Historical Tweets from Great Americans

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">Hola and Happy 4^th of July America and everyone who loves America! On this greatest of American holidays, I have put together a list of some of the greatest tweets from some of America’s greatest (and not-so-greatest) political leaders. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@JohnHancock: Just wanted to make sure @KG3 can read THAT! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@PaulRivere: Oh it’s on bitches! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOzlq6drYn_O3o1AZVhLtIbhPaq90QwrVOgIXS6MN1yr9QQrWEXnQlfh2GICRFCgHrSKCcUu4qmvJp9ipnKPgoTKqzLCI482eDg_X-BxUeZ3Qa9REStsaKfkRBrplTUphutz1lLiH930/s600/Courtney-Stodden-Nude-Bikini-Hot-Boobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOzlq6drYn_O3o1AZVhLtIbhPaq90QwrVOgIXS6MN1yr9QQrWEXnQlfh2GICRFCgHrSKCcUu4qmvJp9ipnKPgoTKqzLCI482eDg_X-BxUeZ3Qa9REStsaKfkRBrplTUphutz1lLiH930/s320/Courtney-Stodden-Nude-Bikini-Hot-Boobs.jpg" width="299" /></a>@PaulRivere: Side Note: Ran into Samuel Prescott outside of some chick’s house around 1 am. </div>Awkwaaaaaaaaaard.<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">@ArnoldBenedict: Psst … @JohnAndre .. DM me dude. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@G-Wash: Just shucked some Cornwallis. Hey-OOOO! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@DJ-T-Jeffy-Jeff: I’m a father again! Shasquina had her baby today! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@T-Edison: Let there be light! #godcomplex <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@DredScott: Tough loss at the SCOTUS today. Bastards will probably kill the VRA next. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@BenFranklin: Ooooooo … I love that tingly feeling. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@OldHickory: Dear South Caronlina: Bring. It. On.  <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@USGrant: Beer Thirty Bitches! (recurring tweet)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@SecStateSeward: Whew! What a day! Stick a knife in me, I’m done.  (9 pm on April 14, 1865)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@BullMooseTeddy: Heard that had to butter Big Boy Taft up to get him out the tub. #LOL #TubbyTaft <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@DrPrezWilson: Mmmmrph .. Urrrr … buhhhhhh *drools* <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@GenJohnPershing: AEF = After England Failed … LOL <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@SilentCal: Hello  <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">*four years later* @SilentCal: Goodbye <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@FDR: Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgVvo8EMx3a0TO4CgRaNBcGVn1FTU9NUvUkyxq2ob3eZOk_F2q9uoxakIVHsmfW5UGMS6LES-vehbhsbx08EcsxSp9uV6RW36hYBIO5cDkxBXpK8x49oidjDoy1KG8XzGrzULG0AZeAY/s403/Sarah-Palin-Patriotic-American-Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgVvo8EMx3a0TO4CgRaNBcGVn1FTU9NUvUkyxq2ob3eZOk_F2q9uoxakIVHsmfW5UGMS6LES-vehbhsbx08EcsxSp9uV6RW36hYBIO5cDkxBXpK8x49oidjDoy1KG8XzGrzULG0AZeAY/s320/Sarah-Palin-Patriotic-American-Flag.jpg" width="254" /></a>@GenD-Mac: *Best Ahnold voice* I’ll be back! </div><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@HSTruman: Yo @D-Mac *best @RealDonaldTrump voice* You’re Fired! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@JFK: I need this trip to Dallas like I need a hole in my head. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@TrickyDicky: This tweet is not intended to be an alibi. (Late night on June 17, 1982)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@JC_Smiles: Feeling a bit of a malaise setting in tonight. I like that word “malaise.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@DutchReagan: There you go again! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@SlickWillie: What a mess!! But it feels so good. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@Shrub: STRATEGERY BITCHES! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">@Barry_O: I’m watching yooooooooo! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As you can see, Twitter has been a great tool for Presidents and other historical figures over the years. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws">@Jayman_IWS</a> <o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

Historical Tweets from Great Americans

Hola and Happy 4 th of July America and everyone who loves America! On this greatest of American holidays, I have put together a list of so...

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If you're still here, thanks!

Seems we should all be done bellyaching about bloggers who have vanished but I'm not.<br /><br />I thought it was just a few.  It's not.  It's a whole lot.  <br /><br />Anyway if you're considering being done with this whole blog thing, or going private, or hiding your stuff from google searches, or if you perhaps already have hidden it... please reconsider those thoughts.  If it's anonymous and if you've got good stuff on there, please find a way to keep it there.  People like me who obsessively sat googling and eating up every bit of what you wrote.  Think about how much you helped that person who, like me, isn't out to hurt you.  Instead, you were helping them, and if they're like me, never had the guts to tell you sooner.  <br /><br />I completely understand why these blogs are gone.  Especially when you personally have to bear the attacks of ignorance and losers with too much time on their hands.  I'm not judging anyone who made the decision to do so.  I support your decisions to do what's best for you and your families.<br /><br />I had a bunch of things bookmarked that I wanted to go back and read again.  Things that touched me in some way or really good information or something.  Many of them were shut down completely or had gone private. So there was one particular thing I was looking for, something I felt was really important to me today, something I hadn't looked at in months... and it's gone.  Big ol' lump in my throat.<br /><br />If you're still here, I thank you.  Y'all mean a lot to me.  I've learned and you've made me laugh.  Keep going!

If you're still here, thanks!

Seems we should all be done bellyaching about bloggers who have vanished but I'm not. I thought it was just a few.  It's not.  It...

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Monday, Monday (On Wednesday)

<span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.archidose.org/wp/">A Weekly Dose of Architecture</a> Updates:</span><br /><br />This week's dose features the <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/07/01/clyfford-still-museum/">Clyfford Still Museum</a> in Denver, Colorado, by Allied Works:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/07/01/clyfford-still-museum/"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jul13-01.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The featured past dose is the <a href="http://www.archidose.org/Oct03/100503.html">Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis</a> in St. Louis, Missouri, by Allied Works:<br /><a href="http://www.archidose.org/Oct03/100503.html"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Oct03/camstl1.jpg" title="featured past dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />This week's book reviews are <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/07/01/postmodernism-was-almost-all-right-s-am-10-building-images/"><i>Postmodernism Is Almost All Right: Polish Architecture After Socialist Globalization</i></a> by Łukasz Stanek (L) and <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/07/01/postmodernism-was-almost-all-right-s-am-10-building-images/"><i>S AM 10 / Building Images: Photography Focusing on Swiss Architecture</i></a> by Hubertus Adam, Elena Kossovskaja (R):<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/07/01/postmodernism-was-almost-all-right-s-am-10-building-images/"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/postmodernism-all-right.jpg" title="This week's book review" /></a> <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/07/01/postmodernism-was-almost-all-right-s-am-10-building-images/"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sam-10.jpg" title="This week's book review" /></a><br /><br />: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">American-Architects <a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/pages/50x50">Building of the Week</a>:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/projects/project-review-detail/41864_the_corner">The Corner</a> in Missoula, Montana, by Eric Hefty & Associates, Architects:<br /><a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/projects/project-review-detail/41864_the_corner"><img alt="this week's Building of the Week" src="http://c214210.r10.cf3.rackcdn.com/files/projects/41864/images/900:w/aHefty-7761.jpg" title="Current Building of the Week on american-architects.com" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">Jobie L. Martin Classroom Building, Hinds Community College - See more at: http://www.american-architects.com/en/projects/project-review-detail/41645_jobie_l_martin_classroom_building_hinds_community_college#sthash.RCX3i1us.dpuf</div>

Monday, Monday (On Wednesday)

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates: This week's dose features the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, by Allied Works: The f...

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A Beginner's Help Guide To Treadmills

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Bobby Taylor</div><br /><br /> <div class='uawarticle'>The Need For Exercise<br /> <br /> These present times are becoming more modern and high-tech every second, but the same can't be said for health in general. If you want your overall health to peak to desirable levels, though, then you need to exercise. Even in these fast-paced moments, you can inject health and fitness into your everyday life by getting a treadmill. A good resource where you can get some beginner material on working out is a <a href="http://tamarajones.hpage.co.in/popular-workout-options_95988279.html">treadmill review</a>.<br /> <br /> How Treadmills Do The Job<br /> <br /> What sets the treadmill apart from other machines is its ease of use-simply hop on it, and you're all set. Walking and running, being workouts that help make your heart work fast in a good way, burns plenty of calories. You can choose the treadmill workout program that suits your goal best, like burning off those pounds, for instance. If you want to adopt a healthier, fitter lifestyle, the treadmill is the suitable equipment for you.<br /> <br /> Common Treadmill Features<br /> <br /> Speed adjustment is a basic and important feature on treadmills. There are plenty of other standard features that vary your workouts to help improve fitness levels and achieve your weight loss goals. Manufacturers create these treadmill variations to make your exercise routine more challenging and unique every day.<br /> <br /> Modern treadmills have many inbuilt workout programs. The feature works effortlessly: just choose the program that corresponds to your health objective, and you're good to go. You don't have to think about adjusting your speed and incline while you exercise since the machine does the modifications itself. You even have control on how you want the adjustments to come, be it gradual or in a set manner.<br /> <br /> If you want to notice your heart rate throughout your workouts, there are built-in programs designed for that purpose in conjunction with a heart rate monitor. This monitor needs to be clipped to your body or held in your hand. High-quality treadmills make use of a chest-strap heart rate monitor to accurately track your heart rate and calories burnt. This means that, it can monitor your cardiovascular fitness level and the intensity of your workout.<br /> <br /> To avoid wasting time, you can save your own workout settings in your treadmill so you don't need to punch them in every time you work out. This is a helpful feature particularly if you're not utilizing your own treadmill. In addition, the newest treadmill models will let you keep track of your exercise history and earlier fitness values too.<br /> <br /> Today, the most high-tech treadmills include the technology called iFit Live. In this situation, you can prepare for an event without ever departing the comforts of your own home. This bit of technology will help you see how you stand up with other people on different treadmills-maybe even across the world-but also training on the same course. Get an iFit Live-compatible treadmill and a reliable Internet connection, and you can try this feature for yourself. Highly developed treadmills also have full-color LCD touch screens and an mp3 player to keep your rhythm going when you exercise.<br /> <br /> Parts Of A Treadmill<br /> <br /> The very core of the treadmill is its conveyor belt. To remain on the belt, which is built to move backward over the rollers, you need to move forward. The belt is fitted into a running deck that stretches into the frame of the machine and helps your physique weight. You'll be able to raise or lower the deck to the preferred incline angle to simulate an uphill climb or downward slope outdoors. A simple resetting in the angle can make a huge healthy difference in your treadmill regimen.<br /> <br /> With thanks to the damping elements positioned underneath the deck, treadmills don't break down even when exposed to certain degrees of shock. Shock-reducing efforts, such as adding cushions to the belt, help reduce the event of injury while in treadmill use. It's safe to assume the motor, belt, deck, and rollers are every treadmill's body, heart, and soul.<br /> <br /> The frames of treadmills may be folded or not. Go for the foldable units if you'll be working out at home. Foldable treadmills, with the deck meeting the arms when folded up, are all about being small in size. Observe that the long-lasting foldable treadmills cost more compared to their nonfoldable counterparts. But if you are considering a treadmill that's ideal for the everyday grind, go with the non-foldable types.<br /> <br /> Selection Of Treadmills Available<br /> <br /> Apart from the array of features, there are treadmills meant for different user types and usage. A treadmill built only for walking will cost less when compared to a jogger's treadmill; a running treadmill is the most high-priced. Consider the weight and body built of anyone who will be using the treadmill often. A person's height is another angle to think about when scouting for treadmills. If your home gym treadmill will be used by the whole family, take into consideration the increased wear and tear that the machine will undergo. You're better off acquiring a treadmill that can endure daily stress; it lasts for a longer time and is more pocket friendly in the end.<br /> <br /> Wrapping It Up<br /> <br /> The numerous health and fitness benefits of a treadmill make it a necessary piece of equipment for your home gym. Yet there are points to consider before you purchase one for your needs. Also, assess the space available at home to place the treadmill and think about the type of users and planned usage. Consider your budget also, and when you find a model that most closely fits those criteria, take it!<br /> <br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawresource'><br /> <div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br /> About the Author:<br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawlinks'>Purchasing the best exercise product is usually a daunting challenge. <a href="http://treadmillhelpdesk.blinkweb.com/1/2013/06/easy-ways-to-exercise-at-home-a19c8/">ProForm treadmill reviews</a> are a good place to get going. Research what people have to say and you'll see that these systems are best rated of their kind.</div><br /> </div><br />

A Beginner's Help Guide To Treadmills

By Bobby Taylor The Need For Exercise These present times are becoming more modern and high-tech every second, but the same can'...

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Applications Engineer ( SEM | Wafer Inspection) (# 109570)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Position:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Applications Engineer<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Location:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Full time<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Job Description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">KLA-Tencor has an opening for an Applications Development Engineer in our EBEAM division, which designs and manufactures Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) wafer inspection and review equipment.  based in Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">• Product penetration/adoption and process optimization at customer facilities and at factory.  This includes training customers and other apps engineers, handling/driving local apps escalation process, investigating customer technical needs/problems and providing solutions, conducting final acceptance, demonstrating products, and understanding competitive situations, methodology, and performance group analysis. Report technology development and new applications to marketing. Support pre-sale and post-sale activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">• Characterization new systems and features.  This includes designing and conducting experiments, collecting data, publishing results and recommendations in the form of applications notes, best known methods or characterization studies.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">• Conduct complex demonstrations in front customers<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">• Work experience in semiconductor processing or equipment industry preferred.  Candidates must be desiring to travel up to 50% on short notice and enjoy working in other cultures.  Team work is critical so having a good balance between technical skills and people skills is a must.  Excellent English communications are required, and competencies in Mandarin or Korean are all plusses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Masters with several years of experience or PhD in Physics, Electrical Engineering, or Material Science Engineering. Worked with analytical tools used for semiconductor processing or material analysis.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Basic Qualification:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 3 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Master's Level Degree with at least 2 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">OR<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Doctorate (Academic)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kindly send your resume to <b><a href="mailto:raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com">raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com</a> </b> </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>

Applications Engineer ( SEM | Wafer Inspection) (# 109570)

Position: Applications Engineer Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Full time Job Description: KLA-Tencor has an opening for an Applications...

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Here's the real answer to trucker fatigue

Unionize the whole trucking industry.<br /><br />That's what Hamilton Nolan says over at the delightfully snarky <a href="http://gawker.com/truck-drivers-outraged-that-theyll-get-more-sleep-soon-657757127">Gawker</a> blog.<br /><br />Nolan today made fun (sort of) of a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324251504578581580052470760.html?mod=WSJ_business_LeadStoryRotator">Wall Street Journal</a> story on new regulations to promote trucking safety. The rule will cut  truckers' maximum work week down to 70 hours from 82. It will also require them to take rest breaks during the day. Writes Nolan,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The goal is to make sure those hardworking truck drivers out there get some nice sleep, so they don't plow into the rest of us at high speeds.</blockquote>According to the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324251504578581580052470760.html?mod=WSJ_business_LeadStoryRotator">Wall Street Journal</a>,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Teamsters union, which represents 600,000 truckers, has pushed for stricter limits on drivers' hours, arguing that having shorter work days and longer rest periods would improve worker safety while creating jobs. </blockquote>What they're referring to is the 34-hour restart provision, which says that's how long truckers must rest after a work week before hitting the road again. The Teamsters are concerned that isn't long enough and will have a cumulative effect on drivers.<br /><br />Nolan cuts right to the chase, though: He writes the regulations will cost the trucking industry "one-third of one percent of its annual revenue." <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Still, independent truckers are outraged, because they say this will make it harder for them to compete with the big trucking companies, and the big trucking companies are outraged because they say this will eat into their profit margins. (Unionized truckers don't give a shit because they already have better hour and job security thanks to their union.)</blockquote>Nolan's recommendation:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Unionize the trucking industry ...  tax the rich and subsidize sleep for the working class...</blockquote>Yeah, baby!

Here's the real answer to trucker fatigue

Unionize the whole trucking industry. That's what Hamilton Nolan says over at the delightfully snarky Gawker blog. Nolan today made fun...

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Meet the billionaires Gov. Christie hung with in 2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie partied like a billionaire in 2011. Or at least with billionaires, he reports in a new book soon to be released about the 2012 presidential election.<br /><br />Christie, who is currently running for a second term as governor, <a href="http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=825C580C-9C31-47BF-A8BD-C8B6D39ECCD0">told</a> Washington Post reporter Dan Balz that he attracted a lot of attention from the super-rich in the lead up to last year's campaign. Although many of them had already thrown their support behind eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney, people like Nancy Reagan and Barbara and George W. Bush urged him to get into the race.<br /><br />When Christie said no, they decided to throw Christie a party and invited all their friends. Hosted by Ken Langone, the founder of Home Depot, the governor said it was a who's who of GOP heavy hitters: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">All of a sudden you hear John Mack [ former CEO of Morgan Stanley] on the phone. [Langone] says ‘David Koch is out of the county. David, are you there?'</blockquote>Getting down with one of the leading funders of the <a href="http://www.alecexposed.org/">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> might give some politicians pause. But not when you are also getting private calls from former President George W. Bush: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">He kind of asked me then what I was thinking, what were the impediments in my mind, what were the concerns. It was an amazing conversation.</blockquote><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/07/03/chris_christie_room_full_of_billionaires_really_wanted_me_to_be_president_for_some_reason/">Alex Pareene at Salon</a> wonders, however, if this is something a governor seeking re-election and possibility a run at the White House in 2016 should be sharing:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">We all already know that in the United States since around just before the Reagan era the top one percent of earners have gotten much richer than everyone else, and the top one percent of the top one percent — people like the sorts of people Christie met at that wonderful party — have done so fantastically well for themselves that even the rest of the one percent has reason to feel resentful. Meanwhile life basically sucks for everyone else, with stagnating wages and a hallowing out of the middle class, not to mention the in-progress gutting of the safety net for those never lucky enough to actually join the middle class. And here’s Chris Christie bragging that sixty representatives of the ultra-elite really, really wanted him to be president.</blockquote>It looks like the governor may want to get back in touch with the other 99.9 percent while he campaigns around the Garden State.

Meet the billionaires Gov. Christie hung with in 2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie partied like a billionaire in 2011. Or at least with billionaires, he reports in a new book soon to be releas...

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Photos ... Stuarts Draft on a rainy day

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVo1K-89tV08kXCGgT3Iahx6GZL6ZRpisRyWJdSb3K9DUv0cejaeotojHPQWGvWEg7X7O8-Y9z7gFbpvMUwAw20dD6zQmE56gu2FK3fMHEHauIlv0UMGosN7Gk4DjGIBw6c4nI6rfqEFLR/s800/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVo1K-89tV08kXCGgT3Iahx6GZL6ZRpisRyWJdSb3K9DUv0cejaeotojHPQWGvWEg7X7O8-Y9z7gFbpvMUwAw20dD6zQmE56gu2FK3fMHEHauIlv0UMGosN7Gk4DjGIBw6c4nI6rfqEFLR/s400/11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgcDS1N3Q6HNYUnM2ncWVEZ67C2QYGZ1AowaiLmrdNpKHFPnJJuHZlK_LCCAc0cfONUM79wsaEWlqzfbIzG_g4pXfKSr7EviGbmupI8Zl-vuvrL6iznLU0g281XXkYzxaNpz22i3Yy0hK/s800/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgcDS1N3Q6HNYUnM2ncWVEZ67C2QYGZ1AowaiLmrdNpKHFPnJJuHZlK_LCCAc0cfONUM79wsaEWlqzfbIzG_g4pXfKSr7EviGbmupI8Zl-vuvrL6iznLU0g281XXkYzxaNpz22i3Yy0hK/s400/9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbqXf48o8BLgdCg5m_xQObaQeF227KS8S0E9k-ZH0AKCV-UWj_9BpgjtQ3-pJeSKyCZ5-fSIg6OcJjqc0yt3YvNB5R9MSLzcAKNZHyuhVeHlwOEo1WzommtKT8RHp0JO4nWu2LYcZdxKP/s800/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbqXf48o8BLgdCg5m_xQObaQeF227KS8S0E9k-ZH0AKCV-UWj_9BpgjtQ3-pJeSKyCZ5-fSIg6OcJjqc0yt3YvNB5R9MSLzcAKNZHyuhVeHlwOEo1WzommtKT8RHp0JO4nWu2LYcZdxKP/s400/15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGApRzA9pjwzWcqbrBv5x8bfTFfU7f4Rf3lzbWBmIh7xpPPZaxWXLsFeeKSFoataVKfM_AcUsZ2-ocwECP4OF-8uaEOMvoQJ01OQ8p14FVpgM_7w1VKytGMe_ML0uICIlYYP1s6NuLiTp4/s800/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGApRzA9pjwzWcqbrBv5x8bfTFfU7f4Rf3lzbWBmIh7xpPPZaxWXLsFeeKSFoataVKfM_AcUsZ2-ocwECP4OF-8uaEOMvoQJ01OQ8p14FVpgM_7w1VKytGMe_ML0uICIlYYP1s6NuLiTp4/s400/16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1sJSa7vQiXAxSdQT21sICzFlJ9e1exax817k47fNRcordjEfqhfj1cJZWcb1g-yGaxLOhXSG2ePxZ8LDUlixRTk_4ljnJphQlWgvEXy5NFNFo9O1ebq33BMA4fDxz5Xn4-vdxPsWplxM/s1600/Stuarts+Draft,+clouds,+Milmont+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1sJSa7vQiXAxSdQT21sICzFlJ9e1exax817k47fNRcordjEfqhfj1cJZWcb1g-yGaxLOhXSG2ePxZ8LDUlixRTk_4ljnJphQlWgvEXy5NFNFo9O1ebq33BMA4fDxz5Xn4-vdxPsWplxM/s400/Stuarts+Draft,+clouds,+Milmont+024.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFIXOVj9AmIMoq9-UOA9jqdHOK5PA8w_VLqVg0HEtEDc3I6ENX0fJ0dlZaO0vrFIoWOt5MFWo7w9wLLNodhQHfE7f9nrhnSvOtR1y-BsrLwc_rQsaRCMVUqpUO8H5JyAa8t3v6v0ipe0U/s800/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFIXOVj9AmIMoq9-UOA9jqdHOK5PA8w_VLqVg0HEtEDc3I6ENX0fJ0dlZaO0vrFIoWOt5MFWo7w9wLLNodhQHfE7f9nrhnSvOtR1y-BsrLwc_rQsaRCMVUqpUO8H5JyAa8t3v6v0ipe0U/s400/17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />July 2, 2013

Augusta County Blue Ridge Mountains Shenandoah Valley Stuarts Draft Photos ... Stuarts Draft on a rainy day

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell July 2, 2013

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Who is Ellie? My story....

I <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">will attempt to keep this from being a novel.  I have realized that many of my wonderful followers do not know who Ellie is.  So, I thought I'd give a little background of who I am and how I came to being so obese.  <o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I was born in St. Paul Minnesota but when to elementary school in Houston Texas.  I had a lot of friend and I was quite the active little kid.  I loved to roller skate, bike ride, and swim.  I was always playing with my friend.  I was very happy and I was pretty thin or average in weight.  My 7th grade year, my parents moved to a small town called Livingston Texas - about an hour and a half north of Houston.  It was a beautiful lake community.  And loving water, I was SOLD the moment we learned my parents were buying land.  <o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I've always been social, so meeting new friends was exciting for me.  My first day of school, I would say is when my life changed in more ways than one.  Livingston is a very small and tight community.  It is really hard for a newbie to enter in to acceptance.  Some would disagree with me, but most of that population are, your long timers.  Day one started with bullying, name calling, etc.  I was crushed.  I never wanted to go back to school again, but I had to.  So, I started eating and started gaining weight.  <o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The bullying didn't stop with students, a few educators were involved as well.  My ninth grade year, I took Spanish.  The teach seated us in grade order.  You made an A on a test, you sat in the back.  I never applied myself really.  I was smart but I didn't care.  One particular time, I made an A on a test.  SHOCKER!  I moved to the back.  But, I also had dyslexia and reading from that far was a challenge.  I raised my hand and asked to be moved to the front because I could not see.  She erased the word on the blackboard and wrote it the entire width and length of the board and said, "Can you see it now?"  I was embarrassed, humiliated, and angry.  I through my pencil and walked out.  I knew I was going to be in BIG trouble so I walked down to the principals office in tears.  I can't remember what he said to this day, but all I remember is, I never got into any trouble and, even though I failed one semester, I received FULL credit for that call.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Fast forward about 10 years, I began my career in HR – at that time I was a clerk for a payroll company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I started having a lot of menstrual issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I learned I had polycystic ovarian disease – caused by, what else, obesity!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I had several surgeries including the loss of an ovary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>When I was 30, I had a complete hysterectomy due to other ongoing issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>During the time of treatments, I was place on hormones, etc. which aided in the rapid weight gain.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Fast forward another 14 years and here I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I am now a successful HR professional working as an HR Manager for an IT outsourcing company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I have gotten to a point in my weight were at my heaviest, just a few short weeks ago, I was really close to 300 pounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I love life and I love helping people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But I must help myself before I can even be really effective in other peoples lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Belviq is going to do that for me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I can’t wait to see where I am in 3, 6, and 12 months from now!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">So, what would you like to know about me?  Feel free to post questions and comments.  Love to you all!</span></div>

Who is Ellie? My story....

I will attempt to keep this from being a novel.  I have realized that many of my wonderful followers do not know who Ellie is.  So, I though...

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Public Services Coordinator - Allen Music Library, University of Hartford, West Hartford

<strong>Public Services Coordinator - </strong><strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Allen Music Library, University of Hartford</span></strong></strong>, West Hartford. Position Summary - Manages reserves and stack maintenance for the Allen Library. Oversees student employees in these areas. Assists in the daily operations of the circulation desk. Actively provides information services to all users. This is a regular full-time position that may include evening hours. Key Responsibilities: Assists in the management of circulation desk activities including implementing and communicating library use policies to all patrons as well as resolving loan problems. Oversees and provides daily support to student employees working at the circulation desk. Monitors the preparation of library overdue notices and prepares billing notices for delinquent materials. Assumes responsibility for circulation monies.* Assumes responsibility for the preparation and processing of print, sound, and online library reserves. Maintains Access reserves databases. Educates faculty regarding reserve procedures.* Provides quality customer service to internal and external patrons handling a variety of routine library issues. Answers inquiries regarding music and dance materials. Instructs patrons in use of the online catalog. Assists with patron requests for interlibrary services.* Assumes responsibility for the maintenance of stacks, including shelving and inventories. Assigns work, oversees and provides daily support to student shelving staff.* Collects and maintains relevant statistics including monthly and annual circulation figures, website and online reserve usage figures, fines paid and monies collected. Provides statistical information to appropriate parties including the Head of Allen Library and the Public Services Librarian to be used for ad hoc and annual reports. Assumes responsibility for ensuring appropriate maintenance of audio-visual, electronic, photocopying and print equipment. Performs other related duties as assigned. * Indicates an "essential" job function. Formal Education: Bachelor’s Degree required with a major in music or a recognized equivalent. Work Experience: 1 year to < 2 years. Special Skills: The ability to work effectively with diverse groups.* Pay Grade: H -- See salary ranges at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.hartford.edu/hrd/files/pdf/Non_Union_staff_salary_ranges.pdf" href="http://www.hartford.edu/hrd/files/pdf/Non_Union_staff_salary_ranges.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.hartford.edu/hrd/files/pdf/Non_Union_staff_salary_ranges.pdf</a>. This position is 35 hours per week. See the complete job description at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.hartford.edu/hrd/Employment.aspx" href="http://www.hartford.edu/hrd/Employment.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.hartford.edu/hrd/Employment.aspx</a>. Application Procedures: There is no deadline for applications and the position will remain open until filled. Electronic resumes are highly encouraged. All resumes are acknowledged. If you are applying by email, please send one complete set of the following: resume, cover letter (including position of interest and salary requirements), and professional references to <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:hrd@hartford.edu" href="mailto:hrd@hartford.edu">hrd@hartford.edu</a>. If you are applying by either fax or by mail, please send two complete sets of the following: resume, cover letter (including position of interest and salary requirements), and professional references to: University of Hartford, Attn: Human Resources Development, 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, CT 06117-1599. Fax: 860.768.4732. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, age, religion, national and ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected class. The University is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action employer (AA), Male (M), Female (F), Disabled (D), Veteran (V). Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Candidates committed to working with diverse populations and conversant in multicultural issues are encouraged to apply.

Public Services Coordinator - Allen Music Library, University of Hartford, West Hartford

Public Services Coordinator - Allen Music Library, University of Hartford , West Hartford. Position Summary - Manages reserves and stack m...

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World War Cancer - The New Yorker

<base href="data:">Richard Nixon launched the so-called War on Cancer on December 23, 1971, in what was supposed to be a "moonshot" effort to cure the disease. Two years later, a Time magazine cover read, "Toward Control of Cancer." Two decades after that, it announced, in bold red letters, "Hope in the War Against Cancer," surmising that "a turning point" may have been reached. In 2001, its cover asked if the blood cancer drug Gleevec "is the breakthrough we've been waiting for." And this past April, the newsweekly pronounced "How to Cure Cancer." Yet roughly one hundred and forty thousand Americans have died from the disease in the last three months.<br><br>Outrage over our paltry victories against cancer informs the forthcoming book, "The Truth in Small Doses: Why We're Losing the War on Cancer—and How to Win It," by Clifton Leaf, who wrote a much-discussed essay on the same topic for Fortune in 2004. The title comes from a 1959 pamphlet that tells doctors to trickle out information to cancer-stricken patients, since most of them "couldn't stand" to know the truth: the disease would kill them and there was little that could be done about it. Today, draped in ribbons of every hue, blinded by the promises of targeted therapies and antioxidants, we have, according to Leaf, neglected a basic truth: "'the cancer problem' is, in reality, as formidable a challenge as ever." (Jerome Groopman discussed the progress in cancer cures, particularly immune therapy, in the magazine last year.)<br><br>Leaf is not an oncologist, but he became acquainted with the profession at an early age; he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at fifteen years old. In the book's most poignant moment, Leaf orders his father into the corner of his hospital room to atone for having dozed off while sitting bedside. When Leaf woke up the next morning, "the biggest man I had ever known" was still standing in the corner.<br><br>As an editor at Fortune, Leaf became enthralled by the promise of Gleevec, an enzyme inhibitor that, since its release in 2001, has proven highly effective at battling chronic myeloid leukemia. Many thought a new age was coming, in which the chaotic spread of cancer would be hindered by drugs that would be precision-targeted to block the replication of rogue cells. It seemed far better than indiscriminately killing both cancerous and healthy cells, as chemotherapy had been doing for the past half-century.<br><br>But Gleevec is the exception, not the rule—and C.M.L. is a relatively simple cancer compared to solid-state tumors of the lung, colon, pancreas, or breast. Once they metastasize, most cannot be cured. Those, like Leaf, who have faced cancer have good reason for their impatience: it takes an average of thirteen years to bring a new cancer drug to market. Many of these drugs are pellets fired into cancer's flank. A recent article in the New York Times titled "Promising New Cancer Drugs Empower the Body's Own Defense" hailed a new melanoma drug whose median survival rate was 16.8 months. An editorial this winter in The Lancet, the august British medical journal, put the matter even more bluntly: "Has cancer medicine failed patients? In the words of cancer experts, the answer is yes."<br><br>Leaf argues we should be closer to an all-out cure, considering our investment in the effort. The National Cancer Institute receives roughly five billion dollars per year from the federal government. If both public and private investments are to be accounted for, then Leaf estimates the United States spends about sixteen billion dollars a year on cancer research. Nor is there a lack of political will to eradicate cancer, as there is to, say, reducing carbon emissions. Leaf calls it a "bipartisan disease" that a Republican from Alabama would want defeated as much as a Democrat from Illinois. President Barack Obama said in 2009 that he would "launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American, including me, by seeking a cure for cancer in our time."<br><br>In Leaf's telling, oncology is a hidebound field averse to risk, a culture that "has grown progressively less hospitable to new voices and ideas over the past four decades." He yearns for the likes of Sidney Farber, the unorthodox pathologist who invented chemotherapy in the late nineteen forties at Boston Children's Hospital by injecting children stricken with acute lymphoblastic leukemia with aminopterin, which prevents cancer cells from replicating. A hero in Siddhartha Mukherjee's "The Emperor of All Maladies," Farber is largely responsible for the fact that childhood A.L.L. is a manageable disease today. But his methods had a high cost: he disobeyed superiors, conducted his own trial-and-error studies, and foisted unproven drugs on sick, vulnerable children.<br><br>What made Farber an iconoclast is that he wanted to cure cancer even more than he wanted to understand it. As he would come to argue, "The three hundred and twenty-five thousand patients with cancer who are going to die this year cannot wait; nor is it necessary, in order to make great progress in the cure for cancer, for us to have the full solution of all the problems of basic research…the history of Medicine is replete with examples of cures obtained years, decades, and even centuries before the mechanism of action was understood for these cures."<br><br>Few new bold projects are being funded now, writes Leaf, noting that in 2010, the N.C.I. used the bulk of its two billion dollars in research grants on existing projects. He is as incensed that the same institutions get most of the money, writing that "in 2011, the top 43 research centers got more funding ($12 billion) than did the bottom 2,574 institutions receiving any kind of NIH support." To some, this is the price of science that is both sound and safe. To others, it is a culture of scientific inefficiency, an I.B.M. mindset in a field that desperately yearns for Apple.<br><br>Oncologists in the field with whom I spoke agreed with this overall assessment of the War on Cancer. Andrea Hayes-Jordan, a pediatric surgical oncologist at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told me that "Our strategic attacks are improving, and we are winning some battles, but not the war yet." Silvia Formenti, who chairs the radiation oncology department at New York University's Langone Medical Center, was even more negative in her assessment of the War on Cancer. She wrote to me in an e-mail, "We have managed to make cancer a huge business, and a national 'terror,' but the progress in reducing mortality is quite questionable."<br><br>The book suggests some remedies, foremost among them preventing cancer before it strikes. At Stage 0, a cancerous growth can be detected and removed before it has diversified and spread. By the time a tumor is the size of a grape, it has as many as a billion cells. Those cells become increasingly heterogeneous, and once they break through the basement membrane that acts as a final barrier between organs and tissues, they are free to metastasize throughout the body via the bloodstream or the lymphatic system.<br><br>The book finds great promise in the chemoprevention pioneered by Dartmouth researcher Michael Sporn, who wants to treat pre-invasive lesions as seriously as full-blown cancers. This seems to fly in the face of the cautious watch-and-wait philosophy popular with many oncologists, who have become convinced (not without reason) that the cure—toxic chemotherapy, high doses of radiation—could be worse than the disease.<br><br>However, other than the breast cancer drug tamoxifen and the H.P.V. vaccine—both of which can reduce the risk of getting cancer, not cure the disease—the promise of chemoprevention remains largely unrealized. A recent paper by two preventative oncologists concluded, "There have been numerous chemoprevention trials in the past 10 years, but the number of approved chemoprevention drugs is still quite small."Another recent study on older men with prostate cancer suggested that "watchful waiting" was often the best route, noting that many patients opted for expensive treatments they didn't need, thus leading to impotence and incontinence. And a federal task force ruled four years ago that women should delay getting mammograms until age fifty (ten years later than the previous recommendation) because of the procedure's own potential dangers.<br><br>Leaf acknowledges these dangers, and also points out an even more serious problem with chemoprevention: biomarkers that would signal carcinogenesis in its earliest stages have not been found. So while he is correct to highlight the potential promise of a prophylactic approach, Leaf's own description of "the failed biomarker hunt" is, indirectly, a defense of why oncologists today are left with no choice but to wait until the disease develops.<br><br>The desire for an accelerated approach to cancer has antecedents in the AIDS activism of the nineteen-eighties. As Mukherjee describes in his book, organizations like ACT UP "made the FDA out to be a woolly bureaucratic grandfather—exacting but maddeningly slow." That had repercussions in cancer medicine, where patients also demanded quicker access to potentially life-saving therapies. Especially en vogue by the early nineties was "megadose chemotherapy" for breast cancer, complemented by a bone marrow transplant. (The original marrow would have been destroyed by the high toxicity of the purported cure.) Yet as Mukherjee notes, by early 2000, the procedure was discovered to have been supported by fictional studies. One of its main proponents, a South African oncologist named Werner Bezwoda, had charmed his fellow practitioners with astounding results that masked the true, fatal dangers of this excessive approach. Mukherjee calls Bezwoda's influential drug trials "a fraud, an invention, a sham," yet he was hardly the lone cheerleader for megadose chemotherapy. Any urge to hasten the War on Cancer—however justified that urge may be—must grapple with the risk of promising anecdotes curdling into hideous truths.<br><br>Of course, some approaches are neither terribly controversial nor difficult, at least from a medical standpoint: Debu Tripathy of the University of Southern California's Norris Cancer Center told me that he believes that ninety per cent of all lung cancers could be eliminated through the cessation of cigarette smoking. Studies have shown a link between red meat consumption and an elevated risk of cancer. Here, then, may be cancer prevention in its simplest form.<br><br>On the whole, Leaf is much less optimistic than Mukherjee. Surveying the state of cancer medicine as it was in 2005, Mukherjee concludes, "The empire of cancer was still indubitably vast…but it was losing power, fraying at its borders." Surveying some three thousand years of humanity's battle with cancer, Mukherjee's is the more meditative work. Leaf's book is more urgent, more insistent—the voice of a frightened patient who yearns for a cure, rather than of the sober oncologist concerned with getting the science right. "Emperor" is a story; "Truth" is an argument.<br><br>Earlier in June, researchers discovered a tumor of the rib bone of a Neanderthal believed to be a hundred and twenty thousand years old. What plagued him then still plagues us today, much as it plagued Atossa, the ancient Persian queen who is believed to have suffered from breast cancer, as well as the London chimney sweeps stricken with scrotal malignancies. This war has been a long one.<br><br><i>Alexander Nazaryan is a writer living in Brooklyn.</i><br><br><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/07/world-war-cancer.html">http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/07/world-war-cancer.html</a><br><br>

World War Cancer - The New Yorker

Richard Nixon launched the so-called War on Cancer on December 23, 1971, in what was supposed to be a "moonshot" effort to cure th...

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Chicago Tribune to Teamsters on strike: 'Pay up, or no ad'

The Chicago Tribune is refusing to run an ad from Teamster funeral directors unless they spend the same amount on advertising -- $5,700 -- as the giant corporation they're striking against.  <br /><br />Fifty-nine funeral directors from Local 727 were forced to walk off the job yesterday morning due to the unrelenting greed of SCI, the Dignity Memorial company.Seeking support from the community, the funeral directors tried to place ads in the two biggest area newspapers: the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.<br /><br />Unlike its rival, the <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/teamsters-sun-times-refuses-union-advertising-2013-06-28">Chicago Sun-Time</a>s, the Tribune did run an ad from Teamsters Local 727 last week. The ad linked to a website <a href="http://www.integrityinillinois.com/">www.integrityinillinois.com</a> that outlines their grievances -- wage freezes, higher health care costs, elimination of the pension. And it offers a list of alternative homes where grieving families can turn for help.<br /><br />The Sun-Times refused to run a similar ad. And then yesterday, the Tribune notified Local 727 that it would not run another one of their ads unless it bought one as expensive as the one paid for by <a href="http://www.integrityinillinois.com/who-is-sci--dignity.html">SCI</a>.<br /><br />To add insult to injury, the Tribune (which may, by the way, be purchased by the <strike style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.890625px;"><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2011/10/bombshell-kochs-sold-oil-equipment-to.html" style="color: #336699;">Benedict Arnold</a></strike> Koch brothers) published a hideously one-sided, pro-SCI story about the strike.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrB2LBuK0qb_TcXEQ2xuYfywblT7no_uAbnuQ_b_11l7EhWTrnYJ_li-kFg1Axg8a66uqdZA1B1Zp3jeLBdPN1xSrYa4omwUgj-mP3zmAYr-u0Pbrwkv65YvBW9azwuDomM8_PLDL0PWcp/s640/Blake+Lamb+strike.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrB2LBuK0qb_TcXEQ2xuYfywblT7no_uAbnuQ_b_11l7EhWTrnYJ_li-kFg1Axg8a66uqdZA1B1Zp3jeLBdPN1xSrYa4omwUgj-mP3zmAYr-u0Pbrwkv65YvBW9azwuDomM8_PLDL0PWcp/s320/Blake+Lamb+strike.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Chicagoland union households don't have much of a place to turn for print news anymore. (But at least there's <a href="http://laborradio.org/">WIN Labor Radio</a>!)<br /><br />If you live in Chicago, please consider supporting the funeral directors by dropping by their strike lines. If you do go, please be respectful. The funeral directors are taking down their signs and standing by quietly when funerals are in progress.<br /><br />Here are the addresses of the funeral homes they're picketing:<br /><blockquote>Blake-Lamb Funeral Home<br />4727 W. 103rd St., Oak Lawn, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Blake-Lamb Funeral Home<br />5015 Lincoln St., Lisle, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Cypress Funeral Home<br />1698 N. Bloomingdale Rd., Glendale Heights, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Drake & Son Funeral Home<br />5303 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Kenny Brothers Funeral Directors<br />3600 W. 95th St., Evergreen Park, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Lloyd Mandel Levayah Funerals<br />4750 W. Dempster St., Skokie, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Malec Funeral Home<br />6000 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Marsh Funeral Home<br />305 Cemetery Rd., Gurnee, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Montclair-Lucania Funeral Home<br />6901 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Piser Funeral Services<br />9200 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie, IL </blockquote><blockquote>Ridge Funeral Home<br />6620 W. Archer Ave., Chicago, IL</blockquote>

funeral directors Koch brothers strike Chicago Tribune to Teamsters on strike: 'Pay up, or no ad'

The Chicago Tribune is refusing to run an ad from Teamster funeral directors unless they spend the same amount on advertising -- $5,700 -- a...

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Post 1.5 week Belviq Before/After photo

I wasn't going to do this yet but I got WAY too excited!!!  So, I came in to work today wearing a top I've always worn.  This time, I had a ton of compliments.  I even noticed this morning what a difference I already looked.  So, here it is, the before and after - just 1.5 weeks in!  I am telling you - THIS STUFF WORKS.  This stuff as in Belviq ha!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCv69-1Wxh99oBYDCtOYMGPLQA1yzk8SaMvhifgpuCb4yrxmNO8vHzhwyM-uqBy2h5SM7MUmFK1rIPZf5jFETvj6Y8qu5uhOVVs5MSxwhsXjLGz6xIEWDsLtskTqzdkpZv5KR-B6yLdlg/s960/photo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oya="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCv69-1Wxh99oBYDCtOYMGPLQA1yzk8SaMvhifgpuCb4yrxmNO8vHzhwyM-uqBy2h5SM7MUmFK1rIPZf5jFETvj6Y8qu5uhOVVs5MSxwhsXjLGz6xIEWDsLtskTqzdkpZv5KR-B6yLdlg/s320/photo.PNG" width="213" /></a></div>

Post 1.5 week Belviq Before/After photo

I wasn't going to do this yet but I got WAY too excited!!!  So, I came in to work today wearing a top I've always worn.  This time, ...

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Part Time Library Assistants - Trinity College Library, Hartford

<strong>Part Time Library Assistants - </strong><strong></strong><strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Trinity College Library</span></strong></strong>, Hartford. We are seeking three part time library assistants to help cover evening and weekend library operations: The Evening Interlibrary Loan Assistant processes incoming and outgoing interlibrary loan requests. In the absence of the evening circulation assistant, may also occasionally oversee the Circulation desk and be responsible for closing the building. Work hours for this position are just for the academic year Sunday-Thursday 10pm-1am (15 hours per week) when classes are in session. Starting salary $14.21/hr depending on experience. The Evening Circulation Assistant oversees evening building operations with special focus on Library Circulation. Manages student assistants and service desk operations, maintains public equipment, and closes the building. Also assists in stacks maintenance activities including shelving, paging, and inventory control. Starting salary $14.21/hr depending on experience. Work hours for this position during the academic year is Thursday-Saturday 5:00pm-10:00pm (15 hours per week) with optional weekday daytime hours during the summer and when classes are not in session. Starting salary $14.21/hr depending on experience. The Weekend Library Assistant oversees weekend building operations with specific assignments in cataloging and circulation areas. Assists student assistants with service desk operations, maintains public equipment, and opens the building. Also assists with cataloging and processing materials for the library collections. Work hours for this position during the academic year are Saturday and Sunday 9:30am-6:00pm (15 hours per week) with optional weekday daytime hours available during the summer term and when classes are not in session. Starting salary $14.21/hr depending on experience. For full job descriptions and application procedures, please see <a _fcksavedurl="https://trincoll.peopleadmin.com/" href="https://trincoll.peopleadmin.com/" target="_blank">https://trincoll.peopleadmin.com/</a>. Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.

Part Time Library Assistants - Trinity College Library, Hartford

Part Time Library Assistants - Trinity College Library , Hartford. We are seeking three part time library assistants to help cover evenin...

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Part-Time Library Clerk - Levi E. Coe Library, Middlefield

<strong>Part-Time Library Clerk -</strong> <strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Levi E. Coe Library</span></strong></strong>, Middlefield, is seeking a year-round, part-time Library Clerk. The schedule includes flexible hours throughout the week for approximately twelve hours per week. Required hours include Saturdays from 9:30am-2pm from September through May; and two evenings per week from 3:00pm-7pm throughout the year. Additional daytime hours are possible, depending on the need for additional staff coverage. The hourly compensation for this position is $10.25 per hour. The successful candidate should be able to perform a wide variety of library related tasks and have the ability to meet the public courteously. Additionally, candidates should be prepared to work in both the Adult and Childrens’ departments. Computer literacy is necessary and prior experience in a library is preferable. Interested candidates should send a letter of interest, resume and the names of three references no later than Wednesday, <span style="color: red;">July 31, 2013 </span>to the Levi E. Coe Library, P.O. Box 458, Middlefield, CT 06455. No phone calls, please.

Part-Time Library Clerk - Levi E. Coe Library, Middlefield

Part-Time Library Clerk - Levi E. Coe Library , Middlefield, is seeking a year-round, part-time Library Clerk. The schedule includes fle...

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'We live under the flag, but we won't scab under the flag!'

And, hopefully, it will be an American-made American flag.<br /><br />If you're thinking of replacing your<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbbGi3mTjCo"> ragged old flag</a> for the July 4th holiday, here's a list of U.S.-based manufacturers that make American flags, courtesy of the <a href="http://www.fmaa-usa.com/membersonly/memberlist.php">Flag Manufacturers Association of America</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="http://www.annin.com/">Annin Flagmakers</a><br /><a href="http://www.cfflag.com/">C.F. Flag </a><br /><a href="http://www.flagsource.com/">J.C. Schultz Enterprises, Inc. / FlagSource</a><br /><a href="http://www.valleyforgeflag.com/">Valley Forge Flag</a><br /><a href="http://www.glasermills.com/">Glaser Mills, Inc.</a></blockquote>Their websites either have online catalogs or store locators where you can find the nearest flag store.<br /><br />According to <a href="http://americanmanufacturing.org/blog/made-your-city-american-made-flags">manufacture this</a>,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) often hears from people frustrated by an inability to find “Star Spangled Banners” made in the U.S... </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tA_RVNepjPj6sFzAwRx44n6rhk4UkJFrZuZ5UDswTZ2wjZu3scfOoU_JZ69yvg8XR8YRl6xl-XXwD_0wOwzxdCXdNOUOKfXX49TqGODK1wfgvBhcFgkotSokZSayO1Xlr0A5YcIgI9p0/s245/proud+to+be+union.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tA_RVNepjPj6sFzAwRx44n6rhk4UkJFrZuZ5UDswTZ2wjZu3scfOoU_JZ69yvg8XR8YRl6xl-XXwD_0wOwzxdCXdNOUOKfXX49TqGODK1wfgvBhcFgkotSokZSayO1Xlr0A5YcIgI9p0/s200/proud+to+be+union.jpg" width="200" /></a>The Flag Manufacturers Association of America (FMAA) works to make it easy for consumers to know they’re purchasing an American-made flag. The Association certifies flags that are “made in the U.S. of materials that are domestic in origin and that all processes in every step of its manufacture were completed in U.S. facilities with U.S. labor.”</blockquote>The Flag Manufacturers website also offers an<a href="http://www.fmaa-usa.com/info/faq.php#q3"> FAQ</a> about the proper way to display and handle the flag. It gives very specific guidelines on displaying a flag In a public gathering, from a staff on the speaker's platform or on the floor. The FAQ also explains why some American flag kits include Chinese-made poles.<br /><br />And in honor of both the unions that protect freedom and the flag that represents it, we bring you this <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/17/1194309/-Hellraisers-Journal-Cripple-Creek-Miners-Strike-in-Sympathy-with-Smeltermen">rallying cry</a> by striking flag-makers during the IWW millworkers' strike in Paterson, N.J., in 1913. The mill owners tried to lure the workers back by hanging American flags on the mill and signs appealing for them to return. The IWW had lapel cards made that said:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">We wove the flag; we dyed the flag; we live under the flag; but we won't scab under the flag!</blockquote>Happy 4th!<br /><br /><br />

'We live under the flag, but we won't scab under the flag!'

And, hopefully, it will be an American-made American flag. If you're thinking of replacing your ragged old flag for the July 4th holid...

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Eric Cantor says ObamaCare delay should be permanent

<div class="p1">Bowing to the reality that ObamaCare isn't quite ready for prime time, the White House announced on Tuesday that it was delaying the employer health care mandate for a year.</div><div class="p1"><br /></div><div class="p1">In response, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) noted that the best cure for ObamaCare would be a permanent delay:</div><div class="p1"><blockquote>"This further confirms that even the proponents of ObamaCare know it will hurt jobs, decrease economic growth and make it harder for families to have access to quality and affordable health care," Cantor said. "Rather than continuing to delay the predictable pain until another election day has passed, we should scrap this entire law and instead implement patient-centered reforms before any more damage is done to our economy or the health care families depend on."</blockquote>Interesting that the announcement was made barely 24 hours before the Independence Day holiday and while President Barack Obama was out of the country.</div>

Congress Eric Cantor obamacare U.S. House of Representatives Eric Cantor says ObamaCare delay should be permanent

Bowing to the reality that ObamaCare isn't quite ready for prime time, the White House announced on Tuesday that it was delaying the emp...

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Today's Teamster News 07.03.13

<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/07/02/unemployment-rate-still-above-10-in-27-us-metro-areas/">Unemployment Rate Still Above 10% in 27 US Metro Areas</a>  Wall Street Journal   ...Eleven of these areas were in California, the country’s most-populous state, which continues to grapple with fallout from the housing-market downturn...<br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/07/dont-blame-unemployment-insurance-for-our-jobs-crisis/277402/">Don't Blame Unemployment Insurance for Our Jobs Crisis</a>  The Atlantic   ...there's no evidence that long-term unemployment benefits have discouraged the long-term unemployed from taking jobs -- because they can't get jobs to begin with...<br /><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/01/dutch-pension-group-halts-wal-mart-investments-over-low-wages-and-working-conditions/">Dutch pension group halts Wal-Mart investments over low wages and working conditions</a>  Reuters   ...Wal-Mart “was not prepared” to take concerns about what PGGM called “tense” U.S. labor relations into consideration and its board was not willing to participate in “fruitful dialogues” with shareholders, PGGM said in a statement...<br /><a href="http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/elderly_man_who_picked_dandelions_for_food_gets_75_ticket">Elderly man who picked dandelions for food gets $75 ticket</a>  ABA Journal   ... John Taris, a 75-year-old retiree ... lives in the Chicago area with his wife on a $1,500-a-month social security payment. When the couple's food supply was a bit low recently, he volunteered to go pick some to provide a vegetable ...But, caught in the act of picking the weeds by a Cook County Forest Preserve cop, he was issued a $75 ticket...<br /><a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/07/02/Big-US-Companies-Pay-12-6-Percent-Average-Tax-Rate.aspx#page1">Big U.S. Companies Pay 12.6 Percent Average Tax Rate</a>  Reuters   ...As corporate lobbyists seek to preserve business tax breaks and cut the corporate tax rate, the Government Accountability Office said big companies with earnings paid just 12.6 percent of their worldwide income in taxes in 2010...<br /><a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/to_restore_the_american_dream_restore_the_promise_of_american_labor_law-226058-1.html?pos=oplyh">To Restore the American Dream, Restore the Promise of American Labor Law</a> (opinion)  Roll Call   ...Republican Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon recognized the important work of the NLRB and worked with union leaders and other representatives of organized labor as did Democratic Presidents Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy...<br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/07/01/2238201/banks-are-finding-new-ways-to-saddle-low-wage-workers-with-fees/?mobile=nc">Banks Are Finding New Ways To Saddle Low-Wage Workers With Fees</a>  Think Progress   ...Low-wage workers are increasingly getting their wages in prepaid cards that hit them with fees. According to the Times, the largest American companies have done away with direct deposit and paper paychecks in favor of prepaid cards that require employees to withdraw cash from ATM machines...<br /><a href="http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/article-18681-playing-politics-wit.html">Playing politics with prison</a>  Oklahoma Gazette   ...Private prison corporations have deep pockets, and Oklahoma’s governor and Republican leadership are only so willing to take their money...<br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/02/shuanghui-smithfield-missouri-idUSL2N0F81NX20130702">Missouri governor veto of farmland bills could hamper Smithfield sale to China</a>  Reuters   ...Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed two bills on Tuesday that would have would have cleared the way for foreign ownership of farmland and potentially eliminated obstacles to Smithfield Foods Inc.'s planned $4.7 billion purchase by a Chinese company...<br /><a href="http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/christie-conditionally-vetoes-bill-to-create-state-program-to-buy/article_bb48c823-a665-5274-a45f-b3a18b4a7d03.html">Christie conditionally vetoes bill to create state program to buy foreclosed properties</a>  Burlington County Times   ...A controversial housing bill intended to help reduce New Jersey’s glut of foreclosed homes was vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie for a third time...<br /><a href="http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/protestors_unchain_social_security/">Protesters: Keep Social Security Unchained</a>  New Haven Independent ...Manny Gomez worked for Winchester Repeating Arms for 44 years, paying into social security with each paycheck. Now at 84 he can’t afford to live off his social security check, he said. And he can’t afford a proposed change to calculating the federal retirement benefit...<br /><a href="http://www.ohscanada.com/news/ontario-workers-exposed-to-agent-orange/1002445267/">Ontario workers exposed to Agent Orange</a>  OHS Canada   ...Ontario workers might have been exposed to Agent Orange, a recent report from an independent fact-finding panel has revealed...<br /><a href="http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20130701-rhode-island-senate-passes-minimum-wage-increase.ece">Rhode Island Senate passes minimum-wage increase</a>  Providence Journal   ...A bill that raises Rhode Island's minimum wage by 25 cents, to $8 an hour, cleared the state Senate on Monday night and is headed for the governor's signature...<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-07-01/hawaii-gov-signs-domestic-workers-bill">Hawaii gov signs domestic workers bill</a>   Associated Press   ...Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a domestic workers bill of rights Monday, making Hawaii the second U.S. state to give nannies, housekeepers and others protections on wages and other labor issues...<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/north-carolinas-deep-cut-to-jobless-benefits-takes-effect-amid-protests.html?_r=0">North Carolina’s Deep Cut to Jobless Benefits Takes Effect Amid Protests</a>  New York Times   ...North Carolina’s sharp cuts in benefits to the unemployed went into effect this week, amid a swelling public outcry...<br /><a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/report-property-values-dropped-taxes-didnt-b9941518z1-213031541.html">Report: Property values dropped, taxes didn't  Milwaukee</a> Journal Sentinel   ...Total property values in southeastern Wisconsin dropped 5% in 2012, but municipal and school district property tax levies did not follow suit...<br /><a href="http://www.record-bee.com/news/ci_23583644/protesters-want-strike-deal?source=rss">Protesters want to strike a deal</a>  Lake County Record-Bee   ...About 30 people were on strike and will continue in Lower Lake, Lakeport and Clearlake protesting lack of raises for Paratransit employees, said Mike Yates, Business Representative of Teamsters Local 665. The Teamsters are currently in negotiations … in hopes of signing a contract and preventing further strikes...<br /><a href="http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2013/07/02/king_of_prussia_courier/news/doc51d2491376355931080271.txt">Upper Merion School Board extends services from Teamster maintenance workers</a>  Mainline Media News   ...The Upper Merion Area School Board in Pennsylvania adopted a “status quo” resolution between the district and Teamsters Local 384, which represents the custodial, building, and turf maintenance employees. The contract expired on June 30, and because no new agreement has been reached, the resolution stated that services provided by the employees would continue...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/sites/teamster.org/files/7213ABFTotalsforWeb.pdf">ABF Vote Results By Local Union</a>  IBT   ...View the ABF vote results by local union <a href="http://www.teamster.org/sites/teamster.org/files/7213ABFTotalsforWeb.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>...<br /><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/teamster-funeral-directors-strike-in.html">Teamster funeral directors strike in Chicago </a> TeamsterNation   ...<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.890625px;">The relentless greed of </span><a href="http://www.teamsterslocal727.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #336699; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.890625px;">Houston-based funeral giant SC</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.890625px;">I has forced Teamster funeral directors and drivers to strike today. The funeral directors, members of Local 727, set up strike lines this morning outside of area funeral homes...</span>

Today's Teamster News 07.03.13

Unemployment Rate Still Above 10% in 27 US Metro Areas  Wall Street Journal   ...Eleven of these areas were in California, the country’s mo...

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a break from celebrations to celebrate

Thought I'd take a quick break from my birthday/4th of July vacation week to share some fun news. My bedroom is featured in <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/02/living/open-house-beds/index.html" target="_blank">CNN's Open House series</a> (along with my friends <a href="http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Emily</a> and <a href="http://www.powellbrower.com/" target="_blank">Bethany</a>).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSe7a_MUoTt9r1ec5GUPO7o1NzfUXdOmxante41bEAA_5Xf0PpvZykhx7OwouUFoUD4WuYi57VEpK4vQPtJByfLu-AJOs3nrfVCcznYVkiOq5quZkDu6cqbF7MO795jIWoo7W6qy0wAs45/s641/CNNiReport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSe7a_MUoTt9r1ec5GUPO7o1NzfUXdOmxante41bEAA_5Xf0PpvZykhx7OwouUFoUD4WuYi57VEpK4vQPtJByfLu-AJOs3nrfVCcznYVkiOq5quZkDu6cqbF7MO795jIWoo7W6qy0wAs45/s640/CNNiReport.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Now that is a great way to celebrate a birthday!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/02/living/open-house-beds/index.html" target="_blank">Check it out</a> and see a lot of great spaces.<br /><br />Happy holiday weekend y'all!!<br /><br />

a break from celebrations to celebrate

Thought I'd take a quick break from my birthday/4th of July vacation week to share some fun news. My bedroom is featured in  CNN's O...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 07/03/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://worldeducationcongress.com/learntech/Award_Winner.html">Learn Tech Conference & Exhibition</a> </div><div class="diigo-description">The World Education Congress has named their outstanding award winners. I was excited to see one of my blog sponsors, WizIQ win best virtual classroom provider for the second year in a row. Lots of interesting companies herein the global education community.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/awards">awards</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/professionaldevelopment">professionaldevelopment</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a></div><ul class="diigo-comments"> </ul><ul class="diigo-annotations"><li> <div class="diigoContent"><div class="diigoContentInner">  <br />Best Virtual Classroom Provider<br />  <br />    <br />  <strong class="style7"><span class="style19">»</span>  </strong>WizIQ.com, authorGEN Technologies Ltd.<br /></div></div></li></ul></li></ul><div class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href="https://www.diigo.com/">Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher">here</a>.</div>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 07/03/2013

Learn Tech Conference & Exhibition The World Education Congress has named their outstanding award winners. I was excited to ...

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Dinner disaster

Yesterday's dinner was a disaster after a disaster.  At lunchtime, I went to marks & spencers and bought food for dinner.  I got chicken kievs, some vegetables and cos lettuce for a salad.  When I returned to work I put them in the fridge to keep them chilled.  As I drove home that evening I rembered that I had left the food in the fridge.  :-(<div><br></div><div>So just as I neared home I stopped in Superquinn in Ranelagh and bought a stuffed chicken with prepared vegetables.  All was good, I had rectified the forgotten food situation.</div><div><br></div><div>I switched on the oven set the timer for 70 mins and popped the chicken in.  With 20 mins left of cooking time I went and checked the chicken. This was when I discovered that I had put the chicken in the other oven.  There was a lovely warm oven that was empty and above it was a stone cold chicken sitting in a cold oven.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Le4lI4B1-8GgmOrjyfBSLPz__dEuZsmycQmf1AqBGDVa2_W01s7WNtPCebpVQI5PwYqxjkoOaD19v0FXyv6-NWcxOjXaDPdFZouij7m1t8LMmUcJHYYOJsps3cT9wC1-VcJvwBgP4DfZ/s640/blogger-image-501541711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Le4lI4B1-8GgmOrjyfBSLPz__dEuZsmycQmf1AqBGDVa2_W01s7WNtPCebpVQI5PwYqxjkoOaD19v0FXyv6-NWcxOjXaDPdFZouij7m1t8LMmUcJHYYOJsps3cT9wC1-VcJvwBgP4DfZ/s640/blogger-image-501541711.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>At this point when I moved the chicken in to the warm oven it would be 10pm before we would be eating.</div><div><br></div><div>A decision was made, we rang Siam Thai, drove around and collected food and were sitting down eating noodles by 9.20pm.</div><div><br></div><div>Any dinner disasters on this scale (all down to my stupidity) ever happen to you?</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lOzcLIc7W7X_HFa0UsSZ0h7CtfwailWQFHpNTJcZ5Yp4UEIIMatsWb0BQ6anKDeAagJq4Jslm5AQuV8-0ie0fsIr1ZKCt2y-hUQpyJm0-DCbq8s6mR-bB-Afyr0d8iPELknSjuTGWtZT/s640/blogger-image--682760957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lOzcLIc7W7X_HFa0UsSZ0h7CtfwailWQFHpNTJcZ5Yp4UEIIMatsWb0BQ6anKDeAagJq4Jslm5AQuV8-0ie0fsIr1ZKCt2y-hUQpyJm0-DCbq8s6mR-bB-Afyr0d8iPELknSjuTGWtZT/s640/blogger-image--682760957.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgJJv0HRXy33GdA1LRVcZOfqP4gfcil9BwCIfTcZMA9x4UEls30ba83W0m66zAsTRW2i_6bu3ShqYW-1Au4v1qxiLz0VmTZJ9uF1OteUFke75gDWGBx5H3H5eRH2bL2WsZGt-dlxy1S8W/s640/blogger-image--969662506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgJJv0HRXy33GdA1LRVcZOfqP4gfcil9BwCIfTcZMA9x4UEls30ba83W0m66zAsTRW2i_6bu3ShqYW-1Au4v1qxiLz0VmTZJ9uF1OteUFke75gDWGBx5H3H5eRH2bL2WsZGt-dlxy1S8W/s640/blogger-image--969662506.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><div><br></div>

Dinner disaster

Yesterday's dinner was a disaster after a disaster.  At lunchtime, I went to marks & spencers and bought food for dinner.  I got chi...

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Despicable Me 2: Villainy lite

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Despicable Me 2</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/despicableme2/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>3.5 stars. Rating: PG, and quite needlessly, for mild rude humor</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a></b></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank goodness for the minions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2010/07/despicable-me-deliciously-evil.html">Despicable Me</a></i> got much of its hilarious edge from the personality transformation experienced by Gru, the vaguely Slavic super-villain who mellows out — but only somewhat — after encountering a trio of trusting little girls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatsADfffRrHfBD9MPMdtAO8g6vJwg_-CavWPd3OGSaem_BTEBDPoAEvtotuV__6AGiHrnCVKXNPdPCKnnYCU-TNtxAhpEA8jts0lWq8T-EForqgL2ssxKkV7G3lE4t142bdNCId9fvD0/s538/Despicable+Me+2+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatsADfffRrHfBD9MPMdtAO8g6vJwg_-CavWPd3OGSaem_BTEBDPoAEvtotuV__6AGiHrnCVKXNPdPCKnnYCU-TNtxAhpEA8jts0lWq8T-EForqgL2ssxKkV7G3lE4t142bdNCId9fvD0/s400/Despicable+Me+2+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Sent undercover as the owner of a mega-mall's boutique cupcake emporium, Gru is<br />annoyed to discover that he has been saddled with an assisant: Lucy Wilde, an<br />aggressively eager agent of the Anti-Villian League. Their goal: to figure out which<br />neighboring shopkeeper actually is a dastardly criminal mastermind.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gru’s introductory strut in that first film — to a deliciously snarky title song written and performed by Pharrell Williams — was the stuff of greatness. Here was a gleeful scoundrel who’d embrace badness big and small, whether stealing the Earth’s Moon, or stealing candy from a baby. And he wouldn’t merely snatch the sweet from the crestfallen tyke; he’d replace it with a cod liver oil sucker.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watching this fellow struggle against the arrival of a hitherto buried good side — trying to stay wicked in the face of unconditional love from Agnes, the youngest of his new wards — was the stuff of classic character comedy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This sequel’s Gru, alas, has completed this makeover, and has fully embraced his light side. As a result, he’s both less interesting and less funny. His inventive genius now reduced to concocting playful gadgets for Agnes’ birthday party, the low point arrives when — a paid actress having failed to show up — Gru dresses himself as the world’s most unlikely fairy princess.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which, yes, results in a genuinely poignant moment between Agnes and her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">de facto</i> daddy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t intend to suggest that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Despicable Me 2</i> is either disappointing or unsatisfying: far from it. Returning directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud maintain their engaging blend of character comedy, goofy slapstick and oddball peril, and returning scripters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul certainly know the territory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the latter are on their own this time, whereas the first film derived from a story by Sergio Pablos ... and he may be the essential missing ingredient. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Despicable Me 2</i> is a more conventional animated comedy, in terms of its standard-issue narrative and predictable plot hiccups. We never knew what would happen in the first film, which was much of its charm; this sequel, in contrast, lacks that element of uncertainty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately, Daurio and Paul have the good sense to grant more screen time to the first film’s breakout stars: the mischievous, hapless and hilariously speech-challenged minions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can’t get enough of them, and this new film takes ample advantage of that fact.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(To be more precise, we certainly haven’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yet</i> gotten enough of them. Let’s see what happens next year, when they get their own movie.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Gru (again voiced by Steve Carell) out of the super-criminal game, he has settled into the comfortable shoes of adoptive parenthood. He dotes on little Agnes (Elsie Fisher), tries to keep hyperactive Edith (Dana Gaier) out of trouble, and does his best to ignore Margo’s (Miranda Cosgrove) slide into boy-crazy adolescence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gru’s massive underground lab, once the source of magnificently devious weapons and vile thingamajigs, has been re-purposed into a factory that crafts signature jams and jellies ... much to the delight of the minions, who love sampling the raw ingredients. They’re less interested in the finished result; Gru’s resident genius, Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), just can’t get the mix right.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nor is he interested in trying. Gru’s first crisis arrives when Dr. Nefario reluctantly departs, having been offered alternate employment with the promise of actual skullduggery. The second crisis erupts when Gru is snatched by Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), an eager-beaver agent of the Anti-Villain League.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The AVL chief, Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan), has become deeply disturbed by a recent eruption of super-villainy, and most particularly by the discovery of a nasty serum that — in some laboratory test footage — transforms a cute, cuddly bunny into a purple, frazzle-haired, mindless and indestructible eating machine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, such a serum would have ghastly results, if employed for the wrong purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Borrowing a note from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Catch a Thief</i>, Ramsbottom gives Gru a cover identity and makes him the owner of a cupcake emporium in a nearby mega-mall. Ramsbottom is convinced that one of the mall’s other shop owners is the mastermind behind this dastardly plot; Gru and Lucy — who’s sweet on her new partner — are tasked with figuring out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">which</i>shop owner.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gru’s suspicion immediately turns to Eduardo Perez (Benjamin Bratt), the rotund and flirty owner of the nearby Salsa & Salsa restaurant, because he bears a striking resemblance to history’s most heinous super-villain ever, El Macho. But that’s not possible, because El Macho perished years ago, when he rode a dynamite-laden shark into an erupting volcano.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Evidence points instead to Floyd Eagle-san (Ken Jeong), proprietor of the local hair-replacement club for men. But Gru can’t get Eduardo out of his mind ... and the obsession becomes even more intense when the restaurant owner’s suave son, Antonio (Moises Arias), makes a move on the smitten Margo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point, Gru’s objectivity has been compromised, and his increasingly frenzied suggestions fall on Ramsbottom’s deaf ears.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, Gru’s minions have been vanishing — singly, and in groups — and spirited to parts unspecified, for reasons unknown. Gru doesn’t notice for quite some time; it’s not easy to keep track of several hundred (thousand?) nearly identical yellow, pill-shaped henchmen in blue little-kid overalls. Even if they do have individual names such as Kevin, Bob and Stuart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of which, Gru is forced to contend with various undesired match-making efforts, whether they come from nosy neighbor Jillian (Nasim Pedrad) or Gru’s own wards. Not to mention his oil-and-vinegar relationship with Lucy, which we all know is destined for greater things.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The core plot advances leisurely, intercut with unrelated minion escapades and sidebar distractions. Some of the latter integrate nicely with the narrative; others don’t. Gru and Lucy’s battle with Eduardo’s attack chicken is quite funny, whereas Gru’s blind date with a fitness-obsessed bottle blonde doesn’t work at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The minions pretty much steal the show, because of their impressionable innocence, their bratty (but benevolent) tendency toward mischief, and their side-splitting approach toward speech. If the apparent gibberish sometimes sounds like actual words, that’s no accident; Coffin and Renaud voice all the minions with a random blend of French, English, Spanish, Italian and Indian.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, while a French theater patron may recognize the minion phrase <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">poulet tiki masala</i> as an Indian chicken dish, the words certainly don’t have that context in the storyline. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for what happens to all those missing minions, well, let me point out that the filmmakers were inspired by a 1960 Warner Bros. Tweety and Sylvester cartoon, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hyde and Go Tweet</i>. Draw your own conclusions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carell has a great time with Gru’s often exasperated, Eastern European overtones, and the animators do a correspondingly slick job of matching the character’s expressions and movement to the actor’s vocal mannerisms. The overly enthusiastic Lucy is coordinated equally well with Wiig’s mildly snarky delivery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bratt is a stitch as the overblown Eduardo, and Brand is just as funny as the ancient, ultra-lethargic Dr. Nefario. Cosgrove, Gaier and Fisher are adorably girl-like as their respective characters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mostly, though, this film benefits from Coffin and Renaud’s unerring sense of timing. They’re equally adept at both extremes: getting the maximum emotional mileage from a tender moment between Gru and Agnes, or earning a belly laugh from competitive, shifty-eyed interactions between minions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Editor Gregory Perler keeps things moving at a good clip; the 98-minute length feels just right. And you’ll definitely want to hang around for the minions’ final-scene cover of the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All told, this sequel is a thoroughly enjoyable lark, with enough to captivate both adult and small-fry viewers. Any mild disappointment arises mostly from remembering its predecessor; Coffin and Renaud haven’t maintained the momentum present in (for example) each new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ice Age</i> entry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if faced with an Independence Day weekend choice between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Despicable Me 2</i> and the overwrought, under-humored and occasionally loathsome new take on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lone Ranger</i>, I strongly advise the former.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can’t go wrong with the minions.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><!--EndFragment-->

2013 Animated films Benjamin Bratt Dana Gaier Elsie Fisher Ken Jeong Kristen Wiig Miranda Cosgrove Russell Brand Sequel Steve Carell Steve Coogan Despicable Me 2: Villainy lite

Despicable Me 2   (2013) •  View trailer   3.5 stars. Rating: PG, and quite needlessly, for mild rude humor By  Derrick Bang Tha...

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