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Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans, which are offered by private companies approved by Medicare, has grown from 5.3 million people in 2004 to 19 million people — or almost a third of the Medicare population — in 2017. Government payments to Medicare Advantage plans have risen from $77 billion to more than $200 billion a year over that time.
Health care researchers have argued that data collected on Medicare Advantage plans should be made public to allow analysts to try to get more insight into how much value the program delivers. "Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent, considering that Medicare Advantage plans receive substantial payments from the federal government and provide care for a significant and growing proportion of beneficiaries," Niall Brennan, Charles Ornstein and Austin Frakt wrote in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, last month.
Now, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is making Medicare Advantage data available to researchers for the first time, administrator Seema Verma announced Thursday.
The move, part of a new data-driven strategy, comes some 10 months after the agency angered researchers by canceling a planned release. "We recognize that the MA data is not perfect, but we have determined that the quality of the available MA data is adequate enough to support research," Verma said at the 2018 Datapalooza industry conference, according to Fierce Healthcare. "Data has the potential to help produce better, more targeted treatments for these patients, improving their quality of life while at the same time reducing costs. Our hope is that this data will be used for critical research on this vulnerable population."
CMS expects to make Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program data available next year, Verma said.
Researchers welcomed the CMS data release. "This is a *tremendously* big deal in health policy analytics," Lindsey Leininger of Mathematica tweeted.


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Two days ago, Senate Democrats shrugged off the House bill that would allow more flexibility to terminate VA officials who contributed to the wait-list fraud scandal that has exploded over the past month. Yesterday, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) shifted to a demand for Senate action, if not outright changes at the top, as more allegations of wrongdoing emerged:
What moved Nelson off of the party line expressed by Chuck Schumer, who offered a platitude about handling things administratively instead of Congressional action? Miami's CBS affiliate reported on accusations of more deaths from long wait times due to bungled resource management, adding to the deaths seen in Phoenix:
In February, a cardiovascular surgeon at the Miami VA hospital complained to one of his superiors that "patients had died" because a piece of equipment that might have saved their lives was left in a Broward warehouse, according to an email obtained by CBS4 News.
The February 27 email was sent by Dr. Tomer Karas to the VA's chief of surgery Dr. Seth Spector. In the email, Karas complained about a device known as the TandemHeart – which keeps blood following during certain sensitive procedures.
"It is my understanding that the TandemHeart has never been used here because of a nursing administration issue," Karas wrote. "I am not clear on what the issue is but I believe it has to do with concerns over competency and training."
In his email to Spector, Karas went on to relay a conversation he had with a VA cardiologist, Dr. Carlos Alfonso.
"In discussions with Dr. Alfonso," Karas wrote, "I understand that patients have died in our cath lab due to inability to offer a higher level of support … even while the TandemHeart was physically available."
Karas then added: "I am told the TandemHeart currently resides in a warehouse in Broward."
Note that the VA actually owns the Tandem Heart device, so it's not a lack of proper equipment. They just haven't bothered to take it out of storage, while veterans have allegedly died from its absence. How many other pieces of critical equipment get purchased, only to sit in warehouses while veterans wait for quality medical care?
And how long are they really waiting? This Fort Collins veteran had to wait months for an MRI despite an emergency-room admission for a brain injury:
After a bad fall, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Tom Mehan ended up in the Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Medical Center's emergency room. He told CBS4 he waited months for care.
"Some of my senses blanked out for a while, then came back a little; my taste, hearing, sight came back. I was thankful about that," Mehan said.
Mehan says doctors ran some tests immediately, but for other procedures he had to wait.
"They told me I fainted after doing the tests they did and that took like three months to get the MRI scheduled," Mehan said.
The Cheyenne center defended its record:
A spokesman for the Cheyenne center issued a statement on the matter
"It is important to allow OIG's independent and objective review to proceed until completion, and OIG has advised VA against providing information that could potentially compromise their ongoing review," it said in the statement.
"When you come in as an ER patient in a civilian hospital they just go through everything pretty quick, comparatively speaking," Mehan said.
Last year, while working at home, I began to have symptoms of a stroke — a lack of symmetry in my facial muscles, difficulty seeing out of one eye, and dizziness. We called for an ambulance and got admitted to the ER. Less than two hours later, they had me in the MRI looking for potential brain damage. (Insert your joke here.) It turned out to be nothing — a form of migraine which I had not experienced before — and I went home relieved. My symptoms were nowhere near as profound as Mehan's, and I cannot imagine having to wait three months to determine whether my brain was bleeding or not.
This single-payer system clearly does not work, and we've wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on it while top officials did nothing to fix it. That was also the Wall Street Journal's conclusion yesterday:
President Obama addressed the Veterans Affairs scandal on Wednesday, saying he's waiting for an Inspector General "audit" of what went wrong. And the press corps is debating whether VA Secretary Eric Shinseki should be fired. These are sideshows. The real story of the VA scandal is the failure of what liberals have long hailed as the model of government health care.
Don't take our word for it. As recently as November 2011, Paul Krugman praised the VA as a triumph of "socialized medicine," as he put it: "What's behind this success? Crucially, the V.H.A. is an integrated system, which provides health care as well as paying for it. So it's free from the perverse incentives created when doctors and hospitals profit from expensive tests and procedures, whether or not those procedures actually make medical sense."
Ah, yes, the VA lacks the evil profit motive. What the egalitarians ignore, however, is that a government system contains its own "perverse incentives," such as rationing that leads to treatment delays and preventable deaths, which the bureaucracy then tries to cover up. This isn't an accident or one-time error. It is inherent in a system that allocates resources by political force rather than individual consumer choices. The VA is ObamaCare's ultimate destination.
If this is what GovernmentCare does to our veterans, what would be in store for the rest of us?

subset: commoncrawl


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Once again, the Trumpophobic Left has proved that it will not give President Donald J. Trump credit for anything, not even erasing Islamofascist killers who are the sworn enemies of every American — even those who despise Trump.
Acting on what President Trump called his "total authorization," the United States armed forces on Thursday dropped a GBU 43/B device onto a maze of tunnels and bunkers occupied by ISIS terrorists in eastern Afghanistan's Nangahar Province. This Massive Ordnance Air Blast weapon affectionately is nicknamed the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB). America's most powerful non-atomic armament blasted these catacombs of hate with the equivalent of eleven tons of TNT.
The delightful result: destruction of this terror facility, along with at least 36 ISIS murderers, who were blown to bits, crushed beneath the cascading rubble, or otherwise liquidated. President Trump called this raid "very, very successful."
(Afghan officials said Sunday that the MOAB killed at least 94 ISIS members. Regardless, unless otherwise indicated, this opinion piece reflects the earlier, more conservative death toll.)
While Americans widely applauded this development, President Trump's foes lined up to denounce this great news — and on the unlikeliest grounds: It cost too much.
These liberals didn't utter a peep as Obama exploded America's national debt from $10.62 trillion to $19.95 trillion — an 87.85 percent boom. Suddenly, as Business Insider observed, they had a collective spasm of fiscal conservatism and excoriated Trump via social media for what they consider the Mother of All Expenditures.
• "The 'mother of all bombs' dropped today in Afghanistan cost the US taxpayer $314 million," James Melville moaned via Twitter. "And yet America can't afford meals on wheels."
• "Not 1 person in gov't, can tell me this country doesn't have enough money to fund social programs or water," Tika Sumpter complained. "We just dropped 314 million."
• "Useful context," cracked Ian Millhiser. "Also, still a sh** load of money to spend on a mass killing authorized by a game show host."
These and several comments got repeated across social media. This ignited news stories and additional comments, and — as happens too often these days — a manufactured controversy soon raged.
These liberal whiners totally miscalculated the cost of the MOAB that America lobbed at these bloodthirsty, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sadistic, homicidal ISIS scum. The price tag is not $314 million. Initial reports placed the price at $314 million for 20 MOABs, or about $16 million each. The Air Force announced on Friday, however, that each MOAB costs just $170,000.
So, for $170,000, President Trump vaporized no fewer than 36 ISIS murderers. That equals $4,722 per dead ISIS terrorist. By any measure, that is a bargain.
SLIDESHOW: The 'Mother of All Bombs'
Given that any one of these ISIS butchers could drive a truck bomb into a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, level the American embassy in Pakistan, or fly to Mexico, run across the southern "border," and detonate a bus full of American schoolchildren, these taxpayer dollars were spent beautifully.
If the early reports of each MOAB costing $16 million had remained accurate, it would have cost $445,000 per dead ISIS murderer. Since this price was too high for President Trump's relentless critics, one wonders what figure would have satisfied them. $200,000? $100,000? $4,722?
For $170,000, President Trump vaporized no fewer than 36 ISIS murderers.
Rather than focus on the cost per neutralized terrorist, consider the price for each person whom this action kept alive and well. If each of those ISIS killers would have murdered just one man, woman, or child, it would have made sense to spend $445,000 to keep each potential ISIS victim breathing and happy. Of course, the more people these dead ISIS killers would have snuffed out, the lower the outlay per individual shielded from the fatal effects of militant Islam. Only the most hidebound pacifist could complain about $4,722 to extinguish a homicidal ISIS maniac.
(If Afghan authorities are correct, and the MOAB exterminated 94 ISIS parasites, that equals a mere $1,808.50 per ISIS bacterium. At that price, an individual personally could afford to sponsor the removal of one of these fanatics. Imagine: "This ISIS killer's demise is brought to you by Mrs. Glenda Miller of Kalamazoo, Mich.")
Another maddening aspect of this story is how the Left erupted without nailing down several basic facts. As the Daily Caller noted, none other than Edward Snowden kept the $314 million snowball rolling when he wrote on Thursday: "The bomb dropped today in the middle of nowhere, Afghanistan, cost $314,000,000." He, in turn, cited a Los Angeles Times article, which also was wrong.
Even worse than botching the cost of each MOAB by 1,847-fold, major news organizations initially claimed that the MOAB was nearly as powerful as "Little Boy," the atomic bomb that President Harry Truman dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945. USA Today offered its readers a detailed graphic comparing the Hiroshima device and the MOAB. It claimed that Little Boy's blast equivalent was 15 tons of TNT versus 11 tons for MOAB. In other words, President Trump slammed ISIS and eastern Afghanistan with 73 percent of the firepower that Truman rained down on Hiroshima.
Um, just one problem:
Little Boy leveled Hiroshima with the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT. So, USA Today was off by only a factor of 1,000. Thus, Trump hammered ISIS with a blow equal to 0.073 percent of Truman's hit on Hirohito.
USA Today corrected this mistake. Nonetheless, the Media Research Center's Tom Blumer calls it Trump Derangement Syndrome when a leading news outlet makes this contrast in the first place.
"USA Today's error gives away the fact that someone there actually believed that the U.S. military under Donald Trump — but not requiring his permission — dropped a bomb 73 percent as destructive as the Hiroshima A-bomb," Blumer observed. "Further, those involved in reviewing the graphic before or perhaps immediately after it went live, which one would hope included reporters Jim Michaels and Tom Vanden Brook, either agreed with that comparison or were too naive to question it."
Ironically, if President Trump had not pounded these vermin with a MOAB, and they successfully slaughtered Americans in Afghanistan or on U.S. soil, the very same people who slam Trump today would scream: "Trump didn't keep us safe! Trump failed! Impeach Trump!" Their story would flip 180 degrees more swiftly than a pancake on the griddle at Denny's.
Finally, it is impossible to calculate the priceless value of what America gained by showing Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Islamofascists everywhere that Obama's tough-as-Kleenex policies are kaput, and America once again has a commander-in-chief who is worthy of that title.


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Source: Did You Know Lucy Liu Creates Beautiful Erotic Paintings?
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emptynestman.com exists to: Excel as the marketing arm for EmptyNestXpress Publishing. Document the journey, or odyssey, of Owen Ulysses Rasscalle as he attempts to live life soberly and achieve his Big, Fat, Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs). Help others document their own journey--whether it be through #75Hard, the 90-Day Burn, sobriety, or some other vehicle--and achieve their own BHAGs. Encourage sober living for all; to encourage achievement of goals; and to encourage healing of all types. Fuel conversations about empty nest living, senior living, senior sex, religion, working out, writing, and craftsmanship. View all posts by emptynestman


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HAWESVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A regional utility has reached a tentative agreement with an aluminum smelter on electric rates that would keep the facility in western Kentucky open.
Media report that Henderson-based Big Rivers Electric Corp. and Hawesville-based Century Aluminum announced the agreement on Monday. The entities had been trying for months to negotiate terms for a new power contract, and the aluminum plant had given notice that it could shut down if an agreement wasn't reached by August.
The proposal would allow Century to purchase power at the wholesale price on the open market.
If finalized, the agreement would save 650 jobs at the plant.


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Pirelli brings approximately 1,800 tyres to every Grand Prix and 52 people work at each race to give the teams the best possible support. Each team has a dedicated Pirelli tyre engineer and tyre fitter who work closely with them all through the year. 18 tyre fitters are in charge of mounting all tyres correctly and in time. Senior engineers make sure that all questions and any issues arising are immediately dealt with on-site.
Then there is the R&D department in Milan where each new tyre, be it road or competition, is 'born' and where 150 engineers make sure that Pirelli's tyre technology keeps abreast of the fast changing environment which is Formula One. In addition, all data collected at the track gets sent to Milan in real time which enables the engineers there to provide instant analysis and projections, if necessary.
Last but not least, Pirelli's dedicated Formula One factory in Izmit, Turkey, produces 200,000 competition tyres a year of which approximately 50,000 are made for Formula One alone each year.
A day in the life of a Formula 1 tyre
Ever wondered what happens to the tyres on a race weekend?


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This time last year, we babbled a whole bunch about how great Luke Abbott's Holkham Drones album was, and how he was destined for bigger and better things. Well, he's gone and signed to NOTOWN, the label run by fellow digital dadaist Gold Panda.
We're not 100% sure if this is an upgrade or downgrade from legendary James Holden's Border Community, but regardless, his new stuff sounds like another leap through that wormhole of warm lush analogue synths and dusty digital beats. DiS is as pleased as punch, to premiere the brand new EP from Luke Abbott. It's called Object Is A Navigator and it's released on 12" vinyl and digitally on the 10th of December 2012 on NOTOWN Recordings
Pre-order your copy from NOTOWN's store now
p.s. If you've somehow not heard it, read how awesome Holkham Drones is here and here, and then read our interview with him here.
p.p.s. did you know Hayden from Wild Beasts is also a big fan? Now there's a collaboration we'd like to hear in 2013!


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Tag Archives: moretum
Forty, a poem, and ancient garlic cheese spread
This is wonderful. I've written of garum in the past. It's modern near equivalent is colatura. Today's #ClassicsCurio is a warning about where to source (or should that be sauce?) your mottoes, as that famous American motto 'e pluribus unum' … Continue reading
Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool Tagged colatura, garum, moretum, Spem in alium, Thomas Tallis 5 Comments
Spem in allium
Some garlicky notes for this Holy Week. First, at BBC an ancient recipe made new. 1,000-year-old onion and garlic eye remedy kills MRSA A 1,000-year-old treatment for eye infections could hold the key to killing antibiotic-resistant superbugs, experts have said. … Continue reading
Posted in Just Too Cool Tagged eye salve, garlic, leechbook, moretum, MRSA 12 Comments


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Article content
OK, so how bad do you have to do your hockey job to get chirped by John Spano?
I guess you have to trade a first-round pick, a second-round pick and a player like, say, Matt Moulson for a player like, say, Thomas Vanek and then trade Vanek for a second-round pick and a prospect who may or may not be a top-six forward.
That's what New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow did Wednesday as the clock ticked down to the NHL trade deadline.
Snow shipped Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens for prospect Sebastian Collberg, a speedy kid who was a Habs' second-round draft pick in 2012, and a conditional second-rounder (no pick will be involved if the Canadiens don't make the playoffs).
That got Spano worked up enough to weigh in on Twitter.
Spano, if you will recall, bought the Islanders in the mid-90s and owned them for a few months before it was revealed he didn't have the wherewithal to cover the $165 million purchase price (in one instance, he sent a cheque for $1,700 when $17 million was due, according to a story in Sports Illustrated). He wound up pleading guilty to bank fraud and spent four years in prison.
Spano sort-of owning the Islanders became one of the most embarrassing episodes in the history of the NHL.
After the Vanek deal, Spano tweeted to Islanders owner Charles Wang:
Dear C. Wang. It is a privilege to own the NY Islanders. Maybe it is time for u to sell. We have caused this fan base enough heartache.— John Spano (@MrJohnSpano) March 5, 2014
That's like being told by Rob Ford you need to make better life choices.
Snow gambled the market for Vanek would yield more than he paid for him in the Moulson deal. He was wrong.
"It wasn't a very active market... Speaking for today, this was the best deal that was tabled," he said.
The beneficiaries of the weak market for Vanek were the Canadiens, who addressed a whole bunch of needs with his acquisition.
First off, the Eastern Conference is wide open this year so with this deal the Canadiens look like they have taken a big step to close the gap between themselves and the leaders at the top of the standings right now, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins. The Habs are still in a building phase under GM Marc Bergevin, who was in Chicago to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law, but there is clearly an opportunity recognized here.
Bergevin could make the move without giving up a roster player or mortgaging a lot of the future. If the Habs don't make the playoffs, they don't even have to give up the second-round draft pick (they'd get a fifth-rounder coming back).
This is a one-off deal clearly made with an eye to the competitive balance of the Eastern Conference.
"Once you get in (the playoffs)," said Vanek, "anything can happen."
Also, in making the biggest splash of the day, Bergevin tells his players he's got their backs and there is an opportunity to seize.
"For me, it's the message," said Habs coach Michel Therrien.
Vanek gives them some some size on the wing (6-foot, 217) and that's been one of the biggest complaints about the Habs since they moved to the Bell Centre in 2006, it seems.
The Canadiens are 22nd in the NHL in 5-on-5 scoring going into Wednesday's games and 15 of Vanek's 21 goals this season have come at even strength.
Then there's this.
If the Canadiens wind up on a collision course with the hated Bruins, how's this for a stat: in 53 career games against the B's, Vanek has 62 points.
tap here to see other videos from our team.


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Veniero's has reopened for Take-out, Outdoor Cafe, Pickups, Local Delivery & UPS Shipping.
For curbside pickup: If you do not wish to enter the store, Please call us at 212-674-7264 or 212-674-4415 when you arrive to pickup your order and your packages will be brought to you outside of the store.
For those who wish to come inside the store, we ask that you please wear a mask and practice social distancing. We thank our loyal customers for coming out and supporting Veniero's during these trying times. To view Veniero's Safety Protocols: Click Here to see Safety Protocols>


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Hi all,
I'm happy to introduce a new feature here at CC, Medieval History Timelines. Actually, it's not new, I've been working on this for ages, and I've got tons of things bookmarked to add, but at some point I just had to make an official announcement. These timelines link to MOCs that recreate events, people, places, and art/literature from the castle era. A few notes:
-I've made the time range from 476 (fall of Rome) to 1666 (Great Fire of London), as that has been the range we've used in past contests.
-I indicated January 1 for those events without a specific known date. Timetoast (the site I used to create the timelines) requires a month and day.
-I located people at the year of their birth and buildings at the year that construction began.
-Any errors are my own (or, I suppose, Wikipedia's) - please PM me with any corrections.
Please let me know of any historical MOCs I'm missing. As I said, I do have a ton of additional things bookmarked, so if I have yet to include your creation I apologize.


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Have you ever lost your car in a crowded parking lot? Have you ever been lost in an amusement park and can't remember how to get to your favorite ride? Have you ever needed turn-by-turn directions to any location? Take a closer look at QuickFind's technology:
From the makers of QuickLaunch, NikkiSoft has come out with a brand new GPS friendly app called QuickFind. QuickFind uses radar-like technology that displays both your current location and your target location. QuickFind will not only show you on it's radar display where your current position is, but it will also show you your target location. The app allows you to see the direction you are going in, speed of travel, and upon close proximity and arrival at your destination, QuickFind will employ a Vibrate/LED combination to alert you that you've arrived.
- Avonlea


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"Sasuke and Sakura: Friends or Foes?" (宿敵!?サスケとサクラ, Shukuteki!? Sasuke to Sakura) is episode 3 of the original Naruto anime.
Sasuke and Sakura: Friends or Foes? (宿敵!?サスケとサクラ, Shukuteki!? Sasuke to Sakura) is episode 3 of the original Naruto anime.
Naruto and Sasuke argue, and then continue to glare at each other until a boy sitting in front of them accidentally bumps into Naruto causing him to fall forward and accidentally kissed Sasuke, much to everyone's disgust. Later, Iruka Umino announced the members of Team 7, Team 8, and Team 10. Shortly after Naruto approaches Sakura to have lunch, she coldly dismisses him. Angered yet again, Naruto formulates a plan to make Sakura dislike Sasuke. Later Naruto ambushes Sasuke through an open window. Sasuke is shown standing over a bound and gagged Naruto. Later, Sasuke asked Sakura what she thought of Naruto, to which she replied that Naruto was annoying and that if he always had his way, she would never be happy. Sasuke leaned in to kiss Sakura, but was forced to go to the bathroom. It was then shown that Naruto had actually overpowered Sasuke and tied him up. Meanwhile, the real Sasuke, who had managed to escape Naruto's bonds, walked by Sakura, who proceeded to mock Naruto, believing that he was such a brat because he has no parents to teach him how to behave. Sasuke then became angry at Sakura and left, but not before saying to Sakura that she was annoying. Sakura resolved to be a little nicer to Naruto in the future. Naruto then approaches Sakura and when she tries to be friendly, Naruto thought that it was Sasuke who transformed into her. He yells at Sakura before fleeing once more to the bathroom. Naruto, however, runs into Sasuke while heading to the bathroom. He uses the Shadow Clone Technique to attack Sasuke, but abruptly all of the clones had to go to the bathroom. The Third Hokage and Kakashi Hatake were at Naruto's house. The Hokage briefs Kakashi on Team 7, which Kakashi would be leading. Kakashi examines a carton and declares that the milk had spoiled a long time ago, commenting about how much of a problem Naruto would be.
- The kiss between Naruto and Sasuke was not edited out of the Viz and YTV editions, but Cartoon Network removed the actual scene, instead freezing on the previous scene for the duration of the kiss, for censorship reasons regarding homosexuality implications. The actual kiss was shown in episode 16, however, in Sasuke's flashback.
- While Naruto accidentally kiss Sasuke, the whisker marks on his cheeks disappeared.
- Although not shown in the manga, at the beginning of the episode a shot of Naruto's calendar reveals the starting date of the series to be on Tuesday the 15th of October rather than sometime at the end of March as originally speculated by fans since in Japan the usual time for a school year to end is at the end of March and begin again at the beginning of April.


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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Home decor and food guru Martha Stewart testified in court on Tuesday that she did nothing wrong when she signed an agreement to open shops within most of J.C. Penney's stores across the country.
Stewart testified in New York state court in a trial over whether the company she founded breached its contract to sell cookware, bedding and other items exclusively at Macy's when she inked the deal with Penney.
During three hours of testimony, Stewart, who founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., denied Macy's allegations that she did anything unethical and said she was only looking to expand her brand.
In fact, Stewart said it's Macy's that didn't uphold its end of the agreement to try to maximize the potential of her business. She said her brand had grown to about $300 million at Macy's, but the business was now "static" at the department store chain. She said she had hoped the business would exceed $400 million.
"We were disappointed," Stewart, 71, wearing a light brown tunic and a mini skirt, testified. " We got to a certain dollar amount and struggled and never got any further."
The trial, which began Feb. 20, focuses on whether Macy's has the exclusive right to sell some Martha Stewart branded products such as cookware, bedding and bath items.
Penney signed a pact in December 2011 with Martha Stewart Living to open shops at most of its 1,100 stores by this spring. A month later, Macy's renewed its long-standing exclusive deal with Martha Stewart until 2018, then it sued both Martha Stewart Living and Penney.
Macy's is trying to block Penney's from opening the shops. The company also is seeking to stop Martha Stewart from providing any designs to Penney — whether or not they carry the Martha Stewart label.
Martha Stewart and Penney are using what they believe is a loophole in the agreement between Macy's and Martha Stewart to move forward with their deal. It's a provision that allows Martha Stewart to sell some of the products that it offers in Macy's stores at Martha Stewart stores, too.
According to Martha Stewart lawyers, because the Macy's agreement doesn't specify that Martha Stewart stores have to be "stand alone" stores, the mini shops within Penney's stores would not violate the contract. Stewart said in court Tuesday that even Amazon.com could be considered a store, given that shoppers are shifting more to online buying.
"I don't think you need walls to be a store," she said.
The trial has revealed some of the drama that took place behind-the-scenes between Stewart and the CEOs of Macy's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co.
During his testimony on Friday, Penney CEO Ron Johnson rejected claims by Macy's lawyers that he plotted to push Martha Stewart to breach her deal with Macy's with the goal of eventually becoming the sole carrier of some of Stewart's products.
Johnson, dressed in a dark suit and striped navy tie, said during his testimony that he just wanted to get a piece of the action while helping the Martha Stewart's business grow. He also said that the expanded partnership could be good for all parties involved, including Macy's.
Macy's attorneys, meanwhile, have portrayed Stewart as someone who turned her back on a good friend, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren, to broker a deal with a rival company. During testimony earlier in the trial, Lundgren, who wore a suit, said that he hung up on Stewart after she told him about the deal she'd reached with Penney. He said he hasn't spoken to her since.
"I was quite taken back by his response and when he hung up on me I was quite flabbergasted," Stewart testified Tuesday.
Stewart also testified that she couldn't discuss the impending Penney deal with Lundgren sooner because the negotiations were "confidential." But Theodore Grossman, an attorney representing Macy's, presented an email on Tuesday that showed that Stewart had discussed it with Millard Drexler, CEO of the J. Crew clothing chain, before the deal was complete.
Stewart's testimony comes as the company she founded continues to struggle. Martha Stewart Living just finished its fifth straight year of losses. The company has also had steep sales declines.
Martha Stewart Living had taken a when Stewart was convicted in March 2004 of lying to prosecutors about a stock sale. After Stewart's release, business began to recover as advertisers who had fled returned. But in the past few years, Martha Stewart Living has been grappling with a consumer shift to the Web and mobile devices to get the latest recipes and other food tips.
Martha Stewart Living has been trying to bolster its merchandising business, which represents 30 per cent of the company's annual revenue, to offset declines in its broadcast and publishing divisions. The biggest opportunities for Martha Stewart Living are in selling products for the home, including bedding, bath and kitchen merchandise. That's because as the housing recovery gains momentum in the economic recovery, people likely will put more money into their homes.
During her testimony on Tuesday, Stewart said she always wanted to open big shops within Macy's stores, but the retailer never embraced that concept. Instead, she said the merchandise in Macy's stores is just "here and there."
That's why she said that a proposal from Penney's Johnson to create shops filled with home merchandise was appealing to her.
"We hoped this business would be growing," Stewart said. "It just boggles my mind that we're here sitting in front of you, judge."


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Linux Favorite Email Client Claws Mail Works Well on Windows...Once Email's Imported
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Generic Company Place Holder Claws Mail
Claws Mail is a great basic email client on its native Linux platform, and the Windows port I looked at is done very nicely. It lacks automatic account configuration à la Outlook, but it supports multiple accounts, filters, and has a threaded view of messages. It's attractively simple, but could use a better way to import existing email and addresses.
Claws Mail's Linux heritage is the source of the import issues. While the program imports and exports mbox email and LDIF, Pine, and Mutt address formats (Linux types rarely if ever found in Windows), there's no direct import of email from Outlook or Thunderbird. There is, however, a workaround. The ImportExportTools add-on for Thunderbird will export mbox files. Grab it. If you're moving from Outlook, then you can use Thunderbird's own import function then use the add-on. Sadly, Claws Mail imports only one mailbox folder at a time. If you have several hundred folders and 2.5GB of email, as I do, importing is a tedious process.
I found much to like about Claws Mail. I love its simple appearance and the way it properly handles return addresses with multiple accounts, automatically using the address that the email was sent to. Outlook's insistence upon using only the address associated with the server the email was retrieved from drives me nuts and is why I've actively been exploring alternatives.
One function Claws Mail needs is a calendar--or even better, access to my Google calendar as Zimbra Desktop provides. Still, once you've imported your old email, Claws Email's single-minded dedication to the logical approach to handling of electronic post can be addictive.
Note: Claws Email is part of email and encryption package Ggp4win, and that is the name of the file that downloads.
--Jon L. Jacobi
Generic Company Place Holder Claws Mail
Simple, multiple-account, multi-lingual local email client Claws Mail has nice basic features but rough Windows import.
- Good basic features
- Easy to use
- Difficult to import existing data in Windows
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Zimmermann tosses 6 scoreless as Nats top Mets
Recommended Video:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Jordan Zimmermann pitched six shutout innings, Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer and the Washington Nationals hung on to beat the New York Mets 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Steve Lombardozzi added a two-run double as Washington handed a sixth straight loss to the Mets, who held a team meeting before the game.
Zimmermann (7-6) won his fourth straight, allowing just four hits in six innings, striking out four and walking none.
In the seventh, Tom Gorzelanny allowed a one-out double to Lucas Duda, who scored on Andres Torres' single.
Sean Burnett worked a scoreless eighth, but Tyler Clippard, who blew his third save Tuesday, allowed two home runs in the ninth to David Wright and Jason Bay. Clippard then struck out Jordany Valdespin for his 15th save in 18 chances.
In the sixth, LaRoche hit a 1-2 pitch from Chris Young (2-4) into the left-center field stands for his 16th home run. It was his third home run in 11 at-bats against Young. Eight of LaRoche's 16 homers have been two-run shots.
Lombardozzi's two-out double in the seventh against Miguel Batista made it 4-1.
Wright led off the ninth with his 12th home run of the year, and after Clippard struck out Ike Davis and Duda, Bay hit his fifth home run -- striking the foul pole in left field. Both were on the first pitch.
Bryce Harper had an eventful night with two singles and also caught a long fly ball hit by Duda in left-center in the second after an extended run. In the fourth, Harper singled, and when Ryan Zimmerman flied to center, he ran and was about 30 feet past second when he fell down and was easily doubled off first.
Wright had three hits. He's now reached base in 81 of New York's 87 games.
NOTES: Washington RHP Drew Storen will probably be activated Thursday, manager Davey Johnson said. Storen has yet to pitch this season due to elbow surgery. ... Nationals C Jhonatan Solano is probably headed to the 15-day disabled list with an oblique strain. He's likely to be replaced by Sandy Leon, who's at Double-A Harrisburg. ... Washington OF Jayson Werth, who's on the DL with a broken wrist, took batting practice on Wednesday and launched seven straight home runs. Johnson said he'll be sent out on a rehab assignment on Thursday. ... Duda returned to the lineup after missing three games with a left hamstring injury. ... New York RHP Jon Rauch had his knees drained on Tuesday, but pitched the eighth. ... Mets RHP R.A. Dickey (12-1, 2.66) will pitch against Nationals LHP Gio Gonzalez (12-4, 3.93) on Thursday afternoon.


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Manufacturing in the U.S. might well be dead, but New York City's M.F.A. programs are keeping the publishing industry in gear, boasting many of the nation's most well-respected writers as faculty, and nurturing the literary stars of tomorrow.
Although the debate will surely continue over whether or not creative writing can or should be taught—or if the explosion of M.F.A. programs is contributing to or depleting the originality of contemporary American literature—it's safe to say that in New York City's world of letters, business is booming. In the run-up to this year's BEA, we offer this glimpse at five of our city's top creative writing programs.
New York University
Despite the once-controversial move by N.Y.U.'s Law School to disassemble and move Edgar Allan Poe's former residence halfway down the block, its M.F.A. programs in fiction and poetry have made fruitful teaching homes for senior faculty Zadie Smith, E.L. Doctorow, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sharon Olds (who just won the Pulitzer), and Jonathan Safran Foer. The current fiction-writer-in-residence is Lorrie Moore and, since 2009, John Ashbery has been offering noncredit masters classes. Other poets-in-residence are Anne Carson and Charles Simic. According to program director Deborah Landau, fellowships are guaranteed for all incoming M.F.A. students, offering either half- or full-tuition reimbursement. Additionally, all students in the second year have the opportunity to teach undergraduate creative writing courses for $5,000 per class. So funding and teaching can greatly offset this program's approximately $45,000 price tag.
Recent and Upcoming Noteworthy Books:
N.Y.U. Faculty:
Andrew's Brain (Random House, 2014) by E. L. Doctorow
Holding Company: Poems (Norton, 2012) by Major Jackson
N.Y.U. Alumni:
The First Rule of Swimming (Little, Brown, 2013) by Courtney Angela Brkic (M.F.A., 2001)
Love is a Canoe (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013) by Ben Schrank (M.F.A., 1995)
Columbia University
Prior to the advent of the M.F.A., J.D. Salinger, Carson McCullers, Langston Hughes, and Federico Garcia Lorca were among the literary luminaries who honed their craft within Columbia's walls. Current students decide on a concentration in poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Ryan Bartelmay (M.F.A., 2004), whose debut novel, Onward Toward What We're Going Toward (Ig Publishing) comes out in August, believes the program made him a better critic. "The inner voice—that inner critic that sits on every writer's shoulder—suddenly got a lot louder," he says. "Even though it's hard to write with this critic shouting in my ear, I think it helped me create a better book." Faculty include Richard Ford, Deborah Eisenberg, Margo Jefferson (Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism, while writing for the New York Times), Julie Otsuka, and poet Lucie Brock-Broido. Notable alumni include Kiran Desai, Rivka Galchen, Phillip Gourevitch, Dinaw Mengestu, and Wells Tower. Annual tuition for 2012–13 is listed at $49,448, making the program, at almost $100,000 total, New York's most expensive by a wide margin. Some fellowships, including a limited number of teaching positions in the School of the Arts, are available. The latter provide full tuition reimbursement in exchange for instruction of undergraduate expository writing.
Recent and Upcoming Noteworthy Books:
Columbia Faculty:
The Cloud Corporation (Wave Books, 2010) by Timothy Donnelly (faculty, and M.F.A., 1998), winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.
The Fun Parts (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013) by Sam Lipsyte
Columbia Alumni:
Life on Mars (Graywolf, 2011) by Tracy K. Smith (M.F.A., 1997), winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Vampires in the Lemon Grove (Knopf, 2013) by Karen Russell (M.F.A., 2006)
The New School
The New School offers M.F.A.'s in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as in arts writing and writing for children, revealing a lot of foresight on its part into what has become a huge enterprise. Many faculty members both teach and write across genres, including Honor Moore, Tiphanie Yanique, Hettie Jones, Luis Jaramillo, and program director Robert Polito. Since founding the Best American Poetry series in 1988, poet and critic David Lehman has continued to serves as its editor, along with his teaching. The flat rate for the New School runs at nearly $12,825 per term (making the program, without aid, cost just over $50,000), with some fellowships and assistantships available.
Recent and Upcoming Noteworthy Books:
New School Faculty:
Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography (Simon & Schuster, 2011) by Susan Cheever
The Obituary Writer (Norton, 2013) by Ann Hood
New School Alumni:
Girls in White Dresses (Vintage, 2012) by Jennifer Close (M.F.A., 2005)
Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag (Atlas, 2012) by Sigrid Nunez
Hunter College
With only three instructors teaching in each of the disciplines (fiction, poetry, and memoir), all students can expect to study under the likes of, say, Nathan Englander, Colum McCann, and Peter Carey. Claire Messud teaches a literature course for students from across different genres once a year, and Kathryn Harrison teaches every term. This up-and-coming C.U.N.Y. graduate program offers significantly less-expensive tuition than other programs, with an annual in-state tuition, for a typical three-class term, of $3,285—making the program, for New York residents, cost less than $15,000, a total bargain. For students coming from outside New York state, the first of study nearly doubles, to $12,305.
Recent and Upcoming Noteworthy Books:
Hunter Faculty:
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (Random House, 2012) by Nathan Englander
The Woman Upstairs (Knopf, 2013) by Claire Messud
Hunter Alumni:
From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant (Penguin Press, 2012) by Alex Gilvarry (M.F.A., 2009)
Super Sad True Love Story (Random House, 2011) by Gary Shteyngart (M.F.A., 2002)
Brooklyn College
Everyone knows Brooklyn is where writers really live. Brooklyn College offers M.F.A. degrees in fiction, poetry, and playwriting with a combination of on-going and visiting faculty. Like Hunter, Brooklyn is part of C.U.N.Y. and is priced the same; the program also offers students adjunct teaching opportunities in the English Department (which pays $3,800 per class, more than offsetting tuition), and training for students who have never taught before. Affordability is in part what drove Elliott Holt, whose debut novel You Are One of Them comes out June 3, to choose Brooklyn College. "The classes met in the evenings, so I continued to work full time while I was in school—I didn't want to go into debt to get an M.F.A.," she says. "And I went into graduate school with very little confidence in my own writing, so I was reluctant to let go of my salaried job in advertising."
Recent and Upcoming Noteworthy Books:
Brooklyn Faculty:
The World Without You (Pantheon, 2012) by Joshua Henkin
Woke Up Lonely (Graywolf, 2013) by Fiona Maazel
Brooklyn Alumni:
Safe as Houses: Stories (Univ. of Iowa, 2012) by Marie-Helene Bertino (M.F.A., 2007)
You Are One of Them (Penguin Press, 2013) by Elliott Holt (M.F.A., 2007)


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Thermowell calculation in Applicator
Online and offline calculation tool for maximum security of demanding applications
The new Thermowell Sizing Tool calculate the stress resistance of a thermometer under given process conditions, provides statements concerning the usability of a selected Thermowell in the temperature measuring points and safeguards fast response times in the project business.
High plant availability through optimally designed measurement
Maximum safety for the plant operation
Relief during commissioning by certified strength tests
Quick review of the protective tube strength
Calculations according mostly common used international standards DIN43772 and ASME PTC 19.3 TW2010 are possible
Thermowell sizing made easy
Besides an expanded thermowell material database, which contains 35 new materials, the database for process media is an important feature of the Thermowell Sizing Tool. In addition, the Sizing Tool makes conversions of units possible by a few clicks as well as the calculation of flow velocities in pipes. Geometric parameters of the thermowell tube and the resulting parameters are simply and clearly explained by short help texts which are also partly illustrated.
Maximum security for demanding applications
Recommended for applications with higher requirements particularly in the oil & gas and chemical industry, applications with high flow rates and high process pressures and safety-critical applications.


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Here's your chance: The Celebrity Chefs Tour will make three stops at Ovens Auditorium -- Feb. 20 with Paula Deen, March 27 with Tyler Florence and May 1 with The Neelys. The tour is designed to be a high-energy performance with a food festival atmosphere.
Here's your chance to win tickets: The Observer is giving away four prizes this week. You can win two tickets each one of the three shows, or a grand prize -- tickets to all three and a set of Paula Deen Cookware.
Go here to enter. Good luck. And we'll have more tickets to give away next Friday.


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Get Your Halloween Candy Fix with This Sweet Playlist
Halloween's sweetest songs, including Gwen Stefani, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, Maroon 5, 50 Cent, Post Malone and more!
We're just days away from one of the spookiest holidays of the year, Halloween. And our favorite thing about this holiday? The candy... obviously.
Related: The SpookySZN Playlist: Listen
We've brought our musical experts together again and tasked them with creating a playlist, sweeter than all other playlists, with music from yesterday and today, to satisfy our collective Halloween scaries.
The playlist includes Post Malone's "Candy Paint," Katy Perry's "California Gurls," Baby Bash's "Suga Suga" featuring Frankie J and it's remix from Robin Schulz, "Sugar," featuring Francesco Yates, 50 Cent's "Candy Shop," Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Goin' Down," Zedd, Aloe Blacc and Grey's "Candyman," and of course, Maroon 5's "Sugar," Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" and more.
Get that sweet tooth ready and indulge in this sugar-filled, cross-genre, and sweetest playlist ever.


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This course will get you started and there will be AMAZING guest speakers!!
2013 Dates: October 21, 28, November 4, 11
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Course description:
The journey from raw material through processing, dyeing and finishing is complex. Sourcing raw materials, chemicals used in processing, energy and water use, finishing products and processes are just some of the considerations in developing sustainable textiles. This course will cover all the components and considerations of sustainable materials for fashion. It will cover the eco labels that pertain to materials in the United States and as applicable, worldwide markets and teach you how to evaluate these labels' pros and cons. We will also touch on eco labels that apply to the packaging and labeling necessary for the retail environment.
Guest speakers include:
• Founder and Publisher of The Sourcing Journal, Edward Hertzman along with Editorial Assistant Tara Donaldson.
• Danielle Azoulay, Supervisor Product Compliance: PVH Corp.
• Rhett Godfrey, Coordinator- Sustainability Initiatives: Loomstate
• Prof. Nathan Fleisig, Expert in global supply chain, product safety, social responsibility & compliance issues. Brands include: Reebok/Adidas, Nike, Gap, AE, Justice, CLC, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and the US Olympic Committee.
Carmen Artigas teaches in the Sustainable Design Entrepreneurs certificate program.
You can follow her on facebook.com/ethicalfashionNY and twitter.com/artigascarmen.


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Sun and Cricket B&B
This 35-acre estate, just 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, offers privacy and solitude in a bucolic setting.
Stay at a Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania Bed and Breakfasts and Inns for the personal attention you desire. A Slippery Rock B&B is a great alternative to hotels or motels while visiting the state of Pennsylvania!
Visit our Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania bed and breakfast directory of historic, romantic, and adventure B&B's. You can browse through our detailed listings of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania bed and breakfasts and inns with nearby city listings that include pictures, room rates, booking information and area activities. Every Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania b&b inns has complete contact information and a direct link to the innkeepers.


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Saint Leo, Bishop of Catania in Sicily - Troparion & Kontakion
Troparion — Tone 1
You were shown forth as a resplendent priest, / a teacher of godliness and a wonderworker, blessed hierarch Leo; / by the light of heavenly virtue you were enriched with the power of the Spirit, / and heal the souls and bodies of those who hasten to you. / Glory to Christ who has glorified you! / Glory to Him who has crowned you! / Glory to Him who through you works healing for all!
Kontakion — Tone 2
With hymns of praise let us crown Leo, / who was consecrated to the Lord from early childhood; / he received grace while still a babe in swaddling clothes. / He is a brightly shining star in the Church: / its valiant defender and firm support!


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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - It has been two years since Orioles shortstop Deivi Cruz reported to spring training with his entire focus on baseball. Two years since he has gone through a camp without grieving the loss of a teammate he never knew.
On Feb. 15, 2002, while home in the Dominican Republic, Cruz received a phone call from his agent, Elliott Vallin. The news wasn't good: San Diego Padres outfielder Mike Darr had been killed in an automobile accident. Cruz had signed as a free agent after five seasons in the American League and was waiting to report with the other position players.
The memory of that day came storming back to Cruz last Monday, when Vallin again reached him by phone. One day before Cruz was scheduled to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, pitcher Steve Bechler died from complications related to heatstroke.
"Two years in a row," Cruz said yesterday, shaking his head. "The first thing I thought of was Mike Darr."
Though Bechler was a stranger to him, Cruz attended Wednesday's memorial service in the Orioles' clubhouse. Perhaps he could relate better than any of the other newcomers to the organization.
"I know those kids could play, and then they died," Cruz said. "Obviously, we don't feel like 100 percent right now, but we have to keep this guy in our hearts."
Darr's death affected the Padres all season. "Every day, we always remembered him," Cruz said.
If asked for his advice on coping with the situation, Cruz said he would tell the Orioles to "think about [Bechler] before we go on the field and work hard for him."
O's honor McDonald
The Orioles have chosen outfielder Darnell McDonald, a first-round draft pick in 1997, as their minor-league Player of the Year for last season.
McDonald ranked fourth in the organization with a combined .290 average at Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Rochester. He had 10 homers, 50 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 128 games - the last 91 spent with the Red Wings.
Rated by Baseball America as the top position player in the draft, McDonald turned down a football scholarship to the University of Texas and signed with the Orioles after they made him the 26th overall selection.
Club officials have remained patient with him, excusing his slow development to the usual adjustments made by a high school player. But early draft comparisons to Rickey Henderson especially seemed absurd after McDonald, an intriguing combination of speed and power, batted .238 in 104 games at Rochester in 2001.
McDonald said it wasn't until he rediscovered his passion for baseball, which vanished after his mother died of a heart attack in 1999, that he began meeting his vast potential.
"This was a real important year for me," he said. "A lot of people don't realize that I was going through a hard time earlier in my career when I lost my mother. It was a situation where I lost my love for playing and questioned whether I even wanted to play again. But last year I started to have fun again. That love came back. And if you have fun, you're going to do well.
"That was probably the toughest thing I'll ever have to go through in my life, the most adversity. Now I just try to take the positives out of it and know she was part of my life for 20 years. That's more than a lot of other people can say."
The Orioles included McDonald on their 40-man roster this winter, and he's expected to begin the 2003 season at Triple-A Ottawa.
"It was an opportunity for me to show everybody why they drafted me," he said.
M. Garcia injured
Pitcher Mike Garcia suffered a cut on his left cheek after being hit by a thrown ball during a drill on one of the back fields.
Garcia held an ice pack against the side of his face as he walked through the players' parking lot. Dave Walker, the Orioles' minor-league medical coordinator, drove him to a local hospital as a precaution.
Garcia, invited to camp as a nonroster player, pitched for Yucatan of the Mexican League last year before signing with Rochester on Aug. 16. He held opponents to a .180 average in Mexico, and struck out the side in his Red Wings debut.
Around the horn
Omar Daal and Sidney Ponson will throw two innings apiece in Thursday's exhibition opener against the Florida Marlins in Jupiter. Manager Mike Hargrove hasn't decided which starter will go first. ... Geronimo Gil remains the starting catcher in camp, but Hargrove said he wants to use Brook Fordyce more this season. Fordyce appeared in 56 games last year, including five September starts. Gil, who batted .232 last season, hit just .208 after his average peaked at .300 on May 23.