text:
Tamara Rollison 804-786-2715
cell 804-335-5758
Lou Hatter 434-529-6314
cell 540-717-2890
Dec. 16, 2011
Firms advance to second stage; proposals will be due April 17, 2012
RICHMOND — The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) announced that nine firms have provided responsive Submittals of Qualifications in the first step of the agency's Request for Proposals for the Route 29/Charlottesville Bypass project. VDOT is seeking proposals to build the new road using its Design-Build project development process.
Each responsive firm will be allowed to submit a proposal for the project. Those proposals will consist of a letter of submittal, attachments to the letter, and the company's price proposal. The bids are due on April 17, 2012.
The firms qualified for the project are:
- American Infrastructure / Kimley-Horn; Glen Allen, Va.
- CH2MHILL; Richmond, Va.
- Charlottesville Bypass Constructors (Shirley-English) / Dewberry; Lorton, Va.
- CK Constructors (Corman-Kiewit) / Jansen and Spaans; Annapolis Junction, Md.
- Granite-Wagman / Gannett Fleming; Tarrytown, N.Y.
- Lane / RK&K; Chantilly, Va.
- Skanska-Branch / JMT; Virginia Beach, Va.
- United Infrastructure / T.Y. Lin; North Charleston, S.C.
- Zachry / TranSystems; San Antonio, Texas
The Charlottesville Bypass project will build a new 6.2-mile, four-lane, limited-access roadway stretching from Route 29 just north of the South Fork Rivanna River to the Route 29/250 Bypass in Albemarle County. The project includes interchanges at both termini to move traffic between Route 29 north and Route 29/250 west of Charlottesville.
Information about the RFP can be found at: http://www.virginiadot.org/business/request-for-proposals.asp. Additional information about the Route 29/Charlottesville Bypass project can also be found on VDOT's web site, http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/culpeper/rt._29_bypass.asp.
Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.


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Remember the very early '90s? It was like the late '80s, but for some reason everyone started thinking about Seattle. Many of us still had our Nintendo Entertainment Systems, and some of us may have been lured into playing the game based on the Tom Cruise NASCARvaganza, Days of Thunder. You know, Top Gun in racecars.
If you remember the pain of playing that game, then this review should feel like a transposition of your old preteen rage into YouTube data. This Urinatingtree guy's right on the money, and I hope he didn't have an aneurysm making this. But I'd understand if he did.
As an interesting aside, Roger Ebert had this to say about this movie, and most other Tom Cruise movies:
Days of Thunder is an entertaining example of what we might as well call the Tom Cruise Picture, since it assembles most of the same elements that worked in Top Gun, The Color of Money and Cocktail and runs them through the formula once again. Parts of the plot are beginning to wear out their welcome, but the key ingredients are still effective. They include:
1. The Cruise character, invariably a young and naive but naturally talented kid who could be the best, if ever he could tame his rambunctious spirit.
2. The Mentor, an older man who has done it himself and has been there before and knows talent when he sees it, and who has faith in the kid even when the kid screws up because his free spirit has gotten the best of him.
3. The Superior Woman, usually older, taller and more mature than the Cruise character, who functions as a Mentor for his spirit, while the male Mentor supervises his craft.
4. The Craft, which the gifted young man must master.
5. The Arena, in which the young man is tested.
6. The Arcana, consisting of the specialized knowledge and lore that the movie knows all about, and we get to learn.
7. The Trail, a journey to visit the principal places where the masters of the craft test one another.
8. The Proto-Enemy, the bad guy in the opening reels of the movie, who provides the hero with an opponent to practice on. At first the Cruise character and the Proto-Enemy dislike each other, but eventually through a baptism of fire they learn to love one another.
9. The Eventual Enemy, a real bad guy who turns up in the closing reels to provide the hero with a test of his skill, his learning ability, his love, his craft and his knowledge of the Arena and the Arcana.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
choose for
choose (someone or something) for (someone or something)
1. To select someone for a particular job or role. Whom has the supervisor chosen for the vacant position? I can't believe the coach chose me for pitcher!
2. To select something for someone, as of a gift. I chose that plant for him because I thought he liked to garden—I didn't realize that he's allergic to daisies!
choose someone or something for something
to select someone or something for a particular purpose, office, title, etc. I chose red for the color or the carpet. I will choose Alice for office manager.
choose something for someone
to select something for someone, perhaps as a gift. I will probably choose flowers for your mother. I chose a funny card for his birthday.


text:
A Saudi security official says executions of seven Saudis sentenced to death by crucifixion and firing squad have been postponed for a week.
He said King Abdullah would review the sentences. He met families of the seven on Sunday.
The official said on Tuesday that the ruler of the southwestern province of Asir, Prince Faisal bin Abdel Aziz, ordered the postponement. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The seven were juveniles at the time they were arrested for armed robbery, a capital offense in Saudi Arabia. One told The Associated Press by telephone from prison that they were tortured to force confessions and barred access to lawyers.
Human rights groups called on the Saudi government to cancel the executions.
© 2010 Ahram Online.


text:
Please excuse me whilst I brush all the cobwebs off of my blog and dust the shelves a bit. Wow, it's been a while, huh? Unfortunately, it's already past my bedtime so I can't chat long, but I wanted to let y'all know I'm still here. And I have a LOT of catching up to do and things to share ...
- Quilting bee blocks for January & February
- DQS8 sent & received
- Pillow Talk Swap 2 sent & received
- Some new embroidery pieces for the Hoop Up swap
- My awesome Bee Imaginative blocks
- Working on Rachel's Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-along
- Exciting updates from the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild
- Other various & sundry projects
In the meantime, I thought I'd share another Kindle holder that I made for certain little ginger monkey ... just because she got a Kindle and I knew she'd want to carry it in style. And because she's super cool and I knew she'd appreciate & enjoy it.
Plus, I finally got to cut into my Lush stash. LOVE it.
And here's a fabric-covered Moleskine that I threw in for good measure:
Have a good weekend, all!


text: Lesbian dating in Alton is often difficult, but we are going to help! Meet hundreds of single, sexy, naughty women in Alton on our new dating site! Great local females, women of every calibre are available to you! Enjoy easily organised hookups, free dating services, and meet the woman of your dreams in Alton! We have a huge selection of amazing, flirty singles, all women seeking women who are always looking for a new person to chat with, and maybe even entertain the prospect of dating! Our site uses the cutting edge of modern website search engines, meaning that the hassle of looking online is down to us! Our dedicated staff is here all the time. Find local personals, whether you're in for a serious relationship or an easy chat, love will be in the air! Find great partners in your area, girls, and discover the new era of modern online relationships. Online matches have never been easier to organise, so sign up today! What else are you waiting for?


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New York, NY (PRWEB) November 06, 2013
As the burden of Alzheimer's disease escalates worldwide, efforts to develop effective treatments are failing to keep pace because of the high costs and risks associated with developing Alzheimer's drugs. Reforming Alzheimer's drug development, so it is more streamlined and efficient, would bring down costs and speed progress toward approval of drugs that slow or stop the disease. By meeting the U.S. goal of effective Alzheimer's prevention and treatment by 2025, millions of lives can be saved and improved, and billions of dollars in healthcare expenditures will be averted.
These are conclusions of a report on Alzheimer's drug development that will be discussed today at the "Alzheimer's Disease Summit: The Path to 2025" held at the New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy). The Summit, co-convened by the Academy, the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease (CEOi) and the U.S. National Institute on Aging/National Institutes of Health (NIH), brings together global leaders from government, academia, non-governmental organizations, and industry to accelerate progress on Alzheimer's research and development over the next decade. This Summit follows on the first Alzheimer's Disease Research Summit convened by the NIH in 2012.
"The Path to 2025" Summit comes during a pivotal time for Alzheimer's disease, as the requisite conditions for drug development success – from finance, business, science, and government – are converging, creating worldwide momentum in the fight against Alzheimer's. Helping drive this momentum, the new report, "Economic Analysis of Opportunities to Accelerate Alzheimer's Research and Development," available here and commissioned by the Academy from RTI International, is presented today as a working draft to elicit comments and evaluation by the Alzheimer's experts at the Summit. A final version of the report will be published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in early 2014, and is intended to serve as a further stimulus for action among stakeholders in the Alzheimer's field.
As the report draft delineates, rapid action is sorely needed. "Alzheimer's disease is a global emergency. It robs people of dignity in their final years and takes a debilitating toll on national economies," says New York Academy of Sciences President and CEO Ellis Rubinstein. "Progress in developing new therapies has been unacceptably slow, and so we must rethink how Alzheimer's research is carried out so that we can accelerate our understanding of what causes this complex disease."
"Global leadership and collaboration across business and government are essential to drive coordinated action, promote rapid innovation, and spur the focus needed to achieve a means of prevention and effective diagnosis, treatment, and care for Alzheimer's and dementia," says George Vradenburg, Convener of the CEOi. "The inefficiencies in the current drug development system can be addressed and we can meet the goal of stopping Alzheimer's by 2025."
Alzheimer's disease and other dementias currently affect more than 35 million people worldwide, with 2010 global expenditures alone reaching more than US $600 billion. The burden of Alzheimer's disease is projected to rise steeply as the number of people living with it roughly doubles by 2035, and triples by 2060, because of aging populations worldwide. Despite numerous large-scale drug trials, a treatment to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer's has thus far proven elusive, and current therapies treat symptoms in limited populations for short periods of time. Recognizing the global implications of this crisis, the G8 is preparing for its first-ever meeting on dementia in London in December 2013.
Cost of Alzheimer's Drug Development Currently Three Times Industry Average
One of the significant findings in the report is that the major bottlenecks in identifying an effective Alzheimer's disease treatment are the high cost and risk of drug development and research, particularly large clinical trials of thousands of patients over multiple years that test a single drug. The report estimates that the total cost of bringing an effective Alzheimer's treatment to market currently approaches $6 billion – nearly three times the industry average for drug development. (Total cost includes expenditures on an effective drug and on the failed drugs preceding it.)
The report considers the likely economic impacts of adopting a series of recommendations made by government agencies, expert panels, and other bodies to streamline how Alzheimer's drugs are developed and tested. Among the reforms recommended are:
The report estimates that implementing these and other reforms to Alzheimer's drug development would reduce the total cost of developing an effective Alzheimer's treatment by nearly $4 billion and reduce significantly the overall timeline to develop and introduce a successful Alzheimer's treatment, bringing both more in line with the industry average. The recommended reforms would also lead to increased private investment in Alzheimer's drug development.
Speeding the availability of an Alzheimer's drug that can slow or stop the disease by 2025 could have tremendous benefit for patients and health systems. By creating conditions favorable to Alzheimer's drug development through targeted recommendations, 7 million case-years of dementia could be averted and upwards of $100 billion in healthcare expenditures could be saved over a 15-year period in the United States alone, according to the Academy-commissioned report.
'The Path to 2025' Summit Convenes Global Alzheimer's Leaders to Address Research Bottlenecks
"The Path to 2025" Summit of November 6–7, 2013, begins a new biannual meeting intended to identify the actions needed to achieve the goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer's disease by 2025, including the identification of additional public and private resources; the execution of field-wide priorities dedicated to Alzheimer's research and development; and adoption of the reforms recommended in the RTI report. This Summit is intended to alternate with the biannual Alzheimer's Disease Summits convened by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. "The Path to 2025" is a project of the New York Academy of Sciences, the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease, and the National Institute on Aging/NIH. The Academy, working through its Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Initiative, has prioritized Alzheimer's disease because of the inherent societal and economic challenges, and the opportunity to advance science and deliver transformative solutions for those with and at risk for Alzheimer's disease.
Presentations and discussions at "The Path to 2025" focus on ways for public and private sector organizations, including those in the biopharmaceutical, academic, government, technology, financial services, healthcare delivery, philanthropic, and patient advocacy communities, to collaborate more strategically and efficiently on Alzheimer's research and drug development goals. For more information on the Summit, including the agenda and speaker biographies, visit http://www.nyas.org/Pathto2025.
About the New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that since 1817 has been committed to advancing science, technology and society worldwide. With 25,000 members in 140 countries, the Academy is creating a global community of science for the benefit of humanity. The Academy's core mission is to advance scientific knowledge, positively impact the major global challenges of society with science-based solutions, and increase the number of scientifically informed individuals in society at large. Please visit us online at http://www.nyas.org.
About the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease
The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease represents an acceptance of the invitation from public authorities, domestically and internationally, to the private sector to forge robust public-private partnerships to stop Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Our vision is that the CEO Initiative becomes a leading business voice on this seminal public health issue of our time, which will have profound impact in fiscal, social and political matters as we "change the game" on Alzheimer's. By working together and in partnership with leading non-governmental organizations and governments, the CEO Initiative will identify and pursue research, therapy development, financing and public awareness projects of the highest priority that, when achieved, can transform the global fight to stop Alzheimer's disease. Please visit http://www.ceoalzheimersinitiative.org.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/11/prweb11306841.htm.
|Source: PRWeb
Copyright©2012 Vocus, Inc.
All rights reserved


text:
TORONTO — If luck is the residue of design, the Yankees are world-class architects.
Working with four stars on the disabled list, this plucky group has thrived instead of simply surviving without Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson.
Yesterday, luck danced into Rogers Centre wearing road grays to erase what would have been a heartbreaking loss.
Thanks to Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Loup's costly throwing error, the Yankees escaped with a 5-3 victory in 11 innings that was witnessed by a sold-out gathering of 46,095 that appreciated the lid being closed because it was near freezing outdoors.
"Not everything is going to be smooth,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said following his club's ninth win in 11 games.
For seven-plus frames, it was very smooth for the Yankees. Hiroki Kuroda blanked the Blue Jays through seven, Vernon Wells homered and Toronto third baseman Brett Lawrie turned Kevin Youkilis' line drive into a two-run single in the fifth to hike the Yankees' lead to 3-0.
After Kuroda gave up a one-out single to Colby Rasmus in the eighth, Girardi called for David Robertson. The right-hander walked pinch-hitter Adam Lind with two outs, gave up a single to Rajai Davis on a 0-2 pitch and watched Melky Cabrera whistle a two-run single up the middle on a 2-2 pitch after being ahead 1-2.
Suddenly, Kuroda's win was flushed and the Yankees were in danger of being slapped with a very tough loss.
"I was annoyed because I try to get ahead of every hitter," said Robertson, who was saddled with a blown save. "These guys can do damage. Thank goodness we came back to win."
Joba Chamberlain, Boone Logan and Shawn Kelley held the Blue Jays scoreless in the ninth and 10th innings.
Consecutive singles by Wells and Francisco Cervelli off Loup starting the 11th gave the Yankees a strong scoring threat. With the sacrifice sign on, Ichiro Suzuki got the bunt down toward third. Loup went after it — but so did Lawrie. Wanting to get Wells at third, Loup opted to throw the ball to Lawrie retreating to the bag, and the ball ended up down the left-field line as Wells and Cervelli scored.
"That was a tough play — we are just trying to get in position for a sacrifice fly," Girardi said. "He is trying to throw to Lawrie when he was on the run."
Eduardo Nunez (0-for-4) moved Ichiro to third with a bunt, but he was stranded there.
Armed with a two-run lead, Mariano Rivera surfaced and gave up a leadoff double to Jose Bautista. However, Edwin Encarnacion's line drive to right found Ichiro's leather and Rivera posted his fifth save in five chances by striking out J.P. Arencibia and Lawrie.
Kuroda watched a seemingly sure victory vanish when Robertson flushed the three-run lead.
"We are both pitchers, and once in a while we get hit,'' said Kuroda, who allowed a run and three hits in 7 1/3 innings. "Today was a bad day, but he is an important piece. It's not a big deal.''
Grateful for the gift in the 11th, Robertson was nonetheless disappointed about costing Kuroda a win.
"I wasn't able to pick him up, it's tough," Robertson said. "I gave him a no-decision."
And then the Blue Jays gave the Yankees something more important: a victory.


text:
ship(redirected from shipyard)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
A structure resembling the hull of a ship.
SHIPAbbreviation for:
Self-Help Intervention Project
Senior Health Insurance Program
sexual health in practice
SH2-containing inositol phosphatase
Small Hospital Improvement Program
src homology 2-containing inositol phosphatase
STD/HIV Intervention Program
Supplemental Health Insurance Plan
A structure resembling the hull of a ship.


text:
Save on the products used in this project!
Miss You Typewriter CardBy Gail Booth
Designer Tip: Heat your paper from beneath with the heat gun to keep the mica flakes and glass glitter from being blown away. Sprinkle on a little more embossing powder, flakes and glitter if too much gets blown away, and heat again.


text:
TAMPA (CBSMiami/AP) – Coming off a big win in the Florida Primary, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said Wednesday that the fight for the nomination so far has toughened him for the challenges ahead.
"Perhaps what we're getting now inoculates us, or at least prepares us, for what will come down the road," Romney said as he made the rounds of morning television shows.
Romney said his path ahead "is looking very good" as he heads to Minnesota and Nevada for campaign stops Wednesday. Gingrich, meanwhile, worked to convince supporters that the primary is a two-person race.
Nevada and Maine have caucuses on Saturday. Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri all hold contests on Tuesday. Michigan and Arizona hold primaries on Feb. 28.
The former Massachusetts governor has had staff and volunteers on the ground in upcoming states for months as he's prepared for a drawn-out fight for delegates to the Republican National Convention in August. Gingrich, meanwhile, doesn't have a strong ground game as he looks to contests in states that could prove problematic for him. And in a nomination fight so far defined by debates — typically a strong point for the former House speaker — he faces a three-week stretch without one. The candidates will next debate in Arizona on Feb. 22.
Romney begins February with formidable advantages in fundraising and organization. His campaign raised $24 million in the final months of 2011, dwarfing his competitors and leaving him with $20 million to fight a primary battle that's increasingly spread across many states.
President Barack Obama's campaign, looking to make some money off the GOP squabbling, issued a fund-raising appeal Wednesday focused on the millions that Romney and his supporters had poured into negative ads.
"That's ugly, and it tells us a lot about what to expect from Romney if he wins the Republican nomination," said campaign manager Jim Messina. "They're going to try to spend and smear their way to the White House."
Romney won Nevada's caucuses in 2008, and a substantial Mormon population there could propel him to victory. Still, Texas Rep. Ron Paul has been organizing in the state for months and could pose a strong challenge. Romney's campaign is working to paint the nomination fight as a four-candidate contest, with Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum still in the mix. Santorum campaigned in Nevada and Colorado on Tuesday.
Romney's Florida win was a smart rebound from an earlier defeat and represented a major step toward the nomination. He'll receive Secret Service protection, beginning Wednesday, requested by his campaign.
Tuesday night, he unleashed a strong attack on Obama and said the competitive fight for the GOP nomination "does not divide us, it prepares us" for the fall.
"Mr. President, you were elected to lead, you chose to follow, and now it's time to get out of the way," Romney declared.
With 100 percent of Florida's precincts reporting, Romney had 46 percent of the vote to Gingrich's 32 percent. Santorum had 13 percent and Paul 7 percent; neither mounted a substantial effort in the state.
The winner-take-all primary was worth 50 Republican National Convention delegates, by far the most of any primary state so far.
But the bigger prize was precious political momentum.
That momentum belonged to Romney when he captured the New Hampshire primary three weeks ago, then swung stunningly to Gingrich when he countered with a South Carolina upset 11 days later.
Now it is back with Romney, after a change to more aggressive tactics, coupled with an efficient use of an overwhelming financial advantage to batter Gingrich with television commercials.
For the first time in the campaign, exit polls showed a gender gap in Romney's favor. He ran far better among women than Gingrich, winning just over half of their votes, to three in 10 for his rival.
Only about half of the women voters said they had a favorable view of the thrice-married Gingrich as a person, while about eight in 10 had a positive opinion of Romney.
(TM and © Copyright 20121 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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text:
Most parents are nervous about their teenager driving a
car. As a parent, you are right in your concern. While teenagers only account
for 6% of all drivers (6 out of 100), young drivers ages 15 to 20 are
involved in 13% of fatal crashes (13 out of 100).1
Most teens learn to drive by taking driver's
education classes, which are often sponsored through schools. While teens are
learning to drive, they need to get as much experience as possible with another
adult in the car. Not all parents have the temperament to do this, though. If
you find yourself screaming at your teen or making sarcastic remarks, ask
another adult family member or friend to help out.
Don't let your
teen drive alone—even after he or she gets a license—until your teen has had
enough experience and until you as a parent feel comfortable with your teen's
driving skills. Also, make sure your teen has enough supervised experience
driving in adverse conditions, such as rain or snow or at night, before you
allow him or her to drive in these conditions unsupervised.
things about driving that parents need to emphasize:
Remember to always set a good example for your child.
CitationsNational Center for Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2007). Young drivers.
Traffic Safety Facts. Available online:
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Last Revised:
April 6, 2012
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics & Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


text:
128GB iPad Hits Market Three Days Ahead of Surface Pro
Apple's latest iPad, the behemoth 128 gigabyte version of the fourth-generation tablet the company launched last year, went on sale Tuesday morning, extending the upper range of the iPad portfolio — and its price range. The device, which starts at $799 and doubles the previous maximum iPad capacity of 64GB, is targeted at enterprise users. It arrives at market just a few days ahead of Microsoft's Surface Pro, which is designed to appeal to the same users.


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6-4-11 PNC Park
Amy and I spent the afternoon being shown a couple houses by a realtor and then headed to PNC Park.
Today was a Fireworks night, and the Phillies were in town. AND it was the largest crowd ever recorded in PNC Park history. That doesn't make a good ballhawking environment.
When I ran in, there were no balls to be found, perhaps because batting practice got started a little later than usual because of this:
Fan-photo day with the players on Federal Street from 3-4 pm.
Immediately upon entering, Kevin Correia tossed me a ball to put me on the board.
I would go the next thirty minutes without snagging anything. The home runs that were hit, were over my head and were gobbled up by other fans. Eventually, a fan in the front row misplayed a home run ball. The ball hit his glove square and fell back onto the field. It was an easy glove trick opportunity. I asked the fan, who was maybe 14, if he wanted me to get the ball for him. He said yes, so I glove tricked it, and handed over ball #2.
It turned out to bring some good karma, because I snagged two more balls within the next minute. One was a clean catch of a Matt Diaz home run ball here:
And another was a Chris Snyder bomb that sailed between the rotunda and upper bleachers and bounced into a concession stand, where it was thrown to me by a worker.
At the end of the Pirates BP, I was flat out robbed by a Phillies fan. Daniel McCutchen looked directly at me and tossed me a ball. This guy in Phillies gear, who the ball was clearly NOT intended for, quickly reached in front of my glove and intercepted it.
My fifth ball was glove tricked here during the Phillies BP,
and I glove tricked another near the end of the BP over along the left field foul line. That was it for today.
There wasn't much point of trying for home run balls unless they were right at me or toss ups. Here was my view for the last 45 minutes or so of batting practice:
After batting practice, I left, went to the gym.
Here are today's baseballs (five pictured because one was given away):
Sweet spots:
Game: 6 balls (1 hit, 2 thrown, 3 device)
Season: 173 balls (66 hit, 39 thrown, 45 device, 23 found)
Games: 28 games
Average: 6.18 balls per game
Career: 1,295 balls
Attendance: 39,441


text:
There is nothing ordinary about this property," runs the broker's pitch for a substantial detached family home on the Silver Birches estate, a cracked tile's throw from the market town of Longford in the Irish Midlands. A tour of John Killane's house, one of only a small number of occupied dwellings in the development, suggests there is indeed nothing ordinary about the houses there. "Why don't you take a little walk across that floor?" Killane suggests, hovering at the threshold of his spacious dining room. His caution becomes understandable as each step triggers a violent swaying motion. The builders failed to divert a stream that continues to run its course beneath the floorboards.
Upstairs, the walls are sodden too; a Manchester United banner in his sons' bedroom threatens to turn Chelsea blue with mold. He's moved the kids into another room because their asthma is worsening. The original prospectus that helped persuade Killane to part with 260,000 euros for his new home three years ago about $347,000 promised a day-care center, tennis courts and smooth, green lawns where residents' children might safely play. If Killane risks allowing his boys outside to kick a ball, they do so on a mulch of mud and raw sewage that bubbles up from unfinished pipes leading to an open septic tank. Left to their own devices, the children of Silver Birches and Ireland's more than 600 other failed speculative developments known as ghost estates often run greater risks: climbing through broken windows into the ranks of empty houses most never lived in, many never completed, built with tax incentives and cheap loans from financial institutions as rocky as Killane's floors to play amid the debris and broken glass of the Irish dream.
Ghost estates aren't just symbolic of Ireland's fall from grace. They are one of its key causes, the most conspicuous legacy of the unhinged building boom and incontinent bank lending spree that have driven a once affluent nation into staggering debt. With its budget deficit totaling 32% of GDP, the highest by far in Europe, Ireland has metamorphosed from proud Celtic Tiger into mangy rescue cat. Even as officials from the European Central Bank, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund moved into the Irish Finance Ministry, the government continued to protest that the country could sort out its own mess. The cave-in came on Nov. 21 with a formal application for an 85 billion euro ($110 billion) bailout. The promise of the cash and a four-year plan to slash a further 15 billion euros ($19.5 billion) in government spending did little to soothe the markets, leaving Ireland's would-be rescuers scratching their heads. What more could be done? Yet the real puzzle about the crisis, which has wrought misery at home and triggered such turbulence in international financial markets as to risk toppling European countries like Portugal and even Spain into insolvency, is not why Ireland took so long to admit it needed help. It is why it blithely passed so many red danger signals on the way to the precipice.
Choppers in Galway
To understand the problems that engulf Ireland, we must do the one thing many Irish didn't do during the boom years: pause and take stock. Ireland's youth have never known anything but good times; their parents were eager to forget the humiliations and hardships of the past. As the economic miracle of the 1990s finally granted the Irish the power not only to reduce the influence of their former British overlords but even sometimes to lord it over them, Ireland's euphoria metastasized into madness.
Form your assessment of the Irish economy in the center of Dublin and you'd scarcely realize anything was wrong. The outer signs of wealth are still there, and if beggars crouch on the sidewalks, that's nothing new. The rising tide of affluence never floated all boats, but it did turn bricklayers into property magnates, small entrepreneurs into tycoons. The author John Banville recalls a "Joe Kennedy moment," an instant when, like the Kennedy patriarch who predicted the 1929 Wall Street crash after a shoe-shine boy offered him stock tips, he looked beyond the show of prosperity to the yawning abyss. "Last spring, when we were already deep in recession, I spotted driving past in the street here in Dublin a gleaming 2007 Bentley with a yellow taxi sign on the roof," he says. "It seemed almost ludicrously symbolic, but there it was." Eamon Gilmore, the leader of Ireland's opposition Labour Party, dates his realization of how badly awry things had gone to a trip to the Galway Races four or five years ago. "What fascinated me was the helicopters, all these helicopters. There was a whole helicopter culture," he says.
From tractors to helicopters, Ireland traveled a long way in just a few decades, diversifying from agriculture and low-cost manufacturing into high-tech enterprises and attracting foreign companies by offering low corporate tax rates and a highly skilled English-speaking workforce. Unemployment and an outflow of Irish talent declined in lockstep, and the economy notched an annual average growth rate of 6.5% from 1990 to 2007. By the eve of the 2008 banking crisis, Ireland's population of 4.25 million boasted more than 30,000 euro millionaires and 300 with fortunes estimated at more than 30 million euros ($39 million). One of the biggest players was Derek Quinlan, part of a consortium that in 2004 bought a clutch of London's most famous hotels, including Claridge's and the Connaught which shares a name with Ireland's poorest province. One of his Irish employees promptly hoisted the Irish tricolor above the hotel. "I cried," said Quinlan. "My poor father, who was in the Irish army, would have loved to have seen this."


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AB Specialty Silicones general manager Mac Penman on Thursday identified the final employee who died in the May 3 blast as 24-year-old Daniel Nicklas of Beach Park.
Watch the May 9, 2019 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."
Existing tests for the deadly virus are inaccurate, expensive and can be challenging to administer, but new research from Loyola University Chicago could lead to a simple filter paper test that changes color if Ebola is present.
"Chicago, The Musical" holds the record as the longest-running American musical in Broadway history – and it's a keeper. "August Rush: The Musical" is a New York-bred "tryout" production, and it just doesn't work.
In many ways, modern American life is set up for convenience and speed – and that can generate a lot of garbage. What you can do at home to reduce your waste output.
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are among those urging the EPA to take "immediate action" against Southeast Side industrial facilities for emitting potentially harmful levels of brain-damaging manganese dust.
Elephants, uranium and the oddest wedding you've ever seen: A new book takes readers inside the unusual world of the University of Chicago scavenger hunt.
Outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel is the latest supporter of a retirement income tax. A look at the potential impact on Illinois, Chicago – and seniors.
If the discovery is confirmed, it would be the first evidence that black holes and neutron stars can pair up to form binary systems.
How to raise children to be successful adults? That's the million-dollar question for every parent. A new book by Joy Thomas Moore has some suggestions.
The Nation of Islam leader who was recently banned from Facebook spoke Thursday in a wide-ranging sermon that hit upon some of the anti-Semitic and black nationalist themes he has come to be known for.


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PARIS (Reuters) - The French government struck a deal with ArcelorMittal ISPA.AS on Friday which will see the steelmaker invest 180 million euros ($234 million) in its Florange steelworks, allowing some 600 jobs at two shuttered blast furnaces to be saved.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the two furnaces would not be restarted for now, given weak European steel demand, but ArcelorMittal would keep them in working order for future use in a test project for environmentally friendly steel production.
The deal saves face for Socialist President Francois Hollande, allowing him to fulfill an election pledge to fight industrial layoffs while avoiding the temporary nationalization of the site his industry minister had threatened.
"The government decided against the idea of a temporary nationalization," Ayrault told reporters, three hours before a midnight deadline to strike a deal, adding: "There will be no redundancy plan."
The investment would reinforce cold steel and packaging operations at Florange and secure jobs in those areas, Ayrault said. He added ArcelorMittal had pledged that its investment in Florange would not come at the expense of other sites in France.
The deal, the result of months of talks, came as the Italian cabinet was meeting to approve a rescue plan for ILVA, Europe's largest steel plant with 20,000 workers, which is threatened with closure after an alleged environmental disaster.
The European steel industry is struggling with overcapacity at a time of recession in the euro area and cheap competition in emerging markets.
Florange, set in France's former industrial heartland near the German border, has become symbolic of the country's long industrial decline and a test case for whether Hollande can make good on a vow to reverse a relentless surge in unemployment.
ArcelorMittal said earlier this year the Florange site's two furnaces were not viable but Hollande insisted they should be kept open and threatened a temporary state takeover of the site while the government sought a permanent buyer.
The two blast furnaces together employ 600 out of the 2,700 workers at the entire site.
Ayrault did not give any detail of where the workers would be placed from now on, or a timeframe for any future project to revamp the furnaces using European Union credits to produce environmentally friendly steel.
Hollande's government faced roars of criticism from business leaders this week over its threat to nationalize Florange.
Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, who shocked foreign investors this week by saying Arcelor's Indian chief executive Lakshmi Mittal was no longer welcome in France, had said the government had identified an industrialist ready to inject 400 million euros into the site.
Earlier on Friday, Montebourg huddled in a cafe with a group of orange-vested metal workers protesting near the finance ministry, telling them nationalization was still an option.
Yet Hollande, who is battling to appease both left-wing voters angry at unemployment and foreign investors impatient to see structural reforms, is wary of the stigma even a temporary nationalization would carry abroad.
Officials had defended the idea of a temporary nationalization, saying it was a special case because ArcelorMittal has broken promises to keep the furnaces running.
But ArcelorMittal denies breaching commitments. Sources close to the group say Arcelor planned in 2003 - before its 2006 takeover by Mittal - to wind down inland blast furnaces in Europe, including the two in Florange, by 2010.
The group says overcapacity in Europe's steel market, with demand 28 percent below peak 2007 levels, has made Florange's furnaces uneconomical and that a buyer would have to absorb deep losses to take them on, even with the rest of the site.
In Rome, the Italian cabinet was reviewing a decree on Friday to secure the future of the troubled ILVA steel plant after discussions between Prime Minister Mario Monti and the management on Thursday.
ILVA is a major employer in a jobs black spot in southern Italy and is threatened with closure over concerns toxic factory emissions increased deaths from cancer and respiratory diseases in the surrounding area of Taranto.
($1 = 0.7689 euros)
Reporting by Nick Vinocur, Emmanuel Jarry, Julien Ponthus and Brian Love in Paris and Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels; Writing by Nick Vinocur and Catherine Bremer; Editing by Sophie Hares


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LA Opera's new production of Mozart's The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote) has to be one of the most imaginative presentations of that work - ever. In fact, it could be the most remarkable presentation of any opera you will ever see.
Although based on a complicated allegory that many of the audience may not quite grasp, there is truly something for everybody. The story is based on secret societies, and such esoteric stuff is presented in adorable characterizations both human and animated, which become ever-more creative and mind-blowing as the show progresses. And at the same time, all these effect serve to help illuminate the plot points of the whimsical story and its moral lessons.
This LA Opera version – co-produced with Minnesota Opera – reinvents opera itself – transforming it in digital-era Hollywood style into a multimedia experience. The sets and lighting effects appear as continuously animated graphics, projected onto a blank white backdrop. Principal characters make their entrances as they are rotated on turntables from behind the screen to appear at second-story height above the stage floor. Their costumes are parodies of early twentieth-century film and cartoon characters. Fanciful elements of their costumes, such as animated wings and props, are illusions of projected light embedded in the animation. The spoken-word portions of the libretto have been replaced by silent-movie title cards, as the orchestra plays brief excerpts adapted from other Mozart works. The visual impression is made all the more dreamlike by the vintage-movie effects in the graphics – flicker and scratches-and-dust.
It is worth the price of admission to see and hear the wonderful Erika Miklosa in her LA Opera debut as the Queen of the Night, dressed in white. With the help of Paul Barritt's animation design, she takes over the stage both vocally and physically as a huge spider with legs that encompass nearly the whole stage. Both she and Janai Brugger, who plays her daughter Pamina, have some of the most clear and sweet high soprano voices ever to grace the stage. Miklosa has played the role nearly 400 times, starting in her native Hungary.
Three little-boy butterflies singling treble, all dressed as Harry Potter - Drew Pickett, and Charles Connon, and Jamal Jaffer - fly onstage at poignant moments to help guide the main characters - just one of the many strokes of genius in this production.
The Russian Rodion Pogossov plays Papageno in a low-key humorous, Chaplinesque style. He is a kind of everyman who wants simple pleasures of eating and romance and is not too involved in the rituals. He is adorably followed around by a spunky animated cat. A true talent, his lovely baritone is accompanied by his clever physical expression. Rodell Rosel, who is concurrently playing Bardolf in Falstaff at LA Opera, is delightfully unrecognizable as Monostatos, the icky henchman who acts like a vampire. He also fulfills his role to a "t." Lawrence Brownlee as the male ingénue Tamino, manages to portray an innocent and loving quality that wins the audience's heart. Evan Boyer as Sarastro is also and interesting choice for the complex Sarastro, mild-mannered and yet alarming. . Hae Ji Chang, Cassandra Zoe Velasco and Peabody Southwell as the Queen's ladies, acting and dressed like 1920s, are cheeky and wonderful. Their intentions are often emphasized by the flying of animated hearts. The casting of the whole show is outstanding and there are no false notes. The orchestra under James Conlon is brilliantly synchronistic.
Kudos to co-directors Suzanne Andrade and Barrie Kosky, with associate director Tobias Ribitzki, for delivering on their refreshing vision of this piece, as well as to Paul Barritt for animation design and Esther Bialas for carrying it through the scenery and costume design. The rich heritage of early-movie styles is stunning – Papageno is dressed as Buster Keaton, Pamina as Betty Boop and Monostatos is a ringer for the ghastly, lurking vampire Nosferatu.
Mozart's opera itself is unusual enough – the story is a fantasy allegory about humankind's quest for spiritual enlightenment. It's a struggle of good contending with evil based on the ancient Egyptian themes that formed the basis of the secret society of Freemasons in Mozart's day. Freemasons (the forebears of today's Masonic Lodge) go through thirty-four degrees, or achievement steps, of ritual. The goal of this process is personal development, community service, and spiritual maturity. In Mozart's story, the progression is summarized in three trials through which the main characters must pass – the trial of silence, the trial of temptation, and the trial of fire and water. It all seems pretty scary because they are told, if they fail, they will die.
Tamino (Lawrence Brownlee) is a well-intentioned young prince. At rise, he finds himself in a dark wood under attack by a fire-breathing dragon. He's rescued as the Queen of the Night (Erika Miklosa) kills the dragon and dispatches three ladies (Hae Ji Chang, Cassandra Zoe Velasco and Peabody Southwell) to take the prince under their care. But the bewildered Tamino thinks that it is the Queen's servant Papageno (Rodion Pogossov), a bird-catcher, who has helped him, and together they resolve to make their way out of the dark wood. Along the way, Tamino falls in love with the Queen's daughter Pamina (Janai Brugger), who has come under the control of the Queen's archrival and priest of the sun Sarastro (Evan Boyer). The Queen wants Pamina, assisted by Tamino, to kill Sarastro.
All this would seem to be a fairly straightforward good-versus-evil story, right? Of course not. In the allegory, the roles of the characters of queen and dark priest are exactly reversed. The priest Sarastro (his darkness underscored by Boyer's resonant bass) turns out to be the spiritual master of Freemasonry. The Queen is the proponent of blissful ignorance – she'd like nothing better than for humans to dwell with her in perpetual night. But Miklosa's heavenly soprano, along with her dazzling white costume, have us thinking she's the essence of good.
Tamino, Papageno, and Pamina all come under Sarastro's control, as he is assisted by Monostatos (Rodell Rosel). Monostatos is another character whose stereotype leads us astray. Officially, his role is overseer of Sarastro's temple. In the story, he's prison guard to the three protagonists. In fact, despite his terrifying appearance, he explains in his aria at the opening of Act II that he is just an ugly guy doing his job who would like a little nookie. Such is Mozart's wicked sense of humor, which underlies the story at every turn.
It is Sarastro who forces the three characters through the three trials. And he says they will "pay with their lives" if they fail to meet his standards. He's so menacing, we fear he will destroy them no matter what. But here's another reversal – there is no way to fail. In his trials, Tamino is made to confront death and seemingly to forsake his earthly love of Pamina. The wisdom of the trial is that death is an illusion, and there is nothing to fear. So if he failed (which he doesn't) and he did indeed die, he would emerge in the same place – enlightened, and with Pamina at his side. Comic-relief sidekick Papageno also scores at the end, as Sarastro presents him with a soul-mate, the pretty and birdlike Papagena (Amanda Woodbury).
The stark good and evil roles, and the reversals, might make us think it's all about men against women. Freemasonry was a society of prominent men, after all. Tamino and Pamina go through the trials together. The lesson of the fable – as Mozart tells it – is that men and women are partners and equals.
The concept of the production is rooted in the theater of German Expressionism, as practiced by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weil. The two-dimensional movie screen is what those artists would call an alienation effect. It's done to distance the audience from their emotional reactions – and emphasize a story of ideas. And that's just what Mozart intended – all with a sense of whimsy and wit that will have you smiling – not only about this delightful production – but also about what it's like to be a silly human obsessed with needless fears and yet possessed with boundless hope.
LA Opera's The Magic Flute is a must-see experience for both intellectuals and children of all ages!
Photos by Robert Millard for LA Opera
Georja Umano is an actress and animal activist.
Gerald Everett Jones is the author of the Rollo Hemphill series of comic novels.
The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Los Angeles Opera
135 N. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 972-8001
(213) 687-3490 fax
Saturday November 23, 2013 07:30 PM
Saturday November 30, 2013 07:30 PM
Thursday December 05, 2013 07:30 PM
Sunday December 08, 2013 02:00 PM
Wednesday December 11, 2013 07:30 PM
Friday December 13, 2013 08:30 PM
Sunday December 15, 2013 02:00 PM


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- Live blog: How 'Black Friday' is unfolding
- George St braces for cold and cuts
- The Watcher: Public servants more than faceless pen-pushers
- Public Sector Renewal Board announced
- Public servant sackings: Leave your tribute
Temporary contract workers in the public service were "cruelly strung along" by the former government, argues Treasurer Tim Nicholls.
The Newman government's position on the size of the public sector is quite clear – our overriding principle is to preserve as many jobs as possible.
This government has both a responsibility and a mandate to pay down Labor's debt.
It is a responsibility we all share.
And it is with that thought in mind that I ask members of the public sector to carefully consider demands for higher wages.
It's a question of high wage growth versus job cuts.
By turning down wage offers that are more than fair, union members will be jeopardising not only their colleagues' jobs but also the state's future prosperity.
The Queensland government coffers are empty. State debt is heading for $100 billion. Unions can thank their Labor 'mates' for that.
So when unions demand more money for their members it stands to reason expenses must be reduced elsewhere.
Rationalising the public service is not a task we relish. Nor do we embark on it lightly or frivolously.
There are many hardworking and dedicated public servants who have been let down by a Labor government that made short-term decisions for their own political benefit.
The Commission of Audit Interim Report found that in the past decade the size of the Queensland public service was allowed to grow by an unsustainable 41 per cent. It has become too top-heavy.
Had the public service grown at the same rate as population, we'd have 18,500 fewer public servants, and expenses would be $1.5 billion lower.
Almost half the state's revenue this financial year will be spent paying public servants' wages and superannuation.
Weekly earnings of Queensland public sector workers have increased by 16.7 per cent in the past decade, compared to 12.7 nationally.
While wage increases for public servants have been markedly higher than inflation in recent years, many small business owners and private sector employees have struggled to make ends meet. They have been forced to pay rising taxes, fees and charges, without receiving any increase in their take home pay.
Many private companies during the global financial crisis made the tough decision to freeze employee wages and recruitment. The employees at these companies may not have liked having their wages frozen, but accepted it was better than the alternative of losing their jobs. Even before the economic slowdown, real pay rises (above inflation) were only offered in exchange for productivity gains or increased responsibility.
During recent enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations we offered fair and reasonable pay increases to public servants who are among the best paid in Australia.
In the early stages of EBA negotiations, some union members took to the streets threatening strike action.
Union grandstanding and opposition scaremongering have fuelled hysteria about widespread job cuts and the possible impacts on frontline services.
The Newman government has made no decision about potential changes to the size of the public service and has guaranteed frontline services will not be affected – facts which have largely been omitted from media reports.
The previous Labor government's plan to return the budget to surplus included paying 5000 public servants $250 million in voluntary separation payments.
The scheme failed to reduce the overall size of the public service, and in some cases departmental headcounts actually went up.
Not long after coming to government we announced we would not be renewing the temporary contracts of some non-frontline public servants. Many of these public servants were cruelly strung along by Labor on temporary contracts for years.
The Commission's very sobering interim report now confirms further measures are needed to bring the spiralling costs of the public service under control.
Labor forced the state down this path with its reckless spending spree. The Newman government will not let the debt burden grow any further.
We will not force the next generation of Queenslanders to pay for the mistakes of the former Labor government.
We stand by our commitment to protect as many full time jobs as possible. But if unions prevent us from curtailing employee expenses, we will be forced to take action.
We will examine the size and structure of the public service closely in coming months as we frame the September state budget.
Returning the state's budget to a sound position will require tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions.
I ask public servants to extend the union principle of "solidarity" to their fellow Queensland workers because sharing this financial burden will reduce its toll on the individual.
Foregoing excessive wage rises will go a long way to protect a greater number of jobs.
There is no doubt unions play an important role in protecting the rights of their members.
But as advocates for "the greater good", public service unions also have an obligation to the rest of Queensland to make wage claims that are fair and reasonable.
Queensland's economic future and our ability to fund essential health, education, transport and community infrastructure for all Queenslanders depends on it.


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WASHINGTON, DC -- To help enhance amputee and patient care of disabled and injured veterans, Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) recently opened the Military Advanced Training Center (MATC). The 31,000-square-foot facility includes numerous advanced physical therapy and fitness-related features.
The MATC includes a rope-climb and rock wall, uneven terrain and incline parallel bars, vehicular simulators, a firearms-training simulator, physical therapy athletic and exercise areas, and an occupational therapy clinic. The facility also has prosthetic-training and skill-training areas, prosthetic-adjustment and fitting rooms, and separate exam rooms for all amputee-related care.
The center's 225-foot indoor track boasts the world's first oval support harness, which allows veterans to walk or run without a therapist tethered to them. Patients recover more quickly with the harness because the therapist is free to provide immediate feedback to the patient while observing their gait, says Charles Scoville, WRAMC's chief of amputee service.
To further measure patients' strides, the MATC's Center for Performance and Clinical Research, known as the gait lab, contains six calibrated force plates, four for walking and two for running. It also includes a dual force-plate treadmill that can conduct running analysis for prolonged activity. The system includes 23 infrared cameras that are mounted around the room to gather information that helps ensure proper prosthetic fit and alignment, and appropriate foot or knee selection for amputees, Scoville says.
The MATC also includes the Computer Assisted Rehab Environment (CAREN), which builds a virtual environment around a patient performing tasks on a treadmill that is bolted to a helicopter simulator. The CAREN uses a video-capture system, similar to the gait lab, but with an interactive platform that responds to patients' movement.
The CAREN can also assist veterans recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder by reintroducing patients to both simple and complex environments and measuring their performance while ensuring absolute safety.
"We can continually add stressors," Scoville says. "We can start with the patient walking on an empty street and gradually add parked cars, traffic, pedestrians and noise. We'll take the patient to the edge of discomfort but not beyond what they can handle."
The new facility houses more than 15 specialists, including physicians, nurse case managers, therapists, psychologists, social workers, benefits counselors and representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The building is designed to bring together the multidisciplinary team that cares for veterans in transition, Scoville says.


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Johanna Mårtensson-Crossing The Line Theatre Design
At Design Interviews
Interview with Johanna Mårtensson : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Johanna Mårtensson : By placing the audience around a circleshaped table, like the court of Europe, I wanted to create a room where the audience involves, interacts and reflects about their own part in a course of events. .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Johanna Mårtensson : To involve the audience and make them consider .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Johanna Mårtensson : We would love to tour this play, since the set design is very handy to transport. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Johanna Mårtensson : I worked on the design over a period of six month, allthough not all the time, I had other commisions aswell. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Johanna Mårtensson : It was commisioned for this play by Teater Komet. .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Johanna Mårtensson : This design belongs to this particular play. .Frank Scott: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?. Johanna Mårtensson : No, but I looked a lot at conference rooms and the room for the court of Europe. .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Johanna Mårtensson : A theatre audience. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Johanna Mårtensson : The name was given by the author Ninna Tessman. .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Johanna Mårtensson : I built a model out of cardboard. The final set was built of metal legs and wood. .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Johanna Mårtensson : The way the audience naturally becomes a part of the action, acting both witnesses and court. .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Johanna Mårtensson : I collaborated with director, writer, actress and lighting designer. .Frank Scott: What is the role of technology in this particular design?. Johanna Mårtensson : Technicaly this was a simple set design to build. .Frank Scott: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?. Johanna Mårtensson : No. .Frank Scott: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?. Johanna Mårtensson : It is as always a challenge to find the right idéa for a particular play. .Frank Scott: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?. Johanna Mårtensson : I would like to take part in an international arena, Sweden is a lovely but small country for Theatre Design. .Frank Scott: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?. Johanna Mårtensson : When I do a set design I start visualising the idéa through building a scale model, on every work I do I learn something new about the very interesting border between idéa and the realization of the idéa. I also learnt a lot intelectually on this project, since I collaborated with highly intelectual people. .Frank Scott: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?. Johanna Mårtensson : (Many of those questions refer to a design product. Theatre design don´t fit in to some of those questions. ) .
Johanna Mårtensson-Crossing The Line Theatre Design Images:
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Cavanagh Company is a wholesale bakery producing communion wafers for many religious denominations both domestically and internationally. Cavanagh Company offers by far, the finest altar bread in quality and packaging. For over 70 years, we have proudly provided quality altar bread to countries all over the globe. All breads have a carefully molded sealed edge which prevents crumbs and are sealed minutes after baking. The communion wafers that we make are made of only pure wheat flour and water and are made strictly without additives. Cavanagh breads are produced in the United States in an exceptionally clean and modern automated facility. Throughout the entire production process the breads remain untouched by human hands. Cavanagh packaging is far superior to all other forms and includes cellophane rolls in boxes, barrier film bags, and hermetically sealed plastic containers.
- Made of pure wheat flour and water without additives
- Baked and packaged in our secure facility in Greenville, Rhode Island
- Bakery subject to inspection by the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Rhode Island Department of Health
- Over 70 years serving the religious community
- All breads are baked and packaged minutes after baking and are untouched by human hands
- All breads have a carefully molded and sealed edge which prevents crumbs
We have received approval from the United States Council of Catholic Bishops to bake and supply our Church Goods Dealers and Convents with Low Gluten Altar Bread. Cavanagh Company Low Gluten Altar Bread is valid matter for use in the Catholic Eucharist according to the Catholic Church's canonical requirements. The gluten content of our Low Gluten Altar Bread is under 20 parts per million.
For more information regarding Bread for the Catholic mass, please click here


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Home > Home, Garden & Office > Pet Supplies > Pet Dog Hooded Sweater Knit Apparel Reindeer Clothes - S
Product Details
- Give your dog a classic festival look with this hooded sweater
- Pullover design with darling reindeer pattern
- Cute pompom decorated on the tip of hood
- Feels soft and comfortable, perfect for walks on cool days
- Material: Acrylic
- Color: Red and white
- Size S (Please make sure your dog's measurement before you buy))
- Neck Girth: Approx. 11 inch / 28 cm(unstretched)
- Back Length: Approx. 8 inch / 20 cm(unstretched and not include hood)
- Chest Girth: Approx. 12.5 inch / 31.8 cm(unstretched)
Package Includes:
- 1 x Dog sweater
Note: Please be reminded that due to lighting effects and monitor's brightness / contrast settings etc, the color tone in the pictures and the actual item could be slightly different.
Keywords: Dog outfit, dog clothes, dog sweater


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Venture capitalist Fred Wilson, of Union Square Ventures, has helped his firm post some of the best returns in the entire VC industry over the past five years.
The firm's performance has been nothing short of spectacular, and Fred Wilson's reputation has justifiably soared.
And yet, in 2012, even though USV had some amazing exits that coined money for the firm, its partners, and its clients, Wilson said in a recent blog post that he feels like it was a "shitty year."
Because Wilson did not make a single investment in 2012.
In fact, Wilson has not made a single investment since the summer of 2011--more than 18 months ago.
For a firm that has made dozens of investments over the last five years, and has been on a tremendous roll, that is highly unusual.
Usually, when firms and investors get on a hot streak, the partners get giddier and more aggressive as the streak continues.
They begin to feel like they're playing with "house money," boatloads of it, and they start throwing that money at whatever strikes their fancy.
They also feel pressure to continue to justify their reputations (and fees), and keep the momentum going.
So when they're not making investments, they feel like they're "doing nothing"--resting on laurels based on past accomplishments having nothing do to with what they are doing right now.
And yet, for those who have been around long enough to understand the ebb and flow of investment cycles, it is clear that "doing nothing" is often the smartest investment decision of all.
Every great investment opportunity goes through this investment cycle.
In the beginning, when the opportunity is truly "speculative"--when most people think investing in the opportunity is obviously stupid--a few brave souls make brave bets and then cash in on extraordinary early returns.
Then, everyone else sees those returns, and the money rushes in.
Soon, all the investment money bids up prices and creates a wave of competitors vying for the same opportunity, and investment returns begin to drop.
Eventually, the "fools" rush in, bidding prices up to truly silly levels, and dozens of competitors fight over the tiny crumbs of opportunity left on the table.
Then returns collapse and the cycle ends.
The consumer Internet cycle that drove Union Square Ventures' returns over the past 5-7 years began to wind down a year or two ago. So many investors had jumped into the game, so many companies were attacking the opportunity, and valuations had gotten so high that expected returns for small startups had begun to drop. There was massive excitement in the sector, of course--and huge "buzz" (in part because so many people were in the game)--but the fundamentals were no longer attractive. So the smartest investors began to scale back and look elsewhere.
Or, in the case of Union Square, they just began to say "no."
It's hard to imagine how many serious business plans and opportunities Union Square has said "no" to over the past 18 months. If I had to guess, I'd say it was on the order of 10 per day, or about 500 over the period. And that's just the serious ones.
Saying "no" when the rest of the industry (and your competitors) are in a feeding frenzy is difficult.
You often look and feel like an idiot.
No matter how confident you are that the cycle has played out, you know that you might be wrong, and that you'll end up with your reputation in tatters, looking like a fool.
So saying "no" is extremely hard to do.
But, in investing, it's occasionally the smartest thing to do.
So, even though Fred Wilson feels like he had a "shitty year" in 2012 because he didn't make any new investments, it's possible (likely, even) that he will end up having had a much better year than almost every other VC in the industry.
In other words, Wilson may have demonstrated again that the performance Union Square has delivered over the past 5 years is no fluke and that he and his partners Brad Burnham and Albert Wenger deserve their reputations as one of the most talented investment teams in the industry.
SEE ALSO: FRED WILSON: 2011 Was A 'Shitty Year'


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New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) is the governing body for high school sports in New Jersey. Founded in 1918, it describes itself as "a voluntary, non-profit organization made up of 425 accredited public, private and parochial high schools in the state."[1]
The NJSIAA discriminates against homeschoolers by banning them from playing for member schools. The NJSIAA imposes this restriction even though Pennsylvania and many states require public schools to allow homeschoolers to compete.
However, the NJSIAA may be losing its grip on state sports, as talented athletes join sports programs that refuse to belong to the NJSIAA and submit to its regulations.[2]
NJSIAA Ban on Homeschoolers
Under a clarification for its rules for Eligibility, it prohibits home-schooled athletes as follows:
- Section 1. A student, to be eligible for participation in the interscholastic athletic program of a member school, must be enrolled in that school and must meet all the eligibility requirements of the Constitution, Bylaws, and Rules and Regulations, of the NJSIAA.[3]
- CL Students being home-schooled (by parents or other parties) are not eligible because they are not enrolled. Properly enrolled students on Home Instruction provided by the Board of Education are eligible if the student satisfies CL 4 of Section 4.E. (emphasis added)
Note that this "clarification" imposes a limitation on a member school as to who may participate on its own team, even if the opposing team consents to the participation. It is not clear from the NJSIAA who inserted this clarification, or when.
But the NJSIAA Rules and Regulations on Eligibility allow almost any type of "not enrolled" student, other than a home-schooled student, to compete in their local high school sports:
- G. Enrollment ... (2) Initial Enrollment - At the beginning of his/her secondary school career a student is free to choose any secondary school he/she may legally attend, (9th grade in a 4- or 6-year high school or 10th grade in a 3-year high school).
- CL 1 A high school student is a regularly enrolled student as defined by the Department of Education.
- CL 2 Voc-Tech/Public Academy Shared Time - When a student is carried on the Official Register and attends some classes at a school, but also attends additional classes at another school, he/she is eligible for interscholastic athletics at the school where he/she is carried on the Official Register. If a student is carried on both Official Registers, the student may choose the school at which he/she wishes to participate in all sports on a full school-year basis.
- CL 3 Voc-Tech/Public Academy Full Time - If a Vocational/Technical High School Public Academy does not offer the particular sport in which one of its full-time students desires to participate, that student may participate in that sport at his/her sending school upon agreement of both Principals, regardless of the number of sports programs offered at the Vocational/ Technical High School Public Academy.
- CL 4 Voc-Tech/Public Academy - When a student elects to transfer to or from a Voc-ational/Technical High School to or from the district school where the student resides the student is eligible immediately provided such assignment is by the Board of Education of the district where the student resides and the student satisfies all other eligibility regulations.
- CL 5 Charter School -If a secondary Charter School does not offer the particular sport in which one of its full-time students wishes to participate, that student may participate in that sport at his/her school of residence upon agreement of both principals, regardless of the number of sports programs offered at the Charter School. [Note: then why can't a home-schooled student do likewise?]
- CL 6 Choice School - A choice student who attends a Choice School, pursuant to regulations adopted by the New Jersey Department of Education, shall be immediately eligible to participate in sports at the Choice School provided a Transfer Waiver Form is executed by both the Choice School and the Residential School, in the manner set forth in Article V, Section 4.K(2) of the NJSIAA Bylaws.
- ...H. Post-Graduates - No post-graduate student shall be eligible for school competition. When a student graduates from a school (days or weeks) before the official end of the semester that student may continue to represent his/ her school until the official end of that semester - either January 31 or June 30. A student becomes ineligible for high school athletics when the class in which he/she originally enrolled is graduated.
- CL 1 A League/Conference or County may grant a waiver (as provided for in the Rules & Regulations, Rule 2, Specific Sport Regulations, Note 3) to permit teams or individuals from the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools to participate if such Student-Athletes are in the first year of post-high school matriculation.
- I. Pre-High School Students - Students in any 9th grade are eligible for teams in the Senior High School in that district at the discretion of the administrators and the Board of Education in that district. Students in any 6th, 7th, or 8th grades of any school (Jr. High or Sr. High) who play on 9th grade or so-called freshman or sophomore, junior varsity and varsity teams will be negligible at the conclusion of eight consecutive semesters of such participation. Junior High School 9th grade teams may play against 9th grade teams from 4- year or 6-year high schools.
In a brilliant law review article entitled Legal Precedents and Strategies Shaping Home Schooled Students' Participation in Public School Sports, Kathryn Gardner and Allison McFarland outline several ways for home schoolers to overcome barriers to compete on high school sports teams:
1. Pass legislation to allow home schoolers to compete, or to give local school boards the power to allow them to compete.
2. File a lawsuit based on the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In Christian Heritage Acad. v. Okla. Secondary Sch. Activities Ass'n, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8186 (10th Cir. Apr. 9, 2007), the Tenth Circuit upheld a challenge under the Equal Protection Clause against the Oklahoma high school sports association because it allowed public schools to join automatically but required a majority vote in order to admit private schools. The Tenth Circuit held, without dissent, that the high school sports association was a state actor subject to the Fourteenth Amendment. In Indiana High School Athletic Ass'n, Inc. v. Garcia (Ind.App. November 15, 2007), the Court of Appeals held that a high school athletic association is governmental agency that engages in "state action" with respect to injunctive and declaratory relief about eligibility of an athlete to compete. The Court noted that the association's existence relied entirely on the cooperation and support of the public school system, and that the association was funded by tax dollars.
3. File a lawsuit based on state constitutions.
There is a fourth and fifth approach overlooked by the law review article:
4. Sue the school association that is prohibiting participation by home school athletes under antitrust law. Specifically, sue for an unlawful refusal to deal with home school athletes. This approach is explored more fully at School sports and antitrust.
5. As in challenges to Proposition 16, there may be an argument based on racial discrimination.
And then there is this approach:
6. Appeal to the state Department of Education and hope for a sympathetic administrator. But other than changing enrollment requirements for everyone, it is unclear if the state Department of Education can do much about the rules of an organization claiming to be private.
- ↑ http://www.njsiaa.org/
- ↑ http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/highschool/v-printer/story/7492873p-7388584c.html


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The story could begin like a tale "Once upon a time, men who built Paris day after day, decade after decade, century after century…", but in our case the story is told differently. It goes back in time and shows Paris in 3D to live a unique experience that allows us to discover and understand how historic monuments have shaped this extraordinary city.
Whether we are visitors, readers, historians, experts, technicians, directors, actors or Internet users, we were hundreds of thousands aficionados have participated in the Paris 3D adventure. This great 3D Experience continues and offers virtual immersion into the heart of Paris at different times, ranging from Gallic period to the late 19th century. Famous Parisian monuments already digitized in 3D for Paris 3D will be regularly enriched with new 3D historic buildings to enhance the virtual mock-up representing the real World Heritage sites now shared anywhere at any time.
Although one of the adventure highlight was the live Paris 3D event on September 29, 2012 in front of the Paris City Hall with 15,000 visitors, films co-produced by Gedeon programmes, Planete+ and Dassault Systèmes, a book edited by Flammarion, and online and iPad applications are still generating growing public interest (Paris 3D video). As of today, the iPad application has been downloaded 130,000 times and the dedicated Paris 3D website has seen 350,000 visits. The attached infographic illustrates Paris 3D experiences where figures and information represent people involved as well as technical and historical topics. Enjoy the picture!
I confess that one of my favorite monuments in Paris is the Eiffel Tower, not very original 🙂 . What is you preferred one and does the 3D Experience increase your passion for it?


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Designer Julius LaCour debuted his spring/summer 2014 collection during Chicago's Fashion Week – making it clear once again why the New Orleans native has earned a well-deserved spot among the bold faced names in the world of avant-garde design.
Showcasing his acclaimed couture line for the third consecutive year at Fashion Focus Chicago during Chicago's Fashion Week, LaCour also announced he is relocating the brand to New York City in April 2014. It was a bittersweet move for the designer who noted that early exposure in the Windy City helped grow the label to new heights of national acclaim.
LaCour— the creative director and designer behind the couture collection Maison De LaCour— showcased his Spring/Summer 2014 line as a part of the 9th annual Fashion Focus: Chicago's Fashion Week, presented by the Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and progammed with the assistance of the Mayor's Fashion Council.
In an unusual move, LaCour eskewed the trationnal runway show in the Millenium Park showcase, instead presenting as a solo designer in a creative, avant-garde presentation style format. LaCour's S/S 2014 collection, entitled "The Stars Are Out Tonight," was designed to evoke the 'joie de vivre' of the Studio 54 1970s, anchored by the influences, color waves and prints of Moroccan culture.
The Chicago event wow'd as Maison De LaCour delivered big time on his raison d'etre - to use fashion to break the rules set by society.
LaCour's ties to Chicago run long and deep. At age 18, he turned his childhood passion with fashion into a career and enrolled in the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago to further his technical skills. LaCour created his first fashion label, JuJu Blase,' while still a student. In 2010, only a year after starting his line, he showed his collection in Latino Fashion Week here and won the CS Magazine Italian Expo Competition. In 2011, Julius did a solo fashion show to a packed house at the Drake Hotel Chicago for his Spring 2012 collection.
Maison De LaCour was founded with the purpose of expressing individualism. Each piece is unique, created by hand. Today, Julius continues to develop his line by pushing the boundaries of fashion and challenging people's perceptions. He combines couture finishing techniques with explorations of themes many believe are taboo, bringing to light such topics as minority subcultures and nudity. This juxtaposition creates a unique, dynamic line unlike other labels on the market.
The Maison de LaCour show was presented by Michael Anthony Salon Spa and Argo Tea. Following the presentation, McGrath Lexus of Chicago provided VIP guests with custom drive experiences by transportating them to the exclusive post-show luncheon at RM Champagne Salon. At the luncheon, guests enjoyed an array of menu items and champagne selections and previewed the Maison De LaCour Spring/Summer 2014 look book shoot video presentation.
"If you think couture is a dream, then grab a piece of it. Dreams are meant to be followed," LaCour has said.
Visit the Maison de LaCour website, as well as the Maison De LaCour Lookbook.
Photos courtesy of Shari Imbo


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Thursday, January 15, 2009
"Snow" Cute!
And hopefully this will be the last crappy picture you will have to endure on our blog...my new Nikon came today!! Now, I just have to figure out the dang thing...
15 comments:
- becky said...
hey amber, what nikon did you choose? we have been shopping SLRs and lenses and are close to a decision but still a little confused, too. let me know if you like it.
- January 15, 2009 at 10:10 PM
- Ruth Ann said...
Thanks for sharing....those are super cute! I wish I belonged to a crafting club! You are soo lucky!
- January 15, 2009 at 11:03 PM
- Montay said...
New Nikon!!! Woo Hooo I got one two maybe we could figure them out together.
- January 15, 2009 at 11:22 PM
- Bonnie B. said...
Those are so cute!! And, I've never thought your pictures were crappy.
- January 16, 2009 at 8:50 AM
- The Bennett Bunch said...
Those are so cute!!! Oh you will love your Nikon!!! I have had mine for almost 3 years and just love it!!
- January 16, 2009 at 8:54 AM
- Lorilee said...
Soo cute!! Have fun with your Nikon. I love mine!
- January 16, 2009 at 8:57 AM
- The Toronto Family said...
I got a new SLR cannon about 6 months ago and LOVE it!!! but... I did get a book on amazon to help me out in using it, it was the best thing!!! there were things I never would have figured out on my own plus it was tons faster to just read it, and have pictures explaining it, there was way more into in this book then what came with the camera. They have them for all the nikon cameras too. And... yes your snowman cupcakes was one that inspired my snowman cupcakes! thanks for the idea!
- January 16, 2009 at 9:17 AM
- Amber M. said...
Becky...My first digital camera was a Nikon Coolpix and I loved it. In fact, I wore it out. Since then, I've known i wanted another Nikon. So I did a little research and went with a Nikon D40. And I love it. Right out of the box, I'm taking gorgeous pictures and the shutter time is so fast, I'm actually getting cute shots of the baby.
- January 16, 2009 at 9:46 AM
- Jeni said...
Those are snow cute!
I love all the m's in the new header!
- January 16, 2009 at 2:46 PM
- Kristi said...
SOOOOOOOO cute!!! Love, love, love it!
- January 16, 2009 at 7:11 PM
- Sonja said...
I think to picture looks ok. Dang! those snowmen are CUTE!
Hooray for new cameras, though. That's exciting!
- January 16, 2009 at 11:35 PM
- Our Complete Family said...
Adorable snowfolks there!
Your new header is super cute. Love it!
We have that camera and I'm in LOVE! Hope you love yours, too!
About your bright spot post below...hope you ended up having a good day chicadee!
Have a safe vacay. Can't wait to see the pics when you get home!
Hugs, Les
- January 17, 2009 at 8:48 AM
- Sharlyn said...
I love stalking your blog through April's! You always have the cutest ideas...I am totally going to make those snowmen. Thanks for sharing.
- January 17, 2009 at 5:31 PM
- Saundra said...
Love the snowmen. Cute Cute!
- November 10, 2009 at 12:08 AM
- jsellers50 said...
What a wonderful project. Can I ask what size wood block did you use? Would be great for my granddaughters gifts for school this year.
- July 23, 2012 at 2:35 PM


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Chi White Sox IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Stults(L, 1-2) 4.0 5 3 2 1 2 1 3.38 Bruney 3.0 6 4 4 2 2 0 2.93 Jones, N 1.0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1.69 Totals 8.0 11 7 6 5 6 1 5.43
Pitch Statistics Pitch Type Avg Speed Max Speed Avg H-Break Avg V-Break Count Strikes / % Swinging Strikes / % Linear Weights Time to Plate FF (FourSeam Fastball) 96.50 97.4 -8.63 8.94 12 4 / 33.33% 0 / 0.00% 0.3342 0.387 CH (Changeup) 84.04 85.2 -6.43 7.30 7 5 / 71.43% 2 / 28.57% -0.6245 0.443 SL (Slider) 86.05 88.1 -0.05 1.42 6 2 / 33.33% 0 / 0.00% 0.0595 0.433 Pitch classifications provided by the Gameday Algorithm and may be inaccurate. Pitch Type LWTS correspond to how many runs were likely to score on a particular pitch based on average run expectancy when each pitch was thrown and what happened as a result. Negative scores indicate more effective pitches. Time to Plate is the time, in seconds, that it takes an average pitch of this type to reach the plate. This is strongly correlated with velocity, but also factors in movement.
Inning-by-Inning Pitch Totals Inning Pitches in Inning Strikes in Inning Strike% in Inning Cumulative Total Pitches Pitch LWTS in Inning 8 25 11 44.00 25 -0.231
UPDATE: BTW, Nate Jones was working on his changeup yesterday:
Jones added a cutter/slider to his repertoire last season and has worked on his changeup over the past six weeks. He showed that change during his one inning of work Friday against the Royals, bouncing back from walking the first two hitters he faced to pitch a scoreless inning
And here are Kenny Williams' comments on Nate Jones making the Sox 25-man (Active) roster:
On Nate Jones seemingly coming out of nowhere:
It's not out of nowhere for us. When you throw 97-100 and you've got a hard curve ball, and I think you guys finally saw the change-up last night, which we developed when he started a couple years ago. Last night, I think he was 98-99 and the change-up was around the 86 range and had some sink and fade to it, along with the curveball, it just makes everything better. I think he got in trouble early in spring cause when you're just sitting on two pitches, guys could guess. When you put another thought in their mind, you've got something to work with. I've been impressed with his aggressiveness. He was a little geeked up last night, trying to make that last impression and walked the first couple guys. But then he really settled down and got in the swing of things.


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|International Space Station Imagery
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|ISS01-323-010 (8 November 2000) --- Early film documentation of the Expedition One crew members onboard the International Space Station (ISS) shows cosmonauts Sergei K. Krikalev (left) and Yuri P. Gidzenko at work in the Zvezda Service Module. Krikalev, flight engineer, and Gidzenko, Soyuz commander, represent the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. This is one of the first film images released from the Expedition One crew.
Curator: JSC PAO Web Team | Responsible NASA Official: Amiko Kauderer | Updated: 10/30/2012


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Waaahhh, I only have 400 thousand dollars left over after feeding my family! Is what Tea Party congressman John Fleming's cried on Jansing & Co. this morning about Obama's plan to tax the wealthy as much as the middle class. Can this idiot be for real?
We have people and a lot of them in this country as well as in the Tea Party who have to "get along" with more like 40 thousand dollars or less a year and he is crying over 400 thousand. That just pisses me off to the core. This is the selfish bullshit that we are dealing with in some of the worst economic times ever.
Not only is this Tea Party sucker bitching and moaning about paying more taxes, but he and his cohorts are also saying that we need to cut spending on programs for the poor as well as "raise" taxes on those same poor folks. Because lord knows those poor suckers who after feeding their families are left with a good 200 dollars for the year as income should be forking out at least a hundred and fifty of that to pay down the deficit consisting mainly of tax cuts for John Fleming and those like his selfish ass.
Poor John Fleming sitting there in his million dollars or better home with his family just trying to survive and here we are trying to create class warfare with his kind by taking more of those 400 thousand dollar crumbs of his is after his businesses brought in 6.3 million dollars for the year. I guess when he said 400 thousand; he totally forgot the 173 thousand a year he also gets by being a congressman. But, why split hairs, we know he is just on the cusp of the poor house; and with that kind of money coming in every year, who can remember it all.
The class warfare is that the Republican and Tea Party believes that not only do the rich need to pay less into the society that is putting the money in their pockets, but somehow the poor should be paying more to ensure that they have the means to pay less. How sick is that? This has been a long time coming and people better start looking at the writing on the wall before it's too late.
Even Jansing told the idiot that he position to the majority of America isn't very sympathetic. He could care less because his answer was the "class warfare never created one job." But, you know what Mr. Fleming, a tax cut for a selfish wealthy bastard never created one job either. In fact the years that we had all these tax cuts for the rich, the only thing that happened was that we started losing jobs faster than ever.
Because what Fleming doesn't understand is that he has the whole economic structure backwards. He believes that those at the top or company owners create jobs when in fact it is those at the bottom who create jobs. It probably sounds nuts but hear me out. If I open a lemonade stand, I have to have a demand for my lemonade from the thirsty people looking for a good deal on a cold drink on a hot day.
Neither Mr. Fleming nor his cohorts are cruising the streets looking for lemonade as these people only make up one percent of the population anyway. It is the hard working people that are my customers. And any kid with a paper route, lemonade stand or girl scout selling cookies understands that you aren't going to do any business if you have no customers or your customers have no money to spend.
Mr. Flemings owns a lot of Subway sandwich shops and he isn't going to tell me that somehow if he has lower taxes and the poor have higher taxes he is going to do some brisk business. In fact we all know that he will do very poorly. If the people have no money or less money frivolous spending at sub shops will decline. Those moneyless people will be better off buying a loaf of bread and a package of baloney at the super market for the price of one sub sandwich. So, who is fooling who here?
But, you see it doesn't just stop there. He and his cohorts want to cut all government programs so that those poor folks won't even get food stamps to buy their bread and baloney. But, unfortunately for Mr. Fleming, they won't have money for food, but they damn sure won't have money for his stupid submarine sandwich.
I guess we'll see his stupid face in the soup kitchen line right along with the rest of us. You can't build a business with moneyless customers. And if your customers have no money, you my friend will eventually have no money either.
M O R O N – that spells Tea Party, lawds yes.


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Bittersweet Love Richie Furay
Intro: A A7 Bm E
It [A]suddenly [A7]caught me and I'm [Bm]doin' it a[D]gain
Wonderin' why you and I can't be fri[A]ends
Oh but [E]then if [A]you tried, it [A7]seems I'd have [Bm]known w[D]hen
But there ain't no more, you've shut the door, it's the [A]end
( Tab from: http://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/r/richie_furay/bittersweet_love_crd.html )
Of a [F#m]bittersweet [E]love one that [D]called us to [A]play
But we had [F#m]cryin' and [B7]sighin' every [E]day
[F#m]Bittersweet [E]love, how we [D]fell to it's [A]prey
And you know that [F#m]cryin' and [B7]sighin' ain't the [E]way
Oh, baby, maybe someday we'll understand
Where the love we saw dreams and all fit in the plan
by: Jos� Duarte
Important: The song above is NOT stored on the Chordie server. The original song is hosted at www.guitartabs.cc. Chordie works as a search engine and provides on-the-fly formatting. Chordie does not index songs against artists'/composers' will. To remove this song please click here.