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Life needs a damper pedal
Some people relish the idea of a post-apocalyptic world because they fantasize about finally getting to kill and cook their own food and sanitize their own water.
Me? I just want the quiet.
Finally home from a week's "vacation" -- if that's the right word to describe spending seven days visiting amusement parks with two teen boys -- I'm finally starting to relax in the cocoon of my home's relative quiet.
Yes, even with two quarreling sons, the ever-present low drone of our Xbox's explosive entertainments, two barky Chihuahuas and a neighbor who loves to mow his lawn/karaoke his heart out/rev his Harley every Sunday morning at 9, my house is an island of relative serenity.
As someone with the luxury of working from a home office, I've always been hyper-aware of how loud the world has gotten. The sheer volume of people talking on their cellphones, of screeching PA system announcements, of the "atmosphere" music in clothing stores and of TVs blaring in restaurants has steadily become more bothersome.
But after a full week of spending all my time out in public, it's pretty obvious that the volume of our society has become oppressive.
Even leaving aside the utter boorishness of people who seem to think that it's as appropriate to shout into their cellphones -- or to their equally loudmouthed companions -- during a football game as during a funeral service, the loudness of the places and things in our lives has reached an unprecedented pitch.
Take hotel room doors. Every time I envision a restful stay in a far more sumptuous bed than my own, I forget about the spine-rattling door slams.
The doors of many hotels are designed to ensure they close rapidly, explosively and very securely. My nerves were frayed from both the early-morning and late-night door slamming throughout the hallways and from the abrupt, ultra-loud bang from right behind me every time I exited my room.
Every once in a while you'd hear gasps emanating from hallways as other guests were similarly caught off guard by the thunderclap of their door.
Then there are public bathrooms. I thank my lucky stars that my children were toddlers well before the age of the ferocious public "restroom." In addition to the shock value delivered from motion sensors that flush whenever they have determined you're done, many toilets sound as loud as artillery fire.
Lacking a decibel meter, I cannot confirm this number, but luckily, scientists have uncovered the statistics for the second terror of the public restroom: the high-power air hand-dryer.
Researchers from the University of London conducted tests with the most popular model of super-fast hand dryer and found that, depending on the size of the bathroom, the sound is roughly equivalent to a jackhammer at close range. In a small bathroom, the researchers found noise peaks of 123 decibels, which is slightly louder than a jet aircraft at 100 meters.
Then there are restaurants. Whether it's from roaring music or TVs, restaurants are a terrible culprit. Last summer, The New York Times clocked a popular midtown Manhattan restaurant at an average of 96 decibels over the course of an hour, about as noisy as a power mower, motorcycle, farm tractor or garbage truck.
I'm the one taking earplugs into theaters to muffle the ridiculous volume levels of films. Now, I also need them for everywhere else.
In his 2010 book, "The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want: A Book About Noise," Garret Keizer suggests that noise is not considered a big problem by the ruling class because it tends to take its harshest toll on those with low social standing or political power, such as the very young, the infirm, the elderly, the poor and racial minorities.
Medical research has linked high levels of noise to hearing impairment, anxiety, mental illness, reduced cognitive functioning, longer recovery times in hospitals and increased heart attack risk. Plus, Keizer notes, "one of the first casualties of noise is conversation." He worries that if we don't deal with our noise problem, "civilization ... will ultimately arrive at a place where people scarcely make a peep."
That doesn't sound half-bad to me. But until a soundless revolution of quiet-seekers mutes our deafening landscape, I'll be staying home more and fantasizing about a nice, quiet apocalypse.

subset: commoncrawl


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- May 29, 2013
LAKEWOOD RANCH — The shoreline along parts of Lake Uihlein looks more like an abandoned sand pile than a lush Lakewood Ranch property.
Banks of disheveled sand and dirt are held in place by a scraggly display of vegetation. Slimy, green algae floats near the water's edge, evidence of the community's struggle to balance attractive lawn maintenance with the need to care for its water supply.
But by the end of summer, the dilemma may be over.
Through two grants, Lakewood Ranch is partnering with the University of Florida's Center for Landscape Conservation & Ecology and the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program to improve the water quality at Lake Uihlein through an alternative landscape design.
"Most traditional stormwater ponds have turf all the way to the waterline, and then the turf is maintained, so it's cut and fertilized," said Michelle Atkinson, builder and developer coordinator for Florida Yards and Neighborhoods. "The cut and the fertilizer goes right into the stormwater ponds, which promotes poor water quality. Putting landscaping in creates a vegetative buffer zone, and the plants can filter some of the runoff before it goes in to the stormwater pond."
Minimizing fertilizer runoff not only will mean less slimy green algae growing in the lakes but also it will translate in to a long-term cost savings on pond maintenance, said Ryan Heise, director of operations for Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. Additionally, giving waterfront homeowners options for their property will help eliminate the difficulty some people are having with keeping their yards up to Lakewood Ranch's lawn standards while also honoring a request not to use fertilizers within about 10 feet of the water's edge.
Organizers are seeking volunteers from the community to participate in focus groups to help determine what landscape designs residents would find aesthetically pleasing at Lake Uihlein and potentially other storm water ponds in Lakewood Ranch.
"We're trying to show the residents and have the residents tell us what a good lakefront should look like," Heise said.
The focus groups will develop landscape pallets both for the shoreline and for the land abutting it that will include planting options for homeowner's associations and for waterfront property owners.
"We're hoping (residents will) incorporate the same type of landscape in their storm water ponds, which would be paid for through their homeowner's association," Atkinson said.
Heise said he also hopes the group will develop a pallet for lakes that do not front any homes.
If the project is successful, organizers hope to take the results to other ponds in Lakewood Ranch as well as to other communities, which are experiencing similar problems with water quality, said Paul Monaghan, an assistant professor at the University of Florida who will be facilitating much of the project.
"The solution we find at Lakewood Ranch, I hope, is going to be applicable in other counties around the state," he said.
Funding for the project is being provided through grants from the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Florida Nursery Growers & Landscapers Association.
Anyone wishing to volunteer or make a donation of plants should contact Atkinson at 722-4524, Ext. 256 or [email protected]
Contact Pam McTeer at [email protected]


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The all-new 2014 Toyota Corolla is by no means all-new. It's an updated version of a car that's already eight years old, with Stone Age suspension design, low-power and relatively low-MPG engines, obsolete drum brakes, and a transmission familiar to any car buyer of the 1980s. That's bad.
Toyota flew me out to sunny San Diego last week to drive the new 2014 Corolla. All driving impressions and pricing information is strictly embargoed by the Toyota Motor Corporation until tomorrow. Expect a full review after midnight tonight. Now, though, I can still explain why this car fundamentally breaks with the one tradition that made the Corolla successful in the first place, and how it falls into the same cash-saving mistakes that doomed its rivals.
The Corolla is a huge deal for Toyota, selling in dozens of markets across the globe, produced in at least 16 places, and sold to millions of buyers. Getting it wrong would be a massive blow to the company and so Toyota, even at its most extreme, can only go so far.
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The Corolla's Chief Engineer, Shinichi Yasui, very frankly explained the problem with his current-generation design, telling journalists at the vehicle's launch that people tell him, "Corolla is [a] good car, but [there's a] lack of excitement." He went on to explain that the main goals for the 2014 were updating the styling, the driving feel, and the pride of ownership in the car.
What ended up happening was they ended up building the car on what appears to be the same platform as the old model. This means that the car retains a twist-beam axle in the rear, it retains its old non-turbo four-cylinder engines with middle-of-the-pack MPGs and bottom-of-the-pack power, it retains its drum brakes in the back (just like you'd find on a Corolla in the 1970s), and it retains a four-speed automatic, which hasn't been cutting edge since the 1980s.
Let me elaborate on the four-speed auto. First off, it's only available on the lowest trim level and there's nothing keeping potential Corolla buyers from optioning out a brand-new CVT.
Now, it's not like the four-speed auto jerks you around around or stabs you in the eyeballs every time it changes gear. It's not aggressively bad. But it does say that Toyota thinks it can get away with selling obsolete technology to dumb Americans who don't know any better and it means that the Corolla will never give off an image of cutting-edge design or great value.
If you buy a new Corolla, you're saying to the world that you willfully passed up newer cars with more advanced design. It says that you just don't give a shit. Given that Toyota has promised the opposite with their cars for the last few generations makes me think they're making a mistake.
Even worse than the transmission is Toyota's engine offerings. The L, LE, and S models get a 1.8 liter, 132 horsepower four cylinder that should get somewhere around 27 and 29 MPG city and between 36 and 38 MPG highway, depending on whether or not you choose the archaic four speed or the more expensive CVT. This engine debuted in the mid 2000s. The Eco model, on the other hand, gets brand-new variable valve technology that not only boosts horsepower up to 140, but also should be able to get 42 MPG highway and something over 30 MPG city.
To recap: the most powerful engine is the most economical, and it is only offered on one limited trim level.
Why is Toyota not offering this engine as standard across the Corolla line in the United States? Is it a production issue? Do they lack the capacity? Is there an underlying problem? I'd run around naked through the NY Auto Show if this more powerful, more economical engine wasn't available across the board in a few years, but right now it's an embarrassment for the world's largest car company to not sell it across the line.
Look around the interior, and the 2014 model is done up in much, much finer materials, but everything is laid out just like its 2013 predecessor. The steering wheel is the exact same shape and the buttons are in the same place, the air vents are in the same place, the infotainment screen is in the same place, as are the parking brake, the window dividers, the door latches, the door handles, the cupholders, the door speakers, the gearshift, the glovebox, the mirror controls, the door locks, the washer stalks, the map lights, and a few dozen other buttons, knobs, switches, footwell shapes, and carpets that I can't keep track of.
It would be easy to say that familiarity will appeal to the steady return buyers of the Corolla, but given that familiarity isn't bringing success to the 2013 Corolla, I don't think that will hold true as this 2014 model gets extensively older.
When you look at the current 2013 Corolla, Toyota is having to put more and more cash on the hood of the car to get it out of the showroom, and they're dumping an estimated 23% of their Corolla production into fleet sales according to Edmunds and Automotive News. If this a trend for a car that's just six years old, what happens when the Corolla has twelve-year-old bones?
The problem with Toyota keeping the Corolla on such a geriatric platform isn't necessarily that they're building a bad car. As I said before, the Corolla isn't particularly offensive. In fact, there's something very desirable about cars built on platforms that are in production for decades. Cars like the Model T, the VW Beetle, and the original Mini Cooper are among the most legendary cars in automotive history. And since these cars stayed in production for so long, the companies that built them had time to work out kinks in their design, streamline their assembly lines, and recuperate initial investments in tooling.
The problem is that while these cars are remembered very fondly, they never really sold well when their competition regularly updated their lineups. Ford tumbled from their spot as #1 carmaker in the world when they kept the Model T around too long. VW lost their grip on the American small car market when younger compacts from Japan regularly introduced new generations every few years.
GM was notorious for keeping cars like the Chevy Cavalier and the front-wheel-drive Lumina platforms on the market for decades. This (lack of) strategy ended with GM going bankrupt and Toyota stealing their crown of world's largest automaker. Keeping a durable platform on the market for years might seem honorable, but history shows it's a losing strategy with American carbuyers.
The Toyota MC platform dates back to 2006, when it debuted in the US under the RAV4, of all things. The 2006 Japanese-market Corolla was also on the MC platform, along with the Prius, the Matrix, the Scion xB, the Lexus CT. The current 2009-2013 Corolla (the red car in the pictures) is on the MC platform reports Automotive News, despite the fact that it looks just like its 2003-2008 predecessor. Some sources claim the 2007 and up Camry is MC-derived, but I believe there are significant differences between the Corolla and Camry under the skin, and Mark Rechtin, Automotive News's specialist on Toyota in America, agreed with me.
With the bad stuff out of the way, let me add that the interior is miles ahead of the old car in terms of materials, the styling is handsome if forgettable, updated crash structures conform to new testing standards, and there are new spot welds that strengthen the underlying chassis. Toyota also added a new set of bushings to the rear suspension, which are supposed to make the car more comfortable on highway cruising.
I'm not going to say that this is an outright bad car. I will say that it is already years behind its competition in terms of styling and design and it has four to six years of sales ahead of it.
It's one thing for Toyota to pass off a heavy refresh like this for a model year or two. It's entirely another thing for them to bank on this level of rehashing until we're nearly in the next decade.
Another journalist on this trip (whose name escaped me after a few free beers on Toyota's dime) explained that Toyota's PR people told him they benchmarked class-leading cars like the Ford Focus in the 2014 Corolla's development. The PR people were careful, however, never to claim that their new Toyota was any better than its rivals. All they could say was that it was better than the old Corolla.
All this being said, the Corolla is still strong in two areas: it's bigger than its competition inside and out, and it has every chance of maintaining Toyota's reputation for unbeatable reliability. If they're planning on manufacturing the same damn parts or over a decade, you had better hope they car is reliable.
In the end, don't these shortcomings actually support the reasons why anyone buys a Corolla? There have always been rivals in its class with better technology, better styling, and better handling. The Corolla is about conservative styling (which is maintained for 2014) and a reputation for reliability (which is also maintained for 2014).
The issue isn't really about 2014, though. By the time that model year 2019 rolls around, Toyota may be selling a Corolla with a platform that dates back to 2006. Toyota's current cheapskate tactics with the 2014 Corolla will bite them in the ass in a few years and they'll be left shipping out their Corollas in large numbers to fleet sales and bottom-tier buyers, further eroding the brand's reputation. That's exactly what's happening to the 2013 Corolla now, which looks and feels absolutely ancient and it's only six years old at this point.
If you like the idea of a dowdy, old, bland, beige car, the Corolla is the compact for you. If you want a vehicle that doesn't make you look like a gullible, complacent nobody, look elsewhere.
Photo Credits: Raphael Orlove


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As well as facing the same difficulties as all international companies, Ivan Menezes will also have to deal with challenges specific to Diageo. Some of them, such as integrating new acquisitions, are nice challenges to have. Others, such as poorly performing brands, are more difficult to deal with. This second of two articles looks at those challenges, some of which Mr Menezes helped to create, having been a senior executive at the company for a number of years.
Integrating new acquisitions
Major acquisitions for Diageo have been a bit like London buses - nothing comes along for a long time and then three come one after the other, starting with Mey Içki in Turkey in 2011, Ypióca in Brazil in 2012 and, at time of writing, a pending deal for United Spirits.
The two companies already acquired seem by all accounts to be integrating well and there are early signs that the Mey Içki acquisition is providing the required platform for Diageo's international brands. However, the huge challenge will be United Spirits.
The Indian company will be a huge and complex organisation to integrate. At the end of its 2012 fiscal year (March), United Spirits employed 6,200 staff (around 25% that of Diageo) and had 29 manufacturing sites. Diageo will also have to take on 10 facilities leased from third parties and another 50 with which United Spirits has contracts. This compares with Diageo's 106 facilities globally.
It will also have to deal with United Spirits' lower profitability compared to its rivals and falling share of the market. Key brands are focused at the lower end of the market, while United Spirits has been losing share since its 2010 peak to smaller and more dynamic players.
Underperforming brands
One of the legacies of Diageo's pre-economic crisis focus on the mature markets of Western Europe and North America is that a number of its large strategic brands are in decline, notably Baileys and J&B, while some of its other brands are being weighed down by their mature market focus, most notably Smirnoff, which, despite rapid growth in emerging markets Brazil and South Africa, is being held back by stagnation in the US and the UK.
Many of these brands were already struggling for growth in these markets before the economic crisis. The current economic difficulties just exacerbated the decline, especially for J&B with its over- reliance on Spain.
Due to the universality of blended Scotch, J&B's problem can and will eventually be fixed by a focus on other fast growing markets, for example in Latin America and the Middle East and Africa. Baileys' problems are more difficult to address. Cream-based liqueurs, which the brand dominates, is not a universal category and requires the education of consumers in those markets. While the company has had success in expanding the brand's presence in emerging markets, most notably China and Russia, its volumes are still relatively small and so more needs to be done.
Gaps in brand portfolio
Diageo's current acquisition spree has focused more on addressing geographical rather than category weaknesses, thus leaving gaps in the company's portfolio.
The most important gap, in cognac, is the one that is the most unlikely to be filled in the foreseeable future. While it has an interest in cognac with a 34% stake in Moët Hennessy, that will not transfer into sole ownership anytime soon, with the majority owner LVMH unlikely to sell one of its most profitable divisions.
The acquisition of Grupo Cuervo would have filled the gap in its portfolio for a major tequila brand. The breakdown in negotiations may just be temporary, but in the meantime it lacks a major brand to even distribute. While its Don Julio brand can fill part of the gap, it is still too small for a company the size of Diageo.
Diageo also lacks a super-premium bourbon. These, along with flavoured variants, are key growth drivers in the US market and are becoming increasingly important in the larger export markets. While Diageo has its Bulleit brand, it is relatively small and so the company could do with a larger name in the category, notably Beam's Maker's Mark when the US company is broken up.
Geographical weakness
In 2007, 74% of Diageo's spirits volumes were sold in mature markets, although the picture looks better if one includes its beer volumes, which were focused on Africa. Nevertheless, the company's focus was on high value "Western" markets and even then at the exclusion of some major ones, such as Germany.
Some of that weakness was being rectified with sustained investment starting prior to 2007, especially in its weakest region of Asia Pacific. Its position has been greatly helped by its emerging market-focused acquisitions, which, when the United Spirits purchase is completed, will see an almost complete reversal of the company's mature versus emerging market split.
Some of this weakness is relative to the strength of its mature markets, and in both Latin America and the Middle East and Africa, Diageo is the most advanced of all international players. Nevertheless, it could do more in these regions, as the Ypióca acquisition showed.
The company is still weak in Eastern Europe, relying on third party distributors in all markets except Russia and Poland. The rest of its Central and Eastern European markets have volume sales of just under one billion litres, which while declining in overall terms offer growth opportunities for international spirits categories such as whiskies.
As Diageo addresses these issues it will have to be wary of its rivals. Pernod Ricard has been focusing on broadening its geographical footprint in Africa and Latin America through more organic growth. Pernod is not alone, with many other companies such as Brown-Forman, William Grant and Edrington also focusing on these regions. They will also look to exploit any weakness Diageo shows, leaving Mr Menezes with some tough challenges ahead.


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Tagged: bases loaded
Bases Loaded
The game yesterday wasn't the best. We lost to the Angels 10-5. Ugh. Cha Seung Baek gave up nine runs. I don't think we want him as the third starter. At least I certainly don't! Adrian Gonzalez got his first homer of the spring, so that was good. But yeah. Just another spring loss.
What I really want to write about is a book I just read, called Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by the Central Figure in the Mitchell Report by Kirk Radomski. The only reason I picked up this book was because it was new in the baseball section at my library, and it's really rare to get a new baseball book in there. But it also looked interesting, and I decided that I needed to be better informed about this steroid problem that is sweeping baseball.
I have to admit that I haven't really been interested in the whole Mitchell Report and all the hearings with Rodger Clemens and all that. I'm just a fan, and all I really care about is watching my Padres play some good baseball. If it was one of my players being accused like that, I would definitely be more interested, but it's not like that. This book was captivating. I read it in about 5-6 hours over the course of two days. I am a pretty fast reader, but that's still impressive.
Kirk Radomski was a batboy and then a clubhouse attendant for the New York Mets. He was really into bodybuilding and nutrition, so when the players started asking questions about their diets and what vitamins they should be taking and stuff, he would help them. It was natural to him to do whatever the players asked. When some of them started getting interested in steroids, he would get some for them. To him, it was just like getting some vitamins or running an errand for them. Just getting steroids for a player turned into a huge operation of supplying the majority of baseball with steroids and ultimately human growth hormone. When he was finally caught, he was the first breakthrough for the people working on the Mitchell Report. He supplied them with thousands of checks from the players and trainers who had bought from him. He also supplied them with a huge list of names.
This book is fascinating. What's incredible to me is that he was able to supply players with juice for so long and nobody ever stopped him. With great storytelling, this book is a breeze to read through. At least, it was for me. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at baseball the same. I hate to think that any of my Padres have been or are taking juice, but I'm sure it's happening. This guy is brilliant in terms of nutrition and the effect of steriods and HGH. He can tell when a player is juicing, and even what he is using by just looking at him. It's pretty incredible.
This book isn't for all baseball fans, but if you're interested in the "steroid era", I would highly recommend it. But if you're not really that interested, there are better baseball books to read.
I am very excited that the Brewer's A-Z ballpark guide is FINALLY up. I've been checking it everyday for days, and now it's finally here! The reason I wanted it so badly was so I could get the Brewer's fanmail address and send some of my tributes to Trevor. So, that will be fun to work on! I doubt that he will reply, but maybe he will read them.
I am also REALLY excited about the Fan Day!! Naturally, I've been thinking, planning, and daydreaming about it for the last 24 hours. It's going to be sooooo much fun!!
Today the Padres are playing the Indians. Wow, how many times have we played the Indians? I think this is the third time this spring!!
- CF Jody Gerut
- 2B David Eckstein
- RF Brian Giles
- 1B Adrian Gonzalez
- DH Cliff Floyd
- LF Chase Headley
- 3B Edgar Gonzalez
- C Henry Blanco
- SS Luis Rodriguez
Kevin Correia will be starting. Heath Bell will also pitch. Let's see how the rotation candidate will do today. Maybe he won't give up that many runs!!
Have a great day!
(photo credit: nydailynews.com)


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Age: 19
College/Year: Pace University, class of 2012
Internship: Wilhelmina Modeling Agency
Seventeen: How did you find your internship?
More From Seventeen
Thatiana Diaz: I was referred to Wilhelmina by my last internship, which was actually at Seventeen! My advisor, the bookings editor (he decides on which models end up in the magazine), knew of my interest to work at a modeling agency and helped me land this new opportunity.
17: What do you do on a daily basis?
TD: Every day is something different, but basically, I help out the model bookers in the Women's division of the agency. They send me emails all day on tasks to help them on, which can be updating a model's portfolio for her or creating a comp card for them. I do a lot of basic office work and organizing.
17: What has been the most important thing you've learned so far?
TD: The most important thing I have learned so far is that communication is key. The agency is a team and in order for it to function properly, everyone must work as one. Communication is vital in keeping the company running smoothly and organized. I learned the hard way one day when I did not tell anyone I had starting working on a project. Thankfully, they asked me first so no one wasted their time by also starting it, but now I make sure to let everyone know what I'm working on with a quick email.
17: What has your internship taught you about the modeling world?
TD: My internship has taught me that the modeling world is a really fast changing one. A model that could be "big" one day can have her fall the next. It is important for models to keep up with the industry they are in and listen to the advice they are given from their agencies so they can continue to make it. I did not realize how much pressure models were under. I have so much respect for them!
17: Has anything you've learned about the modeling world surprised you?
TD: I learned that the models do not have it as easy as the world perceives them to have it. It is a fulltime job! Models come into the agency, are consulted, given castings, and work long hours. They sacrifice a lot for their careers too. I was surprised to learn they don't have this "easy, breezy" life that most girls want.
17: What tips do you have for girls who want to snag your internship?
TD: Research! It is important to know your information on the agency and to know the models. Study their site and try to memorize as much as possible. The more you know, the better!
17: What do you hope to do after college?
TD: I hope to wrok in the world of bookings. I would love to work as a booker for a prestigious modeling agency or be a bookings editor at Seventeen or Cosmopolitan.
Emily is a freelance writer and certified health coach who specializes in writing about mental health, fitness, healthy food, and social justice issues. Emily spent six years as an editor and writer at Well+Good, covering everything from food trends to serious issues like the opioid crisis in America and gun violence. She has also worked at Seventeen, Elle, and Twist magazines. She regularly writes for publications including Forbes, Parade, Shape, and The Huffington Post. Emily lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her cat Evie.


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As the world's population explodes to an estimated 9 billion people by 2050, farmers face the daunting challenge of making the most of every acre of suitable land while preserving the environment.
Increasing yields on existing farmland obviates turning to rainforests, wetlands and other unsuitable land.
"The critical question is: Where in the world do we have existing farmland with the capacity to produce much higher, stable yields?" said Ken Cassman, Robert B. Daugherty Professor of Agronomy at UNL.
To answer that question, Cassman and an international research team are developing a tool to identify areas around the globe where significant gaps exist between actual and potential yields for different crops. Yield potentials vary widely and often are difficult to measure.
Unlike other efforts to estimate yield potential, the team's Global Yield Gap Atlas uses a bottom-up approach. Working with colleagues at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the team is recruiting agronomists worldwide to identify key agricultural areas and collect data about local conditions and farming methods. These data will be scaled to the national, regional and global levels.
They also are developing the necessary methodology, such as accurately converting short-term weather data into long-term patterns and scaling up local yield estimates. All information and methodologies will be shared on the new public website www.yieldgap.org.
"The beauty of this project is that it is a global project but with local relevance," said UNL agronomist and co-investigator Patricio Grassini. The atlas will estimate global yield trends and food security but also help individual countries identify production potential to better strategize resource allocations and trade opportunities.
With a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the team is working in India, Bangladesh and 10 Sub-Saharan African countries. Grassini also has developed collaborations in Argentina and Brazil with funds from the University of Nebraska's Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute.
"The beauty of this project is that it is a global project but with local relevance."
Securing food for the future requires accurate information and decades of planning, Cassman said. "We need to do a better job than we have in the past, and that's what the Global Yield Gap Atlas will do."
Traveling the World
Nebraska native Justin van Wart hoped graduate studies at UNL would lead to something important. But, doctorate fresh in hand, he didn't expect to already be traveling the world to help solve a critical global problem.
As an agricultural economist, van Wart brings a large-scale perspective to the Global Yield Gap Atlas project. His doctoral work for UNL agronomist Ken Cassman included developing methods to scale local data to regional and global levels.
"It's going to have a huge impact on our ability to analyze national and global agriculture," Cassman said.
Now, as a postdoctoral fellow, van Wart finds himself in a new country almost every month, presenting his methods and helping build collaborations.
"It's amazing to work with internationally renowned agronomists," van Wart said. "It's kind of surreal to be shaking hands and talking directly with the person whose paper I was highlighting for a report just a few months ago."
He's also creating connections that will lead to future career opportunities.
"It's such an exciting field," he said of the yield gap research. "There's so much happening nationally and internationally."


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Dear ones,
I first wrote this when my daughter was around a year old. She is now 34. I posted it here in 2012. It is a lullaby worth hearing again in these times of continuing uncertainty and suffering. May you find comfort here and deep assurance in the steadfast love of the One Who Is Greater than All.
My heart is not proud nor my eyes haughty. I do not busy myself with great matters or things too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul. As a weaned child clinging to its mother – like a child that is weaned is my soul. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 131)
The little one stood waiting. Its whole life had led up to this moment. While the One Who Is Greater than All, most gracious, almighty, mother and father, reached down and down and through and through, lifted and kissed the little one and held it tight. The little one nestled into the arms of the One Who Is Greater Than All and lay back, gazing into the dark face with starry eyes. And the two began to rock.
Like babes, we cling to the earth's smooth furrows with tiny fingers, as it makes its daily rounds. We feel the beat of creation's pulse against our cheeks.
What child is this? Whose lullabies are these? Whose nursery is this – this universe of spattered fire and splashing water? Souls, spilled across the Milky Way, find their way in a manger, and sway swaddled in the earth's sweet clothes of winter snows and summer hay.
Who rocks us here, while our eyes, transfixed by Love's pure light, discover our image reflected in the holy face? The little one stood waiting while the One Who Is Greater Than All spoke:
Come sit with me and rock a while and I will sing you lullabies that Sarah sang to Isaac. I will tell you stories, wondrous tales of adventure, danger, miracles and love. For these songs must be sung, these stories told. Not kept on shelves like jars of pickles in a darkened cellar. No spice can preserve us, but these stories can save. In the telling is new life. In the singing is good news.
How did we come to this place, this rocking on God's lap and listening to these stories? Go back to the beginning of the beginning, before we were intricately wrought in the depths, before the forming of our inmost parts, before we were knitted together in our mothers' wombs to when our unformed substance was first beheld. For we were held before we were even something to behold.
We began babes in Christ, smacking, sucking infants grasping and gasping at the source of life, gulping in the Spirit's breath like ones nearly drowning in the rushing waters of the world:
O Lord, get me through this, help me, heal me, save me, free me, show me what to do! We lift to you our many hungers and concerns – our budget, our new addition, the middle East, global warming, the economy, the droughts, the poor, those in prison, those who mourn, the sick and lonely, the persecuted and enslaved – Lord, hear our prayer – and don't forget the little children!
And God continued to hold us, while Mary held God's squirming son. The nursing infant is too weak to hold onto its mother. She must lift the child and support its back. She must turn its head and draw its fingers from its mouth and place it on her breast. It knows not how to feed itself.
So we rocked with God under a cloud of violence, whose mists seeped into our lives as ghostly fears. Life, never a certain thing, seemed like a runaway kite in a storm, while we grasped frantically to its frayed and thinning string. We denied and argued and pleaded and bargained with the menacing cloud, until spent and weary with making peace with death, we learned there is no peace with death and we did not go gentle, but wore out our rage in colic screams. All this while our patient God walked us in our dark nights and bore against our stiff-legged kicking.
Then came the weaning.
The Hebrew word for wean means also to ripen and repay. Wean is not a sudden loss of sustenance, but a ripening toward greater fulfillment and profound nourishment.
O Lord my heart is not haughty, my eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with ambitious desire or things which are too marvelous for me.
Done with getting and spending and proving and earning.
Done with seeking and striving and the thin piercing whine of urgent need.
Done with bawling hungers and waking in the night with stomach cramping and the terror screams that know no hope nor appetite appeased.
Then came the weaning, the ripening.
An early evening rain splashed gently on the apple blossoms, sending white petals sifting to the glistening grass. We heard the wet whistle of the cardinal and watched a robin listen, head tilted, for the rumble of earth worms. We saw the drops slide down the glass. "The window crying," you said. It was dusk, the color of plums. Teddy slipped from your lap. You gazed into my eyes and smiled. And before I offered you to suck, you fell asleep. And thus you ripened. And so we rocked all night, past striving, past approval seeking, past demon whispers of ambition. And in the morning you bit into the Spirit's fruit.
The weaned child has attained strength and muscular control. It climbs onto its mother's lap without help. It pats her face and nuzzles its head against her shoulder. It delights simply in the mother's presence.
Like a weaned child on its mother's breast is my soul.
No longer consumed with consuming,
no longer gulping and choking on life,
but content
content to rest in God.
An awareness – childlike, simple, accepting –
came to the psalmist who sings to us today,
an awareness that came to Job,
when God spoke to him out of the whirlwind:
there are some things too wonderful, too marvelous for us
that mere knowing will not save us, that understanding will not end suffering, that strategies and master plans and mission statements cannot ease our pain, that psychological acumen, administrative expertise, and a panorama of pretty programs with flashy learning centers and lesson books printed in three colors will not root out the evil in our hearts
that dedicated scholarship, facile exegesis, brilliant preaching, flashing memes, a new economy, and all that we may do and strive to produce will not ease our pain.
The way is in the manger.
Come, lift the child and hold it close to your heart as Mary did.
Hush. Speak softly. Walk on tiptoe.
What is needed is persons with quiet souls who cling to Holiness as the trees cling to the earth.
What is needed is persons with humble hearts who will mother the Christ within them, who will speak gently to all they meet for they know that each of us carries Mary's sleeping boy.
Our work is of such utter simplicity and ordinariness that we shrink from it. Surely there must be more – than to be a friend, to share another's burden, and to be in love with Grace.
We rush about anxious, agitated, and oh so busy. Our plans and prayers are ill-conceived and sloppy. Our eyes are raised too high. We are occupied with ambitious desires. We presume to be absorbed in things too marvelous for us.
Climb on God's lap and rest. And a multitude of persons will find God's rest near you.
Fall deeply in love with the Christ child, care for it ever so tenderly, and your simple presence will nurture the Christ child in others.
At that time they came to him and said: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Jesus took up a little child and placed it on his lap and said: "Unless you turn and become like this little child, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven."
The little ones snuggle closer:
the humble singer of the psalm, you and I, and Eve and Moses and Sarah and Peter and Martha and that littlest one of all with the holes in his hands and feet.
The curve of time turns in on itself, bends back and threatens to disintegrate. Apocalyptic whispers and end time sonnets play in bars and senate chambers. Death watches on the TV news announce more violence, more battles, more destruction.
"We like the old songs best," the people tell the pastor. "I sang 'Whispering Hope' at my mother's funeral," the gentle man tells her on his way out. "Thank you for letting us sing it again."
a whisper so soft, we must be stilled and quieted to hear it
a whisper so soft, we must be clinging close to hear it
soft as the voice of an angel breathing a lesson unheard.
Like a child that is weaned is my soul. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
May your year ahead be blessed with holy rest and whispers of hope, gentle delights and profound joy. May you gather the strength and courage for whatever you face, secure in the knowledge of a love that will not let you go.
Loretta F. Ross
Whispering Hope, hymn by Alice Hawthorne, copyright 1924 by the Standard Publishing Company
Read Latest Issue of Holy Ground Here


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Ozzie Guillen next rant should be against the National Football League.
The Chicago White Sox fiery manager should speak not only for Latinos but in defense of all baseball. A sort of spokesman for MLB.
For first time in history the NFL is about to rank its 100 best players.
The NFL, through their broadcasting arm NFL Films, will feature a 10-show series The Top 100: The NFL's Greatest Players, debuting September 3 on its own NFL Network.
It sounds incredible that nowadays that rankings are common in every sport, football is so behind.
Guillen can be the mouthpiece of MLB.
He can tell them that baseball has done previous rankings such as in 1999 the Major League Baseball All-Century Team or The Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team selected in 2005 to honor the history of Latin American players in the majors.
By the way, the night the Latino Legends Team was announced prior at a ceremony to Game Four of the 2005 World Series later that night Guillén became the first Latin-born manager to win a World Series.
Instead of so much spout and rave, Guillen should be kind of instructor or coach for all those fans he says still does not know much about Latinos in Major League Baseball.
No more excuses there is still racism in baseball.
It is hard to believe that people still these days do not know about such modern day stars such as Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Ubaldo Jimenez, Mariano Rivera, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez and many, many others.
This should be an easier task to Guillen than try to explain why New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is consider the top Latino player in the NFL.
To put my two cents in I will give Guillen my list of the Top 100: MLB's Top Latino Players in history.
I bet he will have its own opinion but this should be a start. Let an Asian spokesman speak for Ichiro, Hideki Matsui and many others.
Ozzie could still be Ozzie and do good for all baseball.
By the way, my Top 100: MLB's Top Latino Players.
Wilson Alvarez (Venezuela)
Joaquin Andujar (Dominican Republic)
Armando Benitez (Dominican Republic)
Pedro Borbon (Dominican Republic)
John Candelaria (Puerto Rico)
Bartolo Colon (Dominican Republic)
Mike Cuellar (Cuba)
Freddy Garcia (Venezuela)
Guillermo Hernandez (Puerto Rico)
Livan Hernandez (Cuba)
Orlando Hernandez (Cuba)
Roberto Hernandez (Puerto Rico)
Ubaldo Jimenez (Dominican Republic)
Adolfo Luque (Cuba)
Juan Marichal (Dominican Republic)
Dennis Martinez (Nicaragua)
Pedro Martinez (Dominican Republic)
Ramon Martinez (Dominican Republic)
Jose Mesa (Dominican Republic)
Camilo Pascual (Cuba)
Juan Pizarro (Puerto Rico)
Jose Rijo (Dominican Republic)
Mariano Rivera (Panama)
Francisco Rodriguez (Venezuela)
Mario Soto (Dominican Republic)
Johan Santana (Venezuela)
Luis Tiant (Cuba)
Ugueth Urbina (Dominican Republic)
Fernando Valenzuela (Mexico)
Carlos Zambrano (Venezuela)
Sandy Alomar Jr. (Puerto Rico)
Javier Lopez (Puerto Rico)
Yadier Molina (Puerto Rico)
Tony Peña (Dominican Republic)
Jorge Posada (Puerto Rico)
Ivan Rodriguez (Puerto Rico)
Benito Santiago (Puerto Rico)
Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela)
Rod Carew (Panama)
Rico Carty (Dominican Republic)
Orlando Cepeda (Puerto Rico)
Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico)
Andres Galarraga (Venezuela)
Rafael Palmeiro (Cuba)
Victor Pellot Power (Puerto Rico)
Tony Perez (Cuba)
Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic)
Roberto Alomar (Puerto Rico)
Beto Avila (Mexico)
Carlos Baerga (Puerto Rico)
Luis Castillo (Dominican Republic)
Julio Franco (Dominican Republic)
Cookie Rojas (Cuba)
Tony Taylor (Cuba)
Manny Trillo (Venezuela)
Bobby Bonilla (Puerto Rico)
Vinny Castilla (Mexico)
Mike Lowell (Puerto Rico)
Alex Rodriguez (Dominican Republic)
Luis Aparicio (Venezuela)
Bert Campaneris (Cuba)
David Concepcion (Venezuela)
Tony Fernandez (Dominican Republic)
Ozzie Guillen (Venezuela)
Edgar Renteria (Colombia)
Hanley Ramirez (Dominican Republic)
Jose Reyes (Dominican Republic)
Miguel Tejada (Dominican Republic)
Zoilo Versalles (Cuba)
Omar Vizquel (Venezuela)
Bobby Abreu (Venezuela)
Felipe Alou (Dominican Republic)
Mateo Alou (Dominican Republic)
Moises Alou (Dominican Republic)
Tony Armas (Venezuela)
George Bell (Dominican Republic)
Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico)
Jose Canseco (Cuba)
Jose Cardenal (Cuba)
Leo Cardenas (Cuba)
Cesar Cedeño (Dominican Republic)
Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico)
Jose Cruz, Sr. (Puerto Rico)
Juan Gonzalez (Puerto Rico)
Pedro Guerrero (Dominican Republic)
Vladimir Guerrero (Dominican Republic)
Minnie Miñoso (Cuba)
Raul Mondesi (Dominican Republic)
Omar Moreno (Panama)
Manny Mota (Dominican Republic)
Ben Oglivie (Panama)
Tony Oliva (Cuba)
Magglio Ordoñez (Venezuela)
Manny Ramirez (Dominican Republic)
Ruben Sierra (Puerto Rico)
Alfonso Soriano (Dominican Republic)
Sammy Sosa (Dominican Republic)
Bernie Williams (Puerto Rico)
Edgar Martinez (Puerto Rico)
David Ortiz (Dominican Republic)
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


text:
Holt of the Secret Service (Serial 1941)Part 4: Menaced by Fate
The next chapter
Back to the Holt of the Secret Service Library
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back to Uncle Earl's Classic TV Channel


text:
For those of you who loved beating, stabbing, burning, trapping, torturing , shooting and disintegrating teddy bears you better sharpen your swords! The trailer for the next Naughty Bear has been released, expected in Fall 2012 the game will be released on PSN and XBLA.
Check out the trailer now!


text:
KB 1364 - Travel Round - Greece
Travel Round - Greece by Kirk & Bradley
Style: KB 1364
Size: 4" Round
Mesh Count: 18
This website is to the trade, only. If you're a wholesale customer, please login here.
If you're not a store owner, click here to find a needlepoint store in your area; or contact us; or Google "Kirk and Bradley".


text:
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Carolina Yacht Landing Properties
Find a Home in Carolina Yacht Landing
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Dear Competition Committee:
The ostensible purpose of NFL overtime is 1) to declare a winner and avoid a tie and 2) to do so quickly. If ties were acceptable, I assume the league would not bother to even have overtime.
In recent years, as offenses gradually gained an ever stronger upper hand over defenses, it became clear that the former sudden-death format gave too much advantage to the winner of a trivial coin flip. We saw time and time again as a team won the coin toss, got a decent kickoff return, earned a couple of first downs, and kicked a long field goal without even a whimper from the unlucky loser of the coin-flipping contest. Something needed to be done.
And, unfortunately, "something" was done. The current format is a mess because its effects are contrary to both stated purposes of overtime. It increases the chances of a tie — like the one we saw on Sunday between the Packers and Vikings — while prolonging the overtime period.
The new rules are complex and nontraditional. In the event the team with the first possession scores a field goal, the opponent now has a chance to match the field goal or win with a touchdown, and they can use all four downs with no time pressure. And yet, the rules still favor the team that wins the coin toss.
Here is a much better and far more elegant solution, which is fair, traditional, avoids ties, and leads to much quicker resolutions:
1. Restore pure sudden-death rules.
2. Move the starting point following a touchback to the 15-yard line. This is the net-zero point for scoring probability. In other words, an offense with a first-and-10 at its own 15 and the defense that's trying to stop it are equally likely to be the next team to score. (The change of the kickoff line from the 30 to the 35, which greatly increased the touchback rate, did more to even each team's overtime chances than the new format.)
3. Eliminate the arbitrary coin toss and give the home team the option to receive. Most often, the home team will take the ball; in rare cases, as in New England on Sunday night, the home team can choose to kick off due to extreme weather conditions. This removes the element of pure luck. Teams and fans will accept that first possession in overtime is simply part of what is rightly home-field advantage.
Paying attendees will obviously like it. And in the playoffs, it will be seen as a benefit the home team earned by virtue of its seeding from the regular season. Plus, a visiting team that scores a touchdown late in the game to otherwise tie, knowing it would be at a small disadvantage in overtime, may elect to attempt a two-point conversion. This would reduce the likelihood of overtime in the first place.


text:
Originally published in the June/July 2011 issue
In Louis's Infiniti G35, on the way to get a bite to eat at the Comedy Cellar in New York.
LOUIS C.K.: I love this car. Cars and cameras are the two things I let myself be materialistic about. I don't care about other stuff. I used to fix cars, so I like cars a lot.
SCOTT RAAB: You worked as a mechanic. Were you any good?
LCK: I enjoyed it, but I wasn't good. I got fired.
SR: Why'd they fire you?
LCK: I wasn't showing up on time, mostly. And I was working really slowly. I think I fucked a couple of things up. To be a real mechanic, you have to have proper training and buy these beautiful Snap-on tools you pay for like it's your car.
SR: When you got fired, what —
LCK: It was really sad and humiliating and I felt terrible. I really admired those guys. They were very nice to me and they were very good people, honest, blue-collar hardworking guys, and I'm showing up at 11, because I was doing stand-up at night.
SR: You were never a college-bound guy?
LCK: Nope. Just jobs. I thought about going to NYU film school — that was this ideal to me. But I didn't make any kind of grades in high school. My mother was a single mom, putting my three sisters through college, and I was such a bad student that I knew I had no right to take her money. But I loved being in classes and learning. I took in a huge amount of what I learned, but I had a feeling of always being behind and being in trouble.
SR: Trouble trouble?
LCK: Yeah. I did a lot of drugs when I was in junior high school — that kind of trouble. But I got that behind me. I started working at local-access cable and doing stand-up by the time I was 17, 18. I used to do college shows and I'd see these kids living this life I didn't live, and it hurt sometimes. I used to regret it — sometimes I still do. [Parking the G35 and walking to the club.]
SR: I just watched Pootie Tang again. It was on On Demand.
LCK: It won't fucking go away, that thing.
SR: Come on. It's still a lot of fun.
LCK: There's parts of the movie I really do like. I hate the way the movie ended up, but the best thing that can happen to a director is to go through the worst possible version first — losing the thing, being humiliated, having it come out to terrible reviews.
SR: Roger Ebert said it should never have been released.
LCK: He said it's not a movie — it's like somebody took pieces of a movie and put it together. That's exactly what they did. I sat there going, Oh, my God, this is the most trumpeted my name's ever been. This is how I'm getting known, how I'm being introduced. And I'll never make a movie again. And I haven't.
[At the club.]
SR: You want something to drink?
LCK: Club soda.
SR: I'll get a Coke. [To Louis] Are you going to direct a movie again? Do you want to?
LCK: I'd love to. The goal is to get a movie made the way I do the show. One of the great things about Louie [his latest TV show] being my own production with my own company is FX gives us the money and goes away. The advantage is I don't need any of this financially. I make more in five nights of stand-up than I do in a whole season of the show.
SR: You still enjoy the stand-up?
LCK: Oh, I love stand-up. It gave me the ability to do this show the way that I'm doing it. I said no to this gig a few times until it was the way I wanted to do it. The only pitch I have to movie people is the same as this one: Just give me $8 million. I'm not telling you what it's about and I'm not telling you who's in it.
SR: Seriously?
LCK: Eight million bucks. It'll take about six months to finish it. But you don't get to know anything about it.
SR: What happened with Lucky Louie? I loved that show. Why'd HBO kill it?
LCK: I'm not sure. There's never one reason. I talked to Andrew Dice Clay a little while after it was canceled and he just shrugged and said, "Sometimes they got to get rid of something. That's the way it goes." And all the pain just disappeared.
[The waiter comes.]
LCK: Can I get a cheeseburger?
WAITER: American or cheddar?
LCK: Cheddar. Medium rare, please.
SR: I'll have the Middle East Combo, but no baba ghanoush. [To Louis] So when you were 18 years old, you were already writing jokes?
LCK: I was trying to just talk. I didn't know how to do jokes. I was nervous and uncomfortable. I hated being onstage. I did a show one night and bombed — but I was honest, and I was trying, and afterward I was thinking about what had happened and I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was Steven Wright, and he said, "That was funny." Those moments were huge to me. If I see a comedian who's brand-new, I tell them, "Hey man, that's okay." I give them a little bit of encouragement.
SR: It goes a long way.
LCK: It means a lot. A few weeks ago, Chris [Rock] called and said, "You want to go to the Knicks game?" We went to Madison Square Garden, and we were right on the floor and it was — what's his name, Anthony? The new guy.
SR: Carmelo.
LCK: Carmelo's first game. We went up to that fucking suite where all these people were eating — politicians and mobsters and Chloë Sevigny. There's this spread of food, and I'm like, "Let's fucking eat." Chris goes, "Nah, let's get down to the floor." I'm like, "You're taking this shit for granted, Chris. There's roast beef and a guy with a hat serving it." I wanted it so bad. I was starving and he's like, "Who needs it?" And I'm like, "Are you kidding me? I'll probably never get here again."
So we go down, and I'm watching Carmelo, and I hear the song "Louie Louie" and I look up and I see my own face on the Jumbotron. And Chris says, "You know what, man, you've got your own show, and I'm on Broadway, and we're on the floor at Madison Square Garden. How fucking great is this?" And we high-fived and we just felt so good. Both of us, we're in our 40s — this shit could disappear instantly, never to return. And it will.
SR: You have to savor those moments.
LCK: When Lucky Louie went on the air, there was a one-month period where if I walked down these streets, a crowd would gather. Literally. It was crazy. I loved it. I'd sometimes walk up and down MacDougal Street to instigate it.
SR: Seriously?
LCK: I was going through a divorce. It was a good time to get some anonymous love. After like a month, it got to be less. And then it stopped completely. Now it's back — garbage trucks blowing their horn at me and stuff. I still love that.
SR: Do you always cut your burgers in half?
LCK: Yeah.
SR: Slop factor?
LCK: A little bit. I always tell my kids to cut a sandwich in half right when you get it, and the first thought you should have is somebody else. You only ever need half a burger.
SR: That's really wonderful.
LCK: I started thinking seriously about that kind of thing when I had kids and realized I had to figure out something to say to them. When your kid is being selfish or greedy and you want to help them not be that way, you have to find a way to articulate it and inspire them.
SR: My dad used his backhand. Do you ever think about how strange it really is that folks get a sitter and drive to your show and pay good money to sit and stare at you standing alone on the stage with a microphone in your hand?
LCK: When I get to a theater and it's empty, and there's no street traffic in the area, I'm like, Nobody's coming. I know we're sold out, but where the fuck are they going to come from? And then they start to show up. It's a surprise every time.
SR: There's an essential human interaction going on. My life is really going to be a lot better if you can make me laugh.
LCK: It's huge for people. Chris taught me something. He said, "If people see you do a great show on TV, and they come see you live and it's a whole other show, they will never let you go."
SR: You're right up there with him.
LCK: This year — I'm not sure — the goal is Madison Square Garden. I just want to do Madison Square Garden one time. I want that Boy Scout badge.
SR: So many stand-ups seem smart, but so few are men of scholarly accomplishment. Why is that?
LCK: You refine language. You've got to put things in a perfect way. You have to be economical, and yet you have to let shit string out. You have to know how to load a spring of tension and release it.
Me and Chris try to study a lot of different kinds of people, not just comedians. We both love Bill Clinton — Clinton is America's headliner. One of the greatest things I ever saw was him at Coretta Scott King's funeral. Jimmy Carter, George Bush Senior, Hillary — all these people making speeches, and then Bill Clinton goes on and he says, "Let's all remember that that is a woman lying right there." And he points at her.
It was audacious. "That is a woman who had her dreams and her pain and her passions," and I think he said "lust." He said really personal shit about her and you immediately heard the black people go, "Yes!"
He says, "There's her family — think about what they're going through today, and everything that's happened to them since their daddy got shot. The burden that must have been hers."
Holy shit. I hope to have any of that skill as a comic. He just found this short circuit. You try to have this nature the way water does — finds the lowest place and spreads the fuck out. That's what he did. [Louis checks a text on his phone.] Good. Okay.
SR: What?
LCK: Trying to find out when the show's going to premiere so I can go on The Tonight Show and all that stuff.
SR: That's the one you have to be on?
LCK: That's the highest-rated of all the late-night shows. Plus, Jay puts me on whenever I want. I really like Jay, and he's always invited me to come on. They don't have me on Letterman anymore.
SR: Why?
LCK: I don't know. I haven't been on Letterman in 15 years. I loved doing that show. Dave's my favorite. Dave's who I watch — I wrote for him. And I did the show five times or so, and I've been told that I'm not okay there anymore.
SR: There has to be a reason.
LCK: No one would tell me.


text:
Route 4: Nelson > NMIT > The Brook > NMIT > Nelson - Saturday
No Sunday service.
All local routes (routes 3-6) use a "Hail and Ride" system. That means you don't have to wait at a formal bus stop. You can wave down the bus anywhere along the route where it is safe and legal for the bus to stop. Please make yourself visible to the bus driver.
These times are approximate. Please be at the stop five minutes before the stated time.


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Dear Abby: If anyone's heard about casinos, it's our Crabby
When I was living in New York City more than 30 years ago, I wanted to buy a cabin in Sullivan County. I asked a lawyer for advice.
I was in my 20s. The cabin was a few thousand dollars; my grandpa had just died and left me that amount. My lawyer said, go for it.
"Why not?" he said. "It may not be worth much, but you're young; it's a place to go with a girl ..."
The lawyer then added:
"But they're talking about bringing casinos to the Catskills, so it might be worth something someday."
That was in the '80s. They've been talking about bringing casinos to the Catskills ever since.
Which is how long folks have been asking me about casinos coming to the Catskills. I tell them I've long given up on giving advice.
But I do know someone who knows all about anything, including casinos. You may remember her. Her name is Dear Crabby.
Dear Abby may have gone to write the great advice column for the great newspaper in the sky, but we're thankful Dear Crabby has stepped up to follow her footsteps.
Here's a sampling of her mail.
Dear Crabby:
So, do you think casinos are finally coming to the Catskills? I've been holding on to my empty building in Monticello, waiting to hit the jackpot since Eisenhower was president. I don't know if I can wait any longer.
— Growing moldy in Monticello
Dear Moldy:
Crabby may be many things, but she's not stupid. You think she'd let the world in on some inside info that could allow her to quit writing and retire in Miami? By the way, how much do you want for that building?
Dear Crabby:
C'mon. You must have some inside information about Catskills casinos. Gov. Cuomo wants them. So does state Sen. John Bonacic and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther. They must be coming, right?
— Don't tell anyone but me in Bethel
Dear Don't:
No dice. But if you want to send me your life savings so you won't bet on a casino coming ...
Dear Crabby:
What should happen to this Edward Snowden character? It seems like he did something worthwhile by exposing the government snooping on our emails and phone records. But he also might have exposed some national security secrets.
— Perplexed in Port Jervis
Dear Perplexed:
Are you kidding, asking Crabby a serious question? She didn't get a prominent position like this by answering the tough stuff. Besides, somebody from the government might be reading this — and start spying on Crabby's inside casino info.
Dear Crabby:
One last try. Between us. Are casinos finally coming to the Catskills?
— Won't tell a soul in Smallwood
Dear Won't Tell:
That's it. Crabby has given up dealing with casinos. Did you see what happened to that guy named Israel who writes for the Record? He lost his hair just thinking about them.


text:
We live in a throwaway society. A generation ago, if your starter motor, brakes or even engine be-came tired and worn out, the local mechanic would remove the offending part and fix it. And every gas station mechanic knew how to fix pretty much everything on your car.
Times change. Most mechanics today find it more economical to simply swap in a new or rebuilt part for a faulty one. The parts are readily available at local warehouse distributors, and the prices are reasonable. This practice means they can get your car back into service sooner, and the cost to the consumer is the same or even less. The remanufactured-parts business has boomed. And economies of scale mean these parts are the equal of brand-new parts, at sometimes substantially reduced cost. Everybody wins--sort of. As cars became more complicated, and the systems more complex, swapping in a new part almost always made more sense than figuring out how the old one was supposed to work, spending a couple of hours tweaking it while the repair bay was tied up and then hoping that the time-consuming repair was done correctly.
This may sound like a relatively tidy tale, but there have been some casualties. The job of the neighborhood mechanic has changed as a result of the remanufactured-parts boom. He doesn't need to be a jack-of-all-trades anymore. And he doesn't need to keep as many specialized tools in his shop. For instance, it's often necessary to use a lathe to lightly machine the commutator on a starter motor (and other motors) to restore the commutator or the slip rings to their original roundness. Seen a lathe of any sort at your local auto-repair chain lately? We'd bet not. Out-of-round wear is normal on high-mileage parts, and a rebuilt part will have had its concentricity restored as a matter of course.
More From Popular Mechanics
I've long advocated spending the money on a new part for those who repair their own cars. Parts used to be cheap enough that it didn't make sense to rebuild stuff like a brake caliper. The cost of two caliper rebuild kits and a set of pads was nearly as much as the price of a pair of calipers with pads already installed, right from the factory.
But the tide is shifting. Though professional mechanics often install new parts, you may be able to save some money--maybe lots of money--by rebuilding certain systems yourself. That goes double for offbeat, antique or performance vehicles. And it may sound odd coming from someone whose racing history has consumed and destroyed a lot of parts (as the pile of Porsche engine cases behind my shop proves), but there's some satisfaction to be had in rescuing a good part and Saving the Planet, one piston at a time. So here's the lowdown on when to fix and when to ditch that broken part.
An Alternate Reality
The 42-amp alternator that was original equipment on a 1968 Mustang (which used an external voltage regulator) can be had, completely rebuilt, for less than 50 bucks. So why would you bother to take one apart and fix it? Here are a couple of reasons.
Odds are the local NAPA store won't have this rare alternator in stock. Of course, they probably won't have brushes or diodes for it either, so in terms of time to wait, it's a wash. If you're restoring that Mustang, popping in a set of brushes and needle bearings for 20 bucks makes sense. It only takes about 10 minutes, and your handiwork will leave you with an authentic part, not some no-name knockoff that any Mustang aficionado will spot from across the parking lot.
If you've got an oddball part, say that 12-volt Bosch starter on your converted-to-12-volt Volkswagen dune buggy, availability could pose a challenge. A common 12-volt VW starter won't physically fit onto the 6-volt-spec transmission, but Bosch does make one specifically for this application. That's great, but try to find one while you're stranded on the sand at Pismo Beach. Popping in a new solenoid and a pair of brushes will ensure you'll have sand in your molars again within the hour.
The exigence isn't always just one of convenience, either. Alternators for some vehicles can be horrendously expensive. Believe it or not, a 130-amp alternator for a 2006 V8 Mustang costs a breathtaking $400, plus the hundred-buck core charge until you hand over the old one. I'd be mighty tempted to get one of these rebuilt locally or just do it myself.
Keeping Your Cool
Radiators are always the weakest point of a cooling system. Between internal corrosion and physical damage, keeping the coolant inside, where it belongs, can be a challenge. Most older cars use copper-and-brass, tube-and-fin radiators. A small hole in one of those tubes can usually be soldered up, and even a major failure, like a spigot that's broken its solder connection to the tank, can be repaired readily by a good radiator shop. Heavy buildup of internal scale can block water flow and cause overheating. This problem can be cured by using a torch to remove the tanks from the core, rodding out the tubes, cleaning everything up in a hot tank and resoldering it all back together again. But in all honesty, that's quite a bit of work. It might be better to replace the entire assembly, especially if you need the vehicle to get to work in and you can get a part the same day. Again, if you've got a rare vehicle, it's possible to redo the original radiator, even to the point of replacing the entire core assembly and reusing just the tanks and spigots. However, this operation generally costs nearly as much as a new part.
Aluminum-and-plastic radiators are great. They're far lighter than copper and exchange more heat, size for size. So they've become very common on modern cars. In theory, the end tanks can be individually replaced if they crack or if the O-ring seal fails. (I want to move to this "Theory" place--everything always works there.) I have never seen a plastic radiator tank replaced, so buy a new one. A minor leak from a tube can often be successfully patched with special adhesive.
Brake It Down
It takes more time to eat a pastrami sandwich than it does to rebuild a brake caliper once it's off the car and you've freed that invariably sticky bleeder bolt. Just clean up the internals, replace the O-rings and dust boots, and reassemble the whole deal. On the other hand, for most cars, you can buy a rebuilt caliper with new hardware and fresh pads for almost the same price. You'll need to exchange the old caliper, so if you break off the bleeder bolt trying to loosen it you'll drive up the cost by $20. Again, oddball parts for oddball cars may be hard to find--but most brake-caliper seals are generic. You might be able to pick up some seals and dust boots from the parts store instead of ordering them from a specialist.
Rebuild That Carb
Carburetors rarely wear out. But they do get gummed up, especially if a vehicle has been in storage. The faint of heart may prefer to simply buy a new or rebuilt unit. I prefer to pick up an inexpensive rebuild kit and roll my own. I've got a carb dip bucket full of solvent, but a couple of cans of aerosol carb cleaner will get the job done. The only tricky part is setting the float height, which might require a little homework and some measuring.
The Whole Shebang
Here's a tough place to be: Let's say the engine (or maybe it's the transmission) is shot--spun bearings, bent valves, whatever. The conventional triage is: Scrap the car, rebuild the original engine or install a new or rebuilt one. A cheap option is to find a used engine at a junkyard. The decision on whether to fix the car at all hinges largely on how the numbers play out. Think: Is the amount of money you would have to spend on this car roughly equal to the price of something of equal crepitude? If it is worth it to fix, I usually rebuild the engine myself. That not only saves money but provides a baldfaced excuse to port, polish, balance and generally blueprint the motor. Funny how the cost to hot rod an engine with the good stuff isn't really that much more than the parts needed for a simple rebuild.


text:
memory card
Prime-Connections: Seeing The Same Things Through Different Eyes
Recently, we had the opportunity to host our 7 year old grandson-want-to-be for an overnight adventure. The thought of buying a camera and taking him on a photo shoot popped into my head.
Aha, an inspirational moment that I could not deny!
Having been a x-ray technologist for decades, I can be heard making the claim 'once a radiographer, always a photographer'! My role has always been staging reluctant family members into just the right pose, very similar to positioning patients for the perfect medical image. Often, my husband and I will pick a place, pack our camera gear and away we go to seek that one special photo.
This day with our special 7 year old, we could not travel too far. Each of us had our camera in hand as we walked to the village and a nearby park. Along the way, we often stopped to take a photo of something that caught our attention.
When we returned home, each camera's memory card was inserted into our big screen TV. We watched each picture cycle through. We oooh'd and ahh'd at our masterpieces and also talked about how to improve those pictures that were 'not so good'. What we discovered was that often that 'thing'-perhaps it was the waterfall, the garden, or the landmark-captured each of our imaginations differently. Each of us captured the image of the same item but each photo was unique. Each of us photographed the same bridge, creek, and landmark, but with a different angle, camera and perspective. Truly, the object of interest was subject to the eye of the beholder. Similar yes, but each was exceptional and distinctive.
When we are accompanied by others doing the same job or activity, the task may be similar. However, the results may be very different as each person directs their eyes and attention to 'that thing' that commands their attention. Give pause and acknowledge that perspective gained from both life experiences and life inexperience, can change the outcome. Making prime connections with others is often easier when one is slow to judge and quick to accept a different interpretation, which is truly is in the 'eye or the heart of the beholder'.
As I think about our individual works of art though photography, it was our prime connection to each other and the ability to trust one another that allowed vulnerability to become learners, give and accept constructive criticism, offer and receive advice, and sometimes, accept the decision to discard the image all together. Our collection of photos and our memories from the day's activities will always speak to the quality of the connection we have to each other.


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Recent Posts
- Sounds and Smells and Sensations from Childhood
- NINE YEAR OLD SELF LIVES From directly overhead I watched two trains pass in the night, except that it was a bright and beautiful morning with a lovely cool breeze comfortably brushing across my face and bare arms. It was a cool morning, just right for a short sleeved hiking shirt, thin hiking pants and of course my new Merrill Moab hiking shoes. I got up early (for me) today. My windows declared it to be an exceedingly beautiful morning, and my weather App added that it was 58 degrees, perfect for walking. I felt drawn to the River Walk, not the market, but the paved path that extends two or three miles from the entrance 500 feet from my building to the east along the bank of the Missouri River. There have been endless days of storms, pouring buckets of rain into the River and sheets of rain on to land nearby which then drained into it. To put a boat in that river and climb in it would mean certain death as the speeding current and debris dragged it into the swirling water. There was little space between top of the murky river and the bottom of each bridge in view. On a high observation platform I met first Michael and then later Mark, men only a decade or so younger than I, who had come to watch the water. Michael had spent a year backpacking around the world almost forty years ago when he was 26. There is not enough room here to record that conversation since we both had many stories to tell. We both shared the joy of meeting people of all sorts in our respective travels. Mark and his wife have just moved here for the same reasons I have moved to this spot. My family and I walked this path a couple of years ago, but this time the solitude of an early walk with only the occasional jogger passing by gave me time to engage the sights and sounds more fully and, as I repeat endlessly, to become fully present with the surroundings. The nine year old in me caught the sound of a Red-winged Blackbird. I spent much of my childhood at the nearby swamp where the Blackbird's song became a sort of Siren's call to play. Soon I found the source, a swamp full of cattails and wild flowers and birds and frogs. It lay between the walkway, a grove of trees, and then the river. The air was filled with the sounds of the birds and the frogs. Next, the path led to a lower area with the river only inches from the top of the cement wall at the edge of the path. The foundational support of one of the bridges rose out of the water just about a foot from the edge of the path. When I looked up I saw many birds swirling around the top of that support. They were Cliff Swallows feeding hungry young whose demanding beaks were sticking out of the openings in many dozens of mud houses. As I settled into the sounds along the way, the deep and powerful bass of a train lumbering along on the tracks on the opposite side of the path provided the basso continuo for a symphony. The symphony included the sounds of cars and trucks on the bridges and highways nearby. Solo instruments included train whistles, birdsong and when near the swamp, croaking frogs who refused to be drowned out by the other performers in the symphony. When I was walking along I heard the barking of dogs from the Bar K Dog Bar, where dog owners can eat and drink while their dogs are playing in a secure area. Later there were some construction sounds as the supply of lofts and apartments here continues to grow. I looked up at the buildings of the downtown sitting on a hill not far away above the trees on that side of the path. I looked at the river side where trees, water and more trees across the river created the feeling of being in a lush, natural environment. This Symphony was live, no recording, not sound only. I couldn't help but think metaphorically about the experience. The balance between human produced and naturally occurring environments suggested to me that with a healthy, thoughtful and balanced approach both can exist in harmony. While this was hardly a pristine natural place, protecting those places is paramount to our long term survival as a species. When Human made and naturally occurring environments seem dissonant, it is worth the effort to collaborate and compose a symphony that will endure as pleasing music to the ears of our great-grandchildren and theirs. Now to the trains: While walking back to the city on the wood bridge over the tracks, through the trees I caught sight of a train in the distance that seemed to be coming my direction. I decided to go back to a spot on the bridge right over the tracks. The nine-year-old in me sprang to life. As I was walking to a better vantage point, I saw a train approaching very slowly from the other direction. I was a bit confused by how slow it was going until I looked the other direction and saw the structure over the tracks with three red lights over three of the tracks, one the track on which the slow train was approaching. It came to a stop. I decided I would wait to see if this played out as I expected. It did. The train I had originally spotted came around from behind the trees coming from the opposite direction. It was a very long train with huge containers stacked two high. When it passed the standing train, they appeared to be only inches apart. It took a long time to pass, and the standing train remained for a long time after it had passed. The light in its track was still red. Then the light changed to green. It took a while for the train to start moving, but when it did, there was one short but very loud sound of the train whistle. Now this may be a nine-year-old's wishful thinking, but I had been standing by myself on that foot bridge in full view of that train Engineer for a very long time. I couldn't see the driver so I do not have clear evidence that it is so, but nine-year-old Pete is convinced that he blew the whistle for me. I waved. It was such a lovely morning!
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Monthly Archives: August 2013
Journey halted!
…but only for a day. Today had a good start. I slept well last night and friend John appeared right at 6am with freshly brewed PT's coffee. We had a nice conversation about a variety of things during the hour … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized 1 Comment
Leaving in the Morning!
I pared it down to a minimum and in one 22 pound backpack is everything I will have with me for the next two months. I will be offline for that time. I will check in using the unit that … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized 2 Comments
7 Days to Go!!!
It is one thing to talk (endlessly – sorry, but it is such big deal to me) about an adventure, another to plan it and something entirely different to get on a plane, travel across an ocean, and spend two … Continue reading
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Kristen Went Home Today!
After two weeks in ICU, she went directly home. Her recuperation has been beyond remarkable and well into miraculous. She has had a lasting impact on the Staff in the ICU and on all of us who know her. After … Continue reading
Big Event Today!
Right there in the ICU room Kelly from Supercuts came over and shaved the other side of Kristen's head (one side had been shaved for the surgery). After much thought, she decided to do it. We all could see immediately … Continue reading
Off to Boston
Well, sort of. I thought I heard the little sound off in the distance during the night. American Airlines left a message on my cell phone that I discovered as I was leaving shortly after 5am for the airport. The … Continue reading
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It's the People That Count!
If you see this, it will have been approved for publication in this blog and on Facebook by the family most directly involved. When a young friend whom I value very much got a terrible headache, she went to the … Continue reading
Check your shoes!
Are the right shoe and the left shoe actually the same size? I didn't notice for over a year. Am I observant or what? The right shoe was size 9.0. That is what I thought a bought, a pair of … Continue reading
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text:
1 [A Psalm] of David. Maschil. Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.
2 Happy is the man unto whom the LORD counteth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 When I kept silence, my bones wore away through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; {N}
my sap was turned as in the droughts of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid; {N}
I said: 'I will make confession concerning my transgressions unto the LORD'-- {N}
and Thou, Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 For this let every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found; {N}
surely, when the great waters overflow, they will not reach unto him.
7 Thou art my hiding-place; Thou wilt preserve me from the adversary; {N}
with songs of deliverance Thou wilt compass me about. Selah
8 'I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will give counsel, Mine eye being upon thee.'
9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; {N}
whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, that they come not near unto thee.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked; but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy compasseth him about.
11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. {P}


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STARFLEET BIO-FILE: "Doctor"
Rank: Uncommissioned
Last recorded assignment: Chief medical officer, U.S.S. Voyager
Full File Name: Emergency Medical Hologram AK-1
Activation Date: SD 48308.2 (2371)
Reinitialized Date: SD 50252 (2373)
Origin of program: Jupiter Station Holo-Programming Center
Original Programmer: Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, Starfleet
Programming: Taken from among 3,000 cultures and 47 specific surgeons
Office: (through 2378) Adjoining Sickbay on Deck 5, U.S.S. Voyager
**Includes updates through SD 55000 (2378); updated addenda pending
***SPECIAL NOTE: Captain's Entry by Kathryn Janeway
While our "doctor" is indeed an Emergency Medical Hologram pressed into service, his ongoing evolution due to his adaptive programming compels me to open this file entry to catalog his numerous contributions to our crew.
File Update: Delta Quadrant Addendum
Report by Cmdr. Chakotay, First Officer, U.S.S. Voyager
Our ship's Doctor is a holographic figure — an emergency medical program devised by Starfleet programmers. When the ship's doctor and entire medical staff were killed in the "Caretaker's" displacement wave, the Doctor by necessity became the resident physician aboard the U.S.S. Voyager, assisted by first Paris and then Kes, a quick study in medical training.
The program's first statement upon activation is usually "Please state the nature of the medical emergency;" the automatic command was altered to allow his own creativity, but the Doctor preferred the known opening to creating his own more clever and personable lines. Initiation is automatic upon red alert status; the program is usually set for high magnetic cohesion, but it can be lessened to a mere image. For security's sake in a crisis it carries its own power grid separate from the nominal ship's Holodeck system. His wide array of programming has allowed him to keep Neelix alive with holographic lungs, save the Vidiian hematologist Danara Pel via a temporary holographic body, and even to alter DNA so as to remerge Torres' human and Klingon halves, reform Paris and Janeway from their retro-evolution as amphibians, and ensure the safety of Wildman's human-Ktarian baby at birth.
The AK-1 program indeed makes the Doctor a genius when it comes to medicine, but his bedside manner leaves something to be desired — although he has already come far since he was first the joke and then the bane of the U.S.S. Voyager crew. In fact, it's harder to tell what's evolved more: the Doctor's own self-respect, or the respect he's given by his colleagues — with thanks on both counts largely due to his surprise assistant, Kes — though he still rubs Torres the wrong way and usually can't stand Neelix. Prodded by her and the simple needs of their predicament, Janeway has seen to it that not only is the Doctor accorded more briefings and updates, but he can now turn himself off — a small matter until seen in the light of independence.
Thanks to various crises, as when Harry's Holodeck program began "devouring" the crew, the Doctor has even ventured from his familiar and all-but-mastered medical world to real-life adventures and even fear and heartbreak outside Sickbay. Also at Kes' urging he has considered a host of names but most recently has tried "Schmullus," the uncle of Vidiian hematologist Dr. Danara Pel, whom he saved and actually fell in love with, leaning on Paris and Kes for romantic advice. The experience even prompted the Doctor to open his own personal log on SD 49504.3, to learn to dance, and to borrow Paris' holo-program for "parking" in an archaic '57 Chevy ground vehicle on Mars.
Due to the memory circuit degradation of extremely close kinoplasmic radiation, an EMH malfunction occurred ca. SD 48892.1, caused by a feedback loop between the Holodeck computer and the doctor's program, which was running a holo-novel at the time to "relax" at the captain's suggestion. No one was affected but the program itself, which was being convinced that it was its human lead programmer, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, amid a holographic study simulation of a battle-damaged ship and crew.
Apart from the clinical and statistical notes on parenting, he felt unqualified to help Kes with her decision on motherhood, but she still picked him as an absent parental figure to perform the rolisisin pre-mating ritual. He in turn took her advice to make himself sick, literally, to better empathize with patients; his resulting holo-version of Levodian flu lasted a day longer than he'd intended thanks to Kes, and I think he "learned" a helpful lesson in patience.
File Update: SD 50500
Report by Capt. K. Janeway
I never would have believed it, but our "Doctor" now has more memory and, thanks to the 29th century, is confined to Sickbay no more. It is taking some getting used to, but he has only rarely been troubled by glitches in the self-powered armband mobile emitter he wears after the time-stealing technocrat Starling "donated" it to us.
Despite the scare he gave us when his memory overloaded and degraded, I see no harm in continuing to allow and encourage his exploration of humanity — as long as it does not endanger the crew's security and B'Elanna assures me we have the technical support to allow it. I admit, I was skeptical when we took the chance of initializing his memory and then used the diagnostic program to add more, but I would hope — La Boheme divas aside — that these experiences to come will have a mellowing effect on his personality subroutine, which can only aide the crew on our very long journey.
We could not get along without him, and I owe him my life more than once — such as when he used his daring mix of diplomacy and tactics to retrieve the Vidiians' antidote to the virus which quarantined Chakotay and myself on a world to be left behind. His idea to emit holographic support ships proved promising, but I must add that I especially commend his defense of the ship with Crewman Suder against the Kazon-Nistrim, and against the macrocosms, which we subdued together.
And while I opposed his choice, I will always remember and respect his citing of the Hippocratic Oath to "do no harm" when I made the difficult decision to deintegrate the entity Tuvix into its original patterns for Tuvok and Neelix.
The sum total of all these actions increasingly only leads me to examine our preconceived notions of life and learning.


text:
Oversized Makenna// Stars in Summer
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