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2013 NMRA Season Preview - Race Ready
What to expect from the NMRA Ford drag racing's cars and stars in 2013
Put away that winter gear, dig out your T-shirt with the catchy racing slogan, and prepare for the 15th NMRA Anniversary Tour! Get out to the racetrack this season and you'll behold the most magnificent array of Ford hot rods in the country, on-track and in the UPR Products All-Ford Auto Show & Shine.
Four of this season's events will cater exclusively to Blue Oval contestants, while an additional pair of venues feature the NMRA and NMCA running concurrently. At the July Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, the two programs will run their programs separately. Then the champions will clash at the end for bragging rights and Nitto Tire Diamond Tree rings.
In addition to a freshened group of heads-up and open-comp classes, there's also a new venue on the roster. Of the four pure NMRA events, one stands out as it marks the first visit to America's Racetrack—Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. So new Ford racing history will go down there this season.
In addition to the traditional classes, sideshows will include burnout contests, 300-plus-mph jet cars, and other exhibitionist fun. Specialty classes will punctuate the season with exciting highlights. Factory Cobra Jet drag cars will push the 7-second envelope, while Terminators and GT500s will battle for SVT supremacy, and our own King of the Street will end the season in high-powered style. The NMRA has a few other surprises up its sleeve, so stay tuned as the season thunders on.
As the races pass by, competitors will jockey for position in the season-long points chase. All hope to wear the sparkling Diamond Tree ring that adorns a champion's hand, but only one in each class earns that honor. Even those that miss the top have a motivation, as season survivors ranked in the Top 10 will earn a jacket at the 2013 NMRA Awards Ceremony at the Performance Racing Industry trade show this December in Indianapolis, Indiana.
To give you an idea of what they are up against and who might be there in the end, we've put together this preview.
Horse Sense: Beyond its standard classes, the NMRA will continue with specialty classes at certain venues. For example, the Bradenton season opener will feature a Ford Racing Cobra Jet class. The SVT 20th Anniversary Shootout at Maryland International Raceway will feature several SVT-centric categories, including the Terminator vs. GT500 Shootout, sponsored by VMP Superchargers.
Street Outlaw
There is something about drag-radial racing that captivates racers across the nation. With the tire as the weak link, horsepower and cash do not guarantee you a trip to the winner's circle. It's as fair a fight as you can get on the quarter-mile, but what if racers could run slicks or radials? Which combo would prevail?
In celebration of 15 years of the wildest and most unpredictable street-car-style drag racing, the NMRA will fuse the 10.5-Inch-Tire Super Street Outlaw Freak show with the outrageously popular Extreme Drag Radial classes. It will be a winner-takes-all brawl for the ages.
Combatants will choose either a 28x10.5-inch slick or 275/60-15 drag radial, while the engine and power-adder combos are virtually unlimited, and any rear suspension is permissible as long as the stock frame is retained. All boosted applications must use small-block power, while nitrous-oxide combos can choose small- or big-block combos. Turbocharged setups are limited to one 94mm unit.
With the right conditions, we may see 6s at over 200 mph in this wild new class!
It will be standing room only, 'cause no wheelie bars are allowed in Renegade. At this power level, at least one or two players usually ends up dragging the bumper cover on the way to an 8-second pass.
Historically Renegade was reserved for non-intercooled, fuel-injected, automatic-transmission rides. Last season, the NMRA allowed manual transmissions and carburetors for giggle-gas combos. In 2013, the sanction takes things one step further by allowing intercooling for the first time in 15 years. However, if racers opt to cool the boost, they must carry an additional 200 pounds of baggage in trade.
The changes in rules should bring new faces and new cars out of the shadows to hunt down the recurring champ, who has more championship rings than fingers!
2012 Class Record
E.T.: Brian Mitchell, 8.26 seconds
MPH: Brian Mitchell, 168.56 mph
2012 Winner: Brian Mitchell
2012 R/U: Alton Clements
Coyote Stock
Bracket racing and heads-up racing have been around for ages. Some have a passion to excel at what it takes to win in bracket racing, and most believe they can't afford heads-up racing. We were all in when rumblings started about creating a budget-minded heads-up class that could guarantee simple combos and even playing fields.
In the resulting class, Coyote Stock racers are required to utilize a factory-sealed Coyote crate engine and unmolested engine control module, which can be confiscated or swapped at anytime during competition to prove its as-delivered condition. Acceptable transmissions include several Tremec options or a C4 automatic. While major modifications aren't allowed, the typical bolt-ons, such as headers, K-members, control arms, and gears are permitted on any '54 and newer Ford.
Coyote Stock is the class for those with the passion for heads-up competition, but not for spending every last dime they have! As a result of the limited combos, racers will run neck and neck down the 1,320, which makes it exciting for the fans.
2012 Class Record
E.T.: Shame Stymiest, 10.55 seconds
MPH: Shane Stymiest, 124.66 mph
2012 Winner: Joe Charles
2012 R/U: Justin Burcham
Factory Stock
This entry-level class started out as a venue for beginners' running bolt-on, fuel-injected cars. It has since evolved into one of the most contested classes in the NMRA. Competitors must study the rulebook well, as the class has matured to the point that go-fast secrets are closely guarded. Onlookers have a hard time understanding how such outrageous performance levels are extracted from these seemingly simple combos. To keep things even, competitors must run BFG Comp/G-force TA or Nitto NT555R street drag radials and launch on a 0.400 Pro Tree.
2012 Class Record
E.T.: Louis Sylvester, 10.73 seconds
MPH: Louis Sylvester, 125.33 mph
2012 Winner: Carlos Sobrino
2012 R/U: Louis Sylvester
Modular Muscle
Center-stage for showcasing the performance potential of the Ford overhead camshaft modular engines is Modular Muscle. Competitors in this class can transplant a modular engine in any Ford body with any transmission and race on a Pro Tree. This class offers handicap-style index-style racing, so racers must qualify in an e.t. index with a 0.10 breakout allowance on raceday. A combination of bracket and index racing means weather and track conditions can play havoc on competitors.
The quickest qualifying e.t. permitted in Modular Muscle is an 8.60, while the slowest is a 15.70. Keeping the competition among humans, no electronics are allowed, and all racing leaves on a 0.500 Pro Tree!
2012 Winner: Donnie Bowles
2012 R/U: Randy Mounce
Open Comp
All Ford-bodied and -powered cars can compete in this all-run, 0.500 Pro Tree qualifying racing known as an Open Comp format. It offers handicapped index-style racing, so racers must qualify on an e.t. index with a 0.10 breakout allowance on raceday. The quickest qualifying e.t. permitted in this class is 8.60, and the slowest qualifying e.t. permitted is a 15.70. Any pass quicker than 8.599 or slower than 15.701 will be disqualified, and no electronics are allowed.
2012 Winner: Rodney Ward
2012 R/U: Randy Conway
Truck & Lightning
Ford-bodied and -powered trucks and Lightnings battle for supremacy in this Pro-tree, handicap index-style class. Racers must qualify for your e.t. with a 0.10 breakout allowance on race day, making it a combination of bracket and index racing where weather and track conditions can play havoc on competitors. Any pass quicker than 8.599 or slower than 15.701 will be disqualified, and no electronics are allowed.
2012 Winner: Johnny Lightning
2012 R/U: Jim Roberts
Super 'Stang
The Super 'Stang class highlights the capabilities of all '05-and-newer Mustangs with 4.6, 5.0, or 5.4 and V-6 engines in 0.500 Pro Tree dial-in–style racing. Power-adder Steeds must weigh 3,400 pounds, while naturally aspirated cars have to clock in at 3,200 pounds. All participants must run quicker than 14.50s and launch on a foot brake only! Sit back and be amazed at the level of human and machine competition, as no transbrakes, two-steps, or electronics are allowed!
2012 Winner: Chad Wendel
2012 R/U: Allan Miller
2013 Schedule
March 7-10
Spring Break Shootout
Bradenton Motorsports Park,
Bradenton, FL
April 11-14
All-Star Nationals
Atlanta Dragway, Atlanta, GA
May 3-5
SVT 20th Anniversary Shootout
Maryland International,
Mechanicsville, MD
June 14-16, 2013
Summit Raceway Park
Norwalk, OH
July 11-14
Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing
Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, IL
October 3-6
All-Ford World Finals
Beech Bend Raceway,
Bowling Green, KY
Special Nostalgia Drag Racing Event:
August 30-Sept. 1
35th Annual Ford Expo
Summit Motorsports Park,
Norwalk, OH
SVT 20th Anniversary Shootout
SVT was born to build high-performance Ford vehicles and the NMRA Keystone Automotive Ford Nationals will be celebrating SVT's 20th anniversary by hosting a special SVT Shootout at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland, the weekend of May 3-5, 2013. It's only fitting that the number one all-Ford Motorsport show in the U.S. plays host to this speed-infused celebration. SVT Shootout participants will join NMRA's community of racers and car show enthusiasts for one of the largest and baddest all-Ford events of the year. And as a bonus, certain SVT racing classes include a free secondary race class entry!
VMP Superchargers has stepped up once again to sponsor the Terminator/GT500 Shootout class that brings together some of the quickest Cobras and GT500s in the U.S. for a winner-take-all format at this special SVT event. Mingle with the hottest tuners and car builders for dragstrip fun and a Shootout to decide which model is better—Terminator or Shelby GT500. Watch the Internet forums come alive for a real-world slugfest. Each Terminator/GT500 Shootout participant will also receive a free entry into Saturday's SVT Muscle True Street class (must fit True Street rules) for even more chances to win.
The SVT Lightning truck community is one of the most exciting SVT brands as evident by the sheer number of trucks still being modified and turned into dragstrip haulers. If you are a Lightning enthusiast then you won't want to miss this event. The biggest Lightning shops, including Johnny Lightning Performance, will be hitting the strip with 8-second performances. Lightning racers are invited to join the popular Truck & Lightning category or the SVT Lightning True Street segment to do battle exclusively against other Lightnings for cash and prizes. Racers in SVT Lightning True Street will receive a free entry into Sunday's SVT Index Rumble class.
Tremec True Street is always one of the largest classes run on Saturday at each NMRA event. There will be a separate SVT Muscle True Street class ('93-'13 SVT cars only) and a SVT Lightning True Street class ('93-'95 and '99-'04 Lightning trucks only), each with its own cash and prizes—exclusively for SVT racers! SVT Muscle and Lightning True Street racers will make three consecutive passes down the quarter-mile, and $250 and a 6-foot trophy will be awarded to the overall fastest car and truck; $100 and a plaque will be awarded to each car and truck racer with the closest average to 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 seconds! SVT Muscle and Lightning True Street racers will receive a free entry into Sunday's SVT Index Rumble class.
If showing your car or truck is more your style then look no further than the UPR Products All-Ford Auto Show with over 100 awards given away at this event. Show off your ride for a chance to get featured in 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords, or NMRA's own Race Pages magazine. There will be special SVT-only auto show classes and awards, so come out with your ride for a chance to bring some home!
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New Thought
New Thought, popular philosophical movement with religious implications; it affirms
the creative power of constructive thinking.A successor of New England transcendentalism, New Thought grew out of the healing practices of P. P. Quimby and the
mental scienceof W. F. Evans, a Swedenborgian minister. From its initial emphasis on the healing of disease it developed into an intensely individualistic and optimistic philosophy of life and conduct. The name was adopted in the 1890s to indicate this broader interest. Annual national conventions were held from 1894, and in 1914 the International New Thought Alliance was formed, with branches in England, Australia, and elsewhere. Composed of many smaller groups, such as Divine Science, Unity (until 1922), and Home of Truth, the alliance is held together by one central teaching, namely, that people through the constructive use of their minds can attain freedom, power, health, prosperity, and all good, molding their bodies as well as the circumstances of their lives. The doctrine was widely popularized by such writers as O. S. Marden and Ralph Waldo Trine, especially in the latter's In Tune with the Infinite (1897). Beyond this unifying principle of the constructive power of the mind and the prevailing optimism of the movement, there are a great variety of diverse and often mutually contradictory ideas in New Thought. Individual New Thought leaders have employed concepts from every variety of idealistic, spiritualistic, pantheistic, kabbalistic, and theosophical thought, as well as from Christianity. There are also frequent overtones of the mystical and occult in New Thought literature.
See H. W. Dresser, A History of the New Thought Movement (1919); C. S. Braden, Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought (1963); M. A. Larson, New Thought or a Modern Religious Approach (1985).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Protestant Denominations

subset: commoncrawl


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Myers-Briggs personality assessments are sprouting up everywhere on Facebook this week. For those who don't know what this is, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used personality profile in the United States, a favorite tool of career planners, team-builders, and guidance counselors.
Brain child of Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers, the MBTI divides the human psyche in four separate areas, each one of which has two different tendencies or dichotomies:
Extraverion (E)/Introversion (I)
Intuition (N)/Sensation (S)
Thinking (T) /Feeling (F)
Judging (J) /Perceiving (P)
There is nothing obvious about these psychic divisions. In truth, the categories of the MBTI were long in the making. In the early 1920s, Briggs was experimenting with a number of different categories for explaining the diversity of human behavior. More specifically, she was interested in explaining the strange, unBriggs-like behavior of her new son-in-law.
Then Myers read Carl Jung's Psychological Types in 1923 and psychometric light bulbs started to go off in her head. Jung's system seemed perfectly suited for creating a system of personality profiles. This is probably because Jung had his own strange in-law to explain, former mentor and father-figure Sigmund Freud.
Freud, Jung observed, gained energy by focusing on the outside world, a process that Jung called extraversion. Jung, however, was different. He found succor looking inward. (As a boy Jung spent his days writing secret messages to a mannequin carved on the end of his ruler). These were not neuroses, he thought, as much as they were different expressions of personality (though Jung does make one wonder).
Indeed, Jung felt that the spectrum of introversion and extraversion expressed a key dichotomy in western thought, one that dated back to the different approaches of Plato, who usually sought truth inwardly through the world of ideas, and Aristotle, who looked for reality in the phenomena of the world around him.
All of this is to say that the roots of the MBTI go deep. By the 1940s, Myers had expanded on Jung's types and established a test that could be used for commercial application. Since then the MBTI has rocketed into mainstream culture, used to profile everyone from religious seminarians to astronauts.
Next Post: MBTI and the Explorer Type


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I had a recent scare when my computer threatened to die in the midst of a deadline-driven project. I needed a new computer—one that wasn't on the brink of death—and I needed it immediately. As in, before my old machine gave up the ghost with catastrophic timing.
Normally, I would take my time choosing a new computer: research which version of Windows I wanted, how fast the computer I wanted, test out keyboards, etc., and then I'd probably buy from online because that's usually where you can find the best deals. In this case, however, I needed to buy a new computer from some place where I could carry it out of the store and have it up and running in a matter of hours, which meant my options were pretty limited. Since it turned out that my computer shopping expedition coincided almost exactly with the Windows 8 release date, I came home with a computer with a touchscreen and Windows' wacky new operating system.
I'm not big on change, so I probably would not have gone this route except for the time crunch. Now, having used Windows 8 for a few weeks, it's starting to grow on me.
The Good
- I love the touchscreen. I worried that it would take some getting used to, and decrease my productivity in the meantime; instead, I got used to it so quickly that when I use a computer that doesn't have a touchscreen now, I find myself trying to scroll up and down, click, and move windows around on the screen with my finger. The touchscreen definitely speeds up portions of my writing process because it is slightly faster to navigate between through documents using the touchscreen then it is using keystrokes or a mouse.
- The touchscreen has a second unanticipated benefit. As someone who spends way too much time either on the computer were writing longhand, I have a perpetually inflamed tendon in my right wrist. I've worked with the physical therapist, know the right stretches to do, and so on, but I found that the single best thing I can do for my hand is to change up the way I use it. That is, I tried to avoid repetitive motions by switching between the keyboard, voice dictation, different types of mice, and a Wacom bamboo tablet when working on my computer. The touchscreen gives me one more option, one that I find easy to use with my left hand as well as my right and one that is significantly easier on my hand then using a mouse.
- The Windows 8 interface has a significant cool factor. I'm not convinced that finding programs is easier using Windows 8, but it's not more difficult either. Little by little, I've been rearranging the "tiles" to make the programs I use most often more accessible. And I kind of like some of the bells and whistles, like the fact that the tile for pictures scrolls through my recent photos.
- A surprise bonus—apparently, the camera on this new computer (the acer Aspire V5, for those who are interested) is far superior to that on my old machine. Since I do quite a bit of video calling, it was cool to learn that my picture is much clearer!
The Bad
- Although Windows 8 provides a sleek, simple interface for accessing programs, at times it's almost too simple. For instance, the built in application for looking at photos is great for looking at photos — but that's it. In their attempt to simplify, it seems that many of the built in applications have lost functionality.
- Third party applications that are compatible with Windows 8 seemed to have the same problem. For instance, there's a very slick Windows 8 version of Skype. It fills the entire screen, it's pretty, and it performs basic Skype functions like sending and receiving calls. However, if you want to use Skype's more advanced features such as the ability to transfer files, you need to reinstall an earlier version of Skype on the "desktop" which, as far as I can tell, is Microsoft's nod at the fact that almost no programs are actually ready to run on their new operating system.
- Certain web browsers also seem to have issues with Windows 8. I'm certainly no expert in this arena, but apparently "plug–ins" such as QuickTime and Google voice/video fail to function when running the browser in Windows 8 mode. This seems to be the result of Microsoft's push toward "plug–in free browsing". My interpretation is that Microsoft doesn't work and play well with others, which is created a number of conflicts with other programs I find especially useful. Bummer. On the flipside, I've been able to work around most of these problems by running programs in the desktop mode.
The Conclusion
Overall, I'm darned happy with my new Windows 8 machine. I think it will take a while for third-party programs to catch up with the new operating system. In fact, I think it's taking Microsoft a while to catch up with its new operating system, based on some of the glitches I've found in their programs as well as those written by other software developers.
Note: I also think the Windows 8 interface would be much less user-friendly without the touchscreen, so if you're thinking of giving it a try, make sure to test drive the touchscreen version.
But I'm warning you—you might never readjust to the normal, non-touch variety!
Anyone else have experience with Windows 8 and/or a touchscreen computer? What do you like or not like?


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We really liked The Adventures of Tintin, but we've heard lots of people saying it's not Steven Spielberg's best movie. And this started us wondering: What was Spielberg's last truly great genre film? Was it Tintin? Minority Report? God forbid, was it Indiana Jones 4? Now's your chance to vote!
Note: There's no snarkiness here. We're genuinely curious. What was the last Spielberg genre film that you really thought was a great movie?


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By Caitlin Kelly
Today, thousands of Americans rush out to start their holiday shopping. It's called Black Friday because it's the beginning of the season that pushes retailers into the black — i.e. profitability.
While shoppers clamor for more product, more discounts and even more hours in which to spend their money, please pause to remember the hard-working people who serve them, since 70 percent of the American economy is created by consumer spending.
Retail workers also deserve more:
— More money (most earn minimum wage)
— More respect (until you've served them, it's hard to believe how rude and nasty some shoppers can be)
— More hours (store managers scrimp on paid hours because every other cost is already spent)
— More opportunities for raises, bonuses and promotions into a decent wage. (No worker adding profits to the bottom line should be so fiscally punished)
Here's my op-ed in today's New York Daily News, America's sixth-largest newspaper and the last newsroom in which I worked as a reporter.
An excerpt:
In a time of growing income inequality, no one should assume that retail staff are uneducated or have no higher ambition than folding T-shirts for hours. RAP also found that more than 50% of them either have a college degree or are working toward one.
Some, like our store manager Joe, who fought with U.S. Special Forces in Mogadishu, have served their country overseas. And some enjoy retail work and consider it a meaningful career choice.
For others, it's a stopgap, a place to earn a wage while awaiting a better-paid opportunity. One multi-lingual young lawyer I know recently made the move from folding T-shirts at the Gap to working at a major investment house, the fortunate culmination of a lengthy and frustrating job search.
These workers deserve and demand more respect and better economic treatment.
As some of you may know, a frenzied crowd of shoppers trampled a 34-year-old Walmart associate. Jdimytai Damour — in his first week on the job on Long Island, NY — to death in 2008.
Walmart has yet to pay the $7,000 fine levied by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration:
Sitting on appeal with a review commission, the case of Jdimytai Damour's death highlights how corporations can choose to fend off modest penalties over workplace dangers for years on end, according to occupational health experts.
For a company with sales of $466 billion last fiscal year, the $7,000 fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration represents little more than a single store's rounding error. Walmart would have vastly outspent that sum simply in legal fees devoted to fighting the penalty. But the world's largest retailer is less concerned with the monetary fine than with the broader implications of the case. A negative ruling could compel Walmart and other retail companies like it to take additional safety precautions for workers or face new liabilities.
"It's not about the penalty," said Celeste Monforton, a former OSHA analyst who's now a lecturer at George Washington University. "It's this interest in seeing how far Walmart can push back against the decision."
I'm aware that for some people — including readers here — Walmart offers low prices and may be the only shopping choice in their area. I will never ever shop there.
I worked part-time, from 2007 to 2009, at an upscale mall near my home in suburban New York selling for The North Face, costly outdoor clothing manufactured — as most apparel now is — in low-wage nations across the globe, from Peru to China. I earned $11/hour, with no commission, for a job that demanded devoted attention to 14 simultaneous tasks, from spotting shoplifters (no store security staff) to scrubbing the toilets. We were given daily sales goals. The lowest was $400, the highest — during the holidays — $6,000.
It was the hardest job I've ever done. I'm glad I did it. I've never seen the world the same way since then.
It showed me a sort of corporate brutality I could never (naively) have imagined had I not stepped behind the cash wrap. Shoppers assumed we were stupid, uneducated, unable to get or keep any other sort of work, when many of us had lost much better-paid jobs in the recession. Or we were going to college, and/or supporting a family.
My second book, "Malled" My Unintentional Career in Retail" details my experience, as well as that of hundreds of others nationwide.
Yet the word most industry experts use to describe these workers?
Retail work is the largest source of new jobs in the U.S., yet most of them — part-time, with very few hours and no benefits — pay such low wages that workers end up using food stamps to supplement their meager incomes. Enough already with corporate welfare!


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For whoever's doing the TV Tropes thing, please change the links;;; Sorry for the inconvenience. But I don't think I'll be changing sites again. As far as I know, this place won't ever have that weird installation problem because wordpress itself is my host now. The only downside is less customization options, but meh. I can live with it. I've kinda gotten really attached to wordpress.
I painstakingly went back and fixed any mistakes I found, including changing the town names and some of the character's names. SHIT TOOK SO LONG. I'll explain why I left some things unchanged later. I plan to make a character sheet or something when I have the time.
I feel like I had more to say, but I can't remember at the moment…
Oh! Here's something a pretty cool guy did in response to the "N" version of "Kiss Me" ~
I made a mp3 of the song in case anyone wants it. It comes with lyrics and the pic of N singing is the album art.
Anyone can download it.


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BEAST?!?!3ICE wrote:Right. I'm going to need a better example to fully prove my point then.
Although you must admit that the JASS version lets you stay at a higher FPS rate.
Crashing your Warcraft will be much more persuading than making it lag a little.
EDIT: wtf... 1GB ram and 1.6GHz CPU are more than enough for playing memory leaking warcraft maps for hours. Don't expect any lag with that beast! I made the map with max 256MB ram in mind. You have four times more than that.
This is probably the worst laptop ever for playing games.
Did I tell you that it can't even play "Rakion" without having spazzed up terrain pictures flying across the screen because of how bad it is?
Whatever computer you are using must be ancient o.o


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When I first brought up the issue of humans manually comment spamming, a lot of people were skeptical, but those in the know were very worried. According to Abhijit Nadgouda of ifacethoughts and The Guardian, comment spammers are now hiring cheap labor to break through captchas and registrations to spread comment spam all over your blogs.
Though a single spammer cannot be as fast as a machine, thousands of them together than spell a lot of trouble. Captchas force you to identify certain characters and enter them, which machines cannot follow. This works fine assuming that humans, for whom captchas are built, do not spam. The outsourcing trend will overcome this.
I've been telling you for a couple years now that captchas and comment registration don't work. Simple captchas can be easily bypassed by comment spamming bots that crawl the web on their bellies, looking for bloggers with a false sense of security.
Either way, with comment spamming becoming the next telemarketers of the cheap labor force, and taking advantage or "third world" and low income areas, I fear comment spamming has reached a new phase.
When I encountered by first batch of human comment spammers, using phrases from my article and even my name, I was really nervous. How do you fight against such evil?
Nadgouda recommends search engines penalize comment spamming websites with a blacklist, but this is not as easy as it appears. Akismet is the only comment spam fighting tool working overtime to fight off comment spam successfully, though Spam Karma and Bad Behavior WordPress Plugins have long been at the top of the pack. In combination, little gets through. Still…
As I recently proclaimed, I'm winning the battle against comment spam, but when it comes to human generated comment spam, that's going to be a tougher battle to fight and win. Humans can come up with a wide variety of phrases and random things to say that appear to continue the conversation.
In a recent article on my family history blog about Bringing the Past Alive in Historical Gardens, the comment spammer wrote how historical gardens in the far east rarely used plants but often used other natural elements in their gardens, a clear reference to the many gardens mentioned in the article which represent a time and place in history. The link to the spammer's feed riping "information site" was wrapped around the period at the end of the sentence. I wouldn't have even noticed it but for the fact that they used microsoft.com as their URL and I won't allow such idiocy. By editing the comment to change that, I discovered the hidden link around the period. Buggers!
Luckily, WordPress uses "nofollow" tags in all comments by default, so the link didn't get the comment spammer much, except for search engines who visit my site and don't recognize the nofollow tag. I killed the comment anyway.
How do you fight against that kind of comment spam? You tell me.
Either way, you are warned.
Related Articles
- Would You Do Business With a Comment Spammer?
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- I'm Winning the Battle Against Comment Spam
- Comments on Comments
- What is Comment Spam
- How NOT to Comment on Comments
- Do You Care Enough To Keep Your Blog Comment Spam Free?
- The Bitacle Battle of Blogs
- One Year Anniversary Review: Comments on Comment Spam
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- WordPress.com Users Hit by Direct Attack – Stopped In Their Tracks
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Site Search Tags: comment spam, comment spammers, comments, blog comments, blog comment spam, what is comment spam, stopping comment spam, battling comment spam, bad behavior, akismet, spam karma, stop comment spam, human comment spam, human generated comment spam, captchas, captchas don't work
Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network


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Financial Services - Home
The Financial Services team is made up of the administration and management of the service as well as its four main sectors: accounting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and collection. Our mission is to ensure overall planning and sound management of the financial resources of the University.
Our offices are located on the first floor of Guigues Hall.
Student Accounts
The core mission of the Accounts Receivable section of Financial Services is the collection of university fees and the management of student accounts.
Students who would like to meet in person with a staff member of Financial Services can do so by going to Room 172, Guigues Hall. Our specialists are available by phone at 613-236-1393 ext. 2295 or 2512 and by e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. For more information, please consult the University Fees section.
Hours of Operation
Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.


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U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame formally inducts six new members
PARK CITY, UT – Six athletes and sport builders were formally inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Saturday for their contributions to the sport. Honorees included big mountain skier Scot Schmidt, freestyle pioneer and world champion John Clendenin, 2006 Olympic moguls bronze medalist Toby Dawson, freestyle aerials champion Kris Feddersen, globally acclaimed ski film producer Joe Jay Jalbert and ski show pioneer Jerry Simon.
The group will be enshrined in the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Ishpeming the weekend of September 19th. The six new entrees into the hallowed hall will bring the total number of honored members to 394.
The inductees were voted in by a National Voting Panel of over 200 members, representing all areas of the sport. Nominations for 2014 Class are now being accepted through April 30th. Anyone can make a nomination. Details on how to do so are available at www.skihall.com.
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization. Donations of support for its cause in honoring pioneers of the sports of skiing and snowboarding are welcome at www.skihall.com.
John Clendenin, Bloomington, IL (Aspen, CO)
Aspen native John Clendenin was one of the early pioneers of freestyle skiing, bursting onto the freestyle exhibition scene in the late '60s. One of the sport's early stars, he founded the International Freestyle Skiers Association in 1973 and won World Championship titles in 1973 and 1974. His legendary Clendenin Ski Method and book "Four Words for Great Skiing" were influential in introducing thousands to the sport. Clendinin also appeared in a host of ski films from noted producers Dick Barrymore, Joe Jay Jalbert and Greg Stump.
Toby Dawson, Seoul, South Korea (Vail, CO)
Lost as a boy in a Korean market, Toby Dawson was orphaned and raised by parents in Vail where he discovered moguls skiing. He made the U.S. Ski Team at age 19, winning his first World Cup in 2001. He reached the pinnacle of his career taking the World Championship in 2005 and Olympic bronze a year later. Today he continues as a recognized global leader in the sport, introducing his birth nation to moguls skiing and serving a key role with the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.
Kris "Fuzz" Feddersen, Park City, UT (Steamboat Springs, CO)
Kris "Fuzz" Feddersen has had a lifetime of impact on freestyle skiing, as an athlete, coach and business leader. In 14 years as an aerialist on the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, Kris Feddersen amassed 23 podiums and a pair of top five Olympic demonstration event finishes. As a coach, he played a key role in the gold medal sweep of U.S. aerialists at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. As a co-founder of Flying Ace Productions, he has brought the excitement of action sports to tens of thousands worldwide.
Joe Jay Jalbert, Huntington, NY (Mullan, ID)
An accomplished ski racer, Joe Jay Jalbert's film career began as a production assistant and ski double for Robert Redford in the 1969 classic film "Downhill Racer." From official films to industry product launches to television specials, the Emmy award-winning producer has over 800 productions to his credit including four official Olympic and 14 FIS World Championship films. His innovative production techniques combined with enterprising distribution methodology has made him one of the most sought-after ski film producers for more than four decades.
Scot Schmidt, Soquel, CA (Montana City, MT)
One of the most recognized and filmed skiers in the world, Montana native Scot Schmidt pioneered a style and remarkable ability that inspired generations of adrenaline-sport athletes. Labeled by Powder Magazine as "the original freeskier," Schmidt's impact in the 1980s literally set the stage for dramatic changes in the sport, playing a pivotal role in shaping the ski industry today. His skiing has been showcased in over 40 films and he has pioneered product testing in his over 30-year partnership with The North Face.
Jerry Simon, New York City (deceased)
From the start of his ski industry career in 1964 working with Harry Leonard's ski shows, Jerry Simon's impact touched every corner of the sport. Through his work with wife Barbara Alley on ski fashion shows, pioneering the Skiing Mechanics and Managers Workshop, and producing the SkiGroup resort marketing shows nationwide, Simon helped educate industry leaders and grassroots employees as well as create marketing partnerships. One of his crowning accomplishments was the creation of the International Ski Film Festival – skiing's version of the Oscars. He passed away in 2010. Since then, the Jerry Award, named in his honor, has been presented annually by the Ski and Snowboard Film Institute (part of the Hall of Fame) to producers of the best films in the industry at the Ishpeming International Ski Film Festival during Skiing History Week.


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First came the drama over the government shutdown. Then the showdown over the debt ceiling. Now another round of negotiations on the budget deficit.
Pardon me for asking, but when exactly will Washington begin to deal with the crisis of jobs, wages and widening inequality?
Job growth is slowing perilously. The Labor Department reported today that only 148,000 jobs were created in September — way down from the average of 207,000 new jobs a month in the first quarter of the year.
Many Americans have stopped looking for work. The official unemployment rate of 7.2 percent reflects only those who are still looking. If the same percentage of Americans were working today as when Barack Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be 10.8 percent.
And inequality keeps widening. Ninety-five percent of the economic gains since the recovery began in 2009 have gone to the top 1 percent. The real median household income continues to drop, and the number of Americans in poverty continues to rise.
So what's Washington doing? Less than nothing.
Hovering over the upcoming budget negotiations is the so-called "sequester" — automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that were passed in 2011 as a result of Congress' last failure to agree on a budget.
These automatic cuts get tighter and tighter, year by year — squeezing almost everything the federal government does except for Social Security and Medicare. (The recent deal to keep the government open until mid-January stops the squeeze temporarily.)
While about half the cuts come out of the defense budget, much of the rest come out of programs designed to help Americans in need: extended unemployment benefits; supplemental nutrition for women, infants and children; educational funding schools in poor communities; Head Start; special education for students with learning disabilities; child-care subsidies for working families; heating assistance for poor families.
The list goes on.
So if there's no budget agreement by mid-January, we're back to major cuts in America's already-tattered safety net.
On the other hand, if there is a budget agreement, what will it look like?
Republicans oppose anything resembling a tax increase on the wealthy. They aren't even willing to close tax loopholes like the "carried interest" rule that allows hedge-fund and private-equity managers to treat their incomes as capital gains. They don't even want to limit deductions such as the one that allows wealthy homeowners to deduct hundreds of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest from their taxable incomes.
Democrats want more spending on education and infrastructure and may want to restore some of the cuts in programs directed at poor and working Americans. But where will the Democrats find the money if Republicans continue to refuse tax hikes on the wealthy? The likely answer is Social Security and Medicare.
The president has already put on the table a proposal to reduce future Social Security payments by altering the way cost-of-living adjustments are made — using the so-called "chained" consumer price index, which assumes that when prices rise, people economize by switching to cheaper alternatives.
But this makes no sense for seniors, who already spend a disproportionate share of their income on health care — the price of which has been rising faster than inflation. Besides, Social Security isn't responsible for our budget deficits. Quite the opposite: For years its surpluses have been used to fund everything else the government does.
The president has also suggested trimming Medicare. But Medicare isn't responsible for the large budget deficits projected a decade or more from now. They're due to the rising costs of health care. And the best way to control them, short of a single-payer system, is to use Medicare's bargaining power to pay providers for healthy outcomes rather than for ever more tests and procedures.
But the deficit isn't even the nation's central economic problem. Our real problem continues to be a dearth of good jobs, and widening inequality.
Cutting the budget deficit anytime soon will make both worse — by reducing total demand for goods and services, and by eliminating programs that lower and middle-income Americans depend on.
It's all about jobs, wages and widening inequality. Everything else — the government shutdown, the fight over the debt ceiling and the continuing negotiations over the budget deficit — is a dangerous distraction.
Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of "Beyond Outrage," now available in paperback. His new film, "Inequality for All," was released last month. He blogs at http://www.robertreich.org.


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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Saying Goodbye to Students
My plan is to give out awards, have students place them in their book bags, clean out desks, and take up textbooks. I'll have the students help me clean out files, inventory and reorganize my classroom library, dust, sweep, and step-and-fetch. We clean in my classroom at least once every nine weeks and the little darlins' love it. I wonder if they are this helpful at home? Never mind, I'm a mom. I know the answer.
One of the things I give out to all of my students is my final farewell letter to them. I've taught siblings of my students and invariably someone will say, "Oh, my sister still has her letter." One young man told me last year that his mom keeps my letter in his older brother's file with all of his awards.
The first year I taught I tried to hand the letter out and then read it aloud. I ended up crying, they ended up crying, and I don't have to tell you how young people can become very dramatic. So I usually fold the letter in half and write their name on the paper. I hand them out and instruct everyone not to open their letter until everyone has theirs. Once everyone opens their letter together and begins to read I try to busy myself in a hurry. I put things away, I straighten papers, or I simply walk back and forth acting like I'm doing something. Invariably I catch a few girls and even boys wipe a tear away. Some of my strong, young men will put their heads down and wipe their eyes out of view. Luckily no one tries to hug me or I think I would just die.
As of tomorrow 380 students have received my letter. Here is what it says:
Dear Students:
At the end of my first year teaching I wanted to bring the year to a close by writing a note to my students. This letter has become a tradition---every student who has passed through my classroom has received this letter as my farewell. It is amazing to me that 380 students have received this letter so far. Please take the advice I give you to heart, and never forget that I care about your success.
The following is a poem written by Shel Silverstein---I thought it was appropriate for this point in your lives. Mr. Silverstein wrote:
All the woulda-coulda-shouldas
Layin' in the Sun,
Talkin' 'bout the things-
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done…
But those woulda-coulda-shouldas
All ran away and hid
From one little did.
During your last year of elementary school followed by middle school and high school concentrate on doing things that will have a positive effect on your lives. Choose your friends wisely, listen to your parents and teachers, and do the very best you possibly can in everything you attempt.
On your final day of high school don't look back on the things you would have done, could have done, or should have done. My hope is that you will look back on a fine, long list of accomplishments that happened because you aimed high, took chances, lived up to your potential, and most importantly you did something.
I will always consider myself to be your teacher. I hope you will stay in touch through the coming years to let me share in your success.
With fond memories of each of you, I remain,
Ah, another year almost over.........
6 comments:
- Amerloc said...
/wipes away tear
A year ago next week I did something similar for (as far as I know and until-the-annuity-runs-out) the last time. And last weekend, three former students on a dash-across-the-country trip stopped by to visit. It gets no better, and no less tearful.
This gonna be kind of a hard week-or-two. Still reaping the rewards, I guess.
- Dan Edwards said...
Very nice and thoughtful. Your students are lucky to have a teacher like you!
- EHT said...
Thanks to both of you. I was astounded that none of my letters were left behind this year. They all made it out the door.
Thank you for posting this story. I am just finishing my student teaching and I have been searching for an appropriate activity for my third graders. I was leaning towards sharing and writing some poetry. I like the Silverstein poem. I hope you don't mind me following your example by using it in my activity.
- EHT said...
Of course not, Steve. That's why I posted it in the first place. I hope it works for you, and good luck in your teaching career.
Hope you don't mind, I may try to start something like this and I really like the poem.


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This article is more than 1 year old
US woman orders $150k cloned pitbull terrier
'Particularly attached' to dead original
Korean cloning outfit RNL Bio has taken its first order for a cloned dog - a copy of a deceased pitbull terrier called Booger whose Californian owner was so attached to her mutt she's willing to stump $150,000 for the privilege.
The canine doppelganger will be produced by a team from Seoul National University using tissue taken from Booger's ear before his demise 18 months ago, and subsequently stored by a US biotech company. The scientists are headed by Professor Lee Byeong-chun, who previously worked under the disgraced Hwang Woo-suk.
Although Hwang was turfed out on his ear for falsifying data on human cell cloning, among other offences, the team did manage to produce the world's first cloned dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy, back in 2005.
The team uses the somatic nuclear cell transfer method to brew up its clones, which are delivered by surrogate mothers. Although the technique has a high failure rate, the company's marketing director, Cho Seong-ryul, reckons "out of every four surrogate mother dogs produces puppies".
He added that the cost of a cloned four-legged-friend "may come down to less than $50,000 as cloning is becoming an industry".
And in case you're wondering what would possess someone to stump $150k for a copy of her pet, Booger's owner Bernann McKunney is rather splendidly described as having been "particularly attached to the dog, after it saved her life when another dog attacked her and bit off her arm". ®


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Jonathan Andelson
Jonathan Andelson was born in Chicago, attended college at Grinnell, and earned his doctorate in anthropology at the University of Michigan in 1974. His main interests are intentional communities, religion, agriculture, and human-environment interactions. His principal field research, on the Amana Colonies of Iowa, has resulted in numerous publications, and he has nearly completed a book-length study of Amana culture and history. He is past president of the Communal Studies Association and former book review editor of the journal Communal Societies. His most recent publication, "A Conversation with Paolo Lugari, Founder of Las Gaviotas, Colombia," appeared in the fall 2014 issue of that journal. An essay on the symbolism of Amana cemeteries will appear in the journal, Plains Anthropologist.
In 1999 Jon co-founded the college's interdisciplinary Center for Prairie Studies and has served as its director since 2000. The Prairie Studies position has led to more contacts with faculty across the college and with a variety of community groups in and around Grinnell. In 2000, Jon co-founded the Grinnell Area Local Foods Alliance (GALFA), an organization that promotes the use of locally produced food by individuals and institutions in Grinnell. Recently, Jon has tried his hand at writing for general audiences. Place Studies meets Prairie Studies meets Anthropology in essays, "Changing Heroes" (which first appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of The Land Report, published by The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, and reprinted here with permission) and Crosby's Footprint (originally published in Number 16 of the Wapsipinicon Almanac, 2010, reprinted here with permission), which profiles the walking habit and carbon footprint of a Grinnell resident. An essay, "The Evanescent Iowa Prairie: When, How, Why, and What Next," will appear in the Center's publication series at the beginning of 2016.
Jon and his wife, Karin Stein, have three daughters, two of whom graduated from Grinnell, the third a senior at Macalester College. They live at Rock Creek Lake.
Education and Degrees
B.A. from Grinnell College Doctorate in anthropology at the University of Michigan
In the News
All Things Grinnell Podcast - Season 1 Episode 6


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Not every home has a guest room, but the people who live in houses without them may still have overnight visitors now and then. Trying to find a space where guests doesn't feel like they're intruding on the normal household routine is a dilemma. Rising to the challenge, and going beyond, is the mark of great hosts.
Comfortable furnishings in a toasty room where visitors won't have to wander through the dark looking for an extra blanket and a handful of amenities will make them feel at home. Put them in a room with radiant floor heating and that will guarantee their comfort through the night and in the morning when their feet touch down on a warm floor.
Even if there's no separate room for visitors, making a section of a room reserved for guests as welcoming as possible takes planning for other features as well.
A place like home
Set up a space where visitors can store their belongings such as a small table to use as a nightstand. Supplying guests with a garment rack, suitcase stand or some space in one of the home's closets also helps them keep their clothing in order during the visit.
Easy-to-store feather beds come in full-size, but can be folded up when not in use during the visit, according to RealSimple.com. Another alternative is an air mattress, which can be inflated and deflated quickly, then folded up and put out of sight.
Providing the family's best linens will make even the most makeshift sleeping arrangements seem like a special place to stretch out at bedtime.
Laying out extras
To make visitors feel welcome as soon as they arrive - especially after they've come from a long distance - set out a small snack on their nightstand, such as a bottle of water with some fruit, a granola bar or packaged nuts.
Other welcoming moves that hosts can make include supplying their guests with travel-size toiletries, including shampoo, toothpaste, a small bar of soap and lotion, according to SimpleMom.net.
Providing towel sets in a different color for each visitor and leaving them on the guest bed or nightstand will eliminate any confusion about what towels they should use. If there's a heated towel rack to warm up linens, the guests will be really impressed.
For early risers, leave out dishes, silverware and a note that they can help themselves to breakfast foods. Give some directions on where they can find the utensils, coffee maker and fixings in your kitchen.


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California wildfire burns 7 homes, threatens thousands
MANTON, Calif. – Firefighters in Northern California on Monday struggled to gain control of a growing wildfire that has destroyed at least seven homes and forced thousands of rural residents to evacuate.
The blaze that started Saturday has consumed more than 23 square miles near the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola near the border of Tehama and Shasta counties. It was only about 5 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Ponderosa fire threatens at least 3,000 homes and more than 300 other structures, said fire spokesman Daniel Berlant.
More than 12,000 firefighters are battling the wildfire burning in rugged, densely forested terrain about 170 miles north of Sacramento. It started after the area was hit by a series of lightning strikes.
The fire forced the closure of Highway 44 and some local roads and prompted the sheriff to declare a State of Emergency for Shasta County. The Red Cross set up an evacuation center in Redding.
John Cluff, 42, told the Redding Searchlight that he was forced to flee his home before the evacuations were issued. He went back for his dog about 3:30 p.m.
"The fire basically chased me out of the property," he said. "All I could see was black smoke and flames."
The Ponderosa fire is one of many wildfires burning across California and the West.
In Mendocino County, another wildfire that started Saturday has consumed about 8 square miles near Covelo. That blaze, which was sparked by lightning, was burning in a remote area of thick timber and rugged terrain, making it difficult for fire crews to access.
Meanwhile, a massive wildfire that has been burning in the Plumas National Forest since July 29 grew larger over the weekend as strong winds pushed the flames past fire lines on its northeast edge.
The blaze, about 120 miles north of Sacramento, has consumed more than 73 square miles and continued to threaten about 900 homes. The fire was 32 percent contained Monday.
Also in California, a wildfire in Lassen Volcanic National Park was 51 percent contained after consuming more than 43 square miles. Officials expected firefighters would have the blaze contained by Tuesday.


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On a commercial level, the project also spearheads the move into the Arab and African wind markets by Egyptian electrical engineering and cable group El Sewedy, through subsidiary El Sewedy for Wind Energy Generation (SWEG).
Twenty-one of the 37 1.65MW machines from Spanish turbine manufacturer MTorres Olvega Industries (MTOI), which is 90% owned by SWEG, are on site, SWEG chief executive Faisal Eissa told Windpower Monthly. "We are preparing the final stages to start civil engineering work," he added. All 61MW are now expected to be operational next year.
The Al-Fatayeh project, located in the coastal town of Darnah, near Benghazi and the Egyptian border, is among a scarce few large industrial engineering, procurement and ponstruct (EPC) projects across Libya to move forward, said Eissa.
MTOI had already shipped the first eight machines from Spain in 2010, after landing the turbine supply contract from the Gaddafi regime. At the same time, El Sewedy increased its stake in MTOI from 30% to 90%, taking control from Spanish industry technology group MTorres, now a minority partner. MTOI's 120MW Olvega factory in northern Spain produces 1.65MW direct-drive turbines.
The onset of the Arab Spring uprisings in Libya in 2011 stalled the Al-Fatayeh project. But the turbines were kept in storage in Darnah and were undamaged, said Eissa, denying rumours that the machines had been illegally seized during the uprisings.
Eissa also dismissed criticism that security risks in Libya and other Arab Spring countries are too high. He admitted that "there are security issues", but pointed out the project has powerful backing and protection.
The Libyan government itself is developing Al-Fatayeh through its renewables agency, the Renewable Energy Authority of Libya (REAOL), and is giving the project priority, said Eissa. The wind farm's EUR 84 million EPC contract is shared with another government body, the Public Electrical Works Company (PEWCO), which received a further 13 MTOI turbines in early 2012.
PEWCO chose the Dernah site to kick-start wind development not just for its average wind speeds of 9.3 m/s, but also because of its port facilities and high-capacity power lines. The project was part of the Gaddafi government's plan to install around 1.5GW of wind by 2020. Renewal of those plans now hinges largely on the outcome at Al-Fatayeh.
Eissa points to fellow Arab Spring neighbour Egypt as a guiding light. El Sewedy's home country, already the region's leading wind market with 550MW online before the uprisings, has also revived its commitment to wind. In March, the government made a private developer request for proposals for up to 250MW. In April, it also launched a call for 600MW in the Gabal El Zeit area. El-Sewedy is making offer to both calls.
Meanwhile, due to the wind market freeze in MTOI's Spanish home market, Eissa said it is also focussing on the target markets of Ghana and Kenya in Africa, Jordan in the Middle East and Italy, Bulgaria and Turkey in Europe. In Kenya, SWEG-MTOI has already landed the EPC contract for developer Blue Sea's 42MW Isiolo development this year and is also developing a 50-75MW project in Ghana.


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My story on Rick Nash, from The Journal News and LoHud.com
We're going to do a Live Rick Nash Chat Tuesday at noon right here (where else?). So bring your lunch back to your desk, and bring me some questions or comments on the Nash trade, or on what else is in store, and if you think the Rangers right now are different or better or worse than they were when the season ended. Or just bring some of the usual (g)jibberish.
Here's my story from The Journal News and LoHud.com:
By Rick Carpiniello
In the end, when the Rangers made the blockbuster trade that had been in the making since February, it was more about the players they didn't give up than the ones they did.
The Rangers got their sniper Monday when they completed a deal with Columbus for big Rick Nash, who has played at a star level for nine NHL seasons and is still just 28 years old.
The Rangers have up forwards Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, and defenseman (and Port Chester native) Tim Erixon, plus a first-round draft pick in 2013 in exchange for Nash, minor-league defenseman Steve Delisle and a conditional 2013 third-round pick (which goes back to the Blue Jackets if the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup final).
But the Rangers didn't give up Chris Kreider or Derek Stepan or Ryan McDonagh or Michael Del Zotto -- all of whom have been rumored and/or reported to have been demanded/requested by Columbus GM Scott Howson since the talks heated up prior to the February trade deadline.
"It took a long time, I'll tell you that much," Rangers GM Glen Sather said Monday, adding that he'd been in touch with Howson very regularly since Nash originally asked to be traded and submitted the list of teams to which he'd waive his no-trade clause -- a list that had the Rangers on top.
"We're always trying to improve the team," Sather said. "That's an ongoing struggle. But the opportunity was here before the deadline. We couldn't make it go. We've felt like we'd always like to have a little more offense, especially with (Marian) Gaborik being out until sometime in November (after shoulder surgery). I think that once Gaborik gets together (with Nash) we've got some pretty good offensive players now.
"So this changes the complexion of our team. It's probably not going to change the way we play, but his ability -- he's a world-class player and he's very excited to be coming to New York. We were one of his chosen few right from the beginning."
New York was high on the list of Nash, who is big (6-4, 216) enough for the Eastern Conference, and has the skating and hand skills of a sniper. Nash scored 41 goals as a 19-year-old, and is one of only four players (joining Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk and Alex Ovechkin) to have scored 30 or more goals in each of the past five seasons. He has played in more all-star games (five) than playoff games (four) with Columbus.
Nash said he went to Howson last season to see which way the Blue Jackets were going, and was told there would be a rebuild coming. "I've been here nine years now and I figured I could be the main piece of a rebuild for them," he said. "In that case, if the circumstance was right, I'd waive my no-trade clause and help them rebuild and help my career carry on.
"In finding a team, I just thought the Rangers were perfect. I think they've got an amazing team. Last season they were one of the best teams, and I just think it's a great fit for my style. ... I think they're already one of the top teams in the league and the players that they have there, it's pretty impressive from the goaltender to the defense and right on up. I'm happy to be part of the organization and part of the whole city."
Dubinsky had a nightmarish season after signing a four-year deal worth $4.2 million per last summer, and he and Anisimov both underachieved, calling into question whether either will ever be a top-six forward. Erixon, the son of former Ranger Jan Erixon, was a top prospect, but the Rangers top four are set on defense for a long time.
Nash's $7.8 million annual salary cap hit (which has six years remaining) was not a concern with Dubinsky's money going the other way and the Rangers, even after this trade, still have more than $13.39 million left to spend under the current cap, which could change with the new CBA negotiations.
Sather said that adding Nash "doesn't eliminate the opportunity to try and pursue somebody else at this time." That means Shane Doan, the 35-year-old Phoenix captain with size, grit and character, most likely. The Rangers could also still have plenty left if they want to fill holes, such as a second or third-pair right-shooting defenseman.
AP photo
, above.


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Gordon: Is US Economic Growth Over?
Robert Gordon is "deliberately provocative" (I'm an optimist):
Is US economic growth over? Faltering innovation confronts the six, by Robert J. Gordon, Vox EU: Global growth is slowing – especially in advanced-technology economies. This column argues that regardless of cyclical trends, long term economic growth may grind to a halt. Two and a half centuries of rising per-capita incomes could well turn out to be a unique episode in human history.
It is time to raise basic questions about the process of economic growth, especially the assumption – nearly universal since Solow's seminal contributions of the 1950s (Solow 1953) – that economic growth is a continuous process that will persist forever.
- There was virtually no growth before 1750;
- There is no guarantee that growth will continue indefinitely.
This column introduces my CEPR Policy Insight, which argues in detail that the rapid progress made over the past 250 years could well turn out to be a unique episode in human history (Gordon 2012).
The data I use only concern the US and view the future from 2007 while pretending that the financial crisis did not happen. The focus is on per-capita real GDP growth in the frontier country since 1300, the UK until 1906 and the US afterwards. Growth in the frontier economy gradually accelerated after 1750, reached a peak in the middle of the 20th century, and it has been slowing since. The paper is about 'how much further could the frontier growth rate decline?'
Growth: The long view
Figure 1 takes the history of economic growth back to the year 1300. Clearly there was almost no growth through 1700, then a gradually accelerating rate of growth. The blue line in Figure 1 represents growth in the frontier country – the US after 1906 and Britain before because 1906 seems to be the consensus of modern growth data for the cutover.
The key point is the big peak in US growth between 1928 and 1950, the years that span the Great Depression and WWII. Leaving aside the debate about what could have caused a concentration of economic growth in a period dislocated by depression and war, the remaining conclusion of Figure 1 is that growth has steadily declined in each interval plotted since 1950.
Figure 1. Growth in real GDP per capita, 1300-2100
The paper is deliberately provocative and suggests not just that economic growth was a one-time thing centered on 1750-2050, but also that because there was no growth before 1750, there might conceivably be no growth after 2050 or 2100. The process of innovation may be battering its head against the wall of diminishing returns. Indeed, this is already evident in much of the innovation sector.
To taunt critics Figure 2 superimposes on the actual growth record a green line that starts at zero growth in 1300, peaks in the middle of the 20th century, and then floats down to 0.2% by 2100. Figure 3 translates the growth rates into levels.
- Before 1800, it took centuries to double income per capita;
- Between 1929 and 1957, US incomes doubled in only 28 years;
- Between 1957 and 1988, doubling took 31 years.
- The pessimistic view adopted here suggests that it may take almost a century for income per capita to double between 2007 and 2100.
Figure 2. Growth in real GDP per capita, with actual and hypothetical paths
Figure 3. Actual and hypothetical levels of GDP per capita, 1300-2100
Phases of growth
The analysis in my paper links periods of slow and rapid growth to the timing of the three industrial revolutions:
- IR #1 (steam, railroads) from 1750 to 1830;
- IR #2 (electricity, internal combustion engine, running water, indoor toilets, communications, entertainment, chemicals, petroleum) from 1870 to 1900; and
- IR #3 (computers, the web, mobile phones) from 1960 to present.
It provides evidence that IR #2 was more important than the others and was largely responsible for 80 years of relatively rapid productivity growth between 1890 and 1972.
Once the spin-off inventions from IR #2 (airplanes, air conditioning, interstate highways) had run their course, productivity growth during 1972-96 was much slower than before. In contrast, IR #3 created only a short-lived growth revival between 1996 and 2004. Many of the original and spin-off inventions of IR #2 could happen only once – urbanization, transportation speed, the freedom of women from the drudgery of carrying tons of water per year, and the role of central heating and air conditioning in achieving a year-round constant temperature.
Figure 4 translates the abstraction about the three industrial revolutions into the data on US growth in labor productivity over selected intervals in the postwar era.
Figure 4. Average growth rates of US labor productivity over selected intervals, 1891-2012
- The ongoing benefits of IR #2 maintained rapid productivity growth through 1972.
Then diminishing returns set in – air conditioning was here and the interstate highways had been largely completed. The US entered the "dismal age" of slow productivity growth between 1972 and 1996. After being the mysterious 'Missing in Action' component of growth, computers and their brethren the internet and world wide web, pushed the growth of productivity in Figure 4 upwards, but only for the eight years 1996-2004.
- IR #3 appears to have lasted only eight years, compared to the conjectural 100 years for IR #2.
- Since 2004 productivity growth has been almost as slow as in the previous dismal period of 1972-96.
Inventions are not all created equal
The paper explains this history by a simple proposition. The great inventions of IR #2 were just more important than anything that has happened since. The speed of transportation was increased from that of the 'hoof and sail' to the Boeing 707. The temperature of a room was wildly variable in the 19th century but by now is a uniform 70 degrees year round. The transition from rural to urban in the US could only happen once. Only once could electricity be invented and create rapid transit, machine tools, consumer appliances, and the entire electricity-dependent set of entertainment devices from the radio to the TV to the internet and its multiple spin-offs such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
The loss of the impetus of IR #2 inventions makes a big difference in the future of human wellbeing. Figure 5 shows that if the 1948-72 productivity trend had continued, the level of productivity would have been 69% above what would have occurred if the 1972-96 trend had continued. The actual outcome shown in Figure 5 is that the benefits of actual productivity from the IR #3 internet revolution only closed 9% of the 69% gap created by the end of the IR #2 inventions.
Figure 5. US labor productivity from 1948 to 2012, with trend growth rates over selected intervals
Even if innovation were to continue into the future at the rate of the two decades before 2007, the US faces six headwinds that are in the process of dragging long-term growth to half or less of the 1.9% annual rate experienced between 1860 and 2007. These include demography, education, inequality, globalization, energy/environment, and the overhang of consumer and government debt. A provocative 'exercise in subtraction' suggests that future growth in consumption per capita for the bottom 99% of the income distribution could fall below 0.5% per year for an extended period of decades.
The exercise in subtraction is shown in Figure 6, but this is just a suggestion. All the numbers could be altered, but the big point is that each of these subtractions is a number, whether 0.05 or 0.1, or 0.2, that reduces the future growth of consumption per capita for the bottom 99% of US households.
Figure 6. Exercise in subtraction: Components of growth, from 1987 to 2007
Concluding remarks
This paper is deliberately provocative. The numbers in the 'exercise in subtraction' have been chosen to reduce growth to that of the UK for 1300-1700. The outcome may turn out to be much better than that. But the point of this article is that it is likely to be much worse than any epoch of US growth since the civil war.
Gordon, Robert (2012). 'Is US economic growth over? Faltering innovation confronts the six headwinds', CEPR Policy Insight No 63.
Solow, Robert (1956). "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth". Quarterly Journal of Economics 70 (1): 65–94 [3].
Posted by Mark Thoma on Monday, September 10, 2012 at 06:16 PM in Economics, Productivity, Technology |
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Kent County Recreation Center
1683 New Burton Road, Dover, DE 19904
(302) 744-2495 Fax: (302) 744-9681
General Office Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Office Hours: 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Mon. - Fri.
Parks & Recreation
Big Oak
Browns Branch
Tidbury Creek
Lebanon Landing
Hunn Nature Park
St. Jones Greenway
Suburban Parks
Dog Park
Park Rules
Hunn Conservation Area
417 Big Oak Rd Smyrna, DE 19977
Big Oak County Park is a ninety acre site bordered on the west and north by SR1 (Exit 114 – South Smyrna Exit) and on the south by Big Oak Road (C.R. 325). It includes forty acres leased to the Delaware Aero Space Education Foundation for Space and Earth Science education and recreation. The location of the DASEF facility and Big Oak County Park's free public access recreation and conservation demonstration areas make it a major regional outdoor destination.
Big Oak is Kent County's third major park, joining Brecknock Park in Camden and Browns Branch Park.
Kent County Levy Court dedicated Big Oak County Park and opened it to public use on September 30, 2006. Many recreation and conservation development and preservation activities have been underway since the spring of 2003.
For information relating to the Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation (DASEF) please follow this LINK


text: After retiring earlier this month, former Spurs guard and University of Texas standout TJ Ford will be announced today as a volunteer coach for the Austin Toros, San Antonio's D-League affiliate. The Austin American-Statesman has the details: "'I'll look at it from another perspective,' said Ford, 28. 'I'm really starting at the bottom. I'm not sure where I'm headed. But I'm headed in the right direction.' The Toros, who play home games at the Cedar Park Center, are the NBA Development League team tied to the Spurs. Ford said he plans to use his time as a Toros coach — a position he compared to 'an internship' that could lead to a second profession — to plan the rest of his career. 'I retired prematurely,' he said Thursday night. 'I've been around basketball my entire life. I feel I can do something. I feel I can give back to the game.' Ford played two memorable seasons at Texas, punctuating his last with a trip to the Final Four in New Orleans. The Milwaukee Bucks selected the former Houston Willowridge star with the eighth pick in the 2003 draft. He suffered a serious back injury as a rookie in 2004. He missed the end of that season and all of the next. Ford joined the Spurs in December and appeared in 14 games. Two weeks ago, in what would be his final time in uniform, he fell face-first to the AT&T Center floor after a collision with Baron Davis in the second quarter of a game with the New York Knicks. Ford walked off the court with the help of two men. Ford announced his retirement five days later, on March 12. He said he wanted to quit while he still was fully able to play with his children, who are 6 and 2. 'The Spurs organization was great to me,' Ford said. 'I have a lot of knowledge that I want to share, hopefully to help someone live their dream and make it to the NBA.'"


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College was an amazing experience. I went to plays, watched musical performances, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, rode around with a cop for most of a shift, job shadowed someone, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, attended various events that I would not have had the opportunity to otherwise, read a bunch of incredibly dull textbooks, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, met some amazing people, got into the art museum for free every year, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, went to the aquarium for a class assignment, got up super early every day, spent most weekends and breaks doing massive amounts of homework, and oh, did I mention that I wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay?!
I remember at the end of my very first semester that a friend who was graduating said to me that she always felt like someone would approach her and say that she wasn't really smart enough to attend college and that she clearly had no idea what she was doing! I thought I was at least somewhat smart before attending school, but quickly learned that I really didn't know much of anything - about anything! While I definitely learned stuff from all the textbooks and research, I learned much more about myself.
This past semester was particularly difficult. I took on 17 credits, had two very time consuming class projects, worked, and had a bunch of personal stuff going on. But I made it through, and am very proud of myself. I made the Dean's List again, with 4 A's and a B.
The ceremony was really nice. It was three hours long, but didn't really feel like it. I sat next to a friend, and we chatted about what we thought our lives might bring now. He's headed to law school in London. I have no idea what direction my life is heading.
I felt bad that my dad couldn't be there with me, but there was a point in the ceremony that a wide smile came over my face suddenly, and I could feel him in my heart. He couldn't be there physically, but he was there in spirit.
As much as I'm glad it's all over, I know I'll miss it. I tried to take it all in at the end, but it was so hard because I had sooooooooooo much homework. One class had an extensive reading list each week. Somehow, I had at least 2 essays every. single. week. and sometimes more. Those class projects were extremely tedious and time consuming. It was hard to keep on top of everything, but I had to because I knew it would all be over if I ever fell behind.
The first week of June I'll be atttending a weeklong leadership course offered by my school. Luckily, I was offered a scholarship so I don't have to pay. One of my friend's will be attending too, so I'm looking forward to catching up with her.
And then... Who knows what the future will bring? I'm scared to death, but also excited to find out!


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TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site built to withstand possible airstrikes, a leading hard-line newspaper reported Sunday in another show of defiance against Western pressure to rein in Tehran's nuclear program.
The operations at the bunker-like facility south of Tehran, reported by the Kayhan daily newspaper, are small in comparison to Iran's main enrichment site. But the centrifuges at the underground labs are considered more efficient and are shielded from aerial surveillance and protected against airstrikes by up to 300 feet of mountain rock.
Uranium enrichment is at the core of the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies fear Iran could use its enrichment facilities to develop high-grade nuclear material for warheads.
Iran — which claims it only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and research — has sharply increased its threats and military posturing against stronger pressures, including U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's Central Bank in attempts to complicate its ability to sell oil.
A senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard force was quoted as saying Tehran's leadership has decided to order the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil route, if the country's petroleum exports are blocked. Revolutionary Guard ground forces also staged war games in eastern Iran in an apparent display of resolve against U.S. forces just over the border in Afghanistan.
Iranian officials have issued similar threats, but this is the strongest statement yet by a top commander in the security establishment.
"The supreme authorities … have insisted that if enemies block the export of our oil, we won't allow a drop of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This is the strategy of the Islamic Republic in countering such threats," Revolutionary Guard deputy commander Ali Ashraf Nouri was quoted as saying by another newspaper, the Khorasan daily.
The latest statements are certain to ramp up tensions with the U.S. and its allies, which are trying to increase pressure on Iran to punish it for its disputed nuclear program.
For the moment, however, U.S. officials are seeking stronger diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran rather than increasing threats of military action. A number of experts say Iran is unlikely to close the strait because that could hurt Iran as much as the West.
In an interview broadcast Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Iran is laying the groundwork for making nuclear weapons someday, but is not yet building a bomb. Panetta reiterated U.S. concerns about a unilateral strike by Israel against Iran's nuclear facilities, saying the action could trigger Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces in the region.
"We have common cause here" with Israel, he said. "And the better approach is for us to work together."
Panetta's remarks on CBS' "Face the Nation" reflect the Obama administration's long-held view that Iran is not yet committed to building a nuclear arsenal, only to create the industrial and scientific capacity to allow one if its leaders to decide to take that final step.
The Kayhan newspaper, which is close to Iran's ruling clerics, said Tehran has begun injecting uranium gas into sophisticated centrifuges at the Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom.
"Kayhan received reports yesterday that show Iran has begun uranium enrichment at the Fordo facility amid heightened foreign enemy threats," the newspaper said in a front-page report. Kayhan's manager is a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all important matters of state.
Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, said Saturday that his country will "soon" begin enrichment at Fordo. It was impossible to immediately reconcile the two reports.
Iran has a major uranium enrichment facility in Natanz in central Iran, where nearly 8,000 centrifuges are operating. Tehran began enrichment at Natanz in 2006.
Nouri said Iran's leadership has made a strategic decision to close the Strait of Hormuz should its exports be blocked. One-sixth of the world's oil flows to market through the strait, which is jointly controlled by Iran and Oman at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
President Barack Obama approved new sanctions against Iran a week ago, targeting the central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad. The U.S. has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months, worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy is struggling. But the new sanctions nevertheless prompted a series of threats from Iranian officials about closing the Strait of Hormuz.
The newspaper paraphrased Nouri as saying that a 10-day naval drill that ended Jan. 3 was preparation for such a closure. The Guard, which is Iran's most powerful military force and which has its own naval arm, has planned more sea maneuvers for February.
Khamenei "determined a new strategy for the armed forces, by which any threat from enemies will be responded to with threats," Nouri said.
The U.S. and Israel have said that all options remain open, including military action, should Iran continue with its enrichment program.
Late Sunday, Iran's intelligence minister said several people have been arrested on suspicion of spying for the U.S. and plotting to disrupt Iran's parliamentary elections this year. He gave no further details.
Tehran says it needs the nuclear program to produce fuel for future reactors and medical radioisotopes needed for cancer patients.
The country has been enriching uranium to less than 5 percent for years, but it began to further enrich part of its uranium stockpile to nearly 20 percent as of February 2010, saying it needs the higher grade material to produce fuel for a Tehran reactor that makes medical radioisotopes for cancer patients. Weapons-grade uranium is usually about 90 percent enriched.
Iran says the higher enrichment activities — to nearly 20 percent — will be carried out at Fordo. These operations are of particular concern to the West because uranium at 20 percent enrichment can be converted much more quickly for use in a nuclear warhead than uranium enriched to only 3.5 percent.
Built next to a military complex, Fordo was long kept secret and was only acknowledged by Iran after it was identified by Western intelligence agencies in September 2009.
The facility is a hardened tunnel and is protected by air defense missile batteries and the Revolutionary Guard. The site is located about 20 miles north of Qom, the religious nerve center of Iran's ruling system.
"The Fordo facility, like Natanz, has been designed and built underground. The enemy doesn't have the ability to damage it," the semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted nuclear chief Abbasi as saying Sunday.


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Television measurement has been saved
Television measurement
For better and worse
This new methodology integrates TV viewing on PCs, tablets and smartphones into overall viewing numbers, and also includes other data sets, such as set-top box channel selections and video-on-demand server logs. Without hybrid methodologies, TV consumption will be under-counted, particularly for the younger age groups that are more likely to watch on devices other than TV sets and more likely to use video-on-demand (VOD), with an adverse impact on advertising and subscription revenues.
Explore Content
Executive summary
The current approach to quantifying TV consumption was most accurate when there were relatively few channels and no other viewing choices—viewers watched all video content on TV sets. Back then, sampling a few thousand viewers provided an accurate guide to how many people watched a program, and the share for each channel at any point in time could be estimated with a high degree of certainty. Watching TV remains a firm feature in the lives of billions of people, but where, when and what they watch has evolved and requires a new measurement approach. Hybrid measurement will likely be a work in progress in 2014, with significant iteration required. In the long run it should be more accurate, but in the near term it might introduce some distortions.
- Download this prediction (PDF) | Download the complete report (PDF)
- Download the summary version – English | Arabic
- Explore the infographic (PDF)
- Watch the video on YouTube or below


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'Scuse me while I get my wa wa's out.
My last post was a bit long, and chalk full of uncomfortable feeling things. Sure, they were buried in allegorical stripper fog, but still, feelings…blech, right?
Remember in my last post how, during the hike, I said it was getting dark? You didn't read my last post….well, it got dark on Mt. Misen. Like, really, really —no street lights; no stars, steer's butthole dark. And I got lost for a bit in the darkness.
I finally spotted some lights in the distance, and started truckin' it, afraid of getting a preview of the Japanese version of 'Deliverance' ('Deriverance'?) by some rogue forest-dwelling Yakuza members.
The lights were paper lanterns strung up through a park outlined in cherry blossom trees, around a pagoda. It was a really cool moment capped by a chance meeting with my most favorite animal of all time: the Japanese Raccoon Dog, or, Tanuki.
The thing scared the shit out of me as I caught a glance out of my periphery, and at first thought it was a baby bear, which meant momma wasn't far behind, ready to claw my boyishly handsome face from its foundation bones.
The Raccoon Dog is neither a raccoon, nor a dog, but I pretend it is:
The Tanuki is a half-breed, split right down the middle; a traceable bi-product of a lonesome mutt's affection (voiced by the lovable Chris O'Dowd, Irish Hound) towards a lovely Raccoon Princess (Amy Poehler).
The Raccoon King (James Earl Jones), widowed by a pack of wild dogs, scorns the princess for loving the rascal hound. His tight protection ironically pushes her further away, into the paws of our hero, the dog. The Raccoon Kingdom gets attacked by General Squirrel (Patton Oswalt) and his army, but guess who comes to save the Raccoons?
Yup, the dog.
All is well, the two mate – Tanuki!
Like the story of 'Pocahontas', but with way more animal sex.
Make it happen, Pixar. (I want 25% on the backend, with full control of merchandise)
The Raccoon Dog is a mischievous critter, with opposable thumbs, and the legendary ability to shapeshift (hence the Crow part of the last post).
There's another part of the male raccoon dog's anatomy I'd like to talk about aside from thumbs: its testicles. Raccoon Dogs have notoriously gigantic balls.
There's even a nursery rhyme about it:
Tan-Tan-Tanuki no kintama wa,
Kaze mo nai no ni,
Bura bura
Tan-tan-tanuki, Your balls sway nicely.
Though the wind stops blowing
They swing, swing, swing
I have no idea what's happening the picture above, but it looks like some travelers forgot to pay a toll. And what happens when we forget to pay the toll? That's right, you catch a face-ful of scrot from the Tanuki duo.
The above picture makes no sense, but I appreciate the artistic integrity. Somehow, these sideburned Tanukis have linked scrotums, and used them as fishing nets. Careful with that harpoon, Eugene!
I once ate a whole jar of salsa right before bed, and had a dream I went paragliding with my testicles, so I completely understand this picture. You don't even need a parachute!
The point of today's post is: there doesn't always have to be a point.
Be random. Be you. Be ballsy.


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Rockefeller Foundation Conceptualized "Anti-Hormone" Vaccine in the 1920s and 30s, Reports Reveal
Rockefeller Foundation minion Max Mason, who acted as president in the mid-1930s, on multiple occasions expressed his master's desire for an "anti-hormone" that would reduce fertility worldwide. Now keep in mind, this is more than 35 years before the Foundation actually mentioned funding "anti-fertility vaccines" in subsequent annual reports from 1969 onward.
Having traveled far beyond the realm of rumor and speculation, research into the admitted funding of anti-fertility vaccines has uncovered more and more sinister revelations along the way.
By the mid-1930s, Mason of the Rockefeller Foundation thought that "the ultimate solution of the problem [of birth control] may well lie in the studies of endocrinology, particularly antihormones." The Foundation's 1934 annual report states:
"The Rockefeller Foundation has decided to concentrate its present effort in the natural sciences on the field of modern experimental biology, with special interest in such topics as endocrinology, nutrition, genetics, embryology, problems centering about the reproductive process, psychobiology, general and cellular physiology, biophysics, and biochemistry."
"(…) research work is being conducted on the physiology of reproduction in the monkey. This work was begun at the Johns Hopkins University in 1921, and since 1923 has been continued at the University of Rochester. It involves observational and experimental studies of the reproductive cycle in certain species of the higher primates, in which this cycle closely resembles that of the human species. The effect of the various interrelated reproductive hormones is being studied."
In the annual report of the previous year (1933), the Foundation stresses the fact that work on the reproductive hormones of primates serves to experiment on man in the future:
"(…) much work has been done in the formulation and solution of basic problems in the general biology and physiology of sex in organisms other than man. It was essential that this fundamental work on infra-man pave the way for that on man."
In the book Discipling Reproduction by Adele E. Clarke, the roots of Rockefeller-funded "anti-hormones" is being described in some detail, pointing out that the family's ambitions to control man's fertility date back even further than the 1930s. Clarke writes:
"On a cold morning in 1921, George Washington Corner, a physician and fledgling reproductive scientist, awoke in Baltimore to discover that it was snowing."
"By 1929", Clarke writes a bit further on, "Corner had mapped out the hormonal action of progesterone, an essential actor in the menstrual cycle and subsequently an actor in birth control pills."
The 1935 Rockefeller Foundation annual report acknowledges funding Dr. Corner's research:
"To the University of Rochester, for research on the physiology of reproduction under the direction of Dr. G. W. Corner during the threeyear period beginning July 1, 1935, and ending June 30, 1938, there has been appropriated the sum of $9,900. Dr. Corner's activities are concentrated on a study of the oestrus cycle, using monkeys as the experimental animals. A colony of about thirty monkeys has been maintained, and experiments have furnished information on the normal histology of the reproductive cycle, the time of ovulation, the relation of ovulation to menstruation and other anatomically detectable correlations of the oestrus cycle. Work is continuing on two main lines: normal sex reproduction in the monkey, including the histology of ovary and uterus, and, secondly, the effects of the ovarian hormone."
Again, never forget that the Foundation in 1933 stated outright that "It was essential that this fundamental work on infra-man pave the way for that on man."
Another essential problem which arises, of course, is how exactly the funding-mechanism worked by which Corner's research could be made ready for mass-consumption. Clarke mentions that officially the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), was the institute responsible for the task of doing so. More specific: the Committee for Research in Problems of Sex (CRPS):
"The NRC itself was founded in 1916 as an agency to inventory research toward enhanced military preparedness."
"The NRC", states the author, "was a prestigious organization from its inception, thanks to its early association with the NAS, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Kohler (1991:109) has argued that the NRC essentially served as an intermediary between the foundations and scientists in the interwar years.(…). The NRC/CRPS itself was funded almost exclusively by Rockefeller monies, initially through the Bureau of Social Hygiene and, after 1931, through the Rockefeller Foundation."
On the subject of so-called "current immunological contraceptive research", Clarke channels Rockefeller-president Max Mason:
"Other lines of current immunological contraceptive research continue to seek what, during the 1930s, Max Mason of the Rockefeller Foundation called "anti-hormones": vaccines to block hormones needed for very early pregnancy and a vaccine to block the hormone needed for the surface of the egg to function properly."
In a February 1934 "progress report" written by Warren Weaver (director of the Natural Sciences Division of the Rockefeller Foundation) once again underlined the endgame:
"Can man gain an intelligent control of his own power? Can we develop so sound and extensive a genetics that we can hope to breed, in the future, superior men? Can we obtain enough knowledge of physiology and psychobiology of sex so that man can bring this pervasive, highly important, and dangerous aspect of life under rational control?"
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The same Warren Weaver wrote a "biographical Memoir" in honor of his friend Max Mason, revealing some more interesting facts. Weaver, who describes himself as a great personal friend of Mason, gives a general description of him as Rockefeller-minion:
"He had by that time developed a consuming interest in behavioral research, and particularly in the possibility that the physical sciences, working with and through the biological sciences, could shed new and revealing light on the normal and abnormal behavior of individuals, and ultimately on the social behavior of groups of men."
Here we have it. The blueprint for sterilizing vaccines has been first conceptualized way back in the 1920s and 1930s by social scientists of the Rockefeller Foundation. Although later the eugenic language ("anti-fertility vaccine") was polished up with the help of some linguistic plastic surgery producing the term "immunological contraceptive", the ultimate goal remains the same.


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This weekend, Julie Macklowe had her birthday party at The Box and launched her vbeaute beauty line benefiting VH1's Save The Music.
Julie and Billy Macklowe were dancing to the Sean Paul performance. Guest there to celebrate were Donna D'Cruz, Chris Benz, Veronica Webb, Yigal Azrouel, Lesley and David Schulhof, Deborah Peltz, Ann Dexter Jones and 400 of her closest friends The Box was on fire!