text:
Emails reveal Weinstein's accusers 'bragged' about having sex with him and one even wanted to introduce him to her mother, his lawyer claims
Settle back and enjoy the breakneck pace
By Chris Tookey for MailOnline
Unknown (12A)
Verdict: A very straightforward thriller
Unknown is an action-packed mystery thriller in the Hitchcock mould, but offers little in terms of fun.
Liam Neeson plays Dr Martin Harris, an American scientist attending a biotechnology conference in Berlin with his beautiful blonde wife (January Jones, from Mad Men). But he wakes up after a car crash and a four-day coma, to discover his wife doesn't recognise him, and another man (Aidan Quinn) is calling himself Dr Martin Harris.
Without any means of identification and hunted by mysterious assassins, Neeson tries to discover what's happened to him, helped by an unfeasibly attractive Bosnian taxi-driver (Diane Kruger) and a creepy private eye who used to work for the East German Stasi (Bruno Ganz).
Mystery thriller: Liam Neeson as Dr Martin Harris in Unknown
Director Jaume Collet-Serra generates plenty of suspense and keeps the action flowing. There is even, of all things, an imaginative car chase.
He is well-served by Neeson, who manages to give a realistic impression of a man who knows he's suffering from amnesia and fears that he may be going mad.
After this film and Taken, Neeson looks as though he has taken over from Sean Connery and Harrison Ford as the cinema's most bankable ageing tough guy.
Never Say Never: Justin Bieber film is slick but it never asks if the Macaulay Culkin of pop can survive the... The Adjustment Bureau: A fantastic date with fate
Inside Job: A credit crunch exposé that has lots of bite Big Momma: Like Father, Like Son: What a drag! Another cross-dressing disaster
The Tempest: A shower of tedium
But the sophistication of Neeson's performance can't save the plot, which becomes more and more ridiculous.
When the silkily sinister Frank Langella eventually turns up to reveal the deeply improbable truth, it's hard not to wonder why the bad guys didn't try to murder Neeson while he was in a coma, rather than wait for him to start rampaging through the streets of Berlin.
The script is devoid of wit and obstinately mechanical and soulless. It lacks the sense of fun that enlivened The Tourist. In keeping with its milieu, it's humourless and Germanic.
Old-fashioned escapism in the Alfred Hitchcock style: Diane Kruger as Gina and Dr Martin Harris - Liam Neeson - in Unknown
Neeson doesn't get much help from his female co-stars. There's no chemistry between him and the robotic Jones — or Kruger, who is far too cool and glamorous for her role.
But most people don't go to the movies in order to pick holes, and it would be easy to settle back and enjoy the breakneck pace, noir atmosphere and cheerfully outrageous plot twists.
This is old-fashioned escapism in the Hitchcock style, of roughly the same quality as Roman Polanski's Parisian thriller Frantic. No one is going to pretend it is art, but it would be just as foolish to deny that it's entertaining.
Unknown: Settle back and enjoy the breakneck pace
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EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden is ordered to show up at Arkansas court next week and show why he shouldn't be held...
PICTURED: Mother, 22, who confessed to killing her three-year-old son, two-year-old daughter and...
Emails reveal Harvey Weinstein's accusers 'bragged' about having sex with him and one even wanted to...
'How could we have known?': Hillary Clinton defends taking money from Harvey Weinstein and says the Obamas...
Cops raid home of former US women's Olympic gymnastics head coach who has ties to pedophile team doctor...
Bill Clinton reveals how 'grateful' he is Hillary didn't leave him over Monica Lewinsky: Unfaithful...
Girl, 17, is shot dead by her longtime male friend with a history of domestic violence, who then turns the...
'She's very angry.' Donald Trump takes ANOTHER swipe at Greta Thunberg after calling climate activists...
BREAKING NEWS: Democrats LOSE their first battle of Donald Trump's impeachment trial as Senate votes AGAINST subpoenaing the White House for cache of Ukraine documents - after Adam Schiff calls president corrupt but his defense says Democrats rigged system
Shocking moment father tackles his son's opponent during high school wrestling match after the teenager does a dangerous and illegal move
How WILL they pay £2.4million Frogmore bill? Royal officials are baffled at how Harry and Meghan intend to repay huge cost of refurbishing their UK home
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Democrats and Donald Trump will each get just 24 hours over TWO DAYS to make their case at impeachment trial, under Republican plan - and senators will debate rules behind closed doors tomorrow


text:
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace TMDbLib.Objects.Countries
{
    public class Country
    {
        [JsonProperty("iso_3166_1")]
        public string Iso_3166_1 { get; set; }

        [JsonProperty("english_name")]
        public string EnglishName { get; set; }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Discussion in 'Guitars in General' started by MR.K, Apr 14, 2016.
This arrived today. After driving it around the block for a few hours I'm very impressed. This model is new for this year, no neck binding as were the early, first year '58 es335's. At 8.5lbs it feels good to me, not featherweight and not heavy, hangs well on the shoulder. Nice neck at .92 at the first fret and 1.04 at the 12th.
Color and finish have a really nice look and feel. I've been a finisher for nearly 50 years, I'm not easily impressed. The Rosewood fingerboard is very dark with hint of red now and then.
The new MHS pickups really shine. They can be clear and focused and with a turn of the knob will get up and sing. All the pickup selections shine. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm very impressed. Thumbs up for the Memphis shop for this one.
TBoneDeluxe, Daka3, MisterMitch and 9 others like this.
Very nice - I almost bought that one, myself!
Congrats. That's a nice looking 335.
That's really a beautiful looker, congratulations! I recently aquired a 2015 1963 Memphis ES-335TDC Figured Cherry color guitar. I'm completely blown away at the quality of these guitars. And being 58 years old and having owned many of original 1950's Gibsons. I actually think these are the best guitars Gibson have ever made!
That's a real looker you've got there.
I've really not had a chance to try out any of Gibson's 335 offerings in the last few years.
I've heard really good thinks about them though.
I'm satisfied right not with my '70 and '83 Dot. They both hold their own in tone a playability.
Don't get me wrong, if a spectacular deal on a newer 335 presented itself, I'd most likely jump on it.
All I can add again is that the Historic Memphis 335's are in another class from most any other 335, 345 I have ever played both newer and Vintage as well! Try one and you'll see!
I'm not surprised really. Gibson Historics of all flavor so tend to be superb instruments. And how can you go wrong with a fat neck 335?
Is that technically "Historic"? I've never seen that term applied to the Memphis guitars, only Nashville CS (which apparently still makes ES guitars occasionally).
Sweet score, that is one nice looking instrument.
Spectacular looking guitar. I love the '58 no binding look, and the colour is just right. Congrats.
They call it a VOS model. I may have been wrong is assigning it Historic. I do remember in the past VOS and Historic were mentioned in the same breath. Price and build wise it appears to sit in the same category. It's the first year for this particular model so Historic seemed appropriate.
It seemed like they got away from using the term for a few years - maybe 2012-2014? They were just "Custom Shop 19xx Reissues". Then in '15 the "True Historics" and now "Standard Historics" have returned.
I didn't mean to imply anything by the question; I just can't figure out what's what anymore. About the time I was thinking that all ES guitars were in Memphis now, I saw a couple "Custom Shop" Nashville 335s appear on Wildwood's site. So, who knows?
The official name is simply Gibson Memphis 2016 1958 ES-335 VOS.


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IFC Invests in Romania's First Cover Bond Issue To Increase Mortgage Lending
The FINANCIAL — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, was a key investor with a €50 million investment in the first covered bond issuance in Romania.
The first-ever and five-year maturity covered bond will support the development of the capital markets and pave the way for other issuers to use a new financial instrument to provide long-term financing in Romania. Covered bonds are a critical tool for mortgage funding in more developed markets as it allows mortgage lenders to issue debt instruments better rated than the issuer.
Sergiu Oprescu, Executive President of Alpha Bank Romania said "Almost 18 years after the launch of the first ever mortgage loan in 2001, Alpha Bank Romania is opening a new chapter in the Romanian banking market with this new funding tool, demonstrating once again its pioneering capabilities".
Romania's housing finance system could contribute more to economic growth than it presently does. The country's 7 percent ratio of outstanding residential mortgage debt to gross domestic product is the lowest among EU countries, even lower than the emerging-market average. The average for the 28-member block is 50 percent.
Vittorio Di Bello, IFC Regional Industry Head for Financial Institutions Group in Europe and Central Asia said: "IFC is one of the anchor investors in ABR's covered bond issuance, thus playing an important role in the Bank's efforts to diversify its funding sources. Supporting the first covered bond issuance in the country and a top banking player on the mortgage market will raise investors' confidence and pave way for other issuers to make use of this important instrument."
IFC and Alpha Bank Romania have a growing partnership in Romania. Alpha Bank Romania is a systemically important bank, part of the Alpha Bank Group, one of the leading banks in Greece. It became the first bank to introduce mortgages in Romania in 2001 and is now one of the major mortgage lenders in the country, with a portfolio that exceeds €1 billion.
In 2017, IFC provided a €50 million unsecured loan to support mortgage lending and help expand access to finance for prospective home owners in the country. In 2015, IFC extended a $30 million credit trade line to Alpha Bank Romania under its Global Trade Finance Program. IFC's support to the first ever covered bond is expected to help the lender reach out to a greater number of homeowners and further develop the local market.
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2018 წლის ყველაზე მოთხოვნადი საოჯახო ტექნიკა
Golden Brand 2018, Moments, Winners
The Future of Banking, post forum interviews
"ჯანმრთელობას გისურვებთ, განსაკუთრებით საქართველოში!" - ჟურნალისტური გამოძიება
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The Future is Cashless: Interview with Igor Stepanov – MasterCard Country Manager in Georgia and Central Asia
Inside DIRSI complex, Tbilisi
Inside look at VEON Georgia office

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The Best Biographies of Zachary Taylor
Posted by Steve in Best Biographies Posts, President #12 - Z Taylor
American history, biographies, book reviews, Jack Bauer, John Eisenhower, presidential biographies, Presidents, Zachary Taylor
So far on this journey of twelve presidents and fifty-six biographies I've been surprised at how interesting I have found the lives of our former presidents. From the most-revered (Washington and Jefferson) to the unsuccessful (John Tyler comes to mind) to the infamous (that's you, Andrew Jackson) I have never been disappointed. Until now.
Unlike several earlier presidents such as John Quincy Adams and Old Hickory, Zachary Taylor's life was not tailor-made for a great movie, or an exciting biography. I should have known something unsatisfying loomed when biographer K. Jack Bauer wrote in his introduction that "Taylor's career…was not only unexciting, but mundane and boring." That appears to be the understatement of the year.
Note-to-self: when an author warns that his subject's life was boring…time to fertilize the lawn or re-caulk the bathtub.
Nevertheless, Taylor's life is instructive for what it can mean to find one's self in the right place at the right time. He dedicated nearly his entire adult life to the U.S. Army (tolerating decades of drudgery, accented with a few moments of excitement) and was asked to lead American troops in the Mexican War. Having succeeded – or at least persevered – in that effort, the Whig party selected him as their presidential nominee. This seems to have been due to the fact that his narrative resembled that of successful Whig candidate General William H. Harrison eight years earlier rather than his finely-honed policy positions or political instincts.
Like Old Tippecanoe, Taylor was a patriot and an apparent American hero, and that was enough to get elected president in 1848. But it wasn't enough to escape the death curse of Whig party soldier-presidents. General Harrison, of course, had died just one month into his presidency. General Taylor managed to last sixteen months.
* The first Taylor biography I read was K. Jack Bauer's 1985 classic "Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest." This seems certain to remain the definitive biography of Taylor based on its breadth and depth of insight. Unfortunately, the author's efforts are applied against a sixty-five year life which was more often dull than dynamic. The fact Taylor seems not to have been particularly charismatic or lively doesn't help. But Bauer's compulsion for providing details on matters both great and small slows the books pace and causes it to be no more exhilarating than the life it covers. (Full review here)
The next, and final, biography of Taylor was John S. D. Eisenhower's "Zachary Taylor." Published in 2008, this is a brief and less exhaustively-detailed examination of Taylor's life. Fortunately, it seems to contain more than its fair share of thoughtful judgments and conclusions, and it hold the reader's attention more effectively than Bauer's biography. But while it is far more efficient with the reader's time, it is not nearly as scholarly or complete. (Full review here)
For the casual reader of presidential biographies (or someone looking to read something about Zachary Taylor), Eisenhower's book will prove both interesting and more-than-adequate. But anyone requiring a more intensive exploration of Taylor's life will find Bauer's biography the preferred route of study.
Best (Definitive) Biography of Taylor: "Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest" by Jack Bauer
Best (Efficient) Biography of Taylor: "Zachary Taylor" by John S. D. Eisenhower
24 thoughts on "The Best Biographies of Zachary Taylor"
Mary Strong-Spaid said:
And…this is great weather for reading!
Wow, you aren't kidding! Nothing like curling up with some Zachary Taylor while enduring ten-below-zero degree wind chills…
sheafferhistorian said:
Reblogged this on Practically Historical.
able said:
Holman Hamilton. 2-Volumes –
ZACHARY TAYLOR: SOLDIER OF THE REPUBLIC; SOLDIER IN THE WHITE HOUSE
Link: http://alincolnbookshop.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/PresBiblio.pdf
Pingback: 44 books on 44 presidents: Most. Boring. President. Ever. - News
cruttendenandstone said:
I knew next to nothing about Zachary Taylor prior to reading his biography, so I was really looking forward to learning about him. I chose Holman Hamilton's two volumes, Solider of the Republic and Solider in the White House. I enjoyed Hamilton's writing style and the breadth of his research about Taylor. I personally would not consider Taylor boring, his military experience was interesting and although he was not a politician prior to being elected president, within his short-term he was the first seemingly "independent" president. Although he was only in office a little over a year, he was determined to set his own agenda. By no means would he have solved the growing secession issues, but I think he would have been a more valuable executive than Fillmore ended up being.
I've heard good things about Hamilton's series (though not before I finished reading biographies of Zachary Taylor in early 2014) so I've added the two volumes to my follow-up list. Taylor's birthplace is only about 30 minutes from where I live and I have to admit…his life story is more interesting than I originally suspected.
Jeff said:
I don't own any bios yet on Taylor and am looking at the two volume Holman set, namely the nice Easton Press edition. I appreciate the comments here about this set, as it's between this and the Bauer volume, but I generally tend towards the more detailed bios (I own the complete 6 volume Hoover set), but only if they are well researched and written.
Whichever bio(s) you read of Zachary Taylor, I'd be interested to know what you think! …and I'm jealous you've got the complete Hoover set. Obtaining that series is a priority for me since I really enjoyed (much to my surprise) reading about him, particularly prior to becoming president. A well-researched and insightful series on him could make for a compelling read.
I'll let you know! I probably won't get to them for several months, I am backlogged in my reading right now.
As for the Hoover set, it took some patience to wait for affordable copies, but I was able to complete it without paying more than $30 for any volume. Some of the newer ones are regularly over $50. I set price watches in Amazon, and after several months finally received notification that copies were available for cheap, so I bought them immediately. I haven't read all 6 yet, but have read the last two, which were fascinating and impeccable scholarship. The research was very thorough and the narrative wasn't the most engaging, but certainly engaging enough. The volume on his presidency, "Fighting Quaker," has been the best overview of Hoover's presidency that I've yet read, and I've read most treatments of his life, including the newest from a couple months ago that does focus just on his presidency, "Herbert Hoover in the White House: The Ordeal of the Presidency." Anyways, good luck in finding affordable copies of the later Hoover volumes! I can recommend them with high marks and praise.
Pat McKim said:
This is the first I've seen of your website. It is a nice service.
I must, however, differ with you on your recommendations of Taylor's biographers. Taylor's truly definitive biography, Holman Hamilton's two volume series is only mentioned in the comments.
Unfortunately, I found Bauer's biography to more damning with faint praise, and in some cases outright biased reports, that either of the other biographies. Holman Hamilton's 2 volume biography is much better, as is Eisenhower's who had military experience to back up his assessments, as well as unfettered access to another General President — his father.
Bauer is very critical of Taylor's generalship during the Mexican-American War and doesn't give a full picture, only what suits his version of the story. From memory (mine of his book which is two months old), he continually faults Taylor for not following up his victories with a final coup.. He is most critical is Taylor's last victory at Buena Vista. The only way that Taylor was able to win this battle was by using a strong defensive position close to Buena Vista. in this battle, Taylor was outnumbered over 3:1 by Santa Anna. In addition the vast majority of Taylor's troops and officers, most importantly his experienced regulars, were taken by General Scott for the Veracruz to Mexico City southern theater campaign. Taylor was left to fight with raw volunteers and some handful of regulars that he had not commanded before. To attempt to follow up a victory where you have lost less causalities on an absolute basis, but more on a relative basis and still have a greater than 3:1 disadvantage, and meeting your opponent with no defensive advantage and a field not of your choosing would be suicidal,and yet this is what Bauer expected Taylor to do. Interestingly enough, Taylor was faulted by President Polk alternatively for either not going far enough and then going too far. But in this case Polk felt that Taylor had gone too far and was not supporting him with either troops or enough supplies. In addition Santa Anna was retreating into a flat desert where Taylor would have to extend supply lines further and was subject to a Santa Anna "scortched earth" policy. Bauer also faulted Taylor for not being at the battle as it started because Taylor was checking and fortifying his supply depot to the rear. That was wise, as the battle eventually made its way to just where Taylor was checking. In addition Taylor was aware that Mexican cavalry dragoons were harassing his supply lines, and by this time Taylor was deep into a foreign country — the first time in the history of the US that it was deep in a foreign country, and the longest supply lines the US would have until the World Wars. Taylor was wise to be checking his supplies as if these were overtaken his army would have been destroyed, something an old Indian fighter would understand, but not some history professor,. As it was, Taylor's string of strong victories in Northern Mexico culminating in the victory of Buena Vista against Santa Anna were the decisive victories of the war. By the end of Buena Vista, Santa Anna's army was rife with morale problems and desertions. He would never again be able to recruit for his defense in the South and the people of Mexico were no longer with him.
Bauer also uses a quote of Secretary of War Marcy that is highly disparaging of Taylor. From the positioning of the quote one thinks that Marcy should have known, except that Marcy was a political hack who like Polk was desperately attempting to find a way to give a Democrat credit for any victory. In addition, Marcy To denude Taylor's advanced positions of most of his troops was unconscionable, particularly when he was this far in enemy territory.
I would implore you to do a bit more research before you state that some biography, such as Bauer's, is a definiitive one. Bauer's is certainly not. He obviously has biases. I would recommend David Lavender's Climax at Buena Vista for the most detailed and definitive description of Taylor's campaign in northern Mexico.
While Bauer did bring up some interesting points, like Taylor's later investments in banks rather than plantations later in life, he did not provide a large amount of new facts. Part of the reason for this is that the most important of Taylor's papers were destroyed in the Civil War when his son's plantation, General Richard Taylor. Thus newer biographies have very little new information. The definitive book on Buena Vista, has plenty of government documents and personal accounts to provide excellent and accurate descriptions.
Of all the Generals in US history to prosecute campaigns Taylor was more outnumbered, with less supplies, further from home, that any other general in history. Neither Bauer, not Eisenhower recognize that. While Holman's style is a bit syrupy early on, it is very good.
Pat McKim
One other thing I forgot on this. When Eisenhower discusses the Taylor biographies, he mentions that the Holman Hamilton biography is the "definiitive one."
Len said:
I just finished up the 2 volume Holman Hamilton Taylor biography, and I found them to be well written, very thoroughly researched, and overall they seemed quite fair. Unfortunately Taylor didn't leave behind a large written record (both private and public), so piecing together his personal views on many subjects requires more effort on the part of the biographer, and there are plenty of gaps.
The first book, "Soldier of the Republic", I found hard to get through, for reasons already mentioned by other commenters– much of Taylor's life prior to the White House was relatively uneventful, and difficult to devote hours to reading about his moving from one location to another, and back again, etc, ad nauseum. (There were occassional breaks from the tedium when Taylor was deployed by the military.)
The second book, "Soldier in the White House", was more interesting as it covers Taylor's time in the White House as well as the surrounding political landscape of events that occurred during his presidency, in some detail. In many ways I found this book to be more about the 'times' of Taylor's presidency than Taylor's presidency itself. Hamilton expounded on many events, in great detail, then would circle back and tie in Taylor's perspective on the issue. It's as if for many events in the book Taylor was a spectator, not an active participant, which may be the reality of what happened.
Overall, one gets the sense of what Taylor was like, but without a lot of first-hand accounts from Taylor himself, I came away not really having a solid understanding of the man himself, which is a shame, after reading 1000+ pages of biography.
I don't think these are easy books to get through, and not overly entertaining. But they are fairly informative, and as always, it's interesting to get another perspective on major events of the time from a key player.
The best news was, Amazon was selling them for Kindle at less than $4 each, so I simply couldn't pass that up ! (I know a lot of people don't like the Kindle if you get the reader, not the 'tablet' version, it's very easy on the eyes, and I can read for hours without much eye strain.)
Sadly I find myself unable to enjoy e-books so I had to spring for a more significant investment, but I do finally have the 2-vol Hamilton series! I expect it will satisfy my craving for something more "definitive" than the two books I previously read on Taylor but it's going to be odd reading a thousand-plus pages and feeling like I don't really know the man. Still, I'm definitely looking forward to this follow-up reading-
Glad to hear you've got the series and will read it, when you get a few spare moments. 🙂
I feed I got a pretty good sense of Taylor, but as I've seen, and you've alluded to in a number of cases, the size of the book doesn't always correspond with the reader's sense of understanding the person. Some of the shorter books ironically do a better job than the longer books, though admittedly, that's not the typical case.
I'd be curious about your feedback when you finish this series.
As an aside, I've been reading presidential bios sequentially now for a number of months, and am just starting Lincoln (yay!). I'm no longer the least bit intimidated by large books. At this point, anything under 500 pages is not too big, whereas I remember thinking years ago that McCullough's "John Adams" was big. Have you noticed a similar affect? The confidence I've gained from so much reading is an unexpected side effect, and I'm wondering if you experienced something similar?
I've definitely noticed that the length a book must be in order to intimidate me has grown substantially since I started this journey. By the time I read Burlingame's two-volume biography on Lincoln (about 1,600 pages) I realized that as long as a book is engaging and stimulating…the longer the better! But there have been notable lengthy "misses" as well (I really didn't enjoy Sandburg's series on Lincoln…and at 3,300 pages that was quite an investment).
In response to your last question I've noticed that all this reading has dramatically improved my vocabulary (and I've gotten better at reading more quickly and with better comprehension) 🙂
If you want to read something to give you an idea of Taylor the person in his own voice or hand, I would suggest the Letters of Zachary Taylor, edited by William Bixby. It is compendium of his letters from the field in Mexico.
I just re-read parts of Smith's bio of Grant. His description of Taylor is excellent. He mentions his sang froid which was very important. I mentioned this earlier, but with the possible exception of Washington, the career generals that became President are treated poorly until recently with both Grant and Eisenhower.
When one steps back and looks. Taylor probably has the best winning record under trying conditions that any other General. He won essentially all of his Indian War battles in difficult terrain and conditions. He figured out pacification. In Mexico he was the first US general to invade a foreign country. His first two battles were in the open iwth no advantage and yet he was significantly out numbered. He won those. His next battle was attacking one of the strongest naturally fortified cities and still outnumbered. He won. His last battle, his largest he won with most of his veterans taken away to be given to General Scott. For the most part, he had raw volunteers. He was outnumbered by over three to one and it was a hastily prepared defensive battle. He won that convincingly, but didn't follow it up for good reason. he was still outnumbered with very poor supply lines and was not supported well by President Polk or his Army. to do this he would have been forced to follow his enemy further into Mexico through a desert with no external sources of supply with his own supply lines at risk with no support from his country. This would have been suicide, and yet one of his biographers faults him for not doing so–Bauer, who was supposedly an expert on the Mexican War.
Jackson, Taylor, Grant, and Eisenhower have often been criticized because they were not "intellectuals," (Note Adams treatment of Grant, and the public's view of Ike when Kennedy brought Camelot to Washington.) Of late Jackson, one of the most courageous Presidents of our time
David Ball said:
Hello. I've come across a two-volume biography of Zachary Taylor that I found very enjoyable. It's written by Holman Hamilton. The titles are Zachary Taylor: Soldier of the Republic and Zachary Taylor; Soldier in the White House. The author does a very good job of making Taylor's life interesting by describing the life of a soldier in the American west. I finished volume one and I am starting volume two. Both volumes are available on Amazon for the Kindle at a very inexpensive price. I highly recommend this and think it will give you a broader picture of Taylor's role in history. I really appreciate all the reviews you've done and have read many of the biographies you have recommended. I hope you find these enjoyable.
David, thanks. I haven't read the two-volume bio by Hamilton but I do have it on my follow-up list and I've obtained both volumes. Sounds like I may need to prioritize these 🙂 I'll be the first to admit my follow-up reading has emphasized single-volume bios and folks who possess more "pizazz" than Zachary Taylor!
In my humble opinion, I would suggest keeping Zachary Taylor on the shelves and continuing to press forward. There may be more to learn about Rough and Ready, but Eisenhower and Bauer give plenty of context. The Presidencies of Taylor and Fillmore (already on your follow-up list) would be the best option. The Compromise of 1850 is probably the most pertinent event during this 4-year period (1849-1853). It is well covered well in many other monographs and biographies of Henry Clay.
There are a few reasons that Taylor's biographies may not have "pizazz." As I am sure you know, all Taylor's papers were destroyed in the Civil War in his plantation because his son Richard who fought on the side of the Confederacy was the owner of that plantation, and the Union was only too happy to destroy it and all the Taylor records. Richard Taylor never lived there after the war and was something of a lost soul after that.
The other reason is that Bauer's biography, which you call the "classic" and "definitive" biography was written in much the same way that McFeely wrote his Pulizer Prize winner about Grant. That was poorly and inaccurately done, and likely with malice aforethought. You mention how fine the passages in Smith's US Grant's bio were regarding Grant's experiences in Mexico with "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor and "Old Fuss and Feathers" Scott. Somehow Bauer couldn't come up with the same ability or description.
I found many inaccuracies and gross misinterpretations that both made the book less interesting and unfair to Taylor. In Bauer's book…
for example, he cites Sec of War Marcy as saying that Taylor was a bad general. This is particularly galling given the fact that Marcy under supplied Taylor and with Polk negotiated and supported General Santa Anna to return to Mexico to stop the war. Santa Anna took the support and then did the opposite. Then after Taylor won three battles, Polk with Marcy then stripped Taylor of 80% of his veterans (because he thought Taylor was becoming a good Whig candidate for the Presidency and Polk and Marcy wanted a Democrat) and sent them all to Scott in the South. It was as though Polk and Marcy wanted to see Taylor defeated and discredited solely for political purposes which would have been ruinous for the US in the War.
At the ensuing Battle of Buena Vista, Taylor was outnumbered almost 3:1 by Santa Anna. Taylor had mostly raw militia troops, and yet he won a defensive battle by moving to high ground, against President Polk's direction from Washing DC to stay in Monterey which would not have been nearly as defensible. By traversing the entire battlefield always arriving at a critical point in the battle Taylor was greatly personally responsible for the victory if for no other reason than morale. At one point in time he even had to bolster his second in command during the battle. Yet Bauer like Marcy had very little experience to understand the battles and described Taylor's performance poorly and inaccurately. (There are two excellent books on the Battles of Monterrey (A Perfect Gibraltar) and Buena Vista that show how well Taylor and his Army performed. Part of this, as US Grant alludes in another posting–next–,is that Taylor was an excellent delegator.
Taylor won all 4 battles in the Mexican War as an underdog, outnumbered. All were different battle: open field, following up a victory, street to street city battle and a defensive battle. It was he that broke the will of the Mexican Army, not Scott, as the American people recognized in the election–Scott was a Whilg candidate as well. While the Mexican rank and file fought heroically to defend their home Mexico City and its approaches, Santa Anna and his generals like Ampudia had already been beaten. But none of this comes out in Bauer's biased biography.
In addition, even Bauer briefly admits with little fanfare that Taylor was the first to conduct counterinsurgency warfare as the Marines did successfully in Vietnam. Taylor had an extremely successful military career winning battles in the War of 1812, many in the Indian Wars in the interim and all 4 in the Mexican American War. The Wars of 1812 and Indian Wars had few successful commanders.
Marcy and Polk never left Washington and with communications requiring well over a month for round trip ask-and-answered understanding were never in a position to know the situation, the topography, or the morale. Since both viewed this as a political war (Read A Wicked War to see how much), they were in no position to comment, yet Bauer cites Sec of War Marcy as though he was an authoritative opinion. I have served far too many incompetent SECDEF's to know that is rarely true. That to me his was dereliction of duty for a historian. It shows at best Bauer's disinterest.
As President Taylor had a very short time–a year–before his death. Yet Eisenhower, his other other single volume biographer noted that Taylor was the last hope to stop the progression to the Civil War and likely would have, had he lived. He was a Southerner who did NOT want to extend slavery. That IS rare. Bauer doesn't put 2+2 together to realize that Taylor has thd experience in the far north (at that time the North of the Mid West) and in the West, and realized that slavery was neither practical nor wanted in that part of the country He realized this despite being a plantation owner, much like George Washington spending time in New York and NJ and realizing that the North didn't need slavery but rather had the industrial revolution. Taylor's purchase of railroad stock before the war the indicated that he was aware that industrialization would destroy slavery and that the whole country did not support cotton production that was a boon to slavery. Bauer never delved into this.
One the keys to Taylor's perspective was that he was a good businessman. Like Washington he was always interest in his plantations/farms while on the march in the "field" of battle. He understood the economics of slavery often from afar while in the field.
Taylor did NOT consider himself partisan and tried to stay above politics. That comes out in the book of his correspondence that I recommended in a prior post. Again like Washington he considered himself above politics, but thought Polk an opportunist and Scott less than honor and insufferably self centered — see the next post.
I have read all of Holman's 1st vol of Taylor and a small part of the second. It is good, probably like most bios written the 1950's a little bit too pro the subject, but very informative.
Bauer on the other hand is disinterested in his subject and likely wrote it because he had the information already in hand. There were so many things that Bauer never delved into in order to make Taylor's an interesting or authoritative biography.
I believe Eisenhower who had a much understanding of war in general produced a much better biography.
it is bad enough that Bauer wrote a poor biography, but worse that while calling it lacking in "pizazz" you would call it "authoritative" and "classic." For those who wish to take the time Taylor was an iconoclastic general with characteristics similar to other Warriors in the White House Washington and Grant.
You mention something in this post that I've often thought about. I wonder how differently slavery, and the resulting civil war, might have turned out had Taylor lived. Taylor did not want slavery beyond its current borders, and he was a strong personality not likely to cow to external pressures, like typical politicians. I doubt the 1850 compromise would have happened if Taylor lived, at least in the form it took. But Taylor wasn't a political animal, and it's possible not much might have changed in the final result. (except maybe the war might have started later than 1860, who knows?)
It's possible the forces involved were way too big for any one person to overcome. It's still interesting nonetheless to think about.
thanks. agreed. There is an interesting book tough to find. The American Mind in the Mid Nineteenth Century. Southerners thought they were more moral than money grubbing capitalists in the north. I don't think they could have been disabused from that. The southern cavalier was carefree and independent of his slaves despite the fact that many were close to bankrupt. It would have been nice to see President Taylor try.
These passages are from US Grant's auto biography published by Mark Twain who most impressed by them. How one could not be impressed by a man that impressed Grant so much that patterned his own style and generalship after him.
This is not about the man, but rather about the writers — specifically Bauer. Holman does a better job, but there wasn't quite as much research regarding the battles and likely some of the correspondence as well that there is today.
"I had now been in battle with the two leading commanders conducting armies in a foreign land. The contrast between the two was very marked. General Taylor never wore uniform, but dressed himself entirely for comfort. He moved about the field in which he was operating to see through his own eyes the situation. Often he would be without staff officers, and when he was accompanied by them there was no prescribed order in which they followed. He was very much Given to sit his horse side-ways—with both feet on one side—particularly on the battle-field. General Scott was the reverse in all these particulars. He always worse all the uniform prescribed or allowed by law when he inspected his lines; word would be sent to all division and brigade commander in advance, notifying them of the hour when the commanding general might be expected. This was done so that all the army might be under arms to salute their chief as he passed. On these occasions he wore his dress uniform, cocked hat, aiguillettes, sabre and spurs. His staff proper, besides all officers constructively on his –engineers, inspectors, quartermaster, etc., that could be spared—followed, also in uniform and in prescribed order. Orders were prepared with great care and evidently with the view that they should be a history of what followed (Ed. ie that they be scrupulously obeyed no matter what)
"In their modes of expressing thought, these two generals contrasted quite as strongly as in their other characteristics. General Scott was precise in language, cultivated a style peculiarly his own; was proud of his rhetoric; not averse to speaking of himself, often in the third person, and he could bestow praise upon the person he was talking about without the least embarrassment. Taylor was a not a conversationalist, but on paper he could put his meaning so plainly that there could be no mistaking it. He knew how to express what he wanted to say in the fewest well-chosen words, but would not sacrifice meaning to the construction of high-sounding sentences. But with their opposite characteristics both were great and successful soldiers; both were true, patriotic and upright in all their dealings. Both were pleasant to serve under—Taylor was pleasant to serve with. Scott saw more through the eyes of his staff officers than through his own. His plans were deliberately prepared, and fully expressed in orders. Taylor saw for himself. And gave orders to meet the emergency without reference to how they would read in history.
Personal Memoirs of US Grant Complete Annotated Edition pp 93-94
"It has always seemed to me that this northern route to the City of Mexico, would have been the better one to have taken. But my later experience has taught me two lessons: first, that things are seen plainer after the events have occurred; second, that the most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticized.
Personal Memoirs of US Grant Complete Annotated Edition pp 114-115


I am looking for a way to have a popup show my msg.payload that is an array of data. I tried the notification node but it did not show my data in a list format but in one line.
I am looking to save space on the dashboard and thinking a popup would work best. Any suggestions?
Use Split node and Join node to manipulate your data array into string separated with newline character before sending it to be payload of Notification. Notification however does not show multiple lines. It does it magic to join lines into one and makes itself wider.
Of course, if your payload ever arrives as a non-array data type, this will throw an exception.
Thank you for the suggestions. We were able to get this to work using the notification and line breaks.


Objectives of Educational Workshop: Students will be able to identify 5 different factors that can affect the accomplishments of a team by the end of the workshop.
Team Goals: Build the best tower.
Group Size: From 4-8 participants per team that are random assigned.
Time requirement: 45 minutes is what the activity was designed for. It can be adjusted for as little as 15 and as long as 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Materials required: Each team (4-8 per team) will need a closed container that includes different and an unequal amount of building supplies. Make sure one is obviously more deficient then the others. Here are some of the possible building supplies: Paper Cups, plates, bowls, Scissors, Popsicle Sticks, coffee stirrers, pens, markers, pencils, construction paper, newspaper, cardboard, tape, stapler, glue, paper clips, string, etc.
Ask the group if anyone has participated in this "Build the Best Tower Activity"? If they have, pull them out and use them as a team observer during the exercise.
Count off around the room by the number of teams you have. Example, you have 20 participants and you will have 5 on each team. 20 participants divide by 5 per team = count off by 4s.
choose a team leader, reporter, and pick up person.
All questions should be answered "Build the best tower".
Facilitator should float around the room to observe team interactions.
Break up into your teams.
Each team needs to choose a leader, a recorder, and a pick up person.
Build the Best Tower, you have 45 minutes.
Pick up person needs to pick up one of the packets.
Two minute in, announce there is a prize for the winning team.
Ask the leader to come to the center of the room and report.
Tell the time schedule has changed you only have 15 more minutes.
Use these debriefing questions as a guide for your discussion. Select the questions you feel will best benefit your group. It is not mandatory to cover every question. If possible, record the group's responses on flip chart paper so all comments are displayed. Make sure to let everyone share their ideas, and remind participants that everyone's opinions and feelings are important!
How long did it take to get started?
How did you choose the leader, recorder, and pick up person?
Did everyone have equal involvement? If not, who took over who stood back? Why did you choose that role?
How did leadership style influence the team?
Did anybody get concerned about time?
One thing your team did well?
One thing your team did poorly?
Raise your hand if you helped build a tower?
Did you build the tallest tower you could? Why or why not?
How did the prize effect the team?
How did the amount of time effect he team?
How did losing a person change the team?
How long did it take to get going?
How did not having the same supplies effect the team?
Did you assume that you were only supposed to collaborate with those in your small group?
What would have been possible if you had decided to share resources with the whole group?
Would you have had a taller tower?
How does building the tower in this activity compare to your daily work? or the way our group is organized?
How does this activity relate to being part of the larger company, organization, or group?
What did you just do together?
How did you feel while you did the activity?
What was one positive thing that happened during this activity?
How would things been different if you had an additional half hour?
What was one of the challenges of doing this activity?
What did the group have to do or believe to be successful?
Since you were not able to solve the problem, does it mean your group is a failure?
If the tower fell, ask how it felt when the tower fell?
How can our group do more with less?
What advice would you give to another group working on this activity?
Did you try different ideas? If so, why did you change your approach?
When working with teams, you will be met with a lack of resources, time and cooperation. These items may change unexpectedly the team needs to be flexible and role with the changes. Organizing a successful team requires both planning and cooperation of all team members. Go out and Build your own Tower.


Who doesn't love a good salty snack? When at the bar, most of us down peanuts and pretzels like they're our last meal, and you can't have a good party or family gathering with potato chips, Doritos, and other salty goodness. Heck, even a dinner party is often loaded with salty food: pizza, cheese, cold cuts, crackers, bread, olives, and the list goes on.
Salty snacks are almost as addictive as sweets, whether you realize it or not. The truth is that your body actually ends up CRAVING salty snacks, especially when you're stressed. According to a new report from Mintel, up to 62% of Americans eat salty snacks to combat their stress. Just one year ago, that number was as low as 16%. Perhaps this change is the result of our understanding that sugary foods are just so bad for our health. We've turned to salty snacks to deal with our cravings now that we're eliminating sweets.
But did you know that stress isn't the only reason you crave salty snacks? Boredom is one of the primary triggers for snacking, particularly for those who tend to use food as a comfort. 30% of American consumers eat salty snacks when they are bored, with more than half of those snackers agreeing that salty snacks help to alleviate boredom.
The fact that salty snacks are so portable is one of the main reasons that they're the go-to for snackers. Considering how many "travel sized" bags of chips and crackers there are, as well as how extensive the variety is, it's no surprise that it's so easy to snack wherever you are. 41% of Americans snack on the go, with 36% of all Americans snacking at work! Up to 73% of parents will actually give their children a salty snack to help reduce stress.
You may be thinking, "Well, at least it's not sugary foods, right? Salty snacks have to be the healthier option." That much is true: they are healthier, but not by much!
Your average sugary snack contains A LOT of empty calories from sugar, which your body processes and turns to glucose very quickly. Salty snacks, on the other hand, contain mostly empty calories, but a lot of those calories come from fat. Fat is harder for your body to digest and absorb, so it doesn't cause that spike in blood sugar. However, there are plenty of carbs in most salty snacks, meaning you do get a rise in your blood sugar levels.
Trans fats -- Trans fats are the WORST kind of fat around! They're a completely artificial type of fat, one your body is unable to process properly. Once it enters your bloodstream, it clogs your arteries and adds to your stored fat. It is the kind of fat that increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, obesity, metabolic disease, diabetes, and many other health problems. It's the kind of fat you absolutely want to avoid!
Sodium -- For the average person, a bit of salt isn't a problem. Sodium helps your body to store water, ensuring there is enough liquid to keep your body hydrated. But too much sodium can lead to water retention, which makes it harder for your heart to pump blood. People with high blood pressure often consistently over-consume salty foods, and the salty snacks only make their high blood pressure worse.
If you want to avoid heart problems, you'd do well to limit your salty snacks as much as you limit your sugary snacks. Snacks should ALWAYS be healthy, natural foods: nuts, seeds, fruit, veggies, etc.


For Dave Mills it's the culmination of a dream, but for some backcountry users it might come as a shock.
Land and Water B.C. has granted Mills, a former real estate developer, a 25,000-acre tenure on the Pemberton Ice Cap for an operation called Whistler Heli-Sledder.
Mills will be charging $1,200 a day per person to fly people to the glacier so he can then take them snowmobiling.
"I've been pregnant with this for two and half years with the tenure process and in the past two and a half weeks since we launched it the film companies are just hammering us," said Mills.
"We're just running promo stuff right now and assessing the protocols and kind of setting things up and not running tours. Because it's the kind of business that if I stub my toe now, i.e. if some tourist rides their sled into a crevasse, it'd be disastrous and it's so easy to do that up there."
Public knowledge about this tenure is not widespread but the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District knew about it and so did most of the other commercial recreation operators in Whistler, because Mills made presentations to all of them.
The SLRD tried to get the application stopped by arguing that Mills's base camp would require rezoning, but the effort failed.
Mills got many of the other commercial operators on side by offering to put some emergency services and provisions on the ice cap for people who got lost or injured while hiking or sledding in the area.
The fact that Mills has been able to get this tenure application through is a testament to his determination but it also raises several questions about LWBC and their plan for the Whistler/Pemberton backcountry.
Doug O'Mara from Whistler Heli-Skiing said it would be unfair to "pick on one commercial operator" but he indicated that somebody should be asking LWBC some serious questions.
O'Mara said it was important to point out that Whistler Heli-Skiing still has unresolved issues with LWBC dating back 20 years.
"This process is dealt with by LWBC, they are the ones regulating it and they make the decisions for licenses of occupation," said O'Mara.
"There are a number of issues with commercial recreation tenures in the corridor and the biggest issue is that LWBC has been issuing tenures licensing of occupation that overlap each other. And overlapping reduces the quality of the product and carrying capacity and increases the impact it could have on the public."
Mills's application was advertised and public feedback was sought, but O'Mara said he would still like to see LWBC take better charge of the situation.
"We would like to see LWBC manage the backcountry in a more effective manner and that means a number of things," he said.
"Our feeling is there is enough room for all users but it absolutely has to involve long term effective management and it requires co-operation from the public, government and responsible operators."
LWBC's commercial recreation manager, Kevin Lee, said LWBC gets six dollars every time a commercial recreation operator takes a tourist for a ride.
But Lee disagreed that LWBC had stacked the Whistler/Pemberton backcountry with tenure operators.
"But at this time I think it's manageable because, first of all, there's not as many operators in that area as some people might think there is.
"In the area where Mills is operating, he's the only one, and as for the other operators they're operating in other defined areas.
but until there's other applications on top of what's already there that's hard to justify at this time."


It's an incredible 25 years since Bobbi Brown launched her first range of ten wearable lipsticks that suited a multitude of skin tones. Those of us old enough to remember the orange foundation and blue eyeshadows of the 80s have a lot to thank her for. For me as a customer, Bobbi Brown was the first counter I ever sat at and felt that my face was being enhanced by the makeup that was being applied, not air brushed out behind a wall of thick colour.
Bobbi's philosophy has always been to support women's confidence with the right makeup, tools and knowledge. To celebrate her milestone, she's created a new selection of videos and tutorials over on the Bobbi Brown site and Youtube channel under the banner of "Be Who You Are", celebrating the style and personalities of 40 women of different backgrounds, ages and ethnicities (including Kim, below).
If you're wondering what the "Original Ten" lipsticks looked like, they're now available again here, £21, (along with some new releases in one of our favourite lip formulations, Luxe Lip Color, £25, previously reviewed by Sali here).


text:
Environmental Sciences Faculty Research, Publications and Presentations
Burton, David
Effect of pH and Temperature on Denitrification Gene Expression and Activity in Pseudomonas mandelii
Appl. Environ. Microbiol.-2009-Saleh-Lakha-3903-11.pdf (476.8Kb)
Saleh-Lakha, Saleema
Shannon, Kelly E.
Henderson, Sherri L.
Goyer, Claudia
Trevors, Jack T.
Zebarth, Bernie J.
Burton, David L.
Pseudomonas mandelii liquid cultures were studied to determine the effect of pH and temperature on denitrification gene expression, which was quantified by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. Denitrification was measured by the accumulation of nitrous oxide (N(2)O) in the headspace in the presence of acetylene. Levels of gene expression of nirS and cnorB at pH 5 were 539-fold and 6,190-fold lower, respectively, than the levels of gene expression for cells grown at pH 6, 7, and 8 between 4 h and 8 h. Cumulative denitrification levels were 28 mu mol, 63 mu mol, and 22 mu mol at pH 6, 7, and 8, respectively, at 8 h, whereas negligible denitrification was measured at pH 5. P. mandelii cells grown at 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C exhibited 9-fold and 94-fold increases in levels of cnorB expression between 0 h and 2 h, respectively, and an average 17-fold increase in levels of nirS gene expression. In contrast, induction of cnorB and nirS gene expression for P. mandelii cells grown at 10 degrees C did not occur in the first 4 h. Levels of cumulative denitrification at 10 h were 6.6 mu mol for P. mandelii cells grown at 10 degrees C and 20 degrees C and 30 mu mol for cells grown at 30 degrees C. Overall, levels of cnorB and nirS expression were relatively insensitive to pH values over the range of pH 6 to 8 but were substantially reduced at pH 5, whereas gene expression was sensitive to temperature, with induction and time to achieve maximum gene expression delayed as the temperature decreased from 30 degrees C. Low pH and temperature negatively affected denitrification activity.
Saleh-Lakha, Saleema, Kelly E. Shannon, Sherri L. Henderson, Claudia Goyer, et al. 2009. "Effect of pH and Temperature on Denitrification Gene Expression and Activity in Pseudomonas mandelii." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 75(12): 3903-3911.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00080-09


text:
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How Duke DT Ja'Mion Franklin saved father's life and is now supporting sick mother
Charlotte Observer - 11/1/2022
His mind and body having already been through so much, Ja'Mion Franklin asked even more of himself last spring.
Franklin, a starting defensive tackle for Duke football, needed to improve his strength and conditioning to be a factor in what he hoped would be a turnaround season for the Blue Devils.
While he put in the work to accomplish that, he also traveled home to Maryland's Eastern Shore for two extended visits after his mother, Latoya, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
He accompanied her to medical appointments. He helped her move safely around the house. He made sure she ate — not an easy thing while going through chemotherapy. He held her hand as they watched TV on the sofa.
"I just had to be a good son," Franklin said.
This wasn't Franklin's first time caring for a sick parent. While this year's effort included mostly time, energy and emotional support, four years ago, his method of care was much more tangible.
As a high school senior, Franklin donated stem cells that helped push his father's acute myeloid leukemia into remission.
"He will always be my hero for saving my life," James Franklin said. "Forever. I always tease him and say, 'You're my dad now 'cause I am reborn with your stem cells.'"
'Everything just kind of piled up'
The eldest child in a working-class family, Ja'Mion Franklin grew up fast — maybe too fast.
In high school, he was a football standout headed to Notre Dame on a scholarship, but he continued to work extra shifts at his part-time job at Walmart so his mother, a nursing home dietary aide, could be off work to take care of his father. He made sure his younger sister, Jamiya, got to school.
And he missed part of his senior basketball season due to the stem cell donation procedures, a three-month process that included giving himself injections into his stomach.
"I hate needles," he said, adding, "I'll just man up and do it myself."
The stress of the treatments, and all they entailed, manifested itself when he moved to Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., in 2018. Franklin suffered through an injury-plagued freshman season with the Fighting Irish that led to little playing time as a sophomore. He remained concerned about his father's health.
"Everything just kind of piled up on me and being 11 hours away from home, that's still in the front of my mind," Franklin said. "And then finally, you know, getting hurt, my mental health just started to kind of deteriorate."
After a bout with COVID-19 impacted his 2020 season at Notre Dame, Franklin knew he needed help. He released a statement saying he'd "lost control of my mental capacity" and he "needed to regain control of my life."
Franklin entered the NCAA transfer portal, received treatment from a sports psychologist, and landed closer to home at Duke.
When his mother's illness hit last spring, he was better prepared mentally, emotionally and physically. He kept Duke coach Mike Elko and the team's executive director of athletic medicine, Hap Zarzour, informed as he navigated not only his conditioning and school work, but his family situation.
"Unfortunately, but fortunately, being through it before," Franklin said, "I knew what to do and what not to do, as far as reaching out when I was feeling a certain kind of way and communicating my feelings and keeping Hap and coach Elko involved on where I was at mentally. It really all played into it."
'You look like an NFL defensive lineman'
This year, Franklin worked closely with David Feeley — who took over as Duke football's strength and conditioning coach when Elko was hired last December — to improve his body. Franklin added strength and cut 10-15 pounds, so he's now playing between 300 and 305 pounds.
After Duke's spring practice, Elko noticed Franklin's improved play, telling him, "You are 300 pounds and you're moving around, playing the way that I know you're capable of. You look like an NFL defensive lineman, but when you're heavier and you're not making the plays, you just look like any other other average guy."
Franklin appreciated that frank assessment from Elko, who was Notre Dame's defensive coordinator when Franklin committed to play for the Irish.
His mother's illness continued to weigh on him, though. The family set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses since James Franklin's illness had drained most of their resources.
Ja'Mion Franklin found a way to return home and maintain his improved conditioning. He also managed the stress better so as not to overwhelm him emotionally.
"When any kind of emotions or feelings started creeping in and pushing me back into that hole that I climbed out of, I knew that I needed to get some help," Ja'Mion Franklin said. "Being 22 and having all that experience now is definitely a lot different than when I was 17 dealing with everything."
'Day to day'
Duke's season started with a 30-0 win over Temple, and the defense pitched its first shutout against an FBS opponent since 1989. From that night forward, Ja'Mion Franklin has been one of the Blue Devils' starting defensive tackles, playing a major role in Duke's success.
"I knew he was talented from high school," Elko said. "I recruited him and signed him to Notre Dame. We always believed he was a talented player. I think we just kind of got back the best version of him."
James and Latoya Franklin long to see their son play in person. Through all their health concerns, they only got to see him play once in college, and that was when he played for Notre Dame and was injured in a game at Wake Forest.
The family is working on attending Duke's home game with Wake Forest on Nov. 26, the team's final home game, and senior night.
But there's no guarantee they can make it happen. After surgery to remove her tumors in July, Latoya Franklin started a six-week radiation regimen on Oct. 3.
"Me and Latoya are doing the best we can," James Franklin said. "It's been rough but we just live day to day, thanking the Lord that we are still here. We will, God willing, be at Ja'Mion's senior night with other family and can't wait to see him play in person."
©2022 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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CHOP's Medical Financial Partnership program offers free tax preparation and financial counseling services to families


Why are we still wasting money trying to change the weather?
We've cracked the code to program biology and there are so many better things we can do. We can read the four letter alphabet, and now we're in the early days of unpacking the operating systems. One team (below) has just reprogrammed skin cells to hunt down one particular type of brain cancer and found a way to get the cells to stick around long enough to deliver killer drug doses to the cancer cells. It's at proof of concept stage — we can extend the life of mice with this cancer by about 200%, but we haven't tried this in people. This may be years off, or not. Cancer is an information problem.
In one form or another this concept will change the world. Sooner or later we will figure out how to reprogram cells to seek out and destroy every last difficult-to-get cancer cell. No more mass collateral damage that kills healthy cells too. Then we'll teach the immune system to stay alert and keep picking off any recidivists. No more recurrences.
This is just the beginning of customized, individualized medicine. Early days.


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Home » Mets 2012 Games » Mets Game 58: Win Over Nationals
June 7, 2012	Mets 2012 Games Joe Janish
Mets Game 58: Win Over Nationals
Mets 3 Nationals 1
The staff stopper fulfills his role and salvages the final game of the series.
Mets Game Notes
R.A. Dickey was masterful. His knuckler was dancing all over the strike zone, and he changed speeds well. Dickey seems to be getting better and better with each outing. How much better can he get? It's pretty amazing to watch — it's as if we're watching history unfold before our eyes. I haven't felt like this about a Mets pitcher since David Cone went 20-3 in 1988.
Other than R.A., this game was fairly uneventful. The Mets hitters — other than Lucas Duda, David Wright, and Daniel Murphy — didn't do much against Chien-Ming Wang. There were a few defensive highlights (Kirk Nieuwenhuis made a great catch on a Steve Lombardozzi liner to end the third) and Frank Francisco ensured a nail-biting ninth, but it was otherwise a typical lazy weekday afternoon ballgame.
Glad to see Lucas Duda is back on track and showing both confidence and aggressiveness at the plate. He launched a moon shot in the 5th when Chien-Ming Wang threw the exact same pitch in the exact same spot twice in a row. Clearly neither Wang nor his catcher Jhonatan Solano noticed Duda biting his lip and his face expressing "damn it, I missed it" on the first pitch.
Daniel Murphy had two hits but one was a high and slow bouncer back to the mound that Wang couldn't handle. The other was better, a line drive into shallow right that drove in David Wright from third. That second was the first time in two weeks I've seen Murph keep both hands on the bat into the follow-through.
Ike Davis now seems to be consciously trying to hit the ball to left field. Is it too little, too late?
Next Mets Game
On Friday night at 7:05 p.m. the Mets begin a weekend subway series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. Johan Santana goes to the hill against Hiroki Kuroda.
Back Rounds 2-10: Stankiewicz, Reynolds, a Hawaiian, and College guys
Next Why Johan Santana's Arm is at Risk
Tags: lucas duda, nationals, RA Dickey
Quick Thoughts On Wild Card Night
Mets Game 162: Win Over Marlins
Mets Game 161: Loss to Marlins
gary s. June 8, 2012 at 9:58 am
With Bay DH'ing the next 6 games, the worst hitter in baseball (Davis) will probably stick around for another week.He simply cannot hit for any power when he commits early on every pitch on every AB,I just read a story in Sports Illustrated on Adam Dunn's lost 2011 year when he hit .160 for the entire year.Dunn has bounced back and put up his usual numbers this year.He was a much more established player before his lost year than Ike is.Hopefully Ike can return to what he was (?) by next year.Looks like a lost season so far.
DaveSchneck June 8, 2012 at 10:41 am
The was a very big win for Mets. Once again Dickey had to play the role of stopper, and he has played it near perfect in 2012. His story of salvaging his career with the knuckler is compelling, but the mastery and domination this season takes it to a whole other level.
Walnutz15 June 8, 2012 at 12:08 pm
RE: Ike
Why this hasn't been a MANDATE from his hitting instructor for the past month — past his initial struggles out of the gate — is beyond my comprehension.
Guess I'm just confused at what Hudgens has gotten into the business of accepting from one of his most important pupils/cogs in this lineup.
Ike's approach has been beyond miserable, and he's JUST STARTED taking the ball to the opposite field……something he does very well naturally, anyway.
This should have been something simple to implement, yet we're only STARTING to see it now.
Unacceptable. Both, from Ike – and from the coaching staff for allowing the bad AB's to continue. I'm sure he'd be letting the ball get deeper on him, provided it was a hard and fast mandate, rather than a soft-suggestion to "work through".
Bush.
Let's see what goes on this weekend in The Bronx, not only with Ike still looking to work out of it — but with Bay back in the lineup (maybe).
"That second was the first time in two weeks I've seen Murph keep both hands on the bat into the follow-through."
^ Agreed, as well.
His swing looks terrible; and more or less defines "punch and judy" right now. It's a "lace at", rather than "drive-through" —- and I hope he's not content with that.
I just think to how many Met fans love comparing him to "Wade Boggs". Yeah, this Daniel Murphy is Wade Boggs, alright………..40-year old Boggs.
I just can't get his swing out of my mind. It's like he's fighting with a sword, instead of putting some lumber to the ball.
wohjr June 8, 2012 at 3:31 pm
'nutz, agree…. he looks like a fencer out there.
I guess Terry is taking out RA because he's on short rest there in the 8th? He sure didn't want to come out and honestly I had no desire to see Frank Frank and the Conflagraitos…. those guys are getting shelled at Yankee Stadium or my name isn't Franklin Delano Romanowski. Hope Johan's got another no-no in him!


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_ > Life & Style > Sports > High School Sports Report > _ > Life & Style > Sports
Butler Girls at the Threshold of Becoming a Dynasty
Jaelynn Penn. Photo courtesy of Samantha Stallings.
It's not too often the word dynasty is mentioned in the same breath as sports teams. But when it does, it means players are in the process of accomplishing something special. When it comes to women's basketball, a dynasty hasn't been too far-fetched. In fact, the basketball world tagged the word dynasty to the Minnesota Lynx, led by Maya Moore, as she led her team to three championships in five years (2011, 2013, 2015).
Well, Butler High School girls' basketball team, being in the same company as the Lynx, haven't been shy about flirting with the idea of a dynasty in their locker room. In fact, it may be something they embrace.
"It is something that comes natural," says senior Tasia Jeffries. "It is hard enough to win one state championship, so when you have the chance to win three out of four years, I feel like that along with the success that we have had, it is natural to talk about a dynasty so to speak because of the success and everything we've had."
The defending state champions are on the brink of making history in the state of Kentucky. Coach Larry Just and Butler won the state title in the 2013-14 season and are looking to defend their 2015-16 title this year, which would give them three championships in four years.
No surprise, there's a lot of hype surrounding the Bearettes, and Coach Just knows that things like a preseason No. 21 ranking in America by USA Today High School Sports is something nice and honorable. But the play on the court is what matters at the end of the day.
"We think it's a great honor to have been recognized at the national level at this time. We also recognize a lot of that is based on last year and the summer these kids had," Just says. "What we have ahead of us is the main thing we have to take care of. If we continue to do things we are supposed to do, we hope at the end of the year, we can still be recognized at some point."
Butler has five seniors who have already committed to playing college at the next level. For a group of girls who have played together for a long time, having already won two championships, the only thing that could stop Butler this year may be themselves.
Of the season following the 2013-14 championship, Coach Just says his girls "didn't seem to handle our thoughts, minds or work ethic as much as we should have," as they fell short of defending their championship.
His current senior class were sophomores at the time, and Jeffries believes they've learned from the past and are anticipating what's to come in the future.
"I think a lot of it was inexperience," Jeffries adds. "The first time around, a lot of us were freshman and sophomores, so we didn't really know how to handle it. But now, I feel like we will be able to focus in more. We've all grown and we are all real mature now."
Leadership will be key, and Jaelynn Penn, who is considered the top candidate for Kentucky's Miss Basketball Award, will certainly be a go-to leader on the floor in terms of her play. This season, she expects the target on their backs to get bigger night in and night out.
"It is something I think most of us embrace as a team," she says. "Especially since most of us have been through it before, so we kind of have experience and we learned from that experience two years ago. I don't think it is something that scares us or puts any pressure on us – we just invite the competition."
Beyond the championships and being a dynasty in the making, it is the sisterhood that makes this Butler team so special. Their chemistry on the court is a reflection of the time they spend together outside the gym, the life lessons they learn from Coach Just and the key ingredient of having fun, all of which come together to be the recipe for success for this program.
So the defending champs will be a tough out this season. I'm no gambler, but I doubt anyone in Vegas would bet against this team. To Coach Just, he wants his team to have a high level of focus as they get ready for another championship campaign.
"For us, our whole focus has been trying to get ourselves ready for this year with the kids that we got," he says. "Just try to take care of ourselves and not worry about what else is out there. Not worrying about the expectations that are out there but taking care of our business and trying to get better." VT
Randy Whetstone Jr.
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50% OF PROFITS FROM EACH PINKY RING FUND FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS
Rachel Janfaza: A Personal Narrative On Heirloom Jewelry
by Rachel Janfaza
I remember the first time my great grandmother was really sick; I walked into her hospital room and tried as hard as I could not to cry. I was shocked by the breathing tubes the doctors had her hooked up to. Her vibrant glow, which had been a pillar of the first twelve years of my life, was clouded by exhaustion, and she was pale - as white as a ghost.
But, even then, my Grammy's golden heart necklace sat below the nape of her neck. It caught a glimmer of light and illuminated her whole face.
That necklace gave my family a sense of reassurance. Even though our Grammy was sick, she was still the same Grammy she always had been. The golden heart was a constant, sitting just above her actual heart. It remained perfectly symbolic for her tendency to love.
We all used to joke about our Grammy's vanity. No matter what, we knew she would have her blush pink lipstick on and her hair perfectly blow dried. That was until her health deteriorated, and then, the lipstick and blow dries came to a halt.
But my Grammy's commitment to her jewelry was different. This habit was more durable. She wore the heart shaped necklace on even her most uncomfortable days. That piece of jewelry was with her and remained on her until the very end.
Passing down jewelry is often romanticized, with good reason. Heirloom jewelry tells a story. Whether it's the heart necklace, or other pieces of jewelry my grandmother and mother have passed on to my sister and me, my family has a longstanding tradition of regifting meaningful pieces.
When my Grammy passed away, the heart was given to my mother. My mom doesn't wear it everyday like my Grammy did. But when my siblings and I look at that necklace, we think of all the Sunday afternoons spent in our Grammy's North Shore apartment, the Hershey kisses we could count on being on her coffee table, and the way she would always call before the start of a snow storm to make sure we were home and safe. Sometimes if I'm lucky, when I look at the necklace, I'm even able to hear her famous deep belly chuckle.
Jewelry doesn't have to be passed down after a death in order for it to be significant. The ability to see one's jewelry on their own granddaughter or daughter is extra-special. At least that's what my grandmother and mother tell me.
Most recently, for my 21st birthday, both my grandmother and mother gifted me their favorite watch. Much like my grandmother and mother, these timepieces are different.
But when I put on either of the watches, I time travel. I'm transported to an era before I was born. I replay various snip-its from my own imagination about stories they've shared from their earlier days. I've strung these scenes together like an old-school video tape.
The watch from my grandmother, whom I call "Nini," is more serious. It has a rectangular face, with sturdy gold plating. The band is a dark leather. This piece is strong. It elicits attention and commands respect, but subtly, without shouting in your face. In fact, it's just like my Nini.
On the other hand, the watch from my mother is more dainty, but just as elegant. It's a bracelet watch: gold all over, light, and far more petite than the leather timepiece. Its face is a small square shape and its analog digits are delicate too.
When I wear this piece, I feel like my mother circa 1992, when she was a recent college grad, hopeful about what surprises the next decade would bring.
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As a general rule, patients who rate most commonly 'Some of the time' or 'All of the time' categories are in need of a more detailed assessment. Referral information should be provided to these individuals. Patients who rate most commonly 'A little of the time' or 'None of the time' may also benefit from early intervention and promotional information to assist raising awareness of the conditions of depression and anxiety as well as strategies to prevent future mental health issues.
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel tired out for no good reason?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel nervous?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel so nervous that nothing could calm youdown?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel hopeless?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel restless or fidgety?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel so restless you could not sit still?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel depressed?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel that everything was an effort?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel so sad that nothing could cheer you up?
During the last 30 days, about how often did you feel worthless?


Falvey Memorial Library :: Foto Friday: Alumni weekend (minus one).
Foto Friday: Alumni weekend (minus one).
This past week the library staff mourned the loss of a long time co-worker and devoted Villanova University alumni. Rest in Peace, Jim Fox, we will never forget you.


Does my relationship need help?
Partnerships and marriage can provide us with the greatest happiness and satisfaction, but can also be a source of great anxiety and isolation when there are problems. Despite the presence of genuine love, day to day interactions can soon come to highlight unmet needs, frustration, and hurt feelings. Marriage is a demanding undertaking and all too many couples find themselves unprepared for the conflicts that can gradually and often subtly develop.
How can counselling or therapy help my relationship?
The essence of couple's therapy is to help you overcome conflicts and develop healthy behaviour in your relationship. At Fresh Mind Therapy we use a highly effective branch of psychotherapy called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The CBT approach to couples therapy works on the basis that both partners' individual beliefs and perceptions, both towards themselves and the relationship, start to dictate how they feel and behave towards each other. In your therapy sessions you will therefore learn to develop balanced beliefs that support yourselves, the relationship and your love for each other.
Every person goes into a relationship with certain expectations. While completely natural, this creates a certain dynamic which can lead to distorted perceptions of behaviour and result in unrealistic demands. Therapy helps you to identify and, if needs be, challenge these expectations for a more balanced and happy unity.
'Casual attribution' is another area in which couples often struggle. In other words, you blame each other for the problems of the relationship and refuse to take responsibilities for your issues. In therapy, we use a technique called the 'restricting process' which teaches you both to view your conflicts as mutual and to work conjointly to solve them.
In the initial session, the focus will be on observing how you function and interact as a couple. In addition to this, we may gather some background information regarding how and under what circumstances you met, whether or not you live together or are married, the number and ages of children from this and previous relationships, and a history of the presenting problems.
Therapy usually involves both parties in the relationship and can take place over a period of weeks or months. However, subsequent to the initial conjoint interview, a separate interview is conducted with each partner. This gives both of you a chance to express your feelings and concerns without fear of judgement or argument.
What's the role of my therapist?
The role of your therapist therefore is not to fix the issues for you, but to help you develop skills to resolve your issues together. Working on your marriage with therapy always takes a joint commitment from both partners and an understanding that it may take time.
What if I know I want to split from my partner or spouse?
In most cases, break-up can be avoided through addressing and working through your problems both together and with a couple's counsellor. However, if you expressly wish to separate, then couples counselling can help you achieve this in a balanced and supported way.
If you feel that your relationship or marriage needs help or you are considering breaking up from your spouse, get in contact with us now for support.


Negative Reaction - ZineWiki - the history and culture of zines, independent media and the small press.
Negative Response was a one off A5 sized zine produced in the UK by Adventures in Reality editor Alan Rider.
Negative Response contained satirical articles and cartoons on the local Coventry scene in the early 1980's.
This page was last modified on 9 September 2018, at 11:54.


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Trump may announce plans to run for president of the United States again in the summer July 6, 2022
Manchester United pretends on Watford goalkeeper June 22, 2022
Boris Johnson: Russian offensive in Ukraine may slow down due to lack of resources June 22, 2022
In the regions of the United States, expanded methods of the death penalty
The US Department of Justice has changed the rules for implementing the death penalty for criminals at the Federal level, CNN reports.
According to journalists, in states where this type of punishment is allowed, special injections are used. However, the authorities often face the fact that pharmaceutical companies refuse to provide drugs to the government, which is why it is necessary to use alternative methods of execution in some regions that are not prescribed in the legislation.
The changes will allow the authorities to expand how death sentences are imposed. Therefore, the injection will add a firing squad, a gas chamber, or an electric chair. These changes are expected to take effect on December 24.
In June, the United States resumed the death penalty at the Federal level for the first time since 2003. Then it was reported about the punishment of four criminals who were found guilty of killing children; two of them were also found guilty of rape victims.
The channel estimates that 54 people are on Federal death row.


By 2020, it is expected that 65% of all Christians will live in the Global South, according to The Center for the Study of Global Christianity.
Christianity is growing rapidly throughout the Majority World but there is a shortage of high-quality educational resources in theological colleges and seminaries. Without these resources, schools struggle to train the next generation of church leaders.
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"Soft Rain Saturday Morning"
On Saturday morning, March 28, 2020, I went out to get the mail (for the first time in several days) and saw large puddles everywhere. I had not heard the hard rain in the night, and now it was a very soft rain. I also noticed that mourning doves and song birds and cardinals and blue jays and crows were out in full chorus. It was as if spring had awakened, but I had not noticed until then. The calling birds and the soft rain immediately brought to mind Sara Teasdale's poem from 1918, "There Will Come Soft Rains." This video was also used to "kick start" Poetry Month (April) and a poetry unit in some of our literature classes. On the day it was posted, the on-line lesson plan in British Lit included Robert Burn's "To a Mouse," alluded to in the second half.
Teasdale's poem later inspired Ray Bradbury's classic sci-fi short story by the same name (1950), Both works serve as warnings that man's own actions will lead to his end, while non-human life will go one. (It's a premise for other fiction such as the Planet of the Apes franchise.) I contend, however, that whether by war or by virus, if the world as we know it is no longer inhabited by man, it will not be left to animals. God's plan for a new earth will not be altered from the metanarrative outlined in the Bible (creation, fall, redemption, restoration).
In Act III of Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, Emily comes out of her "flashback" and asks the Stage Manager this question: "EMILY: "Does anyone ever realize life while they live it...every, every minute?" STAGE MANAGER: "No. Saints and poets maybe...they do some." Teasdale was a gifted poet, but her beautifully written lines reflect underscore a juxtaposition between "saints and poets" (maybe). That is to say, Teasdale's warning to her fellow man during the First World War makes the Darwinian assumption of "Nature's" protection of "fittest animals" while scripture tells "saints" quite the opposite about their Creator's attention and affection for man "made in His image. In Luke 12:6 and Matthew 6: 28, Jesus tells us clearly that while our Heavenly Father indeed takes care of birds who neither sow nor reap nor build barns, etc. that care is nothing compared to how He will take care of his children. These are the passages that inspired the old gospel song: "His Eye Is On the Sparrow." In the video, I also allude to Robert Burn's poem "To a Mouse" (1785) which reflects an understanding of of the Genisis mandate establishing man's dominion (Genisis 1:26 and 28) over the very creatures and trees that Teasdale imagines surviving after man is gone. It is the responsibility of that "dominion" that distinguishes the difference between the kind of cares that man has compared to the animal kingdom. Instinctive nesting, breeding, feeding, migration, etc. in the "Circle of Life" as the song says, is a marvel indeed, but it is quite different from the burdens of civilizations and the complexity of human coexistance. Man is prone to cares from our past and dread of future unknowns--especially when "the best laid plans of mice and men" do not pan out. (Or when viruses spread or travel plans halt or stock markets tumble or lay-offs loom large.)
It is for this reason that Christians take comfort in being able to "cast all our cares on Him" and songs like "His Eye Is On the Sparrow," which comes from Luke 12:6 and Matthew 6: 28. Keep that in mind as you watch the following:
Don't you love the freeze-frames that YouTube selects. So flattering...
The song "His Eye Is On the Sparrow" comes from Luke 12:6 and Matthew 6: 28. That well-known gospel song was written by Civillia D. Martin in 1905, thirteen years BEFORE Teasdale wrote her poem, and provides an encouraging contrast to "There Will Come Soft Rains."
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Days in the Country, Nights on the Town
Suzanne Winckler
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/days-in-the-country-nights-on-the-town/
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