text:
The authors find support for the idea that auditors develop in-house rules to facilitate comparability within their clientele. These auditor style effects also appear to reduce comparability between clients audited by different auditors. Big 4 accounting firms may have an effect on another earnings attribute that has not previously been investigated, namely, accounting comparability. The authors find that firms audited by Big 4 auditors have greater accounting comparability than firms audited by non-Big 4 auditors, which suggests another dimension in which the two auditor groups differ. It is also the case that each Big 4 audit firm has its own "style," which affects accounting comparability and is therefore another source of variation within the Big 4 group of auditors.
Francis, J. R., Pinnuck, M. L., & Watanabe, O. 2014. Auditor Style and Financial Statement Comparability. Accounting Review 89 (2): 605-633.
The fact that the Big 4 effect is generally insignificant indirectly supports the argument that the Big 4 distinction may reflect client and not auditor characteristics. The results suggest that differences in these proxies between Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors largely reflect client characteristics and, more specifically, client size. The study has not resolved the question, although it encourages other researchers to explore alternative methodologies that separate client characteristics from audit-quality effects.
For more information on this study, please contact Alastair Lawrence.
Lawrence, A., M. Minutti-Meza, and P. Zhang. 2011. Can Big 4 versus Non-Big 4 Differences in Audit-Quality Proxies Be Attributed to Client Characteristics? The Accounting Review 86 (1): 259-286.
This study attempts to extend the current understanding of the impact of multiple institutional logics and the heterogeneity of organizational responses. The authors set out to investigate organizational responses by mid-tier accountancy firms in the face of conflicting institutional logics. Through the analysis of interviews with top management level informants and an investigation of secondary material, the authors make three main contributions:
Lander, M. W., B. A. Koene, and S. N. Linssen. 2013. Committed to professionalism: Organizational responses of mid-tier accounting firms to conflicting institutional logics. Accounting, Organizations and Society 38 (2).
This study provides further support for the importance of office-specific characteristics on audit and financial reporting outcomes and provides evidence of the benefit of office-specific industry expertise. The study should be of interest to financial reporters and audit firms interested in reducing audit report lag times and to regulators and investors interested in increasing the timeliness of financial reporting information.
Whitworth, J. D., and T. A. Lambert. 2014. Office-Level Characteristics of the Big 4 and Audit Report Timeliness. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 33 (3): 129-152.
The results of this study are important for regulators concerned about the lack of competition in the audit market for large publicly-traded companies. These data indicate that audit firm associations can increase competition in this sector of the market by providing small firms with the necessary resources to adequately audit large, global, and complex audit clients. These findings should also be of interest to small audit firms interested in better serving larger audit clients. Lastly, these results should be of interest to corporate governance bodies and investors interested in the relationship between audit firm type and audit quality.
Bills, K. L., L. M. Cunningham, and L. A. Byers. 2016. Small Audit Firm Membership in Associations, Networks, and Alliances: Implications for Audit Quality and Audit Fees. The Accounting Review 91 (3): 767-792.
This study illustrates new measures of spatial competition that incorporate the separate and distinct effects of competition within and between the large and small audit markets. This study also provides evidence that the pricing in the large firm market segment is affected by competitive pressure from small audit firms; furthermore, the study provides evidence of a differentiation premium that small audit firms are able to obtain by being perceived as competing in a bigger league than other small audit firms. Finally, the study contributes by examining measures of competition beyond the Herfindahl index in the audit firm market.
Bills, K.L. and N.M. Stephens. 2016. Spatial Competition at the Intersection of the Large and Small Audit Firm Markets. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory 35 (1): 23-45.


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An intriguing welterweight bout between Jason High (13-3 MMA, 0-0 SF) and Quinn Mulhern (15-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) has been promoted to the televised main card of Friday's Strikeforce Challengers 16 event.
High announced the news via Twitter.
As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported this past week, the spot opened when a middleweight bout between Antwain Britt (11-5 MMA, 1-2 SF) and Danillo Villefort (13-3 MMA, 0-0 SF) was scratched due to injuries to both fighters.
Strikeforce Challengers 16 takes place June 24 at ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. The main card airs on Showtime.
A 13-time King of the Cage veteran, Mulhern made his debut in 2007. He currently carries a seven-fight win streak that began after his lone career defeat, an October 2009 loss to UFC vet Michael "Joker" Guymon. Mulhern has fought the distance just twice in his 16-fight career, and 10 of his victories have come via submission.
In 2010, the Santa Fe Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu product fought six times, including three times in a seven-week span that included a TKO victory over longtime veteran Rich Clementi.
High most recently was seen on the HDNet-televised Titan Fighting Championship 16 event, where he submitted Strikeforce and Bellator vet Rudy Bears with a guillotine choke in 51 seconds. It undoubtedly was a relief to score a quick win after he took respected Japanese veteran Hayato Sakurai the distance at DREAM "Dynamite!! 2010" and scored a huge upset with a split-decision victory.
Prior to his recent four-fight win streak, High had signed a UFC contract only to be released by the promotion after a points loss to Charlie Brenneman at UFC Fight Night 21.
The latest Strikeforce Challengers 16 event includes:
- Caros Fodor vs. James Terry
- Ryan Couture vs. Matt Ricehouse
- Lorenz Larkin vs. Gian Villante
- Julia Budd vs. Germaine de Randamie
- Jason High vs. Quinn Mulhern
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)
- Derek Brunson vs. Jeremy Hamilton
- Travis Bush vs. Ryan LaFlare
- Keith Berry vs. Trevor Smith
For more on Strikeforce Challengers 16, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Jason High)

subset: commoncrawl


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History & Exhibits
Life and Times of Three Bear Lodge
The lobby balcony (mezzanine) features a pictorial time line of the Lodge. From its humble beginnings back in 1932 through the high points (restaurant opening, refits) and the low (the two fires) to the present day. The balcony offers the best view of the true beauty of the lobby, and the wonderful examples of some of the recycled materials that were given a new lease of life in the new lodge.
Recycled Display
The large display board outside the Big Bear Conference room features many of the recycled materials used in the reconstruction. The display shows samples of the materials, and details their original use along with where they can be found in the current building. Even the culprit of the 2008 fire, a propane gas pipe has been salvaged and now forms the railings on the lobby balcony. You will soon realize that the new lodge really isn't so new after all!
Rock Display
This reddish sandstone like rock is abundant in this area. It was used to build numerous buildings in the town and was used in Three Bear Lodge's original building in 1932.
Montana Travertine
This white rock was formed by geyser activity and was harvested just North of Yellowstone near Gardiner, Montana. It was used for a more modern and striking look and was put over the original Rhyolite during the remodel in 1973.
Pleistocene Basalt
From an ancient Yellowstone Caldera flow. In 1935, our unique Basalt Lava Rock was blasted to make an irrigation canal that ran through the Seely farm near St Anthony, Idaho (74 miles South). Originally it was just gray rock but over the years has grown colorful likens, and now forms a unique feature of our imposing new Lobby and front façade.


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...for you Nottingham folk this Saturday.
The city's final DrownedinSound show of 2006 takes place at Junktion 7 this Saturday (December 9th) and is a bumper event featuring five of our favourite new bands of the past twelve months.
Check 'em out, here...
COMPUTERMAN (pictured) - "One great adrenaline rush with storming tunes" (Atomic Duster)
THE SCREENING - "What the second Cooper Temple Clause album could have sounded like if they'd carried on writing tunes" (DrownedinSound.com)
TWENTYSIXFEET - "...the soundtrack to your greatest nightmare or, at worst, a simulated ride through the synapses of a schizophrenic." (DrownedinSound.com)
POLAR - "Polar combine mechanised guitar noise, melodic piano and distinctive vocals, demonstrating a wide range of influences, from Radiohead and Interpol through to Sigur Rós." (BBC Leeds)
EXIT CALM - "towering space indie with a dub groove" (ManchesterMusic.co.uk)
There will also be DJ Sets from Rich (Immune), Dave (The Exploits Of Elaine/Good Name For A Racehorse) and The Thirty5, as well as the Drowned-In-Soundsystem.
There are still a handful of advance tickets remaining at £4 each from firstname.lastname@example.com. Entry on the night costs £5 with NUS or a flyer, and £6 without.
Doors open at 8pm.
Add yourself to this gig using the DiS Gig Calendar, HERE
We're already busy booking artists for 2007 and can now reveal that our first show of the year will take place at J7 on Saturday 13th January and will feature Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man, Censored, The Insect Guide and Shortwave Fade, plus all the usual DJ shenanigans.
Add yourself to this gig using the DiS Gig Calendar, HERE
Join the Nottingham Drowned In Sound Myspace group HERE


text:
Use the flarcreate command described in the flarcreate(1M) man page to create the system image. This example procedure uses NFS to place the flash archive on the target Solaris system, but you could use any method to move the file.
You must be the global administrator in the global zone to perform this procedure.
Become superuser, or assume the Primary Administrator role.
Log in to the source system to be archived.
Change directories to the root directory.
# cd /
Use flarcreate to create a flash archive image file named s10-system on the source system, and place the archive onto the target system:
source-system # flarcreate -S -n s10-system -L cpio /net/target/export/s10-system.flar Determining which filesystems will be included in the archive... Creating the archive... cpio: File size of "etc/mnttab" has increased by 435 2068650 blocks 1 error(s) Archive creation complete.
The target machine will require root write access to the /export file system. Depending on the size of the file system on the host system, the archive might be several gigabytes in size, so enough space should be available in the target filesystem.
In some cases, flarcreate can display errors from the cpio command. Most commonly, these are messages such as File size of etc/mnttab has increased by 435. When these messages pertain to log files or files that reflect system state, they can be ignored. Be sure to review all error messages thoroughly.


text:
I am trying to write a program through which I can write data on parallel port. I am using VC++ express in windows 7. The program compiles fine and exe files are created with out any problem. But when I run the exe file a message box pop out saying "the program have stopped execution".
I have tried to debug it with VC++. It generates anohter massage box saying "Unhandled exception at 0x013b1375 in test1.exe: 0xC0000096: Privileged instruction."
I have googled for the solution and found that a file named "inpout32.dll" can provide me a solution. I have tried for the solution using this file. But this is still not working. What could be the reason?
How can I resolve this problem?
Should I have any particular driver to handle this?
I anticipate that this inpout32.dll might work for ME/2000/Xp etc. But it is not working with win 7.
Please Help!


text:
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) Indiana State has hired Mike Sanford as its head football coach.
The school sent out a news release announcing the hiring Friday and is planning to formally introduce Sanford next week. He replaces Trent Miles, who left after a third straight winning season to take the job at Georgia State on Nov. 30.
Sanford spent this season as Utah State's assistant head coach and was in charge of running backs and tight ends and helped lead the No. 18 Aggies to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Saturday against Toledo. He was Utah's offensive coordinator in 2003 and 2004 on Urban Meyer's staff, then was UNLV head coach from 2005-09. He was the offensive coordinator at Louisville in 2010 and 2011.


text:
An accurate pH pen for the instant testing of acidity levels in paper, board, envelopes, file folders, etc.
Preservation quality storage materials require a pH of at least 7.0 and often an alkaline buffer for them to last hundreds of years or more.
Simply mark an inconspicuous edge of the material and the indicator solution will dry in seconds indicating a color. Purple for pH 6.8 or above and a clear or yellow color for acidic materials.
Hollinger Metal Edge Inc
9401 Northeast Dr.
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
Phone: 800-634-0491
Phone: 540-898-7300
Fax: 800-947-8814


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Cool new devices for schools at CES
I'm back in the office after a quick trip to Las Vegas for CES. I love to walk the show floor each year to see all the new gadgets, not just because it's fun to tinker with new technology, but because I like to get a first look at the new innovations that could be most useful when applied in education. There are a lot of new Microsoft products that are available to schools now or very soon. Surface 2.0 has just shipped, the Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) and a Kinect for Windows sensor are coming on February 1st, and Nokia phones built on Windows Phone are out now.
Our hardware partners are building some cool PCs and Windows 7 runs super-fast and super-long on them. They're building rich input devices, with mice, keyboards, and pen inputs – some go from a laptop to a tablet in just seconds -- satisfying those students who want the best of both tablets and PCs in one. There are also a lot of new form factors designed to appeal to students that are lightweight with rich screens, and that are very flexible with support for gaming and use things like voice and touch commands to enable a very immersive experience. Ultrabooks were the star of the show. You can see the latest Windows 7 devices here and in the embedded video below.
I am really excited about all the choices schools have when it comes to determining what device they want to bring into their institution. As we know 1:1 learning is going to become more rampant with the shift to digital content and the need to make sure kids are prepared for college and career. We've learned a lot about technology's effectiveness in schools and in 1:1 programs in particular, and I encourage school leaders to think holistically about the learning environment before they jump to buy technology for technology's sake. I met with JP Sa Couto and Critical Links at CES. They help schools think about all aspects to create the most effective learning environment. They have done a lot of research and investment in looking at everything from the school furnishings to lighting to looking at ethnographic studies to literally determine how a device best fits into a school.
Schools want devices for different activities….reading digital textbooks, taking notes, creating presentations and papers, the ability to plug in an array of peripherals and 3rd party solutions, and centralized IT management and security. And as data-driven education improves, schools need to be able to analyze what students and teachers are doing with the technology and link the outcomes to assessments and personalized lesson planning through business intelligence and learning management systems.
There are a lot of great new tablet PCs and laptops designed especially for education that can withstand the rigors of heavy use during the school day, including getting thrown in backpacks and dropped on the playground.
At CES, Lenovo was showing off the newly released Lenovo Classmate + . It's a rugged PC laptop that converts into a tablet, sports a drop resistant exterior, spill proof keyboard, reinforced steel hinges, 10.1 inch touch display with pen (optional HD), 10 hour battery life, multiple USB ports and VGA or HDMI output to monitor. The Lenovo X130e is also a good choice for K12 schools made rugged with rubber "bumpers" and reinforced hinges to take a long school day.
Dell's Inspiron Duo continues to win praise from students and teachers alike because its innovative flip hinge design makes it very easy to go from touch to type in seconds. The 10.1 HD multi touch screen, student sized keyboard and rugged design make it the perfect device for schools that want a HD tablet and a laptop in one device.
For university students who want a computer that's light, fast, durable and stylish, ultrabooks are all the rage. The video below showcases the latest hardware from Asus, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Sony.


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FREE SHIPPING for orders over $80. AUSTRALIAN OWNED.
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text:
Is it snobbish to have a Coat of Arms?
The misconception that having a Coat of Arms makes you somehow "special" has existed for centuries and, unfortunately, I haven't seen it get any better.
To add fuel to the fire, the inability to escape from the media circus that has become the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Ms. Kate Middleton on April 29th has given a lot of exposure to the recent grant of arms to the bride's father.
Arms of Ms. Catherine Middleton blazoned:
Per pale Azure and Gules a Chevron Or cotised Argent between three Acorns slipped and leaved Or
In an article publised in the Daily Mail on April 20th, 2011 there is a side panel with the attention grabbing headline "How do you get a Coat of Arms" and here is a snippet of the text therein (reprinted and attributed to the Daily Mail):
However, that doesn't mean that just anybody can pay the fee and get a coat of arms. The cumulative knowledge of the Earl Marshal gathered over hundreds of years has given them the skill of tactfully suggesting that people don't proceed with their application.The late Peter Gwynn-Jones, a former Garter King of Arms, once said: 'In practice, eligibility depends upon holding a civil or military commission, a sound university degree or professional qualification, or having achieved some measure of distinction in a field beneficial to society as a whole.'
This is all fine and dandy for the United Kingdom but, and pay attention here: THE BRITS DID NOT INVENT HERALDRY AND THEIR RULES DO NOT APPLY TO THE ENTIRE WORLD! Not only that, even in the British Isles heraldry existed before the College of Arms came to be and no grants or registrations were necessary. For example, there are some ancient families in England (listed in the Domesday Book) with arms that are just as old who wouldn't be able to present a grant of arms if their lives depended on it (e.g. the Scropes of Danby).1
The United Kingdom (and I'm including Scotland here) have come up with some very elaborate rules and have a very enviable heraldic tradition that works very well for them. English heraldic experts have contributed much literature and a big part of my heraldic library is by them. But, just like German rules don't apply in London, English rules don't apply in Berlin. Most people tend to forget that and assume that what what happens in the UK is the only way.
Heraldry, from the very beginning has been a means of identification. Nothing more and nothing less. We've all heard the stories of identification in battle of knights in armor etc. but, heraldry was used beyond the battlefields from where it originated.
At a time where the vast majority of the population was illiterate, symbols were easy to identify and use. Heraldry (and badges) were used in lieu of a signature by anyone who needed it. This is why more than just the nobility adopted and used arms.
This is also why your average pig farmer in the 15th century didn't have a coat of arms: he didn't need it! But, he was more than eligible to adopt them if he so wanted to, let's say, brand his pigs with his mark.
Another example of non-nobles having arms is the Armorial Général de France where about 70% of all the arms listed belong to merchants, artisans and others.
The same could be said about Germany, Switzerland and most of the non-English world.
Specifically in the United States, anyone can adopt, devise and use a Coat of Arms at any time and for any reason. Unfortunately, there isn't any legal protection of arms in the country but, you do have the option of publishing it and registering it with private registries.
A Coat of Arms is nothing more than a heritable form of identification that does not give it's owner any more "special" status than coming up with a signature to sign checks & documents with does.
So, to answer the question posed in the title of this entry: Heraldry is snobbish if you also think that having a signature is snobbish.
Oh! One more thing: in those places where grants of arms come from a sovereign, the grant does not ennoble the recipient. This is another major misconception but, I'll save it for another article.
1. Posted by Joseph McMillan in the forums of the American Heraldry Society
Image from the College of Arms of England, Wales and N. Ireland


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Did you think that quantum physics is complicated? Try the quantum theory of pixels, as explained by 8-bit Professor Hawking.
It may help you understand the former or make your brain explode forever but, if you are a nerd, it will make you smile. Read the whole cartoon at [Bouletcorp via Comics Alliance]


text:
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In order to keep our prices as low as possible, all CreateForLess order subtotals must be at least $10. This helps us save on labor costs when packing your order so we can extend the savings to you!
Description: Darice Foamies are the perfect place to start for any number of craft project. Not only are they fun basic embellishments, kids love them. Sticker Bag Hearts- 30 foam hearts, some are glitter covered and some have faces. Largest measures approximately 2 in. x 1.75 in. Ages 3 and up.
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Add your own review for this product
|An accident turned wonderful
|May 21, 2016
|Review by Daniel, STL MO. I originally ordered shoes from another seller that were incorrectly labeled as men's. Indeed, they were certainly women's shoes because upon arrival it looked like I would have to cut my toes off to make anything at all fit! I quickly decided that another seller was necessary and so I found dance supplies. After ordering, I was quickly emailed saying that my shoes were on back order. A woman by the name of Beth was extremely helpful (and personable!) with helping me get the right shoes for me and my size. She was amazing and the reason that I will certainly renturn to dance supplies when I need other dance shoes. The shoes (sized upon her recommendation) fit like a glove! Choose dance supplies and you won't be disappointed!
|Bloch Tap-Flex tap shoes
|Mar 8, 2014
|Review by Steve, . I've only had the shoes for a few days and so I can't really comment on the build quality. They are comfortable and seem to be well made. The fit seems right. I'm a 10 and I bought a 10. The service was outstanding. There was a mix up with the order and it was corrected immediately; a new pair was on it's way in about 20 minutes. Very nice people. The shipping is a little pricey but they get them to you with 2 day priority. Make sure you know your size because having to return them for another pair would be expensive.
|Flexible/Great Taps
|Dec 12, 2013
Review by Cole, Rochester NY.
Very happy with these taps. Comfortable, more flexible than other taps. The inside of the shoe has a nice soft lining especially around the heel- this was lacking in many other shoes. They also look great. Nice sound, good quality. Great Price and VERY quick delivery. Would use this site again.
|Bloch Men's Tap Shoes
|Nov 2, 2013
|Review by K Jones, Buffalo NY. Really appreciated how quickly my order was processed and shipped. The price was ideal, even with the shipping added on. I told others about your site due to my complete satisfaction. I only wish you carried larger sizes, as my son is still growing and I know he'll need a larger size soon. I would definetly order from you again.


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Every dog's a winner, especially you Dennis. Wow, we reckon that tennis ball is worth at least one billion dollars!! Stay well, wiggly waggly tails, Gilly and Hedy.
Dada's Note: Literally the day we were going to make the call, Dennis suddenly bounced back, happily greeting us at the door with a wagging tail for the first time in days. Whether this is an effect of increased prednisone and his new biome treatment finally kicking in or just a spontaneous remission, we don't know, but we're happy he's feeling better for however long as it lasts. Meanwhile, Dennis decided to celebrate his good fortune by playing the lottery.
Mr. Nibbles: "Friend Dennis, what are all those coupons you've got there?"
Dennis: "They're a bunch of TennisBall lottery tickets that I bought."
Mouse: "Are you sure you don't mean Powerball?"
Dennis: "Umm, I don't know. What's the difference?"
Mouse: "Well, Powerball is a lottery where players have an infinitesimal chance to win hundreds of millions of dollars."
Dennis: "Infinitesimal? I like those odds!"
Mouse: "No you don't, Dennis! 'Infinitesimal' means 'ridiculously small', not 'infinite'."
Dennis: "Oh."
Mouse: "As for 'TennisBall', I have no idea what that is, but your 'tickets' look like something made by an amateur using a photo editor and a color printer."
Dennis: "Yes, the person who sold them to me explained that TennisBall gives away so much money that they can't afford fancy tickets."
Mr. Nibbles: "And who sold you the tickets, friend Dennis?"
Producer Smurf: "Good news, Dennis! We're about to smurf the winner of the TennisBall lottery!"
Mouse: "Why am I not surprised?"
Producer Smurf: "Sorry, Dennis, you didn't smurf the smurfy grand prize. But you did smurf one of the worthless — um, I mean smurfy — consolation prizes."
Dennis: "A consolation prize? Oh boy! Gimme!"
Dennis: "Look, Mr. Nibbles! I won a dirty tennis ball! This is the best lottery ever!"
Mr. Nibbles: "It sure is good to be a dog, isn't it, friend Dennis?"
Producer Smurf: "Ahhh! Let me out! Stop smurfing me around! I'm calling Papa Smurf!"
Mouse: "I'll stop spinning you around when you agree to refund Dennis whatever he spent on tickets to 'win' his own old tennis ball that you found out in the yard."
Every dog's a winner, especially you Dennis. Wow, we reckon that tennis ball is worth at least one billion dollars!! Stay well, wiggly waggly tails, Gilly and Hedy.
Oh how we know those ups and downs and all odds in between –
NAK and Her Earth Blondes send their love and healing PAWs!
All of us at NAK's Khottage
A dirty tennis ball is better than…well, actually not much else…
Woohoo Dennis!!! You have a beloved, "broken in" tennis ball AND more time with your family!! You won the best things ever!! Behr Behr
Wow, I'm interested in this product you used! Did you do the testing too, or just use the product? I wrote them with some questions. Sounds promising. I use a product called Restore for us AND even Behr more recently (even tho they sell "Lumapet" for dogs..same product with pet label) Different purpose, but still super important to HEAL the gut. I have met and talked with Dr Zach Bush (the creator of Restore) many times. Brilliant man with rare multiple MD licenses. The gut is where the immune system is, so anything we do to protect and heal it can only benefit. THANKS for sharing the info on the product! Behr's Mom
We will take all the good days you can get. Way to go, Dennis!!! We think you won the biggest lottery prize years ago when you found this wonderful family instead of that desert. Hang in there, buddy – we are all pulling for you.
Woos – Lightning, Misty, and Timber and Mom Kathie
Dennis I am happy to hear you bounced back to spend more time with Dada and Mama. Love you boy!
Way to go Dennis! And you know a dirty tennis ball is fangtastic! OUr peep won a whole 4 dollars in the BIG lottery, maybe they will buy us some tennis balls too
Hazel & Mabel
I'm glad to hear you are having some better days. Hope you have many more!


text:
Cracking an iPhone screen is hard enough. What happens to soldiers stationed in the middle of nowhere when they bust their personal gear?
A company called iCracked is all too happy to sell its repair kits to armed servicemen and servicewomen around the world at 10% off. Its kits are used for repairing nearly all models of iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Here's what Jack Murphy, VP of Communications at iCracked, told us about his company's tip of the hat to those in uniform: "We always love to help out our servicemen and women in any way we can. For soldiers stateside, it is not uncommon for one of our incredible iTechs to go on base to repair the device or meet the soldier off base if preferred. In terms of how we help out soldiers currently serving overseas, we sell DIY kits at a discounted rate accompanied by our 'Badass Hero' letter attached below."
Dear Badass Hero,
To the iCracked team, being part of the military is inarguably the most admiring and awe-inspiring thing a citizen can do for their country. The level of selflessness involved in serving the nation through active duty supersedes that of any other potential role a human being can fulfill. Although we are sure you get this all of the time, we truly do have the utmost respect for what you do.
On a daily basis, our team is reminded of just how much courage and strength, both physical & mental, you possess in comparison to us—thank you for keeping us humble. Please know that we are forever indebted to you and your service and are always here to make the lives of our servicemen and women as easy as possible, as it is your work that has given iCracked the ability to succeed as a company and ultimately serve your needs.
If you are to ever have any questions or further requests for iCracked, please feel free to contact the team and we will personally handle whatever it is you may need. Thank you again for being the undeniably badass person, citizen, and customer that you are.
The iCracked Team
See Also:Now Your iPhone 5S Can Double As One Of Those Fitness TrackersDOCUMENTS: NSA Has 'A 100% Success Rate' Putting Spyware On iPhonesPrototype Of Apple's First Generation iPhone Just Sold For $1,500 On eBay


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The Xikar Axia double jet flame cigar lighter is the go-to, all purpose lighter for any cigar size and situation. Add XIKAR style, a sleek yet heavy casing, a great feel and the best warranty and you've got it made with the AXIA double jet flame lighter. First, flip up the top cap and expose two protected ignition jets.
With your thumb, pull down the center trigger to fire up two extremely powerful jets and get that cigar lit in no time. The Xikar AXIA double jet flame cigar lighter feautres a large fuel adjustment wheel adjusts quickly to your preference and a fuel window reminds you to refill.
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We think this is a bigger pile of crap than hundreds of Opel Kadetts stacked into a replica of the tower of Babel. The widow of a man killed in an on-track accident as a passenger in a Porsche Carrera GT is suing the car's driver, the track (California Speedway) and Porsche over his death. Bear in mind, the driver shed this mortal coil as well. Nobody held a gun to the guy's head and forced him to go to a track day.
Nobody gave him a choice between strapping on a C-4 jacket and walking into a mall and getting into a Carrera GT. Even in controlled environments with the best drivers, accidents happen. Suing all of these people just contributes to our culture of gross over-litigation and results in hyper-legislation that stifles human creativity and expression under the oppressive hand of the law. Dash-30 on the sermon.
When Speed and Wealth Collide [Detroit News via DriveWire]
Is There a Science to Safe Bus Paint Schemes? [Internal]


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First Look: Cocktails at Lulu & Po in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
It might be easy to come to Lulu & Po, the small plates joint that opened in Fort Greene this past June, and overlook the cocktail menu. After all, it only has four items. But bar manager Gerrett White makes it clear that these chosen few were selected with care. "We just wanted to feature classic cocktails that we particularly love but with a slight twist—you know, not exactly take a cut-and-copy approach to it," he explains.
A 14-year restaurant industry veteran, White made the switch from front-of-house to bartender four years ago while at the now-shuttered East Village spot Belcourt. It's there that he hooked up with Lulu & Po's chef-owner Matthew Hamilton, who was the restaurant's executive chef at the time. It was also there that one Lulu & Po's signature cocktails, on the menu now as The Carlton, first came together. It brings together equal parts gin and dry vermouth, with just a few drops each of orange bitters, absinthe, and simple syrup.
"It's important to me when I make drinks to make sure the spirit stands out," continues White. But at Lulu & Po, the spirits might not be what you'd expect. White favors what he considers to be standout "off-market" brands. For example, he uses Luksusowa vodka in a bracing, ginger-spiced Moscow Mule, and W.L. Weller 12-year bourbon ("it uses a high percentage of wheat, which gives it a sweeter flavor," he says) in his riff on an Old Fashioned. He also plans to have the bar focus on the arguably less-revered Canadian whiskies: "Most are blended, but they're coming out with some good straight whiskies that I'd like to feature," he says.
White suggests that the pared-down menu is really just a jumping off point for imbibers. A fan of that ginger syrup in your Moscow Mule? Ask what other syrups they make in-house and you might discover their cola variety (which apparently makes a "pretty unique" whiskey and coke). Or perhaps you really dig the thick salt rim on your seasonal Blackberry Margarita? White will tell you that it's also an excellent garnish for a Salty Dog.
Pop over to the slideshow to quench your curiosity about Lulu & Po's cocktails.
Lulu & Po
154 Carlton Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11205 (map) 917-435-3745; luluandpo.com
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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I've been on an adventure
43 Comments
felicityOctober 27, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Wow! How utterly fabulous! Happy Anniversary and welcome home!
♥DuffOctober 27, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Yeah! I can't think of anything better than eating a warm crepe with nutella and bananas while staring up at the Eiffel Tower, except of course, sharing it with a great guy! Congrats! Hope it was an anniversary you'll cherish for years to come!
HolliOctober 27, 2012 at 10:14 pm
What a bit of spectacular fun! Happy Anniversary, and many more! Looking forward to the pics and posts. And welcome home!
CitricSugarOctober 27, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Enjoy every minute!
JoyfulOctober 27, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Congratulations on your adventure and your anniversary. What a wonderful way to celebrate!
A.J. Dub. (Amy)October 27, 2012 at 10:23 pm
That sounds fabulous!! Congratulations on your anniversary too.
pragmaticpatchworkOctober 28, 2012 at 1:47 am
I'm in Geneva! Come and visit! What a totally blissful thought to dream of sharing a cup of tea, and a chat. Or is it too late already and you are gone? The city is beautiful, despite all the local quilt shops having pretty much shut…

Juliet (an Anglo-Swiss)
amy smartNovember 1, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Oh no! I am already home. That would have been so much fun to have had a visit and a local tour guide! But I will remember if I ever get a chance to go back!! You are so sweet to think of me. I'm sorry about the local quilt shops shutting… :(

Thanks for your sweet offer!
CarinOctober 28, 2012 at 4:07 am
Happy 15th Anniversary !!
I hope you enjoy Europe. I live in the Nethelrnads and I know how lovely Parijs and Switzerland are.

MicheleOctober 28, 2012 at 5:16 am
Good for you and what a grand place to celebrate your anniversary. Don't apologize for scheduling posts in advance. A lot of us do that too.
DianeOctober 28, 2012 at 5:16 am
Happy Anniversary! and celebrating in Paris ooh la-la

Elizabeth DacksonOctober 28, 2012 at 5:28 am
That is so fabulous!! I was loving the pictures that were popping up on Instagram from you yesterday 🙂 Happy anniversary!
Sarah CraigOctober 28, 2012 at 5:45 am
First of all, congrats on such a wonderful way to celebrate 15 years, but you crack me up – how do your kids feel about being lumped in with the stash in the category of things to protect? 😉 Good idea, though – I could be someone you need to protect that stash from!! I've got enough kids, though………. 😉
amy smartNovember 1, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Yes, lol, that did make it sound like the children and the fabric are on equal par, (which is not the case).
Jamie LeeOctober 28, 2012 at 5:50 am
Oh, how fun! Congratulations and glad you had such a wonderful trip.
SvetlanaOctober 28, 2012 at 6:00 am
yay! how fun!!! congrats on your anniversary!
GinetteOctober 28, 2012 at 6:42 am
Sounds heavenly! Happy Anniversary!
natalie. beyond the reefOctober 28, 2012 at 8:35 am
What a lovely way to remember the past and look to the future! Happy Anniversary!!
natalie. beyond the reefOctober 28, 2012 at 8:35 am
What a lovely way to remember the past and look to the future! Happy Anniversary!!
PeggyOctober 28, 2012 at 8:59 am
How wonderful. I was in Paris last year and just loved it, from the Mona Lisa to the Eiffel tower to the Arc de Triomphe. Enjoy the memories.
sweetsueemilyOctober 28, 2012 at 9:06 am
Oh La La, how marvelous! You deserve such a wonderful adventure. Take lots of pictures to share with us, I've heard it is very beautiful.
NedraOctober 28, 2012 at 9:31 am
How Romantic! (the trip, not the laundry:)
CassandraOctober 28, 2012 at 11:16 am
What a fun adventure! Good luck with all the laundry! 🙂
ThimbleannaOctober 28, 2012 at 11:54 am
Oh, you lucky girl! I can't wait to see more — I hope it was fabulous!
BeckyOctober 28, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Very nice! Happy Anniversary!!
Lynne TilleyOctober 28, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Oh, how FABULOUS!! Happy 15th anniversary. What a perfect way to spend it.
Lisaluvz2kwiltOctober 28, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Fantastic! I'm envious! Happy Anniversary 🙂
CathyKOctober 28, 2012 at 5:22 pm
Happy Anniversary! What a wonderful gift for each of you!
SallieOctober 28, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Happy Anniversary! Paris is such a romantic city!
Shop GirlOctober 28, 2012 at 9:45 pm
What a wonderful memory to cherish! I love it when those pesky business trips work out in our favor. Happy for you two love birds! Amour!
Mariana NortjeOctober 29, 2012 at 3:48 am
Paris, Paris Paris!!! My favourite place on earth! I went there last in 2011 and I can't forget it. I am so upset too that I missed a really cool patchwork shop by about a block! Just a few blocks from my hotel, walked down the street and just did not go down that smaller street by one block!Sigh! Will I ever get back there? Probably not. But I will always have my two visits there. Glad you
amy smartNovember 1, 2012 at 2:10 pm
No way! I didn't even think to look for Patchwork shops in Paris, but that would have been a fun discovery! Do you have the address? Just in case I go back again before another 19 years has gone by…
trishOctober 29, 2012 at 6:59 am
Oh how romantic! What a special time.
Happy Anniversary to the two of you!
love, Trish xo
LisaOctober 29, 2012 at 9:59 am
How fun, lucky girl!
Marian GriffinOctober 29, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Ho wonderfully exciting! And congratulations on another happy anniversary!!
Angela NashOctober 29, 2012 at 3:01 pm
What a wonderful, romantic adventure!
Rebecca GraceOctober 29, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Happy Anniversary! I love Paris; such a romantic city. I hope you had a wonderful time with your hubby.
nikkiOctober 30, 2012 at 9:57 am
terrific! happy anniversary to you and michael.
Nanette MerrillOctober 30, 2012 at 1:29 pm
You do get to some amazing places. Great for you. I wondered if you were going to market. fun fun
lifeinredshoesOctober 30, 2012 at 6:34 pm
LUCKY! Blessed 🙂
Mariana NortjeNovember 1, 2012 at 3:23 pm
I will look it up in the quilt mag where I saw it and let you know. It is a bit late here now almost midnight so my eyes refuse to see:D:D:D
Mariana NortjeNovember 2, 2012 at 3:41 am
Paris quilt shops that I know about: Most well known – Le Rouvray, 6 Ru des Grandes Degres, off the Quai de la Tournelle. On the left Bank, 5th Arr. The road is almost exactly opposite the bridge, the Pont de l"Archeche that connects the Ille de la Citie to the left bank where the Museum for the Deportation of the Jews are,(very sad place , went to see it;breakes one 's heart)and it is
amy smartNovember 10, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Wow! We were right near there. Augh. That would have been so fun. Well, now I know for next time. 🙂 I'm going to add that info to my Paris post so other people can find it too! Thanks so much for the info!


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Fertility, IVF and Egg Donation
Tag: Ovarian reserve
Using Growth Hormone Increases IVF Success Rates
by Richard Sherbahn MD on Dec.23, 2012, under Egg quality, IVF Poor Responders, Low ovarian reserve
Ideal treatment of the poor responder for in vitro fertilization is problematic. Over time, I see more and more patients that have failed multiple IVF attempts at other clinics. The majority of these patients fit into the poor responder category.
Generally, the poor responders should be identified by the fertility doctors before starting an IVF cycle. At our fertility clinic we use ovarian reserve testing to evaluate a woman's expected response to the stimulating medications. As our basic ovarian reserve screening, we do:
- Antral follicle counts by ultrasound
- Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) blood tests
- Day 3 FSH, LH and estradiol blood tests
These tests will identify the vast majority of poor responders before they get to an IVF attempt. Identifying the problem in advance allows us an opportunity to do something to improve the response (and the outcome) with the first IVF attempt.
The definition of a poor responder is variable. Regardless of the definition one uses, the basic idea is that poor responders do not respond well to the IVF ovarian stimulation protocol by making a good number of mature follicles. Less mature follicles means less eggs retrieved which results in lower numbers of embryos and less chance to have one that is a "marathon runner" (baby).
For example, women under 35 years old give an average of 12 eggs with IVF. However, poor responders would only produce about 1 to 6 eggs. The chances for success with IVF are very much dependent on two variables – the quantity and the quality of the eggs.
Therefore, if we could come up with a treatment that would help the poor responders to give either more eggs or better quality eggs or both, we would be able to positively impact the chance of having a baby.
Various types of supplementation protocols have been used to try to improve outcomes for IVF poor responders. In this article I want to discuss the use of growth hormone for this purpose.
Growth hormone has been used for poor responders for many years. However due to the very high cost of growth hormone in the past it was rarely utilized. However, over the years with more competition in the pharmaceutical marketplace the cost of growth hormone has come down. During this same time frame, more studies have been published showing benefit from treatment with growth hormone for IVF low responders.
20 years ago, growth hormone treatment added about $5000 to the cost of IVF. That was too high. With the drop in the market price for growth hormone the cost has come down to about $1000 currently. This price change has made it more feasible and potentially a cost-effective addition to the IVF stimulation protocol.
Although all of the studies that have investigated this had small sample sizes, several of them showed significantly improved IVF success rates in poor responders that supplement their stimulation with growth hormone. For the most part, the studies all showed the same thing. Adding growth hormone to the ovarian stimulation protocol for poor responders significantly increases the chances for a pregnancy and a live birth.
The mechanism by which growth hormone would improve IVF success rates is not clear. However, based on animal and human studies it has been shown that growth hormone is involved in production of steroid hormones in the ovary and in development of ovarian follicles. Studies have shown that if mice are lacking the growth hormone receptor and growth hormone binding protein there is a significant reduction in the development of ovarian follicles.
It is also thought the growth hormone could increase the production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in the ovaries. IGF-I is thought to be involved in regulating follicle development, estrogen hormone production and maturation of eggs.
Several studies have shown improved IVF live birth success rates after supplementation of growth hormone in poor responders. Although the success rates are still not as high as seen in normal responders to stimulation, they are significantly improved over the baseline success rates expected in poor responders.
For this reason, I have been using growth hormone supplementation for many of my poor responding IVF patients. Whether the additional cost of the growth hormone supplementation is worth it is a more difficult question.
Of course, if we knew that the growth hormone would get the patient to a successful pregnancy and a live birth – it would be a no-brainer. However, this is not magic and many women who use growth hormone supplementation will still have unsuccessful IVF attempts.
Some couples will move on to egg donation because of the high success rates with donor eggs instead of continuing to attempt low-yield IVF with their own eggs.
The most effective dosage and duration of growth hormone has not been clarified yet. The published studies have used:
- Doses between 4mg – 24mg, given daily or every other day
- Used it for the first several days of stimulation, or for the entire stimulation phase
Poor ovarian response to stimulation is a difficult problem without a perfect solution at this time. Supplementation with growth hormone is one way we can try to improve the odds for poor responders.
Larger randomized controlled trials are needed to figure out how much improvement in outcome we can expect by using growth hormone as well as which subgroups of patients could benefit the most.
Richard Sherbahn, MD is a fertility doctor practicing in the Chicago, Illinois area. Connect with me on Google+
Women Need Education About Aging and Fertility
by Richard Sherbahn MD on Oct.31, 2009, under Age and Fertility, Ovarian Reserve Tests
Our society has undergone significant change since the 1960s. Women's liberation is definitely a good thing. Women can now do pretty much anything that a man can do. However, the one thing that they cannot do is delay childbearing as long as a man can.
Our society has evolved and many women are pursuing advanced educations and career advancement – and delaying childbearing as a result. However, in general women should be more knowledgeable about the impact of delaying childbearing on fertility potential.
Fertility specialists know this is a problem. We commonly see women in their late 30s and early 40s that are very bright and well-educated who are surprised and very disappointed when told that it may be very difficult (or impossible) to get pregnant and have a baby using their own eggs.
I like to use a "garden" analogy when discussing infertility with patients. The uterine lining is the "garden" and the embryos are the "plants". As women age, the garden is rarely the problem – the plant is often the problem. This is why using donor eggs is so successful regardless of the age of the recipient woman. (continue reading…)
Richard Sherbahn, MD is a fertility doctor practicing in the Chicago, Illinois area. Connect with me on Google+
Women Waiting Longer to Have Kids – Fertility Issues
by Richard Sherbahn MD on Aug.22, 2009, under Age and Fertility
Age and female fertility and waiting to have babies
- A recent report on the average age at first childbirth from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics showed that as of 2006, women in the US waited an average of 3.6 years longer to have their first baby, as compared to 1970.
- There is not enough discussion in our society about the effect of age on fertility.
- Women's liberation is a good thing and women have made very significant advances over the past 40 years. Many women are pursuing advanced education and careers.
- However, there is a potential "disconnect" involved. Women are waiting longer to have children – but many are not educated about what that delay can do to their fertility.
These days, many couples try to have their first child when the woman is in her mid-to-late 30s. Some will get pregnant easily, and others end up needing fertility treatments. (continue reading…)
Richard Sherbahn, MD is a fertility doctor practicing in the Chicago, Illinois area. Connect with me on Google+
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Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago
Richard Sherbahn, MD is a Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility specialist.
Dr. Sherbahn founded the Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago in 1997.
He will post regularly about fertility issues.
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A friend who knows I'm a Tangleword/Wordyacht addict called me up and said, "You've got to come check out this game I just bought. Type words, kill dragons. You'll love it."
I expected the worst. Another guess-the-limited-dictionary whack-a-mole web game with a fantasy theme. Screamed shovelware. Color me surprised Dungeon Scroll is rather clever. Problem is, it's far, far too easy. Shares a fatal flaw with the whack-a-moles and too many non-word online/indie games in that competing for high score involves sitting for hours doing the same thing over...and over...and over again until you pull a set that can't be beaten. In no particular order, here's some suggestions:
1] The difficulty levels are a joke. If an expert game is going to run twenty or forty or easily eighty+ levels, what difference does it make to start on number four?
2] Make speed a factor. As it exists the game is stare at the screen to find the sevens (not sixes or nines) and if health (eventually) ticks down knock out a few fives to kill whatever enemy. I gave up on scoring after fifteen levels (shooting threes and fours for quickest passing) and only kept playing out of obsessive compulsive brain chemistry. Was *going* to play until I lost. Took a very long time, very little of it fun. Did a little dance in the chair when I pulled u's, v's, and two dragons.
3] One dragon every level. When in the level it appears randomized. One minimum--always risk of a second.
4] Increase hit points of all critters every fourth level or so. Some will demand algorithms ensuring every level is beatable. Reasonable but I argue the element of chance remains the same as it is now except with scaling difficulty shooting at high scores takes minutes instead of hours. Isn't twenty attempts to get a great score in the same time it took to get one middling one more addictive? More exciting?
5] Ditch the letter respawning after last critter of a given level is killed. Waste of time.
6] Auto-pause at end of each level.
7] Bug. If a word is typed in after a critter is killed but before the next appears, the redrawn (and new) letters are jumbled, the "standard" mixed with the "premium" tiles.
I like the game. It could and should be loads better. No idea if it's still under development or not. Five minutes of play I was ready to buy it. Two hours laters, obsessively playing the same blah until loss I wanted to drop the creators into molten tar.


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Dear, Anita,
After being in a job that I'm not happy with, after much soul searching, I decided to quit and get a job I love! It's been a few months and I didn't get many interviews during the holidays. Do you have any advice now that everyone is back to business? I'd love to start the new year out in a new job.
Dear, Shooting for the Stars,
I certainly don't recommend quitting one job before getting another, but what's done is done. Let's start with a fresh approach.
Explore Your Options. What about your last job(s) made you unhappy? What tasks did you enjoy the most? To figure out what your dream job looks like, take advantage of some useful self-evaluation tools on O*net OnLine, an occupation resource website sponsored by the US Department of Labor/ Employment and Training Administration. Under Advanced Search, you can explore occupations based on your interests, skills, work values, and more. "Know thyself," as the ancient Greek philosophers recommended. You don't want to end up in another job where you'll be unhappy again.
Résumé Review. Take a good look at your résumé. If it hasn't been working so far, it may need a tune-up – minor or major. Review my post Reasons for No Résumé Response, have a colleague give you feedback, or bite the bullet and hire a professional résumé writing service like CareerPerfect to communicate your skills and experience in the best possible light.
Networking – Social and Traditional. If you're an introvert, push yourself to do one networking task a week. Go to the chamber of commerce mixer or call an old colleague to ask if they know of any job openings. Haven't completed your LinkedIn Profile? Checked the privacy settings on your Facebook page? Now is the time to make sure your social media presence is employer-friendly, with no embarrassing photos and off-color language. Google yourself; you may be surprised at the odd things that pop up. (Make sure your Amazon Wish List doesn't contain anything weird!)
Learn a new job skill. If your newly discovered career goal requires upgraded skills, sign up for a class. If the training you need isn't available at your local community college or job center, there are a myriad of options on the Internet. While watching random software tip videos on YouTube can increase your knowledge, choosing a course that provides a certificate of completion you can tout on your résumé is preferable.
Create an action plan. You may have a long-term goal of becoming CEO of a company, but it probably won't happen next week. While long-range plans are important, it is equally important to break objectives into yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals. This segment from Kababayan Today gives some goal-setting tips for getting a job:
Readers: What is your work-related New Year's Resolution? Do you plan to jump ship in 2014 and seek a new position? Take our poll above.
Have a question you would like to ask? Visit http://anitaclew.com/ask-anita/.
Want to receive these tips by email? Simply subscribe for once-a-week advice for career success!


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Guide to Florida's Venomous Snakes
Although 50 species of snakes are found in Florida, only the 6 listed here are venomous and a danger to humans. The remaining 44 species (and its subspecies) are harmless and should be protected for the beneficial role they play in natural ecosytems, eating insects, rodents, rabbits, and other small prey. If you are interested in all of our snakes, then you should visit our Online Guide to the Fla. Snakes.
A word of caution is warranted here. If you find a snake and you do not know whether or not it is venomous, the safest thing to do is leave it alone. Florida snakes are not aggressive and, unless they are cornered, most will flee when humans approach. Occasionally, you might encounter one that is reluctant to leave because it is basking in the sun to get warm. Among snakebite victims, an unacceptably high number are bitten on the hands and arms when they are handling the snake. Do not catch a snake and do not handle one unless you are sure it is not venomous.In addition, for a short time after a snake is killed, its reflexes may continue to work. Those reflexes typically cause the body to writhe slowly for awhile, but they can cause a convulsive contraction and a bite, so you should not handle a freshly killed venomous snake. Our Online Guide to the Fla. Snakes contains a Key to Identification which will identify any Florida snake you might find and tell you whether it is vemonous or harmless.
The only acceptable treatment for venomous snakebite, involves the use of antivenin. So if you or someone else is bitten by a venomous snake, seek immediate medical attention at the nearest hospital or medical facility. Stay calm, remove any rings that could restrict circulation if tissues swell, keep the bitten limb below the level of the heart, and immediately seek medical attention. Your most important aids in getting to a hospital and treatment may be car keys or a cell phone.
The snake descriptions given above include characteristics that are relatively easy for the layman to see, though a few might require a close look at the snake, so we again caution you: Do not catch or handle a snake if you do not know whether it is venomous or harmless. To keep the descriptions short and simple, other characteristics known to herpetologists are not mentioned here.
This website is for informational purposes only and no liability is assumed in its use — Copyright © and Disclaimer


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RALEIGH, N.C. - Pop singer Kelly Clarkson wasn't expecting such a harsh response when she tweeted her endorsement in the Republican presidential race.
'I love Ron Paul,' she wrote late last month. Later, in a radio interview, she elaborated, 'He believes in states having their rights, and I think that that's very important.'
Clarkson received hundreds of replies, some lambasting Paul and at least one suggesting that the 'American Idol' winner choose her words more carefully.
In particular, two words: 'states' and 'rights.'
As the Republican presidential campaign has turned south, into the region that seceded from the Union 150 years ago, old debates about state and federal authority echo anew in phrases used by candidates, their supporters and the news media.
Even before the Civil War, 'states' rights' had become a byword for the protection of black slavery, and since the late Sen. Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948 as a States' Rights Democrat, or 'Dixiecrat,' the phrase has sometimes been labeled a 'dog whistle' for racist elements in the electorate.
None of that was on Clarkson's mind. After a barrage of responses to her Dec. 29 tweet, the 29-year-old Texan told fans, 'My eyes have been opened to so much hate.' And she emphasized, 'I do not support racism.'
Sociologist and author John Shelton Reed, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was not surprised that someone of Clarkson's youth would fail to recognize the 'baggage that 'states' rights' carries.'
Still, he says, hearing the term employed by people like Paul - and also by Texas Gov. Rick Perry before he quit the race - 'it's clear that we've turned some kind of page.'
Paul, Perry and others referred to the Constitution's 10th Amendment, which states, 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'
The shorthand 'states' rights' came later.
'Any time I hear it, I get this sort of little twitch, because I associate it with Ross Barnett or George Wallace,' says University of Georgia historian James Cobb, referring to the governors of Mississippi and Alabama who, five decades ago, defied efforts to integrate their states' flagship universities. 'But members of the younger generation, it doesn't have that kind of connotation to them at all. And whether this is to some extent the fault of those of us who are supposed to be educating the younger generations about their past, I can't say.'
As Republicans prepared for the primary season, writer David Azerrad drafted a list of 'New Year's Resolutions for Conservatives.' No. 1 was 'Speak of Federalism, not 'States' Rights.''
'Not only is it incorrect to speak of states' rights, but the expression has more baggage than Samsonite and Louis Vuitton combined,' Azerrad, assistant director of The Heritage Foundation's B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics, wrote on the organization's 'Foundry' blog. 'In case you didn't know, 'states' rights' was the rallying cry of segregationists. Since no right-thinking conservative will keep company with such people, let's just drop the term states' rights once and for all.'
In a speech before the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas last April, Perry warned that the idea behind the term was in danger: 'Over the years and decades, Washington has extended its reach bit by bit, until the sound concepts behind the 10th Amendment were blurred and lost, and the idea of states' rights has become increasingly disregarded.'
In an October candidates' debate in Las Vegas, Paul, a 12-term congressman from Texas who ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988, used the term to describe his position on the proposed national nuclear waste disposal facility at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
'I approach it from a states' rights position,' he said. 'What right does 49 states have to punish one state and say, 'We're going to put our garbage in your state?' I think that's wrong.'
Others in the GOP field make a point of supporting the 10th Amendment while avoiding the sensitive language. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won last week's South Carolina primary, is a case in point. Back in 2005, when blogger John Hawkins asked him about a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, Gingrich replied, 'Well, I think that the question is whether or not the Congress could pass a law which protected marriage or whether, because of states' rights, Congress does not have the ability to then enforce that without a constitutional amendment.'
More recently, Gingrich appears to have dumped the loaded term. For example, in announcing the formation of Team 10, his Facebook page described it as an effort to work with Americans 'to develop ideas for enforcing the 10th Amendment and returning power back home.'
Asked at a recent candidate event whether he thought states had the right to nullify a law under the 10th Amendment if they believed it to be unconstitutional, former Sen. Rick Santorum answered carefully. 'We had a war about nullification,' he said, adding that states could instead litigate such an issue in federal court.
Paul, appearing last month on 'The Tonight Show,' parsed the concept, too. 'Well, you know, we all use the word 'states' rights,'' he said. 'But in a way, states don't have rights. Only individuals have rights. But the authority and the power goes to the states.'
In a Jan. 4 column on STLtoday.com, former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith, a Democrat, called the 'exaltation' of states' rights a 'dog whistle to Republican voters conditioned by a generation of Republican politicians and operatives before them who exploited racial fears for personal and partisan advancement.'
Candidates denied any such hidden agenda or secret coding.
Whatever reaction it evokes, Cobb, the Georgia historian, said the term has clearly lost much of its sting.
'It's just become part of the lexicon, without any particular meaning,' he says. 'It's been historically decontextualized to the point that it can be thrown around by a lot of people without a second thought.'
Reed, the UNC professor, said that's not necessarily a bad thing.
'I do believe states' rights was a sound doctrine that got hijacked by some unsavory customers for a while - like, 150 years or so,' he said. 'I'm professionally obliged to believe that knowledge is better than ignorance, but some kinds of forgetting are OK with me.'
Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. He can be reached at features(at)ap.org.
Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#/AllenGBreed


text:
File containing data on bacterial productivity in lakes and streams collected in summer 2012 through 2018. Samples were collected at various sites near Toolik Lake Field Station (68 38'N, 149 36'W). Sample site descriptors include an assigned number (sortchem), site, date, time and depth, and bacterial production.
Data Set Results
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1


text:
Frequent Links
SM-65 Atlas
- Main article: Atlas (rocket family)
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Atlas D
|SM-65 Atlas
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Peak deployment level of 129
Atlas A, B/C, D, E/F (ICBMs)
SLV-3/3A/3C (NASA use)
The SM-65 Atlas was the first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed and deployed by the United States. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by Convair Division of General Dynamics at the Kearny Mesa assembly plant north of San Diego, California. Atlas became operational as an ICBM in October 1959 and was used as a first stage for satellite launch vehicles for half a century. The Atlas missile's warhead was over 100 times more powerful than the bomb dropped over Nagasaki in 1945.
An initial development contract was given to Consolidated Vultee Aircraft (Convair) on 16 January 1951 for what was then called MX-1593, but at a relatively low priority. The 1953 testing of the first dry fuel H-bomb in the Soviet Union led to the project being dramatically accelerated. The initial design completed by Convair in 1953 was larger than the missile that eventually entered service. Estimated warhead weight was lowered from Script error: No such module "convert". to Script error: No such module "convert". based on highly favorable U.S. nuclear warhead tests in early 1954, and on 14 May 1954 the Atlas program was formally given the highest national priority. A major development and test contract was awarded to Convair on 14 January 1955 for a Script error: No such module "convert". diameter missile to weigh about Script error: No such module "convert"..[1] Atlas development was tightly controlled by the Air Force's Western Development Division, WDD, later part of the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division. Contracts for warhead, guidance and propulsion were handled separately by WDD. The first successful flight of a highly instrumented Atlas missile to full range occurred 28 November 1958. Atlas ICBMs were deployed operationally from 31 October 1959 to 12 April 1965.[2]
On 18 December 1958, the launch of Atlas 10B sent the missile into orbit around the Earth (without use of an upper stage) carrying the "SCORE" (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment) communications payload. Atlas 10B/SCORE, at Script error: No such module "convert". was the heaviest man-made object then in orbit, the first voice relay satellite, and the first man-made object in space easily visible to the naked eye due to the large, mirror-polished stainless steel tank. This was the first flight in what would be a long career for the Atlas as a satellite launcher. Many retired Atlas ICBMs would be used as launch vehicles, most with an added spin-stabilized solid rocket motor upper stage for polar orbit military payloads. Even before its military use ended in 1965, Atlas had placed four Project Mercury astronauts in orbit and was becoming the foundation for a family of successful space launch vehicles, most notably Atlas Agena and Atlas Centaur.
Mergers led to the acquisition of the Atlas Centaur line by Lockheed Martin, which later became part of United Launch Alliance. Today Lockheed Martin and ULA support a new Atlas rocket family based on the larger "Atlas V" which still uses the unique and highly efficient Centaur upper stage. Atlas V stage one is powered by a Russian RD-180 oxygen/kerosene engine and uses conventional aluminum isogrid tanks, rather than the thin-wall, pressure-stabilized stainless steel tanks of the original Convair Atlas. Payload weights have increased along with launch vehicle weights over the years, so the current Atlas V family serves many of the same types of commercial, DoD, and planetary missions as earlier Atlas Centaurs.
- 1 History
- 2 Design
- 3 Variants
- 4 Warhead
- 5 Operational deployment
- 6 Service history
- 7 Launch history
- 8 Retirement
- 9 NASA use
- 10 Survivors
- 11 Specifications (Atlas ICBM)
- 12 See also
- 13 References
- 14 External links
Shortly before his death, John von Neumann headed the top secret von Neumann ICBM committee. Its purpose was to decide on the feasibility of building an ICBM large enough to carry a thermonuclear weapon. Von Neumann had long argued that while the technical obstacles were indeed formidable, they could be overcome in time. Events were proving him right. The weapons had become smaller, and diode-transistor logic enabled the construction of compact guidance computers. (Atlas A, B, C, and D had no onboard computers, but Atlas E (1960) and F (1961) did.) The committee approved a "radical reorganization" and speeding up of the Atlas program. Atlas was informally classified as a "stage-and-a-half" rocket; both engines were started at launch, and there was only a single set of propellant tanks. One engine was jettisoned about 135 seconds into the flight. (A "stage" of a liquid propellant rocket is normally thought of as tanks and engine(s) together. The jettisoned engine, therefore, constitutes a "half stage".) The booster engine consisted of two large thrust chambers fed by a single common set of turbopumps. The sustainer engine consisted of a single large thrust chamber and two small verniers, once again fed by a single common set of turbopumps. The verniers provided roll control and final velocity trim. The total sea level thrust of all five thrust chambers was 360,000 lbf (1,600 kN) for Atlas D. Later model Atlas E and F variants were built with two separate booster engines, each with a single large thrust chamber and its own independent set of turbopumps. Total sea level thrust for these three-engine Atlas Es and Fs was 389,000 lbf (1,730 kN).
The first Atlas flown was the Atlas A in 1957–1958. It was a test model designed to verify the structure and propulsion system, and had no sustainer engine or separable stages. This was followed by the Atlas B and C in 1958–1959. The B had full engines and booster engine staging capability. An Atlas B was used to orbit the SCORE satellite in December 1958, which was the Atlas' first space launch.[3] The C was a slightly more developed model using even thinner skin in the propellant tanks. Finally, the Atlas D, the first operational model and the basis for all Atlas space launchers, debuted in 1959.[4] Atlas D weighed Script error: No such module "convert". (without payload) and had an empty weight of only Script error: No such module "convert"., the other 95.35% was propellant. Dropping the Script error: No such module "convert". booster engine and fairing reduced the dry weight to Script error: No such module "convert"., a mere 2.02% of the initial gross weight of the vehicle (still excluding payload). This very low dry weight allowed Atlas D to send its thermonuclear warhead to ranges as great as Script error: No such module "convert". or orbit payloads without an upper stage.[5] The final variants of the Atlas ICBM were the E and F, introduced in 1960–1961. E and F had fully self-contained inertial navigation systems (INS) and were identical to each other except for interfaces associated with their different basing modes (underground silo for F).
By 1965, with the second-generation Titan II having reached operational status, the Atlas was obsolete as a missile system, and was gradually phased out in the mid-1960s. Many of the retired Atlas D, E and F missiles were used for space launches into the 1990s.
Atlas, named for the Atlas of Greek mythology and the contractor's parent Atlas Corporation, got its start in 1946 with the award of an Army Air Forces research contract to Consolidated Vultee Aircraft (later Convair) for the study of a Script error: No such module "convert". range missile that might, at some future date carry a nuclear armed warhead. At the time (the late 1940s), no missile conceived could carry even the smallest nuclear warheads then thought possible. The smallest atomic warheads were all larger than the maximum theoretical payloads of the planned long range missiles. The Convair team was led by Karel Bossart. This was the MX-774 or Hiroc project. It was for this reason that the contract was canceled in 1947 but the Army Air Forces allowed Convair to launch the three almost-completed research vehicles using the remaining contract funds. The three flights were only partially successful. However they did show that balloon tanks, and gimbaled rocket engines were valid concepts. In the mid-1950s after practical thermonuclear weapons had been demonstrated and an independent design breakthrough drastically reduced the weight of such weapons, along with the CIA learning that the Soviet ICBM program was making progress, Atlas became a crash program of the highest national importance.
The missile was originally given the military designation XB-65, thus making it a bomber; from 1955 it was redesignated SM-65 ("Strategic Missile 65") and, from 1962, it became CGM-16. This letter "C" stood for "coffin" or "Container", the rocket being stored in a semi-hardened container; it was prepared for launch by being raised and fueled in the open. The Atlas-F (HGM-16) was stored vertically underground, but launched after being lifted to the surface.
The penetrating lubricant WD-40 found its first use as a corrosion-inhibiting coating for the outer skin of the Atlas missile.[6]
The Atlas missiles A through D used radio guidance: The missile sent information from its inertial system to a ground station by radio, and received course correction information in return. The Atlas E and F had completely autonomous inertial guidance systems.
Atlas was unusual in its use of balloon tanks for fuel, made of very thin stainless steel with minimal or no rigid support structures. Pressure in the tanks provides the structural rigidity required for flight. An Atlas rocket would collapse under its own weight if not kept pressurized, and had to have Script error: No such module "convert". nitrogen in the tank even when not fuelled.[7] The only other known use of balloon tanks at the time of writing is the Centaur high-energy upper stage, although some rockets (such as the Falcon series) use partially pressure-supported tanks. The rocket had two small thrust chambers on the sides of the tank called vernier rockets. These provided fine adjustment of velocity and steering after the sustainer engine shut down.
Atlas also had a staging system different from most multistage rockets, which drop both engines and fuel tanks simultaneously, before firing the next stage's engines. When the Atlas missile was being developed, there was doubt as to whether a rocket engine could be ignited in space. Therefore, the decision was made to ignite all of the Atlas' engines at launch; the booster engines would be discarded, while the sustainer continued to burn. Rockets using this technique are sometimes called "stage-and-a-half" boosters. This is made possible by the extremely light weight of the balloon tanks. The tanks make up such a small percentage of the total booster weight that the weight penalty of lifting them to orbit is less than the technical and weight penalty required to throw half of them away mid-flight.
Sergey Korolyov made a similar choice for the same reason in the design of the R-7, the first Soviet ICBM and the launcher of Sputnik and Vostok. The R-7 had a central sustainer section, with four boosters attached to its sides. All engines were started before launch, eliminating the then unexplored task of igniting a large liquid fuel engine at high altitudes. Like the Atlas, the R-7 used cryogenic oxidizer and could not be kept in the state of flight readiness indefinitely. Unlike the Atlas, the R-7 had large side boosters, which required use of an expensive launch pad and prevented launching the rocket from a silo.
Convair XSM-16A/X-11/SM-65A Atlas
The Convair XSM-16A (later X-11) was the first testbed for what became the Atlas missile. Later the Convair X-12 became a second, more advanced testbed. A total of 12 X-11's were built and tested. The first three were involved in static tests only. X-11 Number 4 and 6, were destroyed in launch accidents. All others performed successful test flights. The test series began on June 11, 1957 and ended on June 3, 1958.
It was developed into the SM-65A Atlas, or Atlas A,[8] which was the first full-scale prototype of the Atlas missile, which first flew on 11 June 1957. Unlike later versions of the Atlas missile, the Atlas A did not feature the stage and a half design. Instead, the booster engines were fixed in place, and the sustainer engine was omitted.
The Atlas A conducted eight test flights, of which four were successful. All test flights were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at either Launch Complex 12 or Launch Complex 14.[8] Atlas A flights were powered by a single engine consisting of two large thrust chambers fed by a single set of turbopumps.
Convair X-12/SM-65B Atlas
The Convair X-12 was the second, more advanced testbed for the Atlas rocket program. It was designed with 2 engines, the booster engine used on the predecessor X-11 plus a sustainer engine. This combination of booster plus sustainer engines was designated the MA-1 engine system. MA-1 was used in Atlas B and Atlas C. MA-1 was the direct predecessor of the MA-2 engine system of Atlas D which in turn was the direct predecessor of the MA-5 engine system used in Atlas Agena and Atlas Centaur launch vehicles. The first flight of X-12 (Atlas B) was in July 1958. The X-12 pioneered the use of these 1.5-stage rocket engines that became a hallmark of the Atlas rocket program. It was also the first rocket to achieve a flight distance that could be considered intercontinental when it flew Script error: No such module "convert"..
Atlas B was first flown on 19 July 1958, and was the first version of the Atlas rocket to use the stage and a half design. Ten flights were made. Nine of these were sub-orbital test flights of the Atlas as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, with five successful missions and four failures. The seventh flight, launched on 18 December 1958, was used to place the SCORE satellite into low Earth orbit, the first orbital launch conducted by an Atlas rocket.
All Atlas-B launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11, 13 and 14.[8]
SM-65C Atlas
The SM-65C Atlas, or Atlas C was a prototype of the Atlas missile. First flown on 24 December 1958, the Atlas C was the final development version of the Atlas rocket, prior to the operational Atlas D. It was originally planned to be used as the first stage of the Atlas-Able rocket, but following an explosion during a static test on 24 September 1959, this was abandoned in favor of the Atlas D.
Six flights were made. These were all sub-orbital test flights of the Atlas as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, with three tests succeeding, and three failing.
All Atlas C launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complex 12.
SM-65D Atlas
The SM-65D Atlas, or Atlas D, was the first operational version of the Atlas missile. It first flew on 14 April 1959. Atlas D missiles were also used for orbital launches, both with upper stages, such as the RM-81 Agena, and on their own as a stage and a half vehicle. The Atlas D was used for the orbital element of Project Mercury, launching four manned Mercury spacecraft into low Earth orbit.[8] The modified version of the Atlas D used for Project Mercury was designated Atlas LV-3B.
Atlas D launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11, 12, 13 and 14, and Vandenberg AFB Launch Complex 576.
Most Atlas D launches were sub-orbital missile tests, however several were used for other missions, including orbital launches of manned Mercury, and unmanned OV1 spacecraft. Two were also used as sounding rockets, as part of Project FIRE. A number were also used with upper stages to launch satellites.[8]
SM-65E Atlas
The SM-65E Atlas, or Atlas-E, was the first 3-engine operational variant of the Atlas missile, the third engine resulting from splitting the two booster thrust chambers into separate engines with independent sets of turbopumps. It first flew on 11 October 1960, and was deployed as an operational ICBM from September 1961 until March 1965.[9] Following retirement as an ICBM, the Atlas-E, along with the Atlas-F, was refurbished for orbital launches as the Atlas E/F.[8] The last Atlas E/F launch was conducted on 24 March 1995, using a rocket which had originally been built as an Atlas-E.
Atlas-E launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11 and 13, and Vandenberg Air Force Base at OSTF-1, LC-576 and SLC-3.[8]
SM-65F Atlas
The SM-65F Atlas, or Atlas-F, was the final operational variant of the Atlas missile. It first flew on 8 August 1961, and was deployed as an operational ICBM between September 1962 and April 1965. Following retirement as an ICBM, the Atlas-F, along with the Atlas-E, was refurbished for orbital launches as the Atlas E/F.[8] The last Atlas E/F launch to use a rocket which had originally been built as an Atlas-F was conducted on 23 June 1981.
Atlas-F launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11 and 13, and Vandenberg Air Force Base at OSTF-2, LC-576 and SLC-3.[8]
It was also used to launch the Block I series of GPS satellites from 1978 to 1985. The last refurbished Atlas-F vehicle was launched from Vandenberg AFB in 1995 carrying a satellite for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.
The warhead of the Atlas D was originally the G.E. Mk 2 "heat sink" re-entry vehicle (RV) with a W49 thermonuclear weapon, combined weight Script error: No such module "convert". and yield of 1.44 megatons (Mt). The W-49 was later placed in a Mk 3 ablative RV, combined weight Script error: No such module "convert". The Atlas E and F had an AVCO Mk 4 RV containing a W-38 thermonuclear bomb with a yield of 3.75 Mt which was fuzed for either air burst or contact burst. The Mk 4 RV also deployed penetration aids in the form of mylar balloons which replicated the radar signature of the Mk 4 RV. The Mk 4 plus W-38 had a combined weight of Script error: No such module "convert"..
Operational deployment
Strategic Air Command deployed 11 operational Atlas ICBM squadrons between 1959 and 1962. Each of the three missile variants, the Atlas D, E, and F series, were deployed and based in progressively more secure launchers.
Atlas-D deployment
To provide the United States with an interim or emergency ICBM capability, in September 1959 the Air Force deployed three SM-65D Atlas missiles on open launch pads at Vandenberg AFB, California, under the operational control of the 576th Strategic Missile Squadron, 704th Strategic Missile Wing. Completely exposed to the elements, the three missiles were serviced by a gantry crane. One missile was on operational alert at all times. They remained on alert until 1 May 1964.
In September 1959 the first operational Atlas ICBM squadron equipped with six SM-65D Atlas missiles based in above-ground launchers, went on operational alert at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming. Three additional Atlas D squadrons, two near F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming and one at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, were based in above-ground launchers that provided blast protection against over-pressures of only Script error: No such module "convert".. These units were:
- Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming (2 September 1960-1 July 1964)
- 564th Strategic Missile Squadron (6 missiles)
- 565th Strategic Missile Squadron (9 missiles)
- Offut AFB, Nebraska (30 March 1961-1 October 1964)
- 549th Strategic Missile Squadron (9 missiles)
The first site at Warren for the 564th SMS consisted of six launchers grouped together, controlled by two launch operations buildings, and clustered around a central guidance control facility. This was called the 3 x 2 configuration: two launch complexes of three missiles each constituted a squadron.
At the second Warren site for the 565th SMS and at Offutt AFB, Nebraska for the 549th SMS, the missiles were based in a 3 x 3 configuration: three launchers and one combined guidance control/launch facility constituted a launch complex, and three complexes comprised a squadron. At these later sites the combined guidance and control facility measured Script error: No such module "convert". with a partial basement. A dispersal technique of spreading the launch complexes were Script error: No such module "convert". apart was also employed to reduce the risk that one powerful nuclear warhead could destroy multiple launch sites.
Atlas-E deployment
The SM-65E Atlas squadrons deployed later in 1961 were also deployed horizontally, but the majority of the launcher was buried underground. These launchers were designed to withstand over-pressures of Script error: No such module "convert".. These units were:
- Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington (28 September 1961-17 February 1965)
- 567th Strategic Missile Squadron, (9 missiles)
- Forbes AFB, Kansas (10 October 1961-4 January 1965)
- 548th Strategic Missile Squadron, (9 missiles)
- Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming (20 November 1961-4 January 1965)
- 566th Strategic Missile Squadron (9 missiles)
The major enhancement in the Atlas E was the new all-inertial system that obviated the need for ground control facilities. Since the missiles were no longer tied to a central guidance control facility, the launchers could be dispersed more widely in what was called a 1 x 9 configuration, with one missile silo located at one launch site each for the 9 missiles assigned to the squadron.
The Atlas Es were based in "semi-hard" or "coffin" facilities that protected the missile against over-pressures up to Script error: No such module "convert".. In this arrangement the missile, its support facilities, and the launch operations building were housed in reinforced concrete structures that were buried underground; only the roofs protruded above ground level.
Atlas-F deployment
The six SM-65F Atlas squadrons were the first ICBMs to be stored vertically in underground silos. Built of heavily-reinforced concrete, the huge silos were designed to protect the missiles from over-pressures of up to Script error: No such module "convert"..
The Atlas F was the final and most advanced version of the Atlas ICBM and was essentially a quick-firing version of the Atlas E, modified to be stored in a vertical position inside underground concrete and steel silos. When stored, the Atlas F sat atop an elevator. If a missile was placed on alert, it was fueled with RP-1 (kerosene) liquid fuel, which could be stored inside the missile for extended periods. If a decision was made to launch the missile, it was fueled with liquid oxygen. Once the liquid oxygen fueling was complete, the elevator raised the missile to the surface for launching.
This method of storage allowed the Atlas F to be launched in about ten minutes, a saving of about five minutes over the Atlas D and Atlas E, both of which were stored horizontally and had to be raised to a vertical position before being fueled.
Service history
The number of Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles in service, by year:
CGM-16D Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles assigned:
CGM-16E Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles assigned:
HGM-16F Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles assigned:
Launch history
SM-65A Atlas
SM-65C Atlas
SM-65B Atlas
After the solid-fuel LGM-30 Minuteman had become operational in early 1963, the Atlas became rapidly obsolete. By October 1964, all Atlas D missiles had been phased out, followed by the Atlas E/F in April 1965. About 350 Atlas ICBMs of all versions were built, with a peak deployment level of 129 (30 D, 27 E, 72 F). Despite its relatively short life span, Atlas served as the proving ground for many new missile technologies. Perhaps more importantly, its development spawned the organization, policies, and procedures that paved the way for all of the later ICBM programs.
After its retirement from operational ICBM service in 1965, the ICBMs were refurbished and used over twenty years as space launch vehicles.
NASA use
Though never used for its original purpose as a weapon, Atlas was suggested for use by the United States Air Force in what became known as Project Vanguard. This suggestion was ultimately turned down as Atlas would not be operational in time and was seen by many as being too heavily-connected to the military for use in the U.S.'s International Geophysical Year satellite attempt.
The Atlas was used as the expendable launch system with both the Agena and Centaur upper stages for the Mariner space probes used to explore Mercury, Venus, and Mars (1962–1973); and to launch ten of the Mercury program missions (1962–1963).
Atlas saw the beginnings of its "workhorse" status during the Mercury-Atlas missions, which resulted in Lt. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 (Major Yuri A. Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, was the first human in orbit in 1961.) Atlas was also used throughout the mid-1960s to launch the Agena Target Vehicles used during the Gemini program.
Direct Atlas descendants were continued to be used as satellite launch vehicles into the 21st century. An Atlas rocket is shown exploding, in the 1983 art film Koyaanisqatsi, directed by Godfrey Reggio, in the penultimate shot. The vehicle shown in the movie was the first launch attempt of an Atlas-Centaur in May 1962.
- HGM-16F Atlas is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. For years the missile was displayed outside the museum. In 1998 it was removed from display. It was restored by the museum's restoration staff and returned to display in the museum's new Missile Silo Gallery in 2007. The white nose cone atop the museum's Atlas is an AVCO IV re-entry vehicle built to contain a nuclear warhead. This nose cone actually stood alert in defense of the United States, as it was initially installed on an Atlas on 2 October 1962 at a Denton Valley launch site near Clyde, Texas.
(The National Museum of the United States Air Force does not have an Atlas on display currently; they do have two in storage, these are visible on the Behind the Scenes Tour.)
- Atlas 5A (56-6742) is on display on the lawn in front of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Canada.
(5A was on display throughout the 1960s at the former location of the Air Force Museum, at Wright-Patterson AFB Building 89 near Xenia Drive in Fairborn, Ohio. Formerly a static-test article, it is the only surviving Atlas in the original A-series configuration, before the boat-tail modifications that solved thermal issues which caused the early termination of the first two Atlas test flights, 4A and 6A.)
- Atlas 8A is displayed in front of the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Nebraska; reconfigured as an Atlas D.
- Atlas 2E is on display in front of the San Diego Air & Space Museum at Gillespie Field, El Cajon, California.
- Atlas 2D mounted with a Mercury capsule is on display in the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Merritt Island, Florida
Specifications (Atlas ICBM)
- Length: Script error: No such module "convert". with Mk 2 re-entry vehicle, Script error: No such module "convert". with Mk 3
- Span of outboard engine fairings: Script error: No such module "convert".
- Diameter: Script error: No such module "convert".
- Launch weight: Script error: No such module "convert". for Atlas D w/o payload, Script error: No such module "convert". for Atlas D with Mk 2/3 RV and W49 warhead, Script error: No such module "convert". for Atlas E&F with Mk 4 RV and W38 warhead
- Range: Script error: No such module "convert".[10]
- Powerplant: 1 × Rocketdyne LR105 rocket engine with 57,000 lbf (254 kN) thrust, 1 × Rocketdyne XLR89 rocket engine with two 150,000 lbf (670 kN) thrust chambers (Atlas D), 2 × Rocketdyne LR101 vernier rocket engines with 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) of thrust (propellant feed from LR105 sustainer engine turbopumps); 2 × LR89 booster engines (independent turbopumps) with 165,000 lbf (734 kN) (Atlas E&F)
- Warhead:Mk 2 or Mk 3 re-entry vehicle with W-49 warhead (1.44 Mt yield) (Atlas D); Mk 4 re-entry vehicle with W-38 warhead (3.75 Mt yield) (Atlas E&F)
- CEP: Script error: No such module "convert".