.
Happy Turkey Day George–or in Hobbson's case Wild Turkey Day.
Here here!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family George!
Happy Thanksgiving George…I'm really thankful for Randy and the IndyCar bloggers…you all are making me happy once again!…enjoy with the family…
Happy thanksgiving George,
Hope you have a good day.
Great to hear you on Trackside again last night.
I am thankful that I had parents who took me to my 1st Indy 500 in 1960 as a 5 year old.Rathman and Ward battled all day.I got "IT" and have been hooked ever since.Fast forward to 2011,it would be great to fill the ol girl again and place her right where she should be,"The Greatest Spectacle In Racing".Thanks for a great post George.Race Day can't come any too soon.
I'm thrilled with both IZOD and Randy Bernard. I wouldn't change either one of them if I could.
Great list!


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3 Major Factors that Impact the Sale of Your Home
1. Price
The most significant factor that impacts the sale of your home is the price. The most accurate way to determine the correct market value of your home is to research recent sales in your neighbourhood that have a similar layout and condition.
Something very important to consider is that if buyers are viewing your home, they are likely viewing similar homes within a nearby vicinity. In an effort to make your home stand out, pricing your home accurately will assist considerably, as the first thing a buyer will compare is the price.
2. Location
Location, location, location. These three repetitive words are broadly used in real estate. The neighbourhood, a peaceful and private street, and a home's proximity to schools and amenities are all significant factors.
3. The condition of the home
Lastly, the condition of the home significantly impacts its sale and marketability. Condition can refer to the structure and maintenance of the major features of the home such as the roof, windows, furnace, etc. However, it can also refer to the cosmetic condition of the home. Some buyers look for a home they can renovate to make their own while other buyers look for a home that meets their needs and that they could move into without any cosmetic work. The majority of buyers have a hard time looking past the condition of a home, so some updating can assist your sale considerably.
Updates can be as simple as a fresh, vibrant coat of paint or renewing hardware, such as light fixtures. Another cost effective way to refresh a home is to remove and limit as many personal items as possible. This includes small items of furniture that are not being used (such as side tables), personal pictures (of yourself and your family), paintings and memorabilia, and any small items on tables, counters, mantels, and dressers.
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Antarctic Drilling Program
Project Description
ANDRILL (ANtarctic DRILLing)Program is an international consortium to obtain
stratigraphic records from fast-ice, ice shelf and land-based platforms in
Antarctica with the goal of further advancing our understanding of the
geological and climatic history of Antarctica. A workshop was held in 2001 at
Oxford University to develop the science plan for ANDRILL. The results of this
workshop, an introduction to ANDRILL science and structure, and the scientists
who have expressed an interest in ANDRILL are published in a workshop volume
that is available at http://andrill-server.unl.edu/workshop_report.htm and
available from the ANDRILL Science Management Office as ANDRILL Contribution 1.
The Workshop report presents the science objectives of ANDRILL, reviews sites
proposed as targets, introduces key scientific questions and presents an
introduction of key fields in geosciences that ANDRILL will address. Statements
of interest from the group of international scientists who attended the
workshop, as well as others who expressed interest are included. Proceedings of
the working groups are also included. This contribution is intended to be a
reference resource for scientists with no prior Antarctic experience who desire
to become involved as a scientist in ANDRILL. Additional information about
ANDRILL and updates are available at http://andrill-server.unl.edu