(Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) gets frustrated as he talks with teammates during third quarter of the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) yells at photographers for taking his picture as he walks off of the field after the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes walk off of the field after the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Troy Williams (3) walks on the sidelines during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes sing 'Utah Man' after the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) and his teammates gather before the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) and his teammates gather before the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) and his teammates huddle before the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) warms up before the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) warms up before the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Troy Williams (3) warms up before the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Chase Lucas (24) intercepts the ball intended for Utah Utes wide receiver Darren Carrington II (9) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Chase Lucas (24) intercepts the ball intended for Utah Utes wide receiver Darren Carrington II (9) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Manny Wilkins (5) throws the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes running back Zack Moss (2) is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Chad Adams (21) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver N'Keal Harry (1) is tackled by Utah Utes defensive back Marquise Blair (13) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils place kicker Brandon Ruiz (1) kicks a field goal during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) falls to the ground during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes tight end Harrison Handley (88) runs the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) remains on the ground after being tackled during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils defensive lineman JoJo Wicker (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) runs the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham watches during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) runs the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) looks to pass the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes running back Zack Moss (2) runs past Arizona State Sun Devils linebacker Christian Sam (2) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) A fan dances with Swoop during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils running back Demario Richard (4) runs past Utah Utes defensive end Bradlee Anae (6) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) hands off to Utah Utes running back Zack Moss (2) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) An Arizona State fan cheers after a touchdown during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) hands off to Utah Utes running back Zack Moss (2) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) gets frustrated as he talks with teammates during third quarter of the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) gets frustrated as he talks with teammates during third quarter of the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham walks off of the field after the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham walks off of the field after the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) watches during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) throws the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils tight end Jay Jay Wilson (9) scores a touchdown after intercepting the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Troy Williams (3) watches during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes defensive back Corrion Ballard (15) targets Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Kyle Williams (10) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Ryan Newsome (17) celebrates after converting a first down during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes running back Zack Moss (2) is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils linebacker Christian Sam (2) and Arizona State Sun Devils defensive lineman JoJo Wicker (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes wide receiver Tyquez Hampton (5) scores a touchdown past Utah Utes linebacker Cody Barton (30) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes running back Zack Moss (2) is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood (90) and other Arizona State Sun Devils during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arizona State Sun Devils tight end Jay Jay Wilson (9) celebrates with Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back J'Marcus Rhodes (17) after scoring a touchdown after intercepting the ball during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) walks off of the field after throwing an interception during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes defensive back Corrion Ballard (15) targets Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Kyle Williams (10) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Troy Williams (3) talks with Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10. (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Troy Williams (3) talks with Utah Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley (1) during the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, October 21, 2017. Arizona State Sun Devils defeated Utah Utes 30-10.
A roar went up from every corner of Rice-Eccles Stadium when Tyler Huntley took the field with the Utes offense for the first time in almost a month. The noise wasn’t just palpable, it was audible.
Then reality sunk in as Huntley’s return failed to produce a revival for the Utes’ offense. Huntley struggled so mightily that it begs the question: Did Huntley’s return do more to hurt than to help?
Huntley, the sophomore quarterback, wowed with his playmaking ability with both his legs and his arm in the first three games of the season. The first-year starter suffered a shoulder injury against Arizona in the Pac-12 opener, and he’d been sidelined since.
In light of back-to-back losses, albeit by a total of four points, there seemed to be a sentiment among Utes fans that Huntley’s return would provide a necessary jolt. Some might even have argued that his presence might have changed the outcome of the previous losses.
Huntley, facing a defense which had two interceptions in six games, completed 19 of 35 passes for 155 yards with four interceptions. His fourth interception, which came with the Utes down 23-3 in the fourth quarter, got returned 20 yards for a touchdown.
Passing: 23 of 32, 227 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.
Passing: 30 of 43, 341 yards, 4 TDS, 1 Int.
Passing: 19 of 35, 155 yards, 4 Ints.
The Utes’ 10 points were their fewest since scoring nine in a loss to UCLA in 2015. They managed 265 yards of total offense, and their longest play of the day was 17 yards.
Huntley showed no obvious signs of his injury hampering him. His throwing arm did hang limply at his side for a moment immediately after getting hit on his arm in mid-throwing motion late in the first half. The next play he tossed an off-target throw up the sideline for his second interception of the first half.
Huntley didn’t want to use his shoulder or his lack of practice time in recent weeks as excuses, and he repeatedly came back to the offensive mistakes as the reason for the poor showing.


She already set the record once. Now she's going to do it again.
Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman set the record for the oldest woman to play in a WNBA game when she was 39 years old in 1997.
Tonight, she will smash that mark against the host Comets when she takes the floor at Reliant Center at 50 years old.
She told the Associated Press that she expects to play only in Houston.
The Detroit Shock signed Lieberman to a seven-day contract.
The deal comes a day after the Shock announced that Cheryl Ford tore her ACL in Tuesday night’s game. Ten players and Detroit assistant Rick Mahorn were suspended on Thursday for their roles in a fight that aggravated Ford's injury..
Nancy Lieberman (shown coaching the Detroit Shock in 2000 after Martina Navratilova handled the ceremonial jump ball) said her comeback will last just one game.
The Comets (12-12) will face Detroit (16-9) at 8:30 p.m. at Reliant. The game will be on ESPN2.


Stinger.next is the second large effort Hortonworks has spearheaded in order to improve the performance of Hive. The company recently completed its goals for the initial Stinger project, on which it began work in 2012 and which the company claims improved the performance of Hive by 100 times while also improving its functionality.
The company explains the details of how it, along with the Hadoop community, plans to pull this off in a blog post on Wednesday. It also gives a rough timeline of when the three-phase plan will be complete: ACID transactions by the end of this year; sub-second queries and Spark integration in the first half of next year; and full SQL queries along with geographically distributed queries by the end of 2015. There are a few other deliverables tied to each of those timeframes, as well.
A successful Stinger.next initiative could be a major annoyance, to say the least, for the slew of companies that have already committed untold man-hours and financial resources building out their own SQL-on-Hadoop engines based on the premise that Hive — even running on Spark — would never be fast enough. Commercially available products include Cloudera Impala, IBM Big SQL, Pivotal Greenplum and startup Splice Machine’s eponymous database technology. Open source projects and others still under development include the Facebook-built Presto, the Salesforce.com-built Apache Phoenix and the MapR-led Apache Drill.
The Apache Spark community is also working on its own interactive SQL engines called Spark SQL and BlinkDB.
That might continue to be true, and it might be true that every technology mentioned will continue to be better than a new-and-improved Hive in one way or another. But it’s also true that a more-capable Hive is going to look very appealing to a lot of users that have been using Hive for years and don’t want to incorporate an entirely new technology (although Stinger.next does involve some major architectural changes), or that prefer their Hadoop components to be as open as possible.
I’m not sure running SQL jobs on Hadoop is the ultimate use case for what many claim will be a revolutionary data platform, but given the size of the database market, it’s potentially a lucrative one and it’s helping highlight some big differences between each vendor’s approach to selling Hadoop.
I would recommend updating your piece to reflect that Impala is (and has been) an open source project, freely available on github . The fact that MapR and Amazon have both adopted it and provide support for it should also be noted, to that effect. The only thing Cloudera ‘charges’ for Impala is for support.


The backlash against the comedian Louis C.K. was swift after the Times reported on Thursday that several women described encounters with him that crossed the line into sexual misconduct. On Thursday evening, HBO said Louis C.K. would no longer be part of a comedy benefit that it plans to broadcast on Nov. 18.
FX, the cable channel that broadcasts “Louie,” the comedian’s Emmy-winning series, as well as other series involving him, said Thursday that it was “very troubled” by the report and was reviewing the matter. But the network added that it had “received no allegations of misconduct by Louis C.K.” on any of the five shows he and FX had collaborated on in the past eight years. Those shows include “Better Things,” which he and Pamela Adlon created, and “Baskets,” which he created with Zach Galifianakis and Jonathan Krisel.


Lifeguards and police were using personal watercraft and aerial surveillance Sunday to continue their search for a large shark that attacked a 13-year-old boy near Beacon’s Beach in Encinitas on Saturday morning, leaving him with traumatic upper-body injuries.
There have been no reports of a shark in the area since the attack occurred, but Encinitas lifeguard Capt. Larry Giles said people are not yet being allowed to go back into the water.
“We imagine it could be a great white shark, but we don’t know for sure,” Giles said during a Sunday morning news conference.
The injured boy was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Rady Children’s Hospital on Saturday. Giles had no further information on the teenager, who was diving for lobsters on the opening the day of the season with his mother nearby on the beach when he was attacked.


The publish date for Glenn Beck’s new novel, “The Overton Window,” is fast approaching (June 15th) but right now on Amazon the cover image is still that great red-and-white placeholder (someone should publish a book with that cover, and call it T.B.A. or some such thing). The cover is in limbo, it seems, because Beck is letting his fans vote for their choice from the four below options.
In keeping with Beck’s persona, these covers don’t communicate much subtlety (and have been skewered by the expected skewerers). But when you’re done pshaw-ing, we recommend submitting your own cover ideas to Huffington Post’s book section, where they’re running an inspired parallel contest. We can’t wait for the results; if Beck’s publisher were interested in some real crowdsourcing, they’d give us masses a chance to vote for one of those.


Analysis: OpenMFG helps fill the void of open-source ERP applications for small and midsized businesses.
For the largest enterprises, access to the source code of their enterprise resource planning applications is a given. The critical nature of ERP, the desire for customization and—particularly in todays regulated environment—the need for transparency of financial systems require it.
ERP applications for small and midsize businesses dont typically offer access to source code, but thats a problem open-source applications can solve.
Dozens of open-source ERP applications are available, including derived works from common open-source projects. Better-known open-source ERP applications include Compieres Compiere, the Open For Business Projects OFBiz and ERP5 Foundations ERP5.
/zimages/6/28571.gifClick here to read a review of ERP application OpenMFG 1.3.
Compiere licenses its application under Netscapes Mozilla open-source license, MPL (Mozilla Public License); the Open For Business Project licenses OFBiz under the MIT Public License; and ERP5 Foundation licenses its application under the GNU GPL (General Public License).
The "open" in OpenMFGs OpenMFG refers more to open access to source code and to the fact that the product is built on open-source applications than it does to OpenMFGs being an open-source application itself.
The OpenMFG license protects the companys intellectual property while giving customers the option of viewing and modifying source code and making source code contributions.
OpenMFG officials said a reseller, for example, has contributed an improvement to the applications bill-of-materials planning feature that the reseller developed for a customer.
By soliciting contributions while retaining control of the source code, OpenMFG can provide two important benefits for customers.
First, the company adds functionality without the added third-party costs associated with more traditional commercial ERP add-on products. Second, it can ensure quality of code while providing a single source of support.
Given that modules are the bread and butter of ERP applications—with basic accounting spreading out to encompass supply chain, manufacturing, human resources and project management—contributions to open-source ERP applications make them more competitive with commercial offerings that generally have a broader set of modules already available.
Open-source applications have had success in building out functionality through module contributions and derivative work. For example, both Compiere and OFBiz have spawned derivative and complementary projects for adding other ERP functionality, such as fixed asset, HR, manufacturing and point-of-sale management.


Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, musician Bob Dylan and astronaut John Glenn were among a select group of 13 Americans named by President Obama Thursday as the latest recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
The medals, which the president will present to recipients at a White House ceremony, recognize individuals who have made “especially meritorious contributions” to the security or national interests of the Unites States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant endeavors, according to the White House’s Thursday announcement.
Other than Ms. Albright, Mr. Dylan and Mr. Glenn, Mr. Obama also named Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, former Israeli President Shimon Peres, Novelist Toni Morrison, former University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball coach Pat Summit, worker’s rights leader Dolores Huerta and civil rights leader John Doar.
The president also chose William Foege, the physician who led the campaign to eradicate smallpox, Gordon Hirabayashi, who openly defied the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, Jan Karski, who served as an office in the Polish Underground during World War II and was one of the first eye-witnesses of the Holocaust, as well as Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts in 1912.
The White House said it was recognizing Ms. Albright, who served as secretary of state under President Clinton from 1997 to 2001 and was first woman to hold the position, for her work enlarging the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and helping lead the alliance’s campaign against terror and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. Mr. Dylan, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, was is known for his “rich and poetic lyrics” and his work had “considerable influence on the civil rights movements of the 1960s and has had significant impact on American culture over the past five decades,” the White House said.
Mr. Glenn’s selection was just a matter of time. The former senator and astronaut was the third American in space and the first American to orbit the earth and was the oldest person to visit space at the age of 77.


TROY ‑ Police investigating the October shooting of a city man seized firearms and ammunition during a raid at a home near the murder scene, authorities said.
Police late Monday raided the first floor apartment at 448 1st St. and seized a loaded pistol grip shotgun and a Romanian SKS assault rifle, along with over 300 rounds of ammo, police spokesman Sgt. Terry Buchanan said.
Buchanan said the raid was connected to information police got during their investigation of the Oct. 13 fatal shooting of 29-year-old Jimmy Chapman.
Chapman was found shot once in the head and lying on a sidewalk at Harrison and Second streets at around 8 p.m.. He died the next day at Albany Medical Center Hospital. No arrests have been made. Police do not believe the weapons seized in the raid are connected to the murder.
''We are hoping that information we get from this arrest will lead to more information about the murder,'' Buchanan said.
Police arrested the resident of the apartment, Tyrone T. Howard, 30. They are not calling him a suspect in the homicide.
Howard was charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was arraigned Tuesday morning in city court and sent to the Rensselaer County Jail pending a hearing.


The opening day of the UIL baseball championships ended with Georgetown Gateway Prep falling to Wall 5-1 in a Class 3A semifinal. Wall sophomore right-hander Ryan Gully struck out 15 in a match-up that featured two teams making their debuts at the state tournament.
Class A final (Dell Diamond), 9 a.m.
Class 6A final (Dell Diamond), 4 p.m.


University Health Network and Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network are creating a value-based health alliance that will ultimately provide statewide coverage.
A new partnership between doctors and facilities affiliated with University of Tennessee Medical Center and Vanderbilt University Medical Center aims to improve the quality of health care and reduce costs across the state.
University Health Network and Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network announced Wednesday that they are joining to create a value-based health alliance that will ultimately provide statewide coverage.
It will include both teaching hospitals, as well as 87 practices and more than 1,000 providers in University Health Network, plus the 13 health systems, 67 hospitals, more than 350 practices and more than 5,000 providers in the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network. Health systems in the network span the state, from West Tennessee Healthcare to Mountain States Health Alliance in the Tri-Cities.
That also means UT Medical Center and University Health providers will be in-network for people covered by insurance plans accepted by Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network.
But its primary benefit, officials from both said, is that it sets up even more providers to collaborate with a goal of helping patients — especially those with chronic health issues — achieve better long-term health at a lesser cost.
The network will be a “value-based” model of delivering health care, meaning that what hospitals, doctors and other providers get paid is based on the health outcomes of their patients.
Broadening that network means more collaboration among providers — leading, hopefully, to less duplication of costly tests and other services, since providers will be working together; better success managing chronic illnesses before they require more costly treatment or intervention; and more efficiently directing patients to primary care or preventive care, rather than having them end up in expensive emergency departments or hospital rooms in a crisis.
Stevens said the network is already seeing a decrease in cost and expects to see less use of the ER and fewer re-admissions to hospitals among patients in the network. She expects an increase in patients’ investment in their own health care — already a trend — as well.
“I think they’re going to feel more like participants on the journey, rather than the classically paternalistic approach to health care,” she said.
While decreasing costs is a goal of the network, it’s not the primary goal, said University Health Systems President and CEO Joe Landsman, who said the network should result in cost savings and better care for all patients — those covered by commercial insurance, individual policies, TennCare/Medicaid and Medicare, as well as uninsured or self-paying patients.
“What we are trying to do is transform our delivery system, to create a better value option for those who choose to use our services,” Landsman said.
Combining clinically integrated systems has grown in popularity in recent years, but it’s commonly limited to a single metropolitan area or a single health care system, said Dr. C. Wright Pinson, deputy CEO and chief health system officer for Vanderbilt University Medical Center and chairman of the board for Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network. What’s most unusual about this partnership is that it combines two different companies and seeks to cover the entire state, he said. That may mean using telehealth services to cover some rural areas, he said.
Landsman and Pinson said serious discussions between the two organizations began about a year and a half ago. For now, the collaboration won’t result in new base contracts; providers will keep their current contracts, with the value-based payment layered on top of that.


Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage are to go head-to-head on BBC television in a debate on Britain's future in Europe.
The hour-long debate will be shown on BBC2 from 7pm on Wednesday, 2 April, and will be hosted by David Dimbleby.
Mr Clegg's Liberal Democrats are the most pro-EU of the main parties at Westminster, while Mr Farage's UKIP advocates withdrawing from the EU.
They have been involved in a growing spat over the issue, ahead of May's European elections.
Last month, Mr Farage accepted Mr Clegg's invitation to a televised "open debate" on whether the UK should stay in the EU.
The BBC said the televised debate would take place in front of an audience "selected by a reputable polling organisation to be demographically representative and with an equal number of people for and against British membership of the EU". Questions will come from the audience members.
James Harding, Director of BBC News and Current Affairs, said: "We are delighted to have negotiated successfully to broadcast this important debate. Europe is always a highly charged issue in British politics and this is a fantastic opportunity to test the arguments."
Mr Clegg last month challenged the UKIP leader to a debate on his weekly phone-in programme on LBC radio, which will also host a clash between the two party leaders.
He said: "I will challenge Nigel Farage to a public, open debate about whether we should be in or out of the EU, because that is now the choice facing this country and he is the leader of the party of 'out'; I am the leader of the party of 'in'.
"I think it's time we now have a proper, public debate so that the public can listen to the two sides of the argument and judge from themselves."
In response, Mr Farage said he wanted the Conservative and Labour leaders to join in a four-man debate, which he suggested should take place during the European election campaign in April or May.
But he said he would take on the Lib Dem leader in a head-to-head debate even if the other party leaders declined.
Downing Street said David Cameron will not be taking part in the debate with Mr Farage and Mr Clegg.
A spokesman said the prime minister would be setting out his views on Europe during the European election campaign and did not want to start "another process", adding the Lib Dems were "a bit needy of publicity".
The Labour Party said the party's priority was to reach agreement on TV debates between the two prospective prime ministers ahead of the next election.
"Anything else will be a matter for negotiation after that is agreed," he added.
Leaders debates have long been a feature of election campaigns in the United States, but took place for the first time in Britain at the 2010 general election.
But there is some doubt over whether the exercise will be repeated in 2015, amid behind-the-scenes wrangling over the likely format and timing of the programmes and battles about who should be allowed to take part.
The BBC's chief political correspondent Norman Smith said the debate between Mr Clegg and Mr Farage could encourage the party leaders to sign up to general election debates or, alternatively, "provide some room to argue against them".
UKIP is consistently ahead of the Lib Dems in national opinion polls, with Mr Farage claiming his party is in with a chance of topping the polls at the European elections.
The Liberal Democrat party president Tim Farron, by contrast, is warning his party it faces the "fight of their lives" to retain its 12 MEPs.
Mr Clegg, who has known Mr Farage since his days as an MEP, between 1999 and 2004, has opted to launch an all out attack on his Eurosceptic rivals, focusing on their voting record in Brussels and Strasbourg.
In a speech on the EU's role to the Centre for European Reform, Mr Clegg accused Mr Farage and his colleagues of failing to "stand up for Britain" in the European Parliament.
"Nigel Farage and deputy leader Paul Nuttall rarely turn up to vote in the European Parliament, despite being happy to take their taxpayer-funded salaries," he said.
"UKIP MEPs refuse to roll up their sleeves and get down to work. Nigel Farage hasn't tabled a single amendment to EU legislation since July 2009."
Mr Farage hit back at his rival's claims, saying: "Nick Clegg has some cheek raising attendance and voting records. Although Nick Clegg lives in London, between 2010 and 2014 he has voted in Westminster only 22.6% of the time.
"By contrast I live eight hours away from Strasbourg, lead a national party and have voted 55% of the time in the European Parliament."
He also said that the group of MEPs that he leads, the "Europe of Freedom and Democracy", had "put down hundreds of amendments since 2009, so factually Nick Clegg is quite wrong in what he's saying here".
He said he would use the TV debate with Mr Clegg as a "platform for the majority of British people who want our relationship with Europe to be one of trade and co-operation but not one of political union".


Randy Johnson could be in pinstripes by this time next week.
Despite a stumbling block yesterday and a few hurdles that still need to be cleared, an industry source said last night the complicated multi-team trade that would put The Big Unit in The Bronx has been agreed to in principle. Soon enough, Johnson, the best left-handed pitcher in baseball, should be headlining the Yankees’ rotation.
The deal is a bit tricky but essentially works like this: Los Angeles will send right-hander Brad Penny, outfielder Shawn Green, reliever Yhency Brazoban and a minor league pitcher to Arizona. Arizona will then send Johnson and another minor league pitcher to the Dodgers. The Yankees will then send righty Javier Vazquez and two minor league prospects (catcher Dioner Navarro and third baseman Eric Duncan) to the Dodgers.
Finally, the Dodgers will ship Johnson and probably left-hander Kaz Ishii to the Yankees to complete the deal. Got all that?
So, if you’re keeping score of who goes where, the Yankees add Johnson and likely Ishii; the Diamondbacks get Penny, Green, Brazoban and a minor league pitcher; and the Dodgers acquire Vazquez, Navarro, Duncan and another minor league pitcher. Additionally, if the Yankees get Ishii, they will pay $2 million of the $5 million remaining on his contract.
There are still a few issues that need resolution. One, there is a lot of deferred money with several players that needs to be ironed out. Two, several of the key players – Johnson and Penny, in particular – have to undergo and pass physicals. And three, multiple no-trade clauses – with Johnson and Green – have to be figured out.
Finally, the deal has to go to commissioner Bud Selig to be approved. Once Selig approves it, likely on Monday, then a 72-hour window will open for the Yankees to talk to Johnson and the Diamondbacks to talk to Green about extensions. Both players have no-trade clauses and have only one year remaining on their contracts.
It will take at least a week to get everything all cleared up. Still, even Penny himself told ESPN Radio yesterday the deal is nearing completion, and he’s on track to have a physical with the Diamondbacks next week.
At one point yesterday, the Yankees believed there could be a fourth team involved in the trade, possibly either Baltimore, St. Louis or the White Sox. But now it’s believed there is no fourth team needed, unless the Dodgers want to move Vazquez in another deal.
Barring something unforeseen, the trade should eventually be completed. Once it is, it will allow the Yankees to go from having a shaky rotation to sporting arguably the best five-man unit in the game – Johnson, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright and Kevin Brown (if he is not traded). They would also likely have Ishii as insurance, a lefty who went 13-8 with a 4.71 ERA this past year.


NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices extended their pullback Tuesday, propelling the government debt market to its fourth day of losses in five sessions, after data showed service-sector companies expanded at a faster rate in October.
The Institute for Supply Management said its nonmanufacturing survey of purchasing manufacturers rose to a 55.4% reading last month from 54.4% in September, beating economist expectations of a 54% reading. A result over 50% indicates expansion.
The 10-year note US:10_YEAR yield rose 5.5 basis points on the day to 2.660%, up roughly 15 basis points from last week to its highest level since mid-October. The 30-year bond US:30_YEAR yield rose 5.5 basis points to 3.753%, while the 5-year note US:5_YEAR yield rose 2 basis points to 1.380%.
“When we saw the ISM manufacturing [on Friday] and nonmanufacturing both being stronger than expectations and better than the previous, it really called into question the thesis that the government shutdown shook confidence,” said Tom Graff, fixed-income portfolio manager at Brown Advisory.
Treasurys have given up some gains that followed a Federal Reserve decision not to scale back its bond-buying program in September as the market continues to seek clarity on a time frame for when the central bank will begin to edge out of its $85 billion in monthly purchases. Though many had homed in on expectations of a pullback in the spring of 2014, some market participants have moved forward their expectations for timing and speed after the Federal Reserve’s policy statement last week sounded a less dovish tone than expected.
“I think the expectation was for something overly dovish, and I think it came out in the middle-of-the-road,” said Boris Rjavinski, rates and rate derivatives strategist at UBS.
As investors look for clarity about how the Fed may edge out of its monthly bond buys, it will look to an October nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, which the central bank uses as an assessment of the labor market. The data, however, may be skewed by the federal government shutdown last month.
Home prices rose in September rose at the fastest annual pace since early 2006. According to data released by CoreLogic Tuesday, home prices rose 0.2% in September as the annual pace hit 12%.
Fed speakers in recent days have taken to the podium to give their outlooks on monetary policy. Despite a range of opinions, some central bankers seem to have become less dovish in their appearances, perhaps in an attempt to help guide the markets, according to Rjavinski.
“I think if you try to parse the Fed-speak lately, what you may seen is that they’ve gotten more careful about how they communicate their intentions to the market,” he said.
Eric Rosengren, the president of the Boston Fed Bank, said Tuesday that economic growth in the second half of the year is shaping up to be “substantially slower than I want to see.” Rosengren, who is a voting member of the policy committee this year, said late Monday that delaying the so-called taper of the Fed’s bond-purchase program would not substantially alter the Fed’s balance sheet.
Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker spoke in the afternoon but didn’t touch on monetary policy. Eastern and San Francisco Fed President John Williams speaks at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Neither are voting members.


Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters and 48 apartments are located inside The Barber Building in Brattleboro, which has been sold to a New York real estate firm for $2.4 million.
BRATTLEBORO—New York-based real estate firm Time Equities Inc. (TEI) in April purchased the two buildings that house Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, Sam’s Too, and 48 apartments.
Brad Borofsky said his family’s business, Sam’s, will remain open and operating. The business has signed a long-term lease with TEI, he said.
“We have no plans of leaving any time soon,” Borofsky said in the midst of writing inventory orders for next spring and summer.
“We’ll be here longer if the sales environment can stay healthy enough to sustain us,” he added.
The Barber Building — 62-74 Main Street — and 9 Flat Street mark TEI’s first acquisition in Vermont.
According to the real estate firm’s news release, the majority of the company’s holdings are in the Northeast. The company has properties in 27 states, five Canadian provinces, Germany, the Netherlands, and Anguilla, in the British Virgin Islands.
Selling the two buildings provided a good business opportunity, Borofsky said. Borofsky’s grandfather Sam started the business in 1932.
“We didn’t have to sell the building,” Borofsky said.
According to Borofsky, Sam’s three stores — in Brattleboro, Keene, New Hampshire, and Hadley, Massachusetts — are strong and healthy.
He added, however, that now is a good time to sell. He said Brattleboro “looks good” between the Brattleboro Food Co-op’s new building, wonderful restaurants, the renovated Brooks House, and post-Tropical Storm Irene repairs.
Borofsky highlighted the changes he has witnessed in Brattleboro during his family’s tenure at the corner of Main and Flat streets.
He listed a host of stores that used to call Brattleboro home, such as Mann’s, Woolworth’s, and King’s.
There was a time when Keene residents shopped in Brattleboro, he said.
Most outdoor-focused bricks-and-mortar stores are struggling as more people shop on the internet, he said. For Brattleboro, one of the biggest competitors is Keene, NH.
In Borofsky’s view, Keene is the region’s hub town. It has a variety of stores and amenities and no sales tax, he said. Vermont doesn’t charge sales tax on clothing and footwear, but most people don’t know that, he added.
Borofsky thanked the local residents who shopped at Sam’s. The store also has a steady tourist base — although Mother Nature dictates those tourist sales quite a bit, he said.
According to public documents, after approximately one year on the market, the two buildings were purchased by TEI for $2.4 million. Ranger Curran of RE/MAX Town & Country brokered the deal on behalf of Borofsky.
Borofsky said most of the sale price will go toward paying off debt and toward capital gains taxes.
Together, the two buildings total approximately 64,617 square feet.
According to the news release, the company owns and maintains approximately 22.61 million square feet of residential, industrial, office and retail property. This portfolio includes more than 3,078 multi-family apartment units.
The company has an additional approximately 1.62 million square feet of properties in various stages of development.
Max Pastor, Associate Director of Acquisitions at TEI, noted in the news release that the Sam’s buildings offer an opportunity to “become more active in the state of Vermont and surrounding areas.” The buildings also provide “a strong cash flow” and other opportunities.
“Boasting a diverse population, independent stores and restaurants, educational and healthcare services, cultural institutions and an ideal location near the Connecticut River, we are optimistic about the investment potential of Brattleboro and look forward to evaluating future transactions in Vermont,” Pastor said.
In an email, Pastor said the company has searched for properties in Vermont for some time.
While the buildings’ sale marks a transition of the Borofsky family, it also could mark a change for the rental market.
The Barber Building on Main Street houses 48 apartment units, which range from efficiencies (one room) to four-room apartments.
According to the Barber Realty website, which lists apartments’ details, rents range from $650 for a one-room apartment to $950 for a four-room apartment. Rents include utilities. All are within walking distance to most services.
A spin through websites that list rentals like craigslist.com or apartments.com turned up a range of rents. Only a handful of the offerings included all utilities.
Rents on efficiencies ranged from $595 to $850. Rents on one-bedroom apartments ranged from $650 to $1,000, with the majority of the rents in the $700 range. Two-bedroom apartments were listed at $775 to $1,800, with most in the $1,000 range. Finally, the few three-bedrooms ranged from $980 to $1,495.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development lists the fair market rent for Windham County as $750, including utilities, for a one-bedroom apartment.
Christine Hart, executive director of the Brattleboro Housing Partnerships, said people with Section 8 vouchers are looking in the $750 price range. And that rate is low for the Brattleboro market, she added.
She has noticed that people searching for apartments through the Partnership’s voucher programs are taking longer to find them, generally between 30 and 90 days. Hart said she receives lists of where apartment hunters have contacted and that, at least judging by the length of the lists, people are really looking.
“Apartments are tight at that market level,” she said.
Originally published in The Commons issue #364 (Wednesday, July 6, 2016). This story appeared on page A1.


Thailand’s prime minister said April 30 his country had agreed in principle to form a rice price-fixing cartel with Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar as costs of the staple grain rocket.
The grouping of Mekong nations would be similar to the oil cartel OPEC, and would be called the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC).
“I have talked with Myanmar and invited them to join the rice exporting countries cartel, which will include Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to fix the price,” Premier Samak Sundaravej told reporters.
He said Myanmar’s Prime Minister General Thein Sein, in Thailand for an official visit, had agreed to join, even though the military-ruled nation was not currently a large rice exporter.
“Thailand will help them in terms of technical support to improve their production for export,” Samak said.


Malcolm Butler, who the Titans signed in the offseason, has embraced his move to Nashville, and, in a larger sense, a change of scenery.
Malcolm Butler is getting used to hot chicken, but the process has been gradual.
Butler has embraced his move to Nashville, and, in a larger sense, a change of scenery. It helps with turning the page, though Butler will tell you he did that months ago.
Butler, a former New England Patriot and offseason acquisition by the Titans, still can’t escape the questions, though.
Why were you benched for last season’s Super Bowl? Why did Patriots coach Bill Belichick not play you for the biggest game of the year after having you start 15 games in the regular season and two in the playoffs?
On the first day of training camp, Butler, who the Titans signed to a five-year, $61.25 million contract with $30 million guaranteed in March, used perfect timing to pick off Marcus Mariota on a pass intended for Corey Davis in 1-on-1 drills. He proceeded to punt the ball in celebration.
"I didn’t mean no disrespect or anything like that," Butler said. "That’s just who I am. I’m just a guy who plays with a lot of intensity."
"Malcolm’s got a lot to prove," Titans secondary coach Kerry Coombs said. "Malcolm’s a competitive guy. He competes at everything he does. He wants to win at everything he does, he wants to win at every rep and he wants to let you know when he beats you. And I love that about Malcolm."
Butler forced at least one turnover in each of the first four practices of training camp. On Saturday, he provided one of the few highlights from the Titans practice at Nissan Stadium, flashing good closing speed to get his hand on a pass intended for Taywan Taylor and break it up.
"I’ve seen everything that I thought he was going to be and that’s being a fiery competitor, scraping and working hard every single day," safety Kevin Byard said. "I feel like he’s been the most impressive defensive player so far in camp. He’s been out here fighting and clawing, earning that contract."
Like all those Super Bowl questions, Butler uses a repeated answer to inquiries about his intensity in practice.


Amy Winehouse's family is putting her house up for sale to the tune of £2.7 million (about $4.2 million)! The three-bedroom property in northwest London has become a shrine for mourning fans.
Keep in mind this is the same house where she lived and died, but a spokesperson for the family indicated they put it on the market because it would be inappropriate for any of them to actually live there.
In a statement, the Winehouse family spokesperson indicated, "It was not practical to keep it empty while paying the costs of its upkeep." The 2,500-square-foot home includes three living rooms and private gardens overlooking Camden Square.
A spokesperson for a housing site told the Associated Press, "There's a lot of fans getting in touch about it, so we're trying to weed out the genuine interest from people who are just being nosy."


Littlehampton Pier has been closed temporarily over safety concerns.
A tweet from Arun District Council said the hot weather had caused the timber boardwalk to warp.
The council said it is working towards a solution.


The food and beverage contract for the Orange County Convention Center could be worth more than $50 million in annual sales.
The food and beverage contract for the Orange County Convention Center could be worth more than $50 million in annual sales. That could mean $550 million in sales over the potential 11-year life of the job. “That's a lot of food,” said Orange County Commissioner Pete Clarke, who will help decide who gets the contract. The fight for the job is between two vendors who will provide food to conventioneers at the annual golf show, lawn and garden exhibitions and Star Wars conventions. Centerplate, based in Connecticut, is one competitor. It holds the convention center contract in Las Vegas, Orange County’s arch-rival when it comes to attracting conventions. The other competitor is a recently-formed venture between Levy restaurants and several partners, including Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear Grills. It's a food fight with big stakes! And sometimes more money means more problems.


A Sino-American summit that would discuss American arms sales to Taiwan and other issues including global strategy seems a possibility following Vice-Chairman Deng Xiaoping's expression of interest in meeting President Reagan.
Mr. Deng, China's de facto leader, raised the possibility during a meeting with visiting United States Sen. Howard Baker. As Senate majority leader, Mr. Baker works closely with President Reagan.
Senator Baker told a press conference here June 2 that he had been ''especially pleased to hear Vice-Chairman Deng say he would like to meet with President Reagan, and indeed he asked me to convey this message to President Reagan. . . .'' He said the details were not for him to arrange but for the President and Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr.
The atmosphere of Sino-American relations has improved following Vice-President George Bush's visit to China early last month. But the difficult problem of American arms sales to Taiwan still ''ticks'' away, in Chinese words, like a ''time bomb.'' Hitherto it had been assumed that President Reagan would not visit China until the arms sales issue has been disposed of.
Now it appears that Mr. Deng, whose formal position is vice-chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (Mr. Deng's protege Hu Yaobang is chairman) would welcome a chance to talk directly to President Reagan about the Taiwan question and other issues.
Senator Baker said he also raised the case of the detention of Lisa Wichser, an American graduate student employed by the Chinese government as a teacher of English in Peking, with Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Wenjin June 1. Miss Wichser, who is working for a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Denver, has been accused of having violated Chinese laws and of ''activities incompatible with her status,'' according to a Foreign Ministry spokesman here.
Mr. Baker said he did not know all the details of the case but that he had been assured by the Chinese that they would strictly follow the terms of the Sino-American consular convention. He hoped Miss Wichser would be allowed to leave China as soon as possible.
China wants an American commitment to reduce and ultimately stop Taiwan arms sales altogether. It argues that continued sales violate China's sovereignty.
President Reagan, who campaigned for office saying he would upgrade relations with Taiwan and give the islanders more and better weapons, has gradually changed his position. He now takes greater account of the importance of the strategic relationship between China and the United States in facing the Soviet Union. Since taking office he has restricted arms sales to Taiwan to $60 million worth of spare parts.
But he remains constrained by the Taiwan Relations Act passed by Congress in April l979 following normalization of relations between Washington and Peking. This act provides for the US to supply Taiwan with sufficient weapons for self-defense.
Does the act give the President the latitude to sell or not sell arms to Taiwan, or to cease arms sales altogether? Senator Baker seemed to think that the act as written leaves implementation in the hands of the president with the consent of Congress. Thus there is no need to amend the act, as amendment would also be politically extremely difficult.
However, in his conversation with Mr. Baker June 1 Mr. Deng apparently raised for the first time the possibility of amending the act. Mr. Baker told him he would convey Mr. Deng's remarks not only to the President and to Mr. Haig but also to his senatorial colleagues. However Mr. Baker said he himself did not favor an amendment of the act.


Goldschmidt went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run in a win over the Brewers on Wednesday.
Goldschmidt sat at an unsightly .180 following an 0-for-5 day against the Dodgers on April 13. However, the slugger has subsequently hit safely in 11 straight games, a stretch during which he's laced three doubles, slugged three home runs and compiled nine RBI. He's raised his average 101 points as a result, but he'll need to continue whittling down a 26.4 percent strikeout rate that qualifies as his highest since his initial 48-game big-league cup of coffee in 2011 with the Diamondbacks.
Goldschmidt went 3-for-4 with a homer, two runs scored, three RBI and a walk in Monday's 13-5 win over Milwaukee.
St. Louis' offense was rolling all not with Goldschmidt at the forefront once again. The slugging first baseman has nine long balls and 18 RBI with a .958 OPS across 102 plate appearances.
Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 went two RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 6-4 win over the Mets.
Goldschmidt knocked a two-run single in the second frame and later scored on a Marcell Ozuna double. He owns an eight-game hitting streak after Sunday, going 12-for-35 with five RBI in the process. However, he's striking out in roughly 30 percent of his plate appearances this season after just 22.5 percent in nine seasons with Arizona.
The performance was a prototypical one for Goldschmidt, one that showed off his timely hitting, power and plate discipline. Unfortunately, it was the type that hasn't been overly common for him yet this season, as even the stellar showing versus Milwaukee only served to raise his average to .226. Matters may be looking up, however, as Goldschmidt is now 5-for-12 with a double and Monday's homer over the last three games.
Goldschmidt went 1-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored Tuesday against the Dodgers.
Goldschmidt took Ross Stripling deep in the fifth inning for his sixth home run of the season. After hitting four homers in the opening series of the season, Goldschmidt has continued to flash tremendous power. He has yet to have much batted ball luck when he isn't going yard, as he has just two hits that haven't resulted in home runs to this point in the season.


Editor’s note: Ashley Johnson is now the media contact for the Tent City Collective. She started the article prior to accepting the role.
When I moved to Seattle this past summer to start my journey in the Communication Leadership program, I was excited to explore the Emerald City and discover all of its hidden gems. After some doing typical touristy things (thanks Buzzfeed!), I asked a few friends and coworkers for a some “local” suggestions. Instead of recommending fun, trendy, night spots, many chose to offer warnings — they told me to stay safe and avoid “the homeless,” especially those living in tent cities.
A woman who lost her home of several decades due to an increase in mortgage payments poses for photo. She lives Tent City 3 because she and her family did not meet the requirements for area shelters. Photo by Ashley Myrriah Johnson.
I’m from a small suburb in the mid-Atlantic states, and the concept of “tent cities” was unfamiliar and foreign. Even though I had spent years advocating for impoverished communities back East, I was not familiar this term used to describe a subset of the population experiencing homelessness. So, I did what any curious millennial would do; searched “tent cities Seattle” on Google and started researching the topic.
One search result detailed Ballard residents‘ adverse reaction to a temporary housing encampment to their neighborhood. It reinforced the notion that there is a disconnect between the stable housing community and those living in man-made transitional camps. So when Comm Lead Associate Director Anita V. Crofts challenged Cohort 15 to find a novel and useful solution to a communication challenge in our community, I jumped at the idea of using communication techniques to address the widespread stigma towards homeless people living in housing encampments.
But, how does one find a way of destigmatizing homelessness and tent cities that has not already been attempted?
While there are dozens of organizations in Seattle that advocate for homelessness through creative storytelling — not to mention many of media outlets covering the issue from a variety of angles — there are few organizations and people who have undertaken the challenge of advocating on behalf of entire communities suffering from the loss of stable housing.
Real Change News is based in Seattle and covers homelessness and social justice issues in the city.
Burkhalter has written about temporary homeless encampments in King County, and noted the importance of interviewing the members of the population experiencing homelessness. It’s one way to accurately represent the many identities and stories that comprise the community. In advocacy, it is important to have a wide set of terms that describe the issue at hand. Without accurate and culturally representative terminology, stories become homogeneous and repetitive.
Photo of a Tent City 3 dormitory for newly-arrived single men. Photo by Ashley Myrriah Johnson.
In my research to better understand the multifaceted landscape of homelessness in Seattle, I met a group known as The Tent City Collective (TCC). I was struck by their community-focused approach to homelessness. TCC is a team of University of Washington students, alumni, Tent City 3 residents (TC3), and community members who work together to involve the university in ongoing conversations about homelessness. The group ultimately hopes to bring TC3, which is currently located just north of UW at University Congregational United Church of Christ, to campus. Group members believe conversations concerning people experiencing homelessness must include homeless people themselves.
“If we are working with a stigmatized group and are not experiencing the same oppressions as their community members, there are many, many nuances about their lives that we will be ignorant to,” said lead organizer Hana Alicic.
By including the TC3 community members in their advocacy efforts, the TCC advocates for temporary housing encampments on multiple fronts. They hope UW community stakeholders will build relationships TC3 residents and learn how the stigmatization of people experiencing homelessness results in systematic discrimination against people unable to find stable housing.
An area with food and supplies in TC3. Photo by Ashley Myrriah Johnson.
Everyone living in Seattle, unsheltered and sheltered alike, is a Seattleite.
Both approaches to the destigmatization of homelessness centered around one common train of thought: creating empathy for one’s neighbor. Recognizing that people fear and stigmatize what they do not understand, Real Change News and Tent City Collective challenge the societal consequences of stigmatization of homelessness through representative storytelling to bridge a communication gap within Seattle.
Because at the end of the day, everyone living in Seattle, unsheltered and sheltered alike, is a Seattleite.
Ashley Myrriah is earning her Master's of Communication in Digital Media.
Ashley, great job taking the reader along with you on your journey to learn about this. I feel more informed – thank you!


Despite being a rookie, Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey has already gained enough experience and insight to know there’s a difference between marking Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and Cleveland Browns wideout Josh Gordon.
Elite might seem a bit of stretch for a player who has played in only two games since being reinstated after an NFL-imposed suspension that began after Week 16 of the 2014 season. After all, Gordon is 92 receptions, 1,355 yards and eight touchdowns behind Brown, a five-time Pro Bowl selection this season.
Despite missing two straight practices because of an injured right ankle, Ravens wide receiver Mike Wallace said Thursday he would practice Friday and play in Sunday’s game at the Cleveland Browns.
But Gordon, 6 feet 3, 225 pounds, is a unique blend of speed and power. After catching four passes for 85 yards in his 2017 debut against the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 3, he had three receptions for 69 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown with 4:45 left in the first quarter, in a 27-21 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. It was Gordon’s first trip to the end zone since Dec. 15, 2013, a span of 1,456 days.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh called Gordon “a big-play threat, a big, rangy receiver that can go up and make plays on the ball.” But Harbaugh stopped short of declaring that the defense would bracket Gordon as some fans wished the unit would have done against Brown, who gained a season-high 213 yards on 11 receptions Sunday.
How long Gordon, 26, can avoid being suspended again by the league for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy remains to be seen. But free safety Eric Weddle said he and several teammates are rooting for Gordon.
Mornhinweg not worried about Flacco-Maclin connection: One day after wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and quarterback Joe Flacco denied the notion of a lack of chemistry between them, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said he is not worried about Maclin’s lack of production, which includes 12 catches on 29 targets for 108 yards and zero touchdowns in his past four starts.
Ronnie Stanley has never faced Cleveland Browns rookie defensive end Myles Garrett. But after studying Garrett ahead of Sunday’s AFC North showdown, the Ravens’ starting left tackle has been impressed by the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft.


FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - Kentucky health leaders have confirmed 16 people have tested positive for salmonella linked to pre-cut melons.
The Department for Public Health said the melons range from cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew. You should discard any pre-cut melons or fruit salads that contain pre-cut melon.
The source of the affected products is Caito Food from Indianapolis.
Symptoms of Salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. The symptoms will develop 12-72 hours after exposure and will last 4-7 days.


KCleaner is a powerful tool that will help to uncover redundant and junk files that you can safely delete.
The program has a good understanding of the kinds of clutter that will be left all over your hard drive by assorted applications. So aside from the usual Windows and browser temporary files, KCleaner can clear caches relating to Java, ATI Drivers, Skype, Google Earth, QuickTime, Adobe Reader and many more.
And while this won't necessarily free up a huge amount of space, it does mean that KCleaner's results compare will with the competition. We tried CCleaner on a trial PC, and it found 2.4GB of redundant files, for instance; KCleaner uncovered 2.73GB.
The program is also very configurable. You're able to choose precisely which types of files it should delete, and there are options to scramble file names before deletion, and securely wipe them so they can't be recovered later.
And once KCleaner is set up as you'd like, it can be left to run in the background, automatically cleaning up redundant files on a regular basis.
Please note, KCleaner will by default try to install toolbars and other "extras". If you don't want this, pay very close attention during the setup process, and decline the various installations as they appear.
What's new in 3.6.3.102 (see changelog for more)?


What the Hell Is Happening in Iran?
Iranian students protest at the University of Tehran during a demonstration driven by anger over economic problems. Students were outnumbered by counterdemonstrators, however, as videos on social media showed.
Anti-government protests continued across multiple cities in Iran for a fourth day on Sunday, the most widespread unrest in the country since the pro-democracy Green Movement in 2009 — though nowhere near the same scale thus far. Two protesters were killed overnight Saturday, the first deaths attributed to the unrest. On Sunday, authorities reportedly blocked Instagram and the popular messaging app Telegram, which Iranians have been using to spread news about the protests. The country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has threatened a violent crackdown if the demonstrations continue.
President Hassan Rouhani, in remarks which were aired on state television on Sunday night, supported Iranians’ right to protest and criticize the government, and indicated that some of the protesters had legitimate demands but that protests should not include violence or anti-regime slogans.
The unrest began with a protest in Iran’s second-largest city, Mashhad, on Thursday, apparently led by hard-liners who wanted to voice their opposition to the reformist policies of President Rouhani. Protests don’t always go as planned in Iran, however, since people sometimes take advantage of the rare opportunity to express dissent publicly, regardless of the original organizers’ intentions. That seems to be what happened in Mashhad, as an anti-Rouhani protest morphed into a broader anti-regime one, decrying rising prices, corruption, and Iran’s foreign-policy expenditures in places like Syria and Lebanon.
The protests, publicized on the popular messaging app Telegram and subsequently reported on by foreign-based satellite news networks, then quickly spread to other cities across the country on Friday, including Tehran, other major cities, and a surprising number of smaller cities that don’t typically see such demonstrations. As the protests spread, many took on an even harsher anti-regime tone, with slogans calling for the downfall of the country’s supreme leader and Islamic government. The seemingly spontaneous, often provincial, protests varied in size, with some resulting in violent clashes with police. Scores have reportedly been arrested throughout the country.
The apparently leaderless protests continued on Saturday, despite the government’s warning against participating in “illegal gatherings.” Violence was reported at rallies in several cities as police and plainclothes security officers continued to try to suppress the unrest. Two protesters were killed by gunfire in the western city of Dorud, but local officials denied that security forces were responsible for the deaths, characteristically blaming Sunni Muslim extremists and foreign powers instead.
Also on Saturday, pro-government protesters took to the streets in Tehran and other cities to participate in a preplanned celebration of the anniversary of the crackdown on the Green Movement. So far, there has not been a similar crackdown in response to this new outbreak, but that could change fast. One of the leaders of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard told state media on Saturday that protesters would face “the nation’s iron fist” if the unrest continued, and internet access to Instagram and Telegram were blocked on Sunday in an attempt to cut off information about the protests.
Other reports indicate that the internet was also throttled in Tehran and cut off entirely in Mashhad.
As The Guardian and New York Times point out, small protests focused on economic issues are normal in Iran, but politically charged protests across the country where people feel safe chanting “death to the dictator” — a knock on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — are not. The protests will undoubtedly be an important test for the relatively moderate Rouhani, who has not been spared as a subject of chanting at the rallies; in his remarks on Sunday, Rouhani was clearly trying to walk a delicate line. There is also apparently suspicion among members of his administration and other reformers about what forces may be behind the unrest.
Some experts aren’t surprised at the sudden wave of protests, however, noting the economic discontent created by the ongoing rise of the cost of living and the unemployment rate in the country.
The Trump administration, which has sought to undo President Obama’s diplomatic progress with Iran and has even flirted with fantasies of promoting regime change, criticized Iran’s government on Friday and urged it to allow the protests to continue. Calling for restraint against peaceful protests is the standard response to unrest in Iran from any administration, though this White House has added some Trumpian flare.
President Trump then revisited the subject in more tweets on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, but such support is probably more useful to the regime than it ever is to protesters, particularly since Trump has already made it easier for the regime to use the U.S. as a scapegoat for its internal problems by threatening to cancel the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions. Indeed, nothing Trump has done since taking office has indicated he or his administration has any real concern for the citizens of Iran.
Regarding what will happen next in Iran, most experts aren’t sure, especially since this new movement, if that’s what it is, does not appear to have any leaders to guide it. As The Wall Street Journal’s Farnaz Fassihi points out, the lack of leadership, structure, and goals is exactly why previous uprisings have typically failed.
The Iranian government, as it has in the past, is working to block social-media platforms used by protesters, but there are still more ways than ever before for reports and videos about the protests — as well as any subsequent crackdown — to spread. In addition, if the regime cuts off or drastically slows down internet access as it did in 2009, that would likely have a much more dramatic effect on the country’s businesses and citizens now that the internet is more widely used and relied upon.
There has also been some tentative support for the protests from hard-liners, who seem to want the unrest to tarnish Rouhani, and that has caused some Iranians to worry the protests are being encouraged as a regime plot to draw out and capture opposition activists. Many anti-regime protesters faced long and brutal imprisonment after being arrested during the Green Movement, and a few hundred may have been killed.
As always, regime-change cheerleaders in the West should probably temper their expectations and refrain from projecting their views onto the protesters. But if the unrest continues, spreads, and increases in size — possibly prompting a violent crackdown by regime security forces — it could quickly lead to a new political crisis in the country at a time when it already faces a resurgent regional rival in Saudi Arabia and a U.S. administration that seems reflexively anti-Iran.
Is it a revolution? Not yet. Iran’s government is its own worst enemy and the Iranian people know it. Economic woes leading to infighting can bring down this corrupt and brutal system. Different factions within the government will, most probably, and just the same as always, choose to dismiss the genuine economic grievances of the Iranian people and blame the protests on foreign agents and an international imperialist-Zionist conspiracy.
The Iranian people have learned, after living almost 40 years under the Islamic Republic, to gradually and intelligently raise their voices in peaceful protests that will provoke the government to tear itself apart. Iran’s rulers may choose to blame foreigners and Zionists — but they hardly realize that the true danger to their power is right at home.
Along similar lines, NIAC research director Reza Marashi, who worked in the Office of Iranian Affairs for the State Department under the Obama administration, adds that the current political climate in Iran does not appear conducive to massive change, but that the gap between state and society will remain — making protest waves like the present one possible — so long as the political, economic, and social aspirations of the Iranian people remain unmet.
This post has been updated throughout to reflect new developments and commentary.


RICHMOND HILL - A Bryan County inmate temporarily released to be treated for a spider bite has returned to the Southeast Probation Detention Center in Claxton to continue serving his 30-month sentence.
Jack Barfield IV, 20, was convicted March 14 on all charges stemming from a wreck on April 25, 2005, that killed Ginger Reagin and her son Garrett, 5.
Barfield was released from the detention center May 17 by court order to seek treatment from Dr. Anthony Sussman of the Savannah Vascular Institute. He was twice granted extensions for additional treatment, but he was to return to custody Wednesday.
"He surrendered to the Bryan County Sheriff's Department on June 20," Barfield's attorney, Lloyd Murray, said Friday. "His condition had improved to the point that remaining outside for treatment was no longer necessary."
Barfield and his girlfriend, Emily Mosely, were racing each other on U.S. 80, court records show, when Barfield's Chevy Tahoe swerved into the oncoming lane and slammed head-on into Reagin's vehicle.
Mosely, 19, pleaded no contest June 14 to six charges resulting from her involvement in the wreck - two misdemeanor charges of homicide by vehicle in the second degree, misdemeanor serious injury by vehicle, reckless driving, speeding and speeding in a construction zone.
As a result of the plea, Mosely will serve three years on probation, will complete 100 hours of community service and will lose her driving privileges for three years.
The time Barfield spent outside the detention center to seek medical treatment did not count as timed served on his sentence.


The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 was enacted to protect employees who need to take absences from work to care for themselves or their family members due to medical problems. This law was amended in 2008 to allow extended leave for the care of service members. Retaliation of any type is strictly prohibited. Employers who use FMLA absences to judge an employee's performance face legal sanction from the Department of Labor or in civil court.
Not all leave falls under the auspices of the FMLA, even if that leave is taken for medical reasons. If the business is governed by the provisions of the FMLA, the employee must have worked for the company for at least 12 months and have completed 1,250 hours of work within the previous 12 months to be considered eligible for leave. Leave may be granted to allow employees to care for themselves, their spouse, their children or their parents. Other family relationships are not covered by this legislation. Leave is considered unpaid and may be requested for up to 12 weeks per year. Military family members are eligible for 26 weeks of leave annually.
While an employee is away from work under the FMLA, his position with the company is secure. An employer may not eliminate his position in the company, but the exact job he held may not be available at the time of his return. For example, a customer service representative who works in a certain store may return to work to find that he now works in a different department or in a different store. It is at the employer's discretion to shift personnel as needed as long as the employee in question returns to work with the same job or a job comparable to the job he was doing when he went on leave.
During the leave, an employer may not cancel the benefits an employee is receiving. This includes any health, dental, life or supplemental insurance policies; retirement programs; or employee assistance programs. Employees are responsible for paying any premiums that may be due during their leave to ensure no lapses occur. Failure to make arrangements for payments may result in the termination of coverage through no fault of the employer.
The Family and Medical Leave Act is governed by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. Any complaints, questions or concerns that cannot be resolved through the employer should be directed to the nearest state office. Employees may seek legal action if they feel the employer has violated FMLA by downgrading them on a performance evaluation because of an eligible absence.


The statue of Robert the Bruce at The Battle of Bannockburn Centre. PIC: Michael Gillen/Falkirk Herald.
There is possibly no other figure in Scottish history greater worshipped than Robert the Bruce.
He led the Scots to victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314, with the win immortalised in the anthem Flower of Scotland, and secured recognition from Rome as the King of an independent Scotland.
But Bruce was also murderous and sly who cleared his path to power without mercy, some say.
Robert was born on July 11, 1274 and raised at Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire.
He was distantly related to the Scottish royal family with his grandfather, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, one of the leading contenders to the throne left empty by the death of Margaret of Norway.
This bid for Bruce rule was rejected in favour of the rival rights of John Balliol in 1292 but the family’s royal aspirations remained.
The Bruce family held land across the south west of Scotland and England, with Robert the Bruce, as Earl of Carrick, working to protect his territories across two warring kingdoms.
As a result, he led resistance against Edward I, who ruled Scotland as a province of England, and later submitted to the King in order to protect his family’s interests.
He raids Lanarkshire with the English in 1297, before joining William Wallace’s uprising and then surrendering to the English King at Irvine, according to accounts.
After being pardoned for his treachery, Bruce is back with the King in Galloway in 1298 but by the next year he is attacking his castle at Lochmaben near Annandale.
Following the defeat of William Wallace at Falkirk in 1298, Bruce and John Comyn succeed the guardianship of Scotland.
The 1306 murder of Comyn - whose body was found following a meeting with Bruce at a church in Dumfries - has been described as the greatest political murders of all time.
The meeting started quietly by then Bruce slashed Comyn in the chest before leaving the church, with Bruce’s men reportedly going in to finish the job.
Depending on whose view you subscribe to, Comyn’s death was either pre-meditated murder or a reaction to Comyn’s ‘betrayal’ that he would not unite with Bruce against Edward I.
Whatever the intention, Bruce was outlawed by the King and excommunicated by the Pope giving the killing in a Holy place - and then crowned king at Scone Abbey on March 27 1306.
The price of power was high. His wife and three daughters were imprisoned and three of his brothers executed, with Bruce going into exile on an island off Antrim.
He returned to Scotland and embarked on a new phase in the war against the English which peaked in victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, where he defeated a much larger English army under Edward II.
In 1320, the Scottish earls, barons and the ‘community of the realm’ sent a letter to Pope John XXII declaring that Robert was their rightful monarch.
This ‘Declaration of Arbroath’ asserted the antiquity of the Scottish people and their monarchy and is considered by some to be the founding document of Scotland as a nation.
Some commentators have highlighted how Robert the Bruce was motivated merely by the acquisition of land and feudal power.
“It is true that no monarch after Bruce had to fight so hard to secure the throne and the kingdom but it is also true that he did so because that is what warlords do, “ wrote Andy Wightman, author and now MSP, in the Poor Had Lawyers.
“Bruce was a member of a fractious elite class descended from Norman immigrants and his fight was a fight for feudal power, land and money. To place it any higher in the moral order of thing is naive,” he added.
Robert the Bruce died on June 7 1329 and was buried at Dunfermline. His heart - which had been due to go to the Holy Land at his request - was returned to Scotland after its custodian, Sir James Douglas, was killed in Spain. It is buried in Melrose Abbey.


Christian schools in Israel have ended a month-long strike after reaching a funding agreement with the education ministry.
Members of the “St Gallen club” did not lobby for Francis’s election, Cardinal Godfried Danneels’s biographers have insisted.
Pope Francis has named Cardinal Raymond Burke and Cardinal Carlo Caffarra as members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
John Allen, Virginia Cannon, David Gibson, Adam Gopnik, Jason Horowitz, Fr Dwight Longenecker, Peggy Noonan, Rocco Palmo, Matthew Schmitz and Chemi Shalev comment on the Pope’s visit to America.
Ross Douthat suggests that Pope Francis is inspiring a “springtime for liberal Christianity”.
Will Carless says that South America is becoming a safe haven for alleged clerical abusers (GlobalPost series).
And the Pope and the Vamps will release albums with the same name on the same day in November (Rolling Stone).


Lyft has pulled from service all of its on-demand electric bicycles in New York, Washington DC and the San Francisco Bay area after some riders reported issues with the brakes.
"We recently received a small number of reports from riders who experienced stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel. Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively removing the pedal-assist bikes from service for the time being," the company said in a blog post .
About 3,000 bikes will be pulled from service and will be replaced with regular bicycles. Altogether Lyft operates about 20,000 bikes in those three cities, with a mix of electric and regular models.
"After a small number of reports and out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively pausing our electric bikes from service in three markets. Safety always comes first," Lyft spokesperson Julie Wood said on Sunday.
The company said it has been "hard at work on a new pedal-assist bike," and the model will be rolled out soon.
Lyft last year became the largest bikeshare operator in the United States when it acquired Motivate, owners of New York's Citi Bike and DC's Capital Bikeshare. That expanded its for-hire bikes to cities including Chicago, Boston, and Portland.
Lyft, which went public in March, has set out to end car ownership, primarily in the United States, with a suite of alternative transportation options. In addition to ride-sharing and bikes, the company has expanded into carpooling and scooter rentals.
The company beat its chief rival, Uber, to an IPO. According to its IPO prospectus, Lyft's share of the US ride-hailing market spiked to 39% in December 2018 from 22% at the end of 2016.
Lyft's Wall Street debut is seen as a bellwether for the long list of billion-dollar tech startups expected to go public later this year, including Pinterest, Slack, Postmates. Uber filed paperwork last week for what is expected to be the biggest public offering of the year.


Claude Jutra is the filmmaker who wrote and directed Mon Oncle Antoine (1971), considered by many critics to be the best Canadian movie ever made. Jutra got started in filmmaking as a teenager and his early career was marked by winning awards and prizes in Canada and Europe for documentaries, short films and features, including A Chairy Tale (1957), Le Niger — Jeune Republique (1961), A tous prendre/Take It All (1963) and Comment Savoir (1966). His acknowledged masterpiece, the coming of age story Mon Oncle Antoine, won eight Canadian Film Awards, including best picture and best director. His next several films were not financially successful, and in the 1980s he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In November of 1986 he disappeared. In March of 1987 his body was found in the St. Lawrence River, and his death was regarded as a suicide.


President Obama seems so shell-shocked from all the political and media criticism about his “weakness” that he is “doing something” by intervening in both the Syrian and Iraqi civil conflicts, a risky “bias for action” that can do more harm than good, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains.
A “bias for action” has long been a buzz phrase in the business world. Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their best-selling book In Search of Excellence put the phrase at the top of their list of attributes of what they considered to be outstanding firms.
For an individual hoping to make it big in business, it’s not a bad phrase to keep in mind. Ambitious executives do not make names for themselves by saying they will take whatever organization they are responsible for and try not to screw it up. They make names by shaking things up. Moreover, the businesses with the most dramatic and admired garage-startup-to-behemoth histories necessarily had a bias for action.
Even in business, however, the behavior implied by the phrase has limitations. What is good for the rising career of an individual executive is not necessarily good for the firm. And for every Apple or Amazon we have heard about, there are many more companies we have not heard about in which the leader’s bias for action led to unprofitable business lines, financial overextension, or other failures that caused the firm to crash and burn.
Applied to foreign policy, the soundness of behavior implied by a bias for action is even more questionable. Perhaps it is most valid when trying to build an empire. Otto von Bismarck, for example, had a bias for action when using wars against other European states as a means for putting together the German Empire.
But for most states at most times, that is not the case. It is not the case for the United States today. The United States has a responsibility, to itself as well as to world order, less to build a bigger empire than to avoid screwing things up. And when the United States screws up, things can get very bad, not only because as the world’s only superpower it is more powerful than anyone else but also because with global involvement it has a lot of vulnerabilities that other states do not have. Crashing and burning is not an option.
Even without the influence of business gurus such as Peters and Waterman, a bias for action is nonetheless at least as apparent in U.S. foreign policy as in commerce. One reason is the political pressure on leaders to be seen to be “doing something” about overseas problems. The partisan incentive to criticize opponents for doing nothing intensifies this pressure. In the United States the tendency is further exacerbated by a broader inclination to believe the United States ought to be able to solve any problem overseas.
We need to remember that a bias for action is exactly that: a bias. That means it is antithetical to an objective, unbiased assessment of what would be best for the United States to do or not to do. And that is not good. A bias for action has some of the qualities of the “ready, fire, aim” method of approaching a problem.
We can see some of these tendencies in the development of recent policy toward the turmoil in Iraq. The Obama administration’s dispatch of a few hundred U.S. military personnel, although they will be serving legitimate purposes, is probably best understood as a response to the pressure to do something. It probably was the minimum military measure the administration could get away with without incurring intense accusations of doing nothing.
I was asked the other day to define U.S. objectives regarding the situation in Iraq. There are two ways to answer a question like that. One is the conventional way, which is the way any president or senior official would be expected to answer it. That way would mention things such as seeking regional stability and quashing terrorist threats against Americans.
The other way is to ask ourselves what are the most significant respects in which U.S. interests have been affected, for better or for worse, by developments in the Middle East over the past decade or so. Then our objective should be to repeat or build on what has affected our interests for the better, and to avoid repetition of the sorts of things that have affected them for the worse.
By far the most consequential development for U.S. interests in the region was the Iraq War, and its effects on U.S. interests were overwhelmingly negative, with the thousands of Americans killed, the tens of thousands injured, the trillions of dollars in economic costs, and the stimulation of sectarian warfare and terrorism that we face today. The number one objective for dealing with a situation like the one in Iraq is to avoid doing anything that could lead to a mistake similar to launching the Iraq War.
No president, of course, could get away with defining U.S. objectives that way. It would sound too passive, and it would not embody a bias for action. It would not pass muster with Peters and Waterman, and it certainly would not pass muster with political critics.
That’s too bad, because it is a very legitimate way to define a prime objective. It takes account of the most important ways in which U.S. interests have been affected, and it takes account of how in any unbiased analysis of how to pursue and protect those interests there is no reason either action or inaction should be favored.
Say all of the right things, but take the easy way out, has been the American way.
If a prophetic gift is the gift of truth telling, Dylanâ€™s got it.
A common reaction to ignorance and the lack of intelligent investigation and lack of any real attempt to understand… all of which can be laid at the base of lack of sensitivity for others and the failure of humanity to demand action to correct these inequities and injustices.
I wonder – will we ever become civilized or just accept the veneer? The worrying part is that all this hypocrisy is out in the open the past 2 decades if not more and the American public just doesnâ€™t seem to care.
The guy is gutless! He hasn’t done anything to bring peace to the world. He sits behind his big desk, (probably admiring his, oh so well deserved, nobel peace prize) in the bomb shelter they call “the white house”, and bravely orders the deaths of anybody he wants. I would say he deserves a motorcade through Dallas, but that’s a trip for a President with real balls! I’ll never see another real leader, like that one, in my life time.
It may all be too late, but President Obama needs different people around him. I mean to tell you, as most of you consortiumnews readers already know, how our country needs to shed our government of the Neocon’s, etc type people. Oh, did I mention the Main Stream Media? Are they not something to write home about? Sometimes I just come away believing we are just flat out screwed.


Diamond, a 60-year resident of Coral Gables, simply believed in teaching.
“Other grandparents took their children to movies and carnivals. Billie took her grandchildren to the Everglades to see a comet at 3 a.m., to museums and libraries — ever the teacher,” her daughter said.
The New York-born Diamond, a board member of the Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation, always called her own tune.
At her service, Diamond’s sister Joan Brenner spoke of an amusing World War II performance in which the former Beula Greenberg changed her named to Billie Vermont (a loose translation of Greenberg from the French word Vermont for green mountains.) Billie entertained service men with her signature song, A Bird in a Gilded Cage.
“She wore a big feathered hat and a long gown with a huge bustle in the back. She would walk across the stage as she sang and the bustle, of course, followed. But occasionally — intentionally — she walked one way and the bustle crawled the other way. The soldiers howled. Guess who was inside the bustle?
Many got to know Diamond. She, along with her husband, the late Jack Diamond, was among the 12 co-founders of Temple Beth Am in Kendall in 1955. “The house Billie and Jack built,” the rabbi said at her service. She loved playing piano so she served the Dranoff Foundation for more than 20 years. She was also a child advocate and volunteer with Guardian Ad Litem.
In 2000, Voices for Children honored Diamond as Guardian Ad Litem’s recipient of the Lorraine Munroe Outstanding Volunteer Award. “Known for her ‘never say no’ attitude and cheerful personality, Diamond has worked with the guardian program since 1986 and has overseen 32 children in 15 different cases,” the Miami Herald reported.
“When she was into something her passion was unbounding and limitless,” her daughter said.
In addition to her daughter and sister, Diamond is survived by her children Barry and Dan Diamond, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Services were held. Donations in Diamond’s name can be made to the Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation or Guardian Ad Litem.


Placer County Deputy CEO for Lake Tahoe Jennifer Merchant explains county staff's proposal to a full room during a town hall with the North Lake Tahoe Resort Assocition on May 3 at Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City.
Placer County staff and the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association held a town hall on May 3 at Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City to discuss a proposal that could change how revenue from the Transient Occupancy Tax is spent.
Under county staff’s proposal, which will require approval by the board of supervisors, the NLTRA would focus its efforts solely on marketing the region, and no jobs will be cut.
During the town hall on Wednesday, May 3, NLTRA board members Samir Tuma and Adam Wilson defended the resort association’s current role, and questioned the timing of the proposal.
Additional public meetings are scheduled for Monday, May 8, from 5-8 p.m. at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach, May 11 from 4-6 p.m. at the Placer County Administrative Center in Tahoe City, and May 12 from 8 a.m. to noon in the Squaw Valley Public Service District conference room in Squaw Valley.