Brian Maguire of Portland weighs fish with an on-board scale to separate the five heaviest tuna allowed for entry into the Oregon Tuna Classic at Ilwaco, Wash.
ILWACO, Wash. -- At 5 a.m., port and starboard bow lights dance, gleaming through light fog from a long line of powerful boats meandering out the narrow channel.
They dodge and weave in each other's wakes like a red and green Christmas string blowing in the wind.
Except even Rudolph can't lead these maniacal reindeer to the same rooftop. Each skipper of the bobbing boats astern has a grip on his helm, an eye on his global positioning system ... and a course in his head.
The Oregon Tuna Classic is glowing again in its fourth season; it's the angel, the star on top of the tree, summer's gift of giving from a fleet of unique Oregon anglers. By the end of the month, Oregon Food Bank distribution centers statewide will find their off-season stockings filled with tens of thousands of dollars and tons of donated and canned albacore tuna.
Clearing the breakwater, the line of boats spreads across the notorious Columbia River bar and collects in a cluster just east of a Coast Guard "47," the agency's go-to 47-foot cutter.
At 6 a.m., a red flare shoots into the sky from its deck. All 70 boats erupt toward the gray western horizon.
Milton Gudgell of Pacific Salmon Charters, picking his way behind the pack while skippering a boatload of coho salmon customers, will later recall: "All I saw was white; white boats, white wakes, a roar of engines ... It was like a big white fan."
"We'll be by ourselves in a few minutes," says an unperturbed Mike Colbach, shoving forward the throttles of his twin-engined, 35-foot Shake N Bake.
The Portland lawyer settles back into his seat atop the flying bridge as the boat quickly planes at 22 knots, plunging into a light swell. It's a two-hour ride west by southwest to the coordinates he's chosen 50 miles off Seaside. Friends caught fish there the day before.
Below, his crew breaks out a forest of stiff rods and shiny reels and stirs the water in a bait well filled with live anchovies before settling in for the ride.
At 8:15 a.m., Colbach throttles back to eight knots. "Let's fish!" he shouts.
Clark Vonessen of Eugene and Mike Piazza of Vancouver are the ramrods, choosing the lures and setting first-strike rods in the right holders. John Cooney and Brian Maguire of Portland and Scott Heusch of Eugene are the muscle, tending the catches and pulling hard-fighting tuna to the gaff.
Within minutes, the first rod dances. "FISH ON!" shouts just about everyone as the deck becomes a melee of rods, bodies and motion.
Colbach backs up the boat a little, then shoves the gear into neutral, looking to the water for telltale swirls of schooled tuna.
Below, live anchovy are tossed into the blue sea. "BOIL!" Colbach shouts as he spots tuna, savagely slashing through the hapless baitfish. Everyone rigs live anchovies onto small hooks and gets lines in the water.
One, two, three rods are hit and throbbing lines tighten enough to sing. We pass over, under, around each other to keep things straight, but there are tangles, sliced leaders and organized chaos before the first few tuna are flopping on the deck.
By 9 a.m., five fish are in the box. By the end of the day, 15 more will join them in flurries of action across a 10-square mile plot.
The last is gaffed at 1:15 p.m. and Colbach fires Shake N Bake back to 22 knots to meet the 4 p.m. check-in deadline.
The fish are carefully weighed on boat scales. Tournament rules allow the five heaviest to be weighed, then awards $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 prizes to the top three teams. Typically, winners donate their prizes to the cause.
Colbach's crew is jubilant with what they believe are five fish heavier than 20-30 pounds. They could be in the money.
Ashore, though, a far-more accurate scale shows theirs was nearly 10 pounds off and Shake N Bake finishes just a respectable 16th.
"Still not so bad," says Colbach with a smile. Their 20 tuna place the team well within the top 10 for total catches. "It's not about the money."
The Aug. 1 Ilwaco event, the second of four scheduled this season, drew a record 78 entries and the 70 boats meeting the call at the shotgun start ended the day donating more than $10,000 and 6,000 pounds to the cause.
"We've just about doubled our donations each year," said Del Stephens, OTC chairman. "This will put us a little over 10,000 pounds;last year we raised $46,000 and 13,000 pounds (in three events). If we'reable to hold even one of the other two (weather dependent; Aug. 15 in Charleston and Aug. 29 in Garibaldi), we'll go higher again."
So far, tuna and the weather have cooperated. While fish were schooled 50 miles out of Ilwaco last week, they've been hanging much closer to Charleston this summer. Stephens said albacore were within 14 miles of the harbor and earlier this past week tuna were caught within 35 miles of Garibaldi.
Dean Ferguson of Astoria, port captain for the OTC'sIlwaco event, said city officials visiting the big top dinner after Saturday'sfishing told him "this was the biggest day we've had in town in five years!"
Ferguson credited the Tuna Classic's eager participants with creating winners for both charity and community.
"It's just me talking," he said, "but I can easily envision a year or two down the road this whole thing morphing into a Northwest Tuna Classic."


A U.S. war crimes tribunal will determine whether the FBI acted inappropriately by trying to turn a member of the legal defense team into an informant, Reuters reports.
Attorneys for Guantanamo Bay inmates accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks plan to argue that the FBI created a conflict of interest.
The Guantanamo Bay military commission is to hear the defense motion today and Tuesday.
The defendants have been held since 2002 and 2003.
Reporters are monitoring the hearing through a closed-circuit TV in Maryland.
Posted: 6/16/14 at 8:55 AM under News Story.


We’re trying to build democracy in Syria. So why is Turkey attacking us?
Hayvi Mustafa is co-president of the Executive Council of Afrin, a region in northern Syria of 1.5 million people that currently includes some 500,000 internally displaced people.
Three months ago, I was sitting here in my office with my colleagues, celebrating the liberation of Raqqa from the Islamic State. The Islamic State’s fighters were vanquished by our own Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the help of our American allies. We had great hopes that day: Eliminating the security threat meant that we could finally begin investing in education and social services. As a woman, I was especially keen to empower others of my gender, which I saw as a crucial part of our plans to transform our society into a true democracy after our lives under the totalitarian state of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. My duties evolved to include supervising the work of 15 governmental departments that provide security and services to people regardless of their ethnicity, religion or politics. Among our accomplishments is a new university that offers instruction in engineering and social sciences and provides full access to women as well as men.
Today I am sitting in that very same office, listening and watching as Turkish jets bomb us and artillery shells our homes. We are getting calls from local officials warning that Turkey pushing deeper into our territory, perhaps even hoping to take the city of Afrin itself. Turkey accuses us of being an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). All of the region’s leaders and U.S officials have denied these allegations. Nonetheless, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains determined to wage his war against Afrin. His invasion in our territory also serves the purpose of distracting his own people from his authoritarian power grab at home.
Our region is religiously and ethnically diverse. Our population includes Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, Yazidis and Alawites. Many of us are descendants of the survivors of genocides that were committed by Turkish states against the non-Turkish peoples during and after World War I. All of these communities have refused to leave Afrin despite the threat from the Islamic government in Turkey and the jihadist groups associated with it that publicly threaten us with ethnic cleansing. All of these communities are working together to build a democratic alternative in Syria.
Erdogan wants to destroy this freedom; his forces have already killed 18 innocent civilians. Though ostensibly a U.S. ally, Erdogan is not ashamed to use jihadist groups to eliminate Afrin as a democratic alternative. Not only did Erdogan allow al-Qaeda to grow along Turkey’s border with Idlib, but he has also coordinated with al-Qaeda to facilitate the entry of the Turkish troops into our region. Erdogan doesn’t fight al-Qaeda — he works with them.
Since 2011, when Assad’s regime started to collapse, the democratic political institutions of our region have worked tirelessly to mobilize people in a struggle for democracy and security against the barbarism of the Islamic State and the chaos of the Syrian civil war. We have organized our self-defense and enforced universal human rights. Most importantly, our security forces do not perform summary executions — with one man as judge, jury and executioner — as frequently happens in the other lawless areas of Syria. Our forces abide by the laws written in our legislative assembly.
Ironically, the fact that the Islamic State never took control of our region has limited the American presence here, and we are now paying the price. Unlike some other regions in northern Syria, we do not have U.S. military bases or even military observers. This encouraged Erdogan to wage war against us under the pretext of “fighting terrorism.” He accuses all Kurds of being terrorists by virtue of their birth. But today it is not only the Kurds who are being attacked by Erdogan. Turkish prisons are filled with peaceful political activists from a wide variety of backgrounds, yet all are accused of terrorism.
We should not be destroyed because our struggle for democracy and freedom curtails Erdogan’s ambitions. We should not be destroyed because we kept the Islamic State and al-Qaeda out of our region. We look to Turkey as a neighbor and seek a better relationship with its people. We differentiate between Turkey as a government and its people, between Erdogan as an Islamist dictator and his oppressed subjects. We believe that this is a distinction that our friends in the United States and Europe should also make.
U.S. diplomacy appears to be having little effect on Turkey, and this is not a surprise. Erdogan failed to support a democratic alternative to the Assad regime and refused to help the United States defeat al-Qaeda in Syria. Our defense forces have recruited many democratically minded Syrians from the areas where al-Qaeda is now concentrated, and we are prepared to work together with the United States to end this threat to global security. To do this, the United States needs to enforce a no-fly zone similar to agreements between the United States and Russia preventing the Syrian air force from bombing SDF targets, and to establish closer cooperation with our security forces in the region. But Washington must act soon. Time is running out.
Want to see where Trump is taking America? Look at Turkey under Erdogan.


Just eight years ago IBM sold off its consumer PC business to Lenovo and now the company is looking to offload part of its server business to the Chinese business as well. Both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are confirming the reported $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion dollar deal.
The low-end System X server division would go to Lenovo if the deal passes, and the Server X line could see a complete revitalization after several years of low performance.
News of this deal comes shortly after IBM announced less than desirable earnings for Q1 2013, which saw System X earnings drop by more than nine percent. In contrast, IBM's high-end System Z mainframe business rose by seven percent.


Former Maryland congressman and presidential candidate John Delaney earned endorsements from three Democratic Party county chairs in Iowa, according to his campaign.
Donna Crum, Nancy Camardo, and Twyla Peacock head Democratic parties in three counties — Mills, Wayne, and Van Buren — that supported Donald Trump with at least 65 percent of the vote.
“For too long, Democrats have neglected voters in so-called ‘red counties’ in Iowa but I’m doing things differently," Delaney said in a statement.
While the 2020 Democratic presidential field is growing more crowded by the week, Delaney, the first Democrat to jump into the race, is plowing ahead. Little known outside his former Maryland district, Delaney announced in July 2017 and decided to forgo reelection in favor of focusing on the White House. He's made Iowa the centerpiece of his long-shot bid, already having traveled to all 99 counties before most candidates have traveled to a few.
Delaney’s campaign also said they would be opening two more offices in Iowa in the coming weeks, bringing his total in the state to six. A multi-millionaire who was one of the wealthiest members of Congress, Delaney has the ability to stay in the race through the early primary states, potentially disrupting the plans of other candidates. He has already lent his campaign $3.5 million, according to the FEC.
“As the field of presidential candidates becomes more and more crowded, first and foremost, I am looking for someone who can unite our country and defeat President Trump in 2020,” Crum said.


More Ash vs. Evil Dead is coming. At the TCA winter press tour this week, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht confirmed there’s already a script for season two and what kind of future he sees for the series.
Ash vs. Evil Dead was renewed for a second season in October, before the first episode premiered. Season one finished on January 2nd.
No word yet on when season two will premiere.
What do you think? Did you watch season one of Ash vs Evil Dead? Would you watch season two?


Ted O'Brien has thanked community support and Minister for Health Greg Hunt after the Federal Government gave Bloomhill $850,000 in funding.
THE LNP will invest $850,000 into Bloomhill Cancer Care to ensure the continuation of services on the Sunshine Coast.
The announcement comes after a campaign by Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O'Brien, who supported the cancer charity despite being personally criticised for his unwavering advocacy.
The lifeline comes after Bloomhill's pleas for urgent funding were rejected by State Health Minister Steven Miles, who instead lumped the survivorship charity in with palliative care services.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt congratulated Mr O'Brien and the community on the result and said the funding will guarantee services at Bloomhill Cancer Care continue for the next four years.
"Ted O'Brien and the local community led a strong campaign to keep the doors open at Bloomhill," Mr Hunt said.
"They shone a light on an important local issue and the Liberal National Government is taking action.
"This $850,000 investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting local health services throughout Australia and to building a world class health system.
"By delivering our plan for a strong economy we can make investments in charities like Bloomhill Cancer Care that Queenslanders want and need.
"I commend the Member for Fairfax, Ted O'Brien for his dedication to the people of the Sunshine Coast, it shows the power of what a local community and its government representatives can do by working together."
Bloomhill Cancer Care is a not-for-profit cancer wellness centre based on the Sunshine Coast. Its survivorship model of care includes specialist oncology nursing support, counselling services and allied health practices assisting people diagnosed with cancer.
Mr O'Brien said for the past 21 years Bloomhill had been helping Sunshine Coast patients to live well with cancer, and thanks to this funding they would be helping thousands more for years to come.
"I'd like to sincerely thank Health Minister Greg Hunt for this funding windfall, but also for simply taking the time to listen and understand what this wonderful charity is actually about," Mr O'Brien said.
"I would also like to thank the 5843 Sunshine Coast residents who signed up to the SaveBloomhill.com.au campaign, this is a fantastic outcome and you each deserve credit for supporting this wonderful charity.
"Bloomhill's cries fell on deaf ears where the State Labor Government was concerned.
"Left to them, Bloomhill would right now be reducing services, capping admissions and telling staff their hours were being cut. Not to mention that without critical funding support, Bloomhill was facing the very real possibility of closure within two years.
"Thanks to the Federal Government this is a very different day."
The Liberal National Government's strong economic management ensures record investment into vital health initiatives including mental health, life-saving medicines, Medicare and hospitals can continue.


NEW YORK | It's a time of year when we make promises of self-betterment that we have little intention of keeping. Sure, failing to drop those last few pounds or slog through a big read like "Ulysses" might be disappointing, but losing sight of investment goals can lead to longer-lasting troubles.
The latest round of resolution-making comes after a fractious year on Wall Street, one that has no doubt drawn attention even from investors who would normally take more interest in improving their golf swing or cleaning out the garage. But in the face of the stock market's volatility, knuckling down with a back-to-basics strategy can offer the best course for many investors, Wall Street observers say.
"Remain diversified, keep an eye on costs and don't buy the strategy-of-the-month fund," said Jeff Tjornehoj, an analyst at fund tracker Lipper Inc. It's a quick checklist on such things as fund fees and strategies for riding out uncertainty on Wall Street.
As year-end reports of fund performances begin flowing in, it can be tempting to jump into areas that have put up huge returns in 2007. Dumping a bunch of money into a hot area might work for a while, but ultimately leaves an investor more susceptible to losing out, Tjornehoj said.
He sees, for example, the strong performance this year of emerging market funds as an enticing draw for many investors. But a hasty move into funds that invest in China and other developing countries could bring unwelcome problems in the coming year.
"It's fine to have some allocation to those economies, you just don't need to go whole-hog," he said. "It looks great right now. It looks like you can't miss. Inevitably when enough people think like that, that's when the other shoe drops."
Tom Foster, a retirement plans expert at The Hartford, a financial services and insurance company, says many investors see the market's volatility and think they can put aside less for retirement and instead generate bigger returns by diverting some savings into shorter-term bets on the market's movements. But correctly calling the next winning move on Wall Street is hugely difficult even for professional investors. Foster said investors should set aside as much money as possible for retirement and use only any extra money to play the market.
"In a time of market volatility, the best place to have money is a tax-deferred bucket," he said. "You're in it for the long haul."
With the long-term goals in mind, the end of the year is a good time for investors to examine their stable of investments. But a review doesn't necessarily mean dumping a fund that has had a lackluster run recently.
"I think sometimes people look at a loss as an indication that they made a mistake and that they need to get out," Foster said. "It's not unusual for great funds to have some period in which they're just down relative to the rest of the market."
He said dropping a fund for a weak showing over a short period isn't wise investing.
In searching for stronger returns, investors too often treat long-term vehicles like mutual funds as stocks, jumping in and out of them, racking up trading costs and perhaps missing long-term gains, he said.
Investors who re-examine where their money sits ahead of the new year shouldn't limit the review to what is found in their 401(k) plan, Tjornehoj said. Tweaking mutual fund investments doesn't matter much if fees from credit card debt, for example, are steadily outpacing gains from fund holdings.
In addition to paying down debt, investors who might be due for bonuses or raises should consider ratcheting up contributions to retirement plans as a way to save more without feeling like they are taking more money out of their pocket today.
Tjornehoj noted that investors should also make sure they are contributing as much money as possible to their retirement accounts, particularly in cases where a company matches a portion of an employees' savings. To do any less is to leave money on the table, he said.
Taking time to examine where they stand gives investors a chance to plug any holes in their investment strategy, Foster said.
"It's always good to reflect at this time of year on what we did last year in all our various investments and make sure we're still on track," he said.


French tests appear to have found traces of chemicals linked to the nerve gas VX on Iraqi warheads, according to several weapons experts who said this would confirm earlier American test results.
Several diplomats also charged that the French had delayed releasing the final results because they did not want to undermine Iraq's push at the United Nations this week to lift economic sanctions.
French officials denied that they were deliberately withholding test results, and a French diplomat said today that the results are expected to be ''completely consistent'' with the earlier tests that found no traces of the chemical.
Tension is mounting between the United Nations and Iraq, which has refused to cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors and has sent a high-level team to the United Nations to argue that Iraq has released enough information about its weapons program to justify lifting sanctions.
Iraq has denied arming its weapons with VX, a drop of which, on the skin or inhaled, can kill an adult within minutes.
Iraq also disputed earlier American test results finding traces of VX on warheads and asked for further tests, conducted in France and Switzerland over the summer. Preliminary French and Swiss test results found no traces of VX.
But if final French tests do find VX components on the warheads, Iraq's credibility and its case for lifting sanctions would be further weakened. France, which like Russia has major commercial interests in Iraq, has argued that the United Nations should move faster to ease sanctions imposed after the Gulf War.
To begin lifting sanctions, all Iraqi biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, as well as certain missile systems, must be destroyed, and inspectors must be confident Iraq could not rebuild them.
Several weapons experts said that during a technical meeting in September of international weapons specialists, French technical experts had said that four or five of the samples taken from chemical warheads had VX components on them. But at higher-level meetings later that month, these results were not discussed, according to diplomats and weapons inspectors. According to several diplomats, French Defense Ministry officials told European officials that this was too sensitive a time to publicize results that would be damaging to the Iraqis.
The Iraqis, led by Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, say that there are no more prohibited weapons of any kind to be found and that the Security Council has a ''legal and moral'' obligation to lift sanctions. Inspectors reply that there are too many outstanding questions, and missing documentation, on issues like VX and a host of biological compounds to justify relaxing restrictions on President Saddam Hussein.
Today Mr. Aziz angrily lashed out at the United States and the weapons inspection system, suggesting that he was meeting resistance in both the Secretary General's office and the Security Council in his demands for a new look at sanctions in return for Iraq permitting the resumption of on-site arms inspections, which Baghdad ended on Aug. 5.
In a six-month report sent to the Security Council today, Richard Butler, the chief of the program to inspect Iraqi , said that the Iraqis were close to meeting requirements in ballistic missile and chemical weapons programs. But it noted that ''the level of verification of precisely how much VX was produced by Iraq is not satisfactory.'' The report also noted that Baghdad continues to deny that it loaded warheads with VX, contrary to mounting evidence.
The United States has also not submitted a second final report on the warhead samples, according to officials of the United Nations Special Commission, which is responsible for disarming Iraq and preventing it from rebuilding its weapons programs. It was the first American report, in June, that revealed the presence of components found in decomposed VX in missile warheads destroyed by Iraq and dug up in April by United Nations weapons inspectors. That report led to Iraqi demands for laboratory studies outside the United States. Tests in France and Switzerland followed in the summer. The Swiss tests, all agree, appear to be negative, with no traces of VX components found.
Weapons experts and diplomats said today that a technical team assembled in New York two weeks ago by the Special Commission, known as Unscom, expected to be able to discuss final results from Switzerland, the Untied States and France. The Americans and the French did not have results ready.
Some diplomats accuse the United States of also withholding information because its scientists did not find VX components on its second batch of samples, so as not to cast doubt on its first tests.
France told the Unscom technical experts that it had four or five more samples to test. Today experts said that there is strong evidence that those outstanding samples had revealed two chemicals found in VX -- though not only in VX. But the Iraqis would be hard-pressed to explain what the chemicals were doing on warheads that Iraq said contained other substances.
The Iraqis used Sarin gas in the 1980s in attacks on Iran and on their own Kurdish population. The French say that the results may be known in a matter of days.
The Iraqi warheads being studied were discovered at a weapons-demolition site north of Baghdad. Commission officials haggled with Iraqis for weeks before being allowed to take some metal fragments from the shells out of the country in May for testing in the United States.
Other warhead fragments from the same site were stored in Iraq by the inspectors, but apparently in conditions that were less than optimal to preserve them. There is also some question whether Iraqis, who had access to the site, could have tampered with them. In any case, after experts at the American military laboratory at Aberdeen, Md., found VX traces on the shells and the Iraqis demanded another set of tests in Europe, the samples for the second round were taken from the fragments stored in the Iraqi warehouse.
Furthermore, metal chunks were not removed from Iraq this time. Instead, 80 swabs were made on the surface of the metal and half were sent to France and half to Switzerland.
American officials were concerned at the time that there seem to be no ''custodial command'' over the fragments left behind by Unscom, and no knowledge of what the Iraqis might have done with them.
As a result, many questions surrounded the second set of tests even before reports began to emanate from Europe and from the Arab press saying that the Swiss and French had found no VX.
At the Pentagon, Mr. Bacon said that whatever the results from Europe, those findings did not contradict the American conclusion.
''Based on that, the question became not whether Iraq had attempted to weaponize VX but how many warheads it had weaponized with VX,'' he said.
''What we're dealing with here is something like an archeological site. It's a large area with thousands and thousands of little fragments that have been collected and taken to a warehouse. These are fragments of missiles that the Iraqis have destroyed themselves.
In Geneva today, a senior American arms control official said that Iraq could reconstitute its chemical and biological weapons programs in a short period of time, and he urged that spot inspections be resumed as soon as possible.
John Holum, acting Under Secretary of State for arms control and international security affairs, said that the Security Council should not agree, as the Iraqis demand, to a timetable for lifting sanctions.
''They were designed to be lifted when Iraq satisfied the international community,'' he said at a news conference.


When parents get divorced, the grandparents are often overlooked in all the turmoil. But in many cases, they can be the best resource for the kids to turn to.
On The Early Show's "Young at Heart" series, Dr. Arthur Kornaber, the author of "The Grandparents Guide," says grandparents have to make sure they maintain their own relationships with the grandchildren after divorces. Sometimes it involves being part of the divorce settlement to make sure their visitation is included.
Grandparents might find that their children's divorce is placing them in a situation out of their control. But the grandparents have to realize that they are the next emotional line of support for the kids. Dr. Kornaber says the most important thing for grandparents to remember is that divorce is an opportunity for them to provide compassion and stability to their grandchildren.
Although they might feel hurt and angry at the divorce, they will have to keep quiet about their feelings. It is important to avoid sharing feelings with a divorced couple or grandchildren. They are burdened enough with their own feelings. The grandparents should be there for the children to express their feelings of anger as well as guilt. The elders should be available tell the kids that what they are feeling is normal.
If the grandparents feel a need to share their own feelings they should do so with a counselor or minister — not the family. Dr. Kornaber says they should not criticize the parents to the children and they should avoid taking sides.
The grandparents do not have to automatically take their own child's side. There is no reason to terminate the relationship with the former in-laws, especially if you've had a good relationship with them. Certainly if the children are in custody of the mom, it behooves the grandparent to be kind to that person because otherwise they will lose contact with their grandchild.
Dr. Kornaber calls the grandparents the "National Guard" of the family. They have to be available at a moments notice. Sometimes after or during the divorce, the living situation will require grandparents to baby-sit often, perhaps invite the kids over more or even move in for a period of time.
The person who has custody of the grandchild holds the grandparents' relationship with the grandchildren in his or her hands. Dr. Kornaber recommends divorcing parties to have lawyers put grandparent's visitation rights in as part of the divorce agreement — especially if your child doesn't have custody.
This way, the grandparents' rights are assured if the relationship sours with the custodial parent. This can be especially important if the custodial parent remarries or moves away. There are laws in most states where grandparents can sue for visitation if they have a good prior relationship with the grandchild. Obviously, a lawsuit is the last step.
While most states will uphold a grandparent's rights, there are some groups fighting it now, because they feel it can be intrusive of parental right.


The Dow and S&P 500 are down at midday following a drop in energy shares, while the Nasdaq is up slightly.
Shares of Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> are down 1.2 percent, while shares of Chevron <CVX.N> are down 0.7 percent, both among the biggest drags on the Dow and S&P 500. The S&P energy index <.SPNY> is down 1.4 percent, the day's worst-performing sector as oil prices decline.
Tech shares are rising, including Yahoo <YHOO.O>, which is up 2.6 percent and is the Nasdaq's most active name in anticipation of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's <IPO-BABA.N> initial public offering. Yahoo has a 22.4 percent stake in Alibaba and is required to sell 140 million Alibaba shares in the IPO.
"It's very light on the economic news (and) with people returning from summer vacation, it's all about the valuations so they will make these little moves like we're seeing here," said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets Inc in Boston.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> is down 24.05 points, or 0.14 percent, to 17,113.31, the S&P 500 <.SPX> is losing 5.66 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,002.05 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> is adding 1.84 points, or 0.04 percent, to 4,584.74.
The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange is Daqo New Energy <DQ.N>, rising 10.61 percent, while the largest percentage decliner is Callon Petroleum <CPE.N>, down 8.90 percent.
Among the most active stocks on the NYSE are Brazil's Petrobras <PBR.N>, down 1.75 percent to $19.04, and Ford Motor Co <F.N>, down 2.39 percent to $16.73.
Besides Yahoo, most active stocks on the Nasdaq include Microsoft <MSFT.O>, up 1.1 percent to $46.44 and Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, down 0.2 percent to $98.80.
Declining issues are outnumbering advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,802 to 1,085, for a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,333 issues are rising and 1,292 falling for a 1.03-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The broad S&P 500 index is posting 41 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite is recording 64 new highs and 18 new lows.


Katie Holmes shares throwback photo from Dawson's Creek | HELLO!
Katie Holmes shot to fame in 1998 playing Joey Potter in hit TV drama Dawson's Creek, and on Friday, the actress got nostalgic thinking about her time on the show. Taking a trip down memory lane, Katie took to her Instagram account to share a photograph from her days on the prgramme. The star was pictured wrapping her arms around Dawson's Creek writer Kevin Williamson in front of a Christmas tree at home. Katie can be seen wearing a bright orange top and jeans, while Kevin looked smart in a blue shirt and chinos. The 39-year-old captioned the photo: "#tbt to my friend Kevin Williamson and me during #dawsonscreek days :). So thankful for this time in my life and these beautiful friendships."
The photo went down a treat with Dawson's Creek fans, who were quick to comment on the post. One wrote: "I love Dawson's Creek it takes me back to when I was a teenager," while another asked: "Reunion please! Bring it back!" A third added: "I really liked that series." Katie played Dawson Leery's (James Van Der Beek) best friend and love interest for the full running of the show until 2003. Katie starred alongside actors including Joshua Jackson – who played Pacey Witter - and Michelle Williams, who starred as Jen Lindley. While writing the show, Kevin modelled the character of Dawson on himself, while Katie's character was based on his best friend.
Katie previously stated her doubts over a Dawson's Creek reunion while talking on radio station SiriusXM. She said: "I don't think we're going to do a reunion. We see each other every now and then." She later praised Kevin's writing for giving young people a platform to be heard. "I think that the charm of the show was Kevin Williamson's writing and it was of that time and it gave teenagers this voice. It was a very, very special time – a special show and I loved every minute of it."
Katie Holmes shares rare family photo at home in Ohio – see the snap!


On June 2nd, I got unleashed. Off the sling.
…and, I voted my absentee ballot.


Virgin Media is advising more than 800,000 customers with a specific router to change their password immediately after an investigation found hackers could gain access to it.
Virgin Media said the risk to customers with a Super Hub 2 router was “small”, but advised them to change both their network and router passwords if they were still set as the default shown on the attached sticker.
The advice followed a Which? snapshot investigation which found that hackers could access to home networks and connected appliances in as little as four days.
Ethical security researchers SureCloud gained access to the Super Hub 2, although Virgin Media said the issue existed with other routers of the same age, not just their model.
A Virgin Media spokesman said: “The security of our network and of our customers is of paramount importance to us.
“We continually upgrade our systems and equipment to ensure that we meet all current industry standards.
The Which? study tested whether popular smart gadgets and appliances, including wireless cameras, a smart padlock and a children’s Bluetooth toy, could stand up to a possible hack.
Some of the devices proved harder than others to infiltrate, such as the Amazon Echo, but eight out of 15 appliances were found to have at least one security flaw.
The test found that the Fredi Megapix home CCTV camera system operated over the internet using a default administrator account without a password, and Which? found thousands of similar cameras available for anyone to watch the live feed over the internet.
The watchdog said that “worse still” a hacker could even pan and tilt the cameras to monitor activity in the house.
SureCloud hacked the CloudPets stuffed toy, which allows family and friends to send messages to a child via Bluetooth and made it play its own voice messages.
Which? said it contacted the manufacturers of eight affected products to alert them to flaws as part of the investigation, with the majority updating their software and security.
It did not receive a response from the manufacturers of either Fredi Megapix or CloudPets.
The consumer group said the industry needed to take the security of internet-enabled and smart products seriously by addressing the basics such as ensuring devices required a unique password before use, using two-factor authentication, and issuing regular security updates for software.
Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home products and services, said: “There is no denying the huge benefits that smart-home gadgets and devices bring to our daily lives.
“However, as our investigation clearly shows, consumers should be aware that some of these appliances are vulnerable and offer little or no security.
“There are a number of steps people can take to better protect their home, but hackers are growing increasingly more sophisticated.


Foodie fans can look forward to another busy day of good locally produced food, drink and art at Saltburn Farmers’ Market tomorrow.
A tasty mix of more than 35 stalls includes a wide range of sausages, meat and game, fresh fruit and veg, wild mushrooms, garden herbs and garlic, artisan bread, hand-made cheese, wines and locally brewed beers.
“But it’s more than just food,” says Market Manager Lorna Jackson.
l Anna’s Tapas: Originally from Bilbao, now living in Guisborough, Anna Espinosa brings her own taste of Spain to Saltburn.
l Autumn Harvest Mushrooms: Adriano Baldi brings a range of wild mushrooms to the market.
l The Sawley Kitchen: Nicky Jaques always tempts the tastebuds with a stall packed with award-winning Yorkshire biscuits, shortbreads, retro tarts and meringues.
l Ox Close Traditional Fine Foods: Peter Allison brings a tasty range of wild venison, pheasant, rabbit and other seasonal game direct to the heart of town.
l Beez Neez Apiary: Alan Stonehouse and Jennifer Austin light up the market with a stall packed with honey from their busy bees in Malton.
The market is based near Saltburn Railway Station and is on from 9am-2pm.
Organised by Food First, the farmers’ market is a social enterprise of more than 20 locally-based food producers and retailers.


South by Southwest Interactive has wrapped up, and it was a long week. There were lots of people, lots of parties, and lots of interesting discussions, but there might not have been one "next big thing."
Just as SXSWi in the past was dominated by golden boys like Twitter, location-based services such as Foursquare, or group messaging apps, this year the masses seemed to constantly be searching for "the thing," -- but they were never able to settle on one.
At its heart, Austin is a music town, and even during the Interactive portion of the festival, the nights are filled with music as bars and clubs downtown host exclusive parties.
Inside the Austin Convention Center on Saturday morning, the heart of the South by Southwest Interactive world.
During the festival, many blocks of 6th Street are closed and there is music everywhere.
Street art along 6th Street on Thursday night in Austin, Texas, beckons to "Follow Me."
During his keynote speech at South by Southwest on Saturday, Elon Musk discussed Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity, and how he sank his whole fortune into these three innovative companies.
Outside the Austin Convention Center on Thursday night any surfaces not already covered with ads, flyers, and other promotions were quickly being plastered with bills for the coming week.
British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, who is best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, was at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers meetup on Saturday afternoon.
NASA's full scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, and will be launched in 2018.
The mirror array on the full scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, and will be launched in 2018.
CNET's Seth Rosenbaltt moderated a panel Saturday on Web browsers, during which Mozilla's Jay Sullivan revealed there are no plans for Mozilla to return to iOS.
MakerBot's Bre Pettis pauses briefly before unveiling the Digitizer, which will scan real-world objects into 3D-printable digital files.
The MakerBot Digitizer prototype was shown for the first time at South by Southwest.
"It's kind of like Tron," MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis explained, as a prototype of the new Digitizer 3D printer fired its laser scanners at a garden gnome.
3M was showing off some holographic technology around the Austin Convention Center this week at South by Southwest. A video image was projected from behind onto a thick cutout in the same shape as the projection, which gave the impression of a very life-like figure speaking to you.
This strange-looking 50-foot-tall plastic bottle tower was actually part of a demonstration for the Lytro light field cameras, which were available to check out and use for the day.
At a panel discussing the future of 3D printing moderated by CNET's Rich Brown, these two 3D Systems employees were actually wearing Cube 3D printers.
Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley talks location with blogger and entrepreneur Anil Dash. Crowley says Foursquare's massive amounts of data are so much "more than mayorships and badges."
With tens of thousands of people in town, traffic is awful in Austin this week. A better way to travel is a pedi-cab, a tricycle which carries up to three passengers.
Many of these pedi-cabs are sponsored, and free, like this one powered by Oreo.
At a panel on "Mobilizing Ingenuity to Strengthen Global Security" with CNET's Daniel Terdiman, acting U.S. Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller (far right) said she believes the public can play a vital role in helping combat international arms control violations and threats.
A video of Grumpy Cat, quite possibly the biggest story coming out of South by Southwest, was projected in the windows of a building along 6th Street on Saturday night.
The CNET party on Saturday night.
Wanderu is a service that facilitates travel on intercity buses and trains between any two points in the country. This little monkey appears to be a fan.
Social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk doles out advice inside the Austin Convention Center on Sunday.
Al Gore chats with journalist Walt Mossberg on Saturday during South by Southwest Interactive.
Musician Robert DeLong performs at the CNET party in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.
A unicorn from Samsung's new Unicorn Apocalypse game makes an appearance at the CNET party on Saturday.
Fun in the afternoon sun at the Spotify House at South by Southwest.
The Spotify House had long lines to get in on Monday afternoon, as people came for the free drinks and performances from Robert DeLong and Atlanta's Watch the Duck.
Someone's turn has gone horribly wrong while playing a large-scale version of Jenga at the Mashable party on Sunday night at Speakeasy in Austin.
A trip to Austin is never complete without a visit to Salt Lick for barbeque. A visit to the legendary spot has become a sort of South by Southwest annual pilgrimage for many festival attendees.
We'll see you next year!


Will Middlebrooks last played for the Red Sox on Aug. 10. The young third baseman broke his wrist that game and has seen nothing but the bench since.
On Saturday, Middlebrooks took his first swings off a tee since the injury.
With only four games left in the Red Sox' season, Middlebrooks will certainly not return, but the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham notes that Boston wants to make sure the 24-year-old is healthy enough to continue his offseason rehab.
Ever since Middlebrooks' call-up on May 2, all he did was hit. In 75 games, the Texas native batted .288, cranked 15 home runs and drove in 54 RBIs.
As Boston looks to the 2013 campaign, Middlebrooks is one of the key components to the rebuilding project, and it makes sense for the team to take extra precaution with its stud slugger.
To hear Abraham's take on Middlebrooks and his rehab, watch the video above.


It’s been more than two decades since Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley first appeared as the bumbling Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone on the BBC cult comedy Absolutely Fabulous. Now, they’re bringing their hard-drinking, fountain of youth-seeking characters to the big screen in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, a project which Saunders, who created the show, has been mulling over for years.
The film’s first trailer finds Edina’s PR agent and Patsy’s magazine editor accidentally shoving Kate Moss to her apparent death while on a quest to book her as a new client. They escape to no less glamorous a fugitive state than the French Riviera—though not before embarrassing run-ins with Jon Hamm and Rebel Wilson. In keeping with the premise of their show, which ran for five seasons, the two decidedly unglamorous ladies continue their spirit journey toward the glamorous life.
Absolutely Fabulous hits theaters July 22.


Another year means another edition of EA's soccer classic. Any true fan of the series will want to purchase FIFA Soccer 10 just for the updated squad information, but this year's incarnation also benefits from tweaks that provide a smoother gameplay experience and better control.
One of the best new features, the Be a Pro: Club and Country mode, allows you to assume the identity of your favorite footballer as you attempt to earn a spot on your country's World Cup team. You also now have to option to play an entire season from start to finish, including league and cup play, without the hassle of all the administrative and fiscal responsibilities that come with playing in Manager Mode.
While it lacks the overall polish and the more-realistic-looking graphics of this year's excellent console versions, FIFA Soccer 10 still provides an exciting and worthwhile portable soccer experience.


DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 31 July) – Davao Region outperformed all the other 16 regions in the Philippines in terms of economic growth after posting a stellar gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in 2014 at 9.4 percent, , a significant increase from its 6.7-percent performance in 2013.
National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) XI Director Maria Lourdes Lim said the region surpassed even the national average of 6.1 percent in 2014, which is still among the fastest growing economies in Asia.
She attributed the impressive performance to the collective efforts of the different sectors for enabling the region to sustain its high growth levels for the past three years.
Central Luzon came in the second highest with a GRDP of 9 percent, followed by Central Visayas with 8.8 percent, and Caraga with 7.8 percent. The Eastern Visayas was the lowest at -2.3 percent.
“Indeed, 2014 was a banner year for Davao Region, not only because it has sustained its high growth levels in the past three years, a very crucial prerequisite to inclusive growth, but also because it has surpassed expectation and has already achieved its growth target for 2016 or by the end of the plan period,” she said during the 2014 Report on the Economic Performance of Davao Region at the Ritz Hotel at the Garden Oases on Thursday.
Having recorded the fastest growth among 17 regions, she said Davao has maintained its position as the top economy in Mindanao when it comes to GRDP value.
In her presentation, the region contributed 3.9 percent of the P7.2-trillion Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) at constant 2,000 prices.
Lim said what stirred the growth in the service sector in 2014, which was pegged at 8.3 percent as against the target of 7.1 percent, was due to the developments in the wholesale/retail, financial inter-mediation, and the real estate sub-sectors. The strategic location of the region as a financial and trading center in Southern Mindanao also jacked up its growth.
“This advantage gave way to expansion of business enterprises that increased the demand for property/real estate, condominiums and socialized housing, as well as demand for office and residential spaces,” she said while citing the expansions of shopping malls and restaurants in the region.
She also highlighted the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as one of those that had driven the local economy.
The active ICT industry in Davao City ranked first among the 37 destinations of the ICT investors, being the number 1 next wave cities since 2011.
There are 32 ICT firms employing around 21,000 full-time workers in the city. Most of the workers are coming from the voice sector comprising at least 57 percent.
The industry sector was also a key economic driver, which accelerated to 14.6 percent in 2014, surpassing the target at 7.4 percent on the back of a brighter manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and electricity, gas and water supply subsectors performances.
“Manufacturing contributed the biggest share at 66 percent and grew by 18.8 percent and surpassed its target of 8.3 percent due to sustained performance of processing industries, such as cement, food and beverages, and steel billets,” she said. Mining and quarrying posted 12.8 percent, exceeding 2014 target by two-folds at 6 percent.
Construction also posted an impressive growth with the influx of investments in private constructions coupled with increased government spending on infrastructure, including road upgrading and Typhoon Pablo rehabilitation projects. Lim also cited Tamugan Surface Water Facility worth P10 billion enrolled under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
Although it fell short by 1.6 percentage points of its target at 4 percent, the agriculture sector rebounded after suffering from -8.1 percent in 2013 to post 2.4 percent growth in 2014. The agriculture in the region dropped in 2013 after Typhoon Pablo hit in December 2012.
“Davao Region’s strong economic performance in 2014 was realized in a manageable inflation environment of 3.7 percent, which was even below the government’s target range of 4 to 5 percent,” Lim said.
Last year, the commodity exports reached $2 billion, up by 11 percent as compared to 2013. Banana remained the region’s export winner, contributing at least 45 percent of the total value of exports.
Employment in the region also grew to 94.2 percent in 2014, up by 1.1 percentage point as compared to 93.1 percent in 2013.
“The regional employment rate was higher than the national average of 93.2 percent. The increase is attributed to the robust business and investment climate in the region that created and sustained jobs,” Lim explained.


Aim-listed gold producer Nordgold announced on Thursday that a new mining permit for its Lefa mine – one of Guinea’s largest gold producing mines – will be effective from March 21.
The permit, as well as the convention that was renewed last year, was extended for 15 years, in line with Lefa’s current life-of-mine.
Nordgold expects to invest over $360-million in Lefa’s development over its life.
It has already invested about $1-billion in Guinea since acquiring the mine in 2010.
The company stated that its concern for, and awareness of, the needs of the local community was an integral part of its presence in all of the regions in which it operates.
“The Lefa mine invested significantly to improve the provision of local health services and education, including support for the fight against Ebola, as well as the creation of new medical facilities and some 40 schools.
“The mine also offers continuous support to the agricultural and food supply activities of the local citizens, as well as organising access to fresh water through [the drilling of] water boreholes,” Nordgold stated.
Lefa contributed almost $12-million to empowering the local communities and it intends to continue its investments, with the aim of improving people’s living conditions for the life-of-mine and beyond.
Lefa provides direct employment for almost 1 200 employees, as well as over 730 indirect jobs. Ninety per cent of its employees are nationals.


Roughly a quarter of all people with back pain have a herniated disc, and approximately 90 percent of herniated discs occur in the lower back. Steroid injections generally cost a few thousand dollars each, and patients often receive a series of three or more of them, said Gaetano Scuderi, MD, a clinical assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery who is the senior author of the study to be published in the Aug. 15 edition of Spine. The lead author, S. Raymond Golish, MD, PhD, was recently a fellow in spine surgery at Stanford.
Scuderi cited a 2008 study showing that Americans spend $90 billion every year on treatments for lower-back pain, and said the findings in his new study provide the basis for a test that might someday lead to substantial savings for the health-care system.
A herniated disc is a problem with one of the small, spongy cushions that sit between the vertebrae of the spine. The hernia occurs when the inside portion of the disc ruptures and bulges out from between the vertebrae. If it’s in the lumbar, or lower spine, region, it may lead to pain, numbness and tingling in the legs and buttocks, not to mention a backache.
Most people with herniated discs get better within one to six months, but the symptoms can be hard to live with, so physicians often prescribe muscle relaxants, painkillers or a series of steroid injections, which have been shown to provide moderate, short-term relief. Many patients also undergo a physical-therapy regimen. In a small number of cases, surgery is needed.
But if patients with lower-back pain could be screened to determine whether they would respond to the injections, they could be spared the discomfort and cost of a futile procedure, Scuderi said, as well as its potential complications, such as bleeding, infection and thinning and even death of bone tissue.
The researchers found that when a molecular complex of fibronectin and aggrecan — protein fragments associated with degenerated or traumatized cartilage — are not present near the hernia, steroid injections almost never work. However, when the complex is present, the injections often provide significant relief. In such cases, the authors hypothesize that the steroid injection interrupts the inflammatory process initiated by the fibronectin-aggrecan complex.
The study enrolled 26 patients — 19 men and seven women — over the course of a year. Of the 14 whose test samples contained the fibronectin-aggrecan complex, 12 responded to an epidural steroid injection and two did not. Of the 12 whose samples did not contain the complex, only one responded to the injection.
“We believe that the biomarker complex identified represents a bona fide and independent indicator of [epidural steroid injection]-responsive patients,” the authors write, noting that larger trials are warranted.
There are challenges to developing this finding for practical use. As it stands, testing for the protein complex is “a technically challenging clinical procedure” that is “as invasive as the injection itself,” the authors write. It requires a tube to be inserted into the outermost part of the spinal canal. Scuderi noted that the procedure also costs about as much as a single steroid injection. However, he said there may be a way to develop a cheaper, simpler sampling method — possibly by creating a blood test or using molecular imaging.
Scuderi said he and his fellow researchers also are working to determine whether the protein complex itself could be exploited to reduce pain. “If it’s bioactive, it may be a target for new therapies that could reduce or eliminate the pain more effectively and with fewer side effects than steroids,” he said.
Another Stanford co-author of the study was Eugene Carragee, MD, professor of orthopaedic surgery.
Scuderi is a founder of Cytonics Inc. and an executive at the Florida-based company, which is pursuing possible clinical applications involving the fibronectin-aggrecan complex. The company funded assays that were performed for the study.


Have you ever wondered why your pancakes sometimes have ugly craters, or a weird ring around their edges? A new analysis of pancake recipes could help you exploit physics to make the perfect pancake — and possibly one day save your sight.
To understand pancake analysis, we have to understand a couple of terms. The first is “aspect ratio,” which compares the diameter of a pancake (to the third power) and the volume of the batter it took to make the pancake. The lower the aspect ratio, the thicker the pancake—because an equal volume of batter will make a smaller and smaller pancake. The second term is “baker’s percentage,” which is the ratio of liquid to flour. The higher the baker’s percentage, the thinner the batter. Lowering the baker’s percentage means a smaller amount of flour added to an unvarying amount of liquid.
In this latest study, the aspect ratio of different pancakes varied dramatically, depending on the recipe. Thick Dutch poffertjes, which look like coin-sized pillows, had an aspect ratio of 3, while parchment-thin crêpes had an aspect ratio of 300. The baker’s percentage didn’t vary nearly as much—it stayed between 100 and 225 for all the pancakes tested, but it produced some very interesting differences in browning.
Now let’s talk about how percentage works. Make a thick batter, with a baker’s percentage of 100, and you’ll get weird craters. Cooking evaporates the water in the pancake batter, but that water has to go somewhere. Thick pancakes trap it. As it tries to push upwards and escape, it makes craters. Whip up a thin batter with a baker’s percentage of 225, and you’ll get a lot of little dark spots, a dark ring around the edge of the pancake where the batter is thinnest, and a lot of little holes in the top. The batter is thin enough for the water to escape through the cooking pancake, leaving the dough to darken if not burn. An intermediate pancake with a baker’s percentage of 175, or a very small pancake, regardless of batter thickness, will brown evenly as the water escapes smoothly.
So what does this have to do with saving your eyes? Glaucoma is the result of liquid building up in the eye and being unable to escape. This puts pressure on the optic nerve, slowly damaging it and causing blindness. Figuring out how liquid can escape, either through or around a thin surface, is a good way to save people’s sight.
Sound far-fetched? Let these two scientists make wonderful pancakes and explain the correlation with equally wonderful accents.


Dakotah Duncan attempts a layup on the fast break as Preston Sykes of Adena contests and Garrison Banks of McClain along with Warriors Jacob Shipley and Jarrett Garrison trail the play.
The Tigers of McClain fell to the Adena Warriors on Wednesday at home by a score of 59-54 to drop to 1-7 on the season. The win gave the Warriors their first victory of the season and improved their record to 1-6.
After trailing for all but the first two minutes of the game, when they claimed a 4-0 lead, the Tigers were able to claw their way back into the game in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers tied the game at 42-42 with 4:50 left in the game on a layup by Garrison Banks.
The Warriors answered with a layup of their own and the Tigers responded with a layup off of an offensive rebound by Landree Gray with 4:02 to play.
At the 2:46 mark of the fourth quarter the Tigers took the lead at 48-47 for the first time since early in the first quarter.
Dakotah Duncan sunk three of four free throws over the Tigers next two possessions to stretch the lead to two at 51-49 with 2:16 to play.
From that point on the Warriors closed the game on a 10-3 run to claim their first victory of the season.
The Warriors got things started in the first quarter, after the Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and quickly established a 13-4 lead on their way to a 15-7 lead after one quarter of play.
McClain started out the second quarter on a 11-4 run to get to 19-18 with just under two minutes to play in the second. The Warriors locked in defensively for the remainder of the quarter holding the Tigers scoreless while closing on an 8-0 run to claim a 28-18 lead at halftime.
The Tigers came out in the third quarter with renewed energy on both ends of the floor as they outscored the Warriors 15-9 in the period to cut the lead to four points at 37-33 to set up the final quarter.
The Tigers were led by Duncan who scored a team high 17 points on the night, grabbed six rebounds and came away with three steals on the defensive end. Gray also had an excellent night for McClain as he finished with a double double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
The Warriors were led by Zach Fout who recorded a game high 18 points to power Adena to their first win of the season.


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Welcome to the Nutritious Rice for the World project!
Rice is one of primary staple foods of the world. We are using our structure prediction algorithms available at Protinfo to predict the high resolution structures of proteins expressed in major rice strains. We will then use these structures to predict function, and interaction with other molecules including proteins, DNA, RNA, and nutrients (ions, small molecules, etc.) using tools also available at the Protinfo site. The eventual goal is to help farmers use marker assisted breeding to produce better rice strains with higher crop yields, greater disease and pest resistance, and that will provide a full range of bioavailable nutrients thereby benefiting those in regions where hunger and nutrient deficiency is a critical concern. To accomplish this we need to understand the behavior of rice proteins, and this in turn is aided by understanding their molecular structure. Our software can predict the structure, but the computational challenge to solve this problem is great and would require decades of computing time on our best computer cluster. We expect that it can be done in about a year using World Community Grid. We are excited to bring this challenge to World Community Grid, and welcome your participation!
In addition to the information on the World Community Grid pages, you may follow along with our progress on this site.
New: We have created a straight-forward web interface to download the top scoring models of any rice protein we modelled, along with a tar and bzipped archive of the models for all the protein sequences.
This project is made possible with the generous donation of computing time from World Community Grid volunteers, support from IBM, and software from the BOINC project.
Funding for research comes from National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.
Rice photos are courtesy of International Rice Research Institute.


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A neighborhood favorite goes up against NOLA’s treat of choice. Which pastry will rise to the top?
Beignets are a brunch favorite at Acadiana. Photograph courtesy of Acadiana.
Hello there, dear fritter fans. Welcome back to the derby—the original and only doughnut-obsessed series in Washington. (Accept no imitations!) On Tuesday, we watched the Italian fluffs at Cashion’s walk away with a win, beating out those old-school rounds from Montgomery Donuts—available at Slice N Dice in Arlington—with ease. With just four bouts left in round one, the competition is getting stiffer than a day-old deep-fried pastry, so be sure to check back daily and cast your vote.
Next up: A neighborhood favorite takes on NOLA’s treat of choice. Weekend mornings were made for jaunts to charming Palena Market in Cleveland Park, purveyor of super-fresh, airy doughnuts in flavors such as lemon glazed. Delicious. But if it’s beignets you’re after, you could do way worse than delightfully rowdy Acadiana. Brunch at the Cajun-inspired restaurant from the Passion Food Group always involves live jazz, lots of drinks, and an order of pillowy fried dough doused in plenty of powdered sugar. We’re predicting a tough competition, so let your voice be heard.


Second in a series spotlighting nominees for the London Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards. Today: Medium business category.
The third generation of the Collins family, in the form of Curt Collins, now leads this business.
“Collins today is much more than rentals and has many facets to the business,” Curt Collins said.
It offers not only tuxedo and suit rentals and sales, but also dry cleaning and alterations. There is also a uniform division.
Collins Clothiers now maintains seven corporate locations throughout Ontario, as well as a wholesale division that serves 175 retail locations with tuxedo and suit rentals across Canada. All of thsi is headquartered in the Forest City.
The business has experienced an average of 10 per cent business growth every year since 2011, and recently rebranded under the umbrella of Collins Clothiers, expanding in the process from a 7,500-square-foot warehouse to a facility with more than 12,000 square feet.
Collins Clothiers has more than 30 top brands on offer.
As part of its corporate philosophy, “Each staff member is encouraged to walk 30 minutes each day, paid,” Curt Collins said.
The business also supports social enterprises such as Goodwill.
And yearly contests are held to name the corporate store of the year and managers of the year. Winners get a cash reward and a plaque for the store location.
Sciencetech manufactures spectroscopy and solar stimulator equipment for researchers and industrial partners all over the globe. Its devices are used to manipulate light and simulate sunlight in closed lab space.
“Our instruments are used by many renowned universities, Fortune 500 companies and government agencies,” said CEO and president Alex Quaglia.
The London firm’s equipment is used in many different fields, including medical research, biotechnology, photochemistry, material sciences, environmental and academic research, defence, aerospace, photovoltaic testing and green energy production.
Sciencetch recently expanded its facility by 13,000 square feet. Five per cent of the company’s sales come from the international sector, including markets such as India, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Customers include NASA, the European Space Agency and the Korean Space Agency.
“We have been able to increase our annual revenue by 35 per cent in fiscal year 2019 compared to fiscal year 2018,” Quaglia noted. The company’s customized systems are worth as much as half a million dollars.
The firm’s engineering and research and development teams have advanced degrees in engineering and physics. Sciencetech takes apprentices and summer students from schools like Western University and Fanshawe College.
“Sciencetech makes a special effort to be a good employer, a socially responsible institution and a productive part of Canadian society,” Quaglia said.
One of the core values of Selectpath Benefits and Financial is a commitment to the London community.
“We feel very strongly about the economic and social impact we have in the communities in which we live, work and play,” said Jeff Cox, the company’s marketing and communications co-ordinator.
Cox said the company has experienced “fantastic” business, with a projected growth from 2017 to 2018 of 23 per cent. Since 2016, it has acquired such companies as MCKMCL Financial, LBM Consulting Partners, FIRM Consulting and Benefits Direct. In 2015, it won the business integrity award from the Better Business Bureau.
Their specialty is to help resolve the “problems that keep business owners up at night,” Cox said.
The company has a 48-member team that is managed by CEO Gordon R. Hart and chief operating officer Scott Murphy. Selectpath says the goal of company leadership is to make employees feel that they have the support of management. Of paramount importance is maintaining an optimal work-life balance for company workers.
There is also a scholarship program awarded annually to a child or grandchild of a Selectpath employee who is pursuing post-secondary education or training, as well as one-on-one support for employee health goals. Management tries to keep work schedules flexible.
“Commitment to community is a stated core value of the organization,” Cox said. The company supports such groups as LifeSpin, the Alzheimer Society of Canada, SARI, the Ontario Naturalists Board and Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario.
“With few corporate contacts nine years ago, the company has become a strong, service-oriented and meaningful brand that cares about its clients, staff members and community,” said the president of tbk Creative, Andrew Schiestel. “In 2017, tbk Creative’s revenues grew by 34.6 per cent year-over-year.
Schiestel boasts that his company is the “most decorated marketing agency in London” after winning 18 international digital marketing awards.
Some of the company’s clients include 3M Canada, Lerners LLP and the Tricar Group.
Schiestel considers his company an innovator, for example, building its own web accessibility software for a client who asked the company to make its website accessible. The arm of tbk that created the software has now serviced more than 1,000 corporate accounts, including organizations such as GoodLife, Tim Hortons, Staples and Western University.
The company also created an intranet tool called tbkGather.
“We practise a merit-based employment system because we operate in a competitive free marketplace but believe that diversity builds a better world,” Schiestel said. Staff are encouraged to take compensated continuing education.
“We practise the values of transparency and authenticity. We stamp out gossip quickly and the building of silos,” he added. The company also has ongoing relationships with Fanshawe College and Western University. It supports such organizations as Women in Technology, Kids Kicking Cancer and Childreach.
The London Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards gala is the main event on the city’s business calendar, billed as the largest event of its kind in Canada, typically drawing more than 1,200 people.
Awards include small, medium and large business of the year, agribusiness, beyond borders, corporate social responsibility, human resources excellence, innovation and environmental leadership.
This year’s event will be held March 20 at the London Convention Centre at 300 York St., with cocktail reception at 5 p.m., dinner program starting at 6 p.m. and gala after-party from 9:30 to 11 p.m.
For tickets and other awards information, visit londonchamber.com.


Baltimore County police officers with more than nine years of experience should receive 4 percent pay raises next year, according to an arbitrator whose findings were made public yesterday.
As a result of the arbitration, the raises, which will cost about $4 million, must be included in the budget to be proposed by County Executive James T. Smith Jr. this month.
The step increases for officers with more than nine years of service would make midcareer salaries of county officers more competitive with the midcareer salaries of police officers in other jurisdictions, said Cole B. Weston, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4.
"It's important to stay competitive with the other jurisdictions, all of which are getting cost-of-living raises this year," Weston said. "We were able to prove through an economic argument that the county could pay for this proposal."
County Council members, who can delete from but not add to the county budget, are not bound by the arbitration. County officials say the government cannot afford raises for police or other employees this year.
"The issue is that the county executive has adopted the fiscal approach - just like families - that we must live within our means," said county spokesman Donald I. Mohler.
The county auditor has determined that the county budget should not increase more than 4.56 percent during the next fiscal year, a rate known as the spending affordability guideline.
The arbitrator found that the county can afford to give the raises to officers and said that "the county executive and council [members] retain the ability to make adjustments in the event budget problems arise."
A labor fact-finder concluded last month that the county should give 3 percent raises to county workers represented by two unions, the Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees and the Baltimore County Federation of Public Health Nurses. Both unions are seeking nonbinding arbitration to settle their dispute with the county.
None of the six labor groups representing about 8,400 county employees have reached agreements with county officials. Their contracts expire at the end of June.
The FOP, which represents about 1,800 officers, won the right to binding arbitration in 2002.


We all understand that elections are fundamental to democracy. There has to be a peaceful way of kicking the ins out. And while they are in, to make them afraid of something. But my goodness, elections are costly.
We’re currently having one in Quebec. We vote October 1st, not a moment too soon. The promise-laden emails are arriving daily. $100 million here, $100 million there. And we’ve still got three weeks to go.
So far my $100-million favourite is from the governing Liberals. Because of the fiscal room freed up by the difficult restraint of the last few years, they say, they can now promise — wait for it — $7-a-day parking at hospitals. To balance the provincial budget, ordinary citizens paid higher taxes for slower growth of services, while bureaucrats took job cuts and salary freezes. But finally, here’s the payoff we’ve all been waiting for. We have $7.50-a-day day care in Quebec, which allows you to park your kid for the day at well below market rates — if you can get a space. Now, for 50 cents less you’ll be able to park your car all day, too. At hospitals, that spot will actually be free for the first two hours and max out at $7 for the day. And if you require regular or follow-up treatment, it will be free, period. As it will be at long-term-care institutions. After the nanny state comes the valet state.
The thing about populism is that it’s often, well, popular. In Ontario, thanks to an election promise from the Ford PCs, beer-drinkers now have brew for a buck. Or at least they have that possibility. How many breweries will take permanent advantage of the new lower legal floor price is not clear, but beer drinkers are presumably happy.
At least buck-a-beer politics accords with good economics. Legally enforced floor prices, whether in beer, milk or oil, prevent competition from driving prices down to the true cost of producing whatever good we’re talking about. In fact, the real problem with the Ontario Tory policy is that it leaves a floor in place, albeit a lower one, instead of abolishing the floor altogether, which would let competition decide how low beer can go.
I don’t doubt that price ceilings on hospital parking rates will be popular. Most people think the current prices are a kick in the teeth. A loved one needs hospital care and in addition to the psychic trauma associated with that you’ve got to pay $20 or $25 a day in parking. It’s like a tax on illness.
Why do they do it? As signs indicate in some parking lots I’ve used over the years, it helps fund the hospital. The Liberals’ announcement doesn’t say much about how the ceiling will be administered, but the apparent $100-million price tag could be for the government to reimburse hospitals and other institutions for lost revenue. If not, then the new policy constitutes a transfer from patients, who will lose $100 million of services, to parkers, who will save on cash payouts. Since most parkers will be related to a patient, that might not actually be a trade-off families would like. Worse care for my loved one so I can pay less for parking? I don’t think so.
But even if the government does make up the hospitals’ revenues, what’s the ultimate effect on parking? As politicians should have tattooed on their foreheads, demand curves slope downward. If you arbitrarily lower the price, any price, more people will want to consume whatever it’s charging us for. We know this from health care itself. With a price of zero, more people want to use the system than the system can handle. The result: Wait lists.
So, sure, parking will be free — if you can find a spot. How much harder will that be? Where hospitals and institutions aren’t situated in wide open spaces, my guess is plenty hard.
Much as it’s refreshing to see a government actually show concern for people who drive cars, if it really wanted to do something nice for people visiting health care institutions, it could: stop harassing Uber and other ride-sharing services; end quantitative restrictions on taxi licenses; adopt a “fit, willing and able” rule for entry to that industry; and prevent neighbouring municipalities from charging more for street parking than parking congestion requires.
As for the idea that price ceilings will help: Park it.


Aviva asked a London court to approve the transfer of assets totalling €9 billion, saying the uncertainty from Brexit was “intensifying” as it joined other insurers and banks triggering contingency plans.
Aviva asked Judge Richard Snowden for permission to move the life-insurance policies held by non-UK policyholders to its Irish subsidiary. The insurer wants to make the move to prevent the risk that payments may be held up if the UK goes through a hard Brexit.
“It obviously will take some time for clarity to emerge,” Mr Moore said.
Aviva won approval to move £1 billion (€1.1 billion) in general policies earlier this month.
The British insurers are concerned they will lose the so-called “passporting rights” that enable them to make payments to policyholders outside Britain. Without a deal, insurers and pension providers could be legally barred from sending out payments, leaving policies dormant on their accounts.
Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual and pensions company, this month won court approval to transfer policies to its Irish unit.


MUNCIE, Ind. — President Trump's announcement of a new strategy in Afghanistan came as welcome news to former Ball State University political scientist Ken Holland, now president of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).
A private university mostly funded by the U.S. government, AUAF was shut down for seven months after a suicide bomber and two gunmen stormed the campus one year ago this week. Seven students, a lecturer, two security guards and three members of the Afghan security forces were killed.
Two professors — one American and one Australian — from AUAF were kidnapped in Kabul in a separate incident last August.
If the university were to close, it would be regarded as a clear victory for the Taliban insurgent group, Holland told The Star Press.
"The tone of President Trump's speech makes clear that he does not intend to lose the war in Afghanistan," Holland wrote in an email. "In fact, the emphasis of his address to the American people was that the United States will defeat them. Keeping the university open and even helping it to grow and educate even more future leaders will be one sign of the victory promised by the president."
The strategy for a continued U.S. presence in the country is very good for the security environment in Kabul, home to AUAF, which former First Lady Laura Bush helped launch more than a decade ago, according to Holland.
"People here still remember the day that the Taliban seized control of the city in September 1996 and the subsequent mass executions and oppression of the population," Holland wrote.
In April, Holland was named president of AUAF after spending the previous eight years employed by Ball State as a political science professor, dean of the Rinker Center for International Programs and director of BSU's Center for International Development.
In a recent telephone interview, Holland said AUAF was important because "our mission is to educate future leaders of Afghanistan … Many young people working in the Afghan government are graduates of this university. Our graduates are becoming leaders not only in the government but also in the private sector."
Holland's perception is that Afghans love America. "Many older people remember the Taliban and definitely don't want to go back," he said. "Half of our students are female. That is very, very unusual for Afghanistan. Under the Taliban, women were not allowed to go to school or to even work outside the home."
More than 100 Ball State faculty worked on projects at one time or another in those countries, though BSU policy prohibited students from going to countries with travel warnings.
The latest state department travel warning for Afghanistan says it remains unsafe due to the "ongoing risk of kidnapping, hostage taking, military combat operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry between political and tribal groups, militant attacks, direct and indirect fire, suicide bombings, and insurgent attacks, including attacks using vehicle-borne or other improvised explosive devices."
Holland attended a conference the other day titled, "Terrorism vs. Tourism." "Afghanistan has a lot of natural beauty and cultural-historical sites that people would love to see," he said. "The only problem we have is with the terrorists … "
Ball State joined a select group of American universities working in Afghanistan, including Purdue and Indiana universities, University of Massachusetts, University of California-Davis, Texas A&M, Stanford and University of Chicago.
"The American University of Afghanistan is one of the Taliban's major targets in Kabul, and if they returned to power the university would be forced to close and the Afghan students and staff associated with the university would be at risk," Holland wrote.
AUAF is perceived by the Afghan government and people as an American institution, with an American president and many American professors, supported by the U.S. government (85 percent of its budget). Congressional backers include Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain.
Though he has no diplomatic status, Holland is sometimes treated as an American diplomat when he attends events in Kabul. "AUAF, therefore, can be viewed as a component of U.S. foreign policy aimed at furthering mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Afghanistan," Holland wrote.
"AUAF is a symbol of America's commitment to Afghanistan, and as long as the university operates, the Afghan people will feel assured of America's presence and assistance," he added.
Ball State's Center for International Development benefited from the Obama administration's "civilian surge" that earmarked a huge amount of money to help develop Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. But that funding has dried up, and Ball State eliminated the center.
"The money had just gotten tighter," said Ball State Interim Provost Marilyn Buck, who added that it tightened before Trump took office. "The resources were just not there. Congress was questioning the amount of money being spent on some of these countries rather than here at home."
In the 2015-16 academic year, Holland obtained $1.4 million in funding from the state department, or more than five percent of the $25.7 million in total external funding received by Ball State.
Though Holland and the center are gone, he basically trained Ball State faculty to carry on the work he started.
"These folks can move forward on their own," Buck said of BSU faculty. "They now have had that international experience, so they are positioned to continue on. Due to Ken's good work, we are able to move forward."
• Mary Theresa Seig, a BSU expert in second language studies and teacher training who had worked with Holland in Baghdad.
• Lindsey Blom, associate professor of sport and exercise psychology, and Larry Gerstein, professor of counseling psychology, who have used soccer to teach conflict resolution to kids and coaches in parts of the world including Jordan.
"Ken's good work put Ball State on the map in a lot of these countries," Buck said. That could help Ball State faculty secure future funding from the state department and other sources for international education.


A GROUP of volunteers is banding together to try and keep a 27-year-old community centre open.
Due to council cuts, Langdon Square Community Centre in Coulby Newham is facing closure.
The centre currently receives an annual £30,000 subsidy from Middlesbrough Council, for maintenance, electric and water bills along with contributions to caretakers salaries.
But as the council must cut nearly £14m from its budget for the 2012-13 financial year, and with more big cuts in the next two years, Langdon Square’s subsidy will be withdrawn over three years.
This means that from 2015 the centre will receive no subsidy from the council.
Now an action committee made up of people who use the centre, is drawing up proposals on how to keep the much-loved centre open.
The action committee will report their findings to a management committee, which will in turn submit a three-year business model to the council in March.
It’s expected the council will announce whether the committee’s plan has proved successful in March.
Sarah Ross, manager of the centre who works for Middlesbrough Council, said: “We’re turning something which could have been a disaster into something positive.
Ideas on the table include charging more for room hire, holding children’s parties, and looking for sponsors from the community.
The committee is also looking into applying for charitable status for the centre.
Sarah said Langdon Square, which offers classes from flowering arranging to karate, plays an important role in the community.
For more information about the centre log on to www.middlesbrough.gov.uk or call 01642 599723.


Nate Roe gets to come home.
After growing up sitting in the stands watching games at TD Bank Ballpark, and two seasons of having to take the long walk to the visiting clubhouse with the New Britain Bees, the 28-year-old Plainfield native and former Scarlet Knights standout is officially a member of the Somerset Patriots.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Roe told MyCentralJersey.com.
Roe’s rights were acquired via trade with the Bees, who got reliever Alex Gouin in exchange. It would be hard to argue that, at least for right now anyway, the Patriots didn’t “win” that trade; the affable righty had a 2.98 ERA as a reliever last year, with his overall numbers a bit skewed by some end-of-the-season starts.
That he was traded to Somerset was a difficult secret for Roe to keep until Monday’s announcement, but why he got dealt in the first place is an interesting story in itself.
“The reason was actually much bigger than me,” he said.
“Here” is Somerset, and it’s exactly where Roe wants to be. He earned a spot on the Liberty Division squad at last year’s Atlantic League All-Star Game, which was hosted by the Patriots, and his experience there only cemented what he’d already believed for years.
“To be honest, I knew what the organization was all about leading up to the All-Star Game. But the All-Star Game just kind of solidified what the Somerset Patriots represent; a classy organization that treats the players right and treats the fans right,” Roe said.
The interesting thing now, however, is how Roe is going to slot into that organization from an on-field perspective. He broke into the league as a starter in 2016, but only found success once he moved to the bullpen last year.
Realistically, he’s going to carve out a role towards the middle or back of Somerset’s group of relievers this year, but could also be a candidate to spot start at the very least as well.
“Whether my role is starting or relieving, I still have the same job to do. I’ve still got to throw strikes, I still have to get batters out and I still have to execute pitches,” Roe said.
Posted in Uncategorized on March 6, 2018 by Mike Ashmore.


Learn about wool, see demos, samples and hands-on activities in knitting, crochet, felting, weaving and spinning.
The Stanley Hotel makes The Shining experience come to life.
I bet you wish you worked at Twitter right about now.
Is exploding things with machine guns a hobby of yours? Well Kentucky is the place for you. Check it out!
Nervous to fly? The Sunport has introduced nine therapy dogs to calm your anxiety.
From coffee to condoms, is pumpkin spice taking over the world? Check out everything that’s turned pumpkin spice this fall!
New Mexico residents are gonna need another form of ID come January.
You’ve found cool things hiking, but have you ever found anything as cool as a viking sword?
Sesame Street introduces a new character with autism. How can this show not run forever?
From mummies to Moses to Middle-earth, Devin D. O’Leary is your guide to all the Hollywood films hitting theaters this holiday season.
From the Marigold Parade to a drum circle to surpass all drum circles, here’s a roundup of seasonal goodness to warm those chill autumn days.
Which new shows are dead men walking?
Which of the new fall TV shows is in serious danger of being terminated?
Mr. Ford can't fight the fever … “to lose some powers” has gotta be rough.
Police have identified the passenger who fell from a small plane that was flying over the Atlantic.
Patsy Davis' body was exhumed from her frontyard after her husband lost a court battle to keep her in her wanted resting place.
The postal service lost $5 billion this past year.
An abortion protester named Rives Grogan was arrested yesterday for shouting at people near Zimmerman Library about religion and abortion. He's being charged with disorderly conduct and public nuisance. And that's not counting his Veterans Day stunt.
Today is the last day for early voting in the special election. The election itself happens on Nov. 19.
US attorneys have prosecuted 5,999 people for immigration offenses in New Mexico so far this year, the fastest rise among the country's 94 judicial districts.
And you thought you could do the splits?
Last week, we took a glimpse at all the shows the networks were tossing away at the end of this season. So let’s look over all they’ll be adding in the fall.
Did he stick the dismount?
Call it a guardian angel. Call it divine intervention. Call it plain dumb luck. Whatever faith you subscribe to or mantras you chant to place more significance on circumstance, one thing is especially clear: Dylan Hayes is one lucky little kid.
Like a cat that refuses to fall face-first, Dylan tumbled out of a third story window—while his mother, Jessica Hayes, was shampooing their carpet—and landed on his feet. Upon hearing her mother scream, Hayes assessed that he had fallen out of the window and ran downstairs in a panic. Not knowing what to expect, she saw that Dylan was standing there and appeared to be unharmed.
As a precaution, he was held at the hospital in Aurora, Colo. for 20 hours and was asked to wear a neck brace, though he walked away from the incident seemingly without a scratch.
If there’s one thing that we can learn from this incident, other than placing extra care when taking care of a toddler, it’s that when all else fails, children can still make great gymnasts or future superheroes.
At this point it’s hard to tell which new fall shows will be good and which will be awful. But what’s to stop us from making snap judgments based entirely on cast, concept and the teaser trailers available on YouTube?
The 2011-2012 season has hit its midway point. Shows are taking a break for the holidays and will be back with new episodes in late January or early February. Some of them anyway. A few have already gone off to that great television channel in the sky. While the fall 2011 season wasn’t exceptionally bloody, there were a handful of high-profile network casualties.
Out: Charlie Sheen. In: Ashton Kutcher. This is the most painfully obvious transition of the upcoming fall 2011 season. In one of the most high-profile (and well-tweeted) Hollywood feuds of all time, “Two and a Half Men” producer Chuck Lorre booted troubled actor Charlie Sheen. And hired Ashton Kutcher to replace him. Sheen is busy shopping his TV adaptation of the Adam Sandler film Anger Management. So far, no network seems interested in even bankrolling it. Kutcher, meanwhile, steps into a sweet, $800,000-per-episode gig. Producers have estimated (perhaps a bit optimistically) that the Sheen-less season premiere of the CBS sitcom will draw 50 million viewers. Sheen, meanwhile, got a job hosting Insane Clown Posse’s annual Gathering of the Juggalos.
We just purchased a half a pound—each—of fresh chanterelles (it is fall, people!). But in a bout of lunch-box paranoia, Evan feared that the mushrooms would shrivel in the fridge and miss their peak. So we minced the beauties and made a mushroom duxelles (say “duke-sell”)—a classic French dish of mushrooms roasted with shallots, fat and wine. Nearly a tapenade, the stuff is versatile enough to work on vegan bruschetta or dress up leftovers.


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The Mir space station crashed to earth, and eBay hawkers were quick to post their space junk for premium prices. Also: European ISPs go bust on their flat-rate service plans.... The INS needs to create a clear policy on deportation for laid-off H1-B visa holders.
Need an MP3 player? Wired News recommends Sonique – not because we have the same parent company, but because we like the people who make it.
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