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Before work, an overweight man always stopped by a bakery to buy goodies for coworkers� coffee breaks.
Before work, an overweight man always stopped by a bakery to buy goodies for coworkers� coffee breaks.
One day, he decided it was time for a diet. To avoid the temptation of daily bakery visits, he devised a different route to work. Coworkers knew of his new plan and encouraged him in his diet.
However, one day, he arrived at work with a large box of doughnuts.
He said he had to run an errand in the neighborhood of the bakery. As he approached the bakery, he said to himself, "Maybe God wants me to stop by the bakery this morning and pick up some goodies for the office staff." So he prayed, "Lord, if you want me to stop at the bakery this morning, make a parking spot available right in front of the bakery so there is no question in my mind."
The man told his coworkers, "Sure enough, there was the parking spot right in front of the bakery. It took me eight trips around the block, but there it was!"
An interesting thing about temptations � we find them whenever we want to, and we don't have to look hard or long.
Often, all we have to do is open the refrigerator, turn on the computer or open the cabinet. Voila! There it is.
You, like TV�s Flip Wilson, might say, "The devil made me do it!"
Nice try.
The devil may plant the seed for giving in to temptation, but we make the final decision to give in or ignore it. We put ourselves in the position of succumbing to its lure.
We often believe we are strong enough to resist the temptation on our own, even when we stare it in the face. However, we cannot overcome temptations alone.
Fortunately, Jesus gives us a lesson on how to overcome temptations:
�Rely on Scripture
�Stay true to your calling
�Refuse to put God to the test.
Equipped with these attributes, temptation can be averted.
When Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, he fasted. He was hungry and the devil came to tempt him. The first temptation was to turn a rock into a loaf of bread.
But Jesus said, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.�
The second temptation was to acquire all the world�s kingdoms and rule them with endless power. The only catch was Jesus would have to worship the devil.
Jesus said, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"
Again, he used Scripture to confront the temptation. He also declared who he was and who he was to worship. He remained true to his calling.
The third temptation was to make a spectacular death-defying flying leap off the temple�s roof to demonstrate how God favored him by not letting him get hurt.
Jesus quoted Scripture yet again, using Deuteronomy 6:16: "You must not test the Lord your God," and not demand that God prove himself because of our foolishness.
When temptations strike � and they will � if you decide up front that you will be prepared with the Scriptures, that you will stay true to your calling as a disciple of our Lord, and that you will refuse to put God to the test, you will overcome adversity.
You can claim a victory. And you can give glory to God.
The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.


text: Here is a super easy tutu tutorial. I used this tutorial for stenciling on the letters on the back. For the football, I used some of the double sided iron light weight bonding stuff. You could stitch it on, but since it was going to be quickly worn and discarded, I didn't do that in this case since it would not be worn often. Fine, and because I was running behind on life.

subset: commoncrawl


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Purified Water, Octyl Palmitate (coconut oil ester), Almond Oil (prunus amygdalus), Emulsifying Wax NF (vegetable derived), Arnica Extract (arnica montana), Ivy Extract (hedera helix), Aloe Vera Oil (aloe barbadensis), Kukui Nut Oil, Cetyl Alcohol (non-drying emollient), Tocopherol (vitamin e), Glycerin (vegetable derived), Carbomer, TEA, Germal, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance.
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Some Conservatives Fear Obama Advisers Lean Too Far Left
Friday, January 2, 2009
To some staunch conservatives watching President Bush relinquish the reins of power to President-elect Barack Obama, a few too many ardent liberals are now crashing the gates.
Some well-known Democratic activists are advising Obama on how to steer federal agencies, including a few whom conservative Republicans fought hard to keep out of power in the Clinton administration. They include Roberta Achtenberg, a gay activist whose confirmation as an assistant housing secretary was famously held up by then-Sen. Jesse Helms (N.C.), and Bill Lann Lee, who was hotly opposed by foes of affirmative action and temporarily blocked from the government's top civil rights job.
Conservatives fear that some of these Obama transition advisers are too far left on the political spectrum and are a sign of radical policies to come.
"It is disturbing," said Roger Clegg, a conservative opponent of Lee's appointment who is now watching the Obama advisers at the Justice Department. "The transition team as described to me was made up of nothing but people on the far left. Though Obama is more moderate, that makes you wonder what kind of advice the president is given, and what range of choices he'll be given when it comes time to make appointments."
But some government experts argue that in this particular transition, a wider-than-usual ideological gap separates the outgoing Bush administration and the incoming Obama team and that both sides are likely to view the other as extreme.
"The incoming Bush people were all about stopping regulation. The Obama people will do their best to accelerate regulation that they think protects the environment, workers, airline safety, et cetera," said Paul Light, a New York University professor of government who has served as a consultant on the transition to The Washington Post. "That's not barbarians at the gate. It's a difference of philosophy."
Although some of Obama's transition advisers have lined up for key jobs, it is not clear whether either Achtenberg or Lee is under consideration. Sources close to the transition say that Obama and his senior advisers hope to stay focused on their agenda in the early part of the administration, and carefully avoid putting up controversial nominees that could drain energy and time from the fresh White House.
When President Bill Clinton nominated Achtenberg for assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1993, she was the first openly gay political figure to win confirmation. But before she could get the job policing housing discrimination, Helms, a famed conservative, temporarily blocked her hearings. He said that he did so because she was a "damn lesbian" and also a "militant-activist-mean lesbian."
Another nomination battle arose in 1997, when Clinton proposed Lee, a Chinese American civil rights lawyer, to be the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for civil rights. Conservative opponents blocked Lee, a supporter of affirmative action, for a year. Lee, who is now a lawyer in private practice in San Francisco, served in the job as a presidential recess appointment and later won confirmation.
Clegg said he has some fears about a return to racial quotas, in part because Lee and Theodore M. Shaw, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, serve on the Obama transition team reviewing civil rights.
But Lani Guinier, a Harvard law professor who was blocked for the same job before Lee's nomination, said she thinks the complaints of an ultra-left takeover by Obama advisers and nominees are manufactured hyperbole.
"The Bush administration people were often fighting against the very mission of the agencies they were supposed to be running," she said. "And their advocates were masters at name-calling and finger-pointing. No one involved in this work really thinks Bill Lee is on the radical fringe."
Besides Achtenberg and Lee, other transition advisers' past positions are sending off flares in the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party. None of them responded to requests for comment.
William V. Corr, a vocal tobacco-control activist at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, publicly attacked the Bush administration in 2006 for weakening the government's prosecution of tobacco companies and its chances for regulating tobacco. Now he is making recommendations for strengthening the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of millions of other grocery and drugstore products, though he has recused himself from discussing tobacco.
John Leshy, a longtime solicitor in Clinton's Interior Department, angered mining company executives in the 1990s with his push for more regulations of mining operations and strict interpretations of mining law. He is now on the transition team advising Obama on Interior.
Laura Skaer, executive director of the Northwest Mining Association, said mining groups were anxious when they heard of Leshy's role, but later were comforted by news that moderate Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) was Obama's pick to head Interior.
"John Leshy is very nice, personally," Skaer said. "It's just his policies and interpretations of mining laws give us cause for heartburn. His interpretations are extreme and would shut down hard-rock mining operations in the United States."


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Peer-Reviewed Publications
Found 3 resultsTitle
Filters: Author is Therese S Richmond [Clear All Filters]
Adult Connection in Assault Injury Prevention among Male Youth in Low-Resource Urban Environments." J Urban Health. 2018;95(3):361-371."
Road safety perspectives among employees of a multinational corporation in urban India: local context for global injury prevention." Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot. 2017:1-8."


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The Orioles remain interested in re-signing left-hander Joe Saunders but appear unwilling to offer the veteran pitcher the multi-year deal he's reportedly seeking.
Saunders supposedly wanted a four-year deal last month, and he's still seeking three years. And despite the boost that Saunders provided down the stretch and in the postseason after the Orioles acquired him in a trade with Arizona in August, the O's aren't willing to go in that direction to retain the veteran left-hander.
Saunders very well could receive three years – the Mariners, Padres, Twins and Mets have also shown interest in him – but it's becoming very obvious that he won't be getting that from the Orioles. They will continue to monitor the market on Saunders but are prepared to walk away if his demands for a three-year deal remain.
The Orioles rotation is solid as is. Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen are locks, and Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman are likely to retain spots as well. Zach Britton, Jake Arrieta, Steve Johnson and Brian Matusz could each have their shot at cracking the rotation, and the Orioles like Rule 5 pick T.J. McFarland, a left-hander, as a starter as well.
Saunders, who was 3-3 with a 3.63 ERA in seven regular season starts with the Orioles, pitched to a 1.59 ERA in two postseason starts, including 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the Orioles' wild-card win over the Rangers.
-- While we're on the topic of free-agent pitchers, 36-year-old right-hander Javier Vazquez is contemplating a comeback. Several teams, including the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Nationals, are interested.
The Orioles currently have no plans to scout Vazquez in Puerto Rico, where he is playing winter ball, but don't rule out their interest. Orioles executive director of international recruiting Fred Ferreira signed Vazquez to his first pro contract with the Expos in 1994.
Vazquez last pitched in the big leagues in 2011 with the Marlins, but both Ferreira and Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette are open to reclamation projects.
-- The Orioles have shown interest in veteran slugger Lance Berkman, who is still deciding whether to play in 2013, but it doesn't seem like he would be a fit for the Orioles.
Berkman's bat would offer a nice boost for the lineup – the O's are looking for a power bat – but the 36-year-old has said the money will have to be right for him play this season.
"If I'm going to play, I'm going to give my heart and soul to the team," Berkman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "But if the carrot's not big enough, the mule isn't going to want to go."
Also, Berkman spent most of last season on the disabled list with knee injuries. So you're not quite sure what you're going to get out of the veteran physically. If he's unable to play the field, he would clog the Orioles' designated hitter spot, something the team wants to steer away from this season.


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"To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace." - Oscar Wilde
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Graveyard Rabbits Carnival: Favourite Cemetery Photograph
The Association of Graveyard Rabbits has resurrected the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival, and with a big thank you to them I humbly submit this photograph taken in the Prospect Cemetery at Glasnevin Dublin as my favourite. I have had the privilege of photographing many beautiful stones in many Irish cemeteries, but this photograph really speaks to me. It makes me think about all of the people interred in this space so long ago, and their family members who are no longer around to brush away the dregs of time and straighten the stones. It also makes me think about our responsibility to remember those who have gone before us, to remember them and to take care of the places in which their mortal remains now lie.
Click on photograph to view larger version.


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Think like a scientist in Wonderlab, our spectacular interactive gallery. Explore light and sound through mind-bending exhibits and amazing live shows.
From Early Years to Key Stage 4 and beyond, the National Science and Media Museum provides stunning opportunities to learn about the principles of light and sound and the science behind photography, film and television.
Inspire your class with our exciting interactive science shows, workshops and galleries, experience a documentary in our spectacular IMAX cinema, or explore our learning resources.
Think like a scientist in Wonderlab, our spectacular interactive gallery. Explore light and sound through mind-bending exhibits and amazing live shows.
Explore the science of light and shadow in this interactive, playful day for Early Years and Key Stage 1.
Students can get an introduction to our collection and research facilities with a behind-the-scenes tour.
Discover the incredible abilities of dogs and the astonishing science behind their superpowers.
Experience a year in the life of hundreds of dinosaurs as they face the challenges of a changing world.
Follow orphaned orang-utans and elephants, and meet the extraordinary people who care for these incredible animals.
Enjoy technology in action in our brilliantly retro Games Lounge. Play your way through gaming history with classic games, from Pac-Man to Super Mario Kart.
How did our lives change when the internet was born? Find out in the world's first gallery dedicated to the social, technological and cultural impact of the web.
Take a journey through the history of photography. Step into a 19th century portrait studio, see hundreds of incredible objects from our collection, and watch the world's first moving colour film.
Discover original models and artwork from over 100 animations, meet your favourite characters and see science in action!


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This week's writer is Bruce Lisman, a resident of Shelburne and the founder of Campaign for Vermont.
I believe that economic growth and shared prosperity is the best way forward for Vermonters. A dynamic and broad-based economy offers a cure for issues of poverty, hunger and upward mobility. It can provide the resources to protect and enhance our environment and improve our infrastructure. Vermont can be an economic powerhouse of its own definition.
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This week's writer is Bruce Lisman of Shelburne, a native Vermonter who founded Campaign for Vermont following a career in the financial services industry. Campaign for Vermont is an independent policy and advocacy organization.
MIDDLEBURY — Agriculture is one of the key supports in the economy of Addison County.
Middlebury dairy farmer Bob Foster was part of a four-member panel organized and moderated by Bruce Lisman of the Campaign for Vermont, or CFV, that spent the snowy evening of Feb. 19 at the Ilsley Library discussing how to improve economic security and prosperity for everyone.
Our education system is among the best in the country. On that strength, Campaign for Vermont suggests we set our sights even higher.
We rank among the 10 best education systems in America That's good, but we are in a country that now ranks outside of the top 20 internationally. That means Vermont ranks about 30th in the world. Our high school graduates have a lower college graduation rate than we expect; and evidence mounts that in Vermont, like in the rest of America, children of the poor often remain trapped in poverty, despite the education provided them.
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While last Saturday's opening of the 9/11 trials at Guantánamo received some news coverage, it's worth pausing over just what transpired. The defense—joined by the accused themselves—challenged the legitimacy of nearly every aspect of the proceedings, making for dramatic courtroom theater and boldly emphasizing, again and again, the deep differences between these military commissions and civilian courts.
Partway through the day, the judge, Army Colonel James L. Pohl, asked wearily, "Why is this so hard?" The hearing was expected to be a two- to three-hour proceeding, but it had already passed that mark and nothing much had been accomplished. Instead, a parade of oddities had set the tone for a morning that included surprises, interruptions and challenges to the court itself. From the newly henna-dyed beard of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to the prosthetic leg of Walid bin Attash, brought into the courtroom after the defendant himself was seated, to the wearing of the traditional Muslim abaya by a female defense attorney, this courtroom scene was neither orderly nor ordinary. Instead, it was a bitter standoff in which the defense attorneys challenged the court at every turn, causing the day's session to last 13 hours.
The five defendants—Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi—set the tone, refusing to look up at the judge or to wear headphones in order to hear the translated proceedings. But it was their defense attorneys who gave voice to the protest that was brewing. There were, all told, ten such attorneys present in the courtroom. Both civilian and military lawyers, they were there to represent the five co-defendants. They began by explaining that the commissions were off to an unfair start. They were not talking about legal issues at this point; they were talking about the physical comfort of the defendants. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali had not been allowed to wear the vest and turban provided by their attorneys; bin Attash had been brought to the courtroom, unexpectedly, in shackles. And as for the headsets, as KSM's lawyer, David Nevin, explained, his client's refusal to wear them "has to do with the torture that was imposed upon him." Bin Attash's attorney, Cheryl Bormann, clad in her abaya, made it clear that this wasn't just a matter of past mistreatment: "What happened to these men this morning has affected their ability to focus on the proceedings at hand…."
The lawyers then turned to the crux of their frustration: their inability to properly represent their clients. At every point they could, they identified those factors that had "interfered with our ability to perform our duties competently." It was a litany of obstacles that had frustrated the defense since the Obama administration's decision just over a year ago to mount these trials by military commission rather than in federal civilian courts. A significant lack of resources, an absence of sufficient translators, plus the tight constraints on attorney-client communications had all "severely restricted" their ability to perform their duties, the lawyers explained.
Overall, the larger point they were trying to make, issue after issue, was that these were not Article III courts, the federal civilian courts in which these defendants were originally slated to be tried. Commander Walter Ruiz, the Navy lawyer representing al-Hawsawi, made the point crystal clear as he explained in a lengthy statement that one solution to the impasse created by the defendants' unwillingness to elect counsel at the hearing would be to "proceed with what we do in federal courts."
All of this comes on the heels of the public relations tour that the chief prosecutor, Mark Martins, has made over the past few months, enumerating in legal and academic settings the many "ways in which reformed military commissions are comparable to federal courts in their incorporation of all of the fundamental guarantees of a fair and just trial demanded by our values."
If nothing else, the defense attorneys' objections at Saturday's proceedings challenged that claim. It's hard to say just how much their tactics were coordinated prior to the hearing or how much they improvised, taking their cues from the defendants.
The most surprising part of Saturday's hearing, to those unfamiliar with courts-martial proceedings, was the voir dire of Judge Pohl. Unlike federal court judges, military judges are not professional judges appointed for life terms, insulated from political pressures and experienced in the practice of constitutional law. As a result, their qualifications—their experience, their independence of mind and their competence—are questioned in the voir dire process.
For hours—in fact, the bulk of the day—the attorneys were invited to question him on his qualifications. The questions included ones that clearly expressed the attorneys' dissatisfaction and frustration with the commissions: "What are your politics?" "What do you read?" But there were also questions about Pohl's qualifications in terms of knowledge and experience: "Have you ever practiced law in a civilian court?" "Have you ever judged a case in an Article III court?" "Have you ever handled a case involving more than 20,000 pages of discovery?" Pohl's answers revealed that he's had limited experience with capital cases, almost no experience with complex litigation, little experience with ruling on constitutional issues and, in general, very little exposure to the federal court system that Martins has promised these commissions will approximate. All told, the message was clear: if the judge doesn't have Article III court experience, if he is subservient to the Convening Authority and to the military for his job and his future, how can the proceedings possibly be compared to those in federal courts?
Contrary to Martins's assertions at a press conference after the hearing, the voir dire didn't demonstrate the strength of the military commissions system; in fact, it revealed its biggest flaw. Challenging a judge beyond his allowable comfort zone is unthinkable in federal court. Each and every attorney has a simple choice: be respectful or be removed—even punished. In the military commissions system, there is no such control. If the silence of the defendants or the vocal protests of their lawyers proclaimed the differences between the two systems, the voir dire illustrated it beyond a reasonable doubt. As if to cement the degree to which they were willing to push their protest, the attorneys insisted—despite the very late hour—that the judge read out all of the charges. "In twelve years of being a judge, this is the first time I've heard counsel wanting them to be read," Pohl observed, unable to avoid a two-and-a-half-hour formal reading of the counts against the defendants.
From the moment Eric Holder announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be coming to New York for trial, a debate has raged over whether the 9/11 defendants and other "high-value detainees" at Guantánamo should receive civilian or military trials. But it's surprising how deeply the debate has become embedded in the military commissions system itself. If Saturday is any indication, each and every step of these trials stands to be overwhelmed by the internal contradictions of this system, and the trials themselves will be a platform for vigorous challenges to the commissions' validity.


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GothSpookyHorrorVintage & Retro Fashion
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I'm recovering, slowly, from the three little surgical procedures. I'm to the point of having no pain some eighty percent of the time. I'm doing more "work" than I should really be doing but I keep looking around for someone else and, whoa! There's nobody else!
The good news is that even lifting more than I should the surgeon says I'm healing nicely, even if my belly looks like I did ten rounds with Rocky Marciano.
Later: Linda Lou woke up and chased me to bed, I had forgot we had to go to a northern suburb of Dallas for our grandson William's Blue and Gold Dinner. So I went to the kitchen and turned the crock pot off and put it in the fridge. I had this four and a quarter pound boneless chuck roast, complete with a big ol' mess of stew vegetables. It was to the point of coming apart with the big spoon so it ought to be just fine if I put it back on "warm" until suppertime. There I was, with a Lift limit" of five pounds, messing this this. Oh well, I'm a married man, an early death is my only hope.
I'm kinda lucky today, I hurt myself a little wrangling grandsons at the B&G Bash. At the end they were giving the helium balloons out to the little kids, Josiah, Steph's middle boy, decided to run madly 'cross the room while looking at the balloon and ran into a chair with his knee and took a big tumble. I probably shouldn't have lifted him onto my lap. Oh well, I self-performed the "turn your head and cough" drill so beloved of recruits and nothing tore. Oh, and Josiah is okay after some grandfatherly cuddling and some Momma kissing it and making it well.
So, anyhow, pot roast tonight and leftovers for a few days more. We took some cell phone pics and I hope some other pics will be mailed from the other participants.
So, here I sit, long past a normal person's bedtime. the short nap I took after we got home has worn out so...
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Don't Pay The Ransom, I Escaped!
Labels: Medical Stuff
4 comments:
- vwbug said...
Get well and nice to see you posting.
- pamibe said...
YAY! So glad you're better! {{Hug}}
- commoncents said...
GLAD I found you blog! Keep up the great work!
Common Cents
- Mrs. Who said...
*sigh* Men like you just don't know when to quit, especially when it's for someone else...
Our country needs men like that. Now, more than ever.
Glad you're healing!
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By SARAH STEGALL
Special to The Ledger
BARTOW – Dorothy "Dot" Beasley Taylor remembers what it was like growing up in her hometown of Bartow.
She smiles every time she thinks about being able to buy a loaf of bread for 9 cents or an ice cream cone for 5 cents. Though things have changed she said Bartow "still has that small town flavor."
This is just one of the memories shared Thursday at the Polk County Historical Association's (PCHA) 33rd annual Birthday Luncheon. It was at the Bartow Civic Center.
Taylor, who has been a Bartow resident since 1927, was honored at the event for being a Polk County pioneer along with four others: Phyllis Walters, also of Bartow; Phyllis Reese Gilbert and Beulah Thomas Lewis, both of Winter Haven; and Elsie Parker Cook of Fort Meade.
To become a pioneer there are only two requirements, both of which take years to achieve. Those interested have to be 79 or older and must have lived in Polk County for at least 50 years. Pioneers are chosen from applicants.
Since the PCHA began holding the Pioneer Luncheon in 1975, more than 275 people have been honored, according to the organization's Web site.
The purpose of the organization is to collect and preserve Polk County's history, said Hazel Bowman, charter member of the PCHA, and James Denham, PCHA president, director of the Center for Florida History and history professor at Florida Southern College.
"This organization has really been the backbone of this whole historical movement," Bowman said.
What better way to learn about Polk County than by talking to those who have been here the longest? To keep track of all the memories, each pioneer is interviewed and videotaped. This year PGTV taped the interviews, which are archived and preserved.
Tom Muir, curator of the Polk County Historical Museum, showed a presentation with segments from past pioneer interviews. There was laughter as those in attendance recognized people they knew.
Lloyd Harris had the opportunity to interview the candidates this year. Harris is on the board of directors of the PCHA and is a past president. He is also the Polk County historical commissioner.
"I enjoyed interviewing people and hearing old stories," he said. "They are some great people."
Cook, 87, has been in Polk County since 1920. She said she used to go to church by horse and buggy. Cook participated in the turpentine industry by collecting sap from the pine trees in the area.
Gilbert, a Polk County resident since 1928, was a ninth-grade English teacher for 31 years. In her interview she talked about how her brother used to catch alligators and bring them to their home.
A World War II veteran, Walters was a member of the Massachusetts National Guard Medical Corp. She moved to Polk County in 1957. Walters is responsible for organizing the Bartow High School Band Boosters and Bartow Performing Arts Council.
Lewis, 91, came to Polk in 1929. During WWII she supervised a crew that made uniforms for the soldiers. She's helped with the Girls Club of Winter Haven and has been the pianist at Bethel AME Church in Winter Haven.
In Bartow, Taylor managed the Selective Service Draft Board in Bartow and has had perfect attendance for 25 years as a member in the Lioness Club.
"We get a lot of memories that bring history alive," Harris said.


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- Details
DetailsYOU DON'T KNOW BO is ESPN's Highest Rated Documentary in Network History!
"Bo Jackson's story is one that captured the nation's attention back in his prime and still fascinates people today - nearly two decades after his retirement," said Connor Schell ESPN Films vice president and executive producer. "With You Don't Know Bo, we wanted to present a documentary that would honor Bo's legacy while appealing to those who lived through his great feats. But it was equally as important to encapsulate his great achievements for those who may not have 'known' Bo, and we are thrilled with the audience response to the film."
"There are stars and there are superstars. And then there's Bo Jackson."
During the 1980s and 1990s, Bo Jackson hit 500-foot home runs and ran over linebackers, becoming a cultural icon and one of the most famous athletes of all time. Director Michael Bonfiglio examines the truths and tall tales that surround Jackson, and how his seemingly impossible feats captured our collective imagination for an all-too-brief moment in time. Run Time – 76 Minutes Bonus Features
- Directors Statements
- Interview Extras
- Deleted Scenes
- Directors Statements
- Reviews


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HARROGATE, TENN. – The Coker women's basketball team defeated Lincoln Memorial (1-1) 61-59 in an overtime thriller on Saturday (Nov. 10) evening. The Cobras improve to 2-0 on the season.
Hailey Yohn had another outstanding performance with a game high 17-points. Yohn shot 50-percent (6-of-12) from the floor, and 55-percent from three point range 5-of-9).
The first half proved to be a battle, as neither team could take the lead. With less than seven minutes remaining in the half, Lincoln Memorial went on an 8-4 run to take a 24-21 lead into the locker room.
The second half proved to be a similar story as both teams exchanged buckets. Then with 13-seconds remaining in regulation, Yohn proved to be a clutch shooter yet again when she hit the game tying three to force overtime action.
With 47-seconds remaining in overtime the score was tied at 59. Out of a Coker timeout, Angie Lawrence hit a jump shot that would prove to be the game winner. Lawrence totaled 15-points and three assist on the night.
Amber Lau was the unsung hero of the game scoring 11-points with a team high seven assist, and snagging down seven rebounds. Along with Yohn, Lawrence and Lau, Jasmine Evans reached double-digits with 10-points in the competition.
The Cobras will be back on the court next Saturday (Nov. 17), as they travel to face Limestone in their first Conference Carolinas competition of the year. The game is set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.


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Here's How 'The Lego Movie' Was Actually Made
It sounds like a totally weird idea to make a movie about Lego. The blocky play sets have been a childhood staple for decades, but it's not as though there's a familiar Lego character or mascot who translates readily to the screen. That hasn't deterred the company from bringing its blocky worldview to the land of video games, where titles based on DC Comics, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and other big-name properties have proven to be successes. Now, we'll see if that mixture of blocks and irreverent humor can translate to the movies when The Lego Movie hits theaters this Friday.
In the meantime, we're sharing this cool behind-the-scenes video that reveals how the film was actually made.
Featuring interviews with stars Chris Pratt, Liam Neeson and Will Ferrell, this clip showcases some of the ideas behind the creation of The Lego Movie, while also giving viewers a glimpse at some of the funny moments in the story.
All in all, the film looks a lot like the best of the Lego video games in the way it reimagines modern life as a bunch of little interlocking squares and blocky characters. The hallmark of those games has always been the humor – and it appears as though that's been preserved in these early previews. It doesn't hurt that the animation looks pretty great too.
Will that be enough to lure audiences in after other toy-to-film movies like Battleship have disappointed? We'll know for sure next week. Until then, enjoy this look at how the magic of The Lego Movie was created.
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Rob and Amber ready to revolutionize reality TVBy: ANDY VINEBERG (Fri, May/04/2007)TRENTON Reality television made Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich household names. Now, the couple who met on Survivor, teamed up on the Amazing Race and had their 2005 wedding filmed for a two-hour CBS special, are planning the most spectacular reality TV series of all time. At least according to Mariano. I cant tell you everything, but I can tell you certain things about it, he said Thursday night during the Courier Times-sponsored Reality Television Night at the Trenton Thunder. It will definitely revolutionize reality TV as we know it. Speaking exclusively to the Courier Times, Mariano said the new show, which he will host, will be bigger than Survivor, bigger than Amazing Race. Its a competition reality show that will last over 100 days on all seven continents of the world, he added. First prize is over $10 million. Mariano said a nationwide American Idol-type search for contestants will begin in June, and the series will premiere next spring. Judging by the reaction of fans at Thursdays Thunder game, Rob and Amber are as popular as ever, despite their early exit from this years Amazing Race: All-Stars. The reigning first couple of reality television posed for photos and signed autographs on the concourse level of Waterfront Stadium for 90 minutes during the game. Bensalem residents Melissa Taylor and Lori DeFinis, both 17, competed against Rob and Amber in a heated game of musical chairs on the field after the top of the first inning. Were not going to take it easy on you, Amber promised before the competition. Not surprisingly, Rob won the game, although Taylor accused him of cheating. Win at all costs, baby, Rob said when asked his strategy.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/127-05042007-1341296.html
Another reality TV baby is born as former stars of Survivor and Amazing Race Rob and Amber Mariano welcome a daughter.Rob told People that the baby, born July 4, "tends to be a bit of a night owl like her daddy." Overjoyed with his new arrival, he added, "She is a perfect baby and we could not have asked for anything more. We are over the moon with happiness."See other celebrity babies born this yearWeighing in at 6 lbs, 11.5 oz, Lucia Rose's middle name is a tribute to Rob's late grandmother who died Fourth of July.In 2001, Amber was a contestant on the second season of Survivor. Rob competed on the fourth season, Survivor: Marquesas, but it was on the All-Stars season in 2004 that the two formed an alliance that turned into a romance. During the live finale, in which Amber was announced as the winner and Rob the runner-up, the two became engaged. The Survivor sweethearts then went on to compete in the eleventh season of The Amazing Race where they came in eighth place. In 2005, CBS aired a two-hour special detailing their wedding.
He's battled through four seasons of Survivor and competed twice with wife Amber on The Amazing Race, but 'Boston' Rob Mariano isn't done with reality TV yet. Mariano and monster truck impresario Dennis Anderson will star in a new series for History this year, PEOPLE has learned. In Around the World in 80 Ways, Mariano and Anderson will challenge each other to circumnavigate the globe using 80 different methods of transportation with the caveat that each cannot repeat any way twice. "I think The Amazing Race gave me a foundation for traveling," Mariano tells PEOPLE. "However, the approach that we are taking in Around the World in 80 Ways is completely different from anything I've done before in that this show will be a celebration of transportation throughout history."
From boats to blimps to the backs of camels, is there a mode of travel Mariano fears the most? "I'm not too fond of anything that keeps me in a confined space," he says. "That is claustrophobia." After the finale for Survivor: Redemption Island airs on May 14, Mariano will start production with Anderson, the creator and driver of the monster truck called Gravedigger. Meanwhile, Amber, the winner of Survivor: All-Stars, will stay home with daughters Lucia Rose, 21 months, and Carina Rose, 4 months. "Being away from my family is always the toughest part about doing these shows," Mariano says. "Luckily, I have a wonderful wife that understands my thirst for adventure and consistently supports me in my quests."
I guess Rob will have a boy in their 4th attempt.
I think he's trying for a boy...
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The 31 seniors on New Bern�s football team had their �Swan Song� moment.
The 31 seniors on New Bern�s football team had their �Swan Song� moment.
They left their mark on an already tradition-rich program.
The Bears finished with an unblemished 15-0 record, and edged out Porter Ridge, 39-38, for the 4-A state championship.
It was the school�s second championship in the past five seasons.
�It�s tradition,� said New Bern senior Zahair Cherry. �We wanted to continue it. I think we were the first New Bern team to go undefeated. We did it for all the guys that came through New Bern High and started this program for us.�
What made this year special was that the Bears finally reached the state championship game following two previous losses in the semifinals.
As sophomores, they lost to Durham Hillside, 12-7, and as juniors, they fell to Scotland County, 61-28.
New Bern avenged its past with a 23-6 win over Scotland County on Nov. 23 to earn a spot in the championship game.
�We were a whole lot more focused this time because we didn�t want to lose in the semifinals like we did the past two years,� said senior Chandler Powell. �When Scotland County came here, there was no playing around at all.�
Seniors came up big on the game-winning drive of the title game, which began on New Bern�s 20-yard line.
Quarterback Josh Taylor completed passes to Powell and Bra�lon Cherry. Taylor also gained much-needed yardage with his legs.
Jachin Watkins scored the go-head touchdown on a two-yard run with 26 seconds remaining.
�It was pretty emotional because we put everything into the season,� said Taylor, who was the state championship game�s Most Valuable Player. �We just bought into what Coach (Bobby) Curlings wanted us to do. We have big senior classes every year, so senior leadership is important every year.�
Taylor passed for 2,300 yards and 25 touchdowns. He ran for 1,159 yards and 17 scores.
�I think it was probably being a part of the senior class,� Taylor said. �This senior class had a lot of experience. We were calm in big games. We really played up to our competition this year.�
Watkins, the state championship game�s Most Outstanding Offensive Player, had four rushing touchdowns in the title game.
On the season, he ran for 1,336 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Bra�lon Cherry led the Bears with 666 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, while Powell racked up 662 receiving yards and eight scores.
New Bern�s starting offensive line had five seniors � Christian Matau, Frank Abbondanza, Shaquille Dixon, Canden Reddick and Jeffrey Midgette. Midgette stepped in to replace Matau, who suffered a season-ending knee injury toward the end of the season.
�We�ve been playing together since middle school, so we�ve really bonded,� said Matau. �We knew this year that we had to make up for the two years that we lost, so it brought us closer.
�These guys are my brothers and I wouldn�t want to play with anybody else.�
New Bern�s defense played lights out for most of the season. The unit was led by senior defensive backs Zahair Cherry (three interceptions),
Bra�lon Cherry (four interceptions) and Sam Wheatley (two interceptions).
On the line, Naquandre Hill was a key run-stuffer. Marquay Becton (16 sacks) was a sack machine and Lawrence Drew made key plays.
Linebackers Tyler Ebron, Tyrone Whitehead and Thomas Strickland were key performers.
�Everybody knew what they wanted,� said Zahair Cherry. �Everybody wanted the ring and the state championship and they knew what it took to get there.
�As soon as someone went down, another one was ready to step up. It was about the whole team stepping up.�
Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5669 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.


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The Lost Ride: CD-i's most beautiful roller coaster
>> Thursday, January 8, 2009
It's dark. It's fast. It's action packed. This is not your parents roller coaster. It's THE LOST RIDE!! A fast paced shooting game thats fun & addictive. Strap yourself in, take aim, and blast away. Accuracy is the key, miss and you're a crispy critter.
At first look, I thought "Oh great, another SEWER SHARK® clone.". But once you get into the game, you realize the immense difference. Starting with the beautifully 3-D rendered worlds, which are nothing short of remarkable. The detail that the desingers went to makes you really feel like you're there, from sharks swimming through the aquatic level to the rusted decaying ships & mine cars that fly by you may actually find yourself leaning into the turns. In short, VERY impressive.
The sounds however, are another matter. Most of the games sound effects are your traditional shot & explosion fare, with some cheap effects for creature screams. Not bad in all, but combined with the constant hum of your vehicle as it races along the track, it can get a little repetitive. What I was expecting to hear in a game like this is sounds of a roller coaster. However, the only time you hear sound effects like that is durring level the completion stage. Durring these sequences, haveing a stereo tv or Dolby® Surround Sound system makes it even better, adding even more to that "I'M THERE" feeling.
Now, onto what has been the problem with this type of game. REPLAY. Surprisingly, it has tons. Each time you begin a new game, the levels are randomly generated, so you'll never play the same level twice. Adding the fact that you pan the screen with your controler to shoot hard to hit targets, and at the switches, you can choose your path, make it really intense & entertaining. These effects combined can make you forget you're playing a "tracked" game. They could have made a better interface for the switches, you'll often find yourself flying down the wrong track, just because a monster had to be zapped.
On a final note, not to take anything away from this exceptional game, but the creator FORMULA DEVELOPERS should have put it through some more testing before releasing it. More than a few people have reported such things as freeze-ups durring boss fights, temporary lockups, video playback that temporarily leaves the game & more. However, most of these are not fatal, and the game does recover, you just may find yourself in an area that you can't identify. A good time to bring up the map.
By: CD-i Collective


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D2x+105mm+2xTC+Woody's diopter
Posted 01 September 2005 - 09:20 AM
My main question concerns aperture and f stops. The below photo, which isn't that much in and of itself, is a good example of how these blennies require some DOF to capture the mouth back to the fringe. Shot at f29 @ 1/25 ISO 100. Although I was able to capture static poses, whenever the blennie shot out to grab something, the resulting image was blurred due to low shutter speed combined with the shallow DOF. So my question is, would a higher ISO be the soloution? The Inons were not up to lighting the subject at such high f stops when the shutter was cranked up to say 1/80. I'm hoping to try a more powerful strobe next time out as well. In general, even with the 2x teleconvert and the woody's, lighting wasn't that difficult. Just needed more power.
The other question I had, what's the next logical progression to increase the subject size? 150mm with 2x or?
This is full frame:
Posted 01 September 2005 - 09:29 AM
I really don't understand why you had to use such a slow shutter speed. The slowest the Inons take to fire is 1/500th of a second. I cannot see why you would need to slow the shutter speed down to 1/25th to get more light from your strobes.
Regards DOF - I find this shot very acceptable as seen here.
Alexander Mustard - www.amustard.com - www.magic-filters.com
Nikon D5 (Subal housing). Nikon D850 (Subal housing). Olympus EM10-Mk3 (Nauticam housing).
Posted 01 September 2005 - 09:30 AM
Adding ambient light via slow shutter speeds seems counter intuitive based on the basics of UW photography with strobes.
BTW, I should add "Great SHOT, Rand! But I have already said that so many times! ;-p
Nikon D2XS in a Subal
Negative Altitude Website
Posted 01 September 2005 - 09:48 AM
I took this shot at 1/250th - the max synch speed of the D2X. Also uncropped. 105mm & +4dioptre - focus is actually slightly off on the eye - although you can't tell at this size
I would never use less than 1/250th for this type of shot unless I was purposely trying to burn in a blue background.
I used a slow shutter speed of 1/15th @ F32 for this shot (taken with the D100 + 105 & +4).
And this picture taken just previously I used a 1/180th (max D100 synch speed) at F32. And I was using an Inon strobe (this one was tighter than the first, but I have also cropped it a bit for publication)!
Alexander Mustard - www.amustard.com - www.magic-filters.com
Nikon D5 (Subal housing). Nikon D850 (Subal housing). Olympus EM10-Mk3 (Nauticam housing).
Posted 01 September 2005 - 10:03 AM
Alex, I'd never doubt what you're saying and you have the pictures to prove it. But all I can say is, at 1/100, the exposure was very dark. Of course, there is the possiblity, along with the shutter adjustments, there was some re-positioning of the strobes as well. Just don't remember. Thanks for the input. My Port Hardy trip will furnish a wealth of macro subjects to further my experimentation.
As you said, the profile shots are a better option for DOF but I waited an eternity for my mouth wide open shot but it never happend.
As an aside, Capt. Piers, an accomplished photographer on the Aggressor, also mentioned to me that 1/20 to 1/30 was appropriate for shooting these blennies with a teleconverter.
Posted 01 September 2005 - 10:03 AM
Luiz Rocha - www.luizrocha.com
Nikon D800, Aquatica AD800, Ikelite strobes.
Posted 01 September 2005 - 10:13 AM
I suspect that at 1/25 you are adding significant light from your high power spotting light.
Yes. The Inon Z220 is a little underpowered for this situation. The problem is that brighter strobes are much bigger and is more difficult to position in lots of macro shots. We need something with the same size and power but more concentrated beam. Don't need 100 degrees for macro. In fact that's a disadvantage in most cases.
F/29 with a 2x teleconverter is really extream. I don't know if your camera & tc combination figures in the conversion factor in the setting. If it doesn't (mine doesn't) you're really shooting at F/58 ! If you're not sure, a quick test is to spot meter something with and without the tc at the same distance.
Keep in mind that at really small apertures you are loosing resolution because of diffraction. For my 6MP sensor, that begins around F/16. For your camera with the higher pixel density that'll be around F/11. I understand the need for bettor DOF, but as far as the final image resolution, you are only slightly better off than backing up, use a smaller aperture, and crop. I know... that's cheating.
Canon 5D; Aquatica housing; 2 Inon Z220 strobes; Canon 100mm macro, 17-40mm ; Sigma 15mm FE, 24mm macro, 50mm macro
Posted 01 September 2005 - 10:14 AM
The bulk of the shots were taken with the strobes on either side of the port, pushed forward just a bit beyond. On the last day, when shooting the 105mm with just the Woody's, I put one strobe over the top and flat blew out the scene. So, I'm not sure if maybe my strobes aren't always loading up, or the extra glass on the 2xTC is hindering the light path or what.
Thanks Herb, that conversion certainly didn't occur to me. That's really cranked down. Wow.
Posted 01 September 2005 - 10:48 AM
I'm really glad you started this thread! I've been trying to figure out why you had to slow down your exposures, and I went searching for the Inon discharge curves that are posted here at Wetpixel. Fortunately, Herb beat me to it! So at 1/250th your strobes should be able to put out almost all of their energy.
I'm left making the same conclusion - it must be extra light from somewhere else, probably your spotting light. Were you using a Fisheye light and if so, was it on high power?
I just did some super-macro myself, using the Inon Z220's (two of them) and I found them more than adequate for shooting 5:1 (35mm equivalent), but I was using diopters which don't "steal" light, instead of teleconverters. My working distance for the magnification equal to what you were getting was about 4" from the tip of the port. For my tight pygmy seahorse shot, I was at f22 on the lens, and my strobes were both set at -1 with a working distance of about 6" from strobe to subject.
How close were you to the secretary blenny? I also found that strobe positioning was EXTREMELY important, and I was using the Inon's with the diffusers mounted.
Here's the shot - ISO 100 and I didn't push it up almost at all:
Another thing that I'm not sure Herb took into account for his calculation (he probably did) is that when you are extremely close, the bellows effect adds even more to the actual f-stop.
Dual Ikelite Strobes
Photo site - www.reefpix.org
Posted 01 September 2005 - 10:58 AM
Yes, I was using the Fisheye. And at full power as seeing sharp focus, so critical and very difficult to hold still. Subject to lens was very short, maybe 3".
It was really exciting to use this setup. Detail on some of the shots was really amazing. You start to see, for want of a better word, individual pixel colors on the fish. Going from what I'd call a nice even paint job to highly magnified details on the indvidual color components. Whatever they are called.
Here's one more, full frame f29 @ 1/30. No Woody's just the 2xTC:
Posted 01 September 2005 - 11:00 AM
Please let us know when you have some more of your super-macros posted in your gallery. I'd love to see more.
Dual Ikelite Strobes
Photo site - www.reefpix.org
Posted 01 September 2005 - 11:20 AM
Canon 5D; Aquatica housing; 2 Inon Z220 strobes; Canon 100mm macro, 17-40mm ; Sigma 15mm FE, 24mm macro, 50mm macro
Posted 01 September 2005 - 11:54 AM
The eye in my pygmy shot is not in focus, so I picked a piece of another photo:
100% crop from the tentacle of the whip coral. Note that the 1DmkII has a STRONG AA filter and this photo isn't sharpened.
Sigma 150mm + 500D + Macromate
Dual Ikelite Strobes
Photo site - www.reefpix.org
Posted 01 September 2005 - 12:03 PM
all photographs posted © Todd C Mintz
Posted 01 September 2005 - 01:15 PM
Posted 01 September 2005 - 01:19 PM
Look at the picture at "Actual Pixels" or by clicking Ctrl+Alt+0
Then use the marquee set at "Actual Size" (Or whatever photoshop calls it I can't remember, it's not Normal or Fixed Aspect Ratio) to select an area say 300 x 200 pix
Do all that with an unsharpened image if you have one.
Dual Ikelite Strobes
Photo site - www.reefpix.org
Posted 01 September 2005 - 01:33 PM
Here's a try. Didn't have the raw file here at work for the second one posted that was a bit sharper so I found one that is reasonalbly sharp.
I did find the actual pixels and clicked on it for this:
Then I set the marque tool for 300x200 but saw no place to click on actual pixels so this may or may not be a proper crop:
Posted 01 September 2005 - 01:44 PM
Thanks for doing the work and posting the image.
I'm not sure if we should post sharpened images or not. I picked unsharpened. Thoughts?
Dual Ikelite Strobes
Photo site - www.reefpix.org
Posted 01 September 2005 - 02:11 PM
James, unsharpend image? Ohh, the pain
Here's a try. Didn't have the raw file here at work for the second one posted that was a bit sharper so I found one that is reasonalbly sharp.
Hi Rand. I don't think that's a 100% crop either. You're probably cropping a pic that's already scaled down. The reason I say this is that I don't think you'll take a shot with the subject filling such a small part of the frame.
To give you rough idea of scale, your shot of the goby in the coral, this one
should have eyes nearly 500 pixels apart on a 100% crop from your camera.
Canon 5D; Aquatica housing; 2 Inon Z220 strobes; Canon 100mm macro, 17-40mm ; Sigma 15mm FE, 24mm macro, 50mm macro
Posted 01 September 2005 - 02:24 PM


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Representing all New South Wales members of the AISD, this local branch also holds regular meetings, has its own management committee and is involved in both local and national government and marketing activities.
Following is a current Events Calendar for the New South Wales branch:
Events Calendar
*Please note that our meetings are held at EDC Consultants Offices
Address: Pennant Hills Bowls Club.
These meetings shall commence at 6pm to 7.30pm in the function room.
Dinner shall be provided after the meeting.


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Bereits im Bestand
Carol J. Buck
2012 ICD-9-CM for Hospitals, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 Professional Edition
Elsevier and the American Medical Association have partnered to co-publish this ICD-9-CM reference by Carol J. Buck!
Code efficiently and effectively with Carol J. Buck's 2012 ICD-9-CM for Hospitals, Volumes 1, 2, & 3, Professional Edition. Combining Netter's Anatomy artwork and the 2011 Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting (OCGR) with a format designed by coders for coders, this handy, spiral-bound reference helps you easily access the information you need to stay up to date and ensure the most accurate billing and maximum reimbursement in physician-based and inpatient coding. Plus, you can take this resource into your certification exams for enhanced testing support!
- Coverage of all three ICD-9-CM volumes fulfills all of your coding needs with one comprehensive guide.
- Convenient spiral binding makes it easy to access the information you need.
- UNIQUE! Full-color Netter's Anatomy artwork clarifies complex anatomic information to help you appropriately code related procedures.
- Use Additional Digit(s) symbol in the index identifies codes that require an additional digit to remind you to check the tabular.
- Full-color design incorporates color-coded symbols to help you quickly find the information you need.
- More than 150 full-color illustrations enhance your understanding of difficult terminology, diseases/conditions, and specific coding situations.
- The 2011 Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting (OGCR) are listed within the lists of codes and in a separate index for fast, easy access to the coding rules when you need them.
- Items provide detailed information on common diseases and conditions, helping you code more effectively.
- Symbols throughout the text alert you to new, revised, and deleted codes and clearly identify codes that require special consideration before assigning symbols, including use additional, includes and excludes, code first, and codes that cannot be assigned as principal diagnoses.
- Present on Admission symbol highlights particular diseases that will always be coded as present on admission.
- Hospital Acquired Condition symbol notes specific conditions that will always be coded as hospital acquired for easier recognition.
- Complications & Comorbidities (CC) and Major Complications & Comorbidities (MCC) symbols help you instantly recognize codes associated with the presence of secondary diagnoses from MS-DRGs.
- CC and MCC Exclusion lists instantly alert you to CC and MCC exceptions.
- Additional hints, tips and definitions within specific codes provide extra guidance in coding anatomy, pathophysiology, or other coding directions.
- Guide to the Updates enables you to reference all annual coding changes at a glance.
- References to the American Hospital Association's Coding Clinics help you find expanded information about specific codes and their usage.
- Age and Sex edits alert you to codes that are used only with patients of a specific age or sex, helping to ensure accurate reporting.
- Manifestation code helps you identify certain conditions where it is important to record both the etiology (cause) and the manifestation (symptom) of the disease.
- Omit and Code Also codes highlight government text needing special attention.
- Valid OR Procedure symbols help you recognize procedures affected by DRG.
Sofort zum Download (Download: PDF)
1. Auflage, 2011
Elsevier Health Care - Major Reference Works


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If there's one thing Utah dad Ben Sowards has taught his 11 children, it's that they're all on the same team.
"When one person's embarrassed, we're all embarrassed," Ben's eldest daughter Lucinda said. "And when one person's happy, we're all happy."
On Friday, Ben did all he could to make sure his 6-year-old daughter didn't feel ashamed after she had an accident at school -- and his actions are getting widespread praise on social media.
The kindergartener walked herself to the school's office with a coat wrapped around herself to hide what had happened, but when her dad showed up with a matching wet spot between his legs, Lucinda said Valerie's face was indescribable.
"She just looked at him... just in awe," she said, "He pretended like they were sneaking out of the school together, like they were both getting away with something."
My little sis had an accident today at kindergarten & this is how my dad left to pick her up so she wouldn't feel so sad/embarrassed 😂😂❤ pic.twitter.com/veHMFO4QHr— Lucinda Sowards (@LucindaSowards) April 14, 2017
When 17-year-old Lucinda shared the moment on Twitter, she joked with her sister that it would go viral -- then it really did. She went to bed with about 300 retweets, and woke up the next morning to 12,000!
@LucindaSowards I love your family— mal (@malloryth3) April 14, 2017
@LucindaSowards pic.twitter.com/kqHb8PdI32— Trevor Latta (@LattaTrevor) April 15, 2017
@LucindaSowards @woahkennedy That's called being a great father. I did the same thing, before.— The MFC Truth (@mfc_truth) April 15, 2017
@LucindaSowards @v1reebok the kind of dad I need you to be— Mike Lowrey (@LindseyOphelia1) April 15, 2017
Lucinda said her family is a little bit surprised their story went viral, "but we think its because it's genuine."
"It's something people can relate to -- whether they can be a parent like that, or have a parent like that, or to have people say, 'I don't have a dad but I can't wait to be this type of person,'" she said.
Lucinda said her dad, who's a professional illustrator and teaches at Southern Utah University, has taught her and her siblings there's nothing too bad that you can't laugh off. And it's safe to call this moment just the tip of the iceberg of how much Ben and his wife, Connie, do for their big (and growing) family.
Today the Sowards adopted four foster children who have been part of their home for two years. Lucinda, a foster care advocate herself, called both of her parents incredible. "Foster care is so important -- it's been a really good experience for me, as the oldest of one of 11," she said. "I hope I can be there for these kids and provide the home that they need."


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The Great Whitespace Debate
Since ancient times, men have fought over many trifling and trivial things. Among these, few have been more fiercely contested than the dreadful matter of whitespace handling. Should it be gobbled in whole, ignored, randomly eliminated, or dealt with according to a complex yet carefully chosen set of guidelines? As with any other religious concern, the variety of answers runs the gamut. Some men hold tightly to one answer as the true answer for all men in all situations, whilst others freely mix and match, admiring each tactic in different situations. Some men have grown weary of debating such trivial concerns, whilst others remain blissfully ignorant that such matters matter at all. To those reading this today, I put the question yet once more, and I beg you to remain civil in response...
How then, shall we handle whitespace in Velocity ???
Possible (competing?) Objectives
- Make Velocity whitespace handling more intuitive
- Source text should become easier to read
- Backwards compatible: Results from existing templates should be the same
The Four Options of the Apocalypse
The History of the Debate
Alternatives and Workarounds
- JTidy
VelocityWhitespaceTruncatedByLineComment (Use a Velocity comment to artificially end a line, but doesn't remove leading or trailing spaces, tabs, etc.)
- Create a lightweight whitespace gobbling filter to pass the velocity output through
Discussion of JTidy as a Workaround
I have looked into using JTidy as a workaround and it's quite promising. But we have to remember a few things before we all embrace the JTidyness.
- JTidy is only for HTML and XHTML (up to XHTML 1.0, not yet XHTML 1.1) so it can't be used for other documents and, in particular, text documents where whitespace does not get gobbled by the parser.
- JTidy is buggy and at times does not create W3C compliant code even if your original code is W3C compliant.
- As JTidy can add, remove or move elements in your HTML you don't have direct control over the end result. So you can't just roll this out to all your HTML output in one go. This is the same argument as the one against whitespace gobbling in Velocity -- you would have to test evey single page (template) to make sure that nothing funny has happened.
- The more steps you have before you output adds more complexity, more maintaining and more debugging.
All these points are quite compelling reasons not to use JTidy.
Democracy in Action (aka Democracy Inaction)
Add your name below to vote for your preferred DEFAULT behavior.
- For Gobbling As Usual
- everyone who has read this and not voted! (yes, this is a guilt trip)
Paul Andrew Loy (paul ART keteracel DOT com) -- for consistency with current templates but would want the option for new templates to use gobble all or structured as long as it was consistent
- For Gobbling All Whitespace
- (no votes yet)
- For Gobbling No Whitespace
- Nathan Bubna (nathan AT esha DOT com)
- Tim Colson (tcolson AT cisco DOT com)
- Mike Kienenberger (mkienenb AT alaska DOT net) -- but I'd go with "Structured Templates" as a close second.
- Shinobu Kawai Yoshida (shinobu AT ieee DOT org)
- For Gobbling Structured Templates
- Christoph Reck (apache AT recks DOT org)
- Will Glass-Husain (wglass AT forio DOT com)
- Marino Jonsson (marinoj AT centrum DOT is)
- Peter Urban (urban AT jaist DOT ac DOT jp)
- Claude Brisson (claude AT renegat DOT net) -- bkoz it's almost identical to "Globbing No Whitespace" for people that use few indented directives
- Marc Novakowski (marc AT pandora DOT com)
- Michael Hall (mhall AT lakeland DOT net) -- I like the #pragma idea, but would it be possible to apply whitespace rules to a block, rather than the entire template?
Alden Taylor (ataylor AT atech DOT com) -- but would also see value in having SetindentDirective with +4 -4, would be excellent to make gobbling configurable
- Tom Corcoran (boardtc AT gmail DOT com) -- working on a per macro basis would be nice, e.g. have a #macrotrim
Add any write-in candidates below:
Secondary Issues
- Adding support for non-default behavior
- Different ways to configure/support non-default behavior
- Treatment of whitespace within VTL (all the above is about whitespace within schmoo)


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Like a Dream – Brandon Belt
I don't even know where to start. The past week has been unbelievable. I keep using that word over and over. It's like I'm in a dream. I've watched baseball my entire life on television and finally I'm here seeing it in real life. It's almost as if I'm having an out-of-body experience. I always imagined what it would be like to be up here and play in front of 50,000 but you can't imagine it until you do it. It's a lot louder. When you're at the plate don't notice people because you have your back to them. But you see them when you're on the field. And when something happens and everybody starts screaming you realize, man, I'm here.
My wife, Haylee, has been with me since spring training and traveled to the games in Los Angeles and San Diego. My parents and younger brother flew in for the San Francisco home opener. It was the first time my dad has ever been on the plane. He's afraid of heights – and he likes to be in control. When I was playing in Single A in San Jose last year, he and my mom drove from Texas to watch me. They drove to Arizona this year to visit me during spring training. But my dad couldn't take the time off work to drive, so he got on the plane on Thursday. He's not a huge drinker but he got some help on this one.
I appreciated my brother Cameron coming. He's not a sports fan at all. He likes computers and science. He follows me but not baseball in general, and he doesn't follow me all that well. My dad is a geometry teacher at Hudson High, where my brother and I went to school, and my mom is a hairdresser.
For the home opener on Friday, when I was standing there on the third-base line and they were introducing the players, my heart was just pounding. I was thinking about my mom and dad up in stands and how they've been waiting their whole lives to see me out there. All the games they sat through. That's what made me the most emotional — just happy they were there and Cameron and Haylee. I was thinking, too, about everybody watching back in my hometown. I feel like I'm doing this for a lot of people.
So I was waiting for my introduction and looking up in the stands to get a wave from my family, but I don't know this park and didn't know where they were. When the introductions got to me, the camera was right on me. I really don't like everyone staring at me, though I know it's part of baseball. I tried to act real cool, but it was nerve-wracking. I just waved real quick so the camera would move on.
After the game, I went out with my family and we were all saying that was the coolest thing we have ever seen in our entire lives. We just couldn't stop talking about it. The flyover, the big flag out on centerfield. It was the best thing we ever witnessed in real life. I can't imagine two better days than Friday and Saturday. The pre-game ceremonies, coupled with 45,000 fans, coupled with just making the big leagues, coupled with my family in the stands – you can't get much better than that. I keep trying to figure out, is this really happening right now? Is somebody going to come and wake me up soon?
But I'm really aware of taking care of business, of being ready to play ball. It's been a little more difficult to get all our work in, but I think now I'll settle in. It was helpful to talk with my dad about my hitting. He was a football coach and doesn't know baseball as well as he knows football. But he knows me. He knows how to pick me up. We talk things through and he gets me thinking and then I start to figure things out on my own. That's why I pretty much call him all the time.
After Saturday's ninth-inning win, my family and I ended up at Denny's on Mission Street. There were a few Giants fans there and then more kept coming in. People were asking for autographs and photos. I'm not used to that. In my hometown people recognize me, but not in a city of a million people! It was fun, but I can see where it could become a burden on a family to deal with that everywhere. I'm going to have to figure out how to approach that part of being a ballplayer.
Look forward to seeing you at the park and beating the Dodgers!
6 Comments
Congratulations Brandon! Hope to see you play sometime this season, I'm sure you'll be back up before you know it!
Welcome to San Francisco! Maybe your brother will end up in Silicon Valley, your parents can see all of their sons in one place then.
We can't wait until you come back up, in the meantime enjoy every minute of your career. You've proven to this organization that you have what it takes!!!
Hey Brandon, I'll be glad when you're back on the field. In case you didn't get my "Odd Odes to the San Francisco Giants", a series of mini-poems I mailed to each one of you, I'll write here the one I wrote about you: (hey, I did these quick, don't expect Emily Dickinson, lol)
Our tall guy's Brandon Belt
those baseballs he can pelt
his talents will sure be felt
and he makes the ladies melt.
if you really want to torture yourself and read more, i'm going to blog them all on the giant's website, somewhere. ( Blame Buster, he started it.)
Love ya, kid.
This is kinda late but congrats Brandon! I saw the pilot episode of the Franchise and when I saw your reaction when you were signed to the Giants, I cried with you man. I'm so incredibly proud of you! The road is not easy but you have so much talent out on that field. I enjoy watching you play every time you are in the line up because I know I'm watching history in the making. This is just the start for you Brandon, and what a start. Playing for the World Series champs. Man…that's amazing. When you got sent back down to triple A, all of my friends and family got so tired of hearing me say "bring back Belt!!". I should have started a petition, it was insane haha. But I am glad that you were able to work on your mechanics and you can only get better. Ever since you fractured your wrist I've been complaining again haha. I wish you a speedy recovery! I saw you during batting practice at AT&T park on June 6th and seeing your cast broke my heart. I can't wait for you to step back onto the field. You're one of our best players Brandon, you can quote me on that!
Wishing you the speediest recovery and the best of luck! Hope I can meet you sometime. Take care of yourself baby giraffe! 🙂
I was at ATT for a game recently and saw someone wearing a "BELT" jersey–that's a sign that you really have made it. We need you so much for the second half of this season. We need that bat and I'm sure the phrase, "belt it out!" is one we will all be yelling.
I was also very moved to see your reaction when the Skipper moved you up. Take care of the wrist and start hitting them into the cove. You're going to be a big part of the Giants, hopefully for a very long time.
All the best, Belt.
Marko Realmonte
That's really cool of your family to follow you! As for the fans, deny that its you! Unless it's me, then sign and take pictures!! 🙂 You're probably going to have to start eating in Oakland or other places that aren't so infested with your adoring fans! 🙂 Don't worry, you looked like you'd done it a million times before when they announced your name opening day. Do you want to some day go to the Rangers, or do you hope to spend your whole career with us? Do you have your own place in Fresno and San Francisco, or do you just stay with someone else? Does signing for fans get old or is it still fun? What do you think is the overall best ballpark in MLB? Do you think extra rules should be created to protect the catcher? Who was your favorite player growing up? You have such a long career ahead of you with so many awards and honors… I'm so glad I will be able to say I've known you from the beginning! I've never been this excited for a rookie before, you are really incredible and inspiring! I love you, and hope you answer one of my MANY questions! 🙂
♥ Sierra Wilson


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About Doge
Mr Cameron is just posturing. The EU is undertaking. pan European look at copyright in every country with a view to harmonise it to further a common market.
So UK has to get its stall out and loaded to have its say in the negotiations.
What is good is that the EU view on copyright, ACTA not withstanding, is more open than most current country laws.
But now is the time to start to have our say in what we would like to see in the common market.
Access to an uncensored internet is a right that we have to sustain in todays world. There are many who regard this as a threat to their way of doing business, but merely doing business is not an excuse for removing a human right.
I hope that governments will recognise this, and not bow down to the sleazy claims of the music industry that it threatens their business model - well change it then...
Please look at my blog at
... just to avoid I have to repeat everything here.
I would like to say that I have taken some action about ACTA. I have blogged about it a number of times, I have written to my Member of the UK Parliament, with no reply! I have read a few of the leaked documents and tr=ied to gain sime understanding of what it has in mind.
Don't forget that this is not a new issue, the World Trade Organisation has already some agreements about IP/rights protection and ACTA is an extension of this.
We have to kick this out into the open.
Seems to me that copyright arguments are barking up the wrong tree. Copyright to day is micro-managed (...you can only release this for internet streaming on the 21st of March at 12.30am, in 640x480 resolution...etc). And that geo-location which blocks video and TV on national boarders should be the target of our discussions.
The problem you see is simple. The internet is global and copyrights have to be too.
I have another opinion to add in support of Warner. The audio quality of all the streaming services is very poor and by supporting them the labels are downgrading their product. What they need is CD quality downloads, and a new HD quality service at premium cost.
They should go talk again to Apple to see if they will put Apple Lossless files at 16bit/44.1kHz and 24bit/96kHz on iTunes. That would be a premium service worth paying for.
The content that ACS:law put online was, I presume, their copyright or they have paid the owner for every download they accuse people of?
Is there anyway to combine all this creativity - Connect & Buy - into a one stop shop. A la iTunes?
I for one do not like chasing around tons of web sites, twitter pages, pirate sites, "facebooks" to follow a band. I want them in one place where I can browse and chose.
If it is of any comfort my politician assured me that due to the impending election in UK, non of the current bills going through are likely to become law in this parliament. And the Digital Bill will have to be reconsidered by the next elected government... let's see of they behave any differently. Hope so.
Well if China, UK, Italy, France, India have some ideas to prevent the free flow of information, let them block Google (USA) and start their own - no one will use them.


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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former adviser to mining company BSG Resources pleaded guilty in New York on Monday to one count of obstructing a criminal investigation in connection with a bribery investigation into mining rights in Guinea.
Frederic Cilins, a French national, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William Pauley.
The plea was the latest development in an international saga surrounding one of the world's largest untapped iron ore deposits.
Cilins, 51, was arrested last April as part of a U.S. probe into potentially illegal payments made to Guinean officials to secure mining rights to the deposit for BSG Resources (BSGR), the mining branch of Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz's business conglomerate.
Cilins' plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan does not require any cooperation with the government's investigation.
A BSGR spokesman said, "As we have been saying all along, no one at BSGR has done anything wrong."
Guinea's Minister of Justice Cheik Sako thanked U.S. prosecutors for their effort in the case and said transparency and anti-corruption are key to the government's reform program.
The U.S. Attorney's office did not immediately comment.
Cilins faces a maximum of five years in prison, though his defense attorney and prosecutors agreed that a range of 37 to 46 months would be more appropriate. His sentencing is scheduled for June.
Prosecutors accused Cilins of trying to bribe Mamadie Toure, a wife of deceased former President Lansana Conte, to destroy documents purportedly granting the concession to BSGR.
They also claimed that Cilins tried to persuade Toure to sign an affidavit that she had never received any money from BSGR and offered to pay for an airplane ticket so she could leave the United States and avoid testifying before a grand jury.
Toure is cooperating with the investigation. According to court filings, prosecutors recorded several phone conversations in which Cilins allegedly offered millions of dollars for her help in torpedoing the investigation.
On Monday, through a French interpreter, Cilins told the judge that he met a witness in April 2013 at the airport in Jacksonville, Florida, and promised her money to leave the country "to avoid answering questions by the FBI."
He said he knew the woman, presumably Toure, was a witness in the investigation but that he was not aware at the time that she was cooperating with the government.
The guilty plea comes several days after a Reuters report that a technical committee in Guinea has recommended that the Guinean government strip the mining rights from BSGR and its partner, Brazilian iron ore mining company Vale, because BSGR obtained the concession in 2008 through corruption.
BSGR has criticized the panel's procedure as an orchestrated strategy to wrest away the company's mining rights.
The company acquired the concession in 2008 and sold 51 percent of its Guinean assets to Vale in 2010, creating a joint venture named VBG.
The Simandou mine, which could help the deeply impoverished country, has drawn significant interest in the past from some of the world's largest miners.
The U.S. investigation began more than a year ago under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which allows U.S. authorities to pursue bribery cases abroad.
Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Lisa Shumaker


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This weekend the Guardian compiled lists of rules for writing by a variety of famous authors — the result is either fascinating or enraging, depending on how you feel about writing, lists, and advice.
As The New Yorker's Macy Halford notes, the two-part article includes some gems, though my favorites are different from hers. Margaret Atwood's advice to "Do back exercises. Pain is distracting" is refreshingly concrete, and would have saved me a lot of grief had I followed it years ago. And A.L. Kennedy says,
Defend others. You can, of course, steal stories and attributes from family and friends, fill in filecards after lovemaking and so forth. It might be better to celebrate those you love – and love itself – by writing in such a way that everyone keeps their privacy and dignity intact.
Writing can be a selfish pursuit, and some writers — especially but not exclusively those who work in memoir — can overestimate the importance of their art and underestimate the importance of other people. Only the latter have feelings. But while A.L. Kennedy's words seem like solid advice for being a good person, reading lists of rules won't make anyone a good writer. Kennedy recognizes this in her very first rule:
Have humility. Older/more experienced/more convincing writers may offer rules and varieties of advice. Consider what they say. However, don't automatically give them charge of your brain, or anything else – they might be bitter, twisted, burned-out, manipulative, or just not very like you.
Halford appears to concur. She writes, "the lists, taken together, show that the writers, despite having in common that they are all successful practitioners of the craft, have entirely personal sets of rules." I tend to take a harsher view when faced with advice for writing, or relationships, or really any aspect of life that is at all abstract: nobody knows shit. Not only are our rules for working and living intensely personal, I also doubt that we really live by them at all. I think most people live — and most writers write — more by intuition than by maxim, and lists like the ones in the Guardian are more of an amusing exercise than actual words of wisdom. After all, it's fun to give advice. Sometimes it's fun to read it. But to follow it too closely is, as Kennedy says, often folly.
Ten Rules For Writing Fiction (Part One) [Guardian]
Ten Rules For Writing Fiction (Part Two) [Guardian]
Rules About Rules About Writing (Or, Why Mush Will Never Triumph) [New Yorker Book Bench]


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Shepherd Recipes
View All | View Summaries
Mac and Cheese Shepherd's Pie Recipe
04.01.13 by Jackie
We've been experiencing rainy days in the Bay Area and I thought a little comfort food would warm us up. I couldn't decide between a shepherd's pie or mac and cheese, so I went for a combination of the two.
To keep the dish vegetarian, I prepared the bottom layer with a mixture of vegetarian protein crumble, tomatoes and onions; you could opt for regular ground beef if you prefer. Instead of topping the dish with mashed potatoes as you would in a standard shepherd's pie recipe, I added creamy mac and cheese. Needless to say, the richness of the dish was a huge hit even baby Aria asked for more!
Full Recipe...


text:
Viewed a certain way, the 2012 election can be seen as a gift to Republicans wrapped in ugly paper. The wrapping looked like a hostage note with a message scrawled in crayon: "We hate you." But inside was a gift, and the gift was time. The party was given the opportunity, when it is still strong, to hold the kind of fresh, open-the-windows debate it would have been forced to have in 2016 anyway, and in less favorable conditions.
If Mitt Romney had won this year, he would have had a very tough presidency, with the left revived and the coffers empty and the president having to move deftly, brilliantly, to summon and keep support. And while there were many things in Mr. Romney's toolbox, deft political brilliance wasn't one of them. Meanwhile, demographic and cultural changes would have proceeded apace. So 2016 and after would have been brutal for the party.
But it is well-positioned now for an opening of the windows because everyone, from the establishment to the base, just took a serious shock to the system. Organisms that survive a shock are often able to see their surroundings more acutely. The establishment, hardy self-seeking survivors that they are, already knew the party was in trouble. Now, importantly, the base does. Now local precinct leaders know. The tea party knows, Christian conservatives know. They're all reading the same data, the same polls.
Right now everyone's open to the idea of change. The party can either go the way of the Whigs or they can straighten up and fly right, get serious, make their philosophy feel new again, and pick candidates who can win.
But party leaders should start making their new arguments now. There's no reason to wait, no benefit in it. Everything moves faster now. There's no particular need to let positions evolve, because they've already been quietly evolving for years, though people didn't always feel free to say so. There are many disagreements in the GOP, but they've not always been aired. For the past 10 years the party has operated under an ethic of Questioning the Team Is Disloyal, Dissent Is Disloyal, as Is Criticism.
This has been a recipe not for peace but for disaster. Which is what we saw on Nov. 6.
I say these obvious things—and yes, they are all obvious—because in a small thread of party thinkers I belong to someone recently used the phrase "if the Republicans can change." I was startled. I said of course they'll change, all things that are alive want not to die, if Republicans don't change they'll die, so they'll change. This was greeted with a certain kindhearted skepticism, which struck me because they're all very smart and have worked in the trenches. Someone said, "I wish I shared your optimism." I didn't know I was being optimistic, I thought I was just being realistic.
In connection to that, a look at two big speeches, and then some elaboration on a previous point.
The speeches were by Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, at the Jack Kemp Awards dinner last week. Much attention was paid because both are assumed to be running for president, which each joked about, somewhat creepily. We've got dire problems and you're thinking New Hampshire. Good to know.
Rep. Ryan's speech was OK but insufficient. He didn't say anything terrible but he didn't stake out new ground or take chances. Actually, the part where he said Mitt Romney made "a big election about big ideas and offering serious solutions to serious problems" was slightly terrible because it isn't in a general way true, and it forestalls analysis that might actually be helpful in the long term. Mr. Ryan got points for loyalty but no one doubts he's loyal, and it undercut his central message, which is that the Republican Party needs "new thinking," "fresh ideas and serious leadership," and must find "new ways to apply our timeless principles to the challenges of today."
Well, yes, that's true. But what thinking do you suggest? In what area? Which fresh ideas? Do you have one?
The thrust of Mr. Ryan's remarks seemed to suggest the party has to show its economic stands are aligned with the views of the working and middle classes. Fine. But how, exactly? What changes should be made, not just to message but content?
If conservatives are going to appeal to the nonrich, perhaps we want to be talking about—I don't know, let's float an idea—breaking up the banks? Too big to fail is too big to live, didn't we learn that in 2008? Why aren't we debating this? How about doing away with the carried interest deduction? Would billionaire hedge-fund contributors not like that? Isn't that just kind of . . . too bad?
Those are two ideas that, while politically difficult, would have broad populist appeal and are conservative in essence.
This is not the time to be describing the problem—we need "new thinking"—it's the time to start coming up with the new thinking.
Sen. Rubio had a better speech in that it was deeper, more broadly philosophical and less prescriptive. He told of how he'd spoken, at the August convention, of his father, a bartender in banquet halls. Recently he spoke in a "fancy" hotel in New York—that was rather Sarah Palin, the "fancy"—and the ballroom workers gave him a badge that said "Rubio, Banquet Bartender." He should wear that badge on his suit every day. It's better symbolism than Mr. Romney's car elevator.
But Mr. Rubio also indulged a rhetorical tic that we hear a lot and that is deeply obnoxious. He said the words "middle class" 12 times on the first page alone. Repeating that phrase mantra-like will not make people think you're concerned about the middle class, it will only make them think you're concerned about winning the middle class. It is important to remember in politics that people aren't stupid.
I find both Mr. Ryan's and Mr. Rubio's media expertise mildly harrowing—look at the prompter here, shake your head here, lower your voice there, raise it here, pick up your pace in this section. An entire generation of politicians in both parties has been too trained in media, and to their detriment. They are very smooth but it doesn't make them seem more convincing, it makes them seem phonier. My old boss had actually been an actor, but he didn't seem like a phony. He talked like a normal person at a podium, with a nice voice, and occasionally stumbling. It's not bad to be human when you're trying to appeal to humans.
These speeches were lauded, but they didn't scour, Abe Lincoln's term for a speech that says what needs saying. We know we need "new thinking." Let's hear it.
A final note, connected to an earlier point.
Republicans are now in the habit of editing their views, and they've been in it for 10 years. The Bush White House suppressed dissent; talk-radio stars functioned as enforcers; the angrier parts of the base, on the Internet, attempted to silence critical thinkers. Orthodoxy was everything, or orthodoxy as some defined it.
This isn't loyalty, it's lockstep. It has harmed the party's creativity, its ability to think, when now more than ever it has to. Enough.