text:
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Is that a...Michigan t-shirt?!
Baggy, you worked in intel, didn' t you? Get some people on this. This is important!
Finally, an off-season topic worth discussing, studying...studying...studying some more...
Please note: I've done my best to edit the photos below so as to make them R-rated rather than X-rated (while still retaining the artistic integrity of the work).
7 comments:
- BaggyPantsDevil said...
Damn! That looks almost like a shirt I have.
I'm on it.
- January 27, 2006 4:19 PM
- West Norwich said...
Jesus, you scUMmers are so FOS. It obviously says "PLAYER". Just tell me, what kind of person looks at this stuff and pays attention to what "the guy" is wearing anyway? {insert obligatory "not that there's anything wrong with that" here}
Regardless, found this site before the beatdown on 11/19 and to be honest you guys actually have a great thing here Keep it up.
Go Bucks!
-West Norwich
- January 27, 2006 11:12 PM
Sorry Yost, I don't know him...
- January 28, 2006 1:48 AM
- Yost said...
"Player"? It may not say "Michigan" but it sure as hell doesn't say "Player."
And thanks for the compliment wrapped in multiple insults. We're pretty sure we appreciate it seeing as we know you broke four state laws in Ohio simply by not dropping the F-bomb here on our site.
- January 28, 2006 12:54 PM
- West Norwich said...
It's actually five state laws when in reference to tsun. I'm actually past the f-bomb phase, more into the flinging feces/punching old people stuff now.
And it defintely says either "Player" or "Playboy" Look at 1st pic. I definitely see "PL..."
But hey, with a face like that, he probably did graduate from michigan.
- January 28, 2006 1:08 PM
- Yost said...
I'm going to take a wild guess and say his face had nothing to do w/ getting him the gig.
- January 29, 2006 10:44 PM
- West Norwich said...
- January 30, 2006 2:26 PM


text:
Other Ways to Connect
Upcoming Events
Office of Career Planning & Professionalism programs provide unique opportunities for employers to interact with Penn Law students. Please contact our office at firstname.lastname@example.com for more information about any of the events below.
Practice Area Fair: The annual Practice Area Fair, held in November, is a chance for firms to educate students about a particular area of law practice. During the event, each practice area is stationed at a table, where participating attorneys are able to discuss their work and interact with the students in attendance. The event, which is traditionally very well-attended, gives students a better understanding of the work involved in various types of law practice and presents an opportunity for employers to increase their visibility with Penn Law students and to generate enthusiasm about a particular field of law.
Mock Interview Program: The Mock Interview Program, held each spring, matches attorneys with current 1Ls who are beginning to prepare for the upcoming fall recruiting season. Attorneys conduct a brief mock interview and then provide constructive feedback and advice on the student's interviewing style. Participating employers are invited to a reception with students immediately following the interviews.
Job Fairs
Various job fairs taking place throughout the year and across the country provide additional opportunities for employers to connect with Penn Law students.
GPALS: Penn Law students participate in Greater Philadelphia Area Law Schools (GPALS) job fairs that take place each fall in both Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
ISIP: Penn Law LLM students participate in the International Student Interview Program held in New York City each January.
PIPS: Penn Law students participate in the Public Interest/Public Service Career Fair (PIPS), an annual career event that connects both regional and national public sector employers with students from Philadelphia's seven area law schools. Employers are encouraged to participate in PIPS in order to meet students interested in pursuing summer and/or permanent positions with government and public interest organizations.
Minority student job fairs: More than a third of Penn Law students are students of color, many of whom participate in minority job fairs around the country, including the Philadelphia Area Diversity Job Fair.
Patent law job fair: Each year, Penn Law students participate in a national job fair held in August at Loyola University of Chicago Law School. Increasing numbers of Penn Law matriculates have technical backgrounds, making them excellent candidates for patent and intellectual property positions.
1L Outreach Events
Employers are invited to schedule 1L outreach events - whether afternoon panel presentations at the law school or evening cocktail receptions at area restaurants - for Penn Law students. Please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you would like to schedule an event or discuss additional ways to reach out.
We are also happy to distribute information to our students about upcoming employer events taking place off-site, such as "home for the holidays" and summer receptions.
Student Groups
We encourage employers to connect directly with our student groups, many of which organize panel presentations, symposia and other events throughout the year that incorporate employer participation.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I'm working on a serif display-font, it has constructed elements of a slab serif, but also some of the Old Style genre.
The idea is, to design the characters more squarish – I like the constructed look and the the counters are kept more open.
And I'm not sure about two parameters: How far can I go with the superellipse shape and the stroke contrast?
What do you experts think? Every comment is welcome!
Thanks, Arne
Hello Johannes,
thank you, I agree with your statement and this is very helpful! It's true that the /n is similar-looking to the Swift, but that was not the typeface I was looking at. It was my own typeface "Quitador", which is more strictly based on the superellipse. Finally I don`t want to make a new "Quitador Serif", but still toying around with these rectangle shapes and Old Style elements. – and yes, not only for display, it's for text.About the serifs: Could you precise a little bit what you exactly mean, terminal, spur …?
Hi Eric,
thank you for your comment: first of all: This is a first sketch and a try how can I involve these rectangle shapes in a serif? It´s only the first idea, not a finished typeface. My intention was not stealing from Gerard Unger. I played with the shapes of my Quitador and there was nothing digitally stored. But I see, I have to find another way, it´s too similar, but I havn't recognize that before. I met you 1990 in Amsterdam, when I made my graduate at the ANRT in Paris. Since that time I pay attention on type-design, but I was more interested in constructed alphabets and sans serifs. So you can say after 17 years this my first try to develop a serif typeface and of course this is a new learning process and that is why I posted it on typrdrawers.
A couple of examples that caught my eye: The a terminal seems very soft and round compared to the abrupt d or u terminal. The x-height serifs, like i or n or j seem very triangular, but the baseline serifs seem very pointy, flat and elongated. Some of the cap serifs look very inward facing and trying to balance the glyph, like with A or V, but others seem very dominant and pronounced and expressive, like in E or Z. And the curved caps are not consistent to one or the other, for example C or S: One serif looks more thin and wedge-like, others more triangular and with a lot of volume. And the teardrops in a, c, f and r all look similar, but too different in tension, angle and weight of the ball terminal. Also the spurs in b or q are not in sync with the thickness of the strokes otherwise and seem very pointy and sharp. This is, of course, only a subjective impression, and I write them without too much analysis - I suppose "first impressions" are helpful only to a degree, but alas, this was mine.
About the serifs: Could you precise a little bit what you exactly mean, terminal, spur …?
Hello Frank: I don´t think, that we can separate concept and detail mode. Details are part of the concept and design. Especially today, where we have much more text-faces than 30 years ago and the scope is getting smaller. Take a look at your own typeface "Action Condensed" compared with "Univers Ultra Condensed". Similar concept, but different details. There is no plagiarism, you made your own interpretaion of a condensed sans serif very well and with many different details to the Univers. – But without looking on details it looks similar …
Your remark make me wonder how your type-design tutor(s) handled the originality and idiom issues.
That is a bit rude again, Frank. Your comments are welcome, but I would suggest that we discuss with more respect and tolerance to younger designers and don't attack people personally.
I didn't mind that part much. It's true that I lack the holistic education that trained type designers take for granted.
That is a bit rude again, Frank. Your comments are welcome, but I would suggest that we discuss with more respect and tolerance to younger designers and don't attack people personally.
Second draft: I modified the serifs and tried to get closer to the concept of "superellipsed shapes" and make it more origin. They are curved now, not so heavy and trianguar. I think asymmetric serifs make no sense anymore, combined with round shapes it looks too confusing to me. (BTW I feel, these curved serifs are more difficult to handle than triangular serifs.)
More rectangular appearance of /c/e/t/a
@Johannes: I will not repeat all of your corrections, but followed nearly all and tried to include them into the new design, thank you for that!
@Christian: Right with the /g (you had a long experience with the /g at Paramond…?), what do you think now? /C and /G. Exact Spacing later.
@Nathan: terminals /a/c/f/g/J, what do you think now? /q is new as well, right with the /G/Z/s and especially /t, are you sure /E is too small?
Maybe that was a step too far. I went backt to the first version of /a/e/c.
@Nathan: Assymetric and more ellipse shaped serifs was a good idea. But I tried to keep them diagonal. I would like to try (and learn) the text version first, a display version maybe later.
There are two new versions of serifs now:
a) serifs like before
b) assymetric and a little more ellipse shaped
c) the same but thicker baseline serifs
Text example:
@Craig: You were right, the baseline serifs were too light
@Christian: What do you think about the /g now?
– I know (just visited a great glyphs workshop with Rainer in Vienna)
It worked perfect, but I had problems to handle serifs on diagonal stems, e.g. /K
And when I copy and pasted a glyph with corner components, sometimes the corners were disappearing.
Maybe I´m too stupid for the corners, but working with components is practical as well and nearly the same method.
I think emphasizing the left side is better, like Nathan showed. But they have the same height now.
maybe the second /g is better:
Actually, I prefer the more angular loop of the previous /g (left). The smooth loop feels out of character among the other letters. I still think the top loop could use some more rounding, though. (Take with a grain of salt; this might be purely subjective at this stage.)maybe the second /g is better:
What do you think about the accents, do they work together? Especially the eth was hard, I don´t fully understand the construction.
aringacute: I scaled ringcomb as component to 80%. Is that the correct way or do I have to create an alternate like e.g. ringcomb.case or something …?


text:
A7 Bar Grip™ Full Men's Gnarly Bear
A7 Bar Grip™ Full Men's Gnarly Bear
Introducing Bar Grip Full.
After a year of listening to lifters like you, we totally redesigned the BarGrip shirt you have come to love.
We started by changing the grip and moved to the tackiest grip available. We sourced the same grip used for football wide receiver gloves and put on the shirts.
We updated the fit and feel by offering a slightly larger neck hole and more flex in the armpits so the shirts won't pinch your lats.
We used a new fabric blend unlike anything we could find before. The new blend is 95% cotton and 5% lycra. This blend offers the breathability of cotton while holding its shape and comfortably contouring to the body.
We took measurements from a variety of lifters to make a fully custom cut and sew shirt. It's a shirt that is unlike anything before and fits more body types than any shirt we could find available.
Please review the size chart to see the standard fitting. These shirts are hand-cut and hand-stitched so some variation in sizing may occur up to an inch from the estimated size listed.
Having problems with slippery commercial benches? Bar sliding when you squat? Not to worry - BAR GRIP™ is the solution for you. With patented silicone grips on the back of each shirt, this innovative, one-of-a-kind performance shirt helps you grip the bench when benching, and anchors the barbell to your back when squatting. This shirt is a must when you can't train with elite equipment and aren't allowed to, or don't want to use chalk.
Train better. Be better. Let BAR GRIP™ revolutionize the way you train.
IMPORTANT: Please view the size chart for accurate sizing (available in the product gallery). These shirts are hand-cut and hand-stitched so some variation in sizing may occur up to an inch from the estimated size listed. We allow exchanges within 30 days of purchase, but clothing must be in unworn condition and the buyer is responsible for return shipping and the cost to send the requested size replacement.


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text:
Bryce Dallas Howard has admitted that stepping into the role of evil vampire Victoria in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" wasn't easy.
During an appearance on "The View" on Tuesday to support her new film, "Loss of A Teardrop Diamond," Sherri Shepherd asked the redhead if taking on the part, originated by Rachelle Lefevre came with some pressure.
"Yeah, yes, very much so," Bryce said.
In July, it was announced that Summit Entertainment had parted ways with Rachelle over a scheduling issue and Bryce was thrust into the "Twilight" spotlight when the studio announced she was taking over the role.
Although there was some controversy over Rachelle's dismissal, including a short, public war of words between the actress and the studio, Bryce revealed that Rachelle was very kind to her.
"I felt really grateful to the cast and to everyone and actually Rachelle herself just was so gracious," Bryce said. "Really, the intention is just to make the best film possible and you know, it was really terrible what happened but I did my best."
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood Redheads
PLAY IT NOW: The Wolf Pack Represents At The 'New Moon' LA Premiere
PLAY IT NOW: Dish Of Salt: Is Boo Boo Stewart Taylor Lautner's New 'Eclipse' Competition?
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Bryce Dallas Howard - Eclipse - Rachelle Lefevre - The Twilight Saga - Movies


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Joseph's Mission Trip to the Turkana Northern KenyaWith everything going on in OUR world-politics, politics, and more politics, other parts of the world are suffering. There is a major drought in Kenya and God Bless Joseph and his team for taking grain to one of the most isolated areas. This small sack of flour may seem like a drop in the bucket BUT to these families it represents HOPE for another day and a sign that someone CARES
Women wait for their bag of meal.
A gesture that says, "Someone cares about your suffering."
The look on their faces speaks volumes!
Joseph and some of the elders.


text:
I have a matrix initialized with some colors and no values. With the help of beamer's overlays I wanted to modify the matrix in the next step, changing some of the colors and inserting some values. I attach a figure, so you can get a clear picture of what I want to achieve (on the top you have the empty matrix, and on the bottom the matrix after it has been filled in):
I have tried to overwrite the whole matrix with a new one, but that has several problems:
- Text like "Some label" gets overwritten and looks thicker in the second slide.
- If I need to do N steps, instead of just 2, rewriting the whole matrix every time is really tedious.
I know I am not really aware of all the possibilities in TikZ and Beamer, so there might something there that I am missing, and that would allow me to do what I want. Does anyone know what can I do in order to update the matrix nodes between the overlay steps?


text: Aimee Quirk, Economic Advisor to the Mayor, highlighted how New Orleans is poised to see further expansion in its economy with the development of the medical and bio-tech industries, increased retail outlets, and a new airport in the coming years. Ms. Quirk spoke of the unique opportunity that the city finds itself at the Real Property Committee meeting on Wednesday, August 28th. Members enjoyed an interesting discussion on upcoming projects including the South Market District in the Central Business District and the Magnolia Marketplace on Claiborne. These shopping and entertainment venues combined with the Mid City Marketplace and the Costco on Carrollton are providing new sources of revenue to the city and giving residents a means to keep their money in Orleans parish. Additionally, New Orleans East is the site of a new full service hospital operated by Daughters of Charity and a Walmart. Ms. Quirk emphasized the city's role in public-private partnerships as well as encouraging the community to reach out to the city when questions arise in commercial development. The next monthly meeting of the Real Property Committee will be held on Wednesday, September 25th at 12 noon.


text:
Finding Outlet Stores Online Could Save You Money!
Admit it – when it comes to shopping we all want to save a few bucks. And when it comes to shopping online you can find a ton of sites that offer outlet prices. What is an outlet price? Discount malls, also known as outlet centers, are often located far from residential areas.rnrnThey are an odd but incredibly successful phenomenon in the world of retailing. I'm sure you have seen an outlet store before, maybe you just didn't know that is what it was called. Outlet stores are usually located away from residential communities and are usually where a lot of car traffic will be such as on highways and byways.rnrnThese are usually HUGE ***** mall like stores. You literally can find everything and anything you want. We have one by us – the GAP outlet and I try to go as often as I can because the variety is awesome. This is also a place where you can buy brand name products for a cheap price. This doesn't mean they are made of lesser quality materials and textiles!rnrnIn fact, they are made of the same materials as if you would go straight to the "source". For instance, say I want to find Vera Bradley bags. If you look online at her actual store you can find a nice bag for around $100. But if I look online just a little more I can find a really nice Vera Bradley outlet that has the same product, say the Chain Link Handbag, for $40 instead of $100. You could be saving ALL that money! This doesn't mean it's taking it away from anyone or that they are fakes.rnrnThey simply overstocked the items and get sent to outlet stores. You can find other things besides Vera Bradley discounts online as well such as Juicy Couture, Chanel, GAP clothing, Abercrombie, Express and SO much more. So here is the golden question – why pay more for the same item when you could be paying less? You wouldn't! And that is why these outlet stores get so much business and make so much money.rnrnIf you do a search online you can actually find a lot of outlet stores online or offline. Frankly, however, I did a few comparisons among a few different products and you seem to get an even BETTER price from an online outlet store than an offline store. This actually makes sense when you think about it because buying online has always and will always be about cost-efficiency!rnrnThis is why the online retail world does three times better than offline retail stores! If you want a nice price with a lot of options the outlet store is the best way to go! Give it a try and see what you can find! I think you will be really amazed by the prices these stores have to offer. And now that you will be saving money you can buy more of what you like – instead of just one or two items!


text:
The November 2011 edition of the newsletter of the York Branch of the OGS, Ancestors, has been published. It continues with "The Udell Family of Markham, Pickering and Uxbridge (Part 2)" in which Walter Udell continues the story of the family through the middle- and late-1800s.
If you are interested, a website has been developed at www.udellfamily.ca.
At September's meeting, Rich Roberts from Global Genealogy talked about the latest edition of Family Tree Maker, and at the October meeting, Wes Playter talked about the Roadhouse & the Rose Funeral Home in Newmarket.
A Special Note: The York Branch will be celebrating their 15th year celebration in June. They are asking that if you have family history or photos that you would like to have featured at the party, email firstname.lastname@example.com.
You can go to their website at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onyrbogs. The York Region covers the former York County minus the City of Toronto.
If you are interested in joining Ontario Genealogical Society and the York Branch, go to www.ogs.on.ca/membership.php.


text:
Crow relocation underway
Crow relocation underway
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Office of Physical Plant (OPP) crow relocation program switched to pyrotechnic bangers and screamers last week. Large flocks of crows are currently roosting in trees along Shortlidge Road and OPP teams intend to persuade them to fly north and east. The campus community can expect to hear loud noises in the vicinity of South Halls after dusk. OPP has successfully engaged the crows with laser pointers over the past few months, but the crows have adapted and OPP is switching to more aggressive techniques.
Pyrotechnic bangers and screamers have been routinely deployed by OPP in the past few years. They are quite loud when compared to noise-less laser pointers but are also very effective. These noise-making activities will occur early in the evening shortly after dusk and could continue for a couple of hours each night. Specific dates and locations will be determined based on crow roosting patterns and will occur only when needed. All relocation activities will be safely conducted by highly-trained and experienced Physical Plant employees. Team members will be wearing blue and green reflective safety vests.
The migratory crows visiting our campus have proven to be both smart and stubborn. With the extreme cold and snow cover, they are not easily persuaded to leave campus as they have done in past years. OPP plans to continue periodic crow harassment until they leave for the spring. Pressure washing of sidewalks will commence as soon as the first days of warmer weather arrive.
Last year, approximately 3,000 migrating crows landed on campus causing unsanitary and unpleasant conditions. The goal of this intitiative is to discourage this mass roosting and the accompanying sanitation problems. No crows are harmed by the relocation and harassment activities.
Physical Plant is again partnering with Penn State researchers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to relocate the migrating crows. Penn State will also work closely with State College Borough to jointly find solutions to this continuing problem and OPP crews routinely monitor crow concentrations on campus. The campus community can report bothersome crow activity and campus sanitation concerns by contacting Paul Ruskin at email@example.com or by calling 814-863-9620.


text:
Due to technical issues, third release of Medals in the Members Shop will be delayed.
[Drama 2018] My ID is Gangnam Beauty, 내 ID는 강남미인
0ly40, in k-dramas & movies
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I already left a reminder a couple pages ago. But apparently I have to leave another. As you probably noticed some posts disappeared. This happened because those posts were off-topic and unrelated to the drama itself. When you talk about the actors or the actors as a couple it's considered off-topic. Please keep in mind not everyone watching this drama is shipping the leads in RL. Please consider the feelings of those who come here solely for the drama and not for the shipper fantasi
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text:
Connecting to a Database with JDBC
This series, The Object-Oriented Thought Process, is intended for someone just learning an object-oriented language and who wants to understand the basic concepts before jumping into the code, or someone who wants to understand the infrastructure behind an object-oriented language he or she is already using. These concepts are part of the foundation that any programmer will need to make the paradigm shift from procedural programming to object-oriented programming.
Click here to start at the beginning of the series.
In keeping with the code examples used in the previous articles, Java will be the language used to implement the concepts in code. One of the reasons that I like to use Java is because you can download the Java compiler for personal use at the Sun Microsystems Web site http://java.sun.com/. You can download the J2SE 1.4.2 SDK (software development kit) to compile and execute these applications and I will provide the code listings for all examples in this article. I have the SDK 1.4.0 loaded on my machine. I will also provide figures and the output (when appropriate) for these examples. See the previous articles in this series for detailed descriptions for compiling and running all the code examples.
In the two previous articles in this series, I covered the topics of object signatures and object serialization. In this article, you will explore the ways to connect your Java applications to a database using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC). In this specific case, you will connect to a Microsoft Access database and utilize several aspects of JDBC functionality.
A JDBC Tutorial
For this installment, I am taking a somewhat different approach from the previous articles by using a tutorial format to illustrate the basic concepts of JDBC. The reason for this is that, to utilize JDBC functionality, you must interact directly with your operating system; thus, there is a certain amount of system configuration that you must complete. To demonstrate the system configuration aspects, the liberal use of screen shots is very helpful. I actually use this tutorial technique in the classroom when teaching an Object Technology class that I offer. It is presented in HTML format just like the content of this article. In this way, the students can follow the examples and apply the concepts directly to their computer.
When this tutorial is complete, you will have a working application that uses JDBC to connect directly to a database. As stated earlier, the application you develop here will present code to interact with a Microsoft Access database. In this installment, I will demonstrate the basic techniques necessary to get JDBC up and running and communicating with the database. This includes the code for the actual database connection, doing simple queries, and so forth. In next month's article, you will explore JDBC even further by taking advantage of functionality such as table creation, record updates, and much more.
Creating the Database & DSN Connection
Before I launch into the actual application code, you first should create the database you will utilize in this tutorial. There are really no constraints to which database implementation you can use. Even though you use Microsoft Windows XP and Access in this example, you could choose any operating system and/or database that supports Java technology. In my class, students have used various platforms, including a Linux/MySQL solution. The primary difference when using another platform solution is in the way in which the driver and operating system connections are completed. The Java code should not vary except in the string that loads the driver—which you will see later on.
The application will work even is you don't create the database yourself. You could, for example, simply place the Access database file on your system and let the code connect to it. However, you will create the Access database so you can see how the process works from start to finish. If you are using another database system, you can modify the instructions in the next section to conform to the system that you are using.
Creating the Microsoft Access Database
The design of your database is quite simple and represents a small baseball equipment operation. The database will contain four fields: ID, Name, Price, and Quantity, as illustrated in Table 1.
|Catchers Glove
Table 1
All you need to do is create the Access database and enter the data. To do this, launch Microsoft Access and create a blank database called purchaseOrder.mdb. The initial screen is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1
After you specify the name of the database as purchaseOrder.mdb, you then need to create the single table that you will utilize in this example. To accomplish this, you can use the Create table by entering data option as seen in Figure 2.
Figure 2
After you enter all of the data in the table you designed, your database should look like Figure 3.
Figure 3
Making the DSN Connection
Now that the database is complete, there is one more step you need to take to ensure the Java application you develop can make a connection to it. This step is highly dependent on the platform that you are using. In this example, you need to make a Data Source name (DSN) connection to the database. This is the mechanism that allows the application to connect to the database itself.
To accomplish this, you first need to bring up the Control Panel as indicated in Figure 4 and click on the Administrative Tools icon.
Figure 4
Once you get to the Administrative Tools dialog box, you then click on the Data Sources icon as seen in Figure 5.
Figure 5
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This article was originally published on December 16, 2005
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text:
A secretive network of Republican donors is heading to the Palm Springs area for a long weekend in January, but it will not be to relax after a hard-fought election it will be to plan for the next one.
Koch Industries, the longtime underwriter of libertarian causes from the Cato Institute in Washington to the ballot initiative that would suspend California's landmark law capping greenhouse gases, is planning a confidential meeting at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa to, as an invitation says, "develop strategies to counter the most severe threats facing our free society and outline a vision of how we can foster a renewal of American free enterprise and prosperity."
The invitation, sent to potential new participants, offers a rare peek at the Koch network of the ultrawealthy and the politically well-connected, its far-reaching agenda to enlist ordinary Americans to its cause, and its desire for the utmost secrecy.
Koch Industries, a Wichita-based energy and manufacturing conglomerate run by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, operates a foundation that finances political advocacy groups, but tax law protects those groups from having to disclose much about what they do and who contributes.
With a personalized letter signed by Charles Koch, the invitation to the four-day Rancho Mirage meeting opens with a grand call to action: "If not us, who? If not now, when?"
The Koch network meets twice a year to plan and expand its efforts as the letter says, "to review strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it."
Those efforts, the letter makes clear, include countering "climate change alarmism and the move to socialized health care," as well as "the regulatory assault on energy," and making donations to higher education and philanthropic organizations to advance the Koch agenda.
The Kochs also seek to cultivate Americans' growing concern about the growth of government: at the most recent meeting, in Aspen, Colo., in June, some of the wealthiest people in America listened to a presentation on "a vision of how we can retain the moral high ground and make the new case for liberty and smaller government that appeals to all Americans, rich and poor."
The goals for the twice-yearly meetings, the brochure says, include attracting more investors to the cause, but also building institutions "to identify, educate and mobilize citizens" and "fashioning the message and building the education channels to re-establish widespread belief in the benefits of a free and prosperous society."
Charles Koch, whose wealth Forbes magazine calculates at about $21.5 billion, argues in his letter that "prosperity is under attack by the current administration and many of our elected officials." He repeatedly warns about the "internal assault" and "unrelenting attacks" on freedom and prosperity. A brochure with the invitation underscores that to the Koch network, "freedom" means freedom from taxes and government regulation. Mr. Koch warns of policies that "threaten to erode our economic freedom and transfer vast sums of money to the state."
The Kochs insist on strict confidentiality surrounding the California meetings, which are entitled "Understanding and Addressing Threats to American Free Enterprise and Prosperity." The letter advises participants that it is closed to the public, including the news media, and admonishes them not to post updates or information about the meeting on the Web, blogs, social media or traditional media, and to "be mindful of the security and confidentiality of your meeting notes and materials."
Invited participants are told they must wear nametags for all meeting functions. And, ensuring that no one tries to gain access by posing as a participant, the invitation says that reservations will be handled through Koch Industries' office in Washington: "Please do not contact the Rancho Las Palmas directly to place a reservation."
To give prospective participants a sense of what to expect, Mr. Koch's letter enclosed a brochure from the group's meeting at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, including a list of the roughly 200 participants a confab of hedge fund executives, Republican donors, free-market evangelists and prominent members of the New York social circuit.
They listened to a presentations on "microtargeting" to identify like-minded voters, as well as a discussion about voter mobilization featuring Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity, the political action group founded by the Kochs in 2004, which campaigned against the health care legislation passed in March and is helping Tea Party groups set up get-out-the-vote operations.
Other sessions discussed the opportunities in the presidential election of 2012 to address threats to free enterprise and "how supporters of economic freedom might start planning today."
Impressed by the Koch efforts for the midterms, the invitation cover letter says, Aspen participants "committed to an unprecedented level of support."
"However," it adds, "even if these efforts succeed, other serious threats demand action."
The participants in Aspen dined under the stars at the top of the gondola run on Aspen Mountain, and listened to Glenn Beck of Fox News in a session titled, "Is America on the Road to Serfdom?" (The title refers to a classic of Austrian economic thought that informs libertarian ideology, popularized by Mr. Beck on his show.)The participants included some of the nation's wealthiest families and biggest names in finance: private equity and hedge fund executives like John Childs, Cliff Asness, Steve Schwarzman and Ken Griffin; Phil Anschutz, the entertainment and media mogul ranked by Forbes as the 34th-richest person in the country; Rich DeVos, the co-founder of Amway; Steve Bechtel of the giant construction firm; and Kenneth Langone of Home Depot.
The group also included longtime Republican donors and officials, including Foster Friess, Fred Malek and former Attorney General Edwin Meese III.
Participants listened to presentations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as people who played leading roles in John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008, like Nancy Pfotenhauer and Annie Dickerson, who also runs a foundation for Paul Singer, a hedge fund executive who like the Kochs is active in promoting libertarian causes.
To encourage new participants, Mr. Koch offers to waive the $1,500 registration fee. And he notes that previous guests have included Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court, Gov. Haley Barbour and Gov. Bobby Jindal, Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn, and Representatives Mike Pence, Tom Price and Paul D. Ryan.
Mr. Koch also notes the beautiful setting. But he advises against thinking of this as a vacation.
"Our ultimate goal is not 'fun in the sun,' " he concludes. "This is a gathering of doers who are willing to engage in the hard work necessary to advance our shared principles. Success in this endeavor will require all the help we can muster."


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Author Archive
Relaxed and Winning
I think we had the lightest mood in the clubhouse ever before Game 5.
Guys were laughing and joking around. I can't remember who said it, but somebody said, "You have the feeling we're going to win today." Just because everybody came here and we were loose.
It was a great game. Chase has been unbelievable. Cliff pitched good. Raul had a big hit. Shane's hand is fine. I think I'm going to set a record for warming up, but I don't care. As long as we keep getting outs, I'll keep warming up.
We started off good, which was big. We had a hit, hit batter, home run. That's a pretty good start. A.J. Burnett had one of those days, and I think our approach was a little different last night. He threw so many first-pitch strikes last time. Guys were swinging this time. Now we've got Game 6 on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. It should be fun.
Got to Forget This and Move Forward
That was about as tough a loss as I've experienced.
The only loss that has been more difficult is Game 6 of the 2002 World Series. We were just a few outs away from winning the World Series and Scott Spiezio had a long at-bat against Felix Rodriguez and hit a three-run home run to get the Angels back in the game. It was an at-bat like the one Brad Lidge had against Johnny Damon in the ninth inning last night in Game 4. It was a tough at-bat. Brad made pitches. He fouled them off. He got a single.
It's especially tough for it to fall on one man's shoulders. Brad was perfect last year so he's going to take it harder. But Brad stood in the clubhouse and talked tonight. I've played with some guys in my career who wouldn't stand there and talk. They would tell a PR person to make up something about why they weren't available. But he stands there like a man. You have to respect that. I know people are upset. I know fans are upset. But he stands there like a man every time. To me that's very impressive.
We just have to forget about this. There's no way around it. We have to come to the ballpark later today and say, "We're going to try to beat A.J. Burnett and the New York Yankees and send this series back to New York." We can't let Jimmy's prediction be a mirror image of what he said.
We have to win three in a row to end the season. We've won three in a row before.
We're Down, But We're Confident
I know we haven't trailed in a series since the 2007 NLDS against the Rockies. I wasn't there for that, but I know this team is going to respond the same way we always do. I think we'll come out ready with Big Joe vs. Big CC in Game 3.
You can't change anything because you're down 2-1. We know we've got to win three out of four. It's not like it hasn't been done before. It's not like it's 3-1. It's 2-1. If we win Game 3, the series is tied and it's a three-game series, and we like our chances in a three-game series. But no question Sunday is a big day.
Cole said it seems like things suddenly just go south on him while he is cruising. It was the same thing for me when I started. It was one inning. It was three or four runs in one inning. It takes the wind right out of your sails as a pitcher. You could almost narrow it to Nick Swisher's at-bat in the fifth inning. He was 0-2 and Cole threw him a couple curveballs. He hit one for a double down the left-field line. Then the curveball to Andy Pettitte went to center for a single. Sometimes a big at-bat jump-starts a team. Swisher's at-bat seemed to do that for them. He's that type of guy. People love to hate him, you know what I mean? He's an energetic guy you just don't want to beat you. You say, "Oh, I hate that rah-rah stuff." But that's how he has always been. I remember that when I was with the Giants and he was with Oakland coming up. He's always been that high-energy guy that seems to spark people.
We got beat tonight. We didn't make mental errors. They hit the ball. But we're confident going into Game 3.
Ready to Rock
I found out earlier I'm headed to the Pearl Jam concert tonight at the Spectrum.
I'm a Pearl Jam fan. I've actually met them before, because Kerry Wood knows them, and I played with Kerry in Chicago. I'll watch the concert and go home. In fact, I'll probably be in bed before I will be in bed after our game tomorrow night. So I get to go see one of the best bands of all time and still be in bed at a normal time. Not bad.
I'm expecting a loud and raucous crowd tomorrow night for Game 3 (and Games 4 and 5). The crowds were really loud last year, but I think they'll be even louder this year, because it's the Yankees. That's nothing against the Rays, but it's the Yankees. So I think our fans will be ready.
I actually agreed with Jimmy Rollins when he said the crowds weren't that loud at Yankee Stadium. Of course, we're enclosed in the bullpen, so you can't hear as much. But the only times they really got loud were after home runs. They didn't get loud for base hits or anything. If we get a base hit tomorrow, I think this place is going to erupt after every hit. I'm expecting that.
Leaving New York Tied, Feeling Good
We feel good about where we are right now.
The Yankees' big question mark tonight was which A.J. Burnett was going to show up and pitch? The guy that struggles throwing strikes or the guy that can dominate anybody? We saw which one showed up. A guy with a purpose. He was good. He went out and did exactly what he was supposed to do. He threw first-pitch strikes after first-pitch strikes. He got his breaking ball over the plate. That was huge. When you're throwing 95 mph and you have one of the best breaking balls in the game? It's tough to beat somebody like that.
But like I said, we feel good about where we are.
I said the same thing in LA. You want to leave with a split to take away home-field advantage. That's what we did. We took home-field advantage away. We won the first game, and they came back to play a great baseball game. Of course, we would have loved to have won tonight, but we didn't. But we know we're coming back to Philly for the next three games with a crowd that is going to be LOUD.
Cliff and Chase Are Great
Ryan Madson and I typically lace up our shoes in the sixth inning of every game.
I looked at my feet in the seventh and my cleats were still untied.
I guess I knew I wouldn't be needed last night in Game 1. Cliff Lee was awesome, and I'm not even talking about his defense. The guy throws a complete game against the Yankees, who hit a ton of home runs at Yankee Stadium. He walks nobody. He strikes out 10. He throws a complete game. Incredible. Things were going so well for him that I told Jimmy Rollins earlier that if we didn't have a DH he probably would have gone deep, too. It was that kind of night for him.
I remember texting Kerry Wood the day we traded for Cliff.
"What is Cliff like?" I wrote.
"Just wait," he texted back.
After Cliff's first game in San Francisco, where he threw a complete game, I went back into the clubhouse and checked my phone.
"Told you," Kerry wrote.
And I heard earlier that Chase Utley is the first left-handed hitter to hit two homers off a left-handed pitcher in a World Series game since Babe Ruth. That's ridiculous. You know the best part? Chase couldn't care less. Honestly. Chase has been the leading vote getter for the All-Star team and you'd never know it. He's the first guy at the field every single day. Literally. But we have a bunch of guys like that in this clubhouse. That's why I like playing here so much.
Welcome to New York
There's no doubt we're in New York.
We took the train from Philadelphia to New York yesterday and there were people just waiting to boo us at Penn Station. That was funny. They love their Yankees. It's definitely different than last year. If you win the World Series against the Yankees, that's ideal. Don't get me wrong, last year was unbelievable. But it would be great to tell your grandkids when you're 60 that, yeah, I played in a World Series against the Yankees and we beat them. That would be great.
I saw the picture of Shane in the New York Post today. It's funny, but it's not really funny. They're poking fun of the guy, and what did he do? Geez. Everybody seems to pick on Shane, and for no reason. The guy just plays hard every day. I know there's this Philadelphia vs. New York thing going on, but it's hard to think of this as Philadelphia vs. New York. We think of this as Phillies vs. Yankees. And tomorrow it's Cliff Lee and our lineup vs. CC Sabathia and their lineup.
But I'm ready to get this going. I spent last Thursday night in the hospital with the flu. Don't worry, it's not swine flu. Now I just have a head cold and a cough, but I'll be ready. I think we're all ready.
We're Back!
I had my fast shoes on last night.
I said earlier that one bad thing about being in the bullpen when your team clinches a division or a series is that because you have such a long run from the bullpen you miss the big pile up. So when Ronnie Belliard hit that fly ball to Shane Victorino for the third out in the ninth inning I took off my warmup jacket. Now, you're not supposed to do that until the final out is made, but I knew he was going to catch it so I was ready to hurdle the fence and run onto the field.
Of course … no pile! I think I'll have to hope we have one next time.
This was a pretty surreal moment last year, but I know what we're doing now. It's a different feeling for me because last year I got traded here in August. I was a bit player. This year I've been here all year, and I feel like I've done a good job because Charlie has put me in good position to succeed.
No National League team has played in back-to-back World Series since the Braves in 1995-96. I know they won one and lost one. We'd like to change that. We'd like to do what the Big Red Machine did in the '70s.
But that's looking ahead. We're going to enjoy our next couple days off, or however many Charlie gives us.
Keeping Loose for Game 5
We had a voluntary workout today at the ballpark, so I showed up to throw.
If I was 25 and not 37, my arm would feel fine tomorrow if I didn't do anything today and just laid around. Even though I threw last night in Game 4, I still came out to get the blood moving. I rode the bike for 30 minutes. I did my shoulder exercises to keep everything strong. I made about 25 to 30 throws from about 100 feet. I got fully loose. I could have walked on the mound and started throwing and be loose for the game in eight to 10 throws. That's the luxury of being a reliever — you get loose real fast. Or at least you learn to get loose real fast.
But I know you're still thinking about the ninth inning last night. Matt Stairs' at-bat was huge. Jonathan Broxton is peppering 98, 98 mph fastballs up there. I didn't know his ball moved that much, but it does. His ball moves and tails, and I'm not sure he wanted it to. The first ball was in and the next three were all away. I guess they weren't going to let Stairs beat them again. But then the ball to Carlos Ruiz, I didn't know Russell Martin had set up away and Broxton threw the ball in. His command was off, and all of a sudden Jimmy Rollins got a hold of one to win it.
Somebody in the clubhouse described our celebration as 25 Little Leaguers running onto the field. Nobody runs to home plate except in a walk-off. I think that made it even more special last night. It was the kid in everyone coming out. It was total, utter excitement and joy coming out of 30-year-old men. You don't see that too much. It's cool. Honestly, at that point you'd like to take a step back and watch it. Chad Durbin was in the bullpen and he said he just watched us jump over the railing and run onto the field. He said to watch that unfold was really cool.
In the bullpen we always high-five each other after a win. You don't just sprint in. It's actually kind of a bummer when you're in the bullpen when you win that way. In Game 5 of the World Series, everybody was hoping they could pitch, just so they could be in the dugout for the final out. Because when you're out in the bullpen and everybody is celebrating, you're trying to get there as fast as possible. Hey, I'm not fast. I can't run. The pile had started to break up once I got there. So if I get a chance to celebrate again, I'm going to run faster. I'm going to put on my fast shoes.
A Great Win, A Great Moment for Jimmy
So where was I when Jimmy Rollins rocked the house last night? I was sitting on the bench. In fact, I was the only one sitting down in the dugout.
After I pitch I always sit. I take a seat on the bench and I drink some water. I usually go into the clubhouse when we're at home and we hit in the bottom of the inning so I can ice my shoulder and elbow and everything. But it's the ninth inning and it's the playoffs, so you've got to stay out there. When Matt Stairs walked and came out so Eric Bruntlett could pinch-run for him, I got up and walked down to high-five him. Then I went back to my seat. Carlos Ruiz got hit by the pitch and then when Greg Dobbs lined out, I looked around and I was like, "Wow, I'm the only guy sitting down right now." But I couldn't move. I had to stay in my same seat. Everybody yells, "Same seat! Same seat!" You'll see guys remember how they were leaning against the railing in the previous at-bat and say, "Oh, yeah, I was doing this," and get in that position. It's so funny. Most of us do that. Pitchers, especially.
When Jimmy got the hit I jumped out of my seat and almost jumped over the railing before Chooch even hit third base. You start to see everybody else filing out and you're like, "Can we go out yet? Can we go out yet?" Then you just go out. We were out there before Chooch scored because we knew he wasn't going to be thrown out. Chooch didn't even have to slide, but he said he slid just to get dirty.
I don't think it could have been a better guy to get that hit. Jimmy has been here the longest. He's been through his ups and downs, but he stays even keel all the time. He doesn't get too excited. He doesn't get too down. He's fun to have around.
The ending to that game was crazy.
We know we haven't won the series, but we'd like to do it at home. But this was fun. This is such a fun team to play for, and this was a big reason why.


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Sunday, May 05, 2013 - 1 comment
Ten Cups of Happiness
I dearly hope my body decides to be Turkish instead of Canadian tonight and let me sleep in spite of the massive amounts of çay I've consumed today.
This morning we went up to "the breakfast district" with friends for brunch. There is a spot where the city stops and the forest starts that is known for its fabulous köy kahvaltısı - "village breakfasts." There are a dozen or so restaurants in which one can settle down in a hut or a tent for a long, leisurely brunch - a popular weekend activity, especially when the weather gets as hot as it's been.
We didn't get up there early enough to score a hut, but we found a nicely shaded wooden platform with a low table surrounded by cushions and settled in. And then came the food! The table was so full, we had to hold our own plates on our laps. The bazlama - a sort of dense flatbread - was fresh from the oven and stuffed with cheese. Olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, fried potatoes, two kinds of cheese, honey, several jams, eggs with sucuk (a cousin to pepperoni) and greens - Everything a Turkish breakfast should be!
They brought the çay in a semaver (samovar) with a pot for the dark tea keeping warm on top and a spouted urn full of water on the bottom. The way we ended up sitting, the "menfolk" were the ones closest to the tea, and we had a good laugh over the fact that this meant they had to serve the women. In this culture, çay is always the women's job, so this was a special treat. One used to work in a hotel and the other ran his own tea house, and both are very servant-hearted, so they were gracious refillers. :) Not one to ever say no to a cup of tea, I stuck with it until the pot was empty and drank a good five or six cups.
Today being my day off and the evening being gorgeous as it was, I decided it was a balkon sefası sort of a night. The best translation I can think of for this is "balcony delight" - a warm summer breeze, the wafting scent of honeysuckle, sanat müziği (a style of older, melancholy Turkish music) and endless cups of tea. This beloved activity usually involves a crowd of family or neighbours and a whole lot of laughing and talking over one another, but after a week full of people-time, this introvert is more than happy to enjoy it alone.
As the setting sun was turning the sky pink, I was sitting up here on the terrace enjoying "A Suitable Boy", the mammoth novel I've been delightedly plowing through. The evening call to prayer set off a night of wedding festivities all around the city. From my perch I've spotted fireworks in five different places and I can hear competing music and microphone announcements from at least two of them, punctuated by the occasional celebratory popping of gunfire.
Fireworks junkie that I am, I am constantly slamming my book shut and running to one side of the terrace or the other, straining to catch a glimpse of the explosions of colour in the sky, feeling alternately defrauded when they are blocked by a nearby apartment building and tickled when the booms echoing off the hillsides are coupled with a sky full of glitter.
Having already drank an Oregon Chai earlier in the evening, I had decided I didn't need any more hot drinks tonight. But round about 9:30, my inner Turk won out, telling me that a balkon sefası without çay is simply wrong. So off I went to brew a pot. And, yes, it did make the picture complete. As of 11:30 I am five cups in. I'll likely regret it when I'm still lying awake in two hours, but for now, I am thoroughly happy to be accompanying the wedding music with the tinkling of my tea spoon.


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Guerrero returns
Vladimir Guerrero will make his return to the Angels lineup tonight against the White Sox as the designated hitter, batting in his customary cleanup spot between AL Player of the Month Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera.
Catcher Bobby Wilson is being returned to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room for Guerrero on the 25-man roster.
Guerrero and Torii Hunter have been on the 15-day disabled list since July 10. The Angels were 17-3 with their customary 3-4 hitters out of the lineup.
Guerrero, sidelined with a strained muscle behind his left knee, is batting .290 with four homers and 21 RBIs.
Hunter, out with an adductor muscle strain on his right side, will need a little more time, manager Mike Scioscia said, because he'll be in center field when he rejoins the lineup. Hunter could play a few Minor League rehab games this weekend to get ready.
2 Comments
Like who didn't see this coming. Put Guerrero back in the line-up and the Angels lose. Not only that, but Morales and Rivera go 0-for-8.
I have an idea: when something is working, let it work. The Angels offense was doing just fine before Guerrero was unwisely inserted back into the line-up.
Furthermore, if Guerrero has to play right now for contractual reasons or something, then bat him sixth of seventh or something. He is not prepared–nor has he deserved–to bat fourth in the line-up this year–and he should be the first to tell you so.
Vlad is just killing em.
ground balls; double plays. He's just killing em.
My gawd what a terrible mistake to not send him out for a week . . . and then to bring him back hitting 7th..
There are times when Mike S's loyalty and love for players just drives me nuts. I suppose his players love him back. But this is just absurd. They have effectively stopped the most potent lineup in the league, dead in it's tracks.


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Back in July, I wrote about wanting to play in a Mass Effect pen and paper RPG. Although my brother and I did toss around ideas for weeks afterward, nothing ever really came of it. Both of us wanted to play, but neither of us really had time to DM a campaign, especially one with conversion work needed in addition to regular DM duties. However, even though I didn't get a chance to play in such a game, I did have fun browsing through the conversion work that others had already started online, and I linked to many of them in this post. Apparently, my post caught the attention of a Mass Effect fan who is starting a similar project. This is an excerpt from an email I received yesterday:
Now, go check out his work: http://masseffectd20.freeforums.org/index.php
I just got a chance to check out his work on the forum, and I like where he's going with this. What he has done so far is solid work, and should provide a good foundation. I would suggest that anyone interested in such a project should go check out his work, and get involved if you can. Personally, I have so many things going on right now that I doubt I can contribute much... but I did sign up for a forum account, and maybe this post on my humble little blog will get him a bit more attention from like-minded Mass Effect enthusiasts.Last Christmas day I searched the web for completed works on a ME d20 conversion and found none, not even nearly finished. While that is a bit disappointing, that made me happy enough to finally display all my work on the internet, on a forum I created today (26/12/2011). Unlike all the others, I have no intention of stopping until my Mass Effect d20 manual is complete. I've been playing RPG games (as well as d-20 system games) my entire life and for the past 6 years I have even created my own rulebooks and setting for my D&D campaigns, so I'm not exactly inexperienced in creating rules and RPGs. And I see no reason to stop this conversion, especially when I already have a third of the work finished.Since I'm doing this alone, any help is appreciated. And you don't even need to register or be an active member of the forum (link is below in any case), you could simply talk about it to your friends that also like ME and d20-system games, or even talk about it in that post of your blog. Any bit of, well, "publicity" is greatly appreciated ;)RespectfullyJoão Santos
Now, go check out his work: http://masseffectd20.freeforums.org/index.php


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A new global initiative on elephant protection and welfare, the Elephant Advocacy League (EAL), is born. An innovative and unconventional organization experienced in fighting poachers in Africa's bush and in engaging the public opinion in the tricky world of global communication.
Not afraid to fight elephant exploitation on both fronts, with intelligence, passion, creativity and a strong belief in the saying: "United we stand, divided we fall".
"The complex issue of elephant conservation requires new approaches and the collaboration of all the stakeholders, putting aside personal agendas, politics and ego", EAL's director Andrea Crosta says. "EAL would like to serve as the catalyst for new joint initiatives".
The heterogeneous team of EAL is made up of a new breed of conservationists, with a strong background in business, entrepreneurship, innovation, communication, science and security.
The initiative has been already blessed by some of the most important elephant experts and wildlife protection organizations in the world, like Dr. Joyce Poole of Elephant Voices, Dr. Cynthia Moss of The Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Dr. Lucy King of Save the Elephants, TUSK, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, Elephant Family, Wildlife SOS, Conservation Justice, PALF.
The Elephant Advocacy League (EAL) operates like an action-oriented Public Relations & Crisis Communication firm, which serves one client only: the elephant.
EAL raises much needed money to fund communication & awareness programs and concrete projects in the field in two specific important areas: human-elephant conflict (HEC) and anti-poaching training, which are beneficial to both elephants and people.
EAL is already co-funding a research in Mozambique run by Dr. Lucy King who is testing the use of beehives to mitigate human-elephant conflict. In 2013 it will be tested in Sri Lanka. EAL is also planning a wildlife crime security survey in central Africa and anti-poaching training activities in Eastern and Central Africa, in collaboration with other organizations.
Above all, EAL felt the need to better explain to the general public (not just to animal lovers…too easy and not so useful), in the West, Africa and Asia, the extent of elephant exploitation, the tragedy around the ivory trade, the human toll and the uniqueness of the elephant's mind, one of the top four intelligences on Earth, including man, apes and cetaceans. EAL is working on the first Global Collaborative Project on wildlife crime, exploitation & conflict, which will put together schools in the West, Africa and Asia and will allow the students to better understand this important issue and trigger new projects and collaborations.
There's a need for a newer, fresher, more comprehensive but "down to Earth" way to engage people and talk about important issues like poaching, ivory, human-elephant conflict and elephants in captivity.
EAL is working on creative global communication campaigns that aim to reposition elephants, their amazing intelligence and their tragic exploitation in the general public's eye.
"We need to re-brand the elephant", EAL's director Andrea Crosta says.


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CARSON, Calif. — The LA Galaxy are unbeaten and have conceded just one goal in four Major League Soccer games since reassembling their first-choice backline the second week of August.
The defense was at its best in Saturday's 2-0 triumph over visiting Vancouver, settling down an energetic Whitecaps attack and allowing them just two shots — neither on target — from otherwise decent work.
Head coach Bruce Arena wouldn't declare it the best backline job of the season — "I'll let you kind of conclude that," he said during the postgame news conference — but he sure was pleased after the group posted its second straight shutout and the Galaxy's third in a row across all competitions.
"It was good," Arena said. "It was good tonight. Omar [Gonzalez] and A.J. [DeLaGarza] continue to play well in their partnership in central defense. I think [Sean] Franklin has played very well the last couple months. Todd [Dunivant] is moving along, and Josh [Saunders] looks very comfortable in the goal right now. That group is good."
Said Gonzalez (above): "We all did really well defensively, from our forwards to our midfield to our backline. We knew [Whitecaps striker Kenny] Miller was good at making runs, so we just tried to drop off before he could make that run and keep him in front of us."
The backline has been outstanding since Dunivant came back from a calf injury Aug. 12. Gonzalez was already a 90-minute man after returning in July from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and the 4-0 romp over Chivas USA was the first game the quartet had been together since LA's post-championship tour of Southeast Asia and Australia last fall.
The Galaxy conceded once in the 1-1 draw Aug. 15 with Columbus — a Jairo Arrieta shot from outside the box that Saunders should have stopped — and twice more, the second a penalty kick, in a 5-2 CONCACAF Champions League victory over El Salvador's Isidro Metapán. Since then, they've posted successive shutouts over FC Dallas, Puerto Rico Islanders (in the CCL, with a reserve lineup) and now the Whitecaps.
The Galaxy have seven shutouts in 15 MLS games since mid-June after posting none in their first 13 matches, but they were surrendering goals at nearly the same rate until the first-choice unit regrouped. Foes scored 21 times in LA's 3-8-2 start and 16 more in the first 11 games after the league's minibreak for June's World Cup qualifiers, with San Jose and Seattle netting four apiece and Portland three. The Galaxy's 7-3-1 record in that span was mostly about their 23 goals.
Now LA are defending much like they did last year, when they had shutouts in 17 of 34 regular-season games, two of four playoff games and three of six CCL contests. To hold a rather vibrant Vancouver attack to no shots on goal was certainly illuminating.
"We've given up one goal [in league play] since the back four from last year has been together," Gonzalez said. "So I'd say we've been doing pretty well."


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Are you one of the 70 million people around the world claiming Irish ancestry? Fancy tracing those roots? Well then, you've got the perfect excuse to visit Ireland
Tracing your ancestry involves its fair share of history, bloodlines and late-night sleuthing, but when it comes to Ireland, it's also about the maths. While just over six million souls live on the island, some 70 million around the world claim Irish ancestry.
From Alaska to Acton and Australia to Aukland, generations of religious, soldiers, Ulster Scots, traders and emigrants have spread their wings, taking their own brand of Irishness to nooks and crannies all over the globe.
Now that's what you call a diaspora.
They've made their mark, too. Did you know the first Duke of Wellington was Irish? Or that Ned Kelly's mother hailed from Antrim? The Australian outlaw and folk hero had an Irish father, too – John Kelly was sent from Tipperary to Tasmania for stealing pigs.
Or what about Barack Obama? Some 22 US presidents claim Irish roots of one degree or another. Obama's were confirmed when a canon from a sleepy little parish near Moneygall, County Offaly, struck gold in the records of Templeharry Church.
There, he discovered the name of Falmouth Kearney, who emigrated to the US on the SS Marmion in 1850, and whose great-great-great grandson would go on to become the 44th President of the United States...
Not everyone is famous enough, of course, to prompt this kind of detective work.
So if you are planning on tracing your Irish roots, how exactly can you go about putting together the pieces of your family history?
Think a friend might enjoy this article? Click to save and share
There are numerous centres for genealogical research in Ireland. In Dublin, the National Library, National Archives and General Register Office are all key sources, with the National Library and National Archives both providing free advice from trained staff.
In Belfast, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland holds a trove of records, returns and registers from the province of Ulster. The General Register Office and Ulster Historical Foundation are also great resources.
In fact, every county in Ireland has a genealogy centre manned by professional genealogists.
You can do lots from a distance, too. Irish Government website Irish Genealogy is a useful first step; early 20th-century census returns can be perused at the National Archives website; and the Irish Family History Foundation has a website run on behalf of county-based genealogy centres.
Or why not commission a member of the Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) to help speed things up? They can help find ancestors and living relatives.
Don't forget to do the donkey work in your own country, too. Time spent studying the history of your family at home – gathering as much detail (names, dates, addresses, parishes, photos, vital documents) as possible – will prove invaluable once you bring the search to Ireland.
Once you arrive, watch all of your data spring to life.
Visiting your ancestral area – be it Moneygall or Carrickfergus, from where US President Andrew Jackson's parents emigrated in 1765 – standing in the same streets and fields as your ancestor, or exploring local cemeteries and churches that until now were mere names on a page, are sure to provide spine-tingling moments of your own.
If you're still tracing your Ireland Family and could do with a hand, the Ireland Family History Facebook page is a mine of information, clues and a laugh or two. Find it here.
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Thanks to TV shows like Who Do You Think You Are? uncovering your family's history is becoming more and more popular...
Uncovering your Irish heritage and drawing up your family tree is hard work but addictive – and it might just change...
Every historical itch can be scratched on a visit to Ireland's museums, from the tiniest micro-museums to priceless...
On the morning of 2 January 1892, New Yorkers woke up to a story that would define their city as the immigration capital...
JFK's journey home
History tells us that Ulysses S. Grant was commander of the Union armies during the American Civil War. And Director...
Everyone loves a great backstory. And, as Her Serene Highness Charlene of Monaco found out, Irish family ancestry has...
Holiday ideas, news, offers… sign up for our ezine and we'll keep you in touch with Ireland.
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For more information on travel, accommodation and attractions have a look at our brochures and maps.
If you're a visitor from the island of Ireland you may want to visit one of these sites… Otherwise proceed to Ireland.com
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The Visually Impaired Outreach Program provides information, support and training for families, professionals, paraprofessionals, and community members who involved with the approximately 9000 children and youth (ages birth to 22) in Texas who are visually impaired including those with multiple disabilities.
Our staff includes consultants many years of experience in the field of visual impairments. They divide their focus to address the needs of the family, staff serving infants and toddlers, and staff serving students 6-22 years of age. Requests for services may include school and home consultations, development and presentation of local, regional, and statewide training events, the development of a variety of resources and products about instruction for students with visual impairments including those with additional disabilities. Most of our staff have special areas of expertise such as math instruction, braille and tactile graphics, assessment, instructional strategies for students with multiple disabilities, orientation and mobility, and of course, the Expanded Core Curriculum.
Click the link to learn more about each of our services: http://www.tsbvi.edu/outreach


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Planning Your Next Zoo Exploration!
Zoo Hours, Admission, Parking, & Location
Zoo Hours
RainForest Zoo is open 364 days a year. (Closed Christmas)
9:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Daily
Remember to bring Your Cameras!
Zoo Admission Pricing
RainForest Zoo Season Passports
Season Passport holders receive unlimited visits to the RainForest for a full year from the date of purchase of your pass. Every time you visit Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg, stop in for a visit to see the animals!
Zoo Pass holders also receive a 10% discount in Amazon Traders, the gift shop at RainForest Adventures, the Smokies most amazing Gift Shop
Sevierville Zoo Location
RainForest Adventures Zoo is located behind the NASCAR Cafe restaurant in the Smoky Mountains. We are adjacent to to the Tanger Outlet Mall (stoplight 13.4) in Sevierville, Tennessee. Click here to obtain a personalized map to the RainForest!
RainForest Zoo
Contact Information


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How to Plan for a Successful Family Hike
Are you looking for a way to connect with your family in the great outdoors?
Could you use a great way to exercise and "get the wiggles out?"
A family hike is the perfect answer.
In this article, I will show you how to plan a hike that is a fun family adventure in the great outdoors, even if you've never been on a hike before.
Why Hike?
"Every child needs nature. Not just the ones with parents who appreciate nature. Not only those of a certain economic class or culture or gender or sexual identity or set of abilities. Every child," said Richard Louv, author of eight books about the connections among family, nature and community.


text: Here's a shot inside the cabinet to the Straight-Line Signal Path(TM) (SSP) crossover network. You can also see the gray-sheathed cable. It reads "JBL Optimum Performance Series(TM) Designed and Manufactured by Monster Cable(R) - Ultra High Purity Copper." I'd guess it to be 14Ga, but the sheathing is so thick it could be 16.


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I made this simple card for Embellish Magazine's Embellish Stitching Color Challenge.
Very simple stamped card using Papertrey Ink's Dot Spot and Mod Squad. Faux stitching added using this white gel pen.
That's all for today. Hope you have a fantastic day!
Thanks for stopping by!
ingredients used:
cardstock, stamps, inks: Papertrey Ink
white gel pen: Uni-ball Signo Broad
corner rounder: Fiskars


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Lotus is bringing a new connotation to the term British racing green. The sons of Chapman have turned out an Exige coupe, the 265E, that can run on E85 bio-ethanol. It's no sacrifice, however, as the 265-hp track-day favorite shares the same figures with its monofuel counterpart: zero to 60 mph in 3.88 seconds, 0-100 mph in 9.2 seconds and a top speed of 158 mph. The company's preserved the car's performance mainly by enlarging the existing four fuel injectors and by adding two additional ports at the supercharger inlet to increase the volume of fuel fed to the engine. Unfortunately, greenies with a jones for more correct racing options will have to stick to the Roller Derby; the 265E is for research purposes only.
Lotus Launches New, High-Performance Exige S; More on Ethanol [internal]


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Relationships with
Photo Credit: Patrick Dempsey's picture is courtesy of Provocateuse. Photographic illustrations of Patrick Dempsey are copyright © by their respective holders. The images are published with permission or as allowed by the copyright law's fair use or quotation provisions. If any copyright holder objects to an image being included, please notify us and it will be removed immediately.
Disclaimer: This information about Patrick Dempsey is derived from astrological interpretation of Patrick Dempsey's date, time, and place of birth.


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The Daily IKN email digest, get all daily posts sent to you next day (& no ads)
The top three most visited IKN posts this week are...
The Friday OT: Moby/Skylar Grey; The last day
Great Youtube here. For the great Maisie.
IKN's submission for #DisruptMining
In The IKN Weekly this weekend...
...the report on the site visit to Continental Gold's (CNL.to) Buriticá project.
Chart of the day is...
Shocked! Shocked ah wuz! Argonaut (AR.to) San Antonio permit denied
All the meta-twaddle and nonsense you read above was prompted by reading GMP's call on Argonaut Gold (AR.to) this morning. They like the thing, want you to buy it and even resort to the puerile "it's a smart money buying opportunity right now" argument to get your ego stirring and you on the phone to the trading and compliance desks. Thing is, GMP and IKN could argue the toss about its valuation call on the AR.to numbers (1.15X of NAV8% is rich as hell for this thing, guys) but when it comes to its pol risk call on what's happening in Mexico, they're just being plug dumb stupid. The subject is again San Antonio in Baja California Sur State, and the line GMP uses is..."We continue to take a conservative approach, estimating production beginning in Q4/15."Woah! Stop! That is not a "conservative approach". The true conservative approach is estimating production that will never begin and removing the $1.30/share NAV estimate for that "asset" (word used loosely, because in fact it's the exact opposite, a liability) from the calculation. Expecting San Antonio to ramp up in 2015 and calling that a "conservative" estimate shows a complete and utter lack of understanding about the political risk factors around the project, even if you decide to disagree with IKN's own "never gonna happen" call. It's the hallmark of a nodding dog analyst who cannot speak Spanish, hasn't bothered to read up on the local situation, has no clue about the type, strength or depth of the opposition to the project and has limited their DD to a phone call to the IR department to find out the company's own viewpoint and repeated it verbatim to brokerage clients.
Eldorado Gold (ELD.to) (EGO) in December, IKN in September
Remember this September 6th IKN post? It went like this:
"The next news from Eldorado Gold (ELD.to) (EGO) now that the Jinfeng mine deal is closed and the company has got the cheque, will be the exit of president and CEO Paul Wright who is about "to be resigned" by its board. Shouldn't be too long."
VANCOUVER, Dec. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Eldorado Gold Corporation ("Eldorado" or the "Company") today announced that Mr. Paul Wright will retire from his position of President and Chief Executive Officer following the Company's 2017 Annual General Meeting in April 2017. Continues here.
So, 63 and "retired"? You're kidding me, right? IKN kung fu is strong.
Calvin & Hobbes explains today's market
Remember, ladies and gentlemen...
So here's my question about Arizona Mining (AZ.to) and manganese
- With further work done, they claim to be able to optimize the concentrates to create a cleaner product (regrinds, treatments etc).
- They also claim that the penalty they'd incur on Mn content is "approximately 1%" of the value of the concentrate "and is therefore immaterial".
More GMO on Arizona Mining (AZ.to), zinc, manganese, things like that
I mean, who reads Forward Looking Statements anyway?
"Although Arizona Mining has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking information, there may be other risks, uncertainties and other factors that cause performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended."
Hey, do you remember all those hot gold/copper projects...
Nice spot...
On the road
Welcome to your beautiful and soothing Monday
Wrap your arms around the day and celebrate its existence. Youtube here.
Oceanagold (OG): Haile Mary update
(sorry, doing this on the phone, can't embed)
Hey, remember this post back in April?
Here's a chunkette from the script:
"...changes, framed as "design enhancements" by OGC in its February 2016 NR, are anything but that. Those that really know about these things believe Haile has turned into a migraine-level headache for OGC, with overruns in capex and timeline to production (first ore through the mill was supposed to happen 4q16...kiss that goodbye)."
Now compare that to the news out of OGC this morning on Haile:
The IKN Weekly, out now
Happening right now in Ollachea, Peru
The Minera IRL Christmas party for local residents.
Out now, the latest edition of Global Mining Observer
UPDATE: Oh this is fun! Here's what Tommy Humphreys of CEO.ca has to say about the GMO article on Arizona Mining:
Because if there's one thing that Tommy Humphreys, two-faced scamster and purveyor of paid-pump bullshit to greenhorn idiots, knows about, it's provocative misleading headlines and one-sided articles. GMO should wear it as a badge of honour.
PS: To fully understand Tommy Humphrey's petulant little outburst, three items to consider:
- Richard Warke is Frank Giustra's pally pal and business partner.
- Tommy Humphreys is Frank Giustra's poodle.
- Tommy speaks up when given orders from his owner.


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There is so much budget talk that's inaccurate.
We're often told the federal spending is surging when it's not.
We've also heard that the deficit is growing, but it has been declining rapidly and it plunged in December 2012. (See also the graph at the bottom of this post.)
Now comes the news that there was an actual federal budget surplus in January 2013. As a report by the Reuters news service explains, most of the surplus came from the new taxes brought in from the fiscal cliff deal. There is clearly a year-to-year change.
The surplus compared with a $27 billion deficit in January 2012. The January surplus means the government's cumulative deficit for the fiscal year, which starts in October, is $290 billion, 17 percent lower than the comparable first four months of fiscal 2012.
Of course, what happens in a month or two does not a longer trend make.
And if the automatic, across-the board budget cuts — the so-called sequester — go through, estimates are that it would lead to job losses between 750,000 and one million. Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that "growth would be about 1.5 percentage points faster in 2013 if not for fiscal tightening including the sequester."
Slower growth would hurt the fiscal situation, with layoffs creating more costs for unemployment insurance and health programs and leading to less tax revenue. If that happens, the one month surplus would be a blip and deficits would again rise.
Addendum: Over a longer budget period, health care costs are projected to contribute to deficits. There are numerous ways to deal with that, including spending less and increasing sources of funding to pay for it. Moreover, we are now seeing a significant slow-down in health spending, to the point that the CBO now projects 15% less spending in 2020, a decline of $200 billion.
And here's that graph on federal deficit, via the Investor's Business Daily.
Bars above the line are times of deficit reduction, while bars below the line show increasing deficits.


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First off I was impressed with the time I received it. It was well packaged with bubble wrap so it wouldn't be damaged in shipping. The Contents of the box are as follows:
1 hybrid nest (made up of the base plate and the nest, the glass cover, and the cover it self)
2 Water well covers
1 precut piece of cotton
1 Large test tube with stopper
1 short length of 1/2" tubing
1 Printed Thank you sheet with a web link for instructions for the hybrid nest (downloadable PDF file)
I was impressed with the design and over all look of the nest. It seemed very well thought out in design and function. The prepackaged precut cotton was a nice touch (thought I would have to pack the substrate well with cotton balls). Everything fit great together and was impressed with the thickness of the glass pane cover (seen many products that used very thin glass or plastic).
Over all I would rate it 9 of 10. Let me say why only a 9... Because two reasons #1 There will always be room for improvements on designs meaning that it will only get better thru research and use by the buyers. And #2 I didn't think of it myself! LOL
Over all a great product that I would for sure endorse to any Ant Lover that's looking for a premade nest!
Below is a over view of the nest
Review and unboxing of Small Solenopsis Hybrid Nest
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Review and unboxing of Small Solenopsis Hybrid Nest
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Keeper of Solenopsis Ants.
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Keeper of Solenopsis Ants.
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I'm new to MySQL load balancing, I want to try the master-slave concept.
Whenever I setup master-slave for the first time, and both have up-to-date fresh data, that works perfectly fine. However, whenever the master goes down, or I stop and then restart it, the slave starts generating errors because of duplicate keys.
Why would this be happening and how can I prevent this?
My application has a lot of update queries something like 5
SELECTs then 3
UPDATEs or
My data will grow with time and I'm expecting quite a high load in the future.