Career advice given to SBS students during Google office tour | The ...

Ally Thibault ?Asst. Managing Editor

Joey Johnson ?Journal Staff

Office space designed to look like a beach, state-of-the-art napping beds, and Xbox gaming centers were just some of the whimsical sights students saw at Google?s Cambridge office on a tour coordinated by Suffolk?s International Business Club.

Google has existed in Boston since 2004, when it began as only six programmers in a hotel room. It has since expanded to multiple buildings in Kendall Square and with construction continuing today, Google employee Alex Daniels joked: ?We?re trying to build a compound, so you?d never have to leave.?

After the tour of the building, four Google employees in sales that have recently graduated college held a panel discussion to give business students insights into transitioning from school to work, and the perks of being a Googler.

Daniels, a Duke University graduate who previously interned at Senator Bob Menendez?s office and financial giant UBS, told students that although he has only worked at Google for a year and four months, he has already been there longer than 49 percent of the staff.

?The majority of employees at Google only stay two years because [the company] hires people with higher aspirations,? said Melanie Roth, who attended the University of Pennsylvania majoring in cognitive science and linguistics before coming to Google.

Daniels and Roth?s majors in college and further career interests aren?t similar to what one might associate with an employee for a behemoth tech company, but their stories are testaments to the diversity and uniqueness of Google.

Natalya Bohm, another one of the panelists, majored in political science and art history at school but is now in sales at Google. While she is still interested in these topics, she felt they would not be good career choices for her. When searching for a job, Bohm suggests students find what they want to be doing day to day. ?You?ll be doing it for eight to nine hours a day,? she said.

Daniel Rojas, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in marketing and global business, spoke about the different clubs and development conferences Google gives its employees the option to join.

?It?s all about being passionate about something,? Rojas said, ?It doesn?t matter what it is, honestly.? As a fluent Spanish speaker from Venezuela, Rojas said he would be participating in an upcoming diversity conference in San Francisco that Google is sending him to.

Roth also urged students to work at a job they enjoyed and not settle for a job they hated, warning that ?if you stay complacent somewhere for too long, you be stuck there.?

Daniels encouraged students to prioritize their tasks and goals for a career. Without school and a mandatory course track, he told students to be their own motivator. ?You have to have a direction in mind?even though nothing?s pushing you that way anymore.?

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Source: http://suffolkjournal.net/2013/02/career-advice-given-to-sbs-students-during-google-office-tour/

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Cuts imminent, Senate rejects stopgap efforts

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pauses while meeting with reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, to answer questions about the impending automatic spending cuts that take effect March 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pauses while meeting with reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, to answer questions about the impending automatic spending cuts that take effect March 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Chart shows U.S. federal budget breakdown

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., right, accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., faces reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, to talk about the impending automatic spending cuts that take effect March 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - In a Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 file photo, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and GOP leaders meet with reporters to challenge President Obama and the Senate to avoid the automatic spending cuts set to take effect in four days, on Capitol Hill in Washington. As economic policy goes, experts say, the automatic spending cuts that kick in Friday, March 1, are a bad idea. From left to right are Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., joined by House Democratic women, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, to talk about the impending automatic spending cuts that take effect March 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Squabbling away the hours, the Senate swatted aside last-ditch plans to block $85 billion in broad-based federal spending reductions Thursday as President Barack Obama and Republicans blamed each other for the latest outbreak of gridlock and the administration readied plans to put the cuts into effect.

So entrenched were the two parties that the Senate chaplain, Barry Black, opened the day's session with a prayer that beseeched a higher power to intervene.

"Rise up, O God, and save us from ourselves," he said of cuts due to take effect sometime on Friday.

The immediate impact of the reductions on the public was uncertain, and the administration pulled back on its earlier warnings of long lines developing quickly at airports and teacher layoffs affecting classrooms.

On the Senate floor, a Republican proposal requiring Obama to propose alternative cuts that would cause less disruption in essential government services fell to overwhelming Democratic opposition, 62-38.

Moments later, a Democratic alternative to spread the cuts over a decade and replace half with higher taxes on millionaires and corporations won a bare majority, 51-49, but that was well shy of the 60 needed to advance. Republicans opposed it without exception.

In a written statement after the votes, Obama lambasted Republicans. "They voted to let the entire burden of deficit reduction fall squarely on the middle class," he said.

He noted that he would meet with congressional leaders from both parties at the White House on Friday, but no one is expecting action before the cuts begin taking effect. Obama said, 'We can build on the over $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction we've already achieved, but doing so will require Republicans to compromise. That's how our democracy works, and that's what the American people deserve."

Said House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress: "Obama and Senate Democrats are demanding more tax hikes to fuel more 'stimulus' spending."

Though furloughs are a fear for some, especially certain federal workers, there is little sign of business worry, let alone panic in the nation. Stocks declined slightly for the day after trading near record highs. And unlike the "fiscal cliff" showdown of two months ago, there are no deadlines for action to prevent tax increases from hitting nearly every American.

Still, there was talk of crisis.

"We have the opportunity to avoid the kind of calamity and disaster that is being threatened and is completely unnecessary," said Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who co-authored the Republican proposal.

"The question is, are we going to achieve these savings through badly designed spending cuts that make no attempt whatever to distinguish between more sensible government spending and less sensible spending?"

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said that was precisely what Democrats had tried to do by proposing the deferral of Pentagon cuts until U.S. combat troops have come home from Afghanistan in two years' time.

At the same time, she said the Democrats had reasonably proposed replacing half of the pending cuts with higher taxes on "the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations."

In fact, the Democratic measure also included small increases for a variety of small programs such as biodiesel education, assistance for biomass crops and certification of organic foods.

Boehner and House Republicans show no hurry to alter the cuts, contending they provide leverage with Obama in their demand for savings from government benefit programs. Yet they are expected to launch legislation next week to replenish government coffers after current funding expires on March 27, and that measure could become a magnet for new attempts to change Friday's "sequester."

Already, some Republicans held out hope the current struggle might lead to talks on completing work on the final piece of a deficit reduction package that has been more than two agonizing years in the making.

"The objective here ought to be not just to deal with sequester but to deal with the underlying spending problems, which require tax reform" as well as reform of benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

Democratic senators emerged from a lunch with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and top Pentagon officials and said the current cuts could not be allowed to stand.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Pa., said the session had confirmed to him that as currently constituted, the cuts were 'a really, really dumb idea."

In a cycle of crisis followed by compromise over the past two years, Obama and congressional Republicans have agreed to more than $3.6 trillion in long-term deficit savings over a decade.

None of the savings to date has come from the big benefit programs that lawmakers in both parties say must be tackled if the country is to gain control over its finances. Each party fears the political fallout of confronting them on their own, but Democrats, in particular, are reluctant to scale back programs that they count as their political birthright.

Their rival speeches on the Senate floor weren't the first time that Toomey and Murray disagreed on economic issues.

Both served on a so-called congressional Supercommittee in 2011 that was charged with producing at least $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade.

The panel deadlocked, automatically triggering the across-the-board cuts that now are imminent.

As constituted, the cuts would total $85 billion through the end of the current budget year ? Sept. 30 ? half each from defense and non-defense programs. Large parts of the budget are off-limits, including programs for veterans, Social Security and Medicare benefits.

The Republican alternative would have required Obama to propose an alternative that relied exclusively on spending cuts, ruled out tax increases and limited what he could take from Pentagon accounts.

The Democratic measure would have canceled the $85 billion in cuts, and replaced them with a combination of tax increases and cuts to defense and farm programs that would phase in over a decade. Deficits would have risen by more $42 billion in the first year and $38 billion over the two following years before gradually beginning to decline.

While the White House has issued a steady stream of severe warnings about the impact of across-the-board cuts, the president said Wednesday night, "This is not a cliff, but it is a tumble downward. It's conceivable that in the first week, the first two weeks, the first three weeks, the first month ... a lot of people may not notice the full impact of the sequester."

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn, Laurie Kellman and Donna Cassata contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-28-US-Budget-Battle/id-85275eb5d35e4bc2b3418c6282f8d83e

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Is the South Still Racist?

The Supreme Court heard a case on Wednesday on whether the Voting Rights Act has outlived its purpose.

Photo by Matt Sullivan/Reuters

If you?re trying to cure an illness, and you get better, but not entirely?say you had a high fever, but now you have the sniffles and a sore throat?does it make sense to keep taking the same medicine? What if your doctor insists?

Justice Stephen Breyer offered the disease analogy Wednesday morning for racist efforts to block the power of black and Hispanic voters in the South during a sharply polarized argument?5 to 4, conservatives v. liberals?over whether Shelby County, Ala., has taken enough medicine from Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Congress first enacted the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to deal with massive and violent suppression of black voters in the South. The problem was so entrenched that when federal courts would strike down a discriminatory measure like a poll tax, Southern states and counties would quickly dance around the ruling, enacting new barriers such as a literacy test. So Congress armed the Voting Rights Act in two ways. The first, Section 2, bans any voting practice that discriminates on the basis of race or ethnicity. It applies uniformly, throughout the country, and it has no expiration date. To enforce it, the government, or a group or person affected by the law, has to sue?and has the burden of proof. The second part of the Voting Rights Act, Section 5, relied on data showing a pattern of discrimination at the time to create a category of ?covered jurisdictions.? Congress said that for 25 years the Department of Justice had to ?pre-clear? any changes to voting rules in those places, or else the state or county had to go to court for approval before the changes could go into effect. The list of covered jurisdictions included most of the South, along with a smattering of counties and cities in other states.

The list of jurisdictions where Section 5 applied remained the same when Congress last reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006. But some of those states say they no longer belong?they?re cured, and that means it?s time for the whole Section 5 formula to go. That?s the question the court was grappling with on Wednesday: In 2006, given the history and the current evidence, did Congress have enough reason to think that the South still suffered from Racist Voting Disease? What?s the test?does every single state, city, and county covered by Section 5 have to be worse than every single state, city, and county in the rest of the country? And what kinds of symptoms qualify for Section 5 medicine?low turnout or registration rates, proof of the old forms of blatant discrimination, or more subtle measures, like moving a polling place out of a minority neighborhood?

Shelby County?s lawyer, Bert W. Rein, says Section 5 is over and done. Quoting the court?s last ruling on the matter from 2009, he opened by saying that the record before Congress the last time around ?made it unmistakable that the South had changed.? Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the first to pounce. She said she accepted that some portions of the South had changed, ?but your county hasn?t.? She cited 240 discriminatory voting measures recently blocked by Section 5 and Section 2 challenges. ?You may be the wrong party bringing this suit,? Sotomayor continued, calling Shelby County the ?epitome? of the reason for keeping Section 5 in place.

Justice Elena Kagan jumped in with more stats. One-quarter of Alabama?s voters are black, she pointed out, but no black official holds statewide office. The state is No. 1 on the list for Section 2 challenges and No. 2 for Section 5 enforcement actions, she said. In other words, Congress had plenty of evidence last time around of its continuing trouble fully enfranchising minority voters. ?You?re objecting to the formula, but under any formula Congress could devise, it would capture Alabama,? she said.

To Rein, that?s irrelevant because Congress didn?t put Shelby County on the list because of its specific history. And he seemed to have five justices on his side. For Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Ginsburg?the court?s liberal wing?it was enough that Congress gathered thousands of pages of evidence about what some of them called ?second generation? voting problems: switcheroos of polling places or polling hours, or changes to early voting that disproportionately affected minorities. (Racially polarized voting patterns are also a distinctive problem in the South, but the justices didn?t delve into that on Wednesday.) But for the court?s five conservatives?and swing voter Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to place himself squarely in this group?it seemed clearly suspect for Congress to reauthorize Section 5 in 2006 along the same geographic lines that it first passed the law 41 years earlier.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=f142a3a7ec116e4d257e0e056dd1cae4

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Who Is Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift?s Latest (Boy) Friend?

Has Taylor Swift moved from one British heartthrob to another? It hasn't been that long since she and Harry Styles broke up, but 23-year-old Swift has reportedly already spent the night with another man.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/who-ed-sheeran-taylor-swift-s-boyfriend/1-a-524589?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Awho-ed-sheeran-taylor-swift-s-boyfriend-524589

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Circumnavigating Life's Detours | World of Psychology

?A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.?
~ Anonymous

The one thing about life that is certain is its unpredictability. Nothing stays the same forever. Every day we are bombarded with new stimuli, new challenges and new events.

For some of us, unpredictability creates a state of panic; it keeps us up at night and distracts us from enjoying the world around us. People like being in control of their social world and vulnerability is seen as a sign of weakness.

Uncertainty is so abhorred that Berger and Calabrese (1975) proposed the uncertainty reduction theory. The theory asserts that the anxiety created by uncertainty of the social world motivates people to reduce and avoid uncertainty.

So how can we better navigate around life?s inevitable detours?

Most of us are taught the importance of planning, being highly structured and organized. We have at our disposal copious technological devices designed to ensure that we stay on the right track within the right time frame. While spontaneity remains the spice of life, we relish existing within the confines of predictability (a safe and comfortable environment). Life, however, takes its own twists and turns, and for good reason. If it did not, we would quickly get bored.

I once encountered a woman suffering from severe depression. In her early 30s, she stated that her life is nothing like she imagined it would be. She revealed all her expected dreams and aspirations in a wonderfully detailed timeline. However, she despaired over all the obstacles, setbacks and wrong turns she had taken that have ?prevented? her from achieving her dreams.

I asked her ?if you were driving to town, and there was a roadblock, what would you do? Would you stay at the roadblock until the road was repaired, then proceed to drive to your destination?? With a confused expression she vehemently stated that she would have done the most sensible thing: ?Find another route.?

It is easy to become discouraged when things do not go according to plan. We all want things to turn out perfectly. But, just as we won?t sit by a roadblock waiting for the road to open, we should not sit at life?s roadblocks and despair about how difficult or unfair life is. There is always more than one way to get from point A to point B.

Erikson speaks about this in the last stage of his psychosocial theory of development. When we look back at our life, how are we going to see it? We have two options: We can anguish over all the obstacles and roadblocks that came our way, or we can enjoy the scenery of different routes, take pictures along the way, meet new people, develop new skills and practice acceptance.

How can we challenge ourselves to enjoy the scenery of a detour?

1. Be flexible.Make plans but do not ever cast them in stone. Leave room for life?s curveballs. From an evolutionary perspective we are designed to be able to adapt. Use this to your full advantage.
2. Increase coping skills.Consciously engage in activities that increase your ability to cope with uncertainty, e.g. finding humor in situations.
3. Determine the controllable vs. uncontrollable events.Do not ruminate on events that are beyond your control. Focus instead on the events in your life that you can control and practice acceptance of those that you cannot.
4. Meditate. The positive benefits of meditation cannot be overestimated. Meditation can create a state of calm and equanimity, decreasing your chances of experiencing panic in response to a detour.

Reference

Berger, C.R. & Calabrese, R.J. (1975). Some explorations in initial interaction and beyond: Toward a developmental theory of interpersonal communication. Human Communication Research, 1, 99-112.

Alina Williams works as a clinical psychologist in Trinidad and Tobago. She is also employed as a senior lecturer in psychology at the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts. She is an avid reader of memoirs and biographies that relate to mental illnesses. She has a keen interest in understanding cognitive processes in human behavior.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by Alina Williams, M.Sc. (or subscribe to their feed).

????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 25 Feb 2013
????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Williams, A. (2013). Circumnavigating Life?s Detours. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 28, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/02/26/circumnavigating-lifes-detours/

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/02/26/circumnavigating-lifes-detours/

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Inside ?Cook Taste Eat,? The Startup From Celebrity Chef Michael Mina That Wants To Be The Web?s Foodie Destination

Celebrity chef Michael Mina has certainly conquered the world of haute cuisine. Through his Mina Group, he operates more than a dozen award-winning high end restaurants around the world, with his namesake eateries in San Francisco and Las Vegas regularly earning Michelin stars. But now he is setting out to conquer a different realm: The web. Along with his co-founder business partner Tanya Melillo, Mina has launched a startup called Cook Taste Eat that aims to be the online destination for all things food, ingredients, and recipes.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CZYntnWcbME/

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Russia piles pressure on opposition leader with new accusation

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian investigators said on Wednesday a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin had gained his qualifications as a lawyer illegally, piling more pressure on the opposition leader who already faces three criminal investigations.

Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger, was a leader of a street protest movement against Putin's 13-year rule that started after mass allegations of fraud in a parliamentary election in December 2011.

But the protests have withered and made no significant inroads into the president's grip on power.

Russia's federal Investigative Committee, which answers only to Putin, has launched criminal charges against several leaders of the street protests. Putin's critics accuse the president of cracking down on dissent since his return to the Kremlin last May.

The committee said on Wednesday that Navalny had in the past provided fraudulent paperwork to confirm the work experience he had needed to become qualified as a lawyer.

"An investigation revealed the fact that Alexei Navalny illegally obtained his lawyer's status," said spokesman Vladimir Markin.

Navalny, who worked as a commercial lawyer before taking up political activism, said there were no grounds to strip him of his legal credentials.

The 36-year-old has already been charged with stealing timber worth more than $500,000 from a state company in 2009; embezzling up to $3.24 million from a political party in 2007; and, along with his brother, cheating a mail-transport company out of $1.79 million.

He has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the charges against him as politically motivated.

Navalny and other opposition figures say Putin has used the justice system to persecute his adversaries and the parliament to adopt laws aimed at stifling the opposition movement.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-piles-pressure-opposition-leader-accusation-110436284.html

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Black holes in galaxies rotate fast, study finds

This image released by Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, shows a supermassive black hole in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1365. A study published Thursday in the journal Nature calculated the spin rate of the black hole and found it?s rotating close to the speed of light. (AP Photo/Guido Risaliti, Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory)

This image released by Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, shows a supermassive black hole in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1365. A study published Thursday in the journal Nature calculated the spin rate of the black hole and found it?s rotating close to the speed of light. (AP Photo/Guido Risaliti, Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory)

This illustration released by NASA, shows a supermassive black hole in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1365. A study published Thursday in the journal Nature calculated the spin rate of the black hole and found it?s rotating close to the speed of light. (AP Photo/NASA)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? There's a new spin on supermassive black holes: They're incredibly fast, astronomers say.

It's long been suspected that gigantic black holes lurking in the heart of galaxies rotate faster and grow larger as they feast on gas, dust, stars and matter. But there hasn't been a reliable measurement of the spin rate of a black hole until now.

While black holes are difficult to detect, the region around them gives off telltale X-rays. Using NASA's newly launched NuStar telescope and the European Space Agency's workhorse XMM-Newton, an international team observed high-energy X-rays released by a supermassive black hole in the middle of a nearby galaxy.

They calculated its spin at close to the speed of light ? 670 million mph.

This is the first "unambiguous measurement of the spin rate" of a supermassive black hole, University of Maryland astronomer Christopher Reynolds, who had no role in the research, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Behemoth black holes ? with masses millions to billions times that of the sun ? are thought to reside in every galactic center. They're extremely dense and possess such powerful gravitational tug that not even light can escape.

Scientists are able to pinpoint these monstrous objects from the streams of X-rays emitted during a feeding frenzy. Knowing how fast ? or slow ? supermassive black holes swirl can help shed light on their growth.

For several days last summer, the two telescopes simultaneously tracked an immense black hole in a spiral galaxy called NGC 1365. The galaxy was chosen because it was 60 million light years away ? relatively close by astronomical standards.

Results were published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

So how fast is the black hole at the center of our Milky Way spinning?

It's tough to know because our galaxy's supermassive black hole isn't as active as the observed one, said lead researcher Guido Risaliti of Italy's Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory.

Aside from occasional flares, hardly any radiation flows from our black hole, making it difficult to calculate its spin, Risaliti said.

Maryland's Reynolds said it's clear that some supermassive black holes rotate very rapidly and there's a need for more powerful X-ray space telescopes.

"We are learning about some of the most exotic and powerful objects in the universe," he said in an email. "This is cool science."

___

Online:

Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature

___

Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-02-27-Black%20Holes/id-ef790da15dca4a969b8ccace28f3471a

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NTT DoCoMo confirms successful 10Gbps wireless test, clears a path to 5G

No, it's not the world's most conspicuous surveillance van -- it's one of the first steps toward 5G data. NTT DoCoMo has just confirmed that the gear-laden vehicle above successfully conducted a 10Gbps wireless test in Ishigaki this December with the help of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The dry run relied on frequencies and bandwidth well outside of usual cellular service, in the 11GHz band with 400MHz of spectrum, but proved that it was possible to blow past the speeds of LTE and LTE-Advanced while moving outdoors; the test used 24 antennas to maintain the link. DoCoMo ultimately hopes for similar speed in frequencies over 5GHz, and it's not shy about hoping the technology will define mobile communication as it improves. Although we're not expecting this kind of breakneck performance in a phone for years, it's good to know that 4G isn't necessarily the end of the line.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking, Mobile

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Source: NTT DoCoMo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/ntt-docomo-confirms-successful-10gbps-wireless-test/

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Alarm Clock Gun: Vent Your Anger at Being Awake

If knowing you're going to wake up on time for work helps you sleep better, then slap two rounds of AAA batteries in this pistol-shaped alarm clock and stash it under your pillow. When it's time to wake from your slumber it gently vibrates you back to reality, and a built-in projector lets you pull off amazing quickdraw time checks all night long. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6KHd8KtK-0E/alarm-clock-gun-vent-your-anger-at-being-awake

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Coalition files legal action over WA charter law - Northwest - The ...

By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP | Associated Press ? Published February 27, 2013 Modified February 27, 2013

SEATTLE ? A coalition of educators and community groups on Wednesday filed a legal challenge with the state attorney general, questioning the constitutionality of Washington's new charter schools law.

The three-page "legal demand" asks Attorney General Bob Ferguson to investigate seven constitutional issues with the law approved by voters in November.

The coalition - led by the Washington Education Association, the League of Women Voters and El Centro del la Raza - says if the attorney general doesn't take action, they will file a lawsuit in state courts. Their issues range from the way the law would divert money from public schools to private non-profit organizations to a perceived violation of the requirement that the superintendent of public instruction should supervise everything related to public schools.

They question the way levy dollars could be converted to a new purpose without consulting voters if a regular public school is converted to a charter school, as is allowed under the new law.

The group, which includes the state's largest teachers' union, doesn't like a provision of the new law that restricts collective bargaining units of charter school employees to the school in which they work.

"The Charter School Act is an unconstitutional law that impedes the state's progress toward fully funding public education and places even greater pressure on school districts to fill this gap," their letter said.

The attorney general's office did not immediately reply to a phone call requesting comment.

Washington became the 42nd state to OK the independent public schools in November. Voters authorized the opening of up to 40 charter schools over five years. The new law sets up a Charter School Commission to authorize groups to open charter schools and puts the State Board of Education in charge of approving applications by local school districts that also want to authorize charter schools.

Source: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/02/27/2440236/coalition-files-legal-action-over.html

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Kerry urges Syrian opposition to attend Rome talks

BERLIN (AP) ? Skeptical Syrian opposition leaders agreed Monday to attend an international conference in Rome after first threatening to boycott the session that was to be the centerpiece of Secretary of State John Kerry's his first overseas mission in his new job.

Opposition leaders had protested what they see as inaction by other nations in the face of violence from Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Kerry not only made a public plea at a joint news conference Monday with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, he also called Moaz Khatib, leader of the Syrian Opposition Council, "to encourage him to come to Rome," a senior U.S. official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, described the conversation as "good" but declined to offer more detail.

Spokesman Walid al-Bunni said the council had decided to send a delegation to Rome after all.

Al-Bunni told Al-Arabiya TV the decision was made based on guarantees al-Khatib heard from western diplomats that the conference would be different and that the opposition would receive real commitments this time. "We will go and we will see if the promises are different this time," he said.

After speaking with Khatib, Kerry flew to Berlin from London, the first stop of his first trip as secretary of state ? a hectic nine-country dash through Europe and the Middle East.

Kerry had also dispatched his top Syrian envoy to Cairo in hopes of convincing opposition leaders that their participation is critical to addressing questions from potential donors and securing additional aid from the United States and Europe.

"We are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind, wondering where the support is, if it is coming," Kerry told reporters in London after meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron and Hague. "We are not going to let the Syrian opposition not have its ability to have its voice properly heard in this process."

For his part, Hague said the violence in Syria, especially recent scud missile attacks on the city of Aleppo, was unacceptable and that the west's current position could not be sustained while an "appalling injustice" is being done to Syrian citizens.

"In the face of such murder and threat of instability, our policy cannot stay static as the weeks go by," Hague told reporters, standing beside Kerry. "We must significantly increase support for the Syrian opposition. We are preparing to do just that."

Kerry agreed.

"We are not coming to Rome simply to talk, we are coming to Rome to talk about next steps," Kerry said, adding that he was sympathetic to opposition complaints that they were not getting the support they need to defend themselves against the Assad regime or oust him from power.

"I am very sensitive to that frustration," recalling that as a U.S. senator he was one of several who pushed the administration to consider military aid to the Syrian opposition.

"But I am the new secretary of state ... and the president of the United States has sent me here and sent me to this series of meetings and in Rome because he is concerned about the course of events.

"This moment is ripe for us to be considering what more we can do," he said, adding that if the opposition wants results, "join us" in Rome.

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday the Assad regime was ready to hold talks with opposition leaders, the first time that a high-ranking Syrian official has stated publicly that the government would meet with the opposition. Al-Moallem made his comments after meeting in Moscow with Russian officials.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Moallem's remarks appeared positive but expressed caution about the seriousness of the offer.

"I don't know their motivations, other than to say they continue to rain down horrific attacks on their own people," Ventrell told reporters. "So that speaks pretty loudly and clearly."

If the Assad regime is serious, he said, it should inform the U.N. peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi of its readiness for talks. Ventrell said the Assad regime hasn't yet done that.

Obama administration officials have debated whether the U.S. should arm the rebels, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey having said they urged such a course of action. The White House has been unwilling to do so for fears the weapons could end up in the wrong hands. Currently, the U.S. provides only non-lethal support and humanitarian aid.

The United Nations says at least 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's 2-year civil war, which began as an uprising against Assad's regime.

Kerry said the Syrian people "deserve better" than the violence currently gripping their country as he stood alongside Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague.

___

Associated Press writers Cassandra Vinograd in London and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-urges-syrian-opposition-attend-rome-talks-144755191--politics.html

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Mount Diablo Unified Community Advisory Committee on Special ...

By Marianne from TheCoffeeKlatch

Ten Tips For Special Education Advocates

Remember, your goal is to assist parents in achieving an appropriate education for their child.

1. Good advocates facilitate the IEP process.

Advocates must set an example for the entire IEP Team. They must be a role model of behavior for the parent. Challenging school experts, demeaning school staff, or being inconsiderate or impolite, will not advance the child?s cause. Your goal is to get better school services for the child. Good advocates ask questions and make valuable suggestions to advocate for a child. It is okay to disagree. It is not okay to put down or verbally attack someone.

2. Good advocates know the child and understand the disability.

Do your homework before you attempt to advocate for the child. Research the child?s disability. Be ready with ideas about instructional methods that are research-based and peer-reviewed. Meet the child and the family in the home environment. Put off making recommendations until you fully understand how the child?s disability affects his or her life and education.

3. Good advocates try to reduce existing barriers between the parent and the school.

Your goal is to bring the school and the parent closer to agreement. Good advocates explain to parents that negotiation is part of the IEP Team process ? and a part of life! Pouring gasoline on a fire ensures that everyone gets burned and does not improve the child?s lot.

Read more HERE.

Source: http://mtdiablosped.blogspot.com/2013/02/tips-for-iep-idea-and-504-via-wrights.html

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Higher levels of several toxic metals found in children with autism

Feb. 25, 2013 ? In a recently published study in the journal Biological Trace Element Research, Arizona State University researchers report that children with autism had higher levels of several toxic metals in their blood and urine compared to typical children. The study involved 55 children with autism ages 5-16 years compared to 44 controls of similar age and gender.

The autism group had significantly higher levels of lead in their red blood cells (+41 percent) and significantly higher urinary levels of lead (+74 percent), thallium (+77 percent), tin (+115 percent), and tungsten (+44 percent). Lead, thallium, tin, and tungsten are toxic metals that can impair brain development and function, and also interfere with the normal functioning of other body organs and systems.

A statistical analysis was conducted to determine if the levels of toxic metals were associated with autism severity, using three different scales of autism severity. It was found that 38-47 percent of the variation of autism severity was associated with the level of several toxic metals, with cadmium and mercury being the most strongly associated.

In the paper about the study, the authors state "We hypothesize that reducing early exposure to toxic metals may help ameliorate symptoms of autism, and treatment to remove toxic metals may reduce symptoms of autism; these hypotheses need further exploration, as there is a growing body of research to support it."

The study was led by James Adams, a President's Professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He directs the ASU Autism/Asperger's Research Program.

Adams previously published a study on the use of DMSA, an FDA-approved medication for removing toxic metals. The open-label study found that DMSA was generally safe and effective at removing some toxic metals. It also found that DMSA therapy improved some symptoms of autism. The biggest improvement was for children with the highest levels of toxic metals in their urine.

Overall, children with autism have higher average levels of several toxic metals, and levels of several toxic metals are strongly associated with variations in the severity of autism for all three of the autism severity scales investigated.

The study was funded by the Autism Research Institute and the Legacy Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Arizona State University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. James B. Adams, Tapan Audhya, Sharon McDonough-Means, Robert A. Rubin, David Quig, Elizabeth Geis, Eva Gehn, Melissa Loresto, Jessica Mitchell, Sharon Atwood, Suzanne Barnhouse, Wondra Lee. Toxicological Status of Children with Autism vs. Neurotypical Children and the Association with Autism Severity. Biological Trace Element Research, 2012; 151 (2): 171 DOI: 10.1007/s12011-012-9551-1

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/N71YjoJQ-TM/130225162231.htm

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Holography helps firefighters see through flames

John Roach , NBC News ? ? ? 11 hrs.

Firefighters may soon be able to see through flames and find people trapped in burning buildings, according to details of a new holographic imaging technique described Tuesday.

Some fire departments already use infrared cameras to see through smoke, but these cameras use zoom lenses to collect and focus light. The intense infrared radiation emitted by flames can overwhelm the camera sensors and limit their use, the researchers explain.

The new technique developed by Pietro Ferraro at the National Institute of Optics in Italy and his colleagues makes use of a lens-free digital holography technology in the infrared range.

Holography is a means of producing 3-D images of an object using two beams of light: an object beam and a reference beam. The object beam is shone onto the object being imaged. The reflected light is combined with the reference beam to create a pattern that encodes a 3-D image.

In the new technique described in the journal Optics Express, a beam of infrared laser light is widely dispersed throughout a smoke-and-flame-filled room. A holographic imager records the reflected light and decodes it to reveal what lies behind the inferno.

"The result is a live, 3-D movie of the room and its contents," the Optical Society, which publishes the journal, notes in a news release. "The next step to moving this technology to the field is to develop a portable tripod-based system that houses both the laser source and the IR camera."

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/imaging-technique-lets-firefighters-see-through-flames-1C8564100

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Report: Indian casinos revenue up slightly in 2011

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? A report says Indian casinos posted higher revenue in 2011 despite a weak economy.

The study, "Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report," released Wednesday, says that revenue rose 3 percent, to $27.4 billion.

Indian casinos account for about 43 percent of total casino gambling revenue, just slightly less than 45 percent for commercial casinos. Race track casinos account for the rest.

Indian gambling was slowing before the start of the recession in late 2007 due to legislation, regulations and court decisions. Alan Meister, the industry report's author, says restrictions include the types of games offered by Indian casinos, the states where gambling is permitted and other limits.

The report says the outlook for Indian gambling looks healthy because the economy is expected to continue improving, restoring consumer spending.

In addition, many tribes are upgrading, expanding and replacing casinos.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-indian-casinos-revenue-slightly-2011-080755362--finance.html

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Pope Benedict XVI and the road not taken (+video)

At one point, the young?Joseph Ratzinger looked like a budding church reformer. By the time he abdicated as pope this week, he had become one of the stoutest defenders of Catholic tradition.

By Robert Marquand,?Staff writer / February 13, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI attends Ash Wednesday mass at the Vatican Wednesday. Thousands of people are expected to gather in the Vatican for Pope Benedict's Ash Wednesday mass, which is expected to be his last before leaving office at the end of February.

Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

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By the time Pope Benedict XVI made his surprise announcement to abdicate, his image had become fixed as one of the stoutest defenders of tradition and an arch-enemy of change, liberality, and the reforming intent of the Vatican II council. But at the start of his career, he looked as if he might be a budding reformer himself. ?

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Worshippers crowded in to get a glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI at his last public mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The pope, then Joseph Ratzinger, collaborated on changes during Vatican II with Karl Rahner, a Jesuit star from Munich who in the 1970s was talked about as pope material in liberal circles. Mr. Rahner advocated women?s ordination, supported seekers in churches outside the Catholic faith, and his theology arced more toward a universal spirituality than institutional rules, emphasizing ?a?human search for meaning ? rooted in the unlimited horizon of God?s own being experienced within the world.?

The young Ratzinger in the 1960s was brought to Tubingen University partly by Catholic theologian Hans Kung (later censored for views bordering on heresy) and taught in a progressive Protestant-Catholic faculty.?

Ratzinger's first faculty lecture at Tubingen, eagerly awaited and still remembered today, stressed the importance of the interpretation of the Bible via church fathers of the pre-medieval era, at a time of relative excitement in scholarly circles over new "subjective" and "spiritual" interpretations of scripture. Mr. Kung was disappointed, his colleagues remember.?

Later in the mid-1960s Ratzinger experienced student campus protests firsthand. For a shy scholar whose vision of church was hewn in the clean and well-ordered Alpine villages of Bavaria ? the experience deeply soured him on change as well as the often excessive experiments of Vatican II to open the church up "to the modern world," as the saying went.?

Vatican II was heady days at a time of ferment, but neither Ratzinger nor the church he eventually led, ever made the leap. Faced with a changing world, Benedict opted for a church of greater purity and reliance on past traditions ??even as his tenure will be marked by a priestly child abuse scandal that two years ago was described as the biggest challenge faced by Rome since the Reformation.

Yesterday Vatican officials affirmed the outgoing Benedict will not personally direct the choice of his successor. But the outgoing pontiff has been so instrumental in shaping the policies and personnel of the Roman Catholic church that his presence won?t matter, analysts say.

For 24 years Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, ruled the roost in the Vatican as Pope John Paul II?s enforcer, the powerful head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and he has overseen a tightening, not a loosening, of church doctrine.

Since 2005 he further consolidated power as pope. So the conclave of cardinals and bishops meeting in Rome next month are there precisely due to their loyalty to Benedict?s vision of the Roman church.

The effect of Benedict?s reign as pope in this sense cannot be understated.

To take one example: In recent years under direct Vatican influence one of the largest Benedictine training schools in the US has, against the sentiment of its teaching clergy, been forced to disallow males and females to study in classes together. So the "Benedict effect" is not something found only in books and encyclicals; it has had an effect?"on the ground," as one Benedictine theologian reports, off the record.?

In a church still quite divided on moral issues, sexuality, modernity, the concept of priest, and so on, it is unclear whether the pope?s resignation, itself an unusual break from the past, may lead to other changes.

Benedict oversaw a 2,000-year-old church with an all-male hierarchy that struggled to respond to a child abuse and pedophilia scandal that reached new excesses two years ago on both sides of the Atlantic during the "year of the priest."

The German pope did not create what some hoped would be a ?Benedict generation? with his robust defense of church doctrines and a controversial return to a more traditional liturgy. While?some conservative religious orders have seen some new applicants in the US, the overall numbers remain a far-cry from those before 1960. Instead, church issues among youth seem pressing, at least in the post-modern West that Benedict had hoped to appeal to with a new Catholic moment. If that moment never comes, says?one New York-based Jesuit, ?The church is going to go one way and the rest of us are going to go another.?

The child abuse scandal, which many dissidents in the church say is a result of the policies of all-male clergy and celibacy (the Vatican denies this) did allow, however briefly, space for different voices to be heard, and for issues treated by church fathers as settled for all time, to be raised.

The issues run from sex and gender to spiritual authority inside the church. They track the shrinking of Mass attendance in the West, the sharp downturn of youth desiring to be priests, and the angry reaction of females (again in the US and Britain) who see roles as clergy closed off when in many churches they are the most faithful.

In the midst of the priestly child abuse scandal, the church issued a circular that put women?s ordination into the same category of disciplinary crimes as heresy, pedophilia, and promoting schism.?Benedict was given credit for suggesting that wearing a condom is acceptable in certain odd cases, such as that of a male prostitute. But with many Catholics no longer even following church teaching on condoms, and with the pope visiting Africa and talking about abstinence and no wearing of condoms, many can?t relate.

The pedophile cases also sparked what many Catholics say is a need for a greater spiritual awakening in a church that has placed a great emphasis on institutional authority; they placed a critical focus on old assumptions that male priests, through the act of their ordination, are holier or more spiritually endowed than ordinary members of the laity.

The British newspaper The Guardian pointed out in an editorial that it could not find a single current liberal candidate for pope, and quoted from Carlo Maria Martini, a cardinal, who said before passing last year that, ?The church is tired in Europe and America. Our culture has aged, our churches are large, our religious houses are empty, and the bureaucracy of the church climbs higher, our rituals and our clothes are pompous?[the church] must recognize her mistakes and must follow a path of radical change, starting with the pope and the bishops.?

Yet many following the daily operations of the Holy See feel there is unlikely to be any revolutionary ?Papal Spring.? Some reform-minded Catholics and many who have left the church say the Vatican is so deeply into the wrong questions, and has been relying so heavily on those who are not interested in questioning in the first place, that any positive reforms will only be on the margins.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/Xi3En-sq4ow/Pope-Benedict-XVI-and-the-road-not-taken-video

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The Saga of Tomsan

A page from a 1999 KoroKoro comic.

Courtesy of Tom Byer

In 2009, Zinedine Zidane, the legendary soccer player, participated in a coaching clinic in Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Children and parents filled the stands. The mood was jovial. Zidane was a once-in-a-generation sort of player, a kind of mad genius remembered today as much for his ball skills as for the infamous 2006 World Cup headbutt. The parents in attendance hoped some of those skills, like his signature pirouette (not the headbutt), would rub off on their children. But as Zidane and the gathered coaches began their lessons, something strange happened. The children in the audience began to chant. They weren?t chanting ?Zidane,? although people occasionally shouted for his autograph. The children chanted ?Tomsan,? the nickname of a 52-year-old retired player from upstate New York who never won a Champions League title, a World Cup Golden Ball, or a FIFA World Player of the Year award: Tom Byer.

Byer played briefly in Japan in the late 1980s, before retiring to work as a youth coach. Today, many in Japan see him as a major catalyst behind the country?s rising status as a global soccer power, responsible for increasing soccer?s popularity and teaching fundamental skills to hundreds of thousands of children, including many of the nation?s most celebrated players. In 1988, the year Byer hung up his cleats, the Japanese men?s and women?s national teams weren?t even successful regionally. In 2011, the Japanese men took home the Asian Cup for a record fourth time, and the Japanese women?s national team won its first World Cup title.

Although what Byer achieved is notable, how he did it is the fascinating part. He started off running a no-name, grass-roots soccer clinic and within a decade, he?d become a fixture in Japan?s most popular children?s comic book and a character in the country?s leading morning kids? show. Tom Byer is the Mr. Rogers of Japanese soccer. There?s nothing in America like him, and as both the Japanese and American men?s squads prepare for World Cup qualifying matches tomorrow, it?s worth thinking about what the U.S. program could learn from Byer?s Japanese success.

Byer?s playing career started in 1983, the worst possible time for an aspiring American pro. The North American Soccer League was on the verge of collapse and MLS was more than a decade away.? Things weren?t much better in Europe, where the sport, scandalized by hooligans, had begun a kind of low ebb, punctuated by a series of stadium disasters. But Byer?s short, nomadic career brought him to Japan, a country he fell in love with.

?Back in those days, if you were a good juggler of the soccer ball, you could entertain,? he said. So after retiring, he started a traveling youth soccer clinic based as much around his ability to ?catch people?s eyes? with juggling tricks as his coaching chops. He didn?t speak much Japanese, and in order to set up gigs, he cold-called English-speaking institutions around Tokyo, like U.S. military bases and international schools.

In 1989, during a clinic at a Canadian school, Byer learned that one of his students, a young boy, was the son of a Nestl? employee. Byer needed outside funding to expand his business, and about a week after the clinic, out of ideas, he decided to take a chance and call the boy?s father. He scoured the phone book, and dialed what he guessed was the right number. To his relief, the boy answered. Byer asked to speak to the boy?s father but first asked what his dad did at Nestl?. The boy said, ?He?s the president.? A week later, Byer signed an agreement with Nestl? to sponsor 50 clinics in a yearlong, nationwide tour. During each clinic, Byer had to give out samples of Milo, an Ovaltine-like chocolate drink, but it was a small price to pay for his first big break.?

Although he now had financial backers (Nestl? sponsored him for the next 11 years), Byer did not consolidate his coaching philosophy until 1993, when he opened his first soccer school, which has since expanded to 100 campuses with roughly 20,000 pupils nationwide.? That year, Paul Mariner, the former head coach of Toronto FC, introduced Byer to a technique-based approach to youth development called the ?Coerver Method.? It changed the way Byer viewed coaching.

Created by Wiel Coerver, a Dutch coach, the method is a quasi-academic system based on specific skill acquisition. Rather than putting kids on a field and having them chase the ball around?which is how most young kids practice across the United States?it teaches close ball control and situational, one-on-one moves: stopovers, feints, various ways to manipulate the ball with the sole of the foot. Tactics and passing come later, once the kids master ball control.

In 1998, Japanese broadcasters seized upon the upcoming World Cup as the perfect moment to begin promoting the 2002 tournament, which would be held in Japan for the first time ever. Executives at Tokyo TV and ShoPro, a production company, added a two-minute soccer spot to Oha Suta, the top-rated children?s morning show, and they asked Byer to host. Suddenly, instead of standing in front of a few hundred young soccer players a couple times a week, Byer was teaching his skills in a green screen studio, backed by animated stadiums and fans. From 3 ?million to 5 million children saw him every single day.

At the same time, executives from the affiliated Shogakukan publishing company offered him a two-page panel in KoroKoro Komikku, Japan?s biggest children?s comic book. The United States has no equal to the cultural giant that is KoroKoro. The monthly comic book has an enormous circulation?Byer puts it at about 1.2 million (for comparison, in 1977, during its heyday, Mad magazine circulated 2,132,655 copies in the entire year, in a country that?s more than double the population of Japan) and a readership in the neighborhood of 3 million Japanese preteens. The magazine is hundreds of pages long and shares storylines with Japanese video games. It played a big role in transforming Kirby and Pok?mon in to global media juggernauts.

?The comic book was to promote soccer, to inform people about the technical side, it was to highlight the stars and try to inspire and motivate kids,? Byer said.

The print and TV programs were a kind of tag team that helped ignite excitement for soccer in Japanese culture. (According to a recent survey by NHK, a Japanese toymaker, soccer is now more popular among Japanese boys than baseball). Oha Suta aired every day, right before school, perfect for motivating playground training sessions. KoroKoro, meanwhile, put soccer practice on the same level as the country?s most esteemed cartoons and superheroes.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=f810293014c503e495ebd6eefe0b0194

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C. Everett Koop, Forceful Surgeon General, Dies at 96

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Dr. Koop was widely regarded as the most influential surgeon general in American history and played a crucial role in changing public attitudes about smoking.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/us/c-everett-koop-forceful-surgeon-general-dies-at-96.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Guy Fieri Restaurant Review: As Bad as Advertised? - Food Fanatic

Last November The New York Times published a review of Guy Fieri?s new Times Square restaurant, Guy?s American Kitchen & Bar, that was so scathing many believe it hit below the belt; it read like an exercise in hyperbole. However, living a mere hour from New York City, I was intrigued.

Truth be told, I?ve never been a huge fan of Guy Fieri. The Food Network star is best known for his spiky blonde hair, addiction to sunglasses and confusing fashion choices. But I have made a few of his recipes, and admittedly, they?ve been pretty tasty.

So back to the NYT article? I read it, reread it and then had some friends read it too - it was THAT brutal. With no prior affinity towards Guy, I still felt like I needed to give him a hug and a neck nuzzle.

Pete Wells, the author of the NYT review used words like, ?nuclear waste?, ?inedible? and ?oil-sogged?? which instead of turning me off to Guy?s, intrigued me. I asked myself: ?Could it really be THAT bad??

Challenge accepted, Mr. Wells.

I talked a foodie friend of mine to come along for the ride. She gladly accepted, also having made a few of Guy?s recipes with great success. We milled over the menu for weeks online before the day we drove into the city.

We arrived in Times Square for an early lunch, right after opening at about 11:45, ? and the place was empty.

We were welcomed by a hostess of average congeniality and seated at a table towards the front of the restaurant, near the bar area.

Looking around, the restaurant is pretty similar to basically any suburban chain restaurant you?ve ever been to, just on a larger scale. Our server was friendly and greeted us promptly.

After reading about the Watermelon Margarita that ?glows like nuclear waste? I scanned the menu to place my order. It appears that glowing margarita has been removed from the drink list, however.

My friend and I both settled on Blueberry Mojitos ? they were light on the alcohol, but overall, tasty and not overly sweet.

I do have to mention that I was a little underwhelmed by the selection of specialty drinks on the menu. With a bar the size of the one they have, you would think that they would have lots of interesting concoctions. Count that as disappointment numero uno.

After scanning the appetizer list, we agreed on the California Egg Rolls as our starter. They were good, albeit slightly uninspired. The menu in itself is a lesson in well-spun adjectives. At first glance everything sounds major! But then, reading a bit further, you see through the jaunty on-purpose misspellings (Provolone Stix) and realize he is just selling you Fried Cheese.

I guess I expected more.

We decided we?d stick to simplicity and sandwiches for our main lunch course. Now, I?ll tell you I went back and forth on whether to order an entr?e or a sandwich. But in all honesty, I wasn?t drawn to any of the entrees. They were fairly typical (and boring) like steaks, ribs, and salmon.

I settled on ?Unyawns Cajun Chicken Ciabatta?. It?s described as ?Grilled Cajun-spiced chicken breast with a slathering of Donkey sauce, shredded cabbage, and sliced tomato on garlic-butter toasted ciabatta?.

The food came out in a timely fashion, but my sandwich, while acceptable, wasn?t special in any way. I had to ask what ?Unyawns? meant in the title. The server said that the ?Onion Ciabatta bread? was what the sandwich was served on. Very confusing, even he admitted so.

The ?slathering? of Donkey sauce was more like a wisp. Before we go any further, get your mind out of the gutter. Donkey Sauce is a spicy-ish mayo. I did ask for more, which the server brought out for me. Honestly, it wasn?t very spicy, and much more mayo-ey than anything else. Donkey Sauce FAIL.

My friend ordered ?The Big Dipper?, which was a basically a French Dip sandwich. It was good. Not great. Sensing a theme here?

The portions are huge, which was to be expected, for sure. Despite being full, we decided to give Guy?s desserts a try. The server said they are all made in-house, fresh every day.

We chose the ?Salted Whiskey Caramel Fool,? which was described as ?Sea salt whiskey caramel sauce, macerated strawberries, toasted house made pound cake, fresh whipped cream and hazelnut brittle.? It was listed as a ?Guy?s Signature Dish?, and again didn?t live up to my expectations of a signature dish.

Sounds like a feast for the taste buds, yes? Well, it was essentially a parfait. Annnnd it was just ok.

Here?s the thing. I really, REALLY wanted to like Guy?s American Kitchen. Like, really. I mean, I read the NYT review and still went, hoping that Mr. Wells just had his britches in a wad. And while I didn?t find the food or experience nearly as offensive as Wells did, I won?t be rushing back.

If you happened to be going there and invited me along, I would go with you and try something new. But I certainly wouldn?t recommend it, especially when New York City has so many other amazing options from which to choose.

I expected Guy to raise the bar a little bit from the Friday?s around the corner.

Source: http://www.foodfanatic.com/2013/02/guy-fieri-restaurant-review-as-bad-as-advertised/

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