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|A simulation shows the pattern of
particles that scientists think could
be produced by a micro black hole.
What good is a microscopic black hole, and why would you make one on Earth? Can a black hole ever really be safe, even if it's the size of a quark?
Michelangelo Mangano is a theoretical physicist at Europe's CERN particle-physics center, where black holes could conceivably be created as early as next year, and such questions have taken up his time for many months.
In an exclusive Q&A, he provides answers on a cosmic scale.
Mangano is one of the authors of CERN's latest safety report for the Large Hadron Collider, which is destined to become the world's most powerful atom-smasher. The 17-mile-round underground ring on the French-Swiss border is being readied for its official startup next month or so, but the proton-on-proton action isn't likely to reach its peak energy of 14 trillion electron volts, or 14 TeV, until next year.
At that level, there's a chance that the LHC might create microscopic black holes - as well as supersymmetric dark-matter particles, quark-gluon plasma, the elusive Higgs boson (a.k.a. the "God Particle") and other exotic stuff. It was Mangano's job to update past safety reports that concluded particle colliders like the LHC posed no risk of sparking a cosmic catastrophe (for example, creating the planet-gobbling variety of big black holes).
Those previous studies took the view that micro black holes would almost instantly wink out of existence, based on the claim that black holes lost energy through a phenomenon called Hawking radiation. But critics complained that the evidence for Hawking radiation was less than rock-solid - and for that reason, a couple of those critics filed a federal lawsuit seeking the suspension of work on the LHC.
Courtesy of M. Mangano
|Michelangelo Mangano
is a physicist at CERN.
Answering that criticism, Mangano and a colleague of his from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Steve Giddings, wrote a heavy-duty research paper asserting that the LHC posed no catastrophic risk, even if you assumed that micro black holes remained stable and didn't emit Hawking radiation. The Giddings-Mangano study, or "GM paper," drew high praise from a panel of experts who endorsed CERN's safety report.
The most dedicated critics may not be satisfied, but Mangano hopes that the latest findings should reassure reasonable observers that particle colliders pose no threat. The Italian-born 46-year-old also hopes that he can now get back to some semblance of a normal life, although I have a feeling he's going to be kept busy at least until the LHC reaches its top energy of 14 TeV.
This week, Mangano discussed in detail what led him to conclude that Earth was safe - and explained how microscopic black holes could spark a scientific revolution. Here is an edited transcript:
Q: What new research did you conduct on this question about what the Large Hadron Collider will do, and how does it apply to this controversy over black holes?
A: We took on the suggestion that black holes could be stable, even though the overwhelming majority of experts don't take this as a serious possibility. It's quite clear, if you just do some simple estimates, that even in the scenario in which black holes are stable, you should be able to rule out any possible problem. Anything that could destroy the earth cannot just happen on earth, it would have to be able to happen somewhere else. So we just went around and identified what seemed to be the most promising systems we could look at, to establish this connection. In fact, many scenarios can be ruled out directly by the fact that they would have already destroyed the earth or the sun. But for certain scenarios you need to consider other objects.
Dense objects like white dwarfs and neutron stars seemed to be the best possible candidates, because they're very dense, and therefore if you produce black holes from cosmic rays, they would be stopped by those objects. Since they are dense, the black hole would eat matter at the highest rate. It would tend to consume such objects much faster than it would consume the earth. So we studied how stable black holes would change lifetimes of these objects.
The crucial point is this: The black holes that could be produced by the LHC would be very, very small objects. Now, the black hole absorbs matter that gets in its way, right? If you assume that the black hole only eats whatever falls into its trajectory, you find out that it would take a nearly infinite amount of time before it could do any damage to earth. It just cannot grow fast enough, because it's too small.
The only way that you could actually do something macroscopic is by drawing in matter from a much, much larger distance. Since this is the condition under which a black hole can become dangerous, and since it requires the distance at which it affects the matter surrounding it to be large, you only need to understand very basic features of how a black hole works. The starting point for this research is to assume our ignorance about the quantum state of a black hole – whether it's stable, whether it decays, whether there is Hawking radiation.
We know that in order for the black hole to do anything macroscopic, it has to behave as a big object. It has to have an effect at a large distance. But at a large distance, we don't worry about the microscopic state of a black hole. It's all electromagnetism, it's fluid dynamics, it's the standard physics that we know very well.
We can arrive at very solid conclusions that do not presume knowledge of physics beyond the Standard Model on a microscopic scale. This is the main contribution, if you wish, of our work – aside from working out the implications of these observations in detail.
Q: But how did you match up your conclusions about the macroscopic effects of a black hole with observations of the universe itself? Did you do a survey of neutron stars?
A: We know what the rate of cosmic rays is, how they permeate the galaxy. Then we look at very specific neutron stars or, better yet, white dwarfs. We're not doing a statistical analysis. We're merely looking at a specific object. And we ask ourselves, "How long has that object been there?" For example, we have a very reliable estimate of the age of a white dwarf, based on its temperature and mass – macroscopic parameters that are well-measured and well-understood by astronomers.
And then we ask, "How many cosmic rays with energy beyond the energy of the LHC have hit that star, and how many black holes would have been produced inside that object, if black holes can be produced at the LHC?" We find numbers that are very large – numbers that are in the hundreds, in the thousands.
In parallel, we calculate how long one of these black holes would take to destroy that object. And we find numbers that are on the order of anything between a few years and perhaps a hundred thousand years or 1 million years. It's basically impossible that this star had not been hit by a cosmic ray that would have produced a black hole. And if it produced a black hole that was capable of consuming the star, the star would be gone. It would not be there.
Q: Maybe we can back up a bit and ask how a microscopic black hole is created in a particle accelerator. Does the impact of the protons lead to the gravitation collapse of a particle to such a degree that it creates a black hole, like a star collapsing? Or is it a different mechanism?
A: It's slightly different. Two quarks – one quark from one proton, the other from the other proton – come together with the very high energy that they inherit from the protons that contain them. They come very, very close to each other. From Einstein's theory of general relativity, we know that it's the energy density that curves spacetime. It's the mass in E=mc2. If you have mass, or you have energy, it's the same. So if you manage to concentrate enough energy in a very small amount of space, then you curve spacetime, and beyond a given curvature you create a small spatial region that we call a black hole.
This isn't like the collapse of a star, where you have no radiative pressure after running out of fuel and it falls onto itself under its own gravitational field. Here, it's shooting two particles very close to each other at very high energy to create this huge energy density.
Now, if we just have the universe as we currently know it, in order to create such a spacetime region, it would require an amount of energy that is 1 million billion times bigger than the LHC. That's energy on the order of 1019 GeV [giga electron volts] – much higher than anything that is achievable today.
On the other hand, some speculative theories say that there are more dimensions in addition to the four dimensions of the regular universe we know. If those theories are true, then the force of gravity could become much stronger at very short distances. The gravitational force between these two particles would become much bigger. Therefore, there would be a much higher potential for curving spacetime and producing this black hole even with energies as low as those accessible at the LHC.
So in order for the LHC to produce some of these black holes, we really have to go beyond the normal theory of gravity. We have to assume that there are extra dimensions. By the way, there are many theories that have extra dimensions. Not all of them would give rise to black holes at the LHC. It's only highly fine-tuned ones that make this possible.
Q: How would these black holes be detected? I assume that you wouldn't detect them directly, but you'd detect them through their decay products.
A: This is true of pretty much every particle that we produce at this accelerator. Even the top quark is not detected directly, because it decays within 10-24 seconds. What we see are the decay products. It'd be the same for a black hole. It would decay on a time scale that is about a factor of thousands smaller than that of the top quark. The main feature of a black hole decay is that there would be no bias in the particles coming out of the decay.
The final state would be relatively spherical, with no specific direction. There'd be a uniform distribution, with many highly energetic particles of all different kinds: electrons, muons, quarks, photons. This is something that the typical proton-proton collision would not give rise to. It would be a very distinctive signature.
Q: Is there any expectation of how long it might take to have a confirmed detection of black holes? Does it usually take a couple of years?
A: This would be a very spectacular signature. The number of events would be quite large. So it's not unreasonable that two or three years could be enough to draw this conclusion. It all depends on the mass, because if the black holes exist, they cannot be arbitrarily light. Otherwise we would have seen them already at the Tevatron.
We haven't seen them at the Tevatron, so they have to be at least a few TeV. In fact, from other collider limits on extradimensional gravity, we know they must have mass higher than about 5 TeV. If they are close to this, their production rate would be large, and they would be produced abundantly early on. Given the spectacular nature of the final state, I believe there could be a conclusion within a couple of years.
In fact, it could be easier than detecting the Higgs boson. We talk a lot about the Higgs, but the Higgs is not the simplest thing to observe. Supersymmetry could be discovered before the Higgs. Extra dimensions and black holes could be discovered before the Higgs.
Q: And because black holes would imply that extra dimensions exist, that would be a signal achievement for physics. Would that provide the first evidence that all this crazy talk about extra dimensions is true?
A: That would certainly be the most compelling indication that indeed we live in more than four dimensions. Philosophically, that would be at the same level as special relativity or quantum mechanics. That would be a major revolution in our view of the universe – well beyond the Higgs, well beyond supersymmetry and anything else that we have thought of.
Q: I know this is the question that physicists hate, but would there be any implications for daily life? Could extra dimensions lead to new energy sources, for example?
A: I really have no idea what we could get out of extra dimensions. But there is one element of our universe that we don't understand very well, and that is gravity. Being able to do experiments exposing extra dimensions would for the first time provide us with a new observatory for gravity.
So far, the only place where we can measure gravity is in the macroscopic universe, where we measure the motion of planets and other large objects, or the expansion of the universe itself. But it all follows from the same law of gravity: Newton's law or, if you wish, Einstein's theory of general relativity. By looking at how spacetime works at very short distances, we get an entirely different picture. God knows what we will uncover.
All of these discussions about traveling forward and backward in time, or wormholes, you name it – all of these ideas, however bizarre, if they work at all, could be exposed by phenomena in the framework of extra dimensions.
When we're talking about the proton-proton collisions at the LHC, one manifestation of extra dimensions would be the production of black holes. Maybe there are other manifestations. Maybe you could alter the fabric of spacetime, for example. But again, the risk is something we can rule out, because destroying the fabric of spacetime is not something that would happen only at the LHC. If you look at the much more energetic cosmic-ray collisions taking place out there in the universe, if any of those had created a problem with spacetime, we would know it by now.
So when I say "we don't know what will happen," it doesn't mean we have a new source of uncontrollable risk. I'm simply saying that the picture of the universe that we will see could be very interesting.
You know, 5 billion years from now, the sun is going to blow up. There is nothing we can do about that. This will be worse than global warming. It will be worse than a meteorite hitting Earth. If we want to survive for more than 5 billion years, we have to find a way out of this place – and the way to get out of this place is not just by building more powerful rockets. We have to understand more about spacetime and how to travel in a much more efficient way.
I'm not saying this will come out of the LHC. But it's quite clear that, if it finds black holes, the LHC will be one of the steps in this direction.


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Obesity in dogs and cats is one of the most common problems
seen by veterinarians today. Overweight companion animals are at a higher risk
for a number of health problems including diabetes, joint stiffness and
arthritis, non-allergenic skin disorders, lower urinary tract issues, fatty
liver disease (hepatic lipidosis) and shortened life span. For these
reasons, if you are letting your pet become overweight with excessive food or
treats, you
may be killing your companion with "kindness."
How to tell if your dog or cat is overweight:
If your veterinarian has ruled out any health conditions
that are causing your friend's extra weight gain, then a weight management
program is in order. As with humans, crash diets are not healthy. Aim for a gradual
weight loss of .5 - 2% of body weight per week. If you can, weigh your pet
Weight loss and control involve:
What to Feed
Weight loss programs for animals are the same as those for
people – eat less and exercise more. Specially formulated weight loss diets are
not generally necessary. High quality nutrition is the best way to help your
friend lose her extra pounds. Most commercial dry foods are high in carbohydrates, which can
contribute to weight gain, especially in cats. Cats do not produce as much of
the enzyme, amylase, that digests carbohydrates as people and dogs do, so grains
and other carbohydrates are more difficult for cats to break down and digest
properly. Cats need meat as the main portion of their diet. Please see
our article, "What You Need to Know About Your Pet's Food," for
additional information on appropriate diets.
Many overweight animals slim down
nicely when transitioned to a raw food diet, but even a high quality kibble is
fine as long as you feed the appropriate quantity. The newer grain-free diets may be appropriate, but keep in
mind that you will need to feed less of this type of food. If you know you will
not be able to reduce the amount of food you are giving your companion without
feeling overwhelming guilt, then try a
food formulated
for weight control. Adding
digestive enzymes
to each meal can help break down the food and make the nutrients more available
for absorption.
How Much to Feed
Pet food labels are not the best way to determine the
proper amount to feed your companion. The recommended portions on pet food
labels are a very rough guideline and are based on the manufacturer's estimate
of what an "average" cat or dog may be. ach animal is an individual and will
have different activity levels and metabolism than others – even those in the same
household. In our house we have a 75 pound lab mix and a 56 pound border collie
mix, and despite the 20 lb. difference in size, they still eat exactly the same portion
at every meal. The border collie mix is much more active and spends most of the
day outside, whereas the lab mix likes the sofa. They also need less food in the
winter than in the summer when they are more active.
Cats and small dogs need very small portions – sometimes
less than an ounce per meal. It may look like hardly any food to you, but it
will be plenty to meet your companion's needs. If you are monitoring their weight
regularly, you will notice if they is losing too much too fast, and you can adjust the
amount you feed slightly.
Meal Schedule
Leaving food available all the time (known as free feeding) contributes to obesity
and also a number of other health problems. It is a myth that dogs and cats
will regulate their own weight if food is left out. Some may, others will not,
but they will all suffer from an over-stimulated digestive system and stressed
immune system over time. Cats and dogs are hunters – they eat and then rest. They do not snack. If your companion is used to eating at will, cut back to
or four small meals a day, and then down to two. Two meals a day is fine for adult
animals. Puppies and kittens should be fed at least three times a day during their
greatest growth period in the first 4 to 6 months.
Exercise provides much more than just an increase in
calorie usage. It contributes to the quality of your relationship with your
companion as well as improving his mental health, cardiovascular and immune
system health and
increasing his longevity. For dogs this can be as simple as a 15 or 20 minute
walk twice a day. A trip to the local off-leash dog park can provide even more
fun and exercise.
Cats are a bit trickier to exercise, especially overweight
cats, as they tend to feel less energetic and playful. Try a wide
variety of toys – both interactive toys that you
can use to stimulate your cat, and some toys that might encourage her to play
when you are away. Catnip can help stimulate your kitty to play a bit. If she
tires or gets bored easily, then start with shorter play sessions in the
beginning and try to gradually increase the play periods. An outdoor space for
your cat can contribute to both their physical activity and mental health. Provide climbing branches or structures for strength building if possible. If
you live in an apartment – get the biggest piece of
furniture you can fit in the space
It is difficult for most guardians to eliminate treats entirely –
especially those guardians who are well trained (or rather who have trained
their animals well). You may have thought it was cute the first time Fido ran
to the treat cupboard and looked at you with hopeful eyes, but now it is a very
hard habit to break. The same goes for your feline friend when she meows
relentlessly until you give her a tidbit. If you have rewarded your friend for
begging, he will continue to beg and learn to beg harder.
Since treats provide
enjoyment for both of you, just change the quantity and quality to meet the
weight loss program. Break the treats into smaller pieces – no larger than the
size of a pea. A taste is all that is needed to give your friend a reward or
special treat. And use high-quality all or mostly meat treats such as the
freeze-dried or dehydrated meat treats. Reduce
the amount you feed at each meal to account for the amount of treats you have fed that day.
The Reward – Happier, Healthier Companions
Once you have helped your companion reach a healthier
weight, you can slightly increase the food portion to maintain that weight. Continue to watch her closely – feeling for ribs and looking for a waist, and
weighing her if possible on a regular basis. Remember to adjust the amount you
feed to his activity level – don't keep feeding a cup per meal in the winter if
he is inside and less active.
In the long run your pet will be happier and more active
when kept at an appropriate weight. She will be healthier and will likely live
longer as well. Weight control is well worth the time and effort for the
long-term health of your companion.
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The articles and information in the Holistic Healthcare Library are presented for
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The information is not intended to be a substitute for visits to your local veterinarian.
Instead, the content offers the reader information and opinions written by our staff,
guest authors, and/or veterinarians concerning animal health issues and animal care
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subset: commoncrawl


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ICIS publishes daily and weekly LNG reports accessible through a subscription basis. The reports cover vital LNG information to support trading decisions, monitor shifts in trade dynamics and analyse the markets.
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Difference between revisions of "SMILA/Documentation/Importing/Concept"
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== Using JobManager to run imports ==
== Using JobManager to run imports ==
Revision as of 05:17, 23 January 2012
Using JobManager to run imports
The idea is to apply the jobmanagement framework for doing crawl jobs, too. The advantages are:
- we don't need a separate execution framework for crawling anymore
- integrators can use same programming model for creating crawler components than for processing workers.
- same control and monitoring APIs for crawling and processing
- better performance through inherent asynchronicity
- better error tolerance through inherent failsafety
- Parallelization of crawling process possible
We can reach this goal by splitting up the crawl process into several workers. Basically, a crawling workflow always looks like this:
Workers with names starting with "(DS)" are specific for the crawled data source type. E.g. to crawl a file system you apparently need a different crawler worker than for a web server. Not each component may be necessary for each data source type, and it is possible to adapt components to add or remove functionality.
The crawling job is separated from the processing (e.g. indexing) workflow. A final worker in the crawl workflow pushes all records to the other workflow. This makes it possible to have several datasources being crawled into a single index. Also, in update crawl runs it is easier to detect when the actual crawling is done so that it can be determined which records have to be deleted because they were not visited in this run. We assume that the processing job is just running all the time.
The components are:
- Crawler: (data source specific)
- two output slots:
- one for crawled resources (files, web pages), that match configurable filters (name patterns, extensions, size, mimetype, ...)
- one for resources still to crawl (outgoing links, sub-directories). This one leads to follow-up tasks for the same worker.
- The worker can create multiple output bulks for each slot per task so that the following workers can parallelize better.
- In general, it doesn't get content of a resource, but only the path or URL (or whatever identifies it) and metadata of the resources, to minimize IO load especially during "update runs" where most of the resources have not changed and therefore need not need to be fetched.
- If it has to fetch the content anyway (e.g. Web Crawler has to parse HTML to find follow-up links), it may add it to the crawled records to prevent additional fetching.
- The crawler can use or contain a "VisitedLinks" service if the data source can have cycles or multiple paths to the same resource (typical: web crawler) so that it does not produce multiple records that represent the same resource.
- two output slots:
- DeltaChecker:
- Checks with DeltaService whether a resource is new in the data source or has been changed since the last run, depending on some of the metadata produced by the crawler (modification date from file system or HTTP headers).
- If resource has not changed since the last run, this is marked in DeltaService and the record is not written to the output bulk.
- Else the record is written to the output bulk (an additional attribute describes if it's new record or one to update) and must be pushed to the processing workflow in the end.
- Fetcher: (data source specific)
- Worker that gets the content of the resource, if the record does not contain it already.
- Detect compounds (like archive files (zip, tgz), for example) and does not fetch them, but just copy them to a compound output bulk for later extraction, as we do not want to put extremely large compound objects into bulks.
- Compound extractor: (data source specific)
- for handling compounds: fetch the compound data to a local temp filesystem, extract it and add the records to output bulks, just like the ones written by the fetcher.
- extracting is generic, but fetching the compound file to a local temp directory will be data source specific - the compound is not fetched by the fetcher, because we don't want to add extremely large files to record bulks.
- Update Pusher:
- Push resulting records to BulkBuilder and mark them as updated in the DeltaService.
The crawl job is started as a runOnce job, i.e. the jobmanager creates an initial task that causes the crawler to start crawling (data source configuration and start links would be given as job parameters, we may need some additional component to manage data source configurations), which creates follow-up crawl and record tasks. When all tasks have been processed the job run finishes automatically (because it was started in runOnce mode). Then a "finish action" needs to be triggered (TODO: this needs still to be specified) that causes that the DeltaService is scanned for records that have not been visited in this run because they do not exist anymore in the data source. For these records delete commands must be sent to the processing job.
Depending on the implementation of the DeltaService it can be useful to try to parallelise the "find deleted records" operation, too. To support this the DeltaService could put the state entries for one source in different partitions or shards that can be scanned independently. Then one task can be created for each shard to scan it for deleted records, and they can be processed in parallel by multiple instances of the same "finish worker".


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Tom Herzig's Trackside: Star hoping for better luckBy TOM HERZIG
May 23. 2018 11:54PM
On Track This WeekendLegion Speedway: Friday, 7 p.m.
New London/Waterford (Conn.): Saturday, 5 p.m.
Star Speedway: Saturday 5:45 p.m.
Bear Ridge (Vt.): Saturday, 6 p.m.
Claremont: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Monadnock: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Speedway 51: Saturday, 6 p.m.
White Mountain: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Thunder Road (Vt.): Sunday, 1:30 p.m.
Hudson Speedway: Monday, 1 p.m.
"Weather permitting" is the catch phrase for the region's stock car racing schedule this Memorial Day weekend.
Star Speedway, which was rained out last weekend, hopes to get back up to speed Saturday with the Bob Webber Sr. Memorial event. Webber purchased the Epping bullring in 1980 and it's an understatement to say the property wouldn't still exist as race place without his dedication and love of the sport.
You could always get an extra rise out of Bob Sr. around Memorial Day weekend by bringing up some aspect of the Indy 500 or open-wheel racing in general. It was best to have some time on your hands because it was hard to put the phone down.
Saturday's Salute to Service event is scheduled to begin qualifying action for all divisions following speaker tributes on the front stretch at 5:45 p.m. Military members with identification will be admitted free of charge.
Claremont Speedway plans to go racing Saturday night rather than its usual Friday schedule to accommodate an anticipated big crowd and a large field of cars for the Tri-Track Open Modified Series Ron Bouchard's Auto Stores 100 presented by SPAFCO Race Chassis and Jericho. Sunday is listed as the rain date.
Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa., who has pocketed more loot than any other competitor since the Open Modified Series began in 2014, heads up a list of over 40 entries.
Hirschman is a master at tire strategy and preservation. He swept the table last year, including a pair of wins at Star, one of which was setup by a quick exit from the pits after nearly the entire field went in for a tire change. He'll square off against the likes of Ryan Preece, Woody Pitkat, Ronnie Silk, Tommy Barrett, Anthony Nocella, Rowan Pennink, Todd Patnode, Kirk Alexander, Mike Willis Jr., Russ Hersey and 2017 Claremont Modified champion Dana Smith.
The Ron Bouchard Auto Parts 100 is an only-green-flag-laps count event paying $6,000 to win. Racers can lose track position in the pits under yellow, but they won't go down any laps.
Tri-Track Open Modified Series impresario Dick Williams, when joshed about the possible need to handicap "Big Money" Hirschman to avoid another Series sweep, recalled that Geoff Bodine once swept all seven events when he was involved in a similar series in the late 70s.
Claremont's weekly divisions will also be in action. Last Friday, Hayden Scott of Charlestown won the Super Street Dean Smith 52-Lap Memorial. A three-time feature winner in 2017, Scott was making his first start of the season in the Jewell Excavating No.30. Craig Smith — son of Dean — aka. the Newport Craig Smith, placed third and took over the points lead.
Bear Ridge, having endured a rare rainout last weekend, will try again Saturday.
Lee USA, which begins its regular season next Friday, enjoyed a packed house for its recent Monster Truck Show.
The American Canadian Tour (ACT) and the Pro All-Star Series Super Late Models got their Oxford Plains doubleheader in last Sunday. Eddie MacDonald came out on top in the ACT race. Curtis Gerry continued to dominate the PASS races he enters. Gerry outran Travis Benjamin and late closer TJ Brackett of Buckfield, Maine, for his third win in three PASS outings.
MacDonald had to hold off Jimmy Hebert after a pair of late cautions for his win. The winner's check was $5,000 given that the race was the first of three events in the "Summer Showdown Series". Should "The Outlaw" manage to sweep the series, he'll pocket a $5,000 bonus.
The PASS schedule shifts to Thunder Road this Sunday. PASS gets top billing for the Mekkelsen RV 150. There will be a full field of ACT Tour-type cars on hand for the 100 lap Late Model portion of the card, but the race is not an ACT point race.
Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg, Vt., the 2017 "King of the Road" was a winner at last year's Memorial Day Weekend event. He's expected this weekend, but he's not racing a full schedule this season, so a new champion is assured.
The next stop on the American Canadian Tour schedule is at Speedway 51 in Groveton Saturday, June 2, for the running of the Caron Fabrication 151.
Monadnock postponed the ISMA Supermodified Genden Carquest 75 series opener last Saturday. It was the right call because rainfall arrived right on schedule. The make-up date is Saturday, July 23.
Here's wishing for the best possible outcome complete with healing energy and positive thoughts for White Mountain Motorsports Park's Teri Avery, who underwent major leg surgery at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester this week. Further info and ways to wish Teri well will be forthcoming on White Mountain's Facebook page.
The Granite State Pro Stock Series is at New London Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday and a Milk Bowl-style, three-segment event with field inversions and accrued finish scoring will be in effect.
Carrying on a long tradition, Hudson Speedway, under the direction of Ben Bosowski, will be in action Monday. Bob Webber Sr. would be pleased.
Tom Herzig's column appears weekly in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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But the Americans will. 🙂
When reality hits harder than satire could ever do. 😮
But the Americans will. 🙂
When reality hits harder than satire could ever do. 😮
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text:
In our ongoing discussions about the role of the IT and telecommunications industry analysts one question always come up is "Why would anybody pay for analyst research when there is so much free information available on the web and blogs?" We have addressed this issue from a variety of points – many times in blog posts – with one of the answers being that the advisory analysts provide personalized information that can save an enterprise money, in some cases many times the cost of the analyst contract.
Periodically to test this theory, SageCircle searches the web and blogs for information about a particular vendor's pricing, discounts, terms and conditions, and so on. Even though we are crackerjack web researchers we can never find detailed information of this nature. This time around we are enlisting the community to see if you can provide us with links to relevant sources.
We are looking for websites, blogs, social networks, Twitterers, and such that provide information and advice on SAP contracts and pricing. SAP was selected for this experiment because it is a huge global software vendor with complex contract negotiations. SAP is also a popular topic of conversation between enterprise IT managers and advisory analysts like Gartner, Ovum, Forrester, AMR, and so on. What we are looking for are sites or blogs that provide fact-based detail on, implications of, and advice on how to deal with the following points:
- SAP pricing
- SAP discounts
- SAP maintenance fees
- SAP upgrade fees
- SAP contract terms and conditions
- Above by vertical industry
- Above by size of prospect/customer
Please send URLs to "info [at] sagecircle [dot] com" or leave a comment below. We look forward to your input on blogs and websites with this type of information.
Bottom Line: While the web and blogs certainly displace certain types of advisory analyst services, there are some issues that do not appear to be addressed online. This blog post is an experiment to see if there are websites that provide the type of high-value intelligence that industry analyst firms currently provide to clients. Once we have done this "scan" we will entertain another vendor and topic.
Filed under: Social media | Tagged: analyst relations, AR, contract, discounts, pricing, SAP |


text:
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text:
Matt Cutts says "Nooooooo" and wishes he could come through the screen and press your ESC key and Ctrl C and Break, funny guy :-) (he actually is).
What I how ever heard was that they are using other means that the Googlebot to look at sites and evaluate the page speed, what he does not say. I also believe that when Google comes in it's not downloading all the images and javascripts, CSS and so on, Googlebot looks at the content so having good HTML might actually be more important than cloaking content.
According to Mr. Cutts the bottom line is that if you do serve Google one type of content and the user other, it's cloaking and the "Noooooo" was for that reason. So don't serve Googlebot content-only (cloak) pages optimized for load speed.


text:
After nearly 10 years, the Desert Empire Fair is opting not to renew its release for the city-owned property used to host motocross events.
After nearly 10 years, the Desert Empire Fair is opting not to renew its release for the city-owned property used to host motocross events.
Ridgecrest's Parks and Recreation Director Jim Ponek confirmed Monday evening that DEF would not renew its lease at the beginning of 2013.
"The fairgrounds have agreed not to renew their release," Ponek said. "Ridgecrest will be taking back control of the property."
The agreement was confirmed by DEF CEO Mike Leming Tuesday morning.
Leming, who took over as CEO last year, said the decision boiled down to a few things.
"I don't have the staff to continually maintain and repair the area," he said.
Leming said that over the years, the course has been subject to a number of break-ins and vandalizations and constant maintenance would overextend the fairground staff.
The area, located behind the fairgrounds, is known mostly for its hosting of the annual Viewfinders motocross annual event.
Leming said that while DEF would not be keeping the lease, it still has a year contract with the Viewfinders Motorcycle Club.
"Jim (Ponek) and I spoke and he's open to working with Viewfinders," Leming said.
Ponek said that it would be one thing the city would be considering.
"The City of Ridgecrest is in current discussion of how the city will proceed with the future use of the land," Ponek said.
The area has a long history of recreational uses, dating back to when it was a miniature golf course and driving range, hosting a remote control race track and eventually transformation into a motocross and dirt bike course.
Only, for Leming and the DEF, it's a matter of finances at a time when California has discontinued financial support of its fairs.
Leming said that the lease, or memo of understanding, was first signed in April 2003. But due to increasing lean budgets, the fairgrounds had some decisions to make.
"The motorcycle course has been a losing proposition for the fairgrounds," Leming said.
While basic utilities like electricity and water average $125 a month or $1500 a year, DEF needed to begin ruling out costs somewhere.
"The whole thing is, as CEO, I'm having to put everything under a microscope," Leming said.
The fairgrounds no longer receives a check from the state for what Leming amounted to $190,000 a year for the fairgrounds.
In 2011, the state decided to cut $32 million in funding as a means of saving money and make up for a shortfall in its general fund.
The Desert Empire Fair is in good shape so far, making a decent profit for the first time in 10 years, Leming said, but priorities need to be set.
"We have to be good stewards of what we have," Leming said.
This includes looking at events and things that ultimately cost more than they bring in.
The area itself, Leming said, was not an ideal place for a motocross track.
"It's not in the right location for a track," he said. "It shouldn't be intrusive."
He pointed to Adelanto's racetrack as a good example, saying it was easy to find and right off of Highway 395.
"It can be good for the community but it needs to be marketed properly," Leming said. "People need to be educated."
He said it would take an investor with serious equipment, budget and manpower to properly maintain a racetrack.
"If we had the money and the staff, we would hang on to it," Leming said.
However, Leming hasn't ruled out working with the city in the future.
"We've said if you guys (the city) does something entertainment-wise with the land, we'll support it," he said.


text:
NEW YORK (AP) — A New Mexico-based poet has received a $50,000 prize for gifted writers deserving of greater attention.
Poets & Writers Inc. announced Wednesday that Sante Fe resident Arthur Sze (zee) has won the Jackson Poetry Prize.
Sze's eight books include "The Ginkgo Light" and "The Redshifting Web." A new collection called "Compass Rose" is scheduled for next year.
Previous winners of the Jackson prize include Elizabeth Alexander, who read a poem at President Barack Obama's first inaugural.
Poets & Writers is a nonprofit organization founded in 1970. It sponsors readings and workshops and publishes a bimonthly magazine.
The Jackson Poetry Prize was established in 2006 and is named for the family of philanthropists John and Susan Jackson.


text:
A Christmas Story (1983)
[after cracking a secret code]
Ralphie: [Reading it] Be sure to drink your Ovaltine. Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!
Ralphie: Ohhhh fuuudge!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Only I didn't say "Fudge." I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!
Mr. Parker: [stunned] *What* did you say?
Ralphie: Uh, um...
Mr. Parker: That's... what I thought you said. Get in the car. Go on!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] It was all over - I was dead. What would it be? The guillotine? Hanging? The chair? The rack? The Chinese water torture? Hmmph. Mere child's play compared to what surely awaited me.
Mr. Parker: He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny.
Mother: He does not!
Mr. Parker: He does too, he looks like a pink nightmare!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.
Flick: Are you kidding? Stick my tongue to that stupid pole? That's dumb!
Schwartz: That's 'cause you know it'll stick!
Flick: You're full of it!
Schwartz: Oh yeah?
Flick: Yeah!
Schwartz: Well I double-DOG-dare ya!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] NOW it was serious. A double-dog-dare. What else was there but a "triple dare you"? And then, the coup de grace of all dares, the sinister triple-dog-dare.
Schwartz: I TRIPLE-dog-dare ya!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Schwartz created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Some men are Baptists, others Catholics; my father was an Oldsmobile man.
Mr. Parker: That son of a bitch would freeze up in the middle of summer on the equator!
Mother: Little pitchers!
Mr. Parker: Thanks... hold it!
[the furnace conks out]
Mr. Parker: It's a clinker! That blasted stupid furnace dadgummit!
[he walks down a few stairs and falls the rest of the way down]
Mr. Parker: Damn skates!
Mr. Parker: Oh, for cripes sake, open up the damper will ya? Who the hell turned it all the way down? AGAIN! Oh, blast it!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.
[Mr. Parker reads a side of the box with the prize that he won]
Mr. Parker: Aaah! "Fra-GEE-leh!" It must be Italian!
Mrs. Parker: Uh, I think that says FRAGILE, honey.
Mr. Parker: Huh? Oh, yeah.
[nods in agreement]
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] The old man stood there, quivering with fury, stammering as he tried to come up with a real crusher. All he got out was...
The Old Man: Naddafinga!
Ralphie: I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!
Mrs. Parker: No, you'll shoot your eye out.
[last lines]
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Next to me in the blackness lay my oiled blue steel beauty. The greatest Christmas gift I had ever received, or would ever receive. Gradually, I drifted off to sleep, pranging ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots.
Mother: All right. Now, are you ready to tell me where you heard that word?
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Now, I had heard that word at least ten times a day from my old man. He worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium; a master. But, I chickened out and said the first name that came to mind.
Ralphie: Schwartz!
Randy: Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf. I hate meatloaf.
The Old Man: All right, I'll get that kid to eat. Where's my screwdriver and my plumber's helper? I'll open up his mouth and I'll shove it in.
Mr. Parker: What is the name of the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse?
Mother: Ah... Victor! His name is Victor.
Mr. Parker: How the hell did you know that?
Mother: Everybody knows that!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating, after BB gun shot bounces off target and hits his face] Oh my god, I shot my eye out!
Narrator: Aunt Clara had for years labored under the delusion that I was not only perpetually 4 years old, but also a girl.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Meanwhile, I struggled for exactly the right BB gun hint. It had to be firm, but subtle.
Ralphie: Flick says he saw some grizzly bears near Pulaski's candy store!
[everyone stares at Ralphie]
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] They looked at me as if I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.
[overdressed for winter]
Randy: I can't put my arms down!
Mother: Well... put your arms down when you get to school.
Miss Shields: [reading Ralphie's theme in his fantasy, she clutches his essay to her chest] Oh! The theme I've been waiting for all my life. Listen to this sentence: "A Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time". Poetry. Sheer poetry, Ralph! An A+!
Mother: [gets on the phone] Hello, Mrs. Schwartz? Yes, I'm fine. Uh, Mrs. Schwartz, do you know what Ralph just said?
[Mrs. Schwartz's speech is inaudible]
Mother: No, he said...
[whispers it close to the receiver]
Mrs. Schwartz: [in a hysterical tone] NO, NOT THAT!
Mother: Yes, that! Do you know where he heard it?
Mrs. Schwartz: Probably from his father.
Mother: No! He heard it from your son!
Mrs. Schwartz: [screams hysterically] WHAT! WHAT! WHAAAAAAT!
[footsteps are heard followed by screaming and spanking]
Schwartz: [crying] Ah, no! What did I do, Ma? What, I didn't do nothing! AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!
[Ralphie's mom hangs up the phone]
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Another shot of mysterious, inexorable, official justice.
[in a Chinese restaurant]
Waiter #1, Waiter #2, Waiter #3: [singing] Deck the harrs with boughs of horry, fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra.
Chop Suey Palace Owner: No, no, not 'ra ra ra ra', 'la la la la'! Try again.
Waiter #1, Waiter #2, Waiter #3: Deck the harrs with boughs of horry, fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra.
Chop Suey Palace Owner: No, no! Sing something else.
Waiter #1, Waiter #2, Waiter #3: Jingre berrs, jingre berrs, jingre arr the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sreigh!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating about diving with his brother into the gifts under the Christmas tree] We plunged into the cornucopia quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice.
Mr. Parker: Didn't I get a tie this year?
The Old Man: [Watching in horror as the Bumpus hounds flee after devouring the Christmas turkey] Sons of bitches! Bumpuses!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand...
Ralphie: YECCHH!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.
Ralphie: Scut Farkus!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Scut Farkus! What a rotten name! We were trapped. There he stood, between us and the alley. Scut Farkus staring out at us with his yellow eyes. He had yellow eyes! So help me, God! Yellow eyes!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] The snap of a few sparks, a quick whiff of ozone, and the lamp blazed forth in unparalleled glory.
Mr. Parker: Oh, look at that! Will you look at that? Isn't that glorious? It's... it's... it's indescribably beautiful! It reminds me of the Fourth of July!
Mr. Parker: Dadgummit! Blow out!
[on the highway, the car has gotten a flat tire]
Mr. Parker: Ah ha!
[excitedly gets out of the car]
Mother: Not again.
Mr. Parker: Four minutes. Time me.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Actually the Old Man loved it. He had always pictured himself in the pits of the Indianapolis Speedway in the 500. My old man's spare tires were actually only tires in the academic sense. They were round, they had once been made of rubber.
Ralphie: Hey Dad! I'll bet you'll never guess what I got you for Christmas.
The Old Man: A new furnace.
Ralphie: Ha ha! That's a good one, Dad!
[Randy laughs]
Mr. Parker: [unveiling his major award] Would you look at that? Would you look at THAT?
Mother: What is it?
Mr. Parker: It's a leg!
Mother: But what is it?
Mr. Parker: Well, it's... A leg, you know, like a statue.
Mother: Statue?
Mr. Parker: Yeah, statue.
Ralphie: Yeah, statue.
Mother: Ralphie!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] My mother was trying to insinuate herself between us and the statue.
Ralphie: [in his fantasy, Ralphie explains the cause of his blindness] It... It 'twas... soap poisoning!
Mother: Randy, how do the little piggies go?
Randy: [oinks like a pig]
Mother: That's right. Oink, oink! Now show me how the piggies eat.
[points to his plate]
Mother: This is your trough. Show me how the piggies eat. Be a good boy. Show mommy how the piggies eat.
Randy: [plunges face into mashed potatoes, oinks, eats, and laughs]
Mother: [laughs] Mommy's little piggie!
Mr. Parker: [Mr. Parker's beloved leg lamp is broken] Get the glue.
Mother: We're out of glue.
Mr. Parker: You used up all the glue on purpose!
[Ralphie is visiting Santa at the department store, only he can't remember what he wanted]
Santa Claus: How about a nice football?
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Football? Football? What's a football? With unconscious will my voice squeaked out 'football'.
Santa Claus: Okay, get him out of here.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] A football? Oh no, what was I doing? Wake up, Stupid! Wake up!
Ralphie: [Ralphie is shoved down the slide, but he stops himself and climbs back up] No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!
Santa Claus: You'll shoot your eye out, kid.
Santa Claus: [Santa pushes Ralphie down the slide with his boot] Merry Christmas. Ho! Ho! Ho!
Ralphie: No-o-o-o!
Ralphie: Heh, I was just kidding, even though Schwartz is getting one. I guess I'd just like some Tinker Toys.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] I couldn't believe my own ears. Tinker Toys? She'd never buy it.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] My kid brother looked like a tick about to pop!
Mother: Randy? What's wrong? Whatcha cryin' for?
Randy: Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie!
Mother: No he's not...
Randy: Yes he is!
Mother: No, I promise, Daddy is not going to kill Ralphie!
Santa Claus: If Higbee thinks I'm working one minute past 9:00, he can kiss my foot. Ho ho ho.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating, after Mother breaks the Old Man's Major Award, and he is unsuccessful at repairing it] With as much dignity as he could muster, the Old Man gathered up the sad remains of his shattered Major Award. Later that night, alone in the backyard, he buried it next to the garage. Now I could never be sure, but I thought that I heard the sound of "Taps" being played, gently.
Mr. Parker: Get in the car. Get in the car.
[Mother runs back inside]
Mr. Parker: If we don't hurry, we're gonna miss all the good trees!
Mr. Parker: [to the kids] Go on, go on.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating, as Mother switches off the leg lamp] My mother was about to make another brilliant maneuver in the legendary battle of the lamp. The epic struggle which follows lives in the folklore of Cleveland Street to this very day.
Mother: Don't want to waste electricity.
Mr. Parker: [mockingly] "Don't want to waste electricity."
Mother: Ralphie, you're lucky it didn't cut your eye! Those icicles have been known to kill people.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] My father worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium, a master.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Grover Dill! Farkus's crummy little toadie. Mean! Rotten! His lips curled over his green teeth.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] The line waiting to see Santa Claus stretched all the way back to Terre Haute. And I was at the end of it.
Mr. Parker: You mundane noodle!
Ralphie: Mom, this is just the same dumb old parade as last year.
Mother: Ralphie, will you please calm down?
Ralphie: Mom!
Mother: Hush!
Mr. Parker: SHUT UP, Ralphie!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Strange. Even something as momentous as the Scut Farkus affair, which it came to be known, was pushed out of my mind as I struggled to come up with a way out of the impenetrable BB gun web, in which my mother had me trapped.
Ralphie: Santa. Yeah, I'll ask Santa.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Of course. Santa. The big man. The head honcho. The connection. Ha, my mother had slipped up this time.
Mr. Parker: [after Mother "accidentally" breaks the Old Man's leg lamp] Don't you touch that! You were always jealous of this lamp.
Mother: Jealous of a plastic...
Mr. Parker: Jealous! Jealous because I WON.
Mother: That's ridiculous. Jealous. Jealous of WHAT? That is... the ugliest lamp I have ever seen in my entire LIFE!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Now it was out.
Mr. Parker: Holy smokes. Do... Do you know what this is? This is... A lamp!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] It was indeed a lamp.
Mr. Parker: Isn't that great? What a great lamp.
Mother: I don't know...
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] The old man's eyes boggled...
Mr. Parker: Oh WOW!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] ... Overcome by art.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] There has never been a kid who didn't believe vaguely but incessantly that he would be stricken blind before he reached 21, and then they'd be sorry.
Ralphie as Adult: Mothers know nothing about creeping marauders burrowing through the snow toward the kitchen where only you and you alone stand between your tiny, huddled family and insensate evil.
Mr. Parker: You filty sicken hook-aid! Oh, smelly wok buster! Grout shell fratten house stickle fifer! You bladder puss nut grafter! Dorton hoper...
Ralphie as Adult: What happened next was a family controversy for years.
Mr. Parker: You wart mundane noodle! You shotten shifter paskabah! You snort tonguer! Lame monger snaffa shell cocker!
[the sound of the lamp breaking is heard]
Mr. Parker: It's a Major Award!
Swede: A Major Award? Shucks, I wouldn't know that. It looks like a lamp.
Mr. Parker: It is a lamp, you nincompoop, but it's a Major Award. I won it!
Swede: Damn, hell, you say won it?
Mr. Parker: Yeah, mind power, Swede; mind power.
Miss Shields: Now I know that some of you put Flick up to this, but he has refused to say who. But those who did it know their blame, and I'm sure that the guilt you feel is far worse than any punishment you might receive. Now, don't you feel terrible? Don't you feel remorse for what you have done? Well, that's all I'm going to say about poor Flick.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Adults loved to say things like that but kids knew better. We knew darn well it was always better not to get caught.
Mr. Parker: [Reading Telegram and doing a little jig] Tonight! Tonight! It's coming Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! Hot Damn, Tonight!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] My little brother had not eaten voluntarily in over three years.
The Old Man: [shouting] Don't anybody move! Hold it right there! The fuse is out.
[marveling at a Christmas gift he just opened]
Mr. Parker: A can of Simoniz!
Goggles: I like Santa.
Ralphie: Yeah.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Let's face it, most of us are scoffers. But moments before zero hour, it did not pay to take chances.
Mr. Parker: So what else happened today?
Mother: Oh, nothing much. Ralphie had a fight?
Mr. Parker: A fight? What kind of a fight?
[Looks at Ralphie]
Mother: Oh, you know how boys are. I gave him a talking to...
[Looks at the newspaper]
Mother: Uh I see that the Bears are playing Green Bay on Sunday.
Mr. Parker: What? Oh yeah! Zudock's got tickets I wish I had. Aw well, let him freeze his keister off out there.
Santa Claus: [to the next kid in line] Come on up on Santa's lap.
[Kid sits]
Santa Claus: Ahhh, here's a wet one. And what's your name little boy?
Billy: Billy
Santa Claus: And what do you want for Christmas, Billy? A toy truck?
Santa Claus: [Billy starts crying] Get him off my lap and get my a towel.
[Billy is pushed down the slide]
Santa Claus: Oh, I hate the smell of tapioca.
Miss Shields: Where's Flick? Has anyone seen Flick?
Ralphie as an Adult: [narrating as Ralphie feigns ignorance] Flick? Flick who?
Mother: This isn't one of those trees where all the needles falls off, is it?
Tree Man: No, that's them balsams.
Mother: Is this another one of your silly puzzles?
Mr. Parker: Yeah, another one of my silly puzzles. This one could be worth FIFTY THOUSAND BUCKS.
Mother: What is it this time?
Mr. Parker: Name the great characters in American literature.
Mother: Victor? The Lone Ranger's nephew's horse?
Ralphie as Adult: C+? Oh no, it CAN'T be!
Ralphie: C+?
Miss Shields: [in Ralphie's fantasy, dressed as the Wicked Witch] C+! C+! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Ralphie as Adult: [regarding the note on his report] Oh, no! "You'll shoot your eye out!"?
Ralphie: Oh, no!
Ralphie as Adult: My mother must have gotten to Miss Shields! There could be no other explanation!
Miss Shields, Mother: [in Ralphie's fantasy, Miss Shields is dressed as the Wicked Witch and Ralphie's mother as a jester, both chanting] "You'll shoot your eye out! You'll shoot your eye out! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Ralphie as Adult: Was there no end to this conspiracy of irrational prejudice against Red Ryder and his peacemaker?
Ralphie: [Giving his teacher a fruit basket instead of just an apple] I thought you might like something different.
Ralphie as Adult: Yes, clearly, a little bribe never hurts.
Ralphie as Adult: [chuckling] Ho, ho, but no matter. Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved.
Ralphie as Adult: First-nighters, packed earmuff-to-earmuff, jostled in wonderment before a golden, tinkling display of mechanized, electronic joy!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Honors and benefits already at the age of nine!
Ralphie as Adult: Immediately, my feet began to sweat as those two fluffy little bunnies with a blue button eye stared sappily up at me.
Mother: Come down so I can see you better.
Ralphie as Adult: I just hope Flick would never spot them as a word of this humiliation could make easier in life at Warren G. Harding School a variatable Hell.
Mr. Parker: [Going inside the house after the Bumpus hounds devoured the Christmas turkey] All right! Everybody upstairs! Get dressed! We are going out... to eat!
[the Bumpus hounds break in the house and raid the kitchen]
Mr. Parker: Holy smokes, the turkey!
[the old man arrives too late to see that the dogs already devoured the turkey]
Mr. Parker: Oh, my... God! You sons of - !
[the dogs leave out the back door]
Mr. Parker: [shouts, high-pitched] SONS OF BITCHES! BUMPUSES!
Mr. Parker: [In the Chinese restaurant, the waiter brings out the cooked duck, which still has its head on; Mrs. Parker is laughing] Yes, it's a beautiful duck. It really is. But you see... it's smiling at me.
[He lifts the head of the duck]
Chop Suey Palace Owner: Ooohh!
[He chops off the duck's head. Mrs. Parker and the kids are laughing]
Ralphie as Adult: That Christmas would live in our memories as the year we were introduced to Chinese turkey.
Goggles: I like The Wizard of Oz. I like the Tin Man.
[Describing a "reaction" to an encounter with the bullies]
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Randy lay there like a slug! It was his only defense!
Boy in School: [Firemen come to pull Flick off pole] Holy cow, it's the fire department!
Ralphie: Oh no...
Boy in School: [policemen come] Wow, it's the cops!
Mr. Parker: It could be a bowling alley!
Mother: How are they going to deliver a bowling alley here tonight?
Mr. Parker: They'll send the deed for cripesake. I didn't expect them to send a whole damn bowling alley.
Ralphie as Adult: My father's spare tires were only tires on the academic sense. They were round,and had once been made of rubber.
Head Elf: COME ON, KID!
[pulls Ralphie]
Head Elf: COME ON!
Santa Claus: HO! HO HO!
[spins Ralphie around]
Santa Claus: HOOOO... HOOO... HOO... And what's your name little boy?
Male Elf: Hey, kid! HURRY UP! THE STORE'S CLOSING!
Head Elf: Listen little boy, we have A LOT of people waiting here, so GET GOING!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Getting ready to go to school was like getting ready for extended deep-sea diving.
Schwartz: Hey, smart ass. I asked my old man about sticking your tongue to a flagpole in the winter, and he says that it'll freeze right to the pole, just like I told ya.
Flick: Ah, baloney. What would your old man know about anything?
Schwartz: He knows, because he once saw a guy stick his tongue to a railroad track on a bet, and the fire department had to come get the guy's tongue off the track, because he couldn't get it off.
Randy: [is trying to catch up] C'mon, guys! Wait up! C'mon, guys! Wait up!
Man in Line for Santa: Young man. Hey, kid! Just where do you think you're going?
Ralphie: Going up to see Santa.
Man in Line for Santa: The line ENDS here. It begins THERE.
[Points to the very end of a very long line]
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] I left Flick to certain annihilation. But BB gun mania knows no loyalty.
Mom: [Playing Santa] And this is for Daddy...
[Picks up a gift-wrapped bowling ball and drops it in The Old Man's Lap]
Mom: Here, from me to you.
The Old Man: [high-pitched] Thanks a lot!
Mrs. Parker: Randy, will you eat? There are starving people in China!
Randy: [groans and shoves spoon into his mouth]
Mr. Parker: [to Mother] You know, Zudock just bought one of those brand-new green plastic trees.
Tree Man: Oh no!
Mr. Parker: Darn thing looked like it was made of green pipe cleaners. Hee hee hee hee.
Mother: It's a very nice tree.
Tree Man: [quickly] I'll thrown in some rope and tie it to your car for you.
Mr. Parker: You got a deal.
Tree Man: Deal.
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey Hash! Turkey a la King! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone, ALL GONE!
Narrator: Was there no end to the conspiracy of irrational prejudice against Red Ryder and his peacemaker?
Ralphie as Adult: I slowly began to realize that i was not going to be destroyed.
Ralphie: Well, what have we got here, folks?
Mr. Parker: Well, we figure it's Black Bart, uh, Ralph.
Ralphie: Well, it's just me and my trusty old Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle. Lucky I got a compass in the stock.
Narrator: Downtown Hohman was preparing for this yearly baccanalia of peace on Earth and goodwill to men.
Ralphie as Adult: Round One was over. heh heh. Parents one, kids, zip. I can feel the Christmas noose beginning to tighten. Maybe, what happened next, was inevitable.
Mother: Ralphie, what would you like for Christmas?
Ralphie as Adult: Horrified, I heard myself blurt it out!
Ralphie: I want a Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle.
[Realizing he's made a mistake]
Ralphie: Ohhhhhhh...
Mother: No, you'll shoot your eye out.
Ralphie as Adult: Oh no! It was a classic, mother BB-gun block. "You'll shoot your eye out!" That deadly phrase honored many times by hundreds of mothers was not surmountable by any means known to Kid-dom, but such as my mania, my desire for a Red Ryder carbine, that I immediately began to rebuild the dike.
[Furnace makes creaking noise]
Mr. Parker: Hold it! Shhh...
[Furnace makes loud banging noises]
Mr. Parker: Aha! Aha! It's a clinkerrrr! That blasted, stupid furnace! Dadgummit!
[Mr. Parker falls down the stairs]
Mr. Parker: Damn skates!
Mr. Parker: Oh for cripe's sake, open up that damper, will ya? Who the hell turned it all the way down? Hawk head! Aw, blasted poop flirt rattle crap camel flirt. You blonker frattle feet sturckle frat! Of a womp sack butt ratter bottom fodder...
Ralphie as Adult: In the heat of battle, my father wove a tapestry of obscenity, that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.
Mr. Parker: ...smick melly whop walker. Drop dumb fratten house stickle fifer!
Mr. Parker: [Explaining rather sheepishly to Mother why "Santa Claus" brought Ralphie the BB gun] I had one when I was eight years old.
Mother: What if he hurts himself?
Ralphie: Hey Dad! I bet you never guess what I got you for Christmas!
The Old Man: [staring blissfully into space] A new furnace?
Ralphie: [chuckling] He he, that's a good one Dad!
Randy: [lauging] He he he!
Ralphie as Adult: My old man was one of the most feared furnace fighters in Northern Indiana.
Mr. Parker: When Parker is reading the paper about an upcoming game between the Packers and the Bears, he says something like Ah the bears, the monsters of the gridiron. Should be the monster of the midway.
[Scut Farkus scares Ralphie, Flick and Schwartz. But, he grabs Schwartz's arms]
Scut Farkus: Say "Uncle"!
Schwartz: Uncle!
Scut Farkus: Uncle.
Schwartz: Uncle!
Scut Farkus: Louder!
Schwartz: Uncle!
Scut Farkus: LOUDER!
Schwartz: Uncle!
Scut Farkus: Louder!
Schwartz: [screams] UNCLE!
Scut Farkus: [lets Schwartz go] Crybaby.
[Ralphie and his friends are heading to the school]
Flick: Do you know what I'm getting for my old man for Christmas?
Schwartz, Ralphie: Yeah, what?
Flick: A rose that squirts. People come to smell it, it squirts them.
Schwartz: I'm getting my old man a Flit gun.
Ralphie: A Flit gun?
Schwartz: Yeah.
[Scut Farkus roaring at them, hanging on the monkey bars. They began to screaming and running to school. Grover Dill stops them]
Grover Dill: Stop right there.
Ralphie: Who, me?
Grover Dill: Yeah, you! Get over there!
Ralphie: I can't now, Grover. I've... I've gotta go see Miss Shields.
[They ran into school]
Grover Dill: Hey, come here! Get back here!
Scut Farkus: Yeah, you get back here! Come back here!
[to Flick]
Scut Farkus: You... come here.
Flick: Who, me?
Grover Dill: No, your Aunt Tilly. Yeah, you. Get over here!
[Flick comes to them]
Flick: Uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle.
[Scut Farkus grabs his arms, he screams]
Flick: UNCLE! UNCLE!
Black Bart: Okay, Ralphie. You win this time. But, we'll be back.
The Old Man: I told you not to use Lifebuoy!


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Luxury or Lemon?
It seems like a long time since we last took a lap around the track, but Sega
and Wow Entertainment are back for another speed exhibition with Sega GT 2002.
Plenty of classic cars combined with a sweet exterior and great handling make
for a well-built hunk of metal, but it's too bad that this ride is more show than
it comes to modes, Sega GT 2002 is about as thrilling as a Honda Civic
– you've seen it before and you'll see it again. Four choices are available,
including Quick Battle, Time Attack, Chronicle and Sega GT 2002 mode. Quick
Battle is a single race with a two-player option and Time Attack is just a race
for the fastest lap time.
Chronicle mode allows players to race classic cars from the 70's and 80's.
Exterminate the competition here, and you'll unlock even more cars for use in
Quick Battle mode. It's a nice addition, but certainly not one to write home
The real bells and whistles come with Sega GT 2002 mode, the Career mode where
you'll spend the most time racing for cash and upgrading your car. Like any
other sim racer, you start out with a small nest egg of simoleans, just enough
to buy the oldest, slowest car on the lot. After you've selected your ride,
it's off to the races and a few more choices. Enter an Official Race and you'll
need to complete several challenges before taking the license test. These races
won't yield much cash, but gaining a new license will bump you up to a higher
level of competition with a chance to earn more money. Event Races, on the other
hand, present players with fifteen different "tournaments" and the chance for
fabulous cash and prizes. It is here where you'll spend the majority of your
time and earn the bulk of your cash.
Despite not having any actual damage modeling, Sega GT 2002 still carries
a damage meter. Drive like a maniac and you'll end up paying for repairs with
any prize money you may have won. Fortunately you can't be wiped out, but frequent
repairs will definitely wear your parts out that much faster. Surprisingly,
this feature isn't as bad as it sounds. Damage costs are relative to the car
you drive and hits from the occasionally aggressive AI don't count against you.
Even better is the bonus cash you'll get from a perfect drive.
And when it comes to a perfect drive, Sega GT does not disappoint.
The handling of the cars is quite accurate and you'll definitely feel the difference
when modifications are done. Even the wear and tear is noticeable as you'll
start slipping and sliding around on bald tires and bad suspension.
there are fifteen different tournaments to chose from in the Event Races, there
are actually only a few tracks to race on. There's the token oval track, a drag
strip and one rally course to augment a small selection of other tracks which
can be generalized as city and country tracks. The scenery isn't much to behold
and though you'll know every track like the back of your hand, they'll still
feel a little too similar to each other.
At least you won't get the same feeling from the cars. While Sega GT's
fleet isn't as large as the one found in Gran
Turismo 3, it still offers a wide selection of automobiles from the finest
manufacturers around the world. The aforementioned "classic" cars share the
showroom with the newer RSX's and IS300's. From Stingrays to Chargers, Chevelles
to Mustangs, both old- and new-school fans will dig the rides.
The cars in the game are excellently rendered, featuring nice reflections
and realistic textures. The game really gives you a sense of speed, and although
the animations are limited and the backgrounds aren't thrilling, it gets the
job done.
Though the stock audio portion of the game is merely satisfactory, you can
add your own music tracks thanks to the Xbox hard drive.
Sega GT 2002's biggest problem is one of flow. You don't really feel
like there is any progression except when getting a new license. Compete in
one tournament one day and do it all over the very next day. You could even
just drag race your way through the majority of the game if you wanted to and
still grab enough cash for new cars. It's always just race after race after
race with same amount of cash and the same prizes without any incentive outside
of buying a new car or tuning the existing one. Frankly, it gets dull.
But overall, Sega GT 2002 is still a fair deal for the sticker price.
A shiny exterior and great handling say a lot for this ride. Now we just have
to find a nice road to drive it on…


text:
Alexander Skarsgard: Tom Ford Flagship Opening!
Alexander Skarsgard suits up for the opening of the Tom Ford Flagship Store on Rodeo Drive on Thursday (February 24) in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The 34-year-old True Blood actor also attended The Hollywood Reporter's celebration of the Academy Awards' ten Best Picture nominees at the Getty House that evening.
Earlier this month, Alexander attended a celebration of Best Picture nominee The King's Speech with his dad Stellan and brother Bill.
10+ pictures inside of Alexander Skarsgard at the Tom Ford opening…


text: Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Learning Korean Speak Korean Now! Korean Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Learning Korean Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> FAQ View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message waterbabyJoined: 01 Feb 2003Location: Baking Gord a Cheescake pie Posted: Thu May 13, 2004 7:08 am Post subject: Learning Korean Learning Korean 1. To Study Korean - where's the best? 2. Sogang Korean Course for Waygookin 3. Chosun University Korean Class 4. Korean Language Classes? 5. Does Jeju National Uni have Korean Classes for Foreigners? 6. Learning the Korean Language 7. Korean Language Resources 8. University Korean Language Programs 9. Still Lousy at Korean? 10. learning korean (the language i mean) Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> FAQ All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Forums:----------------FAQJob-related Discussion ForumGeneral Discussion ForumOff-Topic ForumTravel ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumBuy/Sell/Trade Forum You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe


text:
School administrators juggle a myriad of responsibilities, but the safety and security of students remains their most important, and perhaps most delicate, balancing act.
School administrators juggle a myriad of responsibilities, but the safety and security of students remains their most important, and perhaps most delicate, balancing act.
What they can do to improve school safety in the wake of December's elementary school shootings in Newtown, Conn., is complicated.
The Pocono Record met with John Toleno, superintendent of the Stroudsburg School District; Tony Cavallaro, principal of Wallenpaupack's North Primary School; Keith Gunuskey, principal of the Wallenpaupack Middle School; Eric Forsyth, East Stroudsburg Area School District's director of administrative services and Frederick Mill, chief of East Stroudsburg School District's police department.
Pleasant Valley Superintendent Doug Arnold, who was unable to attend, weighed in following the meeting.
Pocono Mountain and Delaware Valley school districts were invited to the roundtable discussion but did not attend.
Attendees agreed there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
"Are thinking about more solutions to safety issues now than we were a month ago? Sure," Cavallaro said.
"I think we all get comfortable until something like this happens," Toleno said. "It's a heightened sense of awareness. We are all walking around on eggshells right now."
It's a proposal that surfaced following the Newtown massacre and one that some state lawmakers have backed.
Officials at the Pocono Record's discussion rejected the idea, however.
Although Toleno hasn't held an official poll among his staff, the teachers he's spoken to say "they want no part of it "� they aren't interested," he said.
Law enforcement officers are constantly receiving training that keeps them up to date on how to properly use a firearm, Mill said.
"Having a gun and being able to effectively use it are different things," he said.
In addition to knowing how to properly use a gun, teachers would also need to know how to properly store and care for the weapon.
"The problem is, when nothing is happening, what do you do with that weapon? How do you secure that weapon?" asked Cavallaro.
When faced with a crisis, there are three different types of responses, Toleno said.
"You are going to freeze, fight or flee if you are in a crisis situation," he said.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to know what type of response an individual will have.
That's why police receive such intensive training, to ensure they will respond properly.
"There's more to using a weapon than just having it," Arnold said. "You need to be careful putting a weapon in anyone's hands, anywhere, particularly in school."
And it's likely that word would get out about which teacher is armed.
That could turn into a political football if a parent with an issue with that teacher questions their judgment in public.
"Who is the ultimate judge of character?" Toleno asked.
Sometimes, despite the best training and safety plans, administrators are still caught off guard, Toleno said.
In the case of an Alabama boy who was abducted at gunpoint from a school bus earlier this month and held for almost a week in an underground bunker, how could authorities have foreseen such circumstances? Toleno asked.
The administrators agreed, no matter how many effective plans are put in place, some things can't be stopped, even when proper security measures are in place and teachers are trained to react correctly.
"I can spend as much money as you want on security, but the bottom line is if somebody wants to come in and do carnage, they will," Toleno said.
Added Mill: "That situation in Connecticut, I could have been standing right there and I could still have been taken out."
"To be able to harden the target to where it's impenetrable could be unrealistic," Forsyth said. "We're 200 percent more safe but the world is 300 percent more dangerous."
Schools aren't just for students, they also serve as community centers, Cavallaro added.
"Do we want to lock down the community at 3 p.m. when the kids go home?" he said.
Senior citizens and Cub Scouts are among the groups who use Wallenpaupack's school buildings after hours.
"The one thing you don't want to do is have kids feel like they are almost in a penitentiary. The schools are supposed to be comfortable places for kids because you learn best when you are comfortable," Arnold said.
"If you're going to write grants, make them sustainable, for eternity," Toleno said.
A school district might receive a grant to hire security officers, but it becomes difficult to sustain those jobs when the funding ends, he said.
"Require mandatory crisis drills," Cavallaro said.
The state needs to set crisis drill guidelines so each district follows similar protocols when it comes to a lockdown situation, Mill said.
Having a uniform procedure across the board would make it easier for outside emergency personnel responding to an incident, he said.
There also needs to be regular emergency drills, Cavallaro said.
The state requires districts to perform fire drills with staff and students once a month, but districts are not required to carry out regular crisis training, Cavallaro said.
He said the state should require districts to practice for a crisis as often as they practice evacuating buildings in the event of a fire.
Officials noted that the fire drills, while valuable, persist though there's not been a fatality in a school fire in decades.


text:
The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba of The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a weekly meme where we can share news of the week and highlight new books received.
Last week was challenging, to say the least. The past few weeks have kind of sucked. There was the doctor appt from Hell, which I don't even want to dwell upon – though receiving the bill yesterday for a test the doctor didn't even have time to discuss grates on my nerves.
The furnace has been replaced. What a noisy endeavor that was! All of that clanging and banging! The puppers were beside themselves with the strangers in the house and all of the commotion. They collapsed in exhaustion right after the installers left and didn't get up again until the next morning.
I love having heat again, but I was not happy with the servicemen. They forgot to relight the pilot on the hot water tank. That was an unpleasant discovery at 4:30 the next morning. I would never survive any sort of apocalypse – the loss of coffee, hot water, and access to the internet would kill me. Anyway, Dean finally got the stupid pilot to relight after fooling around with it for – oh – about an hour. Grrrr.
I was able to read 3 novellas during the furnace install, and this weekend I'm going to start reading through some of the holiday stories I have received. It's chilly outside, I have a functioning furnace, and yippy, I have a full can of coffee and Pumpkin Spice creamer so I'm all set for a weekend of Christmas themed stories. I also have to finish up The Lair, which I am enjoying, but after the 50% mark, the pacing has become uneven. Hoping for a strong finish.
What are you reading this weekend?
Check out my current contests! See the Contest Widget on the Sidebar to enter!
Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to share new additions to our library. Click here to learn more about it.
New Arrivals at the Café:
Christmas in Lucky Harbor by Jill Shalvis
Santa to the Rescue by Adele Downs
Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard by Vanessa Kelly
Rodeo Queen by T. J. Kline
Once Upon a Valentine by Allison Leigh
The Rogue's Proposal by Jennifer Haymore
Dangerous by Shannon Hale
Vengeance by Megan Miranda
A great big thanks to the publishers for their continued support!
What did you get? Please leave links and share!


text:
Directorate for Education & Human Resources
EHR Core Research (ECR)
ECR Funding Update
EHR wishes to inform the community that staff are currently updating the EHR Core Research (ECR) funding opportunity. Proposals are no longer being accepted under program announcement NSF 15-509. Please check back for details on the new FY19 ECR funding opportunity.
EHR Core Research (ECR) Reviewers Needed
If you are interested in reviewing ECR proposals please submit a brief CV to firstname.lastname@example.com.
|Address questions to the program
|(703) 292-2333
PROGRAM GUIDELINESAnnouncement 15-509
Important Information for Proposers
ATTENTION: Proposers using the Collaborators and Other Affiliations template for more than 10 senior project personnel will encounter proposal print preview issues. Please see the Collaborators and Other Affiliations Information website for updated guidance.
A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 18-1), is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 29, 2018. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 18-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.
Waiting for New Publication
The EHR Core Research (ECR) program of fundamental research in STEM education provides funding in critical research areas that are essential, broad and enduring. EHR seeks proposals that will help synthesize, build and/or expand research foundations in the following focal areas: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and broadening participation in STEM.
The ECR program is distinguished by its emphasis on the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to (a) understand, (b) build theory to explain, and (c) suggest interventions (and innovations) to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning, and participation. The program supports advances in fundamental research on STEM learning and education by fostering efforts to develop foundational knowledge in STEM learning and learning contexts, both formal and informal, from childhood through adulthood, for all groups, and from the earliest developmental stages of life through participation in the workforce, resulting in increased public understanding of science and engineering. The ECR program will fund fundamental research on: human learning in STEM; learning in STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and research on broadening participation in STEM.
What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)
Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program


text:
For information: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Priests for Life sponsored the first New York City-based "Face the Truth" tour on November 14, 2002. Joseph Scheidler, Founder and Director of the Pro-life Action League in Chicago, came to New York for the historic event, as did leaders from other parts of the country. Participants held signs showing the public what abortion looks like, and handed out fliers explaining what they were doing.
The Face the Truth tour was held in Staten Island in the morning and in Brooklyn at midday. This was the prelude to much longer tours that would take place in New York City in April. Fr. Frank Pavone, organizer of the event, said that from now on, seeing images of aborted children will be "a regular part of life in New York City, until the killing stops."
From April 1-10, 2003, Face the Truth was conducted at 28 different locations within the five boroughs of New York City. Activists from as far away as California and the state of Washington joined the Priests for Life staff for this daily public witness. A bus was hired for easy transportation to the various locations, and two days were spent in each borough.
Lives were saved, as at least seven women came up to participants at various stops to say that they were scheduled to have abortions, but changed their minds when they saw the images. (We ask those who are against the use of images to tell us what we should say to those moms, and to their children.)
Minds were changed, as people young and old thanked us for revealing the truth of what abortion is. Pro-life activists were encouraged everywhere we went.
Some people were angry that children would see the signs. The angriest ones, however, never had their children with them, and any children who did see the signs had very normal reactions. "Mommy, what did they do to that baby?" The "problem," of course, is not that children saw the signs, but that they saw through the empty rhetoric by which their pro-abortion parents mask this violence.


text:
By Austin Chappell
Big 12 Campus Correspondent
High school graduates have a multitude of decisions to make after they walk across the podium, with the main question being where they will continue their education.
High school athletes also have the added pressure of earning a scholarship and going to school for free.
However, Oklahoma State's Jason Hursh wasn't just awarded a diploma and an athletic scholarship upon graduation; he was also given a check worth nearly a million dollars.
"Having to choose between money and education was one of the hardest decisions of my life," Hursh said. "Luckily, I have two great parents and a great family who helped me make my decision."
After a high school career filled with awards and honors, Hursh was drafted in the sixth round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was given the choice of a professional career with a six-figure signing bonus or an education and a spot on the Oklahoma State pitching staff.
But before the draft and before any college interest, Hursh began a long line of choices that would eventually bring him to where he stands now.
Hursh began his varsity baseball career at Trinity Christian Academy, a private school in Dallas that traditionally beefs up its non-conference schedule against the best public schools in the area, but is left facing the less competitive TAPPS private school division once district play begins.
Up until his senior year, Hursh focused most of his time in the cage and taking ground balls at shortstop. He pitched from time to time, putting up impressive numbers on the mound while maintaining a .346 batting average over the course of this junior year. Still, he felt like his future would be in between second and third base, and not on the mound.
"I really didn't start focusing or getting into pitching until my senior year," Hursh said. "I didn't know anything about pitching like I do now. Putting my time into pitching really kind of turned things around for me, though."
So, after the first of many decisions in his baseball career, Hursh took his talents to the pitching mound and delivered several stellar performances during his senior year. He finished up the season with an 11-2 record, striking out 123 batters and leading the TCA squad to the state semifinals.
The Pirates and Oklahoma State immediately began calling, and the decision of school or money took over the top spot in Hursh's mind. However, with a dad that played college football and a family that values education, Hursh had some leeway when it came to his final conclusion.
"OSU seemed like the perfect fit for me, even before I got drafted," Hursh said. "I have always loved everything about Stillwater and the OSU campus."
Hursh joined the Cowboys, and his career as a collegiate pitcher began. Yet, after such an illustrious high school career, his Cowboy pitching campaign didn't start off with the best of luck.
Sickness during his freshman year limited Hursh to only 10 appearances, and nagging arm pain left Hursh sidelined for months following Tommy John surgery.
After nearly a year of rehabilitation, Hursh decided to mix things up a bit. With a mid-90's fastball, Hursh relied on his velocity for a majority of his pitching career. He decided things needed to change if he wanted to gain an extra edge on Big 12 hitters.
Oklahoma State pitching coach Rob Walton said Hursh's current success stems from the pitcher's newfound confidence in his offspeed pitches.
"Jason has worked really hard on cleaning up his delivery and becoming a pitcher," Walton said. "He isn't just a hard-throwing guy with a great arm anymore."
As of May 13, the Cowboys hold a 36-13 record with Hursh at the top of the pitching helm. The right-hander has accumulated a 5-4 record as the Cowboys' ace, and his 74 strikeouts are the third-most in the conference.
Hursh also recently delivered one of his most impressive starts of his career in a 4-3 victory over OU. After back-to-back losses, the sophomore helped the Cowboys win their Bedlam battle with a 134-pitch complete game victory in a game that held season-defining implications for an OSU squad battling through Big 12 play.
After several life-changing decisions, Hursh finally believes he is at the top of his game.
And with the series victory over the Sooners, Hursh believes the Cowboys can make a late season push to put the team in position to win its first conference tournament since 2004.
"I've never been on a team with as good of a chemistry and work ethic that we have here," Hursh said. "We have played much better as a team this year, and I look forward to seeing what we can do in the tournament."


text:
mama1955 on Family Tree Circles
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Looking for Ada and Jessie Walker of Forrest City Ark
I am looking for desendants of Jessie and Ada Hawkins Walker. Ada's parents are Choctaw and Sarah Hawkins. I don't know the name of Jessie's parents.
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