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Anwar Ibrahim
Dr M Reveals His Dark Side: Only Limited Human Rights Needed In Malaysia
Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:50 AM PDT
As expected, former premier Mahathir Mohamad has backed recent comments criticizing humans rights from a former top cop who had helped him successfully prosecute and incarcerate Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim on manifestly fabricated sodomy charges,
Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor, the former Inspector General of Police who admitted beating up Anwar in the police lockup and giving him a black eye during his detention in 1998, had a day ago criticized the growing call for human rights in Malaysia as akin to communism. His remarks were seen as being disparaging of the reform and new politics movement preached by Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition.
On Monday, Mahathir defended the stand taken by Rahim, saying Malaysia should support human rights only as much as it can and not pay heed to critics who asked for excessive rights.
"In general, we have to support human rights but only as far as we're able to. If we want to give excessive rights like in the West, to the point where men can marry men and women can marry women, that's not necessary," Mahathir told a press conference.
No longer revered, seen as the root cause for most of Malaysia's evils
Mahathir, who ruled with a fist of iron for 22 years until 2003, also offered the excuse that Malaysia was a developing country and faced "certain restrictions" that barred it from becoming more liberal in its approach.
He also reverted to his favorite bogeyman, the Unite States, insisting it was worse than Malaysian in terms of its human rights record. "We detain people under the Internal Security Act but they detain people without laws and even torture them," he said.
But the time when Malaysians indulged him as the feisty grand old man of local politics is over. Mahathir is now regarded as a bad brand name, leaving a bitter after-taste despite efforts to shore up his legacy with an auto-bigraphy that was slammed as a blatant bid to rewrite history.
"It is an absurd argument," N Surendran, PKR vice president told Malaysia Chronicle. "How can it be 'excessive' to demand freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association or freedom from arbitrary detention? These are among the basic freedoms that were stolen from the Rakyat by Mahathir and his various predecessors and successors. Histry will judge Dr harshly."
"It is time for Mahathir to repent and tender an open apology for all his racial slurs, the endemic corruption and gutter politicking going on in this country," Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming told Malaysia Chronicle.
Corruption the biggest legacy
Indeed, do what he may, Mahathir is bound to be remembered most for the rampant corruption that entrenched itself in Malaysia during his era. He and his business cronies have been accused of amassing billions in all sectors of industry, especially gaining from oil contracts from national petroleum firm Petronas.
Preventing criminal prosecution and the unraveling of the huge and intricate web of deceit is believed to be uppermost in Mahathir's mind as he continues to insist on imposing his political will on the country. But calls are already growing for the nationalization of assets found to be gained from corruption once the Pakatan wins the federal government.
Aziz Bari: Audit Negara Salah Libatkan Kabinet
Posted: 26 Oct 2011 07:41 PM PDT
Pakar perlembagaan Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Bari menegaskan, tindakan melibatkan kabinet dengan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara (LKAN) merupakan kesalahan dan bertentangan dengan semangat perlembagaan.
Katanya, Perkara 107 Perlembagaan Persekutuan menyebut LKAN perlu disediakan oleh ketua audit negara dan diserahkan kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong sebelum dibawa ke Dewan Rakyat.
"Perkara ini salah dan saya percaya boleh dibawa ke mahkamah. Dalam perlembagaan, di mana ada kabinet disebut (terlibat)?
"Lagi pun, kabinet sebahagian daripada player," kata pensyarah kanan Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) itu.
"Secara logiknya juga, kalau bentang pada kabinet, buat apa perlu ada (jawatan) ketua audit negara."
Ketua Audit Negara Tan Sri Ambrin Buang pada 21 Oktober lalu menjelaskan, sejak 1982, LKAN dimaklumkan kepada kabinet sebelum dibentangkan supaya kerajaan dapat mengetahui isu yang dibangkitkan dan bersedia memberi penjelasan apabila diperlukan.
Beberapa anggota parlimen Pakatan Rakyat baru-baru ini mempersoalkan ketiadaan laporan itu semasa pembentangan Belanjawan 2012, antaranya anggota parlimen Bukit Bendera Liew Chin Tong yang mahu perdana menteri menjelaskan kelewatan itu.
Amat misteri
Liew yang juga anggota jawatankuasa eksekutif pusat DAP berkata, beliau tidak mempersoalkan amalan itu tetapi menjadi tanggungjawab kabinet memutuskan bila ia patut dibentangkan.
Ketika dihubungi Malaysiakini semalam, Aziz berkata, walaupun perlembagaan tidak menyatakan tempoh tertentu untuk LKAN dibentangkan di parlimen, tetapi demi menjaga integritinya, Jabatan Audit Negara patut melakukannya segera.
"Jadi, ketua audit negara mesti jelaskan kenapa lambat," katanya sambil menegaskan kedudukan tinggi ketua audit negara yang dilantik Yang di-Pertuan Agong dengan persetujuan Majlis Raja-Raja itu.
Aziz menjelaskan, proses untuk laporan itu sampai ke Dewan Rakyat tidak memerlukan masa yang lama kerana baginda tidak perlu menyemak apa-apa kerana ia melibatkan perbelanjaan kerajaan.
Setakat ini, tambahnya, kelewatan itu masih "amat misteri".
Ditanya tentang gesaan Liew kepada perdana menteri, Aziz berkata kenyataan itu mungkin dibuat dalam konteks yang lain.
"Kalau perdana menteri (kena) perjelas, saya kira tidak betul," katanya lagi.
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Happy Birthday Cupcake Wishes With Name & Photo
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subset: commoncrawl


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We are excited to be reaching the end of a busy year at Springwell Lincolnshire, and looking forward to a fantastic new year in September. There are a lot of changes afoot, and we are keen for you to be informed of these as we go along!
You will be receiving a 'Home/School Newsletter' in the post before the end of term which will give you some key information and introduce you to the Senior Leadership Team. It will also let you know who the Head of Centre's will be in September. As always, if you have any questions at all, please get in touch with us. If you would like to contact me personally, please email firstname.lastname@example.com putting Attn: Mrs Hall in the subject line, and it will be forwarded on to me!
I hope you have a great summer, and I look forward to working with you and your child in the future.
Don't forget, term doesn't start until the 12th September!
Mrs Hall


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Welcome to the Tony Awards, theater kweens!
Posts tagged:dolce & gabbana
Ocean's 8 Press Tour, Part 1
Every con has its pros. And every pro has a bedazzled pantsuit.
Cannes Film Festival 2018: Day 5
And the LEWKS just keep on coming.
Meghan and Harry: Royal Wedding Fashion
I'm not crying, YOU ARE.
Met Gala 2018: Best Dressed
Your Met Gala finale is here, dear readers.
Met Gala 2018: Valiant Failures
A toast to those who shot for the moon, landed amongst the stars, and promptly burst into flames. In all fairness, there were far fewer Valiant Failures this year than at most Met Galas, because this was the rare year where it was possible to hit the theme and still look kind of average. But let's discuss those stars who aimed, but missed the mark.
"Basic Bitches at the Met Gala" has become a time-honored tradition here at Democracy Diva Headquarters. But 2018 blessed us with a Met Gala theme even boring stars could latch onto, with the mere addition of a cross necklace. So let's dive into some unimaginative attempts at the theme – and no attempts at all!


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Write it Down Slice of Life
11 comments:
Today I plan to "write it down!" Good advice - especially for people like me who have lots of ideas swirling in my head!ReplyDelete
Sounds wonderful. I have a journal on my bedside table for times that those thoughts just won't let me sleep. I'm checking into this book right now. Oh, and I LOVE your new look!ReplyDelete
The Corner On Character
I think this is part of the reason I love blogging so much too, it gives me a place to "write" down many of the thought I have swimming around in my head.ReplyDelete
❤- Stephanie
Falling Into First
I'm glad you are starting to find your words again. Great quote!ReplyDelete
I love when rereading gives you that new perspective and that extra boost you need to get started again! Happy for you!ReplyDelete
Yesterday, I was reading all of the DIY posts everyone made and got inspired to paint some cans for my classroom last night. Now after reading your post, I want to sit down and do some writing. Thanks for the inspiration.ReplyDelete
Kelly @ I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher
Wonderful to hear Tammy. I think you did so many things in May with the end of school & all that entailed, then your children both celebrating their rites of passage, etc., etc. And you wrote about them, I know, because that's how I know about them. Maybe you needed a break? And aren't you going to the All-Write conference. Perhaps that will be a boost. Thanks for the link to the book. Sounds good.ReplyDelete
That's a great quote!ReplyDelete
"And so I am." My favorite line because it means you are writing. We all go through those 'seasons' of writing. Sometimes the words are never ending and sometimes there is just nothing. But even during those dry spells, it's good just to write. Write anything because that's what gets you going again! I love that you are re-rereading that book - it must be a great book! I find it difficult to find time to read a prof book one time, let alone multiple times! Good for you and I'm glad it brought you inspiration today!ReplyDelete


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Inaction Figures
(It is Black Friday. I'm shopping in the toy department of a store, taking a picture of an action figure that I plan on buying for a friend's nephew. As I want to make sure the boy doesn't have it already, I am sending the picture to my friend to check. I do not, nor have ever worked there.)
Woman #1: *talking loudly* "It's so busy here today! Sure would be nice if I could figure out where the Avengers figures are!"
Woman #2: "Tell me about it; I can't find anything!"
(I write them off as overly loud and ignore them while I wait for my friend to text me back.)
Woman #1: "You know, where I work we're not allowed to even look at our cellphones, let alone talk on one."
Woman #2: "You'd get fired at my job for using my phone."
Woman #1: "It's amazing the things people think they can do on the job these days. It's ridiculous!"
Woman #2: "I know! They think they can pretend like they're home and get paid for it."
(They carry on like this while I wait. Finally, I get a reply text from my friend, grab the toy and walk off. About a minute later I look down, realize I am wearing a red fleece which the same shade as the staff uniforms, and suddenly everything clicks. They were passive-aggressively trying to get my attention for the better part of five minutes. By the way, if they had turned around they would have found what they were looking for!)


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Currently browsing posts filed under "Fred Thys '80"
Historical Tuition Letters
EphBlog's favorite NPR reporter, Fred Thys '80, writes:
I'm trying to gather annual letters from Williams to parents and students explaining why tuition is going up and by how much. I'd like to gather letters from 1977 on.
The letters are not available at the Williams Archives, because they are part of the Presidential files, and thus, sealed for 100 years.
Any ideas?
1) A quick search through EphBlog's archives doesn't provide much. Here are the e-mails for 2006, 2009, 2015 and 2016. I am embarrassed that we don't have more to offer to Fred, but perhaps these will be helpful.
2) Please help Fred! Just copy and paste the annual tuition announcement that you received into the comments for this thread.
3) "[S]ealed for 100 years?!" How pathetic is that? The Colleges paranoid secrecy manifests itself in many ways, and this is perhaps the most ludicrous.
a) No one objects to sensitive documents — tenure reviews, private correspondence with individuals, trustee meeting notes, et cetera — being kept private for decades. But 100 years! Give me a break! Aren't US government documents largely declassified after just 50 years?
b) But the documents that Fred is looking for are not secret! They were each sent to around 1,500 students and about three thousand parents. The College ought to maintain an archive of every e-mail that was sent to general mailing lists like all-campus or all-students. That record should be public, maintained by Katie Nash, Williams most excellent new archivist.
WBUR on Williams X
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story, at least, painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 10.
But are the best-paid professors necessarily the best teachers?
Answer: No. Not even close.
Not Thys fault (?) but asking this question — and then failing to answer it! — pushed a variety of EphBlog buttons.
First, the College knows the answer! Why didn't Thys ask Falk et al, and, if they declined to answer, report that fact? Williams collects a variety of information about teacher performance at the end of each semester, the famous Student Course Survey (SCS) forms (pdf):
Student opinion and peer review are both important in the evaluation of teaching. On the student side, the College mandates use of the Student Course Survey (SCS) for every course. It consists of a page of questions to which students give numerical ratings and a page inviting descriptive commentary ("blue sheets"). Some departments substitute their own list of questions for the generic blue sheets, and individual faculty members can choose to substitute for or supplement the blue sheets with their own more specific questions. Each faculty member receives the blue sheets as well as an analysis of his or her own quantitative results after their course grades have been submitted.
The College knows the exact SCS average score for every professor last year. It could easily calculate (and probably does calculate) those measures by level (lecturer, assistant, associate, full) or by pay-grade or by any other factor. What does the data tell us? (The College might not want to tell Thys that data by salary group, but it has no excuse not to release it by faculty rank, which is highly correlated with salary anyway)
Second, the College probably already knows the truth: after the first few years, there is no correlation between teaching quality (at least measured by SCS scores) and teacher experience/salary. The "best-paid professors" are not "necessarily the best teachers." Highlights (based on conversations over the years — corrections/pointers welcome):
a) SCS scores have consistent course/major/division biases. It is much easier to score higher in, say, Division I than in Division III.
b) There is improvement over the first few years at Williams. It takes a while to get into the swing of a Williams classroom.
c) There is no further improvement (or decline) after year 4. Your student evaluations at 32 are the same as they are at 65.
Third, some might reasonably complain that "best teachers" does not equal "highest SCS scores." Agreed! Then why doesn't the College collect better data? Why doesn't it hand out prizes for the best teachers? The College could collect better data, could try to identify the professors that do a particular good job at, say, supervising a senior thesis or supporting/mentoring students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Why doesn't the College do these things? The major trend in faculty recruitment/appointment/retention/promotion at Williams over the last 30 years has been to decrease the weight placed on excellent teaching and increase the weight placed on research.
I don't like this trend, but it does help to explain why, if you want to talk about excellent teaching, the SCS is all the data you are going to have to use.
WBUR on Williams IX
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 9.
Leach questions whether what Williams values is what its students value. To him, so much of what he thinks he's getting out of Williams are intangibles that have nothing to do with the professors or the classes or the degree. He says that much of what he's getting out of Williams is meeting new people and being in a place where he's forging his own identity, figuring out what matters to him and learning how to use his time.
"When most of what I'm learning is really about how to live and how to be myself, is it really worth all that money?" Leach asked.
Leach wonders whether he could be learning the same lessons striking out anywhere away from home.
This is the worst part of the article.
First, why is Thys spending valuable time on a not-overly-insightful undergraduate? His story is, allegedly, about ever-increasing costs at places like Williams. That is a very different topic then whether or not attending Williams makes sense for Leach.
Second, of course "what Williams values is what its students value." This is why the College devotes endless resources to surrounding Leach with high intelligent peers from a variety of backgrounds. Leach will rarely/never have such a diversity of interactions after Williams. Leach probably met more people with, say, above 1500 SAT scores (M + V) in his first year at Williams than he will in his first decade after graduation, if not in the rest of his life. Of course, there is more to people (and to life) than high intelligence. But if Leach does not value such interactions, both inside and outside the classroom, he may have made a mistake in selecting a place like Williams.
Third, "forging his own identity, figuring out what matters to him and learning how to use his time" is straight out of a Williams admissions brochure or a speech to a first year class meeting. Williams spends as much (more?) money and effort on this as it does on academic instruction. The $80 million Stetson/Sawyer reservation is explicitly designed to provide Leach with a pleasing backdrop for forging/figuring/learning.
Fourth, "is it really worth all that money?" Is not an unreasonable question, but I wonder if Leach (and Thys?) are thinking about the problem in a serious fashion. Williams is a luxury good. Sensible people don't ask if, say, a Rolex is "worth all that money." After all, a Timex will tell you the time just as well. Luxury, fundamentally, is not about price. It is about desire.
Leach (and his parents!) wanted a Williams education in the same way that rich people want Lamborghinis and Gucci handbags. Maybe they should have wanted something else. But that is a topic for another day.
WBUR on Williams VIII
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 8.
What Williams wants to deliver is tenure-track professors teaching small classes.
Agreed! But just how much the people who run Williams really "want" this is a matter of some dispute.
First, note the continued existence of large lecture classes like PSYC 101 and Introduction to the Novel. A school that really wanted small classes would stop all large classes. We have more than enough professors to cap all classes at 19 students. Why don't we do this? Because professors don't really "want" to.
Consider an all-too-typical class of 38 students in ECON 110 and 120. If the College really wanted to make that class small, it could. It could require that the class be split into two sections, each with 19 students. The cost to the professor would be fairly minimal, just another 3 hours of class sessions each week. There would be no extra class preparation work, no increase in the number of papers or exams to grade. But the College does not really want to do this, and so small introductory classes in the Economics Department are largely the stuff of legend.
Second, note again the ever-growing administrative state, taking excellent faculty away from the classroom. As a concrete example, consider
Karen Swann
Associate Dean for Institutional Diversity, Morris Professor of Rhetoric
Williams College
VP for Strategic Planning & Institutional Diversity Office
English Departme
Professor Swann is, I am sure, an excellent teacher, precisely the sort of faculty member who ought to be leading at least two of the "small classes" that Williams (allegedly) wants this semester. Instead, she is teaching no classes and spending her time doing whatever it is that Associate Deans for Institutional Diversity do all day.
And note that Swann's position did not exist a decade ago. No professor was pulled away from the classroom. How much can Williams truly "want" small classes taught by tenured professors if it is constantly increasing the number of tenured faculty who are teaching no classes in a given semester?
Third, recall our dispute yesterday with Chad Orzel '93 about whether or not the panoply of Visitor This and Lecturer That at Williams should be termed adjunct or not. Yet for purposes of seeing the absurdity of the WBUR quote, it does not matter if Chad or I am right. We both agree that the visitor/lecturers/whatevers that teach more than 20% of Williams classes are not tenured. If Williams really wanted "tenure-track professors teaching small classes" it would not have dramatically increased the role/importance of non-tenure-track faculty over the last 25 years.
I might claim that I "want" to be thin. But if you saw me eating honey buns for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you would (rightly!) question my commitment. The same applies to Williams when it claims to want "tenure-track professors teaching small classes." If Williams really wanted that, it would act very differently than it does.
WBUR on Williams VII
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 7.
Williams hires no adjunct faculty, and like other top liberal arts colleges, it has a low student-faculty ratio. Amherst College has eight students per professor, Wellesley seven. Williams has one faculty member for every seven students.
How many misleading claims can Thuys stuff into one paragraph? First, Williams has dozens of "adjunct faculty." Let's list some!
English: BARRETT, CLEGHORN, PETHICA, K. SHEPARD, de GOOYER, PARK, LEE, HOWARD
Economics: : M. SAMSON, M. FORTUNATO, J. HANSON, P. HELLER, K.
And so on. The exact standing of these professors varies. Most are some flavor of lecturer or visitor. But none have tenure at Williams or on the tenure track. At every other college, they would be referred to as "adjunct faculty." That Thuys lets Falk get away with such a lie is embarrassing.
Second, more than 20% of the classes at Williams last year were taught by non-tenured or tenure-track faculty. (This factoid is from a conversation with a faculty member.)
WBUR on Williams VI
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 6.
Nathan Leach, a sophomore from Boston, doesn't think so. He also questions the value of small class sizes. One of his favorite classes last year was "Introduction to the Novel," a class with no discussion because 100 students take it. Leach says class size matters less than the accessibility of professors.
"And so the fact that I can meet with my professors several times a week if I want to, and I can go to his office talk about these ideas, I think is really worthwhile," Leach said.
It is embarrassing that Williams (and the English Department) think that a 100 person lecture is worthwhile. It isn't, for all the reasons we discussed last week.
WBUR on Williams V
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 5.
At Williams, salary is only two-thirds of the compensation. There are health insurance and child care, and all Williams employees with children in college are entitled to $24,000 a year toward each child's education.
First, this strikes me as somewhat confused. Total compensation is a technical tax term. Health care benefits are included. But is child care? Free coffee in the faculty lounge? I don't think so. Corrections welcome. (Joe Thorndike '88, please help!)
Second, a cynic will often times think of the faculty/staff of Williams as a parasite, feeding off the College, sucking as much blood from the host as possible. Recall our discussions about trimming costs 6 years ago:
I have already highlighted two faculty boondoggles (the Sabbatical Grant Program and the Professional Development Fund) that should be ended, but I don't get the sense that there are big dollar savings here.
I think that the College provides substantial subsidies to faculty housing. I have no idea what the magnitude of these benefits are, but there is no reason for the College to be in the housing business for faculty/staff, any more than for it to grow apples or design clothing. Yet, by being in the housing business, the College can transfer some/lots of resources to the faculty.
The same applies to the Children's Center. Why should the College be in the business of supplying day care? Why not also start an apple orchard? After all, it would make excellent faculty more likely to come to Williams if they knew that they could get great apples at below-market rates.
Rule #1 about successful non-profits is that the insiders think that they do a great job and should be rewarded more generously. But it can be tough just to raise salaries since it is so easy to compare salaries against outside benchmarks. So, to avoid scrutiny, insiders sometimes steer resources toward themselves and their friends via non-salary mechanisms.
Want to really piss off the faculty? Cut (or, at least, trim) the tuition benefit for employee children. Normal professionals (like you and I, dear reader) save their own money over time to send their children to college. Not Williams faculty! Williams will pay half the cost of tuition for a faculty child to attend anywhere.
[Slightly edited.]
And the above only scratches the surface of the various faculty boondoggles that are not counted in total compensation. My favorites were the extra money that faculty received (and still receive?) for creating tutorials. We needed (still need?) to pay them faculty extra to do their jobs!
Third, the point here is not that Williams faculty and staff aren't, as a group, wonderful. They are! The point is that WBUR should try to provide better context in a discussion of costs at Williams. The College spends much more money on faculty and staff than 90% of its peers, not because it has to, but because Williams is absurdly wealthy and because faculty/staff run the institution.
If the College announced, tomorrow, that it was cutting out the tuition benefit (either for all employees or just for new employees), there would be essentially zero effect on our ability to recruit and retain great faculty/staff. The fact that the College won't do so — won't even discuss doing so! — is an indication that Falk has little interest in controlling costs. WBUR should explain this reality to its listeners.
WBUR on Williams IV
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 4.
Two years ago, the average salary for a full professor at Williams was $137,000 a year, which puts it among the best-paying 3 percent of all colleges. And it's a 47 percent increase over 12 years.
This is highly misleading because salary is not the same thing as total compensation. If I pay you a $90,000 salary and provide $90,000 in retirement benefits (401k, et cetera) then you, correctly, figure that this job is much better paid than one with a $100,000 salary and no other benefits. Here (pdf) is the latest compensation data for Williams.
Full professors at Williams earn an average total compensation of $183,800.
It is hard to have an honest discussion about the costs of running Williams if WBUR won't even report accurate compensation numbers.
Kudos, however, to Thys for noting how incredibly well-paid Williams professors are in comparison with their peer group. Williams spends lavishly, so much so that, were every Williams professor to retire tomorrow, we could restaff the College almost instantly with a faculty that was every bit as good as the one we have now.
Of course, the fact that the College has such a strong bargaining position does not mean that it should abuse our current, much beloved, faculty. And tenure makes abuse hard. But we need to understand the actual supply/demand realities of the academic job market in order to fairly evaluate the costs of running Williams.
WBUR on Williams III
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 3.
Falk says the faculty is like a string quartet.
"And asking them to do it faster or asking them do it to three times as many students at a time are things we can ask them to do, but they will directly degrade the quality of what we want to deliver," he said. "And so the entire framework of productivity when it is applied to higher education is one that has to be thought of very carefully and can't be thought of in the same way that we apply the notion of productivity to the manufacturing sector."
First, this is worse than wrong. It is Orwellian. It is precisely Falk's predecessors who have created a Williams in which professors teach "three times as many students at a time" as they used to.
The math is unavoidable. Williams has about 2,000 students taking 4 classes a semester. That is 8,000 student/class combinations that will happen, regardless of how many faculty members we have and how many classes they each teach. Currently (ignoring the complexities of leave patterns and visitors) we have 250 professors each teaching two classes. Split up those 8,000 student/class combinations, we have about 16 students per class. So far, so good!
Now imagine a world with those same 250 professors each teaching 4 classes. In that world, the average Williams class is 8 students, small enough for every class to be a tutorial. If Williams went to a 4-4 requirement, professors would be teaching only 50% "as many students at a time" as they do today.
Recall the slogan from 9 years ago: No More Lectures!
First, lectures are inefficient for students. Anything that a professor says in a lecture, as opposed to a discussion, could just as easily be typed beforehand and read by students at their own convenience. Reading is much quicker than listening and, more importantly, allows different students to focus on the parts that they don't understand and to skim the parts that they do.
Administrators sometimes believe that large classes save money (one professor teaches 100 students!) but the savings come in the form of less learning per student.
Second, the arguments in favor of lectures in economics at Williams are identical to the arguments for lectures at Harvard. According to Schapiro (and many Williams faculty members), there is a minimal amount of knowledge that a student must have in order to be able to even discuss a topic like microeconomics. That may be true, but it is no less true for the poetry of Emily Dickinson or the philosophy of David Hume. At Harvard, they are at least consistent on this topic, lecturing to students on microeconomics and poetry and philosophy. If you believe that students, having done the assigned reading, learn best by discussing poetry and philosophy on the first day of class, then why wouldn't the same be true of economics and chemistry?
Third, the smaller the class, the more learning occurs. Consider Diana Davis's '07 description of her high school experience:
"I went to a high school where every single class — English, biology, history, math, economics, Greek — was a discussion class with 13 students or fewer. I have not taken a single class at Williams where I have learned as much, learned as deeply, or remembered as much a year later as I did in my classes in high school."
Now, most of us did not have the good fortune of going to a high school like Diana's. Yet no one makes the opposite claim; no one argues that students learn more in lecture than they do in discussion.
Fourth, there would be no better way for Williams to demonstrate to potential applicants that it is a different place, with different values, than by drawing a line at 15 students or so per class. If Williams had no lectures, then there would be less doubt about its educational superiority. The tutorial program already provides Williams with a leadership position in undergraduate education. Abolishing lectures would do even more.
Fifth, claims about the excessive expense involved in having small sections are overblown. A professor currently responsible for the education of 45 students in ECON 110 should organize the class in whatever way is best for her students, not most convenient for her. Better to have three sections of 15 students each, than one large lecture. This will take up more of the professor's time, but, since so much of the work — planning the class, creating the exams, grading the papers — is a fixed cost (regardless of the number of class meetings), the marginal cost to the professor of having three sections instead of one is small. The very best professors, like Eiko Maruko Siniawer '97 in history, already split up their large classes. Everyone else should do the same.
Second, to be fair to Falk, the target of his criticism are those who praise the possibilities of MOOCs: massive open online courses. We all agree that a Williams tutorial — in physics or English or statistics — is better than any MOOC. But Thuys does his listeners no favors when he allows Falk to frame the debate as Williams-verus-MOOC when the relevant debate, at least in the context of elite US institutions, is Williams-with-4-4-teaching-loads versus Williams-with-2-2-teaching-loads. That is debate that we ought to be having.
(Of course, the populist cut-all-costs position would argue for a 125 person faculty teaching 4-4: same (?) quality as today but much less expensive. I disagree with this view, as does every Eph I know, so no need to bother with it here.)
WBUR on Williams II
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR about the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 2.
In the 1960s, economists William Baumol and William Bowen pointed out that it takes the same number of musicians to play a string quartet today as it did in Beethoven's day. So the productivity has not increased in 200 years. That explains why the cost of going to a live classical musical performance has gone up more than the cost of a drinking glass. You can manufacture the drinking glass more productively now than you could 200 years ago.
To appreciate labor costs, Falk compares the faculty to another group of highly trained workers: a string quartet. He says you could make it more productive by removing one of the instruments.
"I mean, after all, there are two violins, and really, do you need two violins?" Falk asked. "Couldn't you play it with one violin? You could reduce the cost by 25 percent."
What utter bollocks! Why won't Thys challenge Falk, and every other College president who trots out this gibberish?
First, the College has spent the last 50 years reducing the amount of violin playing time that it requires of its faculty. Fifty years ago, the College required faculty to teach "4-4" — meaning four classes each semester. This was the amount of violin playing required. Since then, the ratchet has gone in only one direction: downward. From 4-4 to 4-3 to 3-3 to 3-2. The last step occurred 15 years ago when President Morty Schapiro reduced the teaching load from 3-2 to 2-2. (I am ignoring Winter Study.) (Here is an overview about similar changes at the University of Vermont. Any pointers to relevant history at Williams?)
Now, Falk might argue that the change from 4-4 to 2-2 was a good thing, that it freed up Williams professors to spend more time on their oh-so-important research. Or he might argue that the competitive market for professors made the change necessary, lest every Williams professor move to Princeton. Or he might claim that the quality of teaching has increased since professors now have more time to devote per class.
But, you can't use the string quartet analogy to justify ever increasing costs if you are, simultaneously, cutting by 50% the amount of time you require your violinists to play.
Moreover, there is little if any evidence in favor of the other possible arguments.
Second, Falk ignores (or is unaware of?) the argument made by informed critics. We don't think that Falk should fire half his violinists. By all means, keep the academic faculty headcount at 250. Instead, we think that Williams ought to move from 2-2 back to 4-4, or at least to 3-3. But that is a rant for tomorrow.
Third, Falk ignores, and Thys lets him get away with ignoring, the dramatic decreasing in courses taught because of the ever-increasing administrative bloat of Williams. Consider just the office of the Dean of the Faculty. Fifty years ago, Williams did not even have a Dean of the Faculty. The office now includes three Ph.D.'s (Buell, Park, Gerry), excellent teachers all, none of whom are teaching a single (?) Williams student this academic year. (Yes, I am simplifying things here since Gerry is not, in truth, a member of the faculty, but the point about moving resources from teaching to administration is the same.)
Falk should not use the string quartet analogy if he is not actually going to have his well-paid violinists actually, you know, play their instruments.
WBUR on Williams I
Fred Thys '80 reports for WBUR on the cost of Williams College. Fred is a knowledgeable and sympathetic alum but this story painted an incomplete picture. Perhaps later stories will flesh out the scene? In the meantime, let's spend 10 (!) days dissecting this article! Today is Day 1.
This year, it costs about $60,000 in tuition, fees and room and board to attend one of the nation's most selective liberal arts colleges. With financial aid, the average student pays about half of that. One example: Williams College, in western Massachusetts.
The cost there is 10 times higher than it was 40 years ago, even though the consumer price index during that period rose only fourfold. As Williams President Adam Falk sees it, the No. 1 reason for the cost of college is the people.
"We spend about two-thirds of the college's budget on compensation and benefits for our faculty and staff," Falk said.
1) Always good to see Williams mentioned in the elite media, even (especially!?) in the context of high costs. The more people who know about Williams, the better. Kudos to Thys for using Williams as the focus for this series. I wish more media Ephs did the same.
2) Falk pretends, and Thys lets him (just so far?) get away with pretending, that faculty/staff costs are beyond his control, that there is nothing he could do to lesson them. Untrue! The reason that costs are so high is not because they have to be but because presidents like Falk (and Schapiro and Payne and . . .) want them to be. Consider just one fact:
There are (at least!) six people at Williams making more than $200,000 per year whose jobs did not exist a decade ago. Source: The 2013 Form 990 (pdf).
Collette Chilton, Chief Investment Officer: $1,181,744
Bradford Wakeman, Director of Investment Operations: $558,142
Stephen Klass, VP of Campus Life: $339,395
Fred Puddester, VP of Finance: $366,249
Mike Reed, VP of Strategic Planning: $282,165
Julia T. Crosby and Lou Sousa, Managing Directors, Investment Office: $200,000+
Now, you might fairly quibble with this list. Mike Reed has decamped for Dickinson, but his replacement will certainly be paid more than $200,000. Crosby and Sousa, because they are new arrivals, are not listed in the Form 990, but their predecessors Hok Joeng and Shawn Donovan (pdf) were paid more than $350,000. Helen Ouellette had a position not dissimilar from Puddester's (and was paid less than 1/2 as much).
But, big picture, there has been a dramatic growth in the number of highly paid administrators at Williams over the last decade, all in jobs that did not exist before they arrived.
Falk pretends that faculty/staff compensation is something that he has no control over, that it is like the weather, an inexorable force that the College could not possibly resist.
And that is absurd. The College was wildly successful back in 2005 without all these positions. It would be just as successful today without them. Administrative bloat is a choice that Adam Falk (and his predecessors) make every day. Why won't Thys ask him some hard questions?
Entire article below the break, in case it vanishes some day.
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General Game Discussion / Re: *Faint Rumblings*« on: July 06, 2016, 11:31:02 AM »
Ill let him know. And yes i know that was the original original quote.
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Wait, what? Does it mean we can play with Russian language here? Or is it just means that the Russian language now available at the Russian server? I'm confused about this part:QuoteWith today's patch, we are pleased to announce that we are able to fully support extra languages, and you'll notice that if you want to, you can now play Infinity Wars in Russian.
Awww yeah, first big patch of 2015. More to come in the future, thank you everyone for your patience!
I'm not sure I can consider a bug fix patch a 'big' patch.
"Splat can no longer incorrectly target the command zone with the damage portion of the ability."
But, but... You said it was intended ;_;
It should still be able to kill command, just at 3 cost and sacrificing deployed characters.
Anyway, i won't lie, it makes me disappointed that it took you guys almost 3 months to push a new patch, and that said patch doesn't even update the login screen into saying 2015. I'm fully aware of the fact you guys do a lot of stuff at a time, but still...


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A fortune teller predicts your fate. A spiritual counselor helps guide and heal you. According to one Virginia woman, those are two very different things.
A Chesterfield County woman claims county officials have violated her religious rights by defining her as a fortune teller rather than a spiritual counselor.
A hearing in Patricia Moore-King's lawsuit is set for Thursday in federal court in Richmond.
She claims she has been unable to obtain a business license because of the stricter standards the county imposes on fortune tellers. Only fortune tellers are required to get the police chief's permission to operate after submitting five references.
King said her counseling methods employ Tarot, energy healing, astrology and psychic abilities. But she insists she's not a fortune teller because she doesn't predict the future.


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Laughing all the way to the BANK
According to the Economist online...
"LIFE has been good for American banks. Low interest rates, a roaring mortgage market and borrowing by the spendthrift American consumer have sent money washing into their coffers. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), one of America's many financial regulators, banks chalked up $135 billion in profits last year, their fifth consecutive year of record earnings..."Unfortunately, I can't tell you what else they have to say about American Banks, since I must pay to find out--which I will not do because the message is crystal clear.
While Americans are struggling to pay increased interest on their student loans and home mortgages, American bankers are raking in the dough and laughing all the way to the bank.
And, they're not through with us yet. When it's all over, we'll be scraping for money to buy our daily bread.


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Design for a hyper-ageing society
In November 2015 I was invited to the program of Asian Smart Living International School in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. In international and multi-disciplinary teams we worked on solutions for Taiwan's approaching hyper-aging society. A very interesting week in another culture, during which we were able to visit elderly care centers and talk to different experts.
In our service design we focused on making elderly with dementia valuable for society and vice versa, stimulating that society includes elderly with dementia rather than putting them away like a 'problem'. In this future scenario we propose a 'dementia stamp' a brand/ status that can be given to events and organisations that embrace elderly by including them for the things they still can do.


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Happy Wednesday !!
I hope you all had a wonderful
4th of July !!!
We had family over for swimming and
of course ... delicious BBQ .
I actually tried a turkey burger for the
first time ...I LOVED it !!!
I felt that I needed to share this with you , lol !!
The purpose of this post , aside from sharing
my newest favorite
burger was to share this card I created .
I used the new Cool Summer Digital stamp .
I LOVE rhinos !!!
Rhinos are my oldest sons favorite animal.
As you can imagine I loved this image from the moment
I saw it !!
I used Tim Holtz watercolor paper to begin with .
I created a water colored background using the Kuretake watercolors.
I then colored the image using Copic markers .
I used a different green combo G02, G00 and G000 .
Ohhh .... and our Craftin Desert Divas July 2017 Sneak Peeks start tomorrow !!
LOTS of cuteness in store !! I hope you will join us for the event here .
One of the reasons being , this cutie was a freebie for a short period .
Believe me you don't want to miss it !
Thank you so much for stopping by !!
Wishing you a super blessed day !!
CDD Products Used :
Cool Summer Digital stamp
I also have a couple of sneak peeks to share with you of the
the cards I created for this release :


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Brad Peterson
Hi, I'm Brad. I've been shooting professionally for 18 years. I'm a very passionate artist, photographer, and business entrepreneur. I love the great outdoors and spend as much time as possible climbing, hiking, skiing, mtn. biking and exploring. I live in Northern Utah with my awesome family, the Peterson 5! Through the years my work has taken me all over this world to photograph portrait events and scenic landscape adventures. I believe my strength as an artist is my ability to step into any situation and photograph it well. I specialize in portraits, weddings, commercial and advertising, modelling portfolios, licensed NCAA football and basketball, adventure and action, documentary and time-lapse video creation, landscapes and wildlife. My two business mantras are: "I don't photograph what I see...I see because I photograph! "I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." I look forward to working with you where I will guarantee a most memorable experience and crystal clear visual story of the things that matter in your life. I'm a member of the NPS and PPA
- 503 Affection
- 18,240 Photo Views
- 36 Followers
- 17 Following
- Kaysville, Utah, USA


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I made a quick stop in Hollywood cemetery after checking out where the only Royal Paulownia tree I knew actually was. I knew they were in bloom now and had thought I had seen some more around town. The crew at Hollywood told me there were some on the river near Jefferson Davis and one of them had grown one from their seeds in his yard. They also knew of this one on Laurel St. where these picture's were taken.
After a friends blog post on the Royal Paulownia tree I started noticing them. This is my favorite and couldn't believe I spotted it in a posh west end neighborhood on Westham Pkwy.


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This blog is created for the followers of Brian John's Angel Mountain Saga of eight novels, dealing with the life and times of a very imperfect heroine, Mistress Martha Morgan of Plas Ingli. She lived at about the same time as Jane Austen but struggled to survive in a very different world. Total paperback sales for the series are now over 85,000 copies, with 100,000 sold in all media.
Monday, 26 June 2017
Does Literature Wales face extermination?
So Literature Wales now says it has "serious concerns" about the Medwin Hughes Committee Report on literature and publishing in Wales. So would you or I, if faced with instant extermination! As The Bookseller reports, the organization is likely to have virtually all of its functions taken away from it.... and that being the case, there is really no reason for its continued existence. You do not need a Cardiff office with lots of staff just to run a small writer's centre (Ty Newydd) in North Wales......
Lit Wales staff met the other day with Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates -- a fly on the wall would have had much to savour.......
Lit Wales will no doubt claim that it is sorely misunderstood, and that it fulfills a number of functions for which it is uniquely qualified. Increasingly, it seems to see itself as a sort of marketing agency. But an organization that uses up 75% of its annual budget on staff costs is clearly not very useful to anybody except its own employees, and to those who have tried to support it over the years (like me) it has for some time appeared elitist, arrogant, complacent and incestuous, existing primarily to ensure that the subsidy-based culture (or gravy train, if you want to call it that) of Welsh literature keeps going. The Medwin Hughes Committee mentioned the pervasive culture of "entitlement" that runs through Lit Wales. That culture is shared by the members of the Welsh literary establishment -- driven by the belief that literary endeavour is a wondrous thing in itself, indicative of a vibrant Welsh culture. There is a widespread and naive failure to understand the commercial realities of the literary and publishing world.
Now that everything is under review, the key question that all those in the writing and publishing world need to ask is this: Is there really any point in paying writers to write things that nobody wants to read, and in paying publishers to produce books that nobody wants to buy?
Wednesday, 21 June 2017
Literature Wales slammed in Welsh Committee Report
For some years I have been concerned about the way in which Literature Wales is run -- as a very comfortable and even complacent organization, spending public money liberally on a few pet projects and not really doing much for the writers of Wales. It seems to have no understanding of writing as a commercial activity, and it seems to be unaware of the difference between self-publishing and vanity publishing. On its watch, the Welsh Academy has withered on the vine, leaving Welsh writers without any effective mutual support organization. Lots of others have shared my concerns, and many of us took the opportunity of feeding in submissions to the Welsh Government Committee charged with looking into the publishing and literature industry in Wales.
After many delays (put down to the sheer weight of evidence submitted) the Report of the Medwin Hughes Committee has been published, and its assault on Literature Wales is pretty brutal. It is slammed for its complacency, its poor governance, its elitism, and its rather dodgy habit of spending 75% of its income on its own staff salaries. There is an extraordinary complaint about the fact that the Chair of Literature Wales, Prof Damian Walford Davies, apparently refused to meet the members of the Committee.
In many of the comments submitted there were criticisms of its close links with the Welsh universities "literary establishment" and its refusal to accept that there is really not much point in continuing to support, year after year, a few favoured writers who may not have anything significant to say and who have no realistic prospect of ever selling any books in a competitive market place. As far as LW is concerned, the act of writing is all that matters, indicating (to its own satisfaction) that there is a wonderfully vibrant literary culture in Wales, in both English and Welsh. Does anybody actually WANT the books that are written and published? Hmmm......
Anyway, the Committee suggests that most of Literature Wales's functions should now be taken away and given to the Welsh Books Council. Many of us would agree with that. LW is also criticised for its chaotic relationship with the Welsh Academy, which is supposed to represent the interests of Welsh writers.
The PDF of the full report can be accessed here:
Welsh Books Council recommended to take on Literature Wales' Book of the Year
Article in The Bookseller
Literature Wales to have funding cut after damning report
BBC report:
What will happen now? Well, Minister Ken Skates says he is minded to accept most of the Committee recommendations. There will be big LW budget cuts, staff redundancies, and (I hope) a root and branch reorganization. What will be left will be smaller and (we hope) more responsive to the needs of writers in Wales. The end of the subsidy culture and the literary gravy train operated from Cardiff HQ? Let us hope so.......
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The Reds recognized the inevitable. They simply couldn't afford Johnny Cueto. The best pitcher of modern vintage developed by the organization. One of the best international signings ever by the organization and, given his minimal signing bonus, one of its best values.
Still, it was time to move on. The Reds traded him to the Royals in a deal that was a clear, clear win for the Reds (and one that worked out just fine for the Royals, too!).
Personally, I don't understand why Reds fans aren't doing cartwheels in the streets over this deal. Instead, we get more hand-wringing over Walt's performance. For me, if this deal wasn't a home run, it was at least a stand-up triple.
Evaluating the Trade
In order to evaluate the trade, you have to first identify what they gave up. Sure, fans have the emotional attachment to Cueto, but from a baseball operations perspective that's wholly irrelevant. What they gave up, from a baseball operations perspective, was 2+ months of on-field production and a compensatory draft pick when Johnny ultimately and inevitably departed after the season.
To simplify it even further, they basically traded a compensatory pick, because the 2+ months of starts from Johnny Cueto had no value to the Reds. In fact, due to the combination of a collective bargaining agreement that actively incentivizes losing (higher draft picks, higher spending caps) and the organization's position on the win-curve (somewhere on the "noncompetitive" spectrum), you could easily argue that Cueto's remaining starts had negative value to the Reds.
Simply put, Johnny increased the chances of winning the games he started and winning was no longer in the organization's best interests. For the Reds, the marginal value of each additional win was minimal to negative.
So, all the Reds realistically had to do for a trade to make sense to generate more value than a compensatory draft pick.
Instead of settling for a compensatory draft pick, the Reds cashed in Johnny Cueto in a big way. They traded half-a-season of service time of Johnny Cueto for potentially 18+ seasons of control over three southpaws: Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed.
If we revisit the point about needing to sync-up the productive years of their assets, then this trade makes a great deal of sense under either a quick or total rebuild. If the Reds decided to keep Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce, then these guys should be productive soon enough. If they decide to move Frazier and Bruce, then these guys are young enough and controlled long enough to still be relevant to the rebuild. This deal works.
John Lamb and Brandon Finnegan have already pitched in the majors. Cody Reed, who's pitching in double-A, isn't far away. These are pitchers who could/should arrive while Frazier/Bruce/Votto are still at the peaks of their careers.
John Lamb
I have been familiar with John Lamb for quite some time, because he's been around for quite some time, but, in light of the ups and downs of his career, it had been a while since I had contemplated him. So, my first look at him after the trade was basically starting completely fresh.
Interestingly, his age and career volatility had moved him past "pure prospect" status, so there wasn't much about him out there in the prospect sphere, which is fine because I already tend to limit what information I consider because I want to form my own opinions. In this case, I really had a bare minimum of information going in, not even information about his repertoire.
So, I started by watching a handful of Lamb's minor league starts this season. Interestingly enough, my initial impressions were actually later reinforced by his MLB performance.
When I started watching his minor leagues starts, I had to figure out his arsenal. What exactly did he throw? It became readily apparent that he had a wide variety of pitches. In fact, I counted what I thought were five different pitches:
1. 4-Seam Fastball -- His fastball velocity isn't plus, but he sits comfortable 91/92/93 and commands it well. He does an especially good job of throwing it on the inner half/corner of the plate to right-handed hitters.
2. Cutter/2-seamer -- He also throws an 89 mph cutter/2-seamer that moves down-and-in to righties.
3. Slider -- He also throws a 73/74/75 mph slider that is relatively forgettable, to the extent that it might be a slower version of his cutter or a harder version of his curveball.
4. Slow Curveball -- He throws a big, slooooowwww curveball that I kinda love. It sits in the 68/69 range and it feels like it will either be a very good weapon or a total novelty pitch.
5. Change-up -- His change-up is inconsistent, but when he throws it well it's a dead fish change-up. It sits 72/73 and it can sink and fade. I'm optimistic about this pitch.
That's what I saw in his minor league starts. Overall, I was pretty impressed, but I also formed the following general impressions:
- The fastball was less than I expected. One of the few things I had heard about him at the time of the trade was that his fastball was in the mid-90s, but it's clearly a step below that.
- He operates in several different velocity tiers, including a rare pitch that could be an MLB weapon against MLB in the upper 60s.
- His fastball command seems strong and he's particularly comfortable working inside to righties.
- His breaking pitches were somewhat muddled. There wasn't a clear distinction between his Cutter/2-seamer and his slider, as the velocity was inconsistent and it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. It's tough to tell whether the curveball was a gimmick/show-me pitch or a legitimate weapon. His breaking pitches almost seemed muddled to such an extent that it was confusing to Lamb himself.
Overall, it's a nice combination of pitches, but also one that suffers from insufficient differentiation. He needs to tighten up, and clearly define, the breaking pitches. When watching him, especially his fastball command to inside corner against righties and his ability to break his cutter down-and-in to righties, I wondered if he would suffer from a reverse platoon-split. Watching him struggle to differentiate between his slider and cutter and his difficulties in sequencing the curveball only reinforced my concern about his work to lefthanded hitters.
So, I wasn't overly surprised when he did, in fact, struggle against lefties and perform well against righties (yes, yes, small-sample-size caveats apply) at the big league level:
vs L - .342/.449/.707
vs R - .279/.337/.432
As for mechanics, Lamb is actually pretty sound. I don't see any real red flags that would make him a heightened injury risk, and yet he's already undergone TJ surgery. Personally, I have a general rule that I would not target TJ-survivor pitchers. Not on the free agent market. Not in the draft. Not in trade.
I'm of a mind that serious arm injury is the "downstream effect of an upstream cause." Tommy John surgery cures the effect, but what was the underlying cause? If that hasn't been addressed, then it seems likely another arm injury is lurking over the horizon. Ideally, the cause was something like overwork as a young pitcher, which is a one-off, non-recurring problem. However, if the upstream cause is something like a mechanical issue, then that needs to be addressed to avoid another downstream-effect.
All that said, there are exceptions to every rule and the wisdom of acquiring those survivors depends primarily on acquisition cost. It's cost that drives risk. Given that Lamb (1) makes the minimum salary and (2) represents just one piece of a three-player return, there's minimal risk to his acquisition. So, I'm on-board here, as getting multiple assets in return diversifies that risk, I just wouldn't make a habit of it.
Still, Lamb is a tall, big league ready southpaw with clean mechanics, solid stuff, and good command. That's a combination that should play at the big league level. He seems like a reasonable bet to be at least a back of the rotation pitcher and his strikeout rate makes him a decent gamble to be something more than that. Still, I'd like to see him clean up his breaking pitches, probably by dumping the slider (it's very difficult to throw both a slider and a cutter, as they tend to blend together and water down each) and refining the curveball, so he has a better understanding of how to sequence his pitches and attack hitters. Refining his repertoire will only help him develop and implement a plan of attack. Now it feels like there's some uncertainty surrounding those breaking pitches and that might explain his heightened hit rate.
Brandon Finnegan
Finnegan is the middle child of the southpaw trio. That holds true in terms of age and in terms of projection.
Lamb is the oldest by roughly three years, while Finnegan is 1 full day older than Reed. In terms of projection, Finnegan doesn't have John Lamb's floor or Cody Reed's ceiling. Lamb needs some refinement, but he's ready to hold down a spot in the big league rotation. Reed is arguably the farthest away, but he has the biggest upside.
Finnegan was drafted with the 17th overall pick in the 2014 draft by the Royals. He became the first pitcher to pitch in the College World Series and the MLB World Series in the same season. Not a bad year.
The problem with Finnegan is that the Royals have been bouncing him back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen, the majors and the minors. That may have suited the Royals short-term needs, but it did no favors for Finnegan's development. At this point, it's difficult to know whether Finnegan is stretched out enough to hold down a rotation job right out of spring training.
Unlike Lamb, who is tall, low effort, and smooth, Finnegan is short, herky-jerky, and (relatively) high effort. Finnegan also has a big arm swing, so he's a bit long in the back of his delivery.
Finnegan's repertoire is clearly defined. He works with a 3-pitch mix, a fastball (PitchFX labels it a sinker), change-up, and slider. The fastball/sinker sits 92/93 with real arm side run. The changeup clocks in at 84/85 and also has some arm-side run and sink to it. His slider sits 82/83 with good bite to it.
Overall, he throws three pitches, all of them in a 10-mph range. Does he hit work in enough velocity tiers? Maybe. Does he have enough variety to keep hitters off-balance? Maybe.
Unlike Lamb, who needs to pare down and refine his offerings, Finnegan may need to broaden and diversify his offerings. Finnegan's repertoire will play at the big league level, but I don't see a ton of electricity in what he throws.
The changeup looks like his best pitch with fade and sink. The fastball has some real arm-side run to it, but isn't overly explosive. The slider has good potential, but I wish it had a bit more power behind it. If he's going to be more than a middle-to-backend of the rotation starter, he'll have to improve on his offerings. Adding more velocity to the fastball, more power to the slider, or learning how to cut the fastball so that he can shape it in either direction would raise his ceiling. Of course, that's easier said than done.
Cody Reed
Cody Reed has the widest range of possible career outcomes. That makes him the biggest risk, but also potentially the biggest reward. If this deal is going to be a massive win for the Reds, then it's probably because Reed pays off in a big way.
My first impression of Cody Reed was just how tall he looks on the mound. He's 6-5 with broad shoulders and looks every inch of it on the rubber. My second impression of Reed was that he has a very quick arm and ball really explodes out of his hand. If he doesn't make as a starter, then it's easy to imagine him as a Zach Britton, a lefty who somewhat slings the ball and gets it on the hitter before they expect it. But, right now he's looking every bit the part of a starting pitcher.
Reed works with a 3-pitch mix: a fastball that sits 92-94 and touches 96 with some sink, a slider, and a change-up. He has shown flashes with the slider and change, but right now he can dominate with the fastball. When he's on the mound and rolling, it really feels like he's pitching downhill.
That electricity that I didn't see in Finnegan? Reed has it in spades. He's pure electricity and his upside is exciting.
He throws from a low three-quarter arm slot that will scare some pundits, as they don't think a lower arm slot can work against opposite side hitters. Reed isn't having much problems with hitters of either handedness right now.
Reed needs to continue working on the change and slider, so he's got some development left to do, but the upside is there. Reed is the answer to those critics who felt the return on this trade was more quantity than quality, more floor than ceiling.
If things break right, he could be a very good starting pitcher for the Reds. If not, then maybe he's the second coming of Zach Britton. Right now, I'm betting on the rotation for Reed. He could be special.
Final Thoughts
I know many in Reds nation aren't enamored with Walt Jocketty. I have a hard time figuring out why, as his track record in trades is one area where he's really strong and I'd argue that the return on the Cueto trade is just the latest example.
The return on this trade offers a strong blend of high probability, high ceiling, and close proximity assets. It's a serious haul of talent for 2+ months of a pitcher they could no longer use or afford.
Acquiring three players diversifies the risk and gives the Reds multiple avenues to both winning the trade and generating value from it.
To me, this trade is a clear winner for the Reds, restocking a farm system that was short on impact and depth. I also doubt the Royals have any complaints about the trade, so maybe it's the rare trade that pans out for both sides. We shall see. For now, it's high marks for Walt and a brighter future for the organization.


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This year is set to be a big one for Jessica Biel. The actress will be a first-time mom and will likely continue looking gorgeous, scooping up film roles and will probably be named a "MILF" by some lad mag. Things are going great for Jessica, but in honor of her 33rd birthday, we wanted to take you back, way back, to her 7th Heaven days when we knew her as Mary Camden. Yes, Mary, the b-ball loving tenacious teen who was never afraid to keep it real. Below, a few reasons why we will always love Jessica for her breakout character.
She shared some of our same academic struggles.
She was not afraid to administer a beat down.
Her b-ball skills were impeccable.
She doled out punishment with a firm and swift hand.
She was up for any physical challenge, even while wearing a dress.
She was willing to take a walk on the wild side.
She had no problem facing the cold, hard truths of reality.
She was never afraid to tell it like it was.
…or belt out a tune when needed.


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The end of the road for the 'customer journey'
The term 'customer journey' is familiar to marketers of all stripes but I wonder how many could agree on a definition. Like a lot of marketing terminology, the meaning of this phrase has become warped over time as brands and agencies have twisted it to their own ends. Now it's most commonly used to describe ...
The challenge of conducting the modern communications orchestra
Today, every successful communications strategy is comprised of three key elements – creativity, technology and data. Combine these effectively and it's possible to produce engaging, inspiring work that delivers the right message at the right time in the right context. But to achieve this aim, brands must ensure these three elements work in perfect harmony ...
The problem with innovation
One word has come to dominate the DMA Awards over the last few years – innovation. In addition to being the theme of last year's awards, it's earned its own category and now underpins the criteria of most others.
Rediscovering the lost art of direct mail
Direct mail is in trouble. Trampled under the march of progress and still lumbered with the tag 'junk mail', its stock has fallen rapidly amongst brands who have turned their attention to digital communications. Although this makes good business sense, as it's considerably cheaper to hit a list of prospects with an email instead of ...
British copywriting isn't dead, but it's in the doldrums
Last week I announced the results of the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) census of British copywriters. In short, they weren't good. We started this campaign by asking if copywriting is dead and although happily, we've discovered it isn't, it's certainly suffering from depression and ennui.
Big Data is dead, long live Smart Data
I'm not a data scientist. But I wish I were. I've always had the greatest of respect for them and I love working with them. If I were starting out in planning again today, I'd definitely ensure I acquired those skills.
Six trends that spell turbulence for the airline loyalty market
Customer loyalty is integral to the success of any airline and currently the stakes are particularly high. There has never been more choice between airlines and consumers are prepared to scour the internet for the best deals on flights. Many consumers are also more than willing to risk flying with a new airline if the ...
Want to increase sales? Stop selling
Your phone rings and you don't recognise the number. You wouldn't normally answer it but this is the third time they've called in the last hour and the semi-constant vibration on your desk is starting to annoy both you and your colleagues.
2014 – A vintage year for one-to-one marketing
As Chairman of the DMA Awards Committee I've spent many hours of this year locked away, poring over the work of the best and brightest that direct marketing has to offer and I can safely say that 2014 has been a vintage year for the industry. Below I discuss two of the most interesting trends ...
Six principles that will help you better interact with your customers
Every brand, from the smallest start-up to the mightiest multinational, wants to increase engagement with its current and future customers. Although this has long been the case, achieving this aim has become an ever more complex challenge over the course of the last decade. While the digital revolution introduced many new ways for brands to ...


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Now the media are trumpeting that it was Assad's troops that used chemical weapons in Idlib. This is absolute nonsense, because it is Russian headquarters that supervise all combat actions in the region. Assad will not be able to use any aircraft unless the Russian command in Hmeymim gives permission for this.Pravada Report comes out of Moscow and is seen as a Putin mouthpiece. This statement is attributed to an unnamed "Russian expert." Hmeymim air base in Latakia is the main Russia airbase in Syria and after Trump's cruise missile strike against Shayrat airbase, Assad moved all his fighters to it. The Russian high command in Syria is stationed at that base. They have advanced Russian surveillance instruments there that track the movement of all aircraft moving through Syrian airspace. Russian SIGINT [signals intelligence] and the Russian spy agency GRU are also located there. Syrian operational staff officers also work out of that base. Two days after the sarin attack, the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said in a news conference @35:20:
We are coordinating on a daily basis with Russia.Yes, that is the polite term for it. I "coordinate" on a daily basis with my boss too.
In the case of the United States military assistance command to The Republic of Vietnam [MACV], there was never any doubt about who was really running the war. Those who think Assad is still running the war just don't understand how these things work. The Washington Post, which discovered and translated the secret "status of forces" agreement that allows the Russian military to operate in Syria described it as giving Moscow "carte blanche."
Clearly Trump has benefited greatly, not from the chemical attack of course, but from the opportunity to respond and thus stage a falling out with Putin just when he needed it badly. Before the attack, the major news story in the US was the growing scandal about Trump's ties to Moscow. The new revelations around this story haven't stopped coming since the sarin attack. Two days after the attack, Rep. Devin Nunes attempts to sabotage the congressional investigation fell apart and he was forced to step aside. Then Paul Manafort announced he was registering as a foreign agent. It was revealed that a FISA warrant had been issued for Carter Page. European intelligence agencies started talking about what they had, and we found out the FBI has an investigation going. Most likely both Trump and Putin knew this, and much more was about to be coming out as the sarin attack was being planned. The sarin attack, at a cost of 87 Syrian lives, was just the set up, the payoff was Trump's attack on the airbase.
a very polite way to make war...
1.) We know that Trump gave the Russians plenty of advanced notice, so they and the Syrians could get their people and planes safely away before the attack. As a result, they suffered really minimal losses. Trump didn't even bomb the runways. As a result, they were able to resume air operations from the base the very next day.
2.) Russia has its most advanced air defence systems in Syria, S-300s and S-400s, and they didn't even try to shoot down Trump's cruise missiles.
The Aviationist reported:
[L]ater reports say that most of the aircraft based there were evacuated before the strike, and initial footage from Shayrat seems to show at least some areas of the airports, including taxiways, shelters, aprons, etc. with little or no damages.Why would they do that? They would have been shooting down drones, not even killing US pilots. They had that capability. Why didn't they use it? One can only conclude that they allowed the Syrian base to be attacked, and maybe that was because, as the Aviationist speculates, Trump was so nice and polite about notifying them in advance about his attack. That's warfare in the Milo Minderbinder tradition. If ever an attack seemed staged, this was it.
According to Pentagon, the Russians were informed ahead of strike.
Noteworthy, the TLAMs [BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles ] flew across the MEZ (Missile Engagement Zone) of the S-400 missile battery the Russians deployed to Latakia to protect the Russian air contingent deployed there in 2015.
Did Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft defense system detect the missiles? For sure there are no reports of any of the BGM-109 intercepted by the S-400.
Designated SA-21 "Growler" by NATO, the S-400 is believed to be able to engage all types of aerial targets including aircraft (someone says even VLO – Very Low Observable ones), drones and ballistic and cruise missiles within the range of 250 miles at an altitude of nearly 19 miles. Equipped with 3 different types of missiles and an acquisition radar capable of tracking up to 300 targets within the range of over 370 miles, the Triumph (or Triumf) is a system made of 8 launchers and a control station.
Supported by effective EW (Electronic Warfare) capabilities, the S-400 fires missiles against aerial targets flying at 17,000 km/h.
So, at least on paper, all non-stealth aircraft and missiles would hardly be able to dodge S-400 missiles. Assuming that the Russians probably detected at least some of the Tomahawks flying fast and low towards their targets at Shayrat Airbase it's not clear why the Triumf did not attempt to intercept any of the TLAMs launched by the US destroyers,
Perhaps, considered that they were informed beforehand, they simply decided to let them pass.
If we apply the "Cui Bono" test to Assad's opposition, it just doesn't work. If the argument favored by the "anti-imperialist" Left is that 2013 sarin attack that killed 1400 opposition supporters was staged by the opposition to get Obama to intervene in the name defending his "red-line," how much sense does it make for them to try the same thing with a lot less casualties with Trump, who hates Obama, after his administration just announced three times its support for Assad remaining in power? It just doesn't fly.
If we ask instead: "How would Putin benefit?" We can provide answers that really takes off. That is how Cui Bono answers the question of what happened and why in this particular chain of events.
Syria is the Paris Commune of the 21st Century!


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Bautzen Accommodation
Searching for hotels in Bautzen (Germany) or Bautzen accommodation? Bautzen is the capital of the eponymous district and a city Saxony, Germay. The city is situated on the Spree River which is approximately 50km east of Dresden. Bautzen is often regarded as the unofficial, but historical capital of Upper Lusatia, and it is the most important cultural center of the Slavic minority of the Sorbs.
Bautzen has a very compact and well preserved medieval town centre with a multitude of churches and towers. Close to the city there is the chapterhouse of the Cathedral and a monument of Elector Johann Georg I. The city also boasts some beautiful fountains and sculptures that decorate the area; you can also visit the Old Water Tower which dates back to the 16th century and is now home to the Museum of Technology. There is also a new Water Tower built, done by the descendants of the builders who built the old tower.
Burgstadt still maintain its ancient look and feel with its history and old buildings. The Castle Pharmacy and the House of Estates can be seen along Schlossstraße and An der Petrikirche. At Bautzen visitor can enjoy the ruins of the Monk's Church, a journey on the Peace Bridge, the awesome Schloss Ortenburg or a beautiful view from the Schoolboy's Tower.
Accommodations include a wide variety of places for relaxation and dinning; there is Hotel Garni Schloss Schänke, Hotel Husarenhof, Holiday Inn Bautzen which is located in heart of the city and its a 4 star hotel with a homey feeling, Hotel Goldener Adler is located at the town hall and close to the Ortenburg Castle.
- Browse the Bautzen Map or compare Bautzen accommodation from Hotels, Motels, B&Bs, Lodging & Hostels to Holiday & Caravan Parks.
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