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Well here's an idea of how far behind I am on blogging -- I actually made these sliders for the Superbowl. The fact that it's a month later and I'm just now getting around to posting them says nothing about the quality of these sliders but is really just an idea of how crazy my life has been. Truthfully, I've got even more recipes to post that I made well before these.
I love sliders -- they are the perfect size for a party so you don't have to commit to just eating a burger. I quickly made these sliders because I had an open can of chipotles in adobo from my chipotle chicken pasta that I wanted to use some more of rather than freezing. I used a nice sharp cheddar cheese to top these but I think a monterey jack or pepper jack cheese would also be delicious. Get some nice fresh rolls from a bakery for these - I used some sourdough rolls that were great. A little red onion and a cilantro lime mayo are the finishing touches for a great little sandwich.
Chipotle Chicken Sliders
2 T olive oil
1 pound ground chicken
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped + 1 T of the sauce
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
8 rolls
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
8 thin slices of red onion
1/2 cup mayo
1 T lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro
Chop cilantro finely and stir into mayo with lime juice and set aside.
Preheat a grill pan or skillet over medium high heat and add oil. Combine all remaining ingredients except rolls, cheese, and onion slices in a large bowl, gently mix until just combined. Divide mix into eight equal portions and form into small patties, thinning just slightly in the center. Transfer patties to hot pan, cooking about 2-3 minutes per side until cooked through.
Meanwhile preheat broiler on low. On a large sheet pan, cut rolls in half and lay out evenly. Add burgers and cheese to bottom of rolls. Broil until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown. Spread tops of rolls with mayo and top burgers with onion slices and serve.


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May 21st, 2013
Who hears #PrayersForOklahoma?
By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor
(CNN) - God may not notice the thousands of prayers tweeted for victims of Oklahoma's devastating tornado - but Ricky Gervais sure has. And he is not pleased.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 75,000 people have used the hashtag #PrayForOklahoma, including pop starlets, pastors and politicians, according to Topsy.com, a trend-monitoring site.
For example, the White House tweeted,
But the hashtag and the sentiments it promotes prompted a fierce backlash on social media, led by Gervais, a British comedian, and other prominent nonbelievers.
And while one Oklahoma City pastor says he appreciates the Twitter prayers, some religious scholars say devout petitions require more than moving your hands across a keyboard.
"A prayer is supposed to have a consequence for you," said Elizabeth Drescher, a lecturer at Santa Clara University in California. "It's not an act of magic."
Gervais, an ardent foe of organized religion, was more caustic.
After MTV tweeted that pop stars Beyonce, Rihanna and Katy Perry are sending their prayers to Oklahoma, Gervais responded, "I feel like an idiot now … I only sent money."
Gervais and other atheists also kick-started a counter-trend, using the hashtag #ActuallyDoSomethingForOklahoma.
"If all people are doing is praying, it is worthless," Hemant Mehta, an Illinois math teacher who writes the blog "Friendly Atheist," told CNN. "If they are praying and donating to the Red Cross, that's more like it."
Mehta is promoting a group called Foundation Beyond Belief that aims to provide a humanist response to crises like the Oklahoma tornado.
The prayer debate spilled into other social media sites as well, with commenters on CNN's Facebook page sparring over God's role in Monday's destructive whirlwind.
According to Oklahoma officials, 24 people have died, many more are injured, and once-orderly streets look likes foretastes of the apocalypse.
In response to a woman who said she was praying for the victims, Facebook commenter Peter Tongue replied, "If prayer works, there wouldn't be a disaster like this in the first place .... so please keep your religion to yourself."
But believers had their say as well.
"God is still in control!" said Wilbur Dugger, a commenter on CNN's Facebook page. "Everything (God) does is to get our attention. … My sympathy and prayers go out to those who get caught up in his demonstrations of (God) ruling the world."
The social-media sparring over prayer and God's will reflect a culture in which traditional notions of religion - and the places where people talk about faith - are changing faster than a Twitter feed, said Drescher, the Santa Clara lecturer.
"We're watching people re-articulate what it means to be spiritual and religious," she said.
Just a few years ago, for example, no one knew what a hashtag was. Now the "#PrayFor..." meme appears after almost every national and international tragedy.
But what exactly does it mean? Is the tweeting multitude really folding its hands in prayer, or is it a fleeting expression of existential angst? Or maybe just a trendy thing to say?
"It seems to express hope and anxiety, and maybe even helplessness," Drescher said.
"At the same time, it evokes this strong response from people who see it as a cop-out, a way of claiming some kind of spiritual space that doesn't actually have any meaning to the people who are posting the meme or the community they are addressing."
Traditionally, prayer has required something of the pray-er: an orientation toward reverence, a readiness to act, Drescher continued. "You are meant to do something - and that something may not be an easy thing."
Slapping a hashtag at the end of a tweet doesn't meet that standard, the scholar said.
The Rev. David Johnson of St. Andrew's United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City said the prayerful tweets mean something to him - even if he's been too busy to read them.
Since Monday, St. Andrew's has become a Red Cross command post and reunion site for families to find loved ones caught in the tornado's path. The tragedy has also touched the congregation itself, with homes, and some lives, lost on Tuesday, Johnson said.
Told of the Twitter prayers, Johnson said, "that's awesome."
"People feel helpless - like God called them to do something but they don't know what. That's where prayer comes in."
Johnson said his church appreciates the many material donations coming its way: the generator sent by a lady from Arkansas, the food and water sent from neighboring towns. But they also solicit, and are happy to receive, the many prayers recited - or tweeted - on their behalf, he said.
"We've seen quite a lot of trauma in the last day," Johnson said. "Obviously, people are going to ask why God allows tornadoes to happen. That's just part of this world. God doesn't promise us that bad things won't happen, he promises to help us get through it. That's what prayer helps us do."
soundoff (3,515 Responses)
About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.

subset: commoncrawl


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Xi targets corruption, criticism
BEIJING (AP) — He rolls up his pants in a downpour, holds his own umbrella and reminisces with villagers about the good old days. In nearly 10 months as China's leader, Xi Jinping has projected himself as a man of the people in a Mao Zedong-inspired propaganda push to connect with an alienated public.
Xi's populist approach, calling for party cadres to renew their ties with ordinary people, is part of his strategy to cement control of the Communist Party, protect its image and head off any challenges to the notion of one-party rule.
The strategy also features a corruption crackdown, aimed at opponents within the party who threaten cohesion, and increasingly hard-line moves to silence influential critics on the Internet and elsewhere.
Whether those efforts are working or are simply working against each other might become clearer as senior party leaders prepare for a November meeting where they are expected to produce a new economic blueprint. Xi's administration said the country needs economic reforms, but those changes will likely chafe against vested interests within the party that are tied to China's powerful state-owned companies.
A key feature of Xi's approach is the "mass line," a Mao Zedong-era ideological campaign to get the party's rank and file to reflect on their own and others' misdeeds and bind themselves to the people they say they serve. The revival of the mass line underscores the new leadership's fears that widespread corruption in its ranks has eroded its image.
"He's really sort of like the pope in a way, standing for some kind of ideological purity," said Kerry Brown, a China expert at the University of Sydney. "And like the pope, he has to issue these papal edicts every now and again which set out the core beliefs.
"I would see it as symptomatic of a crisis in that they are trying to demonstrate relevance and credibility where, in fact, that's long gone, and this is a bit of an empty kind of gesture," Brown said.
Xi risks undermining his own exhortations to party officials to listen to the common people with his aggressive efforts to control discourse and suppress calls for political reform.
Early in the year, reports began emerging of a secret document circulated among propaganda officials identifying threats to clamp down on such as constitutionalism, universal values, civil society and the Western concept of freedom of the press. Authorities have shut down critical blogs and last month started arresting influential bloggers. Civil rights advocates also have been rounded up.
Meanwhile, Xi's administration has signaled its intention to exert control over the country's mammoth state-owned companies. An anti-graft campaign has netted a number of high-level officials in the oil sector in recent weeks.
"His objectives so far are quite clear, which are to clean up the top levels of the bureaucracy and, at the same time, to control the most critical elements of society," said Ding Xueliang, a Chinese politics expert at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "That means to crack down on the two extremes: the most extreme corruption cases and the most extreme critical voices."
Playing to the party base, Xi, the son of a revolutionary veteran, has paid his respects at Mao's old residences, where he proclaimed that "the color of our red country will never change." It's seen as a bid to bolster the party's legitimacy — and thus his own — by emphasizing continuity and tapping into the revolutionary legacy of its founder.
Xi's evocation of Mao and the ideological assault on democratic values has disappointed liberal intellectuals in China who had seen his rise as a chance to curb the party's authoritarian rule with a fairer, independent judiciary and constitutionalism.
But Cheng Li, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, said many Chinese leaders have to defend Mao's legacy to reinforce party unity and added that it's still unclear how politically conservative Xi really is. "It's a little bit too early to jump to the conclusion that definitely Xi Jinping will embrace the Maoist approach. I think he may surprise us with more positive developments in the months to come," he said.
In a flurry of visits in July, Xi sought to portray himself as a no-fuss leader, rolling up his pants to talk to dock workers in the rain in the central city of Wuhan. In Zhengding county of Hebei, where he served as party chief three decades ago, he struck a nostalgic note to remind cadres how they should be spending their days.
"This reminds me of that time when I was with comrades every day, chatting, thinking and working together," Xi said. "I directly understood and felt the villagers' joys and sorrows."
Across the nation, party cadres have made a show of responding to Xi's call, holding meetings and visiting orphanages, hospices, schools and offices where residents submit complaints.
But a Maoist strategy might not prove effective on what has become a critically minded Chinese society. The hundreds of millions of users of China's popular microblogs have largely ignored the mass line campaign.
Commentators have noted with cynicism that officials should have been doing the work Xi advocates in the first place. Others have invoked the campaign to bolster causes the party opposes, such as subjecting the party to the rule of law.
But some are hopeful that in the absence of political reform, Xi's campaign could bring some benefits. "To an extent, we're still hopeful that under Mr. Xi, the mass line will be used to protect the interests of the masses," said Huang Qi, a veteran activist who campaigns for victims of illegal land seizures and other abuses. Huang said some people he has helped have recently reported seeing progress in their complaints.
"Under the current system of one-party rule, even though we have been deceived countless times, we still have to have some hope," Huang said.


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With speculation continuing to mount over RIM's ability to continue operating, analysts have cast doubt over whether the company could attract buyers in the event of a sale.
The launch of the BB10 operating system is widely seen as the last chance for the BlackBerry brand to re-establish itself among the smartphone elite, before RIM decides if it should sell or break up the company.
However, even if RIM decided to shift all or part of itself, potential buyers might not be too enthralled by the prospect of taking on a myriad of problems, according to Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha.
Garcha said that even the most resourceful buyer may struggle to turn RIM, which is currently engaging in wholesale job cuts amid falling sales and floundering share prices, into a winner once again.
High effort for little reward?
"Any deal for [the] company is highly complex in our view, requiring simultaneous management of a declining business, as well significant restructuring, and as such an acquirer maybe be best advised to wait for [the company] to shrink meaningfully before making any potential move," Garcha wrote in a note to investors.
"A break up is possible," he added.
"[But] we question the quality of the underlying patent portfolio and also believe that converting RIM's existing network operations center for other OS platforms may require a high level of effort for minimal functionality improvement."
Garcha noted that BB10 may come too late to re-engage the dwindling BlackBerry user base and added that RIM's market share may drop as low as 2.5 per cent next year, further denting any sell-on value.
In a call-in with investors last Thursday, RIM revealed its built a revenue of $2.9 billion (UK £1.78, AU $2.78) this past fiscal quarter, up from $2.8 billion (UK £1.72, AU $2.68) during the previous quarter.
However, this figure is 31 per cent below what the company brought home during the same quarter last year, when that number landed at $4.2 billion (UK £2.58, AU $4.03).
TechRadar has reached out for a second opinion from the financial community and will update this story if and when we receive further analysis.
Do you there's still a chance that RIM can turn things around with BB10? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Via AllThingsD


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Rapper Future -- Racking Up Baby Mamas?
Rapper Future Racking Up Baby Mamas?
Future -- the rapper behind the hit "Same Damn Time" -- may have to multitask when it comes to parenting duties ... 'cause ANOTHER woman is claiming he knocked her up.
TMZ has learned the most recent potential baby mama filed a lawsuit against Future in Georgia earlier this month ... claiming she gave birth to his son on December 4th. She also wants Future to start paying child support for the newborn STAT.
The woman makes it clear in docs, if Future disputes the paternity ... she wants a judge order him to take a DNA test ... and make it official.
As we previously reported ... Future just settled another baby mama paternity suit back in January -- and agreed to pay $1,662 a month in child support for his 10-year-old son.
Thanksgiving's gonna be fun this year.


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There was a recent study on the wages of men vs women and surprise, surprise! The gap is stubbornly stuck at about 85 cents per dollar for women for every dollar men make. This is after all other factors have been taken into consideration. From the NYTimes article:
But the study, based on an analysis of Labor Department data, could not determine whether other factors, like previous work experience or other choices made by women in the workplace, were keeping their wages from achieving closer parity, or whether there was still some other discriminatory effect.
Senator Robert P. Casey Jr., chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, which commissioned the G.A.O. report, said that he was surprised that despite higher levels of education, the gap between men's and women's pay hadn't narrowed much more. "I would have said we would have seen more progress," said Senator Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat.
He said the findings made the need for Congressional action on job creation more acute. "Every week that goes by where you don't have progress on those measures is obviously going to make the situation worse for everyone," he said. "But low-wage workers are having some of the most difficult challenges, and those challenges just get more significant."
Yes, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is scratching his head. This makes no sense. No, it doesn't. It also doesn't make sense that men are recovering from this prolonged recession better than women are. I mean, it makes sense because they are more likely to be able to tap into their Old Boys' Network to find new jobs. But why women don't have the same access to those same jobs? No, that makes no sense.
But isn't Senator Casey one of those pro-life Democrats? Like, what does that have to do with it? Oh, I don't know. But it seems like women have spent the last 40 years battling for equality based on whether or not they can get an abortion. By the way, there's no law on earth that will stop women from getting abortions, unless you incarcerate them and put them in straight jackets for being pregnant. Technically, we may not be equal yet but I don't think even Mississippi can do that. So, I think it's about time that the pro-lifers out there start facing up to the fact that a stupid little measure like making a fertilized egg a person is not going to stop a desperate girl from raking her uterus with a coathanger. What pro-lifers REALLY want is something that is unattainable. They want women to be mothers and they want them to *like* it.
That's where this term "female bodied person" comes in. I first heard the term "female bodied person" (FBP) on a segment of the Colbert Report the other day when Stephen interviewed an occupier from OWS who called herself "Ketchup". I had an "ah-hah!" moment. That's the concept that so many feminist have not been promoting. Instead, they've been acting like their whole existence depended on Roe v. Wade. No, non, nyet. What we need to get across is that there are people, equal people and minds, encased in female bodies.
That doesn't mean I don't like my female body. I like it very much. And I don't really want to change. But it is just my body. About a decade ago, my brother, ex, sister-in-law and I took some kind of pop psychology quiz that determined whether our minds were more male or female. My sister-in-law was solidly female, the ex was male, But I scored more on the male side of the spectrum than my brother did and he's a masculine guy. Pop psych or not, I think it is facet of our personalities that tends to get obscured by the bodies we wear. What was funny to me was when I finally showed up in Denver for the convention and people met me in person, a lot of them were surprised that I looked like a girl. They didn't exactly say it that way but I knew what they meant. I don't write like one so maybe I wouldn't look like one.
Does it matter if you look like a girl when it comes to employment? It shouldn't but we have some evidence that it does. It used to be that orchestras would hire predominantly male musicians. Women were thought not to possess that certain technical or artistic ability as men. In the past two decades, more and more orchestras are hiring based on a blind audition. In this case, the applicants for a seat in an orchestra audition behind a screen and the seat goes to the best musician based on music. In the year 2000, the number of women in orchestras had jumped from 10% to 35% as a result of blind auditions.
So, if we know that physical appearance can affect one's career prospects, can we apply the concept of the blind audition to the workforce in general? An orchestra is probably an easy case. Most differences in employment opportunities based on gender are not so clearly detectable as they are in an orchestra, or maybe even a restaurant. Most ways in which employers discriminate against women are very subtle and the managers themselves may not even be aware that they are doing it. Even a manager who feels himself to value equality may be affecting his female employees' career prospects and salaries. We have seen how the Obama administration does it quite openly and unapologetically by supporting an Old Boys' Club and by cultivating younger men, allowing them to steal projects from women and present more frequently at meetings. They also socialize more with the powerbrokers. We can also see this happening in the left blogosphere where the bloggers who have moved on to steady jobs in the media have been guys. Very few female bloggers have made this transition.
We may not be able to do much about the blogosphere but in the average workplace, there are ways to measure virtually anything from where people sit to how much desk space they have to how much access they have to the power centers to how many times their emails are answered and responded to. If there are discrepancies in salaries and promotions, quantifying the parameters of the work environment should lead to some answers as to why these discrepancies develop. Returning to my new favorite country, Finland, we can find a government program that does just this kind of study. It's called Gender Glasses. The goal of a program like gender glasses should be to detect the factors and behaviors that lead to treating people based on the body they're in and not the persons they are.
Of course, the United States has a long way to go to get to the stage where a program using measurement and statistics can be used to eliminate gender based differences in the work place. Before we get to that, we have to agree that women are more than just the bodies they inhabit and that biology isn't destiny. And getting rid of Roe v. Wade, even for those of us who are pro-choice, is something we need to consider. We need to take the focus off our bodies and put it back on our minds. Like I said before, abortion is not going away, no matter what some bible thumping Mississippian thinks or even what some Catholic senator thinks. All that's going to happen is more people will be forced to travel or do it themselves. But once the Roe issue is out of the way, we can get back to the issue of equality. Equality has been stalled for four decades while the right tried to force us into motherhood based on our body parts. If Senator Casey is serious about discovering why there is a gender wage gap, maybe he needs to start by examining his own attitudes towards "female bodied people".
Postscript: I notice that Digby has written something tangential to this about blogging while female. And while I understand that women are conditioned to "feel" it when someone insults them, I see no reason why Digby, talented writer that she is, should waste even one nanosecond of sleeptime turning over any mean spirited insult in her head. Here are my few words of wisdom to female bloggers: People insult you because they know it hurts and they want you to feel badly. But the truth is that they don't know you and even if they occasionally hit the mark, so what? The internet is the great equalizer. Unlike the real world, when someone says something nasty to you in cyberspace, you have the time to whip up a devastating response. And you should use it. Your blog is your own personal space. No one can chase you from it. You can say whatever you want and make whatever rules you like and there's not a damn thing that the rude commenter can do about it. You can banish people and never have to worry about accusations of censorship. It's a big blogosphere out there.
Finally, no matter what they say to you, they are only little black pixels on a screen. They cannot hurt you. With a click of a mouse, they are gone forever.
Filed under: General | Tagged: abortion, blind audiitons, Equality, female-bodied people, Gender Glasses, gender wage gap, Roe v. Wade, Senator Bob Casey |


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|Punk or Punk Rock is a subgenre of Rock, invented in New York and London of the 70s as part of the Punk subculture. The music is defined by its simplicity and chord shredding on mainly distorted guitars. It reminds of wild, sweaty parties. The commonly used instruments are guitars, basses, drums and vocals.
60s 70s 80s 8Bit Ambient Beat Big Beat Blues Bollywood Brazil Breaks Chillout Cinematic Country Crunk Dance Dancehall Deep House Disco Downbeat Drum and Bass Dubstep Easy Listening Electro Electro House Folk Funk Garage Hard Techno Hip Hop House IDM Indie Instruments Jazz Latin Lounge Metal Minimal Nu Disco Pop Punk R&B Reggae Rock Score Music Soul Soundeffects Surf Tech House Techno Trance Urban Various World


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Troop 998's
Home Page
Scoutmaster Bio
ASM Bios
BSA medical
Boy Scout Troop 998
(Clermont, Florida)
Contact Our Troop
Member Login
Welcome to our:
TROOP 998 – Clermont, FL
Introduction to 998
We are a strong Boy Scout Troop in Clermont, Fl.
We have a very experienced leadership team of four. Derrick Moore is our Scoutmaster, Brian Gilmore, Dianne Marin, and Tim Strickland
round out our leadership
team as
Scout Masters.
We have 22 active scouts and
Currently have produced 5 Eagle Scouts 2 of which are still active in the troop as
youth mentor leadership
We also have 2 Life scouts working on their Eagle rank
We have a very dedicated committee who are always visible
and available to the scouts and leaders.
Our meetings are held every Monday 7PM
at Family Christian Center
2500 Hwy 27, Clermont, FL 34711
In the Gr8 Kids room
We welcome boys ages 11-17 interested in or just curious
about joining Boy Scouts.
We also host a cub scout pack for ages Kindergarten - 5th grade Sunday's from 6-7PM
and an all new Scouts BSA Girl's Troop who also meet on Sunday evenings 6-7:30PM
Please contact us via email or attend one of our meetings for further
Yours in Scouting,
Troop 998
Past and Future Events
We enjoy monthly camp outs as well as great weeks of summer camp. Some examples of past expeditions we've been on is cave exploring, rafting and tubing, canoeing and swimming with manatees, surfing, hiking, cycling, climbing and zip lining just to name a few. This summer we will be attending summer camp at Camp Woodruff in North Georgia. We offer many fundraising opportunities for the boys to raise the needed funds to cover their scouting and camping experiences. We hope to have you join us soon.
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« Attention Gun Owners!!! ....Dictator Obama to Congress:" I'll decide what's constitutional" | Main | Some More Arrogance From Newt Gingrich as He Said " if he wins Florida, he WILL win the GOP nomination." »
January 25, 2012
Newt Gingrich on Obama State of the Union
Newt Gingrich Response to State of the Union
Coral Gables, FL - Newt Gingrich released the following statement responding to President Obama's State of the Union address:
We have a crisis of work in this country and tonight President Obama proposed nothing in the way of policy changes that will get us to robust job creation and dramatic economic growth.
Instead, the president described his conviction that his big government is built to last and should be paid for with higher taxes.
But bigger government and higher taxes will not lead to jobs and growth. Bigger government and higher taxes will instead lead to more people on food stamps, a situation which the President and his party defend as a fair outcome.
Here we have to confront the truth about President Obama. Economic growth and prosperity is not really at the top of his agenda. He will always prefer a food stamp economy to a paycheck economy and call it fair.
For the president and a large part of the political class, it's about their power, their right to rule. They just want to take money from Joe the Plumber - the small business people who makes over 90 per cent of the new jobs -- and redistribute it to the government bureaucracy and their political friends and allies. That's why so much of that nearly trillion-dollar stimulus didn't create jobs but just went into the pockets of special interests who support President Obama and the leadership of the Democratic Party.
No better example of this exists than in the crisis of American energy. President Obama and his political allies - not of few of whom love living in energy inefficient houses or driving gas-guzzling luxury vehicles - openly admit they want gas prices to remain high so that the rest of America will learn to live more modestly. They think it's good for rest of us. Only recently, the president canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline that would have created countless new jobs and helped America on the way to energy independence because he wanted to appease the far left of his party. And yet not a single word on the Keystone XL pipeline tonight.
To create jobs and growth in this country, we must start with dramatic tax reform that lowers taxes and maximizes capital investment and job creation. We must return to a dollar as good as gold whose purchasing power is the same in thirty years as it is today. We must dramatically expand American energy production. We must have smarter regulation at the same time we abolish destructive and costly regulatory systems beginning with Obamacare,Dodd-Franks, and Sarbanes-Oxley. And finally, unlike the current administration, we must have faith in job creators.
With these policies the state of the union will be much better. They will create an explosion in job creation and lead to robust economic growth and a return to prosperity. Furthermore, a paycheck economy will put us on a path to balanced budgets and paying down our national debt.
Wild Thing's comment......
And so this is what Newt had to say in his press release.
Posted by Wild Thing at January 25, 2012 04:40 AM


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Supersized Cocktails
The drinking man's case for smaller servings
The Adios Mo-Fo is among the most popular drinks sold at Howl at the Moon, at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles. A friend and I ordered one on a recent visit, then watched the bartender deftly hoist and upend four bottles at once—rum, gin, vodka, and blue Curaçao—letting loose long strands of colorful liquid, as if from the udder of a magical cow. Sitting and sipping, I found the drink to be memorable in any number of ways. For one, it was very blue—more blue than any swimming pool I've seen, and roughly as enjoyable to drink. But mostly, I was taken by its swimming pool–like proportions: 86 ounces, served in what appeared to be a plastic paint bucket sprouting two-foot-long red straws.
This is the hugest drink I've come across—by my calculation, it's a double-duodecuple—but it's not an isolated example. Many chain bars have embraced the cartoonishly large cocktail, from the 18-ounce Ultimate Mango Berry Daiquiri at T.G.I. Friday's to the 24-ounce Big Rita found at Margaritaville. Even in non-cartoon bars, 10-ounce Martini glasses and 12-ounce rocks glasses are not uncommon these days, and drinkers will give bartenders an aggrieved "Dude, where's the rest of it?" look if a large glass is not filled to the brim. The famous Big Ass Beer sold on Bourbon Street in New Orleans has even been eclipsed: last year I saw a Biggest Ass Beer in Memphis.
Video: SLIDESHOW: Wayne Curtis narrates images of gargantuan and Lilliputian beverages.
Of course, Americans have tippled big drinks as long as they've been tippling. Colonial taverns once set out large bowls filled with potent punches and vast tankards of flip, a hot toddy concocted with rum, beer, and molasses. But big drinks fell out of favor around the end of the 19th century, as the golden age of the refined cocktail dawned. Robert Hess, the author of The Essential Bartender's Guide, told me that pre-Prohibition bar guides generally recommended glasses much smaller than those seen today—one 1917 manual suggested cocktail glassware ranging from just two and a half to four ounces. And the Mad Men swilling their way through the notorious three-Martini lunches of yore? Pantywaists. Those three Martinis combined would barely fill half a Big Rita glass.
Small cocktails were favored for a simple reason: they stay chilled from beginning to end. Few things are as unappealing as a Martini that's warm when you hit bottom, with the possible exception of an Old-Fashioned on the rocks that's both watery and warm at bottom. (I cannot attest to the last sip of the Adios Mo-Fo; disturbingly, it gave me a hangover without my ever getting tipsy, and I conceded defeat after an inch or two.) Cocktails should be like tapas: intense hits of complex, well-balanced flavors in small portions that leave one wanting more.
Happily, some of the country's better bars—like the venerable Pegu Club in New York, and Craigie on Main in Cambridge—are inciting a small-cocktail revival. If I had to nominate one icon to represent this trend, it would be the newly popular coupe glass. This is a small, stemmed glass with a gently rounded bowl that makes it more stable and more comfortable in the hand than a stiffly angled Martini glass. Coupes generally hold only four or five ounces, and they inspire many pleasing myths, the most persistent being that the original was made from a mold of Marie Antoinette's breast. They were once used to serve champagne, but fell out of favor when flutes proved superior. Today you'll find classic drinks like the Hanky Panky and the Boulevardier served in them, allowing topers to get a snootful of aromatics as they sip.
Recently, I stopped by the Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company, a speakeasy-style basement bar in Philadelphia. I ordered a Diamondback, a beguiling mix of rye, chartreuse, and applejack served in a four-and-a-half-ounce version of a classic Nick and Nora glass. It was cold at the beginning, cold at the end, and delightful all the way through. Alex Day, the beverage manager, has been looking through antique bar guides. He told me he's intrigued by recipes for even smaller drinks, such as the original Corpse Reviver, consisting of brandy, apple brandy, and dry vermouth—"something very small, with a big burst of flavor, like a little pick-me-up," he said. Such drinks were originally created as bracers with which to greet the dawn, and Day hopes to add others to his menu. He's not yet sure how to price them, or if customers will be as intrigued as he is. I'm not sure either. But a Corpse Reviver sounds like the perfect antidote to the Adios Mo-Fo.


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North Litchfield
North Litchfield is a Southern Shores gem!
North Litchfield beach has been sought after for its easy, relaxed atmosphere and natural environment. Nearby Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State Park offer outstanding opportunities to observe the natural wonders of the South, including one of the most admired sculpture exhibits in the country, world renowned gardens, and close-up views of animals and birds and their habitats.
North Litchfield Beach is nestled in the historic and charming Litchfield/Pawleys Island area, offering an unforgettable experience during all seasons. Easily accessible to over 100 golf courses and only a 45-minute drive to Myrtle Beach and an hour and 15 minutes to Charleston, North Litchfield boasts some of the most fabulous oceanfront homes on South Carolina's Gold Coast, as well as charming vacation and year around homes a short walk to the beach.
Oceanfront and lakefront homes as well as choice beach lots are some of the options available in this separate large beach community bordered by Huntington Beach State Park. Homes start in the mid-400s upward to $3,250,000 with home sites ranging from $200K to more than $3 million.
Beach houses in North Litchfield are some of the most highly coveted properties in the Pawleys Island area. If you're looking for prestige and luxury, you'll want to visit North Litchfield Beach and see what it has to offer. Let us be your guide to all of the Litchfield and Pawley's Island real estate.
Why work with a RE/MAX Southern Shores agent?
Locating the RIGHT property that meets YOUR personal needs is the #1 priority of every RE/MAX Southern Shores agent. The first step in finding the perfect property is identifying the NEIGHBORHOOD that feels like "home" to YOU! RE/MAX agents know the Southern Shore from Wilmington, NC to Georgetown, SC and can show you the diverse neighborhoods waiting for YOU.
RE/MAX Southern Shores has a reputation of excellence and personal integrity. Our goal is to exceed your expectations throughout the entire real estate process. Our skilled agents are dedicated to your needs; whether your interest is purchasing a primary residence, a second home for vacation, or an investment, RE/MAX Southern Shores agents draw upon a wealth of knowledge and experience. Call RE/MAX Southern Shores today at 843-839-0200 to make your dreams of southern living at its best come true!
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After previously enacting numerous dirty tricks to deceive voters into voting against the labeling of genetically modified foods through California's Prop 37 GMO labeling bill, the No on 37 campaign has now sunk to a new low. While previously being caught fraudulently using the FDA seal along with a fabricated quote attributed to the FDA in order to propel their campaign, Infowars.com reports the the latest scam involves using phony front groups to push their agenda.
Sending out flyers that are labeled as 'voter guides' for democrats and police officers, it has come out that these organizations are actually headed by No on 37 campaign members. The best part? None of them are actually qualified, with the head of the 'COPS voters guide' group being listed as a 'political consultant' — not a police officer. And as for the 'Coalition for Literacy'? It turns out this is the same front group used by Big Tobacco several months ago to avoid the tobacco tax presented in Proposition 27.
The reason for this deception is the simple fact that the No on 37 campaigners simply could not sell the public on the reality of the bill. In one poll, upwards of 95% of the United States public was in favor of labeling genetically modified organisms present in food. If the public were aware what this bill would really do, it would have no problem getting passed. You will notice all of the No on 37 campaign ads and materials never actually mention GMOs. Instead, they spit the rhetoric that it will 'cost you big' and that many 'prominent' members of society are opposed to it.
See the flyers below for yourself:
They would never tell you that GMOs have been linked to tumors, organ damage, and much more. That would be telling the truth. The only way these individuals can draw voters is through literal fraudulent behavior and outright deception.


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This is not an offer for credit and should be used for estimation purposes only based on the information you provided. You should not base your decision on this estimate alone. Title, registration, tax and other fees, and personal circumstances such as employment status and personal credit history, were not considered in the calculations.
Front - 26 x 9-14 in.
Rear - 26 x 11-14 in.
Double A-Arm independent
Front shocks - High pressure gas, compression, and rebound adjustable
Rear shocks - High pressure gas, rebound adjustable
Electronic power
Tilt wheel
Athens Blue
Winch - 3,000 lb
Cargo and side nets
Doors to keep you secure in the cabin
Front & rear stainless steel bumpers
3-point seat belts with alarm light
ROPS certified cage


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Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron
Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759–1834, British statesman; youngest son of George Grenville. He was foreign secretary in the ministry of his cousin William Pitt from 1791 to 1801. During the French Revolutionary Wars, Grenville led the British war party and favored Pitt's repressive internal measures. He was also a champion of free trade and of Catholic Emancipation. In 1806 he formed the
ministry of all the talents,which abolished (1807) the slave trade.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History: Biographies


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Paint by Numbers Kit for Kids
Llittle fox
🎁 Use code PBN10 for an extra 10% OFF
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Size: 16x20 Inch / 40x50 cm
Packaging: Securely wrapped Packaging
What's in the Package
This paint by numbers kit contains all the necessary materials to create your work:
-1x numbered acrylic-based paint set
-1x pre-printed numbered high-quality canvas
-1x set of 3x paint brushes (Varying bristles - 1x small, 1x medium, 1x large)
-1x hanging kit, including 2x screws and 2x non-track hooks
-1x set of easy-to-follow instructions for use
Why you should order
Unleash your creativity with EASY, FUN, BEAUTIFULDIY paint-by-numbers kits for kids. Spend a relaxing night in and create your own awesome wall art.
1 - Easy to Paint - Paint your own wall art by kids themself, even if they have zero artistic ability.
2 - Perfect Gift Idea - Whether it's for a birthday or Mother's Day, give a gift they'll love.
3 - Relax Take your mind off the anxieties of the workday.
More Details
High-Quality Canvas Material:
Strong durable material that can withstand the test of time
Colors printed on Canvas material always come out vibrant and stunning
Dense fabric that doesn't tear easily
Numbers marked so it's easy to follow
Premium Synthetic Brushes:
Our brushes are very easy to clean and don't retain filth like most paint brushes
Highly moisture absorbent bristles that allow you to paint with ease
Stunning Color Paints:
The color from the paints is naturally glossy and always stands out
Completely non-toxic and safe for the environment
- Use the paint directly and do not add any water.
- If you fill in the wrong color, you can wait for the paint to get dry and then cover the wrong part with the correct color on the surface.
- Please cover the lid of paint well when you do not use it, in case the paint gets dry.
- The figures on the canvas may not be covered entirely, hope you do not mind.
- The paint we offer is enough for normal use, please do not waste it in case of the paint shortage.
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Customer Happiness is our No.1 priority. If you're unhappy with your purchase for any reason at all, let us know!
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Please allow us to process your order within 1-3 business days.
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- See our Return Policy
Support Team
Email us: [email protected]
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Message us: (302) 315-0808


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Show All Answers
When you call for a medical emergency the St. Lucie County Fire District will dispatch a Rescue Truck, which is equipped to manage almost any medical or traumatic emergency we encounter. Depending on the nature of your emergency and the location of our closest unit a Fire Engine may also be sent.
It is our goal to deliver enough personnel as rapidly as possible to deal with the emergencies that we are called to. Significant medical calls such as; heart attacks, severe breathing problems, gunshot wounds and auto accidents may require more personnel than can be sent initially in the Rescue Truck. Sending a Fire Engine ensures that we send a team large enough to handle your emergency fast enough to make a difference in the outcome.
Sending these trucks in this way is in compliance with national standards that aim to ensure that you receive a timely and effective response from our agency to your emergency.
All burn authorizations are issued by the Florida Forest Service, which can be reached at (863) 467-3221. Florida Forest Service website
Visit the Fire Station page to view a map of the county and all the fire station locations.


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BAGHDAD — Attacks across Iraq including a suicide bombing at a Sunni funeral killed at least 33 on Wednesday, authorities said, while police found 13 bodies at two different locations with gunshot wounds to their heads.
Bodies were frequently found dumped during the height of Iraq's sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007, when the country was at the edge of civil war. Although monthly deaths tolls are still significantly lower than they were then, a seven-month spike of violence that shows little sign of abating has raised fears that widespread killing may be rekindled.
Eight of the corpses were found dumped in farmland in the Sunni-dominated Arab Jabour district, a police officer said. All of the dead, men believed to be between the ages of 25 to 35, suffered gunshot to their heads, he said.
Arab Jabour, a former insurgent stronghold, is located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Baghdad.
Authorities found another five corpses in a vacant lot in a residential area of the capital's predominantly Shiite northwestern Shula neighborhood, the officer said. The slain men, all in their 30s, had their hands and legs tied and suffered gunshots in heads and chests, he said. Officers found no identification on the corpses.
In 2006 and 2007, both Shiite and Sunni death squads roamed the streets and raided homes to round up people. Authorities later found the victims' corpses, often mutilated.
Shortly after sunset, nine mourners were killed and 25 others were wounded when a suicide bomber set off his explosive belt inside a tent where the Sunni funeral was being held in Baghdad's western suburbs of Abu Ghraib, said local police and hospital officials.
The other attacks ranged from a home invasion to a drive-by shooting to a complex assault on a police station involving a suicide bomber, a mortar strike, and a team of gunmen.
Gunmen armed with silencer-fitted pistols broke into the house of a Sunni family in the predominantly Shiite northern Hurriyah neighborhood Wednesday in northern Baghdad, killing the parents, two sons and a daughter, a police officer said.
Elswhere in Baghdad, a bomb exploded in the southern Dora neighborhood, killing two civilians, authorities said. Mortar rounds landed in a street in the southwestern Albu Eitha neighborhood, killing another two. Gunmen fired on a crowd in the southeastern Bayaa neighborhood, killing one.
Outside of Baghdad, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a checkpoint manned by the Kurdish security forces in the town of Khanaqin north of Baghdad, killing three, another police officer said.
Another suicide bomber set off his explosives-laden belt at the gate of a police station in the town of Habbaniyah west of Baghdad, allowing another to enter and blow himself up inside the building, a police officer said. The blast killed five police officers, he said.
Also to the west of Baghdad, militants fired two mortar rounds at a police station outside the city of Ramadi, which was then attacked by a suicide attacker on foot and gunmen, the officer said. That attack killed four officers, while police killed two of the gunmen, he said.
A drive-by shooting also killed two school teachers in the town of Hadra, between the northern city of Mosul and western Anbar province, authorities said.
Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures from the attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information to journalists.


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Poll shows Romney strategy flags
WASHINGTON - With the Iowa caucus nearing and Newt Gingrich surging, Mitt Romney's campaign strategies appear to be flagging in the Republican presidential race. He's starting to adjust.
A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds Republicans aren't buying Romney's chief argument: that his private-sector, outside-Washington background makes him a better candidate than does Gingrich's three decades in the capital. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, also has been unable to persuade Republicans he's more conservative than Gingrich.
Romney and his aides are beginning to revamp. They know they have limited time to get voters' attention before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus and the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary.
In recent days, Romney's campaign has highlighted Gingrich's departures from conservative paths, subjected their own candidate to wider media scrutiny and emphasized the less-flattering aspects of Gingrich's Washington experience.
In essence, Romney is saying Gingrich has the wrong kind of Washington experience: cutting unwise deals with Democrats, letting power go to his head and cashing in on his name and contacts after leaving Congress.
The revised strategy is playing out in TV ads, in emails and in comments by Romney and his surrogates.
For instance, Romney aides say they will make greater use of a 2008 video in which Gingrich appeared with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to discuss climate change. They also are employing GOP officials who worked with Gingrich in the mid-1990s to argue he was an erratic and unreliable leader during his four years as House speaker.
They hope the tactic might reverse the trend in polls that show Gingrich ahead of Romney, nationally and in early voting states.
The AP-GfK poll found Gingrich with an edge, but just within the margin of error.
"Gingrich is not nearly the conservative that everybody thinks he is," said Mike McKenna, a Republican lobbyist and strategist unaffiliated with the presidential campaigns.
"He is surging because some chunk of the electorate sees him as the authentic conservative in the race. Romney doesn't need to prove he's the authentic conservative. He just has to cast doubt on whether it's Gingrich."
But Romney has trouble proving his own conservative credentials. During his time in Massachusetts, he supported legalized abortion, gun control and gay rights. He changed those positions before his first bid for president, in 2008. Romney says he was wrong not to sign Gingrich's 1994 Contract With America when he was running for a Senate seat.
Gingrich, 68, spent 20 years in the House, the last four as speaker after leading the Republican resurgence of 1994. He left Congress in 1998 under an ethics cloud, following sharp clashes with GOP colleagues. He then earned millions of dollars as a Washington-based consultant, speaker and writer. Like Romney, Gingrich has changed positions on some issues, including how to address climate change.
Romney allies say their candidate is not panicking. There is plenty of time for Gingrich to hurt himself through his propensity for hyperbolic and often boastful remarks, they say.
Also, the AP-GfK poll and other surveys of Republicans give Romney a clear edge on which contender has the best chance to beat President Barack Obama next year. Several advisers said Romney should let his friends or the news media make the "electability" argument for him, while he stays focused on Obama and the economy.
When candidates highlight their electability advantage, "the argument is solely about them," said Kevin Madden, a Romney adviser. "Romney represents the best chance to make this an election about the economy," he said. "If Newt Gingrich is the nominee, it's very likely this will be a campaign about Newt Gingrich."
Romney's revised strategy calls for pointedly questioning Gingrich's conservatism and highlighting the seamier aspects of his time in Washington. In doing so, Romney allies hope to provoke Gingrich into an outburst that will raise doubts about his stability or judgment.
Romney recently called on Gingrich to return the $1.6 million he made as a consultant to Freddie Mac, the quasi-government mortgage giant that many conservatives dislike. Gingrich in turn said Romney should give back the millions he made as head of Bain Capital, a venture capital firm that sometimes laid off employees as it reorganized struggling businesses. To Romney's delight, some conservative commentators questioned Gingrich's faith in capitalism.
Romney and his allies also are reminding voters of Gingrich's criticism of a budget plan by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would make significant federal spending cuts, including some to Medicare.
Madden said Romney wants to cast the GOP election as one "between a candidate who sees the presidency as a professor's lectern and wants to teach a course on civilization," and a contender "who wants to fix the economy and move the country forward."
That might sound like a tepid insult to Gingrich. But Romney aides say the image of Gingrich as a college professor might remind voters of his penchant for provocative comments and ideas that play better in a classroom than in delicate negotiations with Congress and foreign leaders.


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Aunt Lydia's Classic Cotton Crochet Thread is ideal for tablecloths, bed spreads, home decor, apparel, and more. Recommended for crochet hooks size 6, 7, 8, B-1 and knitting needles size 0-1(US). Care: machine wash on the gentle cycle with warm water, remove promptly, roll in towel, and block. 100% mercerized cotton. 3 ply. Size 10, bedspread weight. 350 yards. Myrtle Green.


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NFL suspends Cardinals' Washington for 1 year
PHOENIX (AP) — The NFL has suspended Arizona Cardinals standout inside linebacker Daryl Washington for one year for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
The punishment, announced Friday, was for substance abuse and did not mention his recent guilty plea to assaulting his ex-girlfriend. He still could face a later suspension for the criminal conviction.
Washington, in a statement released by his agent, said the penalty was for marijuana, and that he takes responsibility for the violation. He said he "is committed to making changes" in his life that will allow him to return to the NFL.
Considered among the best in the NFL at his position, Washington was suspended the first four games of last season for violating the substance abuse policy.
"It is completely unacceptable that Daryl has once again put us in this position," Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said in a statement released by the team. "We all know what the consequences are and will deal with them."
Washington, the team leader in tackles in 2011 and 2012, will lose $2.9 million in salary, plus any prorated signing bonus money, due to the suspension.
In March, Arizona exercised a $10 million option to keep him on the roster. Washington received $5 million then and the deals calls for him to get the other $5 million next March.
However, the league's collective bargaining agreement with players has a mechanism that allows the Cardinals to recoup a portion of that option money because of the substance abuse violation.
Washington said the NFL "policy is very strict, and I have chosen to take responsibility."
"I will work extremely hard to stay in top football shape," he said, "and will work equally hard to ensure that my life off the field meets the high level of maturity and responsibility to which I am committed."
With the loss of inside linebacker Karlos Dansby to free agency, the Cardinals find themselves without the dynamic combination that was a big part of their strong defense last season.
Second-year player Kevin Minter is slotted to take Dansby's place. Just what the team will do to try to replace Washington is unclear.
"Our approach is the same as it's always been: next man up," Keim said. "We talk a lot about how critical depth is to a team because situations always arise whether by injury or other circumstances such as this one."
After leading the team with 111 tackles in his second NFL season, Washington signed a six-year contract, adding four years and $32 million to his existing deal.
In 2012, he led the team with career highs of 140 tackles and nine sacks and made the Pro Bowl. But in April of last year, the NFL suspended him four games for violating the substance abuse policy. A month later, he was arrested on accusations of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, the mother of the couple's child.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of assault earlier this year.
A suspension for the criminal conviction had been expected. The penalty for substance abuse came as a surprise to some, but apparently not to Washington's teammates.
"Old news to us, new news to y'all," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said in a tweet.
Keim said "our hope is that this suspension will give Daryl the opportunity to accept the necessary help and guidance to get his life back on track," Keim said, "and we will certainly support him however we can."
When OTAs resumed this week, coach Bruce Arians said he hoped the team could pick up another outside linebacker.
The Cardinals signed veteran Larry Foote in the offseason, and outside linebacker Lorenzo Washington also can play inside.
Minter, a second-round draft pick, played almost entirely on special teams as a rookie.
Another player Arizona has at inside linebacker is Kenny Demens, an undrafted rookie free agent a year ago who spent last season on the Cardinals' practice squad.
"I sincerely apologize for the effect of my actions on my teammates, coaches and other colleagues at the Cardinals," Washington said. "I also apologize to Cardinals fans for the time I will miss. I will work diligently during this suspension to return as a better man and football player."
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL


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Express lanes were supposed to ease congestion by letting solo drivers pay their way into the fast lane, but now they're becoming a victim of their own success — by congesting the fast lane.
As a result, toll-paying drivers are being booted out of the express lane at Highway 237 and Interstate 880 for as much as an hour a day in an attempt to make the fast lane fast again.
Those willing to pay as much as $5 to speed through one of the Bay Area's most gridlocked interchanges are irritated to see signs consigning them to the slow lanes, saying it adds 15 to 20 minutes to their commute.
"It is frustrating," grumbled Jonathan Quist, of Pleasanton, who has used the toll lanes since they opened in 2012. "The times that it says 'HOV ONLY' seem pretty arbitrary and unpredictable."
With the Bay Area economy improving, increased afternoon traffic has turned northbound 880 into a mess between 237 and Mission Boulevard. So far, it hasn't been so bad in the morning going in the other direction, or on the Bay Area's only other express lane, on I-680 south along the Sunol Grade.
But when speeds drop below 45 mph in the eastbound 237 express lane, or traffic jams up downstream on northbound I-880, the toll is raised to $5. If that fails to unclog the problem, the ban on solo drivers goes into place.
Federal rules require that traffic in diamond lanes go at least 45 mph, for fear that lower speeds would discourage carpooling and make congestion worse.
Electronic signs flash an "HOV ONLY" message, meaning only high-occupancy vehicles of two or more people. Motorcyclists and those with certain alternative fuel vehicles can continue to use the lanes for free.
"A reversion to HOV-only operation is not unexpected," said John Goodwin of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. "It certainly can be expected to come up again, whether on the 880-237 express lanes or elsewhere."
Despite the hiccups, the popularity of paying a toll to beat traffic is surging. There are roughly 3,000 first-time FasTrak users each month in the express lanes at 237-880 and as many as 14,000 repeat toll-paying customers overall a month, an increase of 4,000 in less than two years.
The growing number of FasTrak users means more money that can be spent on road improvements. The Valley Transportation Authority is on pace to rake in $1.2 million this fiscal year in tolls, up from $1 million last year. This money could be used to extend the express lanes farther west on 237.
Nearly 300 miles of toll lanes are coming to the Bay Area by the end of the decade. Express lanes will open on I-580 next year, and they could be in use by 2020 on Highway 101, Highway 85, I-880 and I-80, as well as approaches to the San Mateo and Dumbarton bridges. Much of I-680 could get express lanes after that.
Where there is room, a second carpool lane may be built to handle both carpoolers and paying customers. That's the plan on 101 and on a segment of 85 between Highway 87 and I-280.
Transportation officials have begun discussing a second carpool lane at 237-880, but that would be years down the road.
Kathy Hair, of Alamo, notes glumly that to her, the cutoff of the pay lane means an extra 20 minutes on the road.
"The logic of this escapes me," she said.
Contact Gary Richards at 408-920-5335.


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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google unveiled its attempt to catch up to Apple and Amazon in the growing market for tablet computers. It also provided a titillating glimpse at its vision of a digital future through the mind-boggling lens of Internet-connected glasses.
The debut of a long-anticipated tablet computer bearing Google's brand and equipped with its latest operating software kicked off an annual conference for about 6,000 computer programmers.
Although the tablet drew plenty of applause, the biggest crowd-pleasing moment came near the end of a nearly two-hour performance Wednesday when Google conjured a scene worthy of a "Mission Impossible" movie.
After Google co-founder Sergey Brin trotted on stage during the middle of a presentation, he cut away to a live video feed showing a group of skydivers the company hired to jump out of a blimp hovering about 7,000 feet above downtown San Francisco.
The skydivers were wearing a pair of Internet-connected glasses. That allowed the audience inside to see what the skydivers were seeing as they parachuted on to the roof of the building where the conference was being held.
The glasses are still a work in progress, although Google gave U.S. programmers attending the conference a chance to order a $1,500 prototype that they can start experimenting with early next year.
The Google-branded tablet, called the Nexus 7, will start shipping next month in a direct challenge to Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire. The tablet also could appeal to consumers looking for a less expensive, less sophisticated alternative to Apple Inc.'s iPad.
The Nexus 7 is designed specifically for Google Play, an online store that sells movies, music, books, apps and other content. That mirrors Amazon's strategy with the Kindle Fire, although Amazon's strength in online retailing has seeded its store with a more extensive selection than Google Play. Amazon declined comment.
The size and price of the Nexus 7 also matches the Kindle Fire. Both have 7-inch screens and sell for $199. The Nexus 7 is slightly lighter at about 0.75 pound, compared with the Kindle Fire's 0.9 pound.
By contrast, the iPad's screen measures nearly 10 inches diagonally and weighs 1.44 pounds. Apple sells its latest models for $499 and up, though an older version is available for $399.
Customers can start ordering the Nexus 7 through Google on Wednesday, initially in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The device won't ship until mid-July.
Google's announcement that it's putting its brand on a tablet comes a week after Microsoft Corp. did the same thing. Both moves risk alienating Google's and Microsoft's hardware partners. Those companies, in turn, could be less inclined to work closely with Google and Microsoft.
The Nexus 7's price looks like a relative bargain, given that it boasts more features than the Kindle, including a front-facing camera with 1.2 megapixels. The Kindle is believed to be a roughly break-even product for Amazon at $199. Samsung Electronics Co. sells a tablet similar to Google's for $250.
Andrew Rassweiler, an analyst with IHS iSuppli, said he suspects Google will be selling the Nexus 7 at a loss.
Google has previously put its own brand on a flagship line of "Nexus" smartphones. But that market is more mature than the tablet market, and there was less risk of Google alienating partners, particularly because it didn't price the phones lower than the norm.
Much like the Nexus phones, the Nexus 7 tablet will be a showcase for a new version of Google's Android operating system — this one called Jelly Bean.
Although the tablet carries the Google brand, the machine will be made by AsusTek Computer Inc. Google recently expanded into the device-making business with its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, but the company has stressed that it intends to continue to rely on Asus and other manufacturers that have embraced Android.
Jeff Orr, an analyst with ABI Research, said Microsoft's announcement of its Surface tablet last week and Google's Nexus 7 add up to a "troubling" situation for tablet makers such as Samsung Electronics Co., which makes the Galaxy line.
When a software-supplying partner turns around and puts out its own hardware product, "is that a partner or an enemy?" Orr asked.
Orr also questioned whether Google's strategy of pricing the tablet low is really going to win it any fans in the long term. Apple, he noted, dominates the tablet market with a product that's expensive but works well.
There are already other Android-powered tablets on the market, but none have proven nearly as popular as the iPad or Kindle Fire. That has raised worries at Google as more people rely on tablets to surf the Internet.
For Google, advertising dollars are at stake. If Apple retains its dominance and other players such as Amazon and Microsoft gobble up the rest of the sales, they could set up their operating systems in ways that de-emphasize Google's Internet search engine and other services. Apple develops its own system, while Amazon modifies Android for use in Kindles. Microsoft's will run on a new version of Windows.
Apple already has announced that the next version of the iPad operating system will abandon Google's digital maps as the built-in navigation system. That shift could cause neighborhood merchants to spend less money advertising on Google.
The iPad currently has about 68 percent of the tablet market, according to Forrester Research. The research firm expects the increasing competition to whittle the iPad's share to 53 percent in 2016, with Android-powered tablets at about 30 percent and Windows tablets accounting for the remainder. Forrester predicted 760 million tablets will be in use by 2016.
"Google's user base for music, books, and movies is not nearly as strong as Apple or Amazon, so it will take time to build a strong customer base" for the Nexus 7, predicted Forrester analyst Frank Gillett.
He also said the Nexus 7 and other Android tablets are at a disadvantage because computer programmers still haven't built as many compelling applications for that platform as they have for the iPad.
In another expansion into consumer electronics, Google also announced a home entertainment device called Nexus Q that is similar to Apple TV, a small box that can stream music and movies over Internet connections. The Nexus Q sends content from your personal collection or YouTube to your existing TV and speaker systems. You control it through a separate Android phone or tablet.
The Nexus Q, which Google is calling the world's first "social streaming device," will be available in July in the U.S. initially and sell for $299. Apple TV currently sells for just $99. Other Internet-streaming devices, such as the Roku, that connect to TVs sell for even less than that.
The Internet-connected glasses that Google demonstrated won't be cheap either, although Brin told reporters Wednesday that the company plans to charge consumers significantly less than the $1,500 that developers had to pay for prototypes. The glasses, which Google is calling Project Glass, probably won't be released to the mass market until early 2014, Brin said.
"It's not a commodity product," Brin said. "We view this as a premium sort of thing."
Google began developing the Internet-connected glasses in a secret research lab more than two years ago and announced what it was working on in April. Wednesday's presentation marked the first extended demonstration of how the glasses might work.
Also on Wednesday, Google unveiled a new search tool to help you get the right information at the right time on your mobile device. Called Google Now, the tool will be part of Jelly Bean, which will be available in mid-July. Some devices, including the Galaxy Nexus, will get the upgrade automatically over the air.
With Google Now, if you say "traffic," for example, it will look at your usual commute to work and show you alternative routes if there's a lot of traffic. It will tell you the scores of your favorite sports teams automatically, and it will keep you up to date on flight statuses if you are flying somewhere.
The feature bears resemblance to the Siri virtual assistant on Apple's iPhone.
Jelly Bean will also come with the ability to share photos by tapping two phones together.


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B&B's provide nuptials for couples who want to avoid 'the hoopla'
Shortly after Joyce and Robert Barry launched the The Farmer's House Bed and Breakfast at their Cutchogue home three years ago, the couple began receiving inquiries from guests about a service they hadn't explored before: elopement packages.
"I can't tell you how many couples are frazzled because their parents insist on these huge weddings their kids never wanted," Ms. Barry said. "People have said to me, 'Oh, I wish I could have had my wedding here, at the bed and breakfast.' "
Stirred by her guests' wistful laments, Ms. Barry obtained a certificate allowing her to perform wedding ceremonies. She also set to work creating an elopement package that begins at $1,800 and includes a ceremony, a bridal bouquet and a two-night stay in one of the house's luxury suites. Additional items, like a gift certificate for dinner at a local restaurant, are available at an extra cost.
"They're very intimate and quiet," said Ms. Barry, who hosts three or four weddings a year and generally limits them to a maximum of 20 guests. "It's really about the bride and the groom. There's so much stress involved when there shouldn't be. It should be about the commitment a bride and groom have to each other and to have your most intimate friends and family witness that, without all the hoopla."
The Farmhouse isn't the first North Fork bed and breakfast to offer elopement packages. Sylvia Daley, who has run Quintessentials Bed and Breakfast and Spa in East Marion for the past two decades, began offering small wedding services to guests eight years ago.
"People started phoning me about it," Ms. Daley said of her decision to begin hosting elopements. "Or, when guests came here and got engaged, they would say, 'Do you do weddings?' That's when I started learning more about it."
Budget-friendly elopement packages are not just a local trend but a service offered at small inns across the country. At Historic Heights B&B in Minneapolis, couples can get married for $1,000 or less with a package that includes 20 guests, an officiant, champagne, appetizers, cake and a room and gourmet breakfast for bride and groom. Travel to the Bluff Mountain Inn in Sevierville, Tenn., for the Elope to the Mountains package and the owners there will provide all the requisite wedding accoutrements, plus a wedding planner, for just under a grand.
At East Marion's Quintessentials, elopement packages range from $1,200 to $1,800 and include a ceremony that takes place in a fully dressed gazebo at the property's "secret garden," a wedding cake, champagne and a bridal bouquet. Spa services, videography and photography can be added on for an additional fee.
Ms. Daley, who is an ordained minister, thinks it's "wonderful" that couples are opting for small, intimate weddings. She said she performs six to 10 ceremonies a year.
"With the economy, a lot of people realize that it might not be a bad idea to have a simple wedding ceremony with two or four of their best friends and then go out to dinner afterward," she said. "They can save the money they would have spent on a big wedding for a house or go on a honeymoon at a later date."


text: A parts shortage has caused Chevrolet to temporarily suspend production of the wildly popular Cruze compact. The car has quickly become a massive success in the compact segment. Popular compact from Chevy According to the Wall Street Journal, Chevy managed to sell 215,057 Cruzes from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, an impressive feat in the Read on! →


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When assessors for the On-Farm Odor/Environmental Assistance Program walk through a pork producer's barns, their eyes, ears and nose are focused on the little things.
The amount of dust accumulated on the top of a farrowing crate, a slow drip from a nipple waterer and feed spilled from a bulk bin are all little signs of how a producer manages his or her operation.
"Is this dust from one cycle through the farrowing barn or is it a build-up?" Don Peterson asks as he wipes the dust layer from the top of a crate in David Bentley's barn.
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) used Bentley's 140-sow, farrow-to-finish operation near Marshall, MO, to show how the on-farm program works and how it can assist producers in their water quality and odor management.
Nationally, about 700 pork producers have completed the on-farm assessment, according to Dan Uthe, director of the program for NPPC. Missouri pork producers are leading the way with 175 assessments completed. In Iowa, 58 producers have completed the program and in North Carolina, 37 farms have been assessed.
The program, launched by NPPC last spring, offers producers a free assessment by private and public agency consultants who are trained and certified by NPPC. The $5 million in funding for the program comes as an Environmental Protection Agency grant from America's Clean Water Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation based in Washington, D.C.
The assessors begin with a "windshield tour" around the farm, explains Dennis Speichinger, a certified assessor who works for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Missouri. Driving around the section offers the assessors the same view of the farm that the neighbors have every day.
The team of assessors commonly spends from four to eight hours on a farm. They begin by interviewing the producer and then work their way through all of the barns, the manure storage and handling systems and fields where manure is applied. The team also looks at the general farm appearance and how the producer handles dead animals.
After the farm visit is complete, the assessors and the producer have an exit interview to discuss their recommendations. In addition, the producer receives a written report outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the operation.
The program doesn't tell producers what problems they have on the farm but instead identifies "challenges," Uthe says. The terminology is used for a reason.
"You'll step up to a challenge but you'll avoid a problem," he explains.
The assessors are finding many more strengths on the farm than challenges. Uthe explains that the program can identify potential problems before they become a regulatory concern. In addition, the program affirms what producers are doing right.
Doing Things Right "This is one thing that can make you feel good," Uthe says. "Producers are doing things right. That can be a good shot in the arm."
Bentley completed the program in July 1998. His farm is less than two miles outside of Marshall and is about a mile from the community's municipal golf course. There are 15 houses within one mile of his hog barns.
"Perception is very important to us," Bentley says. He admits that all of the recommendations haven't been implemented because of the cost.
After the assessment, Bentley had the freeboard checked on the 300,000-gal. lagoon to see if it could handle a 25-year rain event. He also added a measure to ensure the lagoon would not be pumped below its minimum treatment level.
Bentley keeps the assessment report and his nutrient management plan together with the annual manure application records. He reviews the documents often.
"There are things in there that I have literally marked 'done,' " he says.
Costs Limit Changes NPPC plans a follow-up program to check if producers have implemented suggested changes. From 50% to 60% of the recommendations are being implemented, Uthe says. Producers want to follow all of the recommendations but often can't because of costs.
"The producers are saying 'I'd like to do them,' but because of the times, they aren't," Uthe says.
America's Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) became involved with pork production issues and the environment in 1997 when it convened the National Environmental Dialogue on Pork Production.
Allan Stokes, chief operations officer for ACWF, says, "We are interested in the data that is going to be generated as a result of these on-farm assessments, as well as continuing dialogue with the National Pork Producers Council and others to focus a bit more on water quality issues."
The aggregated data from the program will document the real impacts and potential benefits of employing certain best management practices on farms.
"It is very interesting for us to know what are the common risks, what are the common strengths that are found within a particular state, possibly within a particular geographic area of the state, perhaps by size, type and nature of facility," he says. "If we can identify those, we can take that information and turn it into useful educational materials that can be used by production areas or by state or federal agencies."
Another goal of the ACWF is educating the general public about pork production and the environment.
"We are not here to put a pretty face on the swine production industry, we are here to honestly broker the information," Stokes says. As NPPC developed the assessment program, officials discovered the ACWF had similar research and education goals, but reached a different audience.
"The only way we are going to get understanding on both sides is by communicating, and the clean water foundation has provided an avenue into some places that we were not able to get into as directly as the National Pork Producers Council," Uthe says.
"We can coordinate our delivery programs and get the two groups together and come about to make some real effective and positive changes for the pork industry."
For more information about the On-Farm Odor/Environmental Assistance Program, contact your state pork producers association or call Dan Uthe at NPPC, (515) 223-2600 or (800) 456-7675 or go to www.nppc.org/PROD/ Environmental Section/OFO EAP.html.
Dan Uthe, director, On-Farm Odor/Environmental Assistance Program, National Pork Producers Council, says the most common challenges the program's assessors are finding as they conduct site visits are not costly problems to fix. The top five challenges include:
Lack Of Written Nutrient Management Plans - Uthe says producers either don't have a plan, or have a plan, but aren't familiar with what is in the plan. "The nutrient management plan needs to be written down," he says. "Everyone involved with the operation needs to be familiar with the plan. We need to see documentation in our industry today."
Inadequate Ventilation System Maintenance - Keep dust off of shutters and fan blades. Uthe says many producers forget about the importance of regular maintenance when it comes to keeping ventilation equipment in good working order.
Poor Drainage Around Site - Good drainage and grading can prevent puddles of water from forming, concentrating odor.
Proper Manure Containment Operation - Typically, producers may say they have a lagoon but what they really have is an earthen containment structure because it is not being operated as a lagoon, Uthe says. The reasons for that may vary but in many cases it is because a producer was never really taught how to operate a lagoon. "It is not that they don't want to," Uthe explains. "They may never have been told that there is a minimum treatment volume in a lagoon."
A lagoon should never be pumped down below a certain point because then bacteria doesn't have the opportunity to work properly. Along those same lines, if the lagoon is pumped down too low and the plugs are pulled on all the buildings at the same time (if it is a pull-plug situation) you "slug-load" the lagoon, according to Uthe. If the lagoon is loaded too fast at any given time there may not be enough dilution in the lagoon.
Uthe says assessors have gone to operations with a number of building and to increase efficiency all the plugs are pulled on Monday morning. "It would be better to pull one plug every morning until they were all pulled for that week, instead of pulling them all at once," Uthe explains. "It may seem minor but it can have a major impact from an odor standpoint."
Garbage In Manure Storage - Producers shouldn't be using the manure containment as a garbage can. Uthe says the assessors are finding too many AI pipettes, rubber gloves, etc. in the manure containment system.


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Syrian rebel groups break with exiled opposition
BEIRUTNearly a dozen of Syria's powerful rebel factions, including one linked to al-Qaida, formally broke with the main opposition group in exile Wednesday and called for Islamic law in the country, dealing a severe blow to the Western-backed coalition.
The new alliance is a potential turning point, entrenching the schism within the rebellion and giving President Bashar Assad fuel for his long-stated contention that his regime is battling Islamic extremists in the civil war.
The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition — the political arm of the Free Syrian Army rebel group — has long been accused by those fighting inside Syria of being a puppet promoted by the West and Gulf Arab states supporting the Syrian rebellion.
Wednesday's public rejection of the coalition's authority will likely be extremely damaging for its future in Syria, particularly at a time when the U.S. and Russia are pushing for peace talks.
"If the groups involved stand by this statement, I think this could be a very big deal — especially if it develops into a more-structured alliance instead of just a joint position," said political analyst Aron Lund.
"It basically means that some of the biggest mainstream Islamist forces within the so-called FSA are breaking up with the political leadership appointed for them by the West and Gulf states, to cast their lot with more hard-line and anti-Western Islamists," he said.
The announcement came less than two weeks after the coalition elected an interim prime minister, Ahmad Touma, charging him with organizing governance in opposition-held territories that have descended into chaos and infighting.
In a joint statement, 11 rebel groups that are influential in Aleppo province in the north, including Jabhat al-Nusra, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, said they rejected the authority of the Syrian National Coalition as well as Touma's appointment.
A video on the Internet showed Abdel-Aziz Salameh, political chief of the Liwaa al-Tawheed brigade that is particularly strong in the northern city of Aleppo, reading the statement.
"These forces call on all military and civilian forces to unite under a clear Islamic framework based on Sharia law, which should be the sole source of legislation," the signatories said.
Ominously, the rebel groups' statement was titled "Communique No. 1," a term used in Arab countries following military coups that suggests the creation of a new leadership body.
It said the rebels do "not recognize" any future government formed outside Syria, insisting that forces fighting inside the country should be represented by "those who suffered and took part in the sacrifices."
The statement highlighted the growing irrelevance of the coalition and its military arm headed by Gen. Salim Idris, who leads the Supreme Military Council supported by the West, amid increasing radicalization in Syria. The group is seen by many as being out of touch.
Veteran opposition figure Kamal Labwani, a member of the coalition, said the U.S. decision to shelve military intervention in retaliation to the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus and the perceived Western indifference to Syrian suffering was turning fighters in Syria into "monsters."
"We as a coalition are very removed from the ground now. There is no geographic spot we can enter in the liberated areas. The situation is worse than you can ever imagine," he said.
For many rebels, the realization that even a chemical weapons attack would not trigger military intervention has led to bitterness and more radicalization. Last week, al-Qaida militants expelled FSA fighters from a town near the Turkish border after some of the worst clashes between the two sides. An al-Qaida commander in the north was assassinated by FSA fighters a day later.
Wednesday's statement came hours after a delegation from the coalition, headed by Ahmad al-Jarba, met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in New York. It also came as a team of experts arrived in Damascus to continue investigating allegation on the use of chemical weapons in the civil war.
The U.S. and Russia have been pushing for a peace conference in Geneva. One opposition figure said the rebel announcement breaking from the coalition may be related to concerns it may agree to go to the talks.
"It is part of political jostling for representation ahead of any talks," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the he was not authorized to talk about the discussions under way in New York.
Al-Jarba met Wednesday with U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in New York. Al-Jarba said the coalition expressed readiness to attend talks in Geneva aimed at establishing a transitional government with full executive powers and a clear timetable for an agreement that those in Assad's regime responsible for war crimes against civilians would be held accountable and not be part of a future democratic Syria.
"The time has come to end the conflict in Syria," said al-Jarba, according to a coalition statement. It was not immediately clear if the coalition was relinquishing its previous demand that Assad step down ahead of such talks.
A U.S. official said the United States and its allies were discussing the rebel announcement, adding it's too early to tell what the impact will be. Another U.S. official said the U.S. and its allies are increasingly concerned by infighting between the FSA and al-Qaida militants in northern and eastern Syria.
Both spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss Kerry's meetings.
The opposition has long been hobbled by divisions between those in exile and the disparate rebel groups fighting Assad's regime in Syria's civil war, which has killed over 100,000 since March 2011.
The insurgency has increasingly drawn jihadis from all over the world, further adding to the West's reluctance to get militarily involved in the Syrian conflict or send advanced weapons to the rebels. There is growing concern among moderates that the dominant role the extremists are playing is discrediting the rebellion.
Among the signatories of Wednesday's statement are the Islamist-leaning Ahrar al-Sham and Liwaa al-Islam brigades, both powerful rebel factions with large followings on the ground, as well as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. Three of them — the Liwaa al-Tawheed, the Liwaa al-Islam, and the Suqour al-Sham — have until now been part of the Free Syrian Army, considered to be the Coalition's military wing.
Growing rebel infighting may further complicate the work of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors who face enormous challenges on the ground, including maneuvering between rebel- and government-controlled territory.
A team of experts arrived Wednesday in Damascus to continue investigating what officials from the world organization have described as "pending credible allegations" of the use of chemical weapons.
The visit of the six-member team, led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, follows a report by the inspectors after a previous trip. The report said the nerve agent sarin was used in an Aug. 21, attack near Damascus.
The U.S. and its allies say Assad's regime was behind the attack that killed hundreds of people. Damascus and its ally, Moscow, blame the rebels for the attack.
The U.N. experts will be investigating three alleged uses of chemical weapons earlier this year and seeking information on three alleged incidents last month.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said the mission will discuss with the Syrian government "information that it may possess regarding allegations it reported on the use of chemical weapons" in incidents on Aug. 22, 24 and 25.
He said the inspectors will visit the village of Khan al-Assal near Aleppo to probe a March 19 incident, as well as two other sites. The inspectors identified them in last week's report as Sheik Maqsood and Saraqueb.
Also Wednesday, activists said Kurdish gunmen captured the village of Hmaid in the northeastern province of Hassakeh after heavy fighting with members of al-Qaida's Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Nusra Front. It came nearly an hour after Kurdish gunmen took the nearby village of Dardara.
Omar Mushaweh, a spokesman for Syria's Muslim Brotherhood group which is part of the coalition, blasted the rebel statement and said the infighting is dividing the rebellion at a critical time.
"The only one who benefits from these side wars is the regime," he said.