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I haven't added either Facebook Connect or Google Friend Connect yet, but they sure are taking over tons of blogs very quickly. TechCrunch and Gawker both turned on Facebook. So, I asked my readers on FriendFeed for whether they have turned on either and tons of results came in (good resource so you can see how everyday bloggers are using these technologies).
My blog here is hosted on WordPress.com, which makes it difficult to use widgets like these. I want to go back to Matt Mullenweg and ask him which ones he's going to support (he founded Automattic, which makes and hosts WordPress here).
Anyway, which ones are you using? What have you learned, if you've already used them? Have they improved the time spent on your blog? Do your users like having these widgets? Why have some blogs seen more than 2,000 people use them, while other blogs only have a handful of users? (It doesn't seem to be totally based on popularity of the blog, but might have to do with where they are placed on the page, and how they are talked about on the content of the blog too).
Other questions I have:
1. Is this a winner-take-all game? Will people feel pressured to add both widgets? Will, at some point, they remove one? (I think it is, long term, if they stay similar. I hate clutter on my blog, and if one gets slow, it'd be tossed in a micro-second, and I'm already noticing that the same friends are on both anyway — so why not just get rid of one?).
2. Will there be advertising that appears? Spam? Bad behavior (I saw one obscene icon already). Of course advertising will appear on these widgets eventually. They might say no today, but three years from now? Right. And, even if they don't put ads on the widgets themselves, they certainly will have an ad sales force that can tell you EVERYTHING about the blogs based on who has visited them.
3. Why is the UI so rudimentary? These are like mini rolodexes and already users are asking for search, list views, and other features because soon the more popular blogs will have 10s of thousands of users in these systems (maybe millions for sites like Huffington Post or TechCrunch) and they are already useless with 2,000 users so soon people will just stop using them unless they evolve quickly.
Anyway, tons of blogs are talking about Google's addition of Twitter into feeds that integrate into its system. Here's the best blogs I found on the topic:
TechCrunch: What the Twitter/ Google Announcement Means.
ReadWriteWeb: Google Brings Twitter to Friend Connect.
Social Times: The Social Advertising Race has Begun.
One thing I've noticed is that Google is getting picked up a lot more because of the Twitter announcement.


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By Craig Tindale
There is a crisis of confidence unfolding in China that is likely to end in a full scale capital flight and a disorderly collapse in both economic and political cohesiveness. The lowering of the reserve requirements for Chinese banks, while reported in the media as a loosening of credit, is more likely an early sign of capital flight. Similarly reflective of this, are the large increases of gold purchases by Chinese citizens who have few diversification options away from the RMB.
China's wealth is concentrated abnormally within an elite 1% of high net worth individuals. This 1% command up to $5 USD trillion dollars in wealth. If these elite should rush the doors to move their wealth out of the country using the multitude of avenues that exist to evade Chinese capital controls, then the Chinese banks may face the biggest bank run in history.
The problem is that while the propaganda machine might control the minds of the masses, the wealthy elite are virtually immune to thought control and are likely to be the best informed and have the means to be the first to leave. Reserves are mostly tied up in USD and treasuries cannot be liquidated for fear of raising the value of the RMB. Along with further eroding trade surpluses, this means a capital flight by the elite occurring with massive insolvency in the credit market could vaporize the Chinese liquidity in what will seem like an economic Cat 5 hurricane.
The Chinese economy is in the final stages of largest Ponzi scheme ever devised. Minsky outlined three distinct phases in the credit cycle: In the first phase known as the hedge phase; economic actors borrow money to invest in order to create goods to sell for profit. In the second stage, the speculative phase, more economic actors join the economy, borrowing money to invest in assets in the expectation that these assets will rise in value. In the last stage, known as the Ponzi stage, economic actors borrow in the hope that conditions will improve. This borrowing is designed to avoid insolvency during what is perceived or hoped to be a short to medium term setback in economic conditions.
Some may argue that the Minsky market driven instability hypothesis is not suited to China and that they are chiefly a centrally planned state controlled economy. This reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of Minsky's work. The Western economies' attempt to centrally plan economic activities from the consumption end, the state based capitalism that China has become known for attempts to centrally control the economy from the production side.
The Chinese production economy cannot be seen in isolation from the consumption economies of the West; debt based consumption provided the umbrella under which the Chinese miracle grew. When the GFC collapsed Western debt based consumption reacted by providing the last line of Minsky Ponzi financing via government bail-outs. Governments faced with banking collapse chose keep the system going by transferring debt from private hands to those of the taxpayers.
The Chinese, faced with a massive collapse in export income, chose to keep the economy functioning by stimulating the economy with massive capital works and lending. In both cases the government was the provider of the last line Ponzi financing to keep the economy rolling. Now that this Ponzi financing has been near exhausted in both the West and the East, profound collapse is the only logical outcome.
Whereas the Minsky moment in Western economies comes by way of over-enthusiastic private borrowers, the instability in China is potentially more virulent in that its source is an over-enthusiastic government: the former relying on the solvency of borrowers and the later relying on the solvency of the state. Some argue that while the Chinese state remains solvent, no matter how many empty buildings exist they can continue the game. The question then is — Are they solvent and how long can they remain that way? The exponential growth in Chinese debt and mal-investment and the very unlikely return of Western demand means the system will become insolvent in the short to medium term.
The number of investors who have suffered losses due to widespread fraud is growing exponentially and the list of those that have racked up substantial losses includes some of the leading investors in the world. This list of investors includes investment legends like Anthony Bolton one of Europe's most well-known fund managers, legendary investment icon John Paulson have been the victims of fraud, the scale of which has never been seen in economic history.
Bolton came out of retirement in 2009 specifically to invest in China and his investments have turned into a complete disaster. In fact, Bolton was forced to offer an apology for his companies poor performance after losing 28.9% of its nearly 430M pound capitalization in the last six months of 2011 Anthony Bolton apologises for China fund's poor performance. Rampant fraud was evident right at the core of his investment difficulties. This appears to have reached epidemic proportions right across the Chinese corporate landscape, so much so that Bolton has been forced to turn to private investigators after investors in Fidelity's China fund suffer losses of 21%.
Bolton wasn't the only one. The legendary investor John Paulson is being sued by his investors after losing $462M of his 23B fund investing in Sino Forest Paulson Fund Sued Over Sino-Forest Losses. The Sino Forest debacle was kicked off with a 19 page report issued by Carson Block of Muddy Water Sino Forest Report. This report didn't mince words and came out form the start comparing the company to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
"Like Madoff, TRE is one of the rare frauds that is committed by an established institution. In TRE's case, its early start as an RTO fraud, luck, and deft navigation enabled it to grow into an institution whose "quality management" consistently delivered on earnings growth."
The problem with Sino Forest was that most of the forests the company claimed as assets simply didn't exist. Rather than being a few isolated cases, these examples signal an epidemic of systemic fraud and corruption that pervades entire Chinese economy. This systemic fraud directly correlates to Minsky's final Ponzi phase: cheap credit, floods the economy, eventually exhausting useful ways it can be utilized. This, together with the lack of systemic controls that accompany cheap credit, initially causes mal-investment into projects that will never return enough to service their debt. Then, having exhausted all reasonable avenues of mal-investment, large amounts get siphoned into the hands of criminal opportunistic economic agents who game the system.
In December another Chinese stock research firm Citron came out with this report Qihoo : Fraudulent Financials,Terminal Business, Or Both….You Decide. Citron maintains price target of $5. In late February 2012 they submitted this report to the SEC Citron Reports to Securities and Exchange Commission. Australian, John Hempton of Bronte Capital, famous locally for uncovering the Astara Trio Capital Ponzi scheme, has been instrumental in uncovering a long list of Chinese frauds including: Longtop Financial Technologies, Universal Travel Group, China Media Express, and China Agritech
A few weeks ago, Boshiwa Holdings the licensee and manufacturer of Harry Potter related toys plunged 42% on news that its auditor had quit. In late February Puda Coal raised a $100M from US investors based coal assets that were never there: A Fraud Went Undetected, Although Easy to Spot.
What is China's response to this plague of fraud in Chinese US listed stocks? They intend to make it very difficult for the Big 4 to continue to work in China 'Big Four' auditors brace for big changes in China. In the case of Longtop Financial, Deloites, the firms' auditors have been unable to provide the SEC with any documentation about the collapse for fear of breaking China's state secrecy laws.
These frauds are extremely sophisticated and have gone undetected by the large audit firms. They are not just the result of a series of independent events undertaken by similarly dishonest business people acting alone. Rather, a recent report suggests they are part of a systemic network of agents acting inside and outside of China whose main purpose is to perpetuate investment fraud on a scale never seen before in economic history.
One of the central players in uncovering Chinese investment fraud research is the firm Muddy Waters who recently published a white paper entitled Frauducation Part I: in this paper the author outlines how Chinese businessmen are taught and sponsored by experts, who sponsor and coach fraudsters in subjects like falsifying records, accounting, assets and the various methods needed to pull off grand frauds. When a character like John Paulson gets taken for nearly half a billion there is a lot of motivation on the criminal side to get things right
The fraud school's assistance went well beyond providing document and accounting templates. The fraud school provided a network of "friendly" auditors that would help the companies get through the initial due diligence processes. The fraud school also helped companies game the due diligence process by providing the companies with contact information of suppliers and customers to give to potential investors. The
suppliers and customers were frauds – the school hired them merely to play a role and answer questions according to the script. (Source: Muddy Waters)
Fraud is central to the Chinese system, it has emerged via virulent mutation of the ancient tribute system. In the past, these tribute systems reflected an ancient form of private regulatory order. In the past there was often a limited basis for the rule of law to govern transactions. Throughout Chinese history, trade relied on systems of tribute to ensure secure business and political outcomes.
These old systems were still essential throughout Asia up until only a few decades ago because, transacting parties could not rely on the rule of law to ensure the security of terms governing a transaction. In China this has evolved into government sponsored systemic corruption with Western motivations of greed and criminality. It infects every level of the private and public sector.
A small piece of it was exposed recently in the "Bo" scandal, where there are reports of it infecting the families: Not only the Bo Lai family but even to the highest level of government- up to and including the family of Propaganda Minister, Liu Yunshan .Who 16 elder retired elder statesmen petitioned to have sacked
Rather than being seen as isolated incidents, these examples reflect a cultural meme, a way of doing business that represents the standard operating procedure for a large segment (if not all) of the Chinese economy.
The epidemic of fraud sits like a structural element across both the private and government sector further magnifying the mal-investment caused by the massive credit expansion. For example: The high speed rail project audits reveal millions have been siphoned toward corrupt contractors and government officials. This amount merely represents the siphoning on the core budget and doesn't reflect the extra costs loaded by each of the contractors.
Take for example Hollysys, the provider of signalling and control systems for many the Chinese high speed train projects. This company managed to earn '154M (2009)-175M(2010) with a trifling $3.1 M in capital equipment. Their explanation for this is they outsource all manufacturing, which is a little odd since they have such massive buildings, covering hundreds of acres and $24M in inventories.
On its website, the company boasts of over 40 major projects covering everything from Nuclear Power station instrumentation to cutting edge high-speed rail. All of these projects combined require no more than $3.1 million in capital equipment? In a country where corruption is evident at every level, the corruption apparent in the high-speed rail project was even too much for the Chinese system to carry. China's Communist Party has expelled a once-powerful former railways minister accused of serious corruption, state-run media report.
China is a country that is essentially a directly funded fiat system, whereas in a traditional fiat funded system the state prints money to directly purchase goods and services. Here, the Chinese system achieves the same outcome by lending with little prospect of repayment. A system that perpetually rolls over debts does not constitute a credit based money system. Whether they are corporations or individuals, many of state affiliated economic agents simply cannot default because the lender is unwilling to foreclose on an influential political player. If you cannot pay you can simply ring the party to arrange a rollover the balance.
The funds are effectively fiscal stimulus carried out government-controlled intermediaries, state and local governments, who then spend these funds on projects dreamt up by corrupt local politicians. These projects are built with borrowed money by various state aligned economic agents. These agents have little hope of repaying the debts incurred. This in turn means that the debts are roll over when they fall due. In reality the State is simply printing money, spending it and then at some point writing it off. This is being done at a speed and scale never before seen in human history.
Jim Chanos the famous hedge fund investor who foresaw the subprime crisis described the entire Chinese economy as "1000 times worse than Dubai". In 2008, when the world experienced the GFC, China doubled down and simply spent their way through via massive credit stimulus. When China's massive export markets shrank due to the Western debt crisis the Chinese elected to convert their economy from an export based one to a construction based economy. Meanwhile, the Western media perpetuates the myths of China's supposed ascent to displace the US as being the world largest economy.
The problem is that the Western economies never recovered and the Chinese have had to continue their massive growth purely based on constructing roads, bridges, airports, dams and various other construction based infrastructure
If one starts with the official economic statistics and works down through the accounting, taxation, banking systems and then across Chinese industry, there is rampant fraud, poor reporting and outright propaganda at every level. The Chinese economy is largely a central government budgetary system of fiscal spending; each local government submits spending plans to central party authorities, who in turn recommend expenditure up the line.
In 2008 in order to counter the shock of the GFC the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) engaged in massive stimulus programs just as the West did. The difference though was in the way the stimulus was delivered. In Australia, stimulus was delivered as government spending. This is traditionally known as fiscal stimulus where the government borrows money to spend on projects like the new fibre optic NBN Network. In China, though the stimulus was delivered much less traditionally; the increase in expenditure was delivered through banks who were encouraged to offer massive amounts of debt to provincial governments, state owned and sponsored owned enterprise.
The impetus for the stimulus might have been centrally planned, but the spending was decentralised. Provincial governments in China are not able to issue bonds, so state owned investment vehicles borrow the money, often using state gifted real estate collateral as security. The reality is that the majority of these investments, do not or will not pay a return anywhere near that required to make debt repayments. These projects born of corruption, nursed by self-serving bureaucracy fail to thrive due to the defective financial DNA.
Provincial credit expanded at a rate of +35% of GDP per annum and many of the loans needing to be rolled over, with no prospect of serviceability. For this lunacy to continue, what is primarily a construction economy must build more infrastructure this year than last and more again next year and the year after into perpetuity. If these projects had no chance of becoming solvent going concerns in the past, then new projects are even less likely to repay their lenders in the future. In this environment of manic overproduction, elite capital at some point will panic and run for the exits.
To a large extent the Chinese propaganda machine has captured an unquestioning Western media;, the meme that China is the next rising super power and will shortly overtake the US is a part of this propaganda story. Westerners imbue their view of China's future with cultural qualities that have simply never been reflected in historical fact. In fact, programs like the one child policy reflect the opposite
If the projects in 2009 and 2010 cannot pay adequate returns to service debt then what hope do the new projects have? Furthermore, due to the epidemic of corruption throughout China's public and private sector, the projects rarely reflect good value for money. This places the entire Chinese economy in Minsky's last phase of expansion: The Ponzi phase, where lending is perpetrated in the hope that conditions will improve and with little hope of repayment.
In the West debt is to be freely given but even at its worst it is done on some basis of return. When an economic system loses its way, to the extent China has done, the tension it creates on a society becomes unbearable. When the eventual day of reckoning comes and the ability to expand debt is exhausted, then the physics of complete collapse come into play.
A bleak harsh reality will descend on a political system that's run out of options. One unique feature will come the fore: That China uniquely spends more on internal security than external defence. China will at once face a great leap backward forcing a military coup and the effective end of CCP rule. Whether the military can hold the country together through a Soviet style collapse is anyone's guess. One outcome could see the wealthier provinces seeking independence, however it ends it will be the end of a dynasty that started with Mao.
China will not be be the world's biggest economy this century. It will falter, due to its demographic arthritis and debt explosion. The denouement of its corruption will pull it down like no other collapse in history. China will shortly have "interesting times."
Craig Tindale is the Vice President of the Centre for Economic Stability, Professor Steve Keen's non-profit research initiative.

subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON — The consumption of rubbery hot dogs and cellophane-wrapped sandwiches of indeterminate age is a time-honored rite of passage for generations of families making the trek to national parks around the country. But the
is determined that the American experience now include the option of free-range chicken breast with sweet potato cake and fennel salad, or cumin-scented rockfish tacos, maybe topped off with a locally grown berry yogurt parfait, all washed down with shade-grown coffee picked by workers whose rights have been protected under fair-trade agreements. The park service last week introduced new food standards that will eventually require concessionaires at all national parks, from the Statue of Liberty to Denali, to offer healthy food options, including fruits and vegetables, low-sodium and low-fat meals, reduced portion sizes, and non-sugary drinks. The initiative also includes guidelines encouraging concessionaires to use local, sustainable foods when possible, including seafood certified as sustainable, meat without hormones and antibiotics, and coffee harvested using worker-friendly standards. The effort, part of first lady Michelle Obama's healthy diet initiative, is based on the premise that a family journey to Yellowstone, Yosemite or the Grand Canyon should not compromise one's nutritional well-being. "There is no reason to take a vacation from eating well when you visit a national park," park service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis told an audience last week at a food kiosk near the Lincoln Memorial where the program was unveiled and free samples handed out. Millions of tourist dollars and billions of calories are at stake. The park service sells meals to 23 million people each year, and the standards will apply to more than 250 food and beverage operations nationwide. Wary of backlash from critics of "food police," administration officials are careful to note that hot dogs, pizza, soda and ice cream will still be available. "This is about choices," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said last week. "There are still the other choices, if you want to buy them." In a telephone interview from California, sustainable-foods pioneer Alice Waters applauded the park service initiative. "This is an enormous opportunity for the parks to set an example for the nation, because they are present in every state, in very visible locations," she said. Waters said she had an "epiphany" about park service food a decade ago while visiting the ancient cliff dwellings at
Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado
and stopping at a park eatery. "The food was brought in from God knows where, maybe dropped from another planet," she recalled. The Chez Panisse founder and her distraught traveling partners were regrouping outside when Waters realized they were standing in a patch of purslane. Waters fell to her knees, picked bunches of the edible leaf vegetable, washed them and whipped up a purslane salad. "I always travel with olive oil and salt," she noted. Waters said the national parks can make similar use of their local food sources to connect visitors with the surrounding environment in meaningful ways. Jewell, who previously served as chief executive for
, acknowledged that meals had not been a highlight of her visits to national parks. "Let's just say I packed my own food," she said. The new era in park service food was on display at last week's event, as chefs from major concessionaires dispensed free samples of menu items, including bison tenderloin, black bean sliders, sweet potato cakes, chilled strawberry rhubarb gazpacho and summer fruit spritzers. The cuisine received almost universally positive reviews from samplers, including tourists who stumbled on the event, federal workers on lunch breaks, visiting schoolchildren from Louisiana and a small pack of pedicab drivers delighted with the free food and drink. "Refreshing and decadent," Jennifer Schoenborn of Reston, Va., declared after tasting a berry yogurt parfait with cinnamon crisp. The healthy food standards will be integrated into all new concessions contracts and applied on a voluntary basis to existing contracts. Existing contracts will be replaced as they expire with new ones incorporating the standards. Gerry Gabrys, chief executive of Guest Services Inc., a major park concessionaire, said the companies have seen a growing public demand for healthy food. "Without exception, the national park concessionaires are excited and wholeheartedly support the initiative," he said. Park officials want to avoid comparisons to New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's ill-fated attempt to ban the sale of super-size sodas in the city. "We're not doing that," Jarvis said. "But there will be a non-sugary beverage available. If you want a sugary drink, you can drink as much sugary drink as you like." The standards dictate that at least 30 percent of drinks offered have no added sugar and that low-fat and fat-free milk be available. The local- and sustainable-food guidelines will depend on availability and cost. "I can't dictate locally grown if nothing is locally grown," Jarvis said. "In the middle of Idaho, I can certainly do potatoes, but maybe not arugula." Some park concessionaires are already working with local farmers and vendors to prepare items such as Mount Rushmore's "Lakota popcorn," from the harvest of the Lower Brule Sioux tribe. The healthy food standards do not apply to concessionaires operating in the backcountry, such as outfitters running multi-day raft trips through the Grand Canyon, where food has to be carried as compactly as possible. Nor does the service dare mess with calorie-laden but popular traditional fare. The popovers at Acadia's Jordan Pond House and the "caldera" chocolate cake at
in Yellowstone will remain on the menu.


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Sulivan Moultrie Co Ills
June 25th 1872
Dear Father I Received your kind letter dated the 5th June in reply I will Say we are all as well as usual The last I heard from Jacksonville Harriet was improving. *(1) I would have answered sooner But I was starting to Chicago with Some Sheep I Sold them for five cents they weghed 104 lbs Made me some money they cost me about 2 1/2 cts I have about 200 Sheep on hands my pastures is good about knee high Timothy When up I saw the Burt district *(2) and no one can discribe it nor can they discribe the improvements going on it look like anything But a City The Buildings going up are mutch better then the Old Ones We have a fine prospect for corn and oats wheat will be light grass is fine Stock is low cattle from 3 to 5 cents hogs 3 cts corn 38 cts If I could get a good lot of Sheep I would come to Pittsburg But they are hard to get what I mean by good ones are some that will weigh 120 oz upwards. I would like to hear from you often You will find endorsed my note with Mother Millers name Dated Back to the time you got the interest from Tompkins *(3) with these lines I reamain yours as ever Abia Minor.
*(1) Harriet is Abia's second wife. Why she was a patient at Illinois Central Hospital for the Insane, Jacksonville, Illinois, is unknown.
*(2) Abia Minor, eldest son of John Pearson Minor and first wife Hannah McClelland, was a farmer taking his stock to Chicago. On this trip he witnessed the recovery efforts that followed the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 started, as a the folksong would have it, by ol' Mrs. O'Leary's cow. It raged from October 8 until extinguished by heavy rainfall on October 10. Seventeen thousand buildings of Old Chicago were destroyed, and 90,000 people were left homeless. Three hundred people lost their lives.
*(3) John P Minor lent money to relatives and friends, charging up to 10% interest. Each act was recorded with a note which detailed the loan and its terms. This references one such transaction.


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(CNN) -- The candidate who will face Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a runoff election next month has said he will not join Karzai's government if the incumbent wins another term, but instead will remain in opposition.
Abdullah Abdullah, who served as foreign minister in Karzai's government until quitting nearly four years ago, said he would congratulate Karzai if he "is elected through a transparent and credible process."
"My trust in becoming a candidate was not to be part of the same government, part of the same deteriorating situation," told CNN's John King in an interview taped for broadcast on Sunday's "State of the Union."
"Mine was for a change in this country. Mine was for bringing hopes for the people of this country, and making the people of Afghanistan true participants in their politics, in the governance, in the developmental process, in the security situation and as a whole."
Abdullah and others charged massive fraud in the August 20 vote. The initial results gave Karzai the win, but a subsequent review by a U.N.-backed panel of election monitors threw out nearly one-third of Karzai's votes because of "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."
The result left Karzai short of the 50 percent need to avoid a runoff. After a flurry of meetings with U.S. and U.N. officials, the Afghan president agreed to the November 7 vote.
In a separate CNN interview to be broadcast Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Karzai insisted that while there were "mistakes" and "some incidents of fraud" in the election, "the election as a whole was clean."
Abdullah rejected that notion.
"To call this as clean elections, I think this, with all due respect to Mr. Karzai, it's a bit of ignorance," he told King, adding that "unfortunately, the government was involved."
"Yes, it was a step forward that the people of Afghanistan participated in the elections," he said.
"One chapter is behind us," he said. "It led to the runoff. And we need to get it corrected in order to open the door for the new chapter. So denying it is not a solution. Rather admitting it and correcting it, that will be responsible leadership."
Karzai said the second round of voting must take place or else "we would be insulting democracy." But he also said he had decided after agreeing to the runoff that "all that was said (about fraud in the election) was mostly wrong."
"There were some mistakes. There were some instances of fraud, but the nation as a whole was clean and the result was clear. I decided for peace, for stability and for the future of democracy in Afghanistan and for the future of institutional order in Afghanistan to call for a runoff," he said.
The Taliban called for a boycott Saturday of Afghanistan's upcoming presidential run-off election and repeated threats to disrupt the vote.
"The Islamic Emirate is once again warning all the compatriots to not participate in that American fraud process, and like the first round, they have to listen to their consciences," said a Taliban statement.
It said the Taliban is ready to "collapse" the electoral process and any participant who gets hurt will only have themselves to blame.
Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama's special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, said that the election process had worked as it was supposed to.
"From the beginning ... I said publicly that this election would be imperfect," Holbrooke said. "I said it on the record. And there were many irregularities. But in the end, the process worked, and I want to stress that. The Election Complaints Commission declared that neither candidate got 50 percent, although one came very close, and that the top two candidates were President Karzai and Dr. Abdullah and they should have a runoff."
Holbrooke added that it was "reasonable to hope" for fewer irregularities in a runoff.
CNN's Chris Lawrence and Thomas Evans contributed to this report.


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Why are autumn leaves red in America and yellow in Europe?
Walking outdoors in the fall, the splendidly colorful leaves adorning the trees are a delight to the eye. In Europe these autumn leaves are mostly yellow, while the United States and East Asia boast lustrous red foliage. But why is it that there are such differences in autumnal hues around the world? A new theory provided by Prof. Simcha Lev-Yadun of the Department of Science Education- Biology at the University of Haifa-Oranim and Prof. Jarmo Holopainen of the University of Kuopio in Finland and published in the Journal New Phytologist proposes taking a step 35 million years back to solve the color mystery.
The green of a tree's leaves is from the larger proportion of the chlorophyll pigment in the leaves. The change in color to red or yellow as autumn approaches is not the result of the leaves' dying, but of a series of processes - which differ between the red and yellow autumn leaves. When the green chlorophyll in leaves diminishes, the yellow pigments that already exist become dominant and give their color to the leaves. Red autumn leaves result from a different process: As the chlorophyll diminishes, a red pigment, anthocyanin, which was not previously present, is produced in the leaf. These facts were only recently discovered and led to a surge of research studies attempting to explain why trees expend resources on creating red pigments just as they are about to shed their leaves.
Explanations that have been offered vary and there is no agreement on this as of yet. One discipline suggests that the red pigment is produced as a result of physiological functions that make the re-translocation of amino acids to the woody parts of the tree more efficient in setting up its protection against the potential damage of light and cold. Other explanations suggest that the red pigment is produced as part of the tree's strategy for protecting itself against insects that thrive on the flow of amino acids. But whatever the answer is, these explanations do not help us understand why the process of creating anthocyanin, the red pigment, does not occur in Europe.
An evolutionary ecology approach infers that the strong autumn colors result from the long evolutionary war between the trees and the insects that use them as hosts. During the fall season, which is when the insects suck the amino acids from the leaves and later lay their eggs, the tree colors its leaves in red because aphids are attracted to yellow ones, so as to advertise to the insects as to the defensive quality of the tree in order to lower the tendency of the insects to occupy the leaves for nutrition and the bark for breeding. In this case too, the protective logic of red pigmentation may be sound, but the yellow leaves cannot be reconciled with this approach. But to settle this point, the new theory can be applied.
According to the theory provided by Prof. Lev-Yadun and Prof. Holopainen, until 35 million years ago, large areas of the globe were covered with evergreen jungles or forests composed of tropical trees. During this phase, a series of ice ages and dry spells transpired and many tree species evolved to become deciduous. Many of these trees also began an evolutionary process of producing red deciduous leaves in order to ward off insects. In North America, as in East Asia, north-to-south mountain chains enabled plant and animal 'migration' to the south or north with the advance and retreat of the ice according to the climatic fluctuations. And, of course, along with them migrated their insect 'enemies' too. Thus the war for survival continued there uninterrupted. In Europe, on the other hand, the mountains - the Alps and their lateral branches - reach from east to west, and therefore no protected areas were created. Many tree species that did not survive the severe cold died, and with them the insects that depended on them for survival. At the end of the repeated ice ages, most tree species that had survived in Europe had no need to cope with many of the insects that had become extinct, and therefore no longer had to expend efforts on producing red warning leaves.
According to the scientists, evidence supporting this theory can be found in the dwarf shrubs that grow in Scandinavia, which still color their leaves red in autumn. Unlike trees, dwarf shrubs have managed to survive the ice ages under a layer of snow that covered them and protected them from the extreme condition above. Under the blanket of snow, the insects that fed off the shrubs were also protected - so the battle with insects continued in these plants, making it necessary for them to color their leaves red.
Source: University of Haifa


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Deck The Halls With Holiday Tags
Hello G45ers,
Welcome to our fancy holiday tag party here on the Graphic 45 blog! Today we're getting festive with some gorgeous tag ideas featuring our new collection 12 Days of Christmas. Sure, the holidays are a few months away, but it's never too early to start planning ahead! We love the holidays here at Graphic 45! They offer so much inspiration for creativity! Today we're going to deck the halls with some fabulous tag inspiration from Romy Veul, Maria Cole and Clare Charvill! You'll see three stunning tags, each one very different but also very beautiful! Get inspired by the wide variety of ways to create exquisite tags for your holiday season!
In honor of today's holiday crafts we're having a special 12 Days of Christmas blog contest this week! You could win a 12 Days of Christmas 12x12 paper pad, Stickers, Alphabet Stickers, Chipboard Die-Cuts 1 & 2, cardstock Banners, Tags & Pockets, Flowers and 6x6 Patterns & Solids paper pad! That's a $60 value! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win. One random winner will be chosen from this week's comments and announced on this Friday's blog!
We just can't say enough about tags. They're so much fun to make and they have so many uses. Holiday tags are a great way to mark the occasion. You can give them as cards or use them as gift toppers. You can string lots of tags together on some ribbon to create a festive banner. You can also gather the family around the table for some fun tag-making for the holidays! Our new 12 Days of Christmas collection offers endless possibilities for stunning tags! The vivid colors and elegant designs are sure to capture your imagination. Today's tags also feature our Regular and Large Tag Album Staples which are just perfect for tag-making!
Here we have a gorgeous 12 Days of Christmas tag by Romy. This splendid creation features elegant paper layers, fussy cut elements and a great use of the Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Label Holder. This sweet creation is just perfect for adding festive cheer to your holiday celebration! Here is what Romy had to say about it.
"When I make cards or tags, I usually take one element as my starting point. For this tag that was the beautiful Ornate Metal Label Holder. It was the perfect way to highlight the text 'Christmas' which is printed on the'My True Love' paper. I then started layering and fussy cutting and arranged all the papers and fussy cut elements around the label holder." -Romy
Patterned papers: 12 Days of Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Christmas Rose, Golden Rings, My True Love, Holly and Ivy
May Arts ribbon
Here is another gorgeous tag creation. This one was made by Maria and it highlights all the gorgeous natural elements in 12 Days of Christmas. Beautiful fussy cutting, pretty ribbons and flowing embellishments give this tag such a radiant look. This is such a wonderful way to get in the holiday spirit! Here is what Maria had to say about this darling craft.
"First of all, can I just say how gorgeous The Twelve Days of Christmas is? I am a total lover of all things shabby and vintage, and this paper line from Graphic 45 combines both to make the prettiest holiday paper I've ever seen! One of my favorite things about this new Christmas line is the use of the color pink! I wanted to bring out those pretty light rose hues along with a more traditional Christmas color, olive green. One of my favorite images from this line is the one of the lady dancing, so I made her the focal point of my tag. To change things up, instead of using a single tag from my Graphic 45 regular tag album, I used two and adhered them together. This way, my tag had that lovely scallop shape on both ends—which is perfect for adding some pretty ribbon and trinkets!" -Maria
Graphic 45 Paper:
The Twelve Days of Christmas Joyeux Noel
The Twelve Days of Christmas My True Love
The Twelve Days of Christmas Ladies Dancing
The Twelve Days of Christmas Swans a Swimming
The Twelve Days of Christmas Calling Birds
The Twelve Days of Christmas The Twelve Days of Christmas
Graphic 45 Embellishments:
Additional Products:
May Arts pink, olive, and pink/silver ribbon
Petaloo Darjeeling petites – Teastaine
Petaloo Dahlias – Teastaine
Idea-ology Baubles
Here we have a stunning tag that Clare created with 12 Days of Christmas and the Graphic 45 Large Tag Album Staples. This amazing tag has such a classic look. Pretty paper layers, inked borders and a few fussy cut elements combine to make a joyful holiday statement. Here Clare gives some fun and helpful tips on how she created this colorful tag. You can get inspired to create your own tag treasure with our new 12 Days of Christmas collection! Take it away, Clare!
The papers in this collection are truly gorgeous and wonderful to work with and the images are just crying out to be cut out and layered J I decided to make my tag for CHA around the second day of Christmas as I just adore the two turtle doves.
I started off my tag by inking all the edges with Walnut Stain ink and covering it with Swans a Swimming checked paper. Then I took two of the cut a parts from Holly and Ivy, cut the border and 1" from the bottom of one, raised them up on foam tape and layered them onto the tag, angling the top one slightly to the left.
Then came the fun bit. From the Turtle Doves paper I cut out 2 square elements from the corners and words from the border. I used a 1" punch to cut out the 2nd element. All of these were added to the journaling spot on the tag.
Then I cut out the pears, layered them up and stuck them to
the top of the tag. Lastly I cut
out the doves, shaped their wings, added a little white Art glitter and stuck
them in place with some foam tape.
To hang the tag I used an ornate metal label holder and some red May Arts twine.
12 x 12 Swans a Swimming
12 x 12 Holly and Ivy
12 x 12 Turtle Doves
Other Supplies
May Arts red Twine
Foam Tape
Glossy Accents
Walnut Stain Distress Ink
We hope you all had a lot of fun exploring today's fabulous tag creations. You can see what a wide variety of crafts you can create with 12 Days of Christmas. There are so many possibilities for festive holiday crafts! Huge thanks to Romy, Maria and Clare for their beautiful work today. We hope you will all come back and see us very soon. We've got more fun and inspiration planned for all of you G45ers! We hope you'll find some time this weekend to get creative with your favorite Graphic 45 collection! Have a fantastic day and a happy weekend!
With Love and Pretty Paper,
Your Friends at Graphic 45


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[While recovering I'm actively on the hunt for new and exciting recipes, considering that our last post has gathered a lot of interest, I thought I'd do best by bringing you more "mushrooms as a main ingredient." I've tried everyone of these, and I found each simply delicious! CS]
From Kaylin's Kitchen:
Roasted Mushrooms with Garlic, Thyme, and Balsamic Vinegar
1 lb. mushrooms (I used brown Crimini mushrooms)
2 T + 1 tsp. olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 T finely minced garlic
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 T finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 T chopped fresh parsley (optional, for garnish)
Preheat oven to 400F/200C or heat gas or charcoal grill to medium high. Wash mushrooms, pull out stems, and cut into halves (or quarters if the mushrooms are large.) Put mushrooms into bowl and toss with 2 T olive oil, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Cover a roasting pan with foil, then arrange mushrooms on the pan in a single layer. (Spread them out as much as you can. For cooking on a grill, I'd probably use heavy foil to make a "pan" so the flame doesn't turn the bottom of the roasting pan black.)
Roast mushrooms 15 minutes. While mushrooms cook, finely chop fresh thyme, then mix with minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, and the tsp. of olive oil. (You could mix this right in the bowl you originally tossed the mushrooms with.)
After 15 minutes, drain off any liquid that has accumulated. (If you spread the mushrooms out well, the liquid will evaporate, but if yours are too crowded like mine, you'll have a little liquid to pour off.) Then toss the hot mushrooms with they garlic-thyme mixture. Arrange back on roasting pan and cook about 10 minutes more. Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley if desired.
Portobello mushrooms are inexpensive, full of flavor and meat like in taste. Here is a quick and easy recipe from allrecipes.com:
Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
- 3 portobello mushrooms
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 3 tablespoons chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up.
- In a small bowl, combine the oil, onion, garlic and vinegar. Pour mixture evenly over the mushroom caps and let stand for 1 hour.
- Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Recipe Yield: 3 servings
As a child, as a teenager, mushrooms were not exactly my idea of good food… As I grew older, my taste buds got more educated and started appreciating many ingredients I would never have touched in my early years. Mushroom based dishes not only are healthy, but mushrooms add a lot of flavor to almost anything they are cooked with. Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy


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Two decades after creating the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee says humans have become so reliant on it that access to the Web should now be considered a basic right.
Retro browser smackdown: IE6 vs. Netscape in 2011
In a speech at an MIT symposium, Berners-Lee compared access to the Web with access to water. While access to water is a more fundamental right, because people simply cannot survive without it, Web access should be seen as a right, too, because anyone who lacks Web access will fall behind their more connected peers.
"Access to the Web is now a human right," he said. "It's possible to live without the Web. It's not possible to live without water. But if you've got water, then the difference between somebody who is connected to the Web and is part of the information society, and someone who (is not) is growing bigger and bigger."
Berners-Lee appeared at the MIT symposium on "Computation and the Transformation of Practically Everything," part of the school's 150th anniversary celebration. Other notable speakers included Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop Per Child, who also created the MIT Media Lab.
Berners-Lee has been outspoken on net neutrality, and at MIT warned against ISPs having too much control over how we use the Web. Berners-Lee also touched on smartphones, repeating his stance that it is better to develop Web apps that run on mobile devices than to create apps that circumvent the open Web.
He also said it's important for the Web not to simply become an instrument to spread unfounded rumors and conspiracy theories. One of his goals is to make the Web a system in which scientists can share data and information more effectively.
The Web has grown so large that the number of Web pages rivals the number of neurons in a human brain, Berners-Lee said. And the Web must be analyzed, just as we analyze the brain.
"To a certain extent, we have a duty about the Web which is greater than our duty about the brain, because with the brain we just analyze it," he said. "But with the Web, we actually get to engineer it. We can change it."
Negroponte used his time on stage to reflect on both the MIT Media Lab and the One Laptop Per Child project, which has supplied millions of cheap computers to children in some of the world's poorest countries. Negroponte's project could be seen as extending the idea that the Web is a basic human right with concrete action, putting laptops in the hands of children who otherwise would not get them.
Negroponte showed pictures of children around the world using the laptops, including one in Peru who was teaching his grandparents how to read and write. Each laptop, he noted, came loaded with 100 books. When 100 laptops were shipped to a village, that meant 10,000 books were coming with them.
The free market alone would not have been a great enough force to accomplish this, he said.


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the War on Terror is a malignant outgrowth of the Terror of War | Chilcot report: War on Iraq
July 10, 2016 Leave a comment
Much is in the news about the recently released Chilcot report by Sir John Chilcot, chairman of the United Kingdom's Iraq war inquiry. He was one of the bureaucrats in office during the time the United States and subsequently Great Britain governments' decided to go to war on Iraq in 2003. The Chilcot report exposes the fact that there were no grounds to go to war on Iraq. There were lies, confounded by more lies that lead to this grave decision, which has subsequently ignited ISIS (whatever acronym you wish to call it), unleashing an insurmountable backlash of violence by groups coping with their own destabilization and horrors. Violence fueled by hatred in ever swirling spirals.
Carne Ross wrote for the New York Times July 6, 2016 Chilcot Report: How Tony Blair Sold the War
"Thus the invasion that was justified by an imaginary threat in Iraq helped create a crisis of global insecurity that will endure for a generation, at least.
The ministers and officials who enabled Mr. Blair to perpetrate this catastrophe must also bear blame. Brave after the event, many testified before Mr. Chilcot that they knew the war was a mistake — yet they went along with it. But without them, it could not have happened. The "threat" of weapons of mass destruction was repeated by many diplomats and officials even when they, like me, were well aware that the scant intelligence we had could not substantiate the claim."
Matthew Schweitzer on the 8th of July 2016 writes in Mondediplio – the English version of Le Monde Diplomatique, Iraq's trauma: the Chilcot inquiry
Schweitzer describes the history leading up to this, which has already been destabilizing the area years before. He mentions,
"In 1991, over 10 years before the events described by the Chilcot inquiry occurred, a United Nations report concluded that 'the children of Iraq up to the ages of puberty are the most traumatized children of war ever described.' The report arrived at the end of the first Gulf war, in which 20,000-35,000 Iraqi soldiers perished along with nearly 3,700 civilians."
On July 7th, George Monbiot published on the Guardian's website The Judgement of History: The Chilcot report is utterly damning; but it's still not justice
"Mr Blair, the co-author of these crimes, whose lethal combination of appalling judgement and tremendous powers of persuasion made the Iraq war possible, saunters the world, picking up prizes and massive fees, regally granting interviews, cloaked in a force field of denial and legal impunity.
The crucial issue – the legality of the war – was, of course, beyond Sir John Chilcot's remit…Justice is inseparable from democracy. If a prime minister can avoid indictment for waging aggressive war, the entire body politic is corrupted. In the Chilcot report, there is a reckoning, firm and tough and long overdue. But it's still not justice."
As a United States citizen born and raised in this country, who protested going to war in the streets back then, it occurred to me that I had read an indictment a few years ago from someone within the United States government exposing the US government's ill conceived decision to go to war in Iraq. I googled, and came up with this article The US needs its own Chilcot report, written by Trevor Timm
"The former US president most responsible for the foreign policy catastrophe has led a peaceful existence since he left office. Not only has he avoided any post-administration inquiries into his conduct, he has inexplicably seen his approval ratings rise (despite the carnage left in his wake only getting worse)."
And in the politics of injustice, in which corpocrisy rules, it is really up to all of us to actually make a difference.
I beckon comments and suggestions regarding answers on ways to deal with the conundrum of hatred and violence. Perhaps if a large part of the citizens of the United States and Great Britain – for starters – would have the will and courage to make our voices heard and actually demand prosecution for the Crime of War, the consequences could be felt worldwide. That is, rather than passively watching this, actively making clear that you are behind persecuting these criminals – behind which are a bunch of corporations whose goal certainly was to invade Iraq for their own profit motives.
If the message sent to the rest of the world is that we care about other peoples lives who are embroiled in war and the injustice of it – rising above the political veil of democracy – to actually send clear messages of humanitarian love and peace, this in itself could begin wakening quite different responses from people who have only felt desperation and experienced hopelessness and horror.
I will promptly write in my digesthis blog about the concept of 'othering' (distancing oneself); a concept of Edward Said, mentioned by Naomi Klein in a larger context, together with the inspiring words of Akala regarding status quo racism built into Empire.
Another means of extracting ourselves from the rather undemocratic government we are in which is ensconced in the politics of money, as politicians are placed by corporate powers to parlay their wishes, is to have a GREEN SUSTAINABILITY REVOLUTION.
Perhaps as one person recently commented, the more that we involve ourselves in our own communities in DIY Doing it Ourselves: to grow our own food, actively engage in community building, build inexpensive systems to collect your own rain water, collect energy from the sun with solar, build community projects such as community gardens and windmills or whatever renewable technology is available and adaptable to the climate and geography of place…the more we will be energizing ourselves without paying into a corrupt system that is bent on continually receiving fees. And the more that people grow their own food and acquire energy from their own self sustaining systems, the healthier and happier and more independent they will be, so that they won't need to support industries which are reaping huge monetary gains while delivering little. As people take responsibility for their own health and happiness, they will less and less need to buy into a system that keeps them locked into it: i.e. pharmaceutical industry.
Here I go again. Moved to create a blog, pulling together content from a variety of sources by established journalists who have done their rigorous investigative journalism, scrutinizing information to put it out there. I float these out to consecrate their points and add some of my own. I considered researching which print or online publication I could send a query to, to submit an article for which I'm paid, and I guess two factors are dissuading me.
The first, that I want to immediately get this information out there. Secondly, I realize that I am for the most part reading and re-circulating other peoples' dredging labor involved in investigative journalism. Nevertheless, the more the information is circulated, the better.
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition


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Conservative leader Andrew Scheer's pledge to extend mortgage amortization maximums for some homebuyers and loosen a contentious stress test would likely lead to more debt and higher property prices, some experts say.
"Oh my god, here we go again," said Tsur Somerville, a professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, when he heard Scheer's announcement Monday.
Scheer plans to loosen rules around the stress test, which was designed to ensure buyers requiring mortgages could afford payments if interest rates rose, and remove it altogether for mortgage renewals.
He also plans to allow first-time property buyers to take out 30-year mortgages — reversing moves by Stephen Harper's previous Conservative government that reduced terms from 40 years to 25 years.
With a longer amortization, first-time homebuyers can opt for a larger mortgage than they might be able to afford payments on if it were for a shorter time frame. Meanwhile, lenders may be able to approve borrowers for larger mortgages if the stress test requirements are loosened.
The stress test — introduced in 2010 and significantly modified in 2018 — has helped to slow accelerating house prices, according to various reports.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. CEO Evan Siddall defended both measures amid industry lobbying for changes earlier this summer. In a strongly worded letter to the Standing Committee of Finance Siddall said his job is to "protect our economy from potentially tragic consequences."
The stress test has helped reduce house prices in Canada by 3.4 per cent compared to what they otherwise would have been, he said. The CMHC declined to comment Monday, saying they were not in a position to comment on political parties' promises or announcements during the election period.
A TD report released earlier this year estimated home prices could rise six per cent by the end of next year if the stress test was removed and all else remained equal.
Canadian Realtors cheered the proposal.
"Realtors have long asked for common-sense solutions designed to help Canadians purchase a home of their own," said Jason Stephen, the Canadian Real Estate Association's president, adding Scheer's campaign promises include some of their suggested policy changes.
The Scheer plan also includes launching an inquiry into money laundering in the real estate sector, as well as making surplus federal real estate available for development to increase housing supply.
The supply issue is Somerville was in favour of addressing, as increased supply tends to better affordability.
Canadians' high level of household debt has been a concern. The CMHC previously warned that high debt levels with looming interest rate hikes could lead to lower consumption, less savings or loan defaults.
Canadians owed roughly $1.77 in credit market debt — a figure that includes consumer credit, mortgages and non-mortgage loans — for every dollar of their disposable income, according to Statistic Canada's most recent figures.
"If we're concerned about Canadians' level of debt, why are we helping them take on more debt?" asked Somerville.
Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press


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King, William Rufus Devane
King, William Rufus Devane, 1786–1853, U.S. Senator from Alabama (1819–44, 1848–52), b. Sampson co., N.C. A Democratic Congressman from North Carolina (1811–16), he settled (1818) in Alabama and became one of its first Senators. King resigned in 1844 to become minister to France; he successfully urged France to refrain from joining England in a protest against U.S. annexation of Texas. Later he again entered (1848) the Senate. Elected (1852) Vice President under Franklin Pierce, he died in Alabama soon after taking the oath of office.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies


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Actual cheating in casino gambling is prohibited. Of course, you couldn't expect casino operators to just watch as cheating players walk away with their money. Still, let us explore the ways in which players have tried to cheat in casinos. Specifically, let's focus on one type of casino gambling — the roulette.
Roulette cheating is probably the most common and easiest in gambling. One of the most well-known roulette cheating methods is called 'past posting' and dates many years back. Past posting involves lightning-fast reflexes and proper timing. Dealers usually look down after spinning the wheel to see which will be the winning number. Someone who is attempting to pull a past posting move should have a quick eye and hand. He must use this opportunity to place his bet discreetly on the winning number. This cheat involves different variations. The cheater can switch bets, place bets, or remove his losing bet. The trick is best done when there is only one dealer or croupier manning the roulette. Dealers are aware of this cheat, so one who wishes to do it must be sharp and quick. Of course, the real trick is to avoid getting caught.
This second cheat is not really a cheat at all. Ball control just involves exploiting the croupier's skill for your own benefit. It is common knowledge that roulette results are influenced by the croupiers. Croupiers may deny this, but over the years, they have undoubtedly learned and developed muscle memory. This means that they know how much force to use in spinning to produce certain results. This enables the croupiers to manipulate and influence the game results. A shrewd player can use the croupier's skill to his advantage through observation. Before placing your bet, watch for a few games and study the croupier's technique. This should give you an idea what the result of the game will be. Place bets on the number you think the croupier favors. Be careful in using this technique because croupiers can ruin your casino gambling time. Observations show that croupier will randomly vary spinning techniques if they notice that someone wins games consecutively. 카지노사이트
The use of electronic devices such as small computers or mobile phones in roulette is probably the most costly of all gambling cheats. This type of cheat requires a program and a device that can examine the spins and mechanical condition of roulette wheels and tables. The often-used argument in cases of electronic cheating is that the device are just used as a system for calculating advantages. But the technicality of law that prohibits computers in casinos makes this type of cheating illegal and answerable to the law. Physicists like Norman Packard attempted and succeeded in producing a program that is able to predict roulette outcomes. The development of the program is easy compared to hiding the computer or device successfully in the casino. To protect the interests of its primary source of income, Nevada passed a law that anyone possessing such devices in casino will be imprisoned for 10 years and pay a fine worth $10,000. Don't use this method if you still want your nights of casino gambling.


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Smart meters can now get a little more talkative through a deal between AT&T and SmartSynch, a firm that creates networked utility meters designed to provide two-way communication between an operator and a customer's services and appliances.
While several smart meter firms have already hooked into the cellular grid for backhauling information from meters, no carrier had fully committed to this vertical market, which seemed like a low-margin distraction from sexier sales to laptop-toting road warriors.
Henry Jones II, the head of public sector solutions for SmartSynch, explained in an interview before the AT&T announcement that carriers didn't like to negotiate low-data deals that bring in "a couple of dollars a month."
Jones said it has taken a while to explain that a 10- to 15-year commitment for a meter at that price to use a tiny fraction of a typical user's data consumption produces a mighty fine margin. Utilities aren't as fickle as consumers, either, constantly changing services and requiring expensive marketing to attract for the latest shiny phone.
The catch-all term Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) doesn't require a two-way data path; meters can push data without having actions they must perform in response to commands. This is useful for utilities, but doesn't provide the tools for automating appliances to choose the most idle and cheapest time for their heaviest power usage, such as an automatic defrost cycle in a refrigerator. With smart metering, the meter has to push information out, but also must facilitate communications between a home or business and the utility.
Utilities solved the smart-meter backhaul rather expensively, often by building their own networks using a variety of approaches. At one time, SmartSynch experimented with building utility-oriented WiFi networks, including a Burbank, CA pilot, which was discontinued.
Some large-scale WiFi networks like this have been built—such as in Corpus Christi, Texas—but they haven't proven to be an effective route, because costs remain high. (Corpus Christi sold its network to EarthLink to develop into a combination meter-reading and public-access network; EarthLink then later pulled out of such networks altogether.)
Jones said these utility-built networks are "just not panning out like utilities were expecting." Broadband over powerline is one example, where existing infrastructure could be leveraged to combine broadband to the home and smart metering services. However, there's no successful large-scale BPL rollout anywhere in the world after a decade of trying. (Low-bandwidth powerline communications that precede true BPL is used widely, but isn't sufficient for real-time smart-grid networking and infrastructure monitoring.)
Likewise, self-organizing, self-repairing mesh networks were pushed to utilities as an inexpensive alternative to paying recurring fees per meter, but these networks don't appear to have made an impact, either.
Jones suggests, despite SmartSynch's earlier reservations, that the tens of billions being poured into cellular data networks indicated to SmartSynch that such networks were the way to go.
AT&T's pricing wasn't announced.
Listing image by Public domain image


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6 € bei sowaswillichauch.de
Add a little of sparkle to your life with these magical unicorn stickers, perfect for accessorising your crafts, decorating notebooks, adding sparkle to your fridge, laptop...the possibilities are endless! Just make sure you watch these unicorns as they're prone to get up to mystical mischief. Sticker Post is here to encourage individuality, colourful days and all for expressing yourself, whether it's a not so terrifying Pterodactyl to a cuddly Cactus we've got something to brighten your day and put a smile on a face. Details - Approx 13 stickers in a pack Made from durable long-lasting vinyl Stickers are presented in an A5 size
50 originelle Geschenkideen für den Schulanfang
57 tolle Geschenke für Einhorn Fans


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Simple, clean and modern Web Developer or Web Design Agency logo template.
Simple to work with and highly customizable, it ca be easely adjusted to fit your needs.
High quality fully layered and fully editable vector EPS, easy to change colors and adjustable to any size. CMYK, multiple color variations included.
Font used is Dekar. Details in the Help file.


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Parts Catalog – Part Detail
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Manufacturer: Vishay/BC Components
Description: CAP 100PF 50V CERAMIC C0G 5%
IHI Electronics has a massive 50-million-parts inventory, so you can search for EOL, obsolete, hard-to-find and allocated components. If you're looking for a CAP 100PF 50V CERAMIC C0G 5%, we have it. That would be part number K101J15C0GF5TH5. It's manufactured by Vishay/BC Components. The IHI Electronics family can package, bond and deliver all of your electronics needs at reduced prices.
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fraternity and sorority
and sorority, in American colleges, a student society formed for social purposes, into which members are initiated by invitation and occasionally by a period of trial known as hazing. Fraternities are usually named by two or three Greek letters and are also known as Greek-letter societies; women's Greek-letter societies are commonly called sororities. The oldest Greek-letter society is Phi Beta Kappa, founded (1776) at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va. It soon became a scholarship honor society. After 1830 the literary societies that existed in many colleges were slowly supplanted by fraternities modeled on the three established (1825–27) at Union College. After 1870 many professional and honorary fraternities were established to give recognition to scholarship in various fields. Most fraternities and sororities, however, serve mainly as social clubs. The typical Greek-letter society owns or rents a house that is used as a residence hall for members and as a center for social activities. Some Greek-letter societies have only one local organization or chapter; others are nationally organized with chapters in several institutions. The Interfraternity Conference (1909) and the National Panhellenic Congress (1929) were established to consult on the common interests of American fraternities and sororities. Because many fraternities only admit new members on the basis of a unanimous vote, many of the organizations have been able to maintain discriminatory entrance policies. For this reason, and because of incidents of violent or abusive hazing, fraternities are forbidden on some campuses and their activities severely curtailed on many others.
See W. R. Baird, Manual of American College Fraternities (rev. ed. 1949); W. A. Scott, Values and Organizations: A Study of Fraternities and Sororities (1965).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Education: Terms and Concepts


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from Twitter 10 September 2017:
What is the precise scientific claim of my book *Philosophy of Economics* (Routledge 1989) to the Sverige Riksbank Economics Nobel prize? It is that I detected & corrected central errors in the work of Hicks and Arrow, two greats of 20thC economics, who were early winners in 1972…. And both Hicks and Arrow graciously agreed to my criticism… perhaps even admitted the errors…
Three other early winners, Hayek 1974, Friedman 1976, Schultz 1979, supported my work even more strongly: the last two stood as witnesses! Yes
#BankofSweden @NobelPrize I bet you didn't know your early winners Friedman 1976 Schultz 1979 testified on my behalf in US Federal Court!
So I end up using Twitter to say all this? Yes… ongoing battles against racism in America, corruption in India…!
It is thanks to the Internet my 1989 *Philosophy of Economics* survived the vicious attack against it in America…And Sidney Alexander, contemporary of Samuelson, teacher of Solow, in 1985 found an ally in my work…Alexander and I were pirate ships blowing holes in the positivist Armada of "social choice theory" etc, sinking it permanently…
The incoherence confusion dogmatism irrelevance of a lot of academic economics today dissipates thanks to my 1989 Philosophy of Economics. If
#BankofSweden @NobelPrize wants to reduce the incoherence of economics let it read the Zinn review below in German & English
Apropos *Philosophy of Economics*
"Dr. Roy's book, Philosophy of Economics, which I have read in galleys, I regard as a masterpiece, not only in economic analysis but in philosophic analysis as well." — Sidney Hook 1989
"I shall have to ponder your rejection of the Humean position which has, I suppose, been central in not only my thought but that of most economists. Candidly, I have never understood what late Wittgenstein was saying, but I have not worked very hard at his work, and perhaps your book will give guidance."–Kenneth J. Arrow, letter to the author, 1989
"I was grateful for the reminder of the passage of Aristotle at which I had not looked for many years and found the criticism of Arrow well justified and important." FA Hayek, letter to the author, 1981
"It is an extraordinarily well-written and well-thought through book that shows a wide-ranging capacity and understanding of economics as a discipline in both its macro and micro aspects." Milton Friedman 1991, Evidence in the US District Court for the District of Hawaii.
"There is no doubt whatsoever that he has a thorough and deep understanding of the major issues that have occupied macroeconomics over the past fifty years…. It is a sign of real understanding that Roy can state these ideas not in terms of jargon, not in terms of equations or technical terms, but in straightforward English using only a minimum of specifically economic terminology. All in all, it is a very knowledgeable and sophisticated performance." — Milton Friedman, 1989
"I had the privilege of reading early drafts of this book. I saw it emerge as an in-depth analysis of the philosophical foundations of economics. It is scholarship of a high order. It is an original contribution of major importance to economic thought." — Theodore W. Schultz 1989
"The core of Roy's study is devoted to the nature and grounds of economics as knowledge; it examines the basic intellectual roots of economics. It is cogent and, what is exceedingly rare these days, it is refreshingly lucid…. Roy's book is in several important respects an original contribution, the most important being his treatment of the philosophical foundations of economics as knowledge. He is all too modest in assessing the importance of his contribution." Theodore W. Schultz, 1983
" (This) is a very ambitious work directed at the foundations of normative judgements in economics. The author arrives at some conclusions very closely matching those I arrived at some years ago. It is clear, however, that Dr. Roy arrived at his conclusions completely independently. That is all the more piquant to me in that the philosophical underpinning of his work is the development of philosophy in England from the later Wittgenstein, while mine derives principally from earlier work in the United States by the pragmatists… Dr. Roy reveals a clear understanding of the methodological positivism that invaded economic policy analysis in the thirties and still dominates the literature of economics…. Following Renford Bambrough….he arrives at a position equivalent to that of the American pragmatists, especially Dewey, who insist that the problematic situation provides the starting point for the analysis of a problem even though there are no ultimate starting points. The methodological implication is the support of inquiry as fundamental, avoiding both scepticism and dogmatism. Roy develops his position with a great deal of attention to the ramifications of the problem both in philosophy and in economics. While his treatment of economic questions is 'from the top down' so to speak, it reveals a strong command of conventional economic analysis. He writes very well and thinks very clearly. He is certainly not afraid to tackle the big questions. His book reveals a keen mind, ready to pay almost undue respect to his forerunners, but anxious also to achieve originality…." Sidney S. Alexander, 1985
"I know that I have to continue to bear the responsibility for things that I wrote nearly fifty years ago. I am however glad that your attention has been drawn to that passage written much more recently….building up to what I think is a coherent point of view very different from that which I took in '34 and '39…. concerned with a field not far removed from that you reach…" John R Hicks, letter to the author, 1984
"A work altogether well written and admirably clear." Renford Bambrough, 1985
"I like very much the courage in trying to produce a genuine philosophy of economics. Such a book is badly needed and could be very useful to economists. The fine use made of extensive readings in older as well as contemporary theorists and the splendid choice of quotations would themselves be worth the price of admission. The style maintains a fine level of clarity and emphasis." Max Black 1985
"The discussion of Arrow's theorem under unintended interpretations focuses our understanding on what is really fundamental to this famous result…. Roy has obviously thought much harder about the foundational and methodological problems in economics than most of his fellow-economists." Anonymous
"Roy's platonist view of what is the purpose of government is very odd at this stage of history. He seems to suppose that there is an objectively best state of affairs which we must simply discover. The more urgent issue in politics is generally not that of knowing what is the best thing to do but of dealing with conflicting interests. Conflict of interests is not merely disagreement over facts." Anonymous
"The author has performed a very valuable service for economists interested in the philosophical problems and positions discussed. He has not misrepresented the positions he discusses and his account of various issues and different positions on those issues is philosophically adequate. Many economists will be stimulated as a result of reading this work to reconsider their own positions on the issues Roy addresses." Anonymous
"The work has many strengths. It is wide in its references and its outlook. Its endorsement of objectivism is both right and timely. The chapter on mathematics in economics is particularly fine." Anonymous
"The author intends to discuss some of the central philosophical questions facing modern economic theory. In the foreground is a disposition of the conventional problem of value-independence. Roy sees the value-independence postulate as "Hume's Scepticism". He defines Hume's First and Second Laws on the basis of two signified propositions taken from R. M. Hare. (1) From positive empirical premises, no normative postulate can be derived; in order to establish obligatory propositions, at least one normative proposition is needed. (2) In a specified economic context, after all empirical and formal/logical matters are resolved, little scope exists for further intersubjectively valid answers. Valuations beyond this limit are based on the subjective feelings of the economist to the concerned problem. The scientific/theoretical attitude representative of most economists of the 20th century has been based on this characteristic Humean scepticism. To show this, the author reviews short representative quotations from some of the known names of recent economic theory: Friedman, Myrdal, Lionel Robbins, P. A. Samuelson, Hicks, Joan Robinson, Hayek, Oskar Lange, Schumpeter, Arrow, Blaug, Frank Hahn. Subsequently, the author raises the point as to what explains this scientific-theoretical approval. A cursory survey of important real and virtual historical developments since antiquity confirms that the essential reason for the reported wide acceptance of a humean position by the economic scientist indeed could have been as a defensive posture against dogmatism and political dictatorship ("It is part of the democratic reaction against medieval authoritarianism" p.45). Conditioned by their "disgust with the tyrannies and ideologies of the twentieth century", these authorities tried to protect economic science and guarantee the objectivity of research by resort to moral scepticism. Hence the author arrives at the starting position of his actual subject: After using Hume to escape from dependence on Plato e tutti quanti, has not value-free economics gotten into a fresh dependence, namely, moral scepticism and its philosophical consequence, moral indifference? Here too a contradiction is shown to arise, namely, that each argumentation against the normative can stand its ground only through normative premises. Thus ultimately something like correct standards become necessary. This however is only a marginal problem compared to a very much more important point: whether the moral scepticism permeating the strict scientific-theoretical position, is not just part of a very much more comprehensive scepticism, which includes Hume's own criticism of induction as well. But then the same scepticism makes positive theory dubious as well: "Either all of positive economics is attacked with just as much scepticism as anything in normative economics, or we accept one and reject the other when instead there are reasons to think they share the same ultimate grounds and must be accepted or rejected together"(p.47). The author illustrates the difficulties with radical scepticism in a continental traversal of economic theory: micro and macroeconomics, mathematical economic theory and welfare theory are stations on this tour. A solution of the problem in the strict sense is not given nor could have been expected. But Roy delivers a methodical rule which permits a more exact definition of the limits to which normative discussion can take place precisely and objectively: first, to distinguish always whether an objective answer is at all possible to certain questions, and secondly, to ask who is competent or in the best position to give an answer. For readers interested in a new, thoroughly subtle discussion of a basic yet customary problem, this book will be profitable reading. However, the author could have argued some matters slightly more elaborately and others less redundantly, and set forth the central idea more clearly through appropriate summaries."
Karl Georg Zinn in Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik / Zeitschrift für Wirtschaft und Statistik. Vol. 209, Nr. 5/6 (May 1992), p 573-574, translated from the German by Nahar Bhattacharya 1994.
"Effectively demonstrates the direct and significant links between the basic philosophical beliefs held by economists and their fundamental disagreements" Kyklos (Switzerland).
"Every rule of good argument is flouted. Does little to grapple with the large issues to which he rightly urges us to attend." Times Literary Supplement (UK).
"Not the book to set off the revolution in economic epistemology and it is not even a reliable introduction to the field for undergraduates." Journal of Applied Philosophy (UK).
"Subroto Roy's Philosophy of Economics is a formidable contribution…. The author's aim is to steer a middle course between scepticism and dogmatism in his account of the knowledge we can have of economic phenomena, and in this he largely succeeds. The result is a most distinguished and valuable exploration of the nature of economic inquiry." John Gray, Economic Affairs (UK).
"Interesting and well-written. Definitely worthwhile being read by any economist interested in the philosophical foundations of his subject and profession."
Journal of Institutional & Theoretical Economics (Germany).
"Roy's basic argument is that the theory of economic knowledge underlying the work of most economists is logically inconsistent… The inconsistency lies in not permitting the skepticism that undermines the analysis of normative problems to destroy the logical foundation underlying positive analysis….. This well-documented study is a worthwhile contribution to the burgeoning literature on the philosophy of economics." Choice
"The central argument of the book shows that the skepticism/dogmatism choice is a false dichotomy, that one need not embrace dogmatism in order to have objectivity or give up objectivity for freedom…. In the final section of the book Roy applies his critique… to several debates in economics. Chapter 8 presents the development of macroeconomics from John Maynard Keynes to the present through a dialogue between economists of opposing schools… Chapter 9 is a rich, wide-ranging discussion of mathematical models in economics…. Chapter 10 discusses the foundations of welfare economics… Roy shows how philosophical mistakes can lead economic thought astray, even though some of his arguments are also unsound. As a philosopher I find it encouraging to see an economist apply recent developments in epistemology to economic debates." Journal of Economic History
"Accomplished, interesting and ambitious." Mary Farmer Manchester School (UK).
"Perfectly sensible." De Economist (Netherlands).
"Engaging and illuminating study. His seamless style may lull the reader into underestimating the extent and difficulty of the philosophical ground covered." Research in History & Methodology of Economics (USA).
"(Roy's) message is for his fellow economists, urging them not to shy away from the treatment of normative issues in their discipline." – Economics and Philosophy
"When Roy refers to the present received theory of economics, he means that this is the view not only of Chicago, but also of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Cambridge, England, of Friedman, Samuelson, Myrdal, Hayek, and Joan Robinson. His coverage is broad…. In one place he states that it is precisely because it is possible for even a unanimous group of experts to be wrong that we have a reason, an objective reason, why freedom is to be valued. 'Freedom is necessary for objectivity.'…. Whether one agrees or disagrees, one has to be impressed by the knowledge and sophistication involved in Roy's presentation. Involved here is no run-of-the-mill carping at the economics establishment. This is a serious thoughtful work." Social Science Quarterly


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On A Gray 'Day,' One Last Post-Apocalyptic Stand
The Day
- Director: Douglas Aarniokoski
- Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
- Running Time: 90 minutes
Rated R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language and some nudity
With: Shawn Ashmore, Ashley Bell, Michael Eklund, Cory Hardrict, Dominic Monaghan, Shannyn Sossamon
In the post-apocalyptic film world, the tactic du jour for tipping off an audience that civilization and its inhabitants have all but kicked it seems to be simple color correction — specifically, zapping the frame of any lively hues and leaving behind a desolate palette of gray. Call it 50 shades of desaturated desperation.
Recent genre entries Terminator Salvation and Book of Eli made full use of the ashen approach in presenting their faded futures, deadening things up even more with trashed highways and ruined cityscapes to boot. But if you're not a summer blockbuster and you're looking to evidence Earth-changing cataclysm on a tight budget, merely going gray is quick, dirty and usually effective.
There are ways of overdoing it, however. In The Day, a savage B-movie thriller with unrealized aspirations to profundity, the monochrome choice is one of a few theoretically smart but ultimately extreme moves — even the spurting blood is a dull gray, and there's plenty of it. Using up its ideas too quickly and to excess, The Day initially focuses thoughtfully on the personal experiences of the living before taking a turn into darker, more senseless territory.
Five weary, heavily armed survivors of an unexplained 10-years-gone Armageddon stop to investigate a farmhouse they discover while trekking through the wilderness. Led by Rick (Dominic Monaghan), the militant yet hopeful head of the downtrodden group, the five want to establish whether anyone has already claimed the place.
Rick's easily agitated brother Adam (Shawn Ashmore) doesn't like the idea of sticking around, but the rest decide to hole up to take shelter from the rain and let Henson (Cory Hardrict), a high-school buddy of Rick and Adam's, recover from a fever and bad cough.
Most of them use the time to be alone. Rick admires his valuable jars of vegetable seeds; Shannon (Shannyn Sossamon) uses a hole in the roof to shower; Mary (Ashley Bell), a quiet newcomer to the gang, takes quick drags from a short cigarette. More than the others — and even in safety — she appears to be constantly on alert, ever watchful, poised to defend herself.
Each gaunt face and jumpy reflex reflects years of loss and pain, and for some that pain is more explicit. Adam's wife and daughter disappeared sometime after society broke down, most likely taken by bands of cannibals. Food is scarce, and hope scarcer. The faintly beating heart of the film may lie in how these people choose to live, despite what they've experienced; faced with little hope and scant purpose, they press on anyway, waiting for something to get better.
They may keep each other going, but when Shannon insists they're a family, Mary looks on skeptically. Unnerved by knowing so little about this relative outsider, Shannon pressures Mary to fully commit to the group or risk leaving it. It seems an empty threat at first, one leveled by the most unhinged survivor, but as Shannon soon discovers, there is something about Mary.
The farmhouse will turn out to be a lie, a booby trap meant to lure unsuspecting people to shelter and trap them there. A ringing heard for miles around signals a band of flesh-eating survivors (led by a disturbingly paternal Michael Eklund), and the stopover at the farmhouse becomes a siege. The snare outs Mary as a former member of one of the cannibal clans, and her trustworthiness, especially to Adam, is decidedly uncertain.
Beginning like The Road but ending, after a grisly detour through Hostel territory, in a Night of the Living Dead-style onslaught, The Day evokes the best of its genre but doesn't hold up by comparison. Its characters are already so tormented by what they've seen and done that they can barely sympathize with each other, making it difficult for an audience to do the same. With the dire spectacle of 30 cannibals coming to eat them, they can barely muster reasons to keep fighting, obsessing instead over momentary gestures of vengeance or control.
As the most compromised character, Bell gives a powerfully restrained performance that briefly elevates the film's uniformly bleak writing, and as Henson, Hardrict develops a welcome swagger as he picks off cannibals; it's an injection of much needed humor that comes far too late in the film.
The Day attempts a few thoughtful stabs at what it means to be human when the only way to live is murder, but the utter oppressiveness of its visual and emotional landscapes overwhelms. With protagonists so callous and defeated, you may be left rooting for the cannibals — at least they really want to live.


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Program > Overview
Provided below are downloadable PDF files of the JSM 2006 Abstract Book and Final Program. You have the option of downloading the entire program or downloading each day individually.
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Table of Contents through Sunday, August 6th
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Thursday, August 10th through indexes
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Awards Program
Dining Guide and Map
Final Errata Sheet


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- Baissomantis maculata (Lower Cretaceous, Zaza formation, Siberia)
- Baissomantis picta (Lower Cretaceous, Zaza Formation, Siberia)
Gratshev, V. G. and V. V. Zherikhin. 1994. New fossil mantids (Insecta, Mantida (sic)). Paleontological Journal 27(1A):148-165.
Grimaldi, D. 2003. A revision of Cretaceous mantises and their relationships, including new taxa (Insecta: Dictyoptera: Mantodea). American Museum Novitates 3412:1-47.
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WWE opens Orlando training center
Bodies crashing to the ground and being slung against the springy ropes of the ring. The slapping of skin as hulking men and women grapple and hurl blows at one another. The clink of free weights and the roar of broadcasters practicing to get it just right for the cameras.
Welcome to World Wrestling Entertainment's Performance Center, a $2.5 million, 26,000-square foot facility that opened last month, replacing a much smaller and antiquated facility in Tampa. It's both a graduate school of sorts for the WWE's next generation of talent and a training and rehabilitation center for its top-tier pro wrestlers, called "Superstars" and "Divas."
"Most kids grow up and at least at some point in their lives want to be a fireman or a cop. I've always wanted to be a pro wrestler since I was a little kid," said 29-year-old Corey Graves, one of 75 aspiring wrestlers based at the center.
The largest part of the facility is a vast space featuring seven wrestling rings that makes the new Orlando facility the largest training facility WWE has ever built.
Wrestler Xavier Woods, 26, said it's the kind of environment he always hoped to train in.
"When I first started, the guy that was training us rented out the back of a storage unit, just a tight little space with bugs and everything. It was like the lowest-level thing you could do," Woods said. "So to be in a place like this ... it's literally unreal."
Aspiring wrestlers currently in training range from former NFL players and Olympians to a former beauty pageant contestant. They signed contracts allowing them to work solely on becoming wrestlers.
"One hundred percent, this is their jobs," said Jane Geddes, WWE senior vice president of talent and development.
Geddes said the WWE built the center envisioning a place where up-and-comers could train alongside established professionals.
WWE is the major leagues of pro wrestling, with a half-billion dollars in annual revenue. Traditionally, it has been a magnet for young talent from smaller, independent wrestling operations. But those minor leagues are dwindling, and while the WWE does still hold some open tryouts, the performance center will be its main training ground for developing talent.
"This is where it starts for professional wrestlers now and this is where it will end — in a good way — as they look to move up to our main roster," Geddes said. "The timing was perfect for us to be able to move to the next level and create a facility like this."
Those who succeed will advance to WWE's "Raw" and "Smackdown" television broadcasts, as well as to pay-per-view shows, like "WrestleMania." In the meantime, they split training time with appearances in WWE's weekly "NXT" shows, which are filmed live in front of a crowd of 500 at nearby Full Sail University, a school with a heavy emphasis on entertainment production. The one-hour shows are broadcast in 100 countries.
While the performance center is mainly occupied by its "NXT" talent going through training, one of WWE's biggest stars, Paul "Big Show" Wight, was there recently to rehab from hip surgery.
WWE's old Tampa facility had only three wrestling rings and was located in a warehouse with no air conditioning. The new facility is triple the size. It has an area where television announcers hone their craft, a studio where wrestlers practice television promos, as well as lockers, weight rooms and rehabilitation facilities that are NFL and NBA caliber.
In many ways, developing wrestling characters is just as important as physical skill, as big, over-the-top personas like Hulk Hogan and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson are what sell the sport.
Everything the wrestlers do at the facility, from their development in the ring and in front of the camera during promo sessions, can be sent electronically back to WWE headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
There's no set period for how long a wrestler will spend at the performance center before moving up to the big time, but at the new training hub, wrestlers like Woods and Graves are confident they have what they need to succeed.
"Everything is right at our fingertips," Graves said. "You can actually feel a part of the big machine, which is really cool, because it can get frustrating when you think you're on your own. But now it's like, you're in it."
Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at www.twitter.com/khightower .


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Ardmore's first New Year's baby is first for Day family
Time will tell what the future holds for Zoey Taylor Day. But given initial Tuesday morning efforts, she may very well have a competitive trait.
Zoey came into this world at 7:48 a.m. and in doing so, was the first baby born in 2013 at Mercy Hospital Ardmore. She is also Justin and Maia Day's first child.
"I was supposed to come in at 5 p.m. today (Tuesday) and be induced," Maia said, "but she wanted to ring in the New Year. Once we found out there was another lady here, it kind of became a competition. We beat her by 15 minutes."
"We were in the waiting room cheering her on," grandmother Dawn Jones added.
Zoey measured a healthy 19 ½ inches and weighed 6 pounds and 8 ounces.
"It hasn't really hit home," Justin said. "It was new and it was just kind of a shock. I just stood there and stared. But it wasn't so bad."
The Days reside in Ardmore and have been married for two years. Justin is originally from Ardmore and Maia refers to herself as a Navy brat. They said they went through the whole alphabet and got to the Z's before arriving at a name for their first child, a healthy beautiful girl.
Maia added there were a number of emotions she went through when she first held her daughter.
"It was a relief," she said. "It was kind of surreal. It was exciting and nerve-wracking at once. It's really neat that she was the first baby born today."