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morini Amateur 28 posts since
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Feb 24, 2014 12:02 PM

Northern ICE 16U – Looking for a Pitcher

Northern Ice (Wauconda, IL) is looking to add a quality pitcher to their roster.

We will play a competitive schedule this summer including, PGF Midwest Nationals, PGF Special Showcase and Triple Crown’s Sparkler Showcase in Denver, Colorado.

All interested players should email Coach Augie Fontanetta augiefont @ to schedule a tryout, or attach a video link.

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Graco Car seat Recall

Solid foods rich in iron that isn't oatmeal?

Posted 01/29/2013
Anyone have reccommendations for solid foods rich in iron that isn't oatmeal? Celiac runs in our family and I'd like to avoid wheat......

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New Eden Open II starts this weekend!

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Hello capsuleers!

The moment you have all been waiting for is rapidly approaching. Who will rise to the challenge and emerge victorious from the second New Eden Open, claiming their share of the $25.000 and 700+ PLEX prize pool? Follow all the action and root for your favorite team on CCP's Twitch channel. So make sure you tune in and don't miss any of the action!

The New Eden Open is an online PVP tournament in EVE where the best and most dedicated pilots put their skills to the test in an 8v8 deathmatch format. A series of fights where the amount of friends or titans doesn't matter. All broadcast live with commentary from CCP Dolan, CCP Fozzie and CCP Rise and your new host CCP Bro.

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U.N. resolution might remove business barriers & unleash the world's entrepreneurial geniuses

Ashoka Vice President Beverly Schwartz writes about a draft U.N. resolution that is asking countries to remove barriers to local business. Less barriers means ripe conditions for entrepreneurship which can in turn help reduce poverty, help the environment and spur growth. The resolution had already garnered the support of 74 countries in advance of the discussion and is scheduled for a vote on Friday December 6, 2012.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

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Cathedral schedules service

St. James Cathedral in Seattle will observe a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the victims of Hurricane Katrina on Friday.

President Bush on Sept. 6 declared in a written statement that Friday will be a day "to honor the memory of those who lost their lives, to provide comfort and strength to the families of the victims, and help ease the burden of the survivors."

The church, at 804 Ninth Ave., will hold a special Mass at 5:30 p.m. and a prayer service at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit or call 206-622-3559.

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

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Susan M. Duquette, 58

Northborough/Centreville – Susan M. (Michalak) Duquette, of Northborough and Centerville, formerly of Shrewsbury, died Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 at home, with family gathered by her side, after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 58.

Sue was born Feb. 25, 1954 in Worcester, a daughter of Barbara A. (Heron) Michalak and the late George S. Michalak, who died Dec. 10, 2012.

She leaves her beloved husband of 42 years, John P. Duquette, and her five beautiful children, John J. Duquette and his wife Lorena of Shrewsbury, Jamie P. Duquette, Joseph D. Duquette and his wife Melissa, both of Worcester, and Jeffrey P. Duquette and his wife Lindsay of Shrewsbury, and daughter Juliann E. Duquette of Northborough. She also leaves her four cherished grandchildren, Florencia, Camdyn, Dillon and Nicole Duquette, all of Shrewsbury; her sister, Diane L. Michalak, of Shrewsbury; many nephews and nieces; and her beloved dog, Lilly.

Susan lived most of her life in Shrewsbury and was a graduate of Shrewsbury High School, class of 1972. She then earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Worcester State College and later her Master's Degree in Computer Science. She taught one year in Northborough at the Melican Middle School and then for over 14 years as a teacher at Shrewsbury High School.

During her tenure at Shrewsbury High School, she taught mathematics for several years before helping spearhead the launch of the school's television production studio with her longtime friend, Bob Cornacchioli.

She was a very special educator and maintained many long-lasting relationships with her students throughout her life. In 1998, she retired from teaching in anticipation of the adoption of her youngest child and only daughter, Juliann. During this year of preparation, she volunteered in the children's pediatric room at UMass Medical Center. Shortly after Juliann's arrival, she moved to Northborough and later worked part-time as a realtor for Coldwell Banker Co. in Shrewsbury.

Sue loved their vacation home in Centerville, on Cape Cod. This house provided many of her fondest memories as it provided the perfect place for her family to come together. While at the Cape, her favorite spot was Dowses Beach, where she could enjoy a good book and play with her grandchildren. Also at the Cape, she especially enjoyed visiting the local country store and playground with her daughter Juliann and her grandchildren.

Over the course of many years, she forged countless friendships, including Shrewsbury Youth Hockey moms, Montessori moms, neighborhood book club, Worcester Country Club golf group, The Healing Garden support group, and S.H.S. retired teachers group.

Travelling was also a favorite pastime for Sue. Her adventures included trips to Switzerland with the Shrewsbury High School hockey team, Las Vegas, Hawaii and various islands in Caribbean. Her most special destinations were her annual trips to Disney World with family and to Del Ray Beach, Fla. to visit with friends Francine Cox and George Cassanelli. Her most unforgettable trip was to Argentina to meet her future daughter-in-law, Lorena, and granddaughter, Florencia.

Sue received amazing care and treatment throughout her 12-year battle with cancer under the direction and friendship of Dr. Richard Horner, team of nurses, and the entire staff in the Breast Cancer Clinic at UMass Medical. Her family will also be forever grateful for our “family angel,” Jeanne Corrao, for the compassionate care she gave to Sue.

Family and friends will honor and remember Sue's life by gathering for calling hours Tuesday, Feb. 26, from 3 to 8 p.m., at Heald & Chiampa Funeral Directors ~ The Sumner House, 5 Church Road, On the Common, Shrewsbury Center, and again Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 8:45 a.m., before leaving in procession to Saint Anne's Church, 130 Boston Tpke., Shrewsbury, where her funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Mountain View Cemetery.

Honor Sue's memory with a contribution to Why Me & Sherry's House, 1152 Pleasant St., Worcester, MA 01602 or to The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden, 145 Bolton Rd., Harvard, MA 01451.

Short URL: http://communityadvocate.com/?p=31169

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SH Parisi at sr ctr 3

Parisi answers an audience members question about women's fashion in 1908.
Parisi has some fun with her audience.
Rita Parisi portrays a 1908 American woman in her solo performance at the Shrewsbury Senior Center.

Recently Commented

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  • Community Advocate Staff: Thank you for noting that. We have made the correction.
  • Tom: Brian was 28, not 24.
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compiler generating tools

harvard!seismo!mcvax!josw (Jos Warmer)
Mon, 22 Sep 86 15:23:17 +0200

          From comp.compilers

Related articles
compiler generating tools harvard!seismo!mcvax!josw (1986-09-22)
Re: compiler generating tools decvax!genrad!panda!condor!charlie (1986-09-23)
| List of all articles for this month |

Newsgroups: mod.compilers
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 86 15:23:17 +0200
From: harvard!seismo!mcvax!josw (Jos Warmer)

I am in the process of writing parsers and came to the conclusion
that the best way to tackle my problems is to use the recusive descent
method. However, we only have yacc available, which is of no use.
What I need are tools for analysing grammars for their LL
property and tools for aiding the production of the parser itself.

A while ago you told in a news-article that your group has tools
which can generate a recursive descent parser from an LL(1) grammar.
I would like to know what tools are available,
in which language are they written, and what language do they produce,
and how I can obtain them. Are they free-domain etc...

                                                Jos Warmer
CWI, (Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science)
P.O. Box 4079
1009 AB Amsterdam, the Netherlands
phone: (020) 592.4135
[I haven't kept mod.compilers archives due to lack of disk space. If anyone
has something to offer, please send mail directly to him. My impression,
though, is that most recursive descent parsers are written by hand, since they
embed the grammar implcitly in the call structure of the parser. There have
been some automated LL(1) parsers, which work like recursive desceent except
that rather than recursing they keep an explicit state stack. It's also my
impression that these days bottom-up parser generators are more successful
than top-down ones, though the exact reason is open to debate. -John]

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Kill Your Hero?Complications Ensue
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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Q. Is it a bad idea to kill your protagonist? This morning I had one of those moments that come to you when you're writing…things are humming along and then you write something and realize that you can go somewhere else entirely.

Anyways, my moment involved possibly killing my protaganist right near the end of the story. There's a twist following the climax, and just when everything seems resolved the protaganist is fed to the wolves by a character he thought was on his side. This character gets away…the credits roll…basically I'm afraid the audience has too much at stake with the protaganist and will be pissed off if he dies. But at the same time I think the twist could be good enough to satisfy them.
This is really a gut check question. Are you in the right genre? Does it make it a more satisfying story? Does it deliver the goods on the concept? Have you set this up throughout the movie so that it is a surprising but inevitable ending? Then go for it.

I think the key thing with a surprise downer ending is it has to be, somehow, not a true surprise. It can't come out of nowhere. It has to be set up emotionally. The hero has a death wish. The hero is getting away with something that we know, deep down, he can't really get away with. Or shouldn't. There have been intimations of death all along. The resolution of the movie is really about what the hero accomplished, not whether he survives. The hero is a bad bad man and we really want him dead.

The posters for a certain Mel Gibson movie say, "Every man dies; not every man really lives." So you know going in that the odds aren't good for Mr. William Wallace.

In a horror movie I saw a few years ago, the heroine loses her child in the opening. She never really gets over that. In one version of the ending (the European one, of course), she doesn't make it out alive because dying (and being reunited with her dead daughter) is a better result for her than going on living.

In a long-running HBO series, the main character (arguably) winds up dead in the finale. But he's talked about it and he lives in a world where it's normal.

You shouldn't end on a twist for the sake of a twist. But if you can surprise us, yet leave us with a feeling afterwards that this was the natural conclusion of the story -- then go for it.

(Incidentally, if you are pitching your movie out loud before you write it, then this question will answer itself. When you tell your listener that the hero's dead, do they go, "Cool!" or "WTF???")

NOTE: The comments are rife with SPOILERS, since it's impossible to talk about surprise endings otherwise!

Simple test -- if he doesn't die, does it feel like you've cheated to achieve that?

Heroes can die if it's the price they have to pay to change the world. You don't feel robbed when Spartacus or El Cid don't make it. But I'd hate the movie if Ripley didn't.

By Blogger Stephen Gallagher, at 11:49 AM

I think Carlito's Way is a good example.

By Blogger Trellick Tower, at 11:57 AM

Layer Cake is a good example of the gratuitous downer. I thought it took satisfying little crime/action flick on a turn to the pointless.

By Blogger Emily, at 1:46 PM

Is the long-running series The Wire? I hope it's not Sopranos, because I haven't gotten through the series yet.

By Blogger Morley, at 2:02 PM

A few movies come to mind where this works to lesser or greater extent. In Saving Private Ryan, what makes Capt. Miller's death acceptable is that the goal (saving Ryan) is still achieved. If all the American died in some fiery cinematic fuck you to the audience, then I believe the film would have been reviled.

Reservoir Dogs, however, left me cold, possibly because everyone is killed making the story IMO unnecessarily nihilistic. I guess one could argue that UC Mr. Orange's goal is achieved -- the criminal gang is stopped and its leader, Big Joe, is killed. But Mr. Pink gets away with the loot.

In Pan's Labyrinth, Ofelia's martyr's death is very "Catholic" in that through death she is resurrected, so to speak: she is escapes the cruelty of the physical world and is reunited with her true family in a fantastical hereafter (her real goal). Her sacrifice also saves her baby brother.

By Blogger daveed, at 2:48 PM

Interesting take on The Descent. I didn't feel the original ending was better for the character, but rather that it was more powerful/shocking for the audience.

By Blogger Olli Sulopuisto, at 4:34 PM

That's Sir William Wallace. Not that the movie had any greater connection to reality.

By Blogger Iain Coleman, at 6:08 PM

It works in EASY RIDER.

By Blogger Lisa, at 7:27 AM

As Daveed said, achieving the goal goes a long way, which makes Clive Owen's self-sacrifice in Children of Men a fitting, non-bummer end.

And then there's No Country for Old Men. Has there ever been another movie that kills its hero off screen?

By Blogger Patrick, at 1:16 PM

WHen watching Thelma & Louise, did anyone really think they would get away in the end? It made dense to the story and theme for them to die at the end.

Thrillers seem to kill off their hero at a higher rate, but there are a lot of bad thrillers. I remember seeing quite a few where the hero is killed at the end, but none are memorable enough to give a specific example. I think that probably says a lot right there.

By Blogger Tim W., at 12:29 PM

Actually, in Saving Private Ryan, even if Private Ryan had been killed, it would still have been okay, because, as was said in the dialog, that keeping the bridge out of German hands was more important than any one soldier. On the other hand, even if Ryan had been saved, but Cpt. Miller still died, but the bridge was lost to German forces, then it would have felt like a cheat.

By Blogger Hugo Fuchs, at 7:16 PM

I agree with Stephen about Ripley...but I actually adored the ending of Layer Cake. Craig's character was such a clever swaggering bastard...but he was struck down in a dumb random way. I thought that was the point.

Jimmy Cagney always died..Top of the world, Ma!

By Blogger Philip Palmer, at 5:04 AM

Speaking of a surprise ending...
What did you think of THE MIST?

I know it's not literally about the hero being killed but it went a step further in a sense.

It went so much further than the average 'European ending', it was almost unbearably dark yet it made so much sense to me.

For a movie that had almost set itself up to be pulp, it was a very smart twist to my taste.

(and one that the readers of the original Stephen King didn't see coming, apparently)

By Blogger Karel, at 3:17 PM

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Friday, September 3, 2010

Composers, Inc. presents new American Music

                                          Composer, Taylor Brook

Tuesday October 19, 2010 8:00pm
Old First Presbyterian Church
1751 Sacramento St. San Francisco

Our opening concert features a staged production of Allen Shearer’s
A Very Large Mole. Witty, comical, and outrageous are but a few of the snapshots out of this one-act opera on a libretto by Claudia Stevens after Kafka's story “Der Dorfschulmeister.” A schoolteacher and a journalist compete for public recognition around the alleged sighting of an unusually large mole, both of them deferring to a learned professor, the third member of the all-male cast. Tenor Michael Mendelsohn, baritone Allen Shearer, bass Richard Mix and a spirited quintet of instruments are conducted by Jonathan Khuner. A great way to whet your operatic appetite and introduce the people in your life to a comical night at the opera that will leave them clamoring for more!

This brief opera is only part of a rich offering of fresh and innovative chamber music. Piano virtuoso Eliane Lust will premiere
Preludes, an intriguing new work by Jeffrey Miller. Dale Wolford, and Victoria Lington return to the Composers, Inc. series to perform Images for alto saxophone and piano by David Biedenbender. Finally, guest violinist Mira Benjamin of Montreal will play Vocalise by Taylor Brook. This sinuous and tantalizing violin solo with drone, rooted in the Hindustani tradition, is a winner of the 2010 Lee Ettelson Award.

This concert is presented in collaboration with Old First Concerts.
Visit for more information about our Lee Ettelson Award and future events.

Season tickets are $45 general, $36 for students, seniors and disabled, and can be purchased directly from Composers, Inc. by calling (415) 512-0641 or  Single tickets are $17 general, $14 for students, seniors and disabled, and are available through Old First Concerts at (415) 474-1608 or, or at the door thirty minutes before each performance.  For more information please contact Composers, Inc. at (415) 512-0641 or visit
Composers, Inc., founded in 1984, is dedicated to presenting new music by living American composers. The five artistic directors are prominent Bay Area composers Robert Greenberg, Frank La Rocca, Jeffrey Miller, Martin Rokeach, and Allen Shearer. Composers, Inc. is supported in part by Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, the Bernard Osher Foundation, the BMI Foundation, and the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music Musical Grant Program.

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May 28, 2015

September: 3 weeks and a Packed Agenda Senate Appropriators Drafting Second Stimulus/Supplemental Bill Gridlock continues on Tax Extenders, Energy Incentives, AMT Bill FY 2009 Appropriations: The Impending CR CBO Releases New Social Security Projections

Important Note to Readers:

The Concord Coalition recently acquired the highly-respected Washington Budget Report, which is now The Concord Coalition Washington Budget Report.

Delivered weekly when Congress is in session, the new Concord Coalition Washington Budget Report gives you the news, behind the scenes stories, and thoughtful analysis in an easy-to-read format. Written and edited by Charles Konigsberg, Chief Budget Counsel of The Concord Coalition, the Budget Report will be your source for news about the budget and fiscal policy.

We are pleased to send you the Budget Report, along with the other issue briefs and policy analyses you are already receiving. We think you'll find it a valuable addition to your knowledge base.

The Concord Coalition relies on support from people like you, across the country, who are concerned about the direction in which our nation is headed. If you like our new Washington Budget Report and the other information and resources you receive from The Concord Coalition, we invite you to visit and consider making a tax-deductible contribution today in support of The Concord Coalition's work.

If you are reading a hard copy of this report, go to to access all of the web-links contained in the report.

You can access Washington Budget Report Archives, going back to January 2007, at

Budget Process: Step-by-Step

September 8: Congress reconvenes

September 9:

--Congressional Budget Office Releases its mid-session update including new deficit projections and economic forecast
--House Appropriations Committee marks up the Defense Appropriations bill (webcast at 10am)
--House Budget Committee hearing: "A Weakened Economy: How to Respond?"
--Senate Finance Committee hearing: "Improving Health Care Quality"

September 26: Target Adjournment Date for 110th Congress

October 1: Fiscal Year 2009 Begins. Since few, if any, FY 2009 appropriations bill are expected to be enacted by September 30 (see articles below), Federal agencies that have not been funded will be forced to shut down on October 1 unless a "continuing resolution" is enacted. (Continuing resolutions allow funding for designated agencies and programs to continue at a specified level--usually the prior year's level or the House-passed or Senate-passed level--until the regular appropriations bills are enacted into law.) The last government shutdown occurred in 1995 during a stand-off between President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress over proposed budget cuts.

September: 3 weeks and a Packed Agenda

When Congress reconvenes in September for a 3-4 week session, a number of budget-related measures could be considered by the House and Senate:

--FY 2009 Continuing Resolution (to keep agencies and programs operating in the absence of enacted FY 2009 appropriations bills). Passage of the CR will be complicated by strong Republican opposition to extending the current moratorium on new off-shore drilling; some observers have speculated that political gridlock on drilling could delay the CR and trigger a government shutdown.

--Second Stimulus / Supplemental Appropriations Bill (see article below).

--Tax-extenders / alternative energy tax incentives / AMT patch. (Currently stalled due to Republican opposition to paying for the extenders with revenue raisers.)

--Department of Defense FY 2009 Authorization bill (sets parameters and requirements for defense spending).

--Department of Defense FY 2009 Appropriations bill.

--Military Construction-Veterans Affairs FY 2009 Appropriations bill.

--Homeland Security FY 2009 Appropriations bill.

Senate Appropriators Drafting Second Stimulus/Supplemental Bill

A second economic stimulus/supplemental bill is being drafted by the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration in September.

One scenario for September is that this discretionary spending package may be joined together with tax extenders, an AMT patch, and a continuing resolution through early 2009. Another possibility is that all of these items could be piggy-backed onto the Defense or Mil Con/VA appropriations bill.

According to a Senate Appropriations Committee press release, the stimulus/supplemental bill would provide more than $24 billion, including $10 billion for infrastructure, energy and economic recovery programs, and $10 billion for natural disaster recovery.

The $10 billion in infrastructure, energy, and economic recovery includes:

--$3.57 billion for highways;
--$2.3 billion for rural programs;
--$1.5 billion for alternative energy initiatives;
--$892 million for mass-transit agencies;
--$850 million for school repair and renovation;
--$570 million for nutrition programs;
--$561 million for border and homeland security;
--$500 million for job training;
--$400 million for clean water programs;
--$309 million for housing;
--$200 million for airport improvements;
--$100 million for small business assistance;
--$100 million for Amtrak; and
--$13 million for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The $10 billion for natural disaster relief includes:

--nearly $3 billion for Hurricane Katrina Recovery;
--$1.8 billion for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency);
--$1.8 billion for CDBG (Community Development Block Grants);
--$1.2 billion for repairing damaged highways; and
--$910 million for firefighting.

The other $4 billion in the bill includes:

--$1.3 billion for health and research investments at NIH, NASA, DoE, and CDC; and
--$1.25 billion for LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program).

Byrd Press Release

On the House side of the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently suggested a larger stimulus bill in the range of $50 billion.

The first 2008 stimulus bill was signed into law on February 13, 2008 and cost $152 billion (HR 5140). The bipartisan package negotiated early this year provided tax rebates for individuals and business incentives. CBO cost estimate on first 2008 economic stimulus bill.

Gridlock continues on Tax Extenders, Energy Incentives, AMT Bill

On July 29 and 30, Senate leaders failed in their third and fourth attempts to invoke "cloture" (end a filibuster) on a package of energy incentives and tax extenders. The vote on S 3335, a revised tax bill introduced by Senator Baucus, was 51-43-- nine votes short of the 60 votes needed for cloture. An attempt to invoke cloture on the House-passed bill (HR 6049) fell seven votes short (53-43) of the required 60.

The tax package, which is also the likely vehicle for a critical one-year AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) patch, will be at the top of Congress' agenda when they return in September. Failure to amend the AMT would result in tax increases for 21 million taxpayers when they file their 2008 returns.

In an attempt to garner the votes necessary to break a lengthy impasse, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) had introduced S. 3335 and included some legislative "sweeteners" (disaster relief and mental health parity) to attract more votes.

However, Republicans continued to oppose the revised package because of their general opposition to including revenue raisers in the bill as required by the Senate's pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Republican Charles Grassley (R-IA) said he objects to the bill because the legislation, "should not use tax increases to extend existing tax policy."

At the same time, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated that dropping the tax offsets would be a waste of time because "we know the House won't accept that, and rightfully so," (as quoted by BNA's Daily Tax Report).

The Baucus bill (S 3335) included:

--$17 billion in energy tax incentives;
--$28 billion in one-year tax extenders;
--$9 billion in "additional relief";
--$54 billion in revenue offsets to pay for the above provisions;
--$5.3 billion (not offset) in disaster relief provisions; and
--$64 billion (not offset) for a one-year AMT patch

Background.--The current House and Senate PAYGO rules were put in place when Democrats regained the majority in 2007. They are based on the PAYGO law of the 1990s, which required that any new tax cuts need to be offset by revenue raisers or entitlement cuts (and new entitlement spending offset by spending cuts or revenue raisers).

However, unlike the PAYGO statute of the 1990s (which was enforced through the threat of automatic entitlement cuts), the current PAYGO rules lack any statutory enforcement mechanism. Consequently, it has been difficult to enforce the current rules, which have already been waived a number of times. Most notably, last year's AMT patch was not offset.

Senate Democrats have already conceded that this year's AMT patch will not be offset, but they have joined House Democrats in their insistence that the tax extenders and energy incentives must be offset.

Earlier in the year, 41 Republican Senators (the number needed to successfully filibuster legislation) signed a letter opposing the use of any offsets for extenders or AMT relief. (The letter was signed by the party leadership, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), and all Finance Committee Republicans except for Maine Senator Olympia Snowe.) Text of the Senate Letter

Among the items that would be extended by S. 3335 are:

--the R&E tax credit (usually referred to as the research and development credit)
--the option to deduct state and local sales taxes instead of income taxes
--the deduction for qualified tuition expenses
--tax-free distribution from IRAs to certain public charities
--the deduction for teacher classroom expenses
--the "new markets" tax credit
--15-yr straight-line cost recovery for certain business improvements
--expensing of "Brownfields" environmental remediation costs
--other provisions described in the revenue estimates below

Among the energy tax incentives in the bill are:

--$10.6 billion over 10 years for alternative energy production incentives
--$1.8 billion over 10 years for transportation and domestic fuel security provisions
--$4.4 billion over 10 years for energy conservation and efficiency provisions
--other provisions described in the revenue estimates below

Among the revenue offsets in the bill are:

--Modifying tax treatment of deferred compensation of managers of offshore hedge funds
--Delaying the implementation of interest allocation provisions affecting multinationals
--Mandate reporting by brokers for transactions involving publicly traded securities

Latest veto threat on the extenders legislation

JCT Preliminary Revenue Estimate of Baucus Bill

Committee Description of Baucus Bill

JCT Revenue Estimate of House-passed bill

JCT Description of House-passed bill

FY 2009 Appropriations: The Impending CR

By late July, the House of Representatives would typically have completed Floor action on most of the 12 regular appropriations bills that fund the departments of government.

However, as reflected in the chart below, the House had taken up and passed only one appropriations bill--Military Construction/VA--when they adjourned for the August recess.

House Mil Con-VA bill summary

The other bills that might see action before Congress adjourns in September are:

--the Defense Appropriations Bill, which the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the House marked up the last week of July; and

--a second stimulus/supplemental bill (discussed in the article below).

House Defense bill subcommittee summary

Aside from possible action on Defense and MilCon-VA, this year's appropriations is in a serious logjam because of two key factors:

First, President Bush has threatened to veto any appropriations bills that exceed his request, and Democrats--as reflected in the Budget Resolution--have called for nearly $25 billion more than the President requested. From Democrats' perspective, if they wait until after the presidential election to make FY '09 funding decisions, they may be working with a Democratic President. As reported by Congressional Quarterly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said recently, "I hope we would do a continuing resolution until after Sen. Obama becomes President."

Second, House Republicans have been attempting to amend appropriations bills with off-shore oil drilling amendments, strongly opposed by many Democrats. On June 26, House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) suspended markup of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill when Republicans attempted to substitute drilling language for the labor, health, and education provisions.

Despite the unlikelihood of significant Floor action in September, the Senate Appropriations Committee has completed action on most bills as reflected below.

[Click on the blue links for information on each appropriations bill.]

Latest House Committee
Floor Action
Latest Senate Committee
Floor Action
Action; President
Agriculture Subcomm: 6/19 -- Full Comm: 7/17 -- --
Commerce-Justice-Science Full Comm: 6/25 --
Full Comm: 6/19 -- --

Energy-Water Full Comm: 6/25 -- Full Comm: 7/10 --
Financial Services Full Comm: 6/25 -- Full Comm: 7/10 --
Homeland Security Full Comm: 6/24 -- Full Comm: 6/19 --
Interior-Environment Subcomm: 6/11 -- --
Labor-HHS-Education Subcomm: 6/19
-- Full Comm: 6/26 --
Legislative Branch Subcomm: 6/23 -- --
Military Construction-VA Full Comm: 6/24 Passage:

Full Comm: 7/17 --
State-Foreign Operations Subcomm: 7/16 -- Full Comm: 7/17 --
Transportation-HUD Subcomm: 6/20 -- Full Comm: 7/10 --

**War funding for the first part of FY '09 was provided in the FY '08 Supplemental Appropriations Bill.

Click here for additional details on status of appropriations bills.

Background on Appropriations.--The 12 annual appropriations bills provide funds for all of the discretionary programs, projects, and activities of the Federal government. In total, the 12 appropriations bills allocate about $1 trillion of discretionary spending -- one-third of the $3 trillion Federal budget.

(The other $2 trillion consists of entitlement programs--the largest being Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid--as well as interest payments on the Federal debt and other "mandatory spending.")

The total amount of funding available for the annual appropriations bills is determined by the Congressional Budget Resolution. The House and Senate completed action June 5th on S.Con.Res. 70, the Congressional Budget Resolution for FY 2009 (the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2008).

Following adoption of the Budget Resolution, the House and Senate Budget Committees provide to their respective Appropriations Committees a lump-sum discretionary spending allocation (called a "302(a) allocation"). The total allocation for FY '09 was approximately $1,013 billion--about $21 billion higher than the President's $992 billion request (and $24.5 billion more than the President's request when advance appropriations and special adjustments for enforcement initiatives are included).

After receiving their respective 302(a) allocations, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees allocate total discretionary spending among their 12 respective subcommittees. These suballocations are called "302(b) allocations" and determine how much funding authority is available for programs under the jurisdiction of each subcommittee--a key decision-point in the budget process.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its 302(b) subcommittee allocations on June 19. The House Appropriations Committee approved its suballocations the week of June 24.

CBO Releases New Social Security Projections

Last week, on August 21, 2008, the Congressional Budget Office released new long-term social security projections. In a nutshell, CBO projects that:

--Social Security outlays will first exceed revenues in 2019; and

--Social Security trust funds will be exhausted in 2049.

The 2019 projection is the more significant number because that is when the Federal Government will begin paying out more in Social Security benefits than it takes in through payroll taxes.

Background.--Technically, the Social Security Trust Funds hold trillions of dollars in U.S. Treasury securities and that is why the trust funds are projected to be "solvent" until 2049. The Treasury securities exist--on paper--because the Social Security program has been running surpluses for the last two decades, which by law have been invested in Treasury securities. (The result is that the trust funds get IOU's and the Treasury can use the surplus cash to pay for other programs.)

However, in order to redeem the securities held by the trust funds, the U.S. Treasury will have to raise taxes or borrow more money from American and foreign investors--on an enormous scale, as the boomers retire. Consequently, from a fiscal policy perspective, the existence of the Treasury IOUs in the Trust Funds are irrelevant. The fiscal challenges begin when Social Security outlays exceed payroll tax revenues in 2019.


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Vertigo-Inducing Views From One World Trade Center

Tour Manhattan from the 103rd floor of 1 WTC.

By the time it is completed in 2013 the 104-story One World Trade Center, more simply known as 1 WTC and formerly known as the Freedom Tower, will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest building in the world by pinnacle height. Last week the Port Authority gave a press tour of the World Trade Center site, but the lucky (assuming none of them suffer from acrophobia) folk at the Architect’s Newspaper were granted access all the way up to the vertigo-inducing 103rd floor of the lofty edifice.

Before that date it was only construction workers who had taken in the incredible views of New York granted by this vantage point. These include the 9/11 memorial site, the tower, about a hundred inner-city rooftops and panoramic sights encompassing parts of all five boroughs. Fortunately those given the opportunity to ride a rickety metal elevator up 103 floors managed to keep their cool long enough to snap a few hundred photos, the majority of which have been posted up on the Architect’s Newspaper blog.

Wait until your breakfast is sufficiently settled then browse through our own curated selection of images below. There’s no workers shouting, metal clanging or Queen’s “We Will Rock You” playing from a radio (apparently all aspects of the tour IRL) but it’s still pretty impressive.

The core at the 103rd floor.

Memorial in foreground with loading dock.

103rd ledge.

Workers guide container.

Path station.

Warren Street from the 103rd floor.

via Curbed NY; photos by Tom Stoelker at AN blog

Published on September 09 , 2012 by

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A Troll, Not an Ent

Gerard Magliocca

Gerard N. Magliocca is the Samuel R. Rosen Professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Professor Magliocca is the author of three books and over twenty articles on constitutional law and intellectual property. He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford, his law degree from Yale, and joined the faculty after two years as an attorney at Covington and Burling and one year as a law clerk for Judge Guido Calabresi on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Professor Magliocca has received the Best New Professor Award and the Black Cane (Most Outstanding Professor) from the student body, and in 2008 held the Fulbright-Dow Distinguished Research Chair of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, The Netherlands. He was elected to the American Law Institute (ALI) in 2013.

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  1. Christa L. says:

    Unfortunately, the best business decision is probably to settle. And this will keep happening in such lawsuits until we start awarding attorney’s fees more often.


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How to build confidence and avoid the cloak of invisibility

I’ve written in the past about the danger of wearing clothes that make too much of a statement. Driven by a media that is focused on selling magazines, many women make the mistake of wearing noisy clothes that get them noticed for the wrong reasons.

Last week, a good friend who is approaching her 50th birthday – and reads Confidence Tricks reminded me that there is a flip side to this.

She told me that she was increasingly feeling like she was becoming invisible. She was finding it hard to find (non-noisy) clothes that she felt she could wear that that would help her maintain her confidence as she – gently, in my opinion – aged.

In the past nearly 40 years of Wardrobe I have heard this many times before. In fact I remember an ad agency sending two women out shopping on two consecutive days. The first day dressed in ordinary and fairly dull clothes and the second day looking more chic and confident. The first day in their ordinary clothes and wearing a headscarf nobody seemed to realise they were even there and in shops they were totally ignored. The second day they were achieving admiring glances and were attentively acknowledged by sales staff when they entered smart shops.

There is a way of dressing after your late 40s which is still sensual, attractive and certainly not invisible. I have written about it lots – just click on the Confident Personal Style category in the right hand column of this blog and you’ll find tips and a seven part series on the subject.

Like everything else, achieving this goal of confidence through the decades will not be cheap, but if you keep everything simple and classic with a bit of edginess it will last longer.

You might not be at the cutting edge of High Street fashion but you can be at the cutting edge of style and good taste. Classic doesn’t mean boring. It means finding shop that believes in good quality and cut, with experienced people who will care for you and your individual concerns. How do you find these places? Ask anyone who you think looks good. Recommendation, word of mouth is the best way always.

And it’s also really important to remember as you mature that your personal grooming will take quite a bit longer. Clothes alone won’t ‘do it’. Hair, make-up and skin care (face and body) have to feature importantly and of course never forget ageing teeth.

And since we’re talking about invisibility, don’t forget you always need to build on “good foundations”. Underwear is less invisible than you might think and needs to fit well. More on this soon.

Extensions are not the way to extend the life in your hair

It was good to see a piece in the Sunday Times magazine last week on keeping your hair looking great as you get older – something I’ve written about too.

What wasn’t good, though was the suggestion that adding ultralight hair extensions was a good way to ‘create invisible volume’. They may create a short term boost, but in the long term hair extensions are damaging.  Why? Because they are glued on
to the hair and heated to attach themselves; and they have to be removed after a while. All of which simply adds damage.

There are preparations from tricologist Philip Kingsley which are really effective in maintaining your hair’s natural volume – and I can personally attest to this. It does take some discipline as you need to use them regularly; but if you want full healthy hair regular stimulating treatments and indeed a good diet is essential.

If you’re looking for a good brush, the article mentions the expensive Mason Pearson and a cheaper brand called Isnis.  I find the Tangle Teaser (on sale in lots of places) a better and more modern option and it is kind on wet hair. I no longer use my Mason Pearson.

How to be fleet of foot

I recently wrote about the importance of regular pedicures.

This week, following a visit to my chiropodist, I’m going one step further.

I think that a lot of women neglect their feet. Perhaps it’s because they are hidden in shoes in the winter. But in the summer, you see a lot of feet in sandals with cracked heels and in a state in which you wouldn’t, for example, want to show your hands.

Given the load that your feet take and the shoes they get stuffed into (and let’s face it, we’re not going to stop wearing shoes that are more fashionable than sensible just because they’re a bit tight), it’s not surprising that feet take a battering.  A
chiropodist can help prevent a lot of the damage, but most people don’t go to them until they are in pain – and by that point it can be a serious problem.

Going to a chiropodist is the next stage on from a pedicure.  It’s not cosmetic, but clinical – chiropodists are medically trained. It’s like going to a dental hygienist before you see a dentist – preventative.

A chiropodist removes dead skin and corns before they get to the painful stage.  Afterwards you feel incredibly light.

They can also make a cushion to fit between your toes that will take the pressure off the points where they push against each other. Having these made to measure is far more comfortable than the ones you can buy in a shop.

Most women if they were to visit a chiropodist twice a year could have good looking feet well into their seventies and avoid the knobbly disfiguration that many of us endure.

And that’s got to be worth less than an hour of your time acouple of times a year.

Don’t let your hair let down your face

I often talk about the importance of proportions in relation to clothes – whether it’s the right proportions for your body or the right proportions for an outfit.  An equally important proportion to get right is your hair in relation to your face.

I’ve noticed recently that an increasing number of women are wearing their hair much longer than is flattering for them. In my opinion, it makes their faces look tired and drawn – and can often hide a very beautiful bone structure.

If you think you’re one of these women, try pulling your hair away from your face and see how your face seems to change.

Hair doesn’t have to be very short.  In fact on most women, chin length hair – and often a bit longer – can be more flattering as you get older than very short hair.

We are now coming into a winter season where there is going to be a lot of emphasis on shoulder and collar detail.  Longer, feathered hair is going to look incredibly dated and will not enhance the detailing of this season.

Invisible tights

You may have noticed from previous posts that I enjoy trekking around the shops finding interesting new products to complement building your confident personal style.

Because I know that in summer some people will never be persuaded into tights, I’ve been looking for products which can make your legs look their best even if you haven’t been on a sun-filled holiday.

I’ve found two that I would recommend.

One is called Perfect Legs Skin Miracle and is from a company called ThisWorks.com.  It is, according to the blurb, a “powerful complex of stable vitamin C and E to help even out skin tone and restructure the skin as well as arnica to fade bruising.”

Perfect LegsHaving tried it, I think it’s good and does what it says it will.  It doesn’t make the leg looked tanned – and I reckon you need a little base tan for this to work properly – so it might be less effective on post-winter white legs.

The second product is called Airbrush Legs. It’s an American product by Sally Hansen; and it’s like make up for the legs. You smooth it on with your hands and it almost looks as though you’re wearing tights.

Airbrush Legs

The beauty of both of these products is that they are not permanent, they wash off just like make up.  Since some days your legs will not be on show, this is a really good way to achieve an even looking fake tan, because you can start again if you get it wrong.

I have to admit that in the Sally Hansen product there is a paraben, which I’m not so keen on; but since you wash it off at night and you don’t use it every day, I’m less concerned in this case.

Although these are both good products, my philosophy is still that if you’re in a serious meeting you don’t see men without socks on. So the tights that that I’m recommending for this summer season, which are very fine but very hard wearing, are again by Wolford and they are called Individual 5.  There are a number of natural colours and what you choose will depend on your skin colouring and of course the colour of your shoes.  A colour that I’ve found suitable in this denier is caramel. These tights are perfect for natural looking summer legs.

A good outlook for investment in the sales

I’m currently in Milan on my first buying trip for next Spring/Summer.  I’m noticing that, although there are some interesting new fabrics around, colours are very similar to this season (with a few additions).

This provides an excellent opportunity for people who believe in investing in the best quality clothes they can afford to make some very astute purchases in the sales.

There are two kinds of shopping at our end of the market.  One is all about buying big brands.  People want the name; they may buy over the internet; they don’t care (or perhaps are just not aware) if it doesn’t fit them perfectly; and they assume, rather than understand, the quality just because of the name.  Given that many of the big “Italian” brands do very little of their manufacture in Italy, the idea of the Italian craftsmen in their brands is more than a bit hollow.

The second approach (which is what Confidence Tricks is all about) is about searching out quality and design, and clothes that look and feel fantastic, regardless of the name on the label.

It seems to me that we are going into an era where quality and value matter more. The dramatic changes in fashion that drive big brand sales are slowing down as people realise that what’s important is that their clothes look and feel great on them as individuals.

Often the biggest sale discounts are on clothes which will look most dated the following season.

So in this summer’s sale season, you will still find lots of discounted big brand names.  As always, if you’re going to take advantage of this, make sure you’re getting good value not just a big discount – a mistake in the sale is still a mistake.  (See my previous post about this)

But my advice would be to take advantage of the fact that this season’s high quality clothes will have an even longer shelf life and to invest in one very high quality item which you wouldn’t normally consider buying at full price – and feel the difference.

The Wardrobe sale begins on Thursday (30 June) 8am to 8pm.

Confidence tip: summer’s here. Legs are white. Don’t panic

Regular readers will know that I’m always on the lookout for a good self-tanner – after all, looking tanned (or at least healthy) when more of our flesh is on show in the summer heat is a great way to boost that confident feeling.

One of the best I’ve come across (and used) is Clarins’ Delectable Self-tanning Mousse with Mirabelle Oil. It has a factor 15 SPF for protection in case you’re out in the sun; it doesn’t contain parabens; it has a natural colour; it doesn’t have a bad smell like many others on the market; and I’ve found it quite long lasting.  It also, in the Mirabelle Oil has a very good moisturising agent, so you don’t need to use another product before you apply it (although it is important to use a scrub first to remove dead skin cells before using any self-tanner).  All in all, it’s an all-round good way to boost your look while protecting your skin from the effects of heat and sun.

Confidence tip: polish up your style for summer and beyond

There are a lot of navy and other shades of blue in this summer’s collections and this will continue into winter and next summer.  With these colours, the bright red nail polish that was very popular last summer looks a bit dated now – apart from when you’re on vacation.

A lot of people seem to be wearing grey and browny-grey shades of nail polish, but to me these look a bit too flat.

My favourite to go with this season’s colours is Merino Cool by Essie as it has a bit of life to it and still a modern tone. It is also a nice alternative to red when you’re wearing black.

How to be confident whatever the conditions

There was an interesting lesson in sartorial planning last week as the Obama’s came to our windswept shores.

The First Lady, who is usually very well advised – and mostly looked very stylish throughout the trip – suffered some clearly uncomfortable moments when the wind simultaneously caught the short, but full skirt of her dress and whipped her hair into a Jedward-style frenzy.  With one hand on her head and the other on her crotch, it was every woman’s nightmare scenario.  And it was in front of the world’s press.

Knowing that she would be climbing down the steps of a plane, there was always going to be a high probability of getting caught in the wind. A dress with a straighter skirt (which if well cut would do her more favours than the style she is currently wearing) or even a trouser suit, and a hairstyle that was less likely to get windswept would have prevented the difficulty.

Getting good advice for important occasions is not just about how you look, it’s also about anticipating the conditions.  When you are buying an outfit, you should expect to be asked questions by the stylist about the occasion and the location. For example, for quite a while I dressed an MP who used to sit right behind the Prime Minister.  We noticed that when the camera was on the PM, her knees were on show.  So we made sure she was dressed appropriately.

With weddings and the season upon us, it’s a good time to be thinking about the weather conditions and how to dress so that we don’t get caught out.  There’s a high probability in the UK that the temperature will drop like a stone in the evening. For some reason we never seem to anticipate this when dressing for big summer occasions. I am lucky enough to go to Glyndebourne most years, and for many years I turned up looking good but feeling frozen.  It took a while to realise that I should be choosing an outfit that would work with a summer coat.  Not exactly rocket science, but it makes the occasion so much more enjoyable.

‘Elegant and desirable’: what’s not to like?

Last week, I wrote that we could be on the verge of a new era of style in the UK where women will want to look both elegant and desirable.  A number of people have said to me that they felt ‘elegant’ mainly meant old and that ‘desirable’ was not the main message they wanted their clothes to convey – especially at work.

I thought it would be worth expanding on this because I think there are a lot of issues bound up in this. First, ‘elegant’ doesn’t need to mean prissy.  I don’t think we’re going backwards to a glorious bygone era or anything like that.  We are moving forwards into an era where good designers are recognising that people want more for their money in terms of design and quality and want clothes that suit them as individuals.

I see many of our younger customers really starting to understand the concept of buying clothes that help build their confidence because they know they look good, rather than just hiding their lack of confidence because people notice the clothes.

Desirability isn’t a sexual thing in this context,  it’s about not looking or feeling ridiculous. Contrast Pippa Middleton’s dress at last month’s wedding with so many bridesmaids’ dresses.  Her dress was neither twee nor vulgar; it accentuated her body.  In the work context, I do think that confidence springs from knowing that you look great and that it’s you, not the fabric that’s covering you up that people are engaging with.

The era of bling might be coming to an end too. For many years, a lot of top designers have geared their collections towards the bling-hungry markets in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia.  I’ve always found it amusing that, having been forced to wear the same clothes as each other under decades of Communist rule, Russian women were happy to be forced by fashion to look the same as each other.

But this is changing as tastes are maturing: we have a group of Russian women coming to see us in London soon because they want clothes which are more elegant and less vulgar that they’re being offered at home.

So I’m going to stick with ‘elegant and desirable’ as the combination of words to describe the direction that I think and hope more and more UK women will embrace in developing their own confident personal style.


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Cen Campbell's picture

Public Performance Rights?

I did a digital storytelling demo for staff at my library system and was asked about copyright/public performance issues with using apps and iBooks in storytimes.  I had assumed that it would be the same as using a paper book.  Anyone know where I can find the rules where it says I'm allowed to use this stuff in my storytimes? (ps hope this is the right place to post)

Andrea Vernola's picture

Do application license agreements say anything about public performance? I can't check this one below right now because I'm on desk and don't have itunes installed on this computer.

But here's the link for the "Monster at the end of this book" app and there's a link to the "application license agreement" here as well.

Kiera Parrott's picture

This page on the Columbia Copyright site has some good informaiton (it pertains specifically to films and sound recordings, but I think the concepts can be applied to any work being shared): http://copyright.columbia.edu/copyright/fair-use/practical-applications/...

It states:

- Size matters. If you are showing the app to a large group of people and you are advertising that you'll be showing the app, that typically constitutes a "public performance" and as a result, it usually a violation of the copyright. But, if it is a relatively small group (like most storytimes) and if it is limited (say to registered participants only) than it is not considered public, and therefore not a violation of copyright.

- If it is in a teaching capacity in a non-profit institution, it usually falls under Fair Use. If you are using the app to demonstrate a concept or skill in the effort to educate storytime participants in a public library setting, that seems pretty clearly to fall under these guidelines.

Hope that helps a bit!

- Kiera

Cen Campbell's picture

Yeah, I figured Fair Use would apply but I wanted to make sure.  In case anyone is interested, I'm recording every stage of my digital storytelling project here: littleelit.com.

Cen Campbell


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Just for clarification, the game six against Vancouver in 2010 was actually in the Rose Garden. It was a late change as the original schedule for the series had it slated for the Coliseum.

As for the hex, I have a bad feeling about tomorrow but it's not because of the streak.

Posted on Game 6 at home: Eleventh time's the charm! on May 11, 2012, 11:57PM

I tend to agree with regards to your thoughts about momentum, Dylan. Although comparing game #3 of the regular season to a similar situation in the finals might be a stretch. I think it means very little for either team moving forward given the volatility of the first few weeks of the season.

Posted on Game 4 comment thread: Americans at Winterhawks on September 30, 2011, 4:22PM


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Ivy Poison For Yanks At Wrigley

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Brett Gardner (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)

Brett Gardner (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)

By JAY COHEN,  AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO (AP) _ Mark Teixeira saw a couple changeups that went up
and away. Curtis Granderson said it was inside, outside and down in
the zone the entire game, never much to hit.
Doug Davis just baffled ’em, all day long.

“There’s no patterns,” Teixeira said. “You don’t really know
where the ball is going to go.”

Davis pitched into the eighth inning in easily his best start of
the season and the Chicago Cubs began a rare series against the New
York Yankees with a 3-1 victory on Friday.

“I was able to get ahead a lot,” Davis said. “I was throwing
strikes with all of my pitches, except for my curveball. For the
most part, I was able to keep them off balance and execute pitches
when I had to.”

Aramis Ramirez hit a pair of RBI singles and made a couple nice
plays in the field for Chicago, which has won four of five after
dropping a season-high 14 games under .500. Starlin Castro doubled
twice and is batting .458 (11 for 24) in the last six games.

A season-high crowd of 42,219 packed Wrigley Field for the Bronx
Bombers’ first trip to the neighborhood ballpark in eight years.

There was a smattering of “Let’s go Yankees!” chants but the
mostly red-and-blue clad fans were firmly behind the Cubs on a
sunny, breezy afternoon.

“The biggest crowd of the year, but the best crowd,” Cubs
manager Mike Quade said. “These two cities are so well
represented. It was better than the Boston series for me. I know
I’m home and all the rest of it, but the electricity was something

It was a homecoming of sorts for Yankees manager Joe Girardi,
who was born in Peoria, went to college at nearby Northwestern and
rooted for the Cubs when he was a kid. He also played six seasons
for the Cubs during two stints with the club that drafted him in

“Whenever I come back here, I see people that I know,” Girardi
said, “so I mean that part was nice.”

Girardi and the Yankees rolled into Chicago coming off a
three-game sweep against AL champion Texas and winners of six of
seven overall. But they were never able to solve Davis, who entered
with an 0-5 record and a 5.90 ERA in six starts this season.
Robinson Cano and Eduardo Nunez had the Yankees’ only hits off
Davis before Nick Swisher doubled with one out in the eighth to
chase the soft-tossing left-hander.

Davis (1-5) received a thunderous ovation as he left the mound
following his longest start since he pitched eight innings in a 5-2
victory for Arizona at Wrigley Field on Oct. 4, 2009. It also was
his first victory since May 5, 2010, for Milwaukee at the Los
Angeles Dodgers.

“The main thing is I’ve been struggling with is walks,” said
Davis, who issued three walks against New York. “That’s something
I definitely wanted to fix today. Although I walked a few, I was
able to execute a pitch to get out of the situation. I’m happy with
the way I threw and happy I got my first win out of the way as a

Sean Marshall struck out Granderson before Teixeira lined an RBI
single into center field to trim Chicago’s lead to 3-1. Quade then
went to closer Carlos Marmol, who struck out Alex Rodriguez to end
the inning and closed it out for his 14th save.

Marmol got a boost in the ninth when defensive replacement Reed
Johnson made an outstanding sliding catch along the left-field line
to take away an extra-base hit away from Cano.

“I take pride in my defense and work hard at it over the
years,” Johnson said. “Especially the leadoff hitter in an
inning, that’s always a key out for a pitcher.”

The Yankees went on to put runners on first and second, but
Marmol struck out pinch-hitter Chris Dickerson to end the game.

“It was a perfect day, for the Cubs,” Rodriguez said.
Freddy Garcia (5-6) shook off a slow start and worked seven
solid innings for the Yankees, allowing three runs and six hits.

The right-hander struck out three and walked two.
Chicago got to Garcia for two in the first and one in the third.
Ramirez had an run-scoring single in each inning, and Castro
doubled in Kosuke Fukudome in the first.
Ramirez also made one of his best plays in the field, charging
in to barehand Russell Martin’s slow roller to third before making
a strong throw to first.
“He made some plays last night, too,” Quade said. “Maybe he’s
feeling it a little bit and I certainly hope so. Don’t change a
thing for another four months, please.”

NOTES: The game was delayed for a couple minutes before the
third inning. Girardi said there was a light either on the corner
of camera well in center field or just beyond it. … Former
Yankees manager Joe Torre, now an executive with Major League
Baseball, was on the field before the game and spent some time with
Girardi and Quade. Torre’s right arm was in a sling after
undergoing rotator cuff surgery. … Girardi said he might give
regular designated hitter Jorge Posada a start at first base during
New York’s six-game trip to Chicago and Cincinnati. Posada was
batting .457 (16 for 35) in his last nine games heading into
Friday, and Girardi is hoping he can stay sharp during the stint at
NL parks. … Seth Meyers, the head writer of “Saturday Night
Live,” led the singing of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” during
the seventh-inning stretch.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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text:
Cows vs. Coal

To reduce emissions, the usual thinking goes, we should promote alternative energy and declare war on coal. But researchers argue that policymakers are ignoring a crucial climate threat: cows.

Cows release methane as part of their digestive process, and this greenhouse gas is a major contributor to global warming. It also lingers in the atmosphere for a shorter time than carbon dioxide, which means we might be able to put the brakes on climate change more quickly if methane emissions are brought under control.

methane-graphAccording to a commentary in Nature Climate Change, domestic ruminants—methane-producing livestock that includes cows, sheep, and goats—numbered about 3.6 billion worldwide in 2011, and that figure grows by about 25 million annually. These animals generate 12 percent of the world’s anthropo-genic greenhouse gas emissions and about twice the methane emissions of coal plants. Their grazing also drives deforestation, hogs land that could be used for crops, and reduces soil and water quality.

Policymakers should push to cut back the number of ruminants, the authors say. Convincing people to eat less meat is a tough order, but countries could provide some motivation by taxing greenhouse gas emissions produced by farm animals.

—Roberta Kwok

Ripple, W.J. et al. 2014. Nature Climate Change doi:10.1038/nclimate2081.

  • Eleanor Boyle, PhD March 17, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    Thank you, Roberta Kwok, for pointing out the key role in climate change played by large-scale meat production, and for directing attention to the relevant article by Professor William Ripple and colleagues. I have done extensive research on this topic, and know that livestock can be good for environments — if they are kept in small numbers appropriate to ecosystems. Meat can be good for health — if consumers eat much smaller quantities and pay more for animal products that are raised with a minimum of ecologically costly inputs and chemicals. This applies to ruminant animals but also to pigs and poultry, which contribute to climate change by eating huge swaths of agricultural output to satisfy unrealistic consumer expectations of meat at every meal. Societies can definitely address this problem — and some citizens already are, by cutting back on consumption and supporting smaller-scale, more sustainable producers. — Eleanor Boyle, PhD, Author of High Steaks: Why and How to Eat Less Meat.

    • T. MOR April 14, 2014 at 1:59 am

      The ecological imperative with regard to reducing and remediating the effects of intensive ruminant production lies within the implementation of an anaerobic digester as an integral part of animal husbandry to contain CH⁴. CO² levels with regard to livestock production will be reduced by a least 25% if not more depending on the efficient containment of methane w/in the digestion process and it’s use. Furthermore, all by products of the digestion process create a revenue stream which potentially could be a means to enhance farming methods, reduce calorific inputs and educate farmers and industry to the benefits of following a strict cohesive ecological policy that is economically sexy. The ecological benefits of anaerobic digestion as a means to remediate our watercourses and reduce methane whilst creating revenue streams seems to me logical, prudent, and a SMART FART.©
      T. MOR

  • John G April 9, 2014 at 6:52 am

    Yes ruminants are major producers of methane, but to write off all 3.6 billion methane-producing livestock as drivers of deforestation, hogs of land that could be used for crops, and culprits of reduced soil and water quality is, to me, over the top, and frankly, not true. Are ruminants truly the ‘drivers’ of deforestation? The way it is phrased here, it’s almost as if cows (cattle?) are the primary reason for worldwide deforestation when of course we all know there are myriad other factors driving this phenomenon. I think the author should at least point out that cattle and livestock, albeit a small percentage of them, are being used to combat desertification, and to restore landscapes. Ecologists from the Nature Conservancy contend that plants can respond positively to grazing, if managed properly ( Furthermore, Allan Savory of the Savory Institute has led a world-wide campaign introducing cattle and livestock ranchers to ‘holistic management,’ where the animals are used as landscape stewards rather than seen as anathema to the environmental or conservation movement. The beauty in Savory’s work is that he promotes working with the resources we currently have – use the cattle, use the livestock, to restore a landscape. In Patagonia, the Nature Conservancy is teaming with sheep farmers to restore grasslands as well ( Finally, while yes livestock inhabit land that might otherwise be used as cropland, it is not entirely true. In ranching communities and regions in the United States, ranching developed because it was the only form of agriculture possible on such land. Where I live on the western slope in Colorado, crop production is limited to a very short growing season, thus ranching developed because it was far more likely to succeed. However, I do not refute the fact that ruminants are indeed producers of methane and it is necessary to examine their production from a cliamte change perspective.

  • Bob Armstrong October 13, 2014 at 2:16 pm

    Have you all seen the YouTube of a deer farting ? I guess you all are just anti-life .

    You guys ( carbon creatures ) really need to think about the grade school facts that CO2 is on an equal footing with H2O as the building block of life . The planet didn’t boil when all the O2 was locked up in a 300,000 ppm original atmosphere . Instead , life bloomed .

  • Omar May 18, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    Why didn’t the millions of ungulates– specifically bison– that roamed the continent unitl the late 1800’s cause global warming

Leave a Comment


text:
Walmart Hates Firefox And Safari

Progress has been made over at the Walmart video download site. Rather than just spewing nonsense when you try to enter the site with Firefox, it now detects your browser and tells you to download IE. The error message reads:

Unsupported Browser
We’re sorry …
Our website requires the browser Internet Explorer version 6 or higher. It appears that you are using Firefox, Safari, or another browser that Wal-Mart Video Downloads doesn’t currently support. Click here to get Internet Explorer for free from Microsoft.

Thank You

Doesn’t bode well for the quality of the video downloads, does it? —MEGHANN MARCO

Walmart Video Downloads

Edit Your Comment

  1. mark duffy says:

    IE sucks sweaty redneck BALLS.

  2. stephen5 says:

    I have been having trouble posting here at consumerist using Firefox and have had to resort to IE (IE 7 even.)

    IE does indeed sucks sweaty redneck BALLS, also sweaty welfare mama BALLS, sweaty Vietnamese, sweaty Mexican and sweaty Bosnian immigrant BALLS too.(That’s who shops at my local Wal-Mart, I think the rednecks get sucked into the nearby Hooters and Chi-Chi Pizzas.)

  3. batasrki says:

    We must be back in 1999. Seriously, I’d expect this from some two-bit company who does not know what they’re doing IT-wise. But WalMart, a company that prides itself in its IT infrastructure and how it helps the stores run……maybe I should take a hammer to my monitor so that I don’t see such travesty.

  4. amb1545 says:

    Simple, don’t shop at walmart, online or not.

  5. DieBrucke says:

    Honestly, people using Firefox should know better than to be shopping at Walmart.

  6. tz says:

    So I can download IE6 for my Macintosh or linux system for free?

  7. FLConsumer says:

    That’s alright… I had to use a website to apply for graduate school earlier this year… IE6 or earlier only. IE7: Not supported. FireFox 2.0: Not supported. Firefox 1.x: Not supported. Mozilla: Not Supported. Netscape 4.5: Supported… and this isn’t a small-time website either.

  8. r3m0t says:

    They don’t hate Firefox. It just isn’t economically viable to support it. Their web developers are probably from the pre-Firefox age and don’t understand any of this newfangled “compatibility” stuff. Walmart can’t fire them because they’re unionised.

    Oh, wait…

  9. evilrobot says:

    (attempting to get IE for mac)

    from ms website…

    “Accordingly, as of January 31st, 2006, Internet Explorer for the Mac is no longer available for download from Microsoft. It is recommended that Macintosh users migrate to more recent web browsing technologies such as Apple’s Safari.”

  10. mark duffy says:

    I am a relocated App. Trail hillbilly, so I can say “Redneck”. Also, “balls.”

  11. ElizabethD says:

    Last I checked (which admittedly was at least a year ago, maybe longer), I couldn’t purchase music downloads from WalMart because of their Mac blockade. Guess some things never changes. ‘SOkay… between iTunes and swapping with friends, I’m good.

    (Firefox user here. That was some hot mess on the WalMart link yesterday.)

  12. LatherRinseRepeat says:

    I wouldn’t say that Wal-Mart hates Firefox. The rest of the site works fine. This is more of a technology issue. Most music/video download stores require Internet Explorer because of the DRM that’s applied to the files. For Apple, you have to use the iTunes software to purchase music or TV shows or whatever. For Amazon, you have to install their Unbox player software.

    So once again, we’re reminded why DRM sucks.

  13. kaycee says:

    I have Macs, and have been using Mozilla’s Camino instead of Safari for well over a year. I tried Firefox, but I like Camino better for the most part (athough Camino doesn’t remember open tabs if I restart, and my son tells me Firefox does).

    Camino works way better than Safari, for sure. (At least it did when I moved from Safari to Camino about a year ago.) I don’t know if it’s compatible with Wal-Mart’s video downloads, though – probably not.

  14. WV.Hillbilly says:

    Works with the IE Tab extension for Firefox if you’re really that interested.

  15. Verizon’s internal websites are designed to run with IE only. You can try mozilla/safari/opera and they may work, but don’t bet on it.

  16. Grrrrrrr, now with two buns made of bacon. says:

    As a Firefox user, I guess I just won’t purchase any downloads from Wal-Mart.

    Aww, darn.

    How many of us could there be using other browsers? Only a few million.

  17. Michael says:

    Funny thing is the site initially displayed perfectly with Opera, but now that they have this stupid check Opera is flagged as an unsupported browser. By setting Opera to lie and say it’s IE, I can get in just fine. Not that I particularly want to download crappy videos from Walmart. has a similar block, too, and also works just fine by setting Opera to hide its true identity. If they don’t want to support my browser that’s fine, but it’d be sufficient to put up a warning, “This site has only been tested with IE and may not work properly with other software. We cannot guarantee the correct functioning of our site with your browser,” then let me enter and take my chances.

    It never ceases to amaze me that these huge corporations won’t spend a few thousand dollars to have someone work on compatibility issues, and would instead prefer to lock out potential customers from whom they would have a reasonable chance of quickly recouping the investment and turning a profit.

  18. IRSistherootofallevil says:

    Oh well, then Walmart just lost a potential customer. I used iTunes anyway.


text:
BusinessWeek: The Poverty Business

Business Week’s top story concerns the “subprime” lending industry in the United States. It’s a good read, one of those articles that makes you feel smarter for having read it. It’s shocking too, reading about a Navajo woman who makes $15,000 a year being lent $7,922 at 24.9% (to buy a 1999 Saturn with 103,000 miles on it) makes us slap our foreheads in frustration. But that’s how it goes when you’re poor. Your bank is a car dealer, your tax accountant is Jackson Hewitt and you’re screwed. —MEGHANN MARCO

The Poverty Business [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: Meghann Marco)

Edit Your Comment

  1. Wormfather says:

    I dont know what’s worse 8 people living on $32K a year or……

    “Unlike traditional dealers, Byrider doesn’t post prices directly on its cars. Salesmen, after consulting ARE, calculate the maximum that a person can afford to pay, and only then set the total price, down payment, and interest rate. Byrider calls this process fair and accurate; critics call it “opportunity pricing.”

    That’s about as ethical as bragging about getting layed after puting something in her drink.

  2. Wormfather says:

    Sorry $40K a year, still.

  3. hc5duke says:

    You don’t have to be poor to get 25% APR. Just last year I was offered over 20% APR on a 2006 Charger at Hendrick Dodge in Durham, NC. The salesman played dumb and only gave me the monthly payments (~$1000), which he insisted was a “competitive offer” (for him maybe?). The very next week, I purchased a Mustang GT from another dealer down the road at 6% APR (the dealer matched my eLoan rate), and wrote Dodge and Hendrick a letter why I will never buy another Dodge or from a Hendrick dealership… not that Dr. Z cares what I have to say.

  4. EtherealStrife says:

    Capitalism at work. Sad, but not really shocking.

  5. bambino says:

    So who do you blame?
    – the ‘predatory’ lending companies that provide 26% APR loans?
    – the ‘uneducated’ poor person who MUST have that car or computer NOW?
    – the education system for not teaching people how to live economically healthy lives?
    – the PARENTS of the poor people for not teaching them how to live econoically healthy lives?

  6. bedofnails says:

    Why am I not surprised a former debt collector started Blue Hippo?

  7. bedofnails says:

    Notice how almost every subject in the article had at least 3 children?

  8. CDANIEL says:

    Though the stories mentioned in this article contain many unfortunate circumstances, I find it difficult to sympathize with the poor choices that these individuals continue to make.

    Consider Lakissisha Thomas who opted for a Jackson Hewitt loan before later doing her research and asking the question “Why should I pay somebody else, some big company, when I could go to the free service?” Then there is Luisa Ajuria who just signs everything put in front of her without even reading the terms. She accepts a credit card and allows her niece to run up a $1,268 balance on the card for frivolous gifts.

    I feel sorry for the family that makes the decision to forgo Christmas in order to avoid the accumulation of debt, but I cannot accept the actions of the Ajuria family, proceeding without any plan for the future.

    A little education and research goes a long way. The great thing about a capital market is that business will cater to the needs of the market. If the consumers provide the demand for a business to supply subprime loans at exorbitantly high interest rates, then neither business nor consumer is being “taken advantage of” if consumers willingly accept the terms.

  9. bedofnails says:

    “…The great thing about a capital market is that business will cater to the needs of the market. If the consumers provide the demand for a business to supply subprime loans at exorbitantly high interest rates, then neither business nor consumer is being “taken advantage of” if consumers willingly accept the terms.”

    Very well stated.

  10. Buran says:

    @hc5duke: Good work. Now you don’t have to worry about your dash caving in in 6 years. ;)

  11. bambino says:

    @bedofnails: Yes, I did. Truthfully it disgusts me to think of the cycle of debt that those children are probably doomed to, given the choices of their parents.

  12. North of 49 says:

    what choices? if you are “subprime” banks won’t even look at you.

    friend of ours who owns a building couldn’t get a loan from the banks or several of the lending agencies. He finally, thanks to us pointing him in the right direction, has that loan being processed.

    This is someone who has the collateral to get the loans. But because he hasn’t been taught well about money – and he grew up in money – he has fritted away his inheritance and screwed up his credit rating.

    So you don’t have to be poor to be “subprime.”

  13. mac-phisto says:

    well, let’s see. the banks have successfully lobbied for bankruptcy reform that eliminates almost everybody’s right to escape debt b/c of a few assholes that govern their finances based on a 7-yr cycle. the student loan lenders successfully lobbied for an amended HEA that allows them to put debtors into financial servitude for the rest of their life.

    what’s around the corner? i’m guessing a return to peonage, the inheritance of debt by heirs…anything to keep this capitalist ship rolling!

  14. sliceofbread says:

    If you are not doing well with money, you should not be buying an $8000 Saturn. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my Saturn with over 123,000 miles and will run it all the way up to 200K, but its no where near worth even $3000 which is what I paid for it the same time this lady bought hers.

  15. Sudonum says:

    Debtors prison

  16. timmus says:

    Agreed… the nation definitely is heading for dystopia — either legalized indentured servitude or a debtors prison where inmates are condemned to a life of doing telemarketing or tech support.

  17. TechnoDestructo says:

    Jeez, I think every car dealer in the Southwest is like the one in that article, to some extent or another. Shitty cars at premium prices and FINANCE FINANCE FINANCE!

    Even the new car dealers (far less scummy, but I still don’t trust them) take advantage of the lack of reasonably priced (and by reasonable I mean comparable to anywhere else in the damn country) used cars and jack up their prices, too.

    Arizona is a nice place to own a car, but a terrible place to buy one. :-/

  18. ReverseCarpetbagging says:

    I really don’t have a problem with subprime lending in general. The aspect that I have a problem with is that people are often offered much more than they really need. The concept of stretching one’s finances goes to a whole new level. The interest rates are just a company protecting itself from the risk of lending to people with less than perfect credit. Should lenders not lend to those people at all? Should they be forced to lend to them with lower interest rates? Should people with less than perfect credit be told that the are not allowed to borrow money? Capitalism is a beautiful thing. The only problem is the gluttonous borrowing habits of some and the gluttonous lending habits of others.

  19. ReverseCarpetbagging says:

    As far as the BAPCPA, I’m not so sure that the new bankruptcy code has made it impossible. While the means test does affect some people, it hasn’t put an end to consumer bankruptcy as we know it. Credit counseling isn’t the worst idea in the world and there was an effort to fend off repeat filing. Chapter 13 never got as much use as it should have. In the end, I’m sure it put some people into Chapter 13 that should have been there in the first place and may have prevented some people that have been hit by true emergencies from filing Chapter 7. But, with the huge problem of the Alternative Minimum Tax, I don’t think the 2005 amendments are the end of the world. Blame it on the lobbyists, blame it on whoever you want. Maybe more attention should be put on states that have unlimited homestead exemptions. Maybe more attention should be put on the actual language of the code and the poor drafting that it reflects. Oh well, it passed and now we have to live with it.

  20. SkippyKilimanjaro says:

    I don’t know if BlueHippo still operates this way, but they used to not ship the computer to the consumer until something like 13 or 14 successful payments had been made. What it amounted to was, once the consumer had actually paid for the cost of the computer (which was generally around $400) plus some cash profit, BH would then ship the computer. The remaining 40 or so payments were essentially risk-free ‘interest’ payments.

    The computers were bottom of the line crap, too.

    The call center I used to be part of competed for some of the BH business. I can remember sitting in marketing meetings talking about whether we wanted to do business with these scumbags. But it boiled down to what the Gateway guy in the article said…we were in business to make a profit and we needed customers to do that. We didn’t win the business, though, which was probably a blessing.

    Fun Fact: Their director of call center operations at the time was Tony Provenzano…nephew of the Tony Provenzano who reportedly killed Jimmy Hoffa.

  21. doug-pirahna says:

    In addition to what you mentioned about BlueHippo, once you’re at the point the computer is due to be shipped, BlueHippo has a reputation for delaying the shipment date past the stated ship date for as long as they can, while at the same time you’re still making weekly payments and any “problems” with those payments can cause the shipment date to be delayed further, or they’ll cancel your account and keep all your money you paid them up to that point.

    Really classy operation in my book.


text:
16 U.S. Cities Have Installed Special Traffic Lights Just For Bicyclists

For anyone who’s ever stopped confidently into a crosswalk only to have a bicyclist zip by and almost take off your nose, or for those on two wheels shaking a fist at that dang car that just cut you off, we’ve got some good news: American cities are becoming more European, and it has nothing to do with baguettes (mmm, bread). At least 16 U.S. cities now use special traffic lights installed just to direct bike traffic.

Pedestrians, drivers and bikers should all benefit in bike-friendly cities, as the red, yellow and green signals (they look like little bikes, of course) will likely help prevent bike-related traffic accidents.

USA Today says cities like Austin, Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. all use the new lights, according to an October study commissioned by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. European countries like Austria and Sweden have been in this game for a while, as is often the case with simple fixes that make sense.

Bicyclists will be safer, says the study, as they can be at risk when going through an intersection during a yellow light. There’s enough time for a car to clear the intersection in that time, but not bikes. A normal green light for a car might not provide enough time for a biker to go from a stopped position to making it across the intersection safely.

Then there are the times when a car is turning right and a biker is going forward — these new lights give cyclists a bit of a head start so those cars won’t turn right into them.

The kinds of traffic signals vary by city, with some incorporated into the regular flow of traffic and signals for cars, while others must be activated by a bicyclist approaching the intersection.

An engineer who worked on the study said bicyclists will be bound by these traffic signals, but each state right now is responsible for regulating their systems.

Bicycle traffic signals get a green light [USA Today]


text:
Should Airlines Do Away With Reclining Seats Once & For All?

There it is, right in front of your face. Sure, it looks innocent enough but any second its controller could decide to hit the lever and WHOMP! the seat in front of you thwacks into reclining position, punishing your knees, spilling your club soda and eliciting a grumpy huff from your lips. What choice do you have but to follow suit and recline your seat as well?

It’s an uncomfortable situation, those reclining airplane seats, and one that’s led to a rumble in the aisles and even the intervention of F-16s after a reclining seat-induced slap fight. For every passenger who wants to be polite to their fellow traveler behind them and resist the pull, someone farther up in the cabin is going to recline that seat, leading to the domino effect of seats thwacking back throughout the plane.

Slate’s Dan Kois takes on this often rude maneuver, which can usually only be avoided by politely asking the person in front of you to put that eat back up just a little bit, maybe? Because I’m trying to eat this sub-par snack plate? He’s of the mind that since nice manners don’t always work, we should just keep those seats right where they are.

Why do we even have reclining seats? It’s not like that tiny degree of recline makes a huge difference, especially since airlines have already cut out as much leg/knee room as possible. Way back in the days of high luxury, it made sense to be able to both luxuriate in wide expanses of leg room and lean back to catch some mid-air Zs.

Now you’re lucky if your knees don’t even graze the seat in front of you and you get an aisle seat free of additional fees, so we can see how that little decadence is the last right to personal comfort left.

Carriers like Spirit Airlines have tried addressing the problem by installing “pre-reclined seats” which is just code for “totally upright seats” that many find uncomfortable and just one more example of airlines moving the flying experience into the realm of sardine can.

But barring that kind of cabin redesign, Kois posits, wouldn’t we all be happier if we had to abide by the “no reclining” rule? Just like you need to leave your seatback in the upright position during takeoff and landing, you’d need to keep it that way so as not to tick off the guy on his laptop behind you. Because it’s not like airlines are going to expand leg room by taking out all those seats they’ve added to jam as many paying customers in as possible, right? Right.

Whaddya think?

If all else fails, check out our tips for avoiding in-flight fisticuffs. And may the sky gods have mercy on your knees.

The Recline and Fall of Western Civilization []


text:
Video: Children of 60 Minutes

The latest magazine shows try hip and folksy variations

In the temple of broadcast journalism, Sept. 24, 1968, deserves to be chiseled in marble. On that night, a television news show patterned after print magazines premiered on CBS. Instead of devoting its hour to one subject, the program offered a blend of serious stories and light features. Instructive and entertaining at the same time, it climbed its way into television's Top Ten shows, earning several hundred million dollars in profits and destroying the dictum that TV news cannot draw viewers and money. Its name, of course, is 60 Minutes.

Network executives still lie awake at night dreaming of ways to...

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text:
Sport: Briefs

¶.Joseph Pulden in Manhattan, exhibited a rat which could stand on its head.

¶ To Mayor James J. Walker, of Manhattan, was presented a bat by certain denizens of the Panama Canal Zone with the request that he give the bat to famed baseball player Babe Ruth. The bat, made out of a lignum-vitae railroad tie, was four ounces over weight. Babe Ruth last week in a Manhattan gymnasium boxed famed musician Paul Whiteman.

¶ Arriving home in Atlanta, the Georgia Tech football team which last fortnight defeated the University of California received an ovation described...

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