President Barack Obama has been on the campaign trail this week lambasting his Republican challenger Mitt Romney for backing policies that the president claims would harm the middle class. On Monday, Romney responded in no uncertain terms, "Let me tell you the heart of my tax proposal: I will not raise taxes on the American people, I will not raise taxes on middle-income Americans."
While both candidates have essentially made this pledge, a recent Bloomberg Editorial takes Romney and Obama to task, concluding that no matter who is in the Oval Office; your taxes are going up.
This fact goes unmentioned by President Barack Obama, who speaks only of tax increases on the wealthy, and is anathema to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, who insist they can beat the deficit into submission by slashing government spending, cutting taxes and eliminating unspecified loopholes. A look at the arithmetic shows neither campaign is on the level.
The scope of the deficit problem is enormous: Federal spending accounts for 24 percent of the economy, while tax revenue stands at 15 percent. Tax cuts, along with the economic downturn, have sapped tax receipts at the same time as more people have resorted to safety-net programs such as food stamps and unemployment insurance.
On "Real News From The Blaze" Tuesday the panel debated the merits of the Bloomberg.com editorial's case. Despite what both candidates might say, is the middle class going to be forced to pony up at some point?
Stanley Kurtz, author of Spreading the Wealth, contends that Obama is not only bad for the middle class, but that he has quite purposefully targeted them. Kurtz joined the show for this discussion, watch a clip below:


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From PDF Introduction
The Speaker in Dreams Web Enhancement
While The Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury led characters into dungeons, The Speaker in Dreams takes place entirely in the city of Brindinford. The characters still face terrible evil and horrible monsters, but the environment itself is less outright hostile-and somehow more frightening exactly because of that. In The Speaker in Dreams, the monsters are not tucked away in a remote dungeon. Instead, they lurk behind the everyday faces of an everyday place, hide behind the bustle of a street fair, strike when least expected, and transform the ordinary city into a place of terror.

domain: literature


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Top Aviator (Ajay)
9 year old gelding who has jumped successfully to 120/125 level.
Very careful and loves his job.
Quick against the clock as he covers ground when required and requested, quick turns are a ease to him.
Very easy horse to work with shoe, box, clip and hack.
Ideal for competitive home looking to get placings,
Ideal Amateur’s/Yr horse for 2023 season.
Full set of clean Xray’s from 2022.
- Gender: Gelding
- Category: Eventer, Showjumper
- Performance: Competed in SJI or FEI
- Horse Name: Top Aviator
- Sire: O-PILOTH [KWPH]
- Dam: SAVANNAH B [ISH]
- Year of Birth: 2014
- Colour: BAY
- Height: Above 16.2
- Country of Origin: Ireland
- Current Location: Galway
- Seller: Pat C

domain: hobby


It’s not a Mustang, but this 188 horsepower hybrid vehicle can handle the streets of L.A. Engulfed in Toyota Prius (cabs, cars), the Ford C-MAX is a mid-size car that does a better job as a hybrid.
Over 500 patents are issued to the Ford C-MAX in energi, hybrid and other areas. The car will also be the most affordable at $25,995 – $1,300 less than the Toyota Prius and it still gets better gas milage: EPA certified at 47 mpg.
Exterior of the Ford C-MAX
The 104.3 inch wheelbase gives you a stable, yet comfortable car. Front suspension uses independant short-and long-arm (SLA) stabilizer bar. The rear suspension is an independent multilink twist blade with stabilizer bar.
Ford C-MAX is a five-door vehicle with driver/passenger blind spot mirrors, rear spoiler, satin crhrome center grille, and 17 inch machine aluminum wheels. It’s called a multi-activity vehicle. While it won’t off-road that well, it will deliver performance with it’s 2.0 liter engine.
The C-MAX gives a total system horsepower of 188. with a torque of 129 @ 4,000 rpm.
Interior of the Ford C-MAX
This vehicle will sit five comfortably. It’s front row is 41 inches, while the back is 39.4. The seats are made of soy – which also saves gas through the production process of the seats. The internal 6-speaker system and SYNC system inside will give you not only a great hands-free experience for your mobile device, but also a great sound system to listen to your favorite music while on the road.
Additional Features of the Ford C-MAX
For a little extra, you can get the premium auto package, power liftgate, rear view camera, keyless entery and more. Fully equipped, the Ford C-MAX will cost $31,085.
Overall impression of the Ford C-MAX
We drove the car to the shore, up to Malibu and back to West Hollywood. I was impressed with the pickup (we could get from 0 to 60 reasonably fast), and the suspension, as I abused it turning on a couple roads in the California coast.
The ride was comfortable overall – which is an issue I have with the Prius. The driver seat is adjustable in many ways including lumbar support. The wheel is telescoping so you can get it to where you like it.
A fun ride on the streets of California. For additional information, check the video I did here at Geekazine!
YouTube link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj0pjP4wFbo


What the brochures fail to mention is that the relationship between Grapevine's history and the Texas wine industry is more of a one-night stand than a life-long romance.
McCallum did not respond to a request for an interview for this story, but most everyone agrees that Grapevine's transformation into a wine district really took off in 1993.
For years, city ordinances prohibited the retail sale of wine in Grapevine. But city officials couldn't change the ordinances, because doing so would require a county election to change dry laws. Grapevine lies in three different counties, and nobody knew who had the authority to hold an election.
In 1993, the city council voted to de-annex some 470 acres of uninhabited land in Denton and Dallas counties and called an election. The people approved the ordinance change and, afterward, the city re-annexed the land.
At the time, passage of the ordinance was celebrated as the way that "Napa Valley started," while McCallum told reporters to expect a "serious cluster of Texas wineries" in Grapevine within 10 years.
Today there are four "wineries" in Grapevine, although Delaney Winery & Vineyard is the only one with a vineyard that actually grows grapes and manufactures wines in Grapevine. (The others are simply tasting rooms.) The other three winemakers are Homestead, La Buena Vida, and La Bodega, which is located in the airport. Cap*Rock winery is expected to open a fifth tasting room in town later this summer.
The idea to use wine as a tourist attraction has its obvious advantages to the city, but the concept is beneficial for wineries as well. Any winery that moves to Grapevine is going to be guaranteed free public relations, says Lisa Allen, the executive director of the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association. Allen says TWGGA relocated to Grapevine from Austin in 1995 because the city's offer, and its location near the D/FW airport, was too good to pass up.
"Texas wine is part of the [PR] campaign; it's part of the plan, if you will," Allen says. "When you have a city that's willing to do that much for your organization, it's hard to turn that down."
So far, the city's batting average in attracting wineries isn't bad--five in five years. But there are 27 wineries in the state, and not all of them are exactly eager to jump onto the Grapevine bandwagon.
Leonard Garcia, president of Ste. Genevieve winery in Fort Stockton, the state's largest winery, says that Grapevine may be calling itself the Wine Capital of Texas, but that it is so only from a promotional viewpoint.
"When you talk 'wine capital of Texas,' the Hill Country stands out more to me than Grapevine does," Garcia says. "You have one vineyard there in Grapevine. You've got four or five or more in the Hill Country that have been there much longer."
One particularly outspoken holdout is Walter Haimann, president of the Llano Estacado winery in Lubbock. Haimann thinks Grapevine's effort to promote the Texas wine industry is just fine, but he says its attempt to compare itself to the Napa Valley and Sonoma regions of Northern California is "ludicrous."
"The issue in Grapevine is a gimmick," Haimann says. "These are not wineries at that location, except possibly for Delaney. The rest of them are tasting rooms, and satellite tasting rooms should not be permitted. They bill themselves as wineries, and they are not, but the average customer doesn't know it."
The difference, Haimann says, is that Napa Valley has 100 wineries within walking distance of each other that customers can visit to learn about the winemaking process from the vineyards to the bottling rooms.
In Grapevine, the "wineries" operate more like stores, where people are encouraged to hang out and drink wine. The goal is to introduce new customers to Texas wines and, hopefully, convince them to go home with a few bottles.
Although McCallum is spinning the vineyard aspect of the wineries (as recently as last month, he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the goal of a "residential vineyard program" is to have grapevines growing in "every Grapevine yard"), Mayor Tate concedes that the city has had to abandon the concept of vineyards.
"We originally conceived of having aesthetic vineyards growing, but in the last few years the land values have soared," says Tate, who makes his living by handling real estate transactions for a local title company. "So the tasting rooms are becoming tasting rooms without the vineyards."
But the lack of vineyards hasn't stopped McCallum's wine publicity campaign.
In 1993, McCallum started the Texas New Vintage Wine & Food Festival, which, like GrapeFest, is a weekend event designed to lure tourists into Grapevine to taste samples of Texas wines. Before the wine-drinking begins, a local pastor usually opens the event with a "traditional" blessing of the vines. Last year, a Catholic priest prayed over 84 sprouts that one Grapevine resident planted in his back yard.


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This paper presents a new method to improve reliability and also minimize active power losses in radial distribution systems (RDS) through a process of network reconfiguration. The methodology adopted to enhance reliability, uses the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation and an historical data of the network such as the severity of the potential contingencies in each branch. Due to the greater number of possible configurations and the need of an efficient search, is also used an improved genetic algorithm (IGA), with adaptive crossover and mutation probabilities and with other new features. The method analyses the RDS in a perspective of optimization considering no investment, and a perspective of optimization where is given the possibility to place a limited number of tie-switches, defined by a decision agent, in certain branches. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through the analysis of a 69 bus RDS.


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Charlie Weston: 'Insurers should note that more discerning purchasers of health cover have emerged'
People with health insurance are becoming more discerning about the cover they have, with many now reviewing their policies on an annual basis. Consumers are rejecting high excesses for attending a private hospital, as they feel it is a waste of money to be paying for health cover if they have to shell out each time it is used.
These are some of the findings from a survey of 1,000 policyholders carried out by insurance expert Dermot Goode of TotalHealthCover.ie. Insurers would do well to note these trends.
When it comes to reviewing their cover, many people are now opting for policies that guarantee refunds on their outpatient expenses with no excess to pay first.
That is typically what you will achieve on a quality corporate plan that is available to every consumer irrespective of age or occupation. There is tax relief on the cost of outpatient expenses, such as visiting a GP and paying for a prescription, but that only amounts to 20pc of the outlay.
The survey also found that large numbers of people are opting for private-room cover in private hospitals.
Semi-private is not as appealing anymore as people realise they will be sharing the bathroom, the visitors, and the TV of up to four other patients.
Goode said in many cases some of the new private-room corporate plans are less expensive than the dated semi-private corporate versions.
Another consumer trend is that members are now looking to be covered for private A&E services. This is because they do not want to wait up to 12 hours in crowded public A&E facilities and are prepared to pay up to €500 for the privilege of being treated quickly for themselves or their children.
More members are going to the likes of the Hermitage Clinic, Beacon Hospital, VHI Swiftcare and the new Affidea centres.
However, the research shows that most members do not realise that these charges are not fully covered by health insurance plans. A good corporate plan will allow you to claim back around half of the cost at best, but on the dated health insurance plans there may be no refund whatsoever, Goode warned.
Another trend is that many siblings or close family relatives are now assisting their elderly parents or family members in reviewing their cover. They are looking after the review for them to help them save money while still retaining excellent quality cover.
This is a positive development as all too often, it is the older members who are stuck on the most dated schemes and are overpaying by €500 to €1,000 per adult in some cases.
Sunday Indo Business

domain: finance


410th Flight Test Squadron
The 410th Flight Test Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force squadron. It was last assigned to the 412th Operations Group at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale Regional Airport, California, where it was inactivated on 1 August 2008. The squadron's primary mission throughout its lifetime was flight and acceptance testing of the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter and the Rockwell B-1B Lancer bomber. Activated in March 1989 for B-1B flight testing, the mission of the unit was changed in 1993 when B-1 testing transferred to the 419th Flight Test Squadron and the squadron became the F-117A test squadron, assuming the mission originated in 1980 at Groom Lake, Nevada.
|410th Flight Test Squadron|
|Branch||United States Air Force|
|Nickname(s)||Baja Scorpions (1993-2008)[note 1]|
|Decorations||Air Force Outstanding Unit Award|
|410th Flight Test Squadron emblem (approved 9 August 1990)[note 2]|
B-1B Lancer testingEdit
In November 1979, the Air Force began a study for a modified version of an existing airframe to carry air launched cruise missiles, called the Long-Range Combat Aircraft (LRCA). On 2 October 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced a Strategic Modernization Program, which would include the procurement of 100 (LRCA). The Rockwell International proposal for the LRCA was a modified B-1A, which was designated the B-1B Lancer.
The first B-1B incorporated several sub-assemblies of the No. 5 B-1A, which has been under construction when the B-1A program was cancelled. Rockwell test pilots flew it for the first time on 31 October 1984, from the Rockwell International assembly plant at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The B-1B was ready for delivery to Strategic Air Command barely eight months after its first flight.
6510 Test SquadronEdit
When the aircraft reached operational squadrons, many shortcomings were discovered. Air Force Systems Command formed the 6510th Test Squadron in March 1989 to test these modifications. Modifications included those needed to improve the low-altitude range of the aircraft, which it was well short of its proposed maximum unrefueled range of 7,455 miles. The modifications increased the range of the aircraft from 1,300 nautical miles to over 3,000. Other modifications tested were to correct problems with the terrain-following radar system, defensive avionics systems, fuel leaks and the Lancer's central integrated test system. In December 1990 General Electric F101 engine turbofan blade failures caused the grounding of the B-1B aircraft, requiring additional modifications.
F-117A Nighthawk testingEdit
In November 1978, the preliminary testing of the Have Blue stealth aircraft was successfully completed, and during November 1978, Lockheed Corporation was awarded a contract to begin full-scale development of the project. The program was given the code name Senior Trend. In 1980, the Senior Trend Joint (later Combined) Test Force was established at Area 51 consisting of a combination of Lockheed and USAF personnel as an acceptance test unit for newly manufactured aircraft. Air Force Systems Command personnel participating in the test were assigned to Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3.
In June 1981, the first Senior Trend test aircraft was delivered for testing and on 18 June 1981 the first successful flight was made by a Lockheed test pilot. There were usually four to six test flights (about half contractor and half USAF) for acceptance. They included systems checks, handling qualities evaluations, and low observable radar verifications. All flights of the aircraft were made at night without lights and the runway was only briefly illuminated to facilitate landings and takeoffs.
The first production aircraft, 80-10785 was ready for its first flight on 20 April 1982. However, unknown to anyone, the fly-by-wire system had been hooked up incorrectly (pitch was yaw and vice versa). Upon liftoff, the plane immediately went out of control. Instead of the nose pitching up, it went horizontal. The aircraft went inverted and ended up traveling backwards through the air. The pilot had no time to eject, and the aircraft flew into the ground. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but some of its parts could be salvaged. On 10 November 1988, the long-rumored existence of the "F-117 Stealth Fighter" was finally officially confirmed by the Pentagon. In 1990 the last F-117A was delivered. and the flight test squadron no longer had to perform acceptance flights at Groom Lake. However, the flight test duties still included flights for refurbished aircraft received from Lockheed.
In February and March 1992 the F-117 test unit moved from Groom Lake to Palmdale Plant 42 where Lockheed had produced the aircraft, although some testing, especially RCS verification and other classified activity, was still conducted at Groom Lake. At Palmdale, the test unit came under the operational control of the 2874th Test Squadron (later the 337th Test Squadron) of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards as Detachment 5 of the 337th Squadron.
410th Test SquadronEdit
In February 1993, the wing's Director of Operations proposed that the unit be established as the 410th Test Squadron. Headquarters AFMC agreed to this, Detachment 5 was discontinued and its personnel and equipment assigned to the 410th Test Squadron (the new name of the 6510th) on 1 March 1993 and the squadron resumed operations.
Flight testing continued at Palmdale throughout the operational life of the F-117. On 1 August 2008, with the retirement of the F-117 from the inventory, the last aircraft of the 410th was flown to Tonopah TRA for permanent storage and the unit was inactivated.
- Designated as the 6510th Test Squadron and activated on 10 March 1989
- Redesignated 410th Test Squadron on 2 October 1992
- Redesignated: 410th Flight Test Squadron on 1 March 1994
- Inactivated on 1 October 2008
- 6510th Test Wing (later 412th Test Wing), 10 March 1989
- 412th Operations Group, 1 October 1993 – 1 October 2008
- Edwards Air Force Base, California, 10 March 1989
- Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale Regional Airport, California, 1 March 1993 – 1 October 2008
Awards and campaignsEdit
|Air Force Outstanding Unit Award||1 January 1996-31 December 1996||410th Flight Test Squadron|
|Air Force Outstanding Unit Award||1 January 1997-31 December 1998||410th Flight Test Squadron|
- Explanatory notes
- Reportedly, after finding a large scorpion in their offices, the testing team adopted it as their mascot and dubbed themselves the "Baja Scorpions". The scorpion became the symbol of all F-117A testing.
- Blazon: Bendy sinister wavy argent and gules the cypher X bendwise in base or garnished azure between four piles diminished in point bendwise of the like, a canton bendwise sinister of the fourth semé of eleven mullets white, all within a diminished bordure yellow. 410 Flight Test Squadron Factsheet.
- Aircraft is Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk, serial 79-10783. This plane will be stored in Hangar 1210 at Edwards Air Force Base while it is refurbished for display at the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum.
- No byline (14 July 2003). "F-117A: 410 Flight Test Squadron "Baja Scorpions"". F117A: The Black Jet. Retrieved 4 January 2019. Cite uses deprecated parameter
- "Factsheet 410 Flight Test Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2019. Cite uses deprecated parameter
- Baugher, Joe (1 October 2015). "Rockwell B-1B Lancer". joebaugher.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019. Cite uses deprecated parameter
- Rogers,[page needed]
- Baugher, Joe (6 October 2015). "Developmental and Operational History of the F-117 Nighthawk". joebaugher.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019. Cite uses deprecated parameter
- F-117 Serial Number Search
- De los Reyes, SRA Julius (5 August 2008). "410th FLTS 'Baja Scorpions' closes historic chapter". 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2019. Cite uses deprecated parameter
- Lineage through August 2008 in 410 Flight Test Squadron Factsheet
- "Air Force Personnel Services: Unit Awards". Air Force Personnel Center. Retrieved 4 January 2019. Cite uses deprecated parameter


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Bruce was just recently diagnosed with diabetes and was soon prescribed insulin shots by his doctor. In addition to the diagnosis of diabetes another major problem developed and one that was quite cumbersome. Bruce was leaking urine. You can imagine how uncomfortable that problem can be! Now this was quite extraordinary since Bruce is not that old. Obviously something had to be done for poor Bruce and fast. His doctor wanted to prescribe another medication for the incontinence, but I thought there might be a simpler solution for all of Bruce’s ailments. As with all of our clients the first thing I wanted to know about Bruce was his diet. After sitting down and figuring out what Bruce was eating on a daily basis I immediately saw the problem. I was not surprised to find out that Bruce had been eating dog food. That’s right. I am sure that you will all be pleased to hear that the V Well diet and lifestyle works just as well for our furry little friends. Yes, Bruce is a dog. A wonderful companion to one of our dear friends at ShopRite. Let it not be said that VWell doesn’t care just as much about our furry friends as it does about the less furry upright ones. Believe it or not many of us have pets that are in need of some good reliable health coaching as well.
The first thing I advised Bruce’s pal to do for him was to get rid of the dog food and start him on a healthy foods diet. This diet consisted of brown rice boiled in chicken stock sprinkled with turmeric and cinnamon as well as making sure to give him filtered or bottled water. His doctor was skeptical, but after trying the new diet his glucose levels tested at normal and the incontinence stopped! Of course this shocked the vet who immediately jumped on board with the new approach. Now Bruce is eating a rotating diet of sweet potatoes, barley, brown rice all boiled in chicken stock and individually combined with chicken sprinkled still, of course, with cinnamon and turmeric. Bruce is now healthy and happy. We were ecstatic to hear the news of a quick recovery for Bruce and the relief felt by Bruce’s good pal.
At Vwell our goal is to provide nutrition information and health coaching to your family. Your whole family. Please remember that we are here for all of you. We encourage and invite your questions about your health, your kids’ health and yes, even your dogs’!

domain: pet


There’s a difference between knowing your data is secure and hoping it is. Attacks are getting increasingly sophisticated by the year. Custom malware and other advanced tactics can make digital security breaches nearly impossible to identify without state-of-the-art technologies.
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In many circumstances, host-based artifacts and network traffic signatures identified in past attacks can be used as indicators of current breaches.
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If you are concerned about a potential breach or if you are currently experiencing a breach and require immediate assistance, contact us with the information below or fill out the form on this page.
A forensics or compliance expert will get back to you as soon as possible.


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Now that an Alex Smith trade to Kansas City appears a fait accompli, long-suffering Chiefs fans are wondering what to make of the former No. 1 draft pick turned bust turned redemption project turned Wally Pipp.
I have to admit, the news doesn’t particularly excite the emotions. Everyone who knows anything knows Smith is a game manager masquerading as a viable starting quarterback due to the brilliant machinations of one Jim Harbaugh.
Kansas City hasn’t attempted to draft a franchise savior since they used the No. 7 overall pick in 1983 to select Todd Blackledge with Dan Marino on the board. They haven’t tried it again for thirty years, instead opting for a long series of retreads that includes Steve DeBerg, Dave Krieg, Joe Montana, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, Trent Green, and Matt Cassel. An entire generation of fans has known nothing but castoffs.
It’s hard to handle the idea of the Chiefs with the No. 1 overall pick and trading for Smith instead of selecting their own Matthew Stafford or Andrew Luck or RG3. Of course, there are supposedly no franchise quarterbacks in this draft, which has me scanning the historical archives for the what the ‘scouts’ had to say about Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick. Survey says: . . . Well, you never know what’s going to be on the board.
John Dorsey and Andy Reid are just joining the Chiefs, but they better understand the stakes. To go with Alex over Geno in the battle of the Smiths, they need to be absolutely certain the rookie won’t turn into a star and simultaneously have a lot more confidence in Smith than the rest of us.
Regardless, if Smith is the hand we’re dealt, let’s see what we’re likely to get.
The most accurate way to do quarterback comparisons is to use adjusted yards per attempt. We also want to get a large enough sample to even out the inherent randomness of quarterback stats. Most importantly, we want to focus on a set of years that accurately compares quarterbacks at the same level of experience and athletic development. Therefore, we’ll use three seasons worth of data and compare Smith to other quarterbacks in their age 26 to age 28 seasons.
Alex Smith Historical Comparisons Age 26 to 28
The comps turn out to be shockingly good. Troy Aikman is already in the Hall of Fame and Tom Brady and Drew Brees will be in the not too distant future. The list also includes a former Reid signal-caller in Donovan McNabb.
The comparisons also serve to undermine the major argument against Smith – namely that he’s purely a system quarterback who’s recently benefited from crafty manipulation. Brady, Brees, and McNabb had access to some of the best coaching the NFL has to offer. Aikman is in the Hall of Fame at least in part because he was the caretaker for a franchise overflowing with talent.
The other major argument against Smith suggests that if he was going to be a franchise quarterback, he would have done so before now. His comparisons suggest otherwise. Although the group generally posted excellent win/loss records between ages 26 and 28, most only took off as passers at age 29 or later. Brees put up gaudy numbers a little earlier, but, like Smith, he started off his career with three very poor seasons. He rallied to post similar efficiency numbers to Smith during this age window and then exploded to superstardom in subsequent seasons. Facts, not memories. That’s how you investigate.
The one big red flag for Smith is the lack of prolific passing yardage on a per game basis. Smith ranks at the bottom of the category and by a pretty wide margin. This could be a testament to the weaknesses in Smith’s scouting report, or it could simply be that San Francisco had the personnel to be extremely run-oriented.
On a more optimistic note, his touchdown and interception rates are very similar to the rest of the group. He threw a touchdown on 4.4% of his attempts, right in line with Aikman and Brees. His interception rate of 2.0% is the second lowest behind McNabb. (Such a low interception rate probably suggests a level of cautiousness he’d have to abandon on his new team.)
A Few More Advanced Numbers
You can understand why Alex was so disappointed to get benched last season. He finished 2012 with the third highest passer rating in the NFL, trailing only Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. His 7.97 yards per attempt trailed only Griffin, Manning, and Cam Newton. When it was all said and done, he led the NFL in completion percentage.
Of course, Colin Kaepernick came in and made him look very average, which has led some evaluators to believe Smith was just a product of the system. I doubt that’s the case. Kaepernick was a tremendous college quarterback and an elite talent. He should have been selected in the Top 10 of the 2011 NFL Draft based on his college numbers alone. Given that Luck, Kaepernick, and Smith are the three quarterbacks mostly commonly associated with Jim Harbaugh, QB Whisperer, there’s little reason to give credit solely to Harbaugh. He’s obviously working with very good talent.
The Pro Football Focus game charters have come to similar conclusions about Smith. (Unlike scouts, PFF logged every Smith throw from the last two seasons.) After finishing as the third most accurate passer in 2011, Smith jumped to No. 1 in 2012. He barely edged Rodgers, Griffin, and Manning. While coaching obviously helps – and Harbaugh is clearly at the very top echelon of the coaching fraternity – these aren’t the types of numbers you can simply ‘manage’ a quarterback into achieving.
The difference between Smith and Kaepernick – and one of two big issues with Smith’s game – can be seen in deep passing. While Smith was reluctant to attack downfield (8.7% of attempts), Kaepernick aired it out with almost reckless abandon (15.1%). But that’s only part of the story. The phenom was accurate on 60% of his deep throws, easily leading the NFL. That pretty definitively eviscerates the idea that Smith was merely beaten out by another good player. Kaepernick is a paradigm-shifting talent, a fact which will become only more obvious in 2013.
Smith, on the other hand, was accurate on 47% of his deep attempts, which is actually a very solid number. That was better than guys like Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, and Joe Flacco. The big question is whether Smith will play aggressively enough. In addition to an unwillingness to throw deep, he tends to hold onto the ball and take too many sacks. If there’s an area where he differs from the historical comparisons listed above, that’s probably the one. Both the conventional numbers and the game-charting results suggest he’s below average in getting the ball out on time.
Alex Smith Superstar
Going on age 29, Tom Brady had only one 4,000 yard season – and just barely one at that – and hadn’t yet hit on a 30 touchdown campaign. Seven years later and he’s reached 4,800 or more three times and cleared 30 touchdowns on four occasions.
Alex Smith has had the misfortune of playing for some truly awful coaches and on abysmal teams. To hold those results against him and then not give him credit for his accomplishments under Harbaugh is to create a ridiculously unfair grading rubric. Keep in mind that I included his age 26 season under the completely overmatched Mike Singletary.
Smith hasn’t given the vibe of someone who could carry a team, but think back to the three championships the Patriots won with Tom Brady. During that portion of his career, Brady wasn’t seen as more than a game manager. Or flashback for a moment to the early Brees days in San Diego where he was so bad they drafted Philip Rivers.
It’s almost impossible to hide a quarterback at the NFL level or allow him to ‘manage a game’ in a way that makes his stats look better than they are. Eli Manning has played on two Super Bowl champions and he doesn’t show up on the list of Smith comparisons because his efficiency numbers during his age 26 to age 28 seasons were far worse than Smith’s.
Joe Flacco just won a championship and played so well during the playoffs that it’s easy to forget how awful he was during the regular season. If not for their defense and running game, the Ravens wouldn’t have even made the playoffs. Flacco has just completed his age 26 and age 27 seasons. He’ll have to have a tremendous age 28 season just to rise to Smith’s efficiency level. Both Eli and Flacco play for Super Bowl winning coaches and with ferocious defenses, yet their coaches haven’t been able to ‘manage them’ to good passing numbers.
Even with all of these positives, it’s hard to get excited about Smith from a reality perspective. Like everyone else, I watch Smith play and can’t help but think, ‘well, he doesn’t seem that good.’ But I can see why John Dorsey might be intrigued. Almost everyone writing about the potential Smith-to-KC trade seems to believe he will only act as a stopgap, but I doubt that’s the way Dorsey and Reid see it. Smith is young enough to lead the Chiefs for the next six or seven years if he’s good enough to start for them at all. There’s very little reason to make this trade if the acquiring team doesn’t see him as a franchise quarterback.

domain: sports


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Three Comedies from Sacha Baron Cohen
Ali G Indahouse (November 1/06)
That Ali G Indahouse is ultimately revealed to be a cliched and somewhat tedious comedy doesn't come as much of a surprise, given the one-note nature of the character that inspired it. Sacha Baron's Cohen's Ali G clearly works best in small doses, and there's little doubt that his appearances on The Ali G Show and various other programs have transformed him into something of a cult figure. But trapped within the confines of an awfully stale premise, the novelty of the character wears off almost immediately - with the end result a film that has little to offer all but the most die-hard Ali G fan. Ali G Indahouse follows Cohen's moronic invention as he's inexplicably elected to British Parliament, where he proceeds to shake things up with his wildly inappropriate demeanor. Although the film is admittedly kind of entertaining for a while - some of this stuff is genuinely funny - there comes a point at which the story becomes overwhelmingly familiar (ie Ali begins ignoring his friends from back home after he becomes a success). One's tolerance for such shenanigans is directly related to one's tolerance for Ali G himself, as the film essentially abandons the confrontational humor of his show and instead emphasizes his idiocy on a much larger scale. Cohen's ample charisma certainly goes a long way towards keeping things moderately interesting (temporarily, anyway), but there's unfortunately no getting around the fact that Ali G should've remained on the small screen.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
There's been plenty of hyperbole swirling around Borat over the past few months - ie funniest movie ever! - but it becomes evident almost immediately that the film simply isn't going to be able to live up to such grandiose statements. Although there are a number of genuinely hilarious moments sprinkled throughout Borat's 84-minute running time, the semi-improvisational structure ultimately lends the proceedings a distinctly hit-and-miss sort of vibe. The film follows Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen's likable yet thoroughly backwards creation, as he leaves his native Kazakhstan for the United States, where he hopes to learn more about what makes Americans tick. Directed by Larry Charles, Borat adopts a confrontational tone early on by pitting Cohen against a wide array of real-life figures (including a driving instructor, a camper van full of frat boys, and Pamela Anderson). The movie is subsequently rife with awkward sequences in which Borat exposes the uglier side of his various subjects; it's eye-opening stuff to be sure, but there's no denying that such antics eventually become repetitive (think Jackass except with slightly more plot). And while the majority of the film's bits have been spoiled by the trailers and commercials, Borat remains a sporadically effective comedy that's undoubtedly best served by a theatrical viewing.
As expected, Bruno boasts (and, by association, suffers from) a thoroughly disjointed narrative that is, at the outset, quite off-putting - with the movie's patchwork sensibilities ensuring that certain sequences are far more engaging than others. It's due primarily to Sacha Baron Cohen's impressively go-for-broke work as the title character - a flamboyantly gay Austrian who arrives in America hoping to become a superstar - that the film generally manages to sustain the viewer's interest even through its overtly sluggish stretches, although there's little doubt that the thoroughly underwhelming opening half hour ensures that things get off to as ineffective a start as one could possibly envision. The lack of momentum that ensues is perpetuated by the inclusion of several overlong and needlessly mean-spirited interludes - ie Bruno attempts to bed right-wing politician Ron Paul - and it's subsequently worth noting that Bruno initially seems as though it's going to fall right in line with its entertaining yet markedly uneven predecessor. There reaches a point, however, at which the movie's hit-to-miss ratio increases substantially, with this change triggered by an increased emphasis on segments that are genuinely hilarious (ie Bruno appears on a talk show accompanied by his adopted black child). It's certainly enough to carry the proceedings through to its jaw-dropping finale, and although Baron Cohen's shtick is starting to get a little too familiar, Bruno carves out a place for itself as a memorable, downright shocking comedy that's ultimately a slight cut above Borat.

domain: entertainment


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Ever since I first became involved in family mediation, there is a key issue that has been on my mind as well as on the mind of most of the mediators who I know, namely:
Why have so few people who would benefit from family mediation (e.g. divorcing or separating couples and parents or grandparents who need to sort of children’s issues) seem to have heard of “mediation”?
For a start, most people who I talk to about the topic, either seem to immediately assume that I am talking about “meditation” or have a strong sense that I am referring to a form of “counselling”.
However, once I have been able to explain that I am talking about “mediation not meditation” and that mediation is very different from counselling, there is an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the concept from the people who I am talking to. This reaction might be “If only I had known about mediation when I got divorced” or “If ever need to sort out finance and children issues in the future then I will definitely seek the help of a family mediator”.
It is this strange contradiction between the apparent lack of awareness about the existence of family mediation and the very positive reaction to the benefits of using family mediation (which is underpinned by the fact that the vast majority of the people who use mediation, or at least from my experience as a mediator, reach a successful conclusion within the mediation process) that gas fascinated me over the years.
Whilst I do have a number of ideas and theories about why this contradiction exists, I think that it would be really helpful for others to put forward their ideas about why this is the case. Who knows, if enough people take part in this process then this discussion itself may enable the mediation process to be improved and provide many more people with the opportunity to benefit from the use of family mediation in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to reading your comments.
Godalming Family Mediation

domain: psychology


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- 80% brass, 20% Swarovski Elements crystals
- total length of the necklace approx. 80 cm
- suspended ORSKA logo with the diameter of approx. 1.5 cm
ORSKA felt an adventure and, inspired by treasure hunt, created a collection that resembles a chest filled with sparkling jewels. Imagine you open the lid, peek inside and are struck by the bright rays of the sun reflecting off the surface of the juicy crystals and luxurious medallions…
The artistic long necklace from Ray collection was carefully handcrafted from brass. The delicate chain was adorned with various circle pendants with a forged surface neatly framed with small elegant beads. The surface of one of them was decorated with graphite Swarovski Elements crystals. Thanks to its universal character the necklace will be a great accessory to both every day and evening outfits. The chic design will also fit well with earrings and bracelets from Ray collection.

domain: design


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Hawaii tourism officials gathered for a small ceremony on Oct. 29 to see off the final Japan Airlines flight between Kona and Narita International Airport. The route was one of 15 the carrier decided to suspend in 2010 during its restructuring process through bankruptcy.
"The JAL flight is without a doubt the most important international route for Hawaii Island. The positive impact it has made on our economy for the last 14 years is highly significant, and we truly hope to welcome JAL back someday," said Big Island Visitors Bureau Executive Director George Applegate.
According to Hawaii tourism officials, the JAL nonstop flight has carried more than 980,000 passengers between Narita and Kona since its initial trip in 1996. The flight also transported a range of Big Island exports, including macadamia nuts, papaya, coffee, abalone and desalinated sea water, to the Japanese market.

domain: news


Wales caretaker coach Rob Howley will announce his pick for this year's RBS 6 Nations Championship this morning.
Howley's choice has been hampered by injuries with 11 players doubtful for the tournament, prop Aaron Jarvis and second row Luke Charteris ruled out with knee injuries and fly half Rhys Priestland sidelined by his achilles tendon.
The team announcement is expected at 11am.
More top news
Human remains, thought to be those of an Irish woman who went missing in the mid 90s, have been exhumed from a grave in North Wales.
Conservative AM Darren Millar has revealed that Carl Sargeant asked him to question First Minister about bullying in the Welsh Government.
A Welsh ale voted Britain's best beer must change its can design after a ruling said it was "too attractive" for children.


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I have NOT used any human wipes on my cat so far
Before nice people at earthbath sent earthbath tushy wipes for review, I always reached for a baby wipe when there was a dingleberry alert in the house. But products made for babies aren’t meant for cats. For something to be safe for a baby, there are different considerations than there are for cats. Babies don’t lick themselves all over, after all.
If you’re familiar with baby wipes, cat wipes are the feline version. They’re usually slightly damp and contain cat-safe detergent and conditioners to help remove light dirt, minor stains and the saliva that produces reactions in cat-allergic people. When Siouxsie’s arthritis got to the point that she found it hard to groom herself effectively, I used wipes on her. If you use wipes, be sure to buy only products made for cats, and I recommend unscented wipes if possible.
No - use pet wipes (if you need wipes at all) Pet wipes are especially made for cats with ingredients that will not harm a cat if it licks the residue from the wipes off its fur. You can't be sure a baby wipe is safe for cats as will a baby really lick all over its skin? No.Cats should have a good quality scratching post to use which helps clean and sloth off the nail sheath. In doing so they sharpen the tip of the nails continually. This also helps as most cats readily go to a scratching post instead of your furniture if you work with them when they first arrive at your home. By giving them something to sharpen those claws with, your personal furniture should be safe. Nail clipping at least once every two to three weeks and can be done before (if you are worried about being scratched) or after a bath, or while you are sitting watching your favorite weekly TV show inthe evening. Make it an enjoyable experience for both of you. Have clippers and a wipe such as a baby wipe or Stridex pad which has some ingredients that break up oils, available before you sit down to do this easy but essential part of grooming. When clipping the nail do not clip any shorter than the quick (which will bleed profusely if you clip too close). As the nail curves downward and thins (the sharp part) the quick stops. If the nails are light colored you can see the quick, if the nails are dark err on the side of caution and clip just a bit of the sharp end but more often. Use the wipes to get the residual oils that may collect on the nail bed (base) and in the fold behind the nail. This is the extra skin which sheathes the nails on a Sphynx. Wipe with a damp wash cloth after using any product that contains a chemical, cats lick and you don't want your kitty ingesting those chemicals. The oil residue which collects is usually a brownish color and can become quite stubborn so regular cleaning is a must. I believe bacteria can also be picked up in the litter box as they scratch in their litter, when toes are oily or dirty.


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On Monday 15th November, the Williamwood tennis team travelled to Newlands Lawn Tennis Club to play a Scottish Schools Cup 2nd round tie against Grove Academy from Dundee. The tie consisted of four singles matches and two doubles matches, all based on a seeding system. The Williamwood playing order was Keir Campbell (S6), Ross Overdijking (S3), Andrew Thomson (S6) and Ehsin Farooq (S5). The team played extremely well in both the single and doubles matches and recorded hard fought victories in each match, giving a final score of 6-0. Williamwood is now through to the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup.
Report by Ross Overdijking


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Congressional Leaders Continue Budget Talks
MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
And I'm Michele Norris.
And we're a little more than a day away from a partial government shutdown. Top negotiators in Congress have yet to strike a deal that would keep federal programs funded beyond tomorrow. Neither Republicans nor Democrats want to be blamed for a shutdown, so all profess to be doing their utmost to avert one.
But as NPR's David Welna reports, time is running out on their search for common ground.
DAVID WELNA: For the third time in as many days, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid trooped over to the White House this afternoon to be prodded once again by President Obama to work out their differences.
The president is hardly a neutral mediator. There appears to be little daylight between him and leader Reid on what's acceptable and what's not in the frantic push to avert a shutdown.
Earlier today, Reid said he'd lost the cautious optimism he had last night after a similar meeting at the White House. He seemed to have recovered some of that buoyancy when he spoke in the White House driveway after today's meeting.
HARRY REID: We had a frank discussion. We had the necessary parties there to move toward a finish line. I'm disappointed we haven't been able to get something done to this point. But I am pleased that we're still working on getting there.
WELNA: For his part, Speaker Boehner, who spoke alongside Reid in the driveway, emphasized what he said had not been agreed upon.
JOHN BOEHNER: There is no agreement on a number. There are no agreement on the policy issues that are contained with this. We're continuing to work toward an agreement because I do believe all of us sincerely believe that we can get to an agreement, but we are not there yet.
WELNA: Earlier at a news conference at the Capitol, Boehner suggested he had been misled at last night's White House session.
BOEHNER: We made some progress last night, or at least I thought we did. But, you know, when I see what the White House has to offer today, it's really just more of the same.
WELNA: But Senate Democrats say there is far less that separates them from House Republicans than what Boehner is willing to admit. Give or take a billion dollars, they say, the number all parties are discussing for how much to extract from the budget for the remaining half of the fiscal year is around $33 billion, a little more than half the amount of spending cuts House Republicans approved in February.
Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, suggested today that Boehner is the one who's been misleading.
CHARLES SCHUMER: When the speaker says there's no agreement on the number or the cuts, it does not mean we're far apart. He just means he isn't ready to say so publicly yet.
WELNA: There is a significant difference in the budget showdown, though, over the social policy restrictions that Republicans attached to the budget for this year which only the House approved.
Here's Majority Leader Reid earlier today.
REID: This debate that we've been involved in for many weeks now used to be based on money. That's no longer the case. The Tea Party is trying to push through its extreme agenda - issues that have nothing, nothing, nothing to do with funding government.
WELNA: Seeking political cover in this fight, House Republicans today approved a one-week extension of federal funding. It cuts $12 billion in spending and also funds the Pentagon through September. It also contains what Democrats consider a poison pill: a measure barring the use of federal funds for abortions in the nation's capital.
Here's House Democrat Norm Dicks of Washington state.
NORM DICKS: They have chosen to put in a highly controversial rider on abortion in the District of Columbia which is ideological. This is not something that a serious appropriations committee would do in the middle of a government crisis.
WELNA: Reid called the measure passed by the House a nonstarter for the Senate. The White House called it a distraction and said President Obama would veto it.
But because that measure would keep the government fully operating should no deal be reached on funding for the rest of the fiscal year, Republicans say it will be the fault of Democrats if there is a partial shutdown.
Both Reid and Boehner are meeting once again at the White House this evening.
David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.


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Vols quarterback Tyler Bray (8) throws against Troy on Nov. 3 in Knoxville. When Vanderbilt defensive players discussed Bray this week, the one word they kept using. 'He's a gunslinger, man,' linebacker Archibald Barnes said. 'That's the term for him. The guy can throw the ball.'
- Filed Under
The more Vanderbilt defensive players discussed Vols quarterback Tyler Bray this week, the more one word kept being used.
"He's a gunslinger, man," linebacker Archibald Barnes said. "That's the term for him. The guy can throw the ball."
Tennessee's defense has surrendered a boatload of points and backbreaking plays this season, but it's the right arm of Bray and his many options that have the Commodores concerned entering their annual grudge match at 6 Saturday (ESPN2) at Vanderbilt Stadium. ...


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What’s different about today’s business world? Shane Metcalf, co-founder of 15Five and a recent guest on Manage Smarter reminds us that “we’re not just working from home, we’re operating in a pandemic,” and that new reality requires us to find the magic metric. Too many managers may be obsessing over details and insisting that employees account for every minute of their workday. Instead they should understand the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and manage to the magic metric to increase engagement and productivity.
Extrinsic Versus Intrinsic Motivation
Managers should know that only 30% of their workforce is highly engaged. That figure came from Gallup Poll. And that statistic reflects the fact that many managers rely on extrinsic motivation. For example, they review reports to find out if their reps make 10 cold calls or send out a specific number of emails every day. The fear of losing their jobs is what makes many reps respond in this kind of work environment, but they often get into a ‘work-to-rule’ mindset. When they feel the pressure to satisfy an arbitrarily set goal, they refuse to go the extra mile or engage in any creative thinking about how to make the company and its solutions better.
When you appeal to an employee’s intrinsic motivation, you are valuing the concept of Metcalf’s magic metric. Intrinsic motivation is all about showing that you understand your employees’ strengths and what their vision is for the future. If you can help them craft the kind of work they should be doing to get there and help them polish specific sales skills, they’ll respond with more passion and engagement.
Sales managers can start this process by giving their sales team members a sales skills assessment. A good assessment considers far more than personality. These results can reveal details about an individual’s work style, how they prefer to communicate, and their strengths and weaknesses. Managers can use these data points to start a conversation about career planning with team members, even during our remote work era.
Managers should understand that these assessment results form the basis for the start of a conversation. Over time, they should use an automated coaching solution to help sales reps develop key skills. And they should also touch base regularly on job changes the rep would like to make.
By speaking to the needs of the whole person, a sales manager can improve the team’s loyalty and engagement overall.
Show Employees A Little Love
Whether your team is working from a remote location or in the offices down the hall, manager check-ins must cover more than a status report on projects, especially during recessionary times. You don’t need to be close friends with your direct reports, but you do need to understand what’s stressing them. Most of us are dealing with the psychological impact of social distancing, huge schedule disruptions, and fear about the future. It’s important to ask team members what they are struggling with.
Employees who feel safe enough to admit that the continued homeschooling of their kids, for example, is draining them are showing trust. They’re taking a risk. Assure them that sharing these personal details won’t work against them. When you show empathy by making a supportive statement in return, you’re building more trust. You’re also learning how to appeal to their intrinsic motivation.
When everyone on the team is having a tough time, you might want to show them a little love. Sending a small gift to each person’s remote location with a personal note can increase their positive feelings about you and the work they’re doing. Your generosity highlights an important message about the culture you’re creating – that people on your team care about each other.
Try team building exercises during the lunch hour on a weekly or monthly basis. Some of Metcalf’s suggestions include having each staff member do a presentation on a topic they’re passionate about that is non-work related. Leaders can also strengthen cross-team bonds and culture by supporting employees in their personal interests as Google has done with its orchestra.
When managers support the needs of the whole person, they can improve the team’s loyalty and engagement overall. The magic metric is all about finding what intrinsically motivates each rep.


Sadie and Sage
Iris in Honey Knit
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Hand wash cold, do not bleach, hang or line dry


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From Image Entertainment, one of the leading distributors of horror entertainment, comes the chilling new horror movie The Inheritance. Family bonds will be tested when a young group of cousins are brought together for a chance to claim their inheritance. They are all in for quite a shock when they learn just what has been […]
I’m not exactly wetting my pants with excitement over BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, but it is hard for me to pass up seeing anything for free, especially if it appears as potentially, nonsensically fun as this one does. Basically, Amazon is offering a promotion along with Sony (who are behind the film) that gets you a […]
Hey all, this is only the second iteration of this column and this is going to be a short one as there are not nearly as many as worthwhile deals this time around. Still, there are some bargains out there that may be worth your while (and money) so let’s have at it:
Earlier in the week we posted a behind the scenes look at the four upcoming new videos from members of the SKR family, below are the completed videos featuring Bloodshot, Razakel, Sicktanick, and Komatose.
Earlier this month I posted this article regarding the current state of theatrical and pre-theatrical horror releases being available on On Demand services. I have now decided that I will continue to update The Liberal Dead whenever new genre titles are available for your streaming pleasure. This is the first of those posts. These films […]
Well, sort of. It got released this Tuesday through Synapse but it appears to be out of stock at most retailers/e-tailers at the moment. Perhaps the folks at Synapse underestimated the draw of Coffin Joe? I know that I’m certainly surprised that enough people would purchase it causing Amazon’s stock to become nonexistent.
On febuary 25th 2011 SKR (Serial Killin Records) will be releasing four brand new music videos from memebers of the SKR family. Below is a sneak peek and a behind the scenes looks at how music and horror come together during the making of a SKR music video.
So, if someone gave you this as a synopsis, what would you expect or, more importantly, how aroused would you be? Eight classic monsters fight to the death in an explosive wrestling tournament set inside an abandoned and cursed graveyard.
Hello, readers. I’d like to introduce you to a new, hopefully weekly, column of mine here on The Liberal Dead. The title pretty much says it all, but basically this will be a round up of awesome horror (and genre) related blu-ray deals that I stumble across online for the upcoming week and for future […]
The trash kings (and queen) are leaving us rapidly. We have lost Russ Meyer, Lee Frost, Doris Wishman, Radley Metzger and now David F. Friedman. These filmmakers are the sleaziest of the sleazy, the trashiest of the trashy and the most audacious of the….well, audacious. The only living filmmakers that compare to them, both in […]
In case there are a few of you left out there that are unaware of the Horror T-Shirt store Fright Rags, consider this your awakening. Fright Rags is an online shop that brings you one-of-a-kind horror movie T-Shirt designs. Working with some absurdly talented artists, Fright Rags brings art to the backs of many horror […]
Are you a member of a unsigned band? Do you love horror? How would you like to see your music featured in the upcoming Full Moon release of Evil Bong 3D? You could have your song featured in the film it self or perhaps on the O.S.T.
It looks like one of my all time favorite movies growing up is getting a remake, inside me causing an instant love hate type feeling. While the remake for “The Gate” sounds promising there is always that chance it will be total garbage as well, after all I was pretty excited for the “Nightmare on […]
It’s happened to me and I’m sure it has happened to you. You open up the latest issue of Fangoria or Rue Morgue or whatever awesome genre publication you happen to have your hands on, and you read about a film that is coming out in a couple of months that you just NEED to […]
As the peon at Fright Rags, I’m privy to all of the awesome background stuff, but I gotta keep my trap shut until things become “official”. Ben Scrivens, Chief Executive Officer of Awesome, wants you all to know that tomorrow, 1/19/11, the much awaited KING COLLECTION drops. King as in Stephen, baby: The Master of […]
February 16th 1935 – January 7th 2011 Spanish director of such horror and sci-fi classics as
There are few things on this earth that I love more than when horror and comedy are fused together in a neatly wrapped up and entertaining package. With everyone and their cousin getting their own paranormal investigation show as of late it was only a matter of time before a well executed parody would emerge […]
2010 marked the year that horror fans were able to see their favorite zombie comic come to life on the small screen. AMC debuted their adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s epic series, “The Walking Dead”. The pilot episode was met with mostly praise, both from fans of the comic, as well as those who were unaware […]
ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT FALLS FOR LOVE AT FIRST KILL Secrets Will Be Revealed On DVD February 15th


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One thing that annoys me about people is their callous approach to life or things. Somehow I can deal with other flaws but however I can never come to terms with how a person deals with life in a nonchalant manner. They have this easygoing and laid back attitude. Often people will assume that world revolves around them and will function according to their own rules. For them it’s fine if they miss their flight, for their will catch the next one. If they have to submit a form somewhere, they will wait till the last day. They will stall doing a particular thing, which maybe of more importance than smoking up with their other friends. Its one big party, they are always up to some trick, even the most serious occasions seem funny to them, emotions seem trivial and maturity a fools burden of life. They may appear pleasing and almost entertaining to most, they maybe an obvious choice for frequenting or bonding but after a time they sure do get to you. Even their never-ending optimism makes you feel sick of them.
Somehow I have always valued life; I have seen things and have always had a rather serious and matured way of looking at it and dealing with it. So when I see such people, I feel that they are a mere waste.
Call me demented or a moron. But one who hasn’t prioritized his/her life may be the flavor of the season, but soon after the joy ride is over, gets trashed and thrown out before he/she even knows it. So all those of the likes do -Review and reanalyze yourself!


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Montreal-based septet TEKE::TEKE have launched their debut album, Shirushi. Stream it through Apple Music or Spotify beneath.
TEKE::TEKE named themselves after a Japanese slang time period for these into surf tradition, which is an onomatopoeia that’s meant to sound like a surf guitar riff. Their sound is impressed by Nineteen Sixties and Nineteen Seventies period psychedelic Japanese soundtracks whereas mixing in trendy punk influences.
The nine-track Shirushi (or “indicators of nice adjustments to come back”) covers themes of identification, spirituality, rebirth, and self-exploration, that includes supernatural storytelling throughout its lyrics.
Within the case of “Barbara”, which we named Song of the Week final month, the monitor facilities on a being known as a Zashiki-Warashi, an impish childlike spirit that pulls pranks round a house. In the meantime, “Meikyu” tells the story of a younger character attempting to flee the grasp of a twisted spirit that took the type of a labyrinthe-like mansion.
Choose up vinyl or CD editions of Shirushi on TEKE::TEKE’s Bandcamp.

domain: artistic


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Even with the disappointment of Apple winning its litigation on their “special patents”, it looks like executives from both Google and Samsung will meet in Seoul on Thursday. Thats right! Eric Schmidt, alongside Samsung “big-wig”, Shin Jong-kyun, will discuss numerous details about their company companionship.
But it seems that it is very likely that this meeting is focused on, none other than Apple’s patent strikes against Samsung. Lets not forget that just a little over a month ago, Apple won its case in the United States against the company, exclaiming various factors of how the South Korean manufacturer infringed on Apple design and “style”.
It’s no surprise that the recent Apple vs. Samsung verdict drew massive ire and certainly no secret that Samsung not only disagrees with it, but plans to fight Apple to the very death. It now appears that Samsung has the additional ammunition needed to contest the court’s ruling and be granted a retrial. During the jury selection process (also known as voir dire), a foreman who happened to be part of the jury selection pool as a prospective juror was originally asked if he will set aside all that he knew of patent law from his personal experience, while following the court’s instructions and make an objective judgment based off evidence alone. The prospective juror who was eventually selected to be part of the jury answered yes to the questions, as he promised to follow the law and not use what he knew from previous cases.
As a precaution, lawyers on both sides extensively check and analyze the responses based off the participants of the voir dire. But naturally, the foreman did the complete opposite and broke his promise to follow the law and not have any sort of bias— based off his responses and interviews to the media after the verdict was handed down. Now that this is out in the open, this observation paints a bigger picture. Seeing the different legal experts present these facts and information again gives Samsung a reason to aggressively contest and appeal the recent verdict. However as Groklaw points out, there is “The tendency is for jury verdicts to stand, even if there is a problem“. Samsung will have a long battle ahead if it wants to win.
It seems the technology trial of the decade is not over yet: Apple has just requested a court order for a permanent ban of U.S. sales of all Samsung products that have been found to violate Apple patents, in addition to $707 million more in damages. This will bring the total from $1.05 billion in damages to $1.75 billion, an astronomical number even for a technological superpower such as Samsung. It looks like the patent war of the ages seems to be far from over as Samsung responded to Apple’s latest jab with their own request, this one for a completely new trial. Samsung claims that “the Court’s constraints on trial time, witnesses and exhibits were unprecedented for a patent case of this complexity and magnitude, and prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case in response to Apple’s many claims,” and thus, is worthy of a new trial. If Samsung is granted such a lofty request, they may be able to dodge not only the initial financial blow, but can request an entirely new trial.
Apple claims that both Samsung and Motorola infringed on their touch event model patent (EP2098948), but the Mannheim Regional Court just came down with a decision in favor of Samsung and Motorola. The touch event model patent shouldn’t be mistaken for multitouch. This one is a fairly broad patent (not like all the others aren’t) that covers the way the operating system reports or disregards touch events to applications. This could have been a mess for both Samsung and Motorola because if Apple had won, the result would be a need to rewrite, recompile, and reinstall a lot of apps since numerous applications rely on the operating system functionality.
The defense was based on the fact that Android does not store a multi-touch flag in association with each “view”, and this same argument was already successful in the UK and the Netherlands. I’m sure Apple will appeal this ruling just like they did with those.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or on a different planet you already know that Apple has accused many for blatantly copying their UI and hardware. Of course Samsung is at the top of that list and already owes Apple $1 billion. Yesterday, Apple released iOS 6 and it appears the clock on the iPad is an exact copy of the station clock at the Swiss Federal Railway.
The iconic clock was originally designed by Hans Hilfiker in 1944 and the railway owns both the trademark and copyright for the design. It looks like the railway is already aware of the situation and is demanding compensation from Apple for its usage. I highly doubt Apple has any artwork dating back to the 1940′s showing this design, and even if they did, it wouldn’t matter based on how the courts look at things. Just how much the Swiss Railway could be awarded for this is anyone’s guess, but with the amount of iPad’s in existence, it can’t be cheap.
Android’s multitouch software is not as good as Apple’s multitouch software? That’s what Samsung is claiming in order to avoid a recall and sales ban of its Android smartphones in a patent suit in the Dutch Court of Hague. In this round of the Apple vs. Samsung saga, Apple argues Samsung infringes on a certain multitouch patent called the “touch event model”— which prevents users from pushing two buttons at the same time on the screen. So as a result of the alleged infringement, Apple believes the Dutch courts should intervene and enact a sales ban of Galaxy products that operate on Android 2.3 or higher. Of course Samsung respectfully disagrees with Apple’s notions. Samsung lawyer Bas Berghuis van Woortman believes “the Android based method is more hierarchical the system is more complex and therefore harder for developers to use”. Apple respectfully disagrees as Apple lawyer Theo Blomme highlights Samsung’s claim of having a lesser solution “is simply not true“, while adding the technique that Android uses essentially makes its software the same as Apple’s.
Samsung is seemingly living on the defensive, isn’t it? After losing its epic battle Stateside, it is doing its best to try and try and have the upper hand on Apple this time around. There won’t be too long of a wait however— as the Hague court will deliver a judgement and ruling on October 24th regarding this matter.
You may have thought things were over for Samsung after last week’s loss to Apple in the highly-covered patent lawsuit between the two. Surely the $1.0+ billion judgment and ensuing stock losses for Samsung are enough to drive them out of the smartphone and tablet markets. For all the hype, last week’s jury verdict in favor of Apple was just one battle in a war. Even Apple recognizes this. Rather than sitting on their laurels and waiting for Samsung and the rest of the world’s Android manufacturers to slink off in defeat, Apple was back to work in a San Jose federal court filing documents on Friday. This time, it is a request to add more devices from Samsung to a case filed back in February 2012 alleging a variety of patent infringements. The original lawsuit covered 17 devices that had been produced between August 2011 and the filing. The new request adds four more devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S III. Nor word or response from Samsung yet regarding the latest filing.
It’s not all doom and gloom for Samsung after losing one of the biggest tech cases of the year because they just scored a victory in Japan. A Tokyo court ruled that Samsung did not violate an Apple patent that involved syncing mobile devices and computers. It was obviously the Kies software that Apple was going after.
Samsung said, “We welcome the court’s decision, which confirmed our long-held position that our products do not infringe Apple’s intellectual property.”
To make matters worse for Apple, Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji ordered Apple to pay the costs of the lawsuit after his verdict.
There has been a lot of talk about Apple getting “home field advantage” in the recent Apple vs. Samsung case on patent infringement. Recently jury foreman Vel Hogan sat down with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West”, and said that none of the jury members owned an iPhone. Of course that wasn’t all as the interview was roughly 17 minutes long. You may wonder what evidence seemed the most damaging, and Hogan mentions the fact that Google warned Samsung that their prototypes resembled Apple’s, but Samsung ignored it. He also mentioned J.K. Shin’s internal email that said the comparison between the iPhone and Samsung’s prototypes was that of “heaven and earth.”
Samsung Electronics Co.’s market value dropped a whopping $12 billion today in lieu of Friday’s ruling which ordered the Korean electronics company to pay over $1B in damages from patent infringement. Despite Samsung’s wide array of products and services, phones and tablets make up roughly 70% of the company’s earnings.
The ruling isn’t the only factor affecting the plummeted shares as Apple is currently seeking a ban on eight of Samsung’s smartphones, among them the widely popular Galaxy S II. In addition there is growing concern that the verdict may lead to Apple bringing on a second lawsuit which could lead to a ban of Samsung’s current flagship phone, the Galaxy S III, which has already accounted for sales over 10 million units since its May debut. Apple is planning to file a sales injunction against Samsung on September 20.
According to an internal memo sent this morning to its employees and the media, Samsung is trying to rally its employees and hasn’t given up the fight. What do you think? Is this a hurdle Samsung can easily jump over? Will this hurt Samsung, Google, and the Android operating system? Tell us what you think!


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Louisiana’s pecan harvest started in October ago and will run through late December, said LSU AgCenter pecan specialist Charlie Graham. He expects about 15 million pounds of pecans to be harvested in Louisiana this year....More
North Mississippi farmers came to the annual Mississippi State University Producer Advisory Council meeting to offer a wish list of research, staffing, and support efforts they’d like to see in the months ahead....More
Louisiana pecan crop estimates for 2012 ranged from 13 million to 13.5 million pounds before Hurricane Isaac struck, according to industry experts.
But a statewide loss of 15 percent would reduce the forecast harvest from 13 million pounds to just over 11 million pounds....More
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, the independent plant science research organization, says the decision window has passed for growers in the 14 pecan-producing states to spray for the first wave of pecan nut casebearer (PNC) moths this year....More
Pecan growers, shellers and nut brokers are warning consumers high demand and short supply will drive retail prices this holiday season, a problem compounded by an escalating Chinese demand for U.S. pecan exports that has the industry scrambling to think outside of the box –or in this case—the shell....More

domain: agronomy


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Asbury Lanes will reopen for business this spring!
Renovations to the beloved Asbury Park bowling alley and live music venue are nearly complete, and the business's grand reopening has been tentatively set for Memorial Day weekend, reports the Asbury Park Press.
The venue is being revamped by iStar, the same developer that built the Asbury Hotel and is building a nearby luxury high-rise.
"Everyone has an Asbury Lanes story," Salt Hotels' David Bowd said in a press release. "Emotions ran higher with this project than with anything we've undertaken. What mattered to them matters to us: keeping the soul of this incredible venue while making changes necessary to guarantee its future."
First opened in 1962, Asbury Lanes was an 18-lane bowling alley that later became a popular concert venue for local garage bands. The space has been closed for renovation since October of 2015.
iStar boasts that the new and improved venue's original capacity of 300 will more than double thanks to the improvements, and the new Asbury Lanes will feel like part "CBGB, part Cheers, part Barney's Bowlarama."
There's also going to be a passageway between the bowling alley and The Asbury Hotel.
Asbury Lanes was in danger of being condemned before it was closed in 2015 due to structural and mechanical issues. Developers say that only four walls of the original structure were able to be preserved, but they hope they have reinforced the artistic spirit for which the space was so beloved.
Bowd says the venue plans to put on about 150 concerts a year; about half of those dates will feature national touring bands booked by Bowery Presents, the rest will be booked by the venue's on-site team.
The new Asbury Lanes will also provide youth bowling programs, free bowling lessons and league bowling nights—everything you would expect from a regular bowling alley.
"Yes, the Lanes will have incredible ticketed events," Bowd added in the release. "But most of the time, it will be open to everyone as a great place to hang in an amazing location."
Keep up with Asbury Lanes here.
Photo: Getty Images


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Browse Items (29 items total)
This letter is in response to a subscription from Ms. Berry in which Mr. Young committed to. In the letter is enclosed a donation to the school.
E. H. Hoge writes to Mr. Prescott, reminding him that the second installment of his subscription to the Endowment Fund will be due on January 1st.
The author reminds the recipient that they subscribed to pay $200 in installments, and that another $50 installment is due to be paid by July 1. He then thanks the donors for their support.
Letter to Martha Berry from Richard Sears informing her that he has not forgotten her in sending his subscription that year but informed her that he would probably send her a check at the end of the month. He also says that he enjoyed reading the pamphlet that she sent to him about the schools.
Miss Randolph sends a $75 check and notes that $25 is for usual subscription; the other $50 is a gift to help with rebuilding the dormitory.
J. H. Porter of the Rome Laundry Company encloses $100 to pay a "subscription in full."
M. Cameron informs Miss Berry that Mr. Rackham is away for his health and cannot make any subscriptions until he settles a matter with the Internal Revenue Department.
This is a letter from Ms. Pierrepont with a donation of $15.00 inside. Wish Berry and the school a peaceful and happy Christmas.
Mr. Cumming writes to Miss Berry from the Battey Machinery Co. sending $50, 1/4 of their subscription to the schools.
Letter from Asa G. Candler, Jr.'s secretary to Martha Berry paying $12,500 for Mr. Candler's third installment on his subscription to the Berry Schools.
Mr. Callaway sends the third installment of the $100 he is giving to the Berry Schools.
Letter to Martha Berry from A. C. Floyd informing her that when she canceled her subscription to Atlanta Journal that she had a balance left over. She is asked to mail in the money at her earliest convenience.
In this letter Mr. Heinz write Miss Berry to inform her that Mrs. Heinz has written her last check for $1,250, completing her subscription of $5,000.
The author reminds the recipient that he subscribed to donate $100 to the school, and that the next $25 installment is due to be paid soon. He then thanks the recipient for his kindness.

domain: library


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For many caregivers, there are a number of different tax questions that they have to consider before they are able to do their taxes properly. These are a few of the different questions that we know that caregivers have asked before.
Are government benefits (Attendance, Social Security etc.) taxable?
There are different tax rules for different government benefits. Those not considered income for tax purposes include Aid and Attendance, and pensions. Other programs that are free from taxation include mortgage assistance benefits, Medicare benefits, disability insurance benefits, old age, and public assistance benefits.
Can more than one person claim an elder as dependent?
When it comes to offering caregiving or financial support for an older adult, oftentimes more than one family member is actively offering their assistance. If you are collectively offering more than 50 percent of the person’s support, you can claim them as a dependent. If you have multiple people assisting an older loved one, you have to make sure to prepare a Form 2120 (Multiple Support Declaration).
Am I able to deduct caregiving-related expenses?
You can subtract a number of different caregiving-related expenses from your taxable income. These range from home modifications for older adults to dentures. You will first need to determine whether you can claim the elder as a dependent before you are able to maximize these deductions. Whether you are claiming someone as a dependent will determine whether you can make some standard deductions.
When does an older adult need to file a tax return?
Depending on filing status, yearly income, and age, a person may not need to file a tax return. For 2015, those over the age of 65 will have to file a tax return if they have a gross income greater than:
- Married filing separately: $6,300 (any age)
- Married filing jointly: $21,800
- Single: $11,850
There are many different questions that you might have when it comes to filing taxes or whether you would be able to deduct certain financial costs. Keep in mind that there are also a number of free tax preparation services for older adults. That way, you can have a trained professional help you with any additional tax questions that you may have.


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The Great Fire had destroyed five sixths of the City, an area of three hundred and seventy three acres, plus a further sixty three acres outside the walls. Fifteen of the City’s twenty six wards were completely gone. Eighty nine churches and six chapels had been damaged or completely destroyed. London had temporarily lost the Guildhall, its place of government; the Royal Exchange, its centre of commerce; St.Paul’s, its spiritual centre; and the wharves along the river through which much of the nation’s import and export trade passed. It took more than fifty years to complete the rebuilding.
Over thirteen thousand houses had been burned or demolished in four hundred and sixty streets and over seventy thousand people were left homeless. Fortunately there was fine weather and thousands camped out in fields around London at places such as Islington, Highgate and Southwark. The markets had been destroyed so the King arranged for bread and supplies to be brought in from surrounding areas.
When people were able to venture back into the City they found a landscape where it was possible to see from one side to the other, a large flattened area dominated by a few stone-built spires. The old Gothic St.Paul’s Cathedral still stood high above the chaos but was in a bad state, the brand-new portico partially collapsed. Despite such great destruction there was very little loss of life. Only a handful of deaths were reported.
Most MPs refused to accept that the fire was an accident, believing it to be the work of foreigners or Catholics, and voted for an enquiry. A committee sat for several months and were given evidence of a number of potential culprits. A young Frenchman gave extraordinary and false evidence of how he had been part of a gang that had started it. When the owner of the bakery was called by the enquiry he naturally insisted that it wasn’t his fault and that the fire at his premises must have been started deliberately. The Frenchman was found guilty and hanged at Tyburn at the end of October 1666. A commemorative plaque was fixed to the building that replaced the bakery stating: “… Hell broke loose upon this Protestant City from the malicious hearts of barbarous Papists…”.
Thoughts of those in authority quickly turned to the rebuilding. The Mayor and aldermen were in favour of a completely new layout, to which the King agreed, stating that he hoped to see a more beautiful city rise from the ashes. Charles invited ideas and issued some initial guidelines and instructions. A number of plans were forthcoming, notably from Robert Hooke, John Evelyn, and the one most favoured by the King from Christopher Wren.

domain: history


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Episode of Series “Principles of Conditioning the Syncro Swimmer”.
Detailed instructions on the prime components necessary for the conditioning of synchronized swimmers. Tells what to do in the workouts. For CCP Coach levels 1-3. Included are land exercises, sculls, sequences, kicks, ballet legs and drills.
Mary Ann Reeves
Coaching Association of Canada


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Education for the furure! Get it now:
October 20th, 2006
Education for the furure! Get it now:
October 20th, 2006
According to this report, Le Monde is reporting that the Iraqi government has ordered the Ministry of Health to not release further figures:
Iraq ‘hiding true casualty figures’
THE Iraqi Government has told medical authorities not to reveal to the UN the true extent of civilian casualties in the country’s conflict, French newspaper Le Monde said today.
The daily quoted a telegram sent by the head of the UN mission in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, to headquarters in New York, in which he said: “This development risks damaging the capacity of the UN’s Assistance Mission to report the number of civilians killed or injured.”
Since July 2005 the UN has used data provided by Baghdad’s Forensic Institute and the Iraqi health ministry to form an estimate. The estimate “was certainly imperfect but an indicator nonetheless of the growing number of civilian victims”, the telegram said.
The latest report said that 3590 civilians died a violent death in July and 3009 in August, figures which it said were “unprecedented”.
But the telegram quoted by Le Monde said that on September 21, one day after publication of the report, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki wrote to the health ministry with instructions not to disclose more figures.
In an investigation published in British medical weekly The Lancet earlier this month, US and Iraq specialists estimated that more than 600,000 civilians died a violent death between March 2003 and July 2006.
Of course, this wouldn’t automatically invalidate earlier figures. But reports have frequently referredd to political manipulation of these figures, as in this May 25, 2006 article by the Christian Science Monitor’s dan Murphy:
What until late 2005 used to be a routine reporting visit to the morgue – the best way to figure out the level of violent death in Baghdad – has now become a minefield of frustration and implied threat.
After a person picks up a permission letter from the bureaucrat at the ministry public affairs office, he presents it to the morgue director’s secretary. But now, she immediately directs the person to go to the compound’s security office. “The director is in, but you have to talk to Major Kassem first.” Why? “You just have to.”
Going back outside, Major Kassem is tracked down inside a small air-conditioned trailer. He has a broad smile, and no uniform or badge.
Asked what his role is he explains: “I work for the Interior Ministry, but I’ve been assigned here to help coordinate the FPS.”
He then explains that there’s no need to speak to ministry officials, that he will provide all available information. He gives the monthly murder totals from the beginning of the year, though UN officials and Sunni Arab politicians say the ministry has taken to under-reporting the numbers, under pressure from Shiite militias.”
I, further, see no reason to believe that, under these conditions, the correct nation-wide data is even being carefully collected and sent into Baghdad. As one who has worked extensively with these government datasets in this country [we call them "administrative data sets"], I know how inaccurate and incomplete they can be, even under the best circumstances. Collecting and transmitting data is usually the last priority in human service settings. In times of stress, such as civil war, it is virtually unimaginable to believe that these data systems would work. Thus, I don’t find a large discrepancy between the Iraq Body Count numbers and other mortality figures to be at all surprising.
This applies to all the data systems in Iraq. Without extensive evidence that they are in fact working decently, I see no reason to believe that they are. Thus, discrepancies between survey-based mortality figures and official morgue and hospital figures are not only not surprising, but to be expected. This is a large part of why I think the IBC critique of the Lancet study is largely bunk. Its arguments rely to a gerat degree on the ptoper functioning of the countries information infrastructure. When electricity is down to under 3 hours a day in Baghdad, information systems are certainly not a priority in the best of times. These are near the worst of times.
If IBC has good, credible evidence that these information systems are functioning, they should present it. Otherwise, most of thie arguments can be reasonably interpreted as evidence that these systems are not, in fact functioning.
Of course, the weakness of IBC’s critique does not mean that the Lancet mortality study is necessarily correct. I’m still waiting for the main street bias issue to be sorted out. that seems to be to be a potentially greater threat to the validity. [Please note, I said "potentially greater threat to the validity." I am not endorsing this critique, only saying it should be sorted out.]
October 20th, 2006
Here is a note I posted on the Media Lens Message Board in response to heated controversy around the claims of several British scientists to have found a flaw in the sampling methodology in the new Lancet Iraq mortality study [I've posted the piece describing those scientists' ideas below my comments]:
I’m not known as a defender of IBC. And I think their recent citique of the Lancet study is weak. But I think the issue raised here of “main street bias” is a serious one and should be taken seriously. I had not wanted to write anything till I could write a comprehensive article, but am disturbed by the tone here.
IBC is right in (at least) one respect. Studies that result in surprising findings should be subject to careful scrutiny. Of course, it’s especially difficult in the present situation where major policy implications flow from one’s critique. It’s also difficult in the gotcha environment where Josh D. jumps on every statement to essentially accuse Lancet defenders of bad faith and its authors of fraud while those who support the study jump on IBC.
While I personally find certain things that IBC has done to be despicable [not making a much greater effort to correct media misreporting of their numbers; likening critics to terrorists; the tone of the Lancet critique), that is irerlevant to the question of the quality of the Lancet study.
The Lancet numbers are surprising. I think the study is of high quality. Yet, that doesn't mean one shouldn't look for flaws. Most of the one's mentioned, such as too few clusters are silly. As many noted, the number of clusters affects the size of the confidence intervals. Also, the relatively low design effect (1.6) suggests this isn't a problem. Of course more clusters are better. But, when designing and conducting a survey, one always balances costs and benefits. The balance in the study is reasonable.
But the possibility of a subtle bias in the sampling design is the crucial issue. If the sample is unbiased, it is hard to come up with an explanation of how such a mortality rate could arise without fraud, which I doubt. [I thought carefully about this last night and think there's enough evidence in the study to rule out [CORERCTED 10-20-2006 1:23EDT] explicit fraud by interviewers at all likely.]
I have seen speculation about some bias introduced regarding these procedures. I’m not at all sure that these authors are correct. But I do think their point needs to be answered. If the sampling strongly over-included main streets, I could imagine it biasing the study.
Unfortunately, I will be out of town for the weekend and away from computer. But I did want to weigh in and say “Cool it folks.” I’m an antiwar activist, but I’m also a scientist. If the study is right, I want to know it. But, if its wrong, I also want to know that.
I also agree with IBC that the number of casualties in Iraq is too high, whether 100,000 [IBC numbers times 2 for nonreporting bias that they admit, andJon Pederson's: estimate] ] or 655,000. I believe the magnitude makes a difference. But I also want to find the truth, whatever it is. I hope others will join in that.
****** Lancet Critique *****
Lancet study fundamentally flawed: death toll too high
October 19, 2006 – 1 page – For immediate release:
Researchers at Oxford University and Royal Holloway, University of London have
found serious flaws in the survey of Iraqi deaths published last week in the Lancet.
Sean Gourley and Professor Neil Johnson of the physics department at Oxford University and Professor Michael Spagat of the economics department of Royal Holloway, University of London contend that the study’s methodology is fundamentally flawed and will result in an over-estimation of the death toll in Iraq.
• The study suffers from “main street bias” by only surveying houses that are
located on cross streets next to main roads or on the main road itself. However
many Iraqi households do not satisfy this strict criterion and had no chance of
• Main street bias inflates casualty estimates since conflict events such as car
bombs, drive-by shootings artillery strikes on insurgent positions, and market
place explosions gravitate toward the same neighborhood types that the
• This obvious selection bias would not matter if you were conducting a simple
survey on immunisation rates for which the methodology was designed.
• In short, the closer you are to a main road, the more likely you are to die in violent activity. So if researchers only count people living close to a main road then it comes as no surprise they will over count the dead.
During email discussions between the Oxford-Royal Holloway team and the Johns
Hopkins team conducted through a reporter for Science, for an article to be published October 20, it became clear that the authors of the study had not implemented a clear, well-defined and justifiable methodology. The Oxford-Royal Holloway team therefore believes that the scientific community should now re-analyze this study in depth.
The team can be reached for comment at;
1 comment October 20th, 2006
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EDWARDSVILLE — A man was arrested after the borough council meeting Thursday night when he threatened to kill a police officer.
Police charged Fred Polisky, 68, of Edwardsville, with terroristic threats. He was arraigned Thursday night by District Judge James Tupper in Kingston Township and released from jail on Friday when he posted $15,000 bail, according to court records.
According to the criminal complaint:
Polisky attended the borough council meeting addressing council members about a letter he received from Attorney Mark Mack regarding a cease and desist request towards the harassment of several borough officers.
During his public comment, police said Polisky began making statements about Officer Michael Lehman being “a crook, a liar among other derogatory comments,” the complaint says.
Polisky continued to address council saying if Lehman ever steps foot on his property, “He will kill him,” and “I will kill him,” according to the complaint.
After Polisky finished addressing council members, an officer asked him to step outside.
Once outside, the officer advised Polisky he shouldn’t be making threatening statements toward officers or anyone. Polisky stated it was a warning for Lehman.
The officer asked Polisky if it was a warning or a promise at which Polisky replied, “he promises to kill Officer Lehman,” the complaint says.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled on April 16 before District Judge Paul Roberts in Kingston.

domain: law