Wife: Allison Benedikt (Employment: Previous: The Village Voice Film Editor) (she now does some work for Slate) –

2 kids with 1 on the way

son – born in 2008 (4 yrs old)

Married on October 25^th 2003 in San Francisco (courthouse wedding)

Oh look, a tell all from Mrs Benedikt.

Home (718) 369-8243

528 16th St
Brooklyn, NY 11215-5912
Map It!

So, Mr. Cook decided to post the names of ALL the gun owners in NYC.  Thinks he’s cute.  He thinks he’s funny, and inventive, and edgy and interesting.  He lives in Brooklyn folks.  I wonder if it might be fun and inventive to, oh I don’t know; give his home a little jingle?  I’m sure you can come up with something clever to tell him, or his wife.  I’m sure they’d love to hear from you in their cozy little town home just a block away from Prospect Park where I am sure Allison takes the kids quite often.

Before you get all upset about this “poor guy”…remember, he has a pretty awful past history of bullying.  Now, instead of two teenage girls and some minorities, Cook graduated to taking a swing at the star QB…same prick move, different target…this time, the target’s hitting back.

Just to be clear, I know that Gawker is up in arms over some supposed threats and the numerous phone calls they are receiving.  They say “we are receiving this treatment over information that was already public.”  TECHNICALLY, they are right, the information is public but that doesn’t tell the whole story.  See, the information isn’t freely posted.  A person seeking this public information has to file a Freedom of Information Act request.  When they do that, they fill out their name, address, phone number, and other personal information which then itself becomes public information and criminals are notoriously unwilling to draw that kind of attention to themselves.  So, what Gawker has done is to remove that firewall.  Where individuals were protected from criminals by the FOIA laws that made their information available, after the paper and then the shock website Gawker posted their information, there is nothing stopping criminals from gaining access to the info undetected.

We don’t expect Gawker to be remorseful, they are after all, the bottom of the journalistic barrel.  They repeatedly print the most ridiculous slop that the National Enquirer and The World Wide News have rejected.

According to my software I have 179 “treetops” — couples or individuals whose parents aren’t known. (It rather confusingly lists both members of a couple as a single “treetop” if none of their parents are known.) Some of these are probably kind of dodgy, in that they’re from some GEDCOM or hundred year old genealogy or something that may or may not withstand scrutiny. (On Thanksgiving I nuked one such couple, allegedly Mayflower passengers — actually she was but he wasn’t, having died earlier, and neither has adequately been proven to be parent of the child I had them linked to.) Very few are ones I’ve researched personally. So let’s take a look at them, shall we? Not all 179 at once. A few at a time.

Will this be exciting? Mostly no. But a useful exercise for me, I think.

I have names, maybe even correct names, for all my ancestors through the most recent six generations (counting me as generation 1). In generation 6 we start hitting treetops:

Barbara Maybill (COOK) (ca. 1784–1860)

Parentheses here will indicate a married name; I don’t know her maiden name. I’m not too sure about her first names either. GGG grandfather John COOK’s wife’s name  — I assume she was his wife, she was living with him — was given as “Maybill” in the 1855 New York State census. In the 1850 Federal census and in the 1860 census’s mortality schedule it’s “Barbary”. “Barbara” on the death certificate for their daughter Rhoda. I’ve rather speculatively entered her in the database as “Barbara Maybill (COOK)” based on that information. She was born in Rhode Island and lived in Norwich, Chenango, NY.

John DUNN (ca. 1762–?) & Ruth RECORD (ca. 1767–?)

I know almost nothing else about these two. Source is George Knapp Collins, Descendants of John Collins, of Charlestown, R. I., and Susannah Daggett, His Wife, Gazette Print (Baldwinsville, NY, 1901). Their daughter Anna was born 1792 in Rhode Island.

Nancy SIMMONS (ca. 1774–1850)

She’s in the 1850 Federal census mortality schedule, and there’s a gravestone. The mortality schedule says she was born in Connecticut though the 1880 census entry for her son Jerome BELDEN says his mother was born in Massachusetts. Her husband, Daniel BELDEN, was born in Massachusetts and their first child was born in Connecticut, so either is plausible.

Jane GAY (1797–1875)

She was from Dutchess County, NY and married Eliab HOAG. That’s about it.

Hans ANDERSEN (1784–bef. 1845) & Anne PEDERSDATTER (1796–?)

Recent treetops, in the sense that I found them just last year. She was born in Marslev, Odense, Denmark, and their son Peder HANSEN was born in Agedrup, Odense. 19th century Danish genealogy turns out to be easier than I expected, since they had fairly frequent censuses and there are baptismal records for just about everyone. But 18th century is another matter. I don’t know a thing about how to proceed.

Anders HANSEN (ca. 1801–?)

Born in Brendekilde, Odense; married in Lumby, Odense; one child born in Munkebo, Odense; another born in Ubberud, Odense.

Jens JACOBSEN (?–?) & Marie LARSDATTER (?–?)

Mysterious! I only know their son was born 1826 in Refs-Vindinge, Svendborg, Denmark; they lived nearby in Flødstrup; and they moved later to Fåborg, Ribe.

Ane Kirstine JØRGENSDATTER (1802–?)

Born in Vejlby, Odense.

Alexander KINLOCH (?–bef. 1850) & Mary Ann STARK (1801–?)

Both were born in Scotland, but I don’t know where. They had six children born in Scotland, and then their seventh was born 1836 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. By 1850 Mary was living with two of her children but not her husband in Troy, Rensselaer, New York; I assume she was a widow. I haven’t found her in a later census.

Alvah HUNT (?–?) & Caroline TOWNE (?–?)

Their daughter’s death certificate says Alvah was born in Argyle, Washington, New York and Caroline in Nassau, Rensselaer, New York, near where their daughter was born. They’re named in Charles Wells Hayes, George Hayes of Windsor and His Descendants, Baker, Jones & Co. (Buffalo, New York, 1884).

That’s Generation 6.

On today’s show, we talked about how not to be the worst when breaking up with your girlfriend, courtesy of GQ.com. Yes, it’s hard. Sometimes, it’s hard to break up with somebody without being a little dishonest. But if you have to do it, break up with your lady like a man. And be sure to avoid the strategies that, for eons, have made men the a-holes of the sexes.

We also talked about the dreams jobs you had no idea existed, courtesy of TheFrisky.com. Not that I’m looking for a career change; my job is freaking awesome, and trust me, I know it. But there are some jobs that sound too incredibly amazing to be true. Here are some dream jobs that will inspire jealousy in you, and/or make you consider a career change.

Look at the time…it’s time for your updates to keep you in the know!

NEWS

ISAF chief Gen. John Allen under investigation amid Petraeus probe- The spiraling scandal that took down former CIA Director David Petraeus has apparently ensnared another powerful general, as authorities announced that Gen. John Allen is under investigation for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to Jill Kelley, a woman who has been linked to the Petraeus scandal.

Costs from Sandy into the billions as thousands struggle- The outward signs of recovery were everywhere Monday across the Northeast nearly two weeks after Superstorm Sandy struck.

Ohio woman who drove on sidewalk to avoid school bus holds ‘idiot’ sign under court order- A woman caught on camera driving on a sidewalk to pass a Cleveland school bus that was unloading children stood in the cold Tuesday at an intersection holding a sign warning people about idiots.

Police search for hit-and-run driver who killed Henry Co. officer- A Henry County police officer assisting a stranded motorist died Monday night after being a struck by hit-and-run driver, authorities said.

Tripp Halstead placed back on breathing tube- After days of steady progress, a toddler who suffered a brain injury when a tree limb hit him outside his day care is facing a setback.

Police searching for alleged robber- The suspect in a weekend robbery who allegedly took thousands of dollars is still at large. Carrollton Police officers responded to a residence on Tuggle Street around 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

WEATHER

Right now: Partly cloudy. Feels like 51°. Humidity is 42%. Pressure is 30.31 in.

Today: Sunny with mostly clear skies. Winds 5-14 mph N/NW. High of 59° and a low of 35°.

Wednesday: Cloudy with a 20% chance of rain.Winds 5-9 mph E/NE. High of 45° and a low of 37°.

Thursday: Cloudy. Winds 4-7 mph E/NE. High of 55° and a low of 38°.

*(Courtesy of WSB-TV Severe Weather Team 2. Based on update at 11:52 a.m. EDT.)

SPORTS

UWG

Wolves draw UAH in first round- With a three-match sweep over the weekend, the West Georgia women’s volleyball team secured the third seed at the 2012 Gulf South Conference tournament this weekend, as released by conference officials with the tournament schedule Monday afternoon.

Wolves Basketball- The 2012-13 season is underway for the West Georgia women’s basketball team, and the Wolves are set for the home opener Tuesday night, taking on Point at The Coliseum. The Wolves have two home games this week, taking on Augusta State on Thursday evening, with both home contests are set for a 7 p.m. tip time.

NBA

Josh Smith, Hawks close out win vs. Trail Blazers- Fighting a stomach illness, Josh Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double against Portland, and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a two-game skid with a 95-87 win over the Trail Blazers on Monday night.They face the Golden State Warriors tomorrow night at 10:30 PM.

 NFL

Ben Roethlisberger injures shoulder in Steelers’ OT win- Linebacker Lawrence Timmons intercepted Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel on the second snap of overtime and Shaun Suisham drilled a 23-yard field goal one play later to lift the Steelers to a 16-13 victory over the hapless Chiefs.

TENNIS

No. 1 Novak Djokovic wins ATP finale- Even when Roger Federer had the lead, Novak Djokovic had the answers. The top-ranked Serb recovered from early breaks in both sets and beat Federer 7-6 (6), 7-5 Monday in the championship match at the ATP finals.

ENTERTAINMENT

Tamera Mowry Welcomes Baby Boy- Sister, Sister star Tamera Mowry is a new mom! The actress and husband, Fox News correspondent Adam Housley, 40, welcomed son, Aden John to their family yesterday (Nov. 12).

Nick and JoAnna Garcia Swisher Expecting First Baby- It’s time to batter up for baby! JoAnna Garcia Swisher and her husband, Major League Baseball player Nick Swisher, are expecting their first child, the couple announced.

Scott Wolf, Wife Welcome Baby Boy- Party of Five star Scott Wolf and his wife Kelley welcomed a new addition to their family over the weekend.

Man charged with planning Prince Charles assault- Police say they caught a New Zealand man before he had a chance to throw a bucket of horse manure over Prince Charles and his wife Camilla during a royal visit to the Pacific nation.

War widow sues Fox over film featuring her husband- A widow of an U.S. Army soldier killed in a blast in Afghanistan has sued Fox Cable Networks and the National Geographic Society over a documentary that showed her husband and family.

Elmo puppeteer accused of underage relationship- The puppeteer who performs as Elmo on “Sesame Street” is taking a leave of absence from the iconic kids’ show in the wake of allegations that he had a relationship with a 16-year-old boy.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Actor Joe Mantegna is 65.

Actor Chris Noth is 58.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg is 57.

Actor Rex Linn (CSI: Miami) is 56.

Actor Neil Flynn (Scrubs) is 52.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel is 45.

Actor Steve Zahn is 45.

Actor Gerard Butler is 43.

Actress Aisha Hinds (True Blood) is 37.

NBA star Metta World Peace is 33.

Actress Frances Conroy is 59.

THE BACON REPORT

Our first Bacon Report comes to you courtesy of Dolce Deni. This was a recipe that she tried out and apparently was really delicious! So, thanks to her, I present to you Bacon Mushroom Caps.

INGREDIENTS

• Portabella Muschroom caps
• Olive oil
• Fresh thyme
• Garlic Powder
• Bacon Bits (or if you prefer, cooked and chopped bacon)
• Smoked Provolone Cheese

Daddy Warbucks Is Canadian

Nothing seems more American than Daddy Warbucks in the Little Orphan Annie comic strip that was made into a fabulous Broadway hit and excellent full-length feature movie. But wait a minute. American big bucks Warbucks, statistically is no more, at least for the time being.

Watch out for your Canadian playing partners wanting to up the ante on the golfing bets. If they’re strong players, hold your bets down because they are in a position to “out-bid” you. If their game isn’t that good and you think you can take them for a ride, squeeze some more betting money out them.

Here’s why: they’ve got more money than us now! “Because of the housing crisis, for the first time the net worth of the average Canadian household is greater than that of its U.S. counterpart,” claims Time Magazine (July 30, 2012).In U.S. dollars, the average Canadian household net worth is $363,202 versus the American household net worth of $319,970.     Warbucks, greenbacks, flatbacks.

John Cook Says, “Put Yourself in a Position to Win

I am a big Aaron Rogers fan for the same reason I’m am a fan of Brett Favre and Joe Montana. I like Aaron’s casual personality combined with his unsurpassed athletic talent. Mix in a down-to-earth sense of humor and the ability to laugh during a game while tacklers are trying to decapitate you, and Rogers, Favre and Montana are my kind of athletes.

In a recent Sports Illustrated interview, Dan Patrick, Patrick asks the MVP quarterback, “Did you learn something from your idols Michael Jordan and Joe Montana?”

“I always paid close attention to how they acted on the field,” said Rogers. “I always loved how Michael wanted the ball in his hands down the stretch. And Joe’s last-second comebacks. All my favorite players wanted the ball in their hands down the stretch.”

Rogers’s attitude reminds me of something Champions Tour star and GolfNews Magazine columnist John Cook has told me on more than one occasion, “When competing in a golf tournament, I want to put myself in a position to win on the final day.”

What Cook is saying is filter into your psyche all the prior experience you’ve had to get you where your are; the hundreds of thousands skillful shots that have led to your success. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot early such as making careless shots on day one, day two or day three. Put yourself in a position to win coming down the stretch and have the confidence to finish the deal.

That’s what QBs Montana, Favre, and Rogers have been able to do in their careers. And, wouldn’t you know it, another quarterback has done it, too, but in this case he’s done it by riffling dimpled balls rather throwing spirals. John Cook played quarterback for Miraleste High School in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The Misery of Getting Beat Miserably

Have you ever lost a golf match unmercifully? Just gotten the crap beat out of you! Doesn’t feel very good, does it?

At least in Little League and some college games, there are “mercy rules” that go into effect when one team is 10 or more runs ahead or some other insurmountable agreed upon measurement is triggered.

But too bad for Savannah State this year in its first football game of the season that some kind of “enough is enough” rule didn’t go in effect. No, Savannah State didn’t lose by a score of 52 to 0. Nor did they get tromped 66 to 0. Try 84-0! That’s right, 84-0. Can you imagine getting beat 84-0? Savannah State is trying to forget. Victorious Oklahoma State continues to remember.

Before There Were Golf Bras

Being a male and not overly fashion conscious, I’m not even sure there are “golf bras” per se. Of course, there are bras women wear when they’re playing golf, but whether or not the bras are “golf bras” is open for interpretation.

However, for everyone interested in the subject of bras, here is a startling revelation:

The history of the bras has been shaken from its straps! Researchers at the University of Innsbruck have discovered medieval bras; bras worn over 600 years ago. Archaeologists, while recently digging in an Austrian castle, found four linen bras from the Middle Ages. Before the discovery, the bra had been thought to be about 100 years old.

The find increases speculation that aliens did exist in medieval times because the so-called “linen” had to be made of space-aged technologically advanced materials to last over six centuries. In a top-secret laboratory jointly sponsored and financed by Claudette, Calvin Klein, and Playtex, the bras are being analyzed by state-of-the-art processes to identify the molecular structure of the bras.

It has been reported but not yet confirmed that Wonderbra has offered the archeologists $100 million (USD) for the branding rights. Clearly, if the materials turn out to be indestructible, Wonderbra surely would be the appropriate name for the newly found mammary gland space-aged care takers.

Live for Golf, Golf To Live… But Not In America

If you want to live longer to play golf, get out of the United States, that’s at least what worldwide statistics imply. In 2007, the U.S. was ranked No. 42 in life expectancy stats. A baby born in the U.S. in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years, according to the U.S National Center for Health Statistics. In 41 other countries, babies will live longer.

More recent stats are even more discouraging. In 2011, the United States dropped to No. 49 (78.37 years) in life expectancy, the average lifespan increased less than a half-year compared to the 77.9 average lifespan in 2004.

Who’s beating us out? Monaco. Those living in Monaco live to an average age of 89.73 years. The top 10 after Monaco are No. 2 Macau (81.41 years), No. 3 San Marino (83.01 years, No. 4 Andorra (82.43 years), Japan (82.25 years), Guernsey (82.16 years), Singapore (82.14 years), Australia (81.81 years),and Italy (81.77 years).

Tragically, African nations dominate the bottom. The top 10 nations with the least life expectancy are all on the African continent and range from 50.4 years (Somalia) to Angola 38.7 years.

What’s going on in America that one of the richest countries in the world is producing diminished lives? Obesity is a key factor. Americans are getting fatter and, thus, sicker thanks to a food industry that continues to pour corn syrup, artificial ingredients, and saturated fats into our foods and drink, and thanks to a lazy citizenry that doesn’t take individual responsibility to what kind of garbage they’re putting into their bodies.

For those of us that love golf, we owe it to ourselves to eat healthy, stay in shape, reduce stress, and control vital signs that indicate heart disease including but not limited to blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar intake.

Tia Clasen, a spokesperson for Robbinsdale schools, said the incident happened around 8 a.m. Thursday on route #433. The bus driver noticed something on the side of the road and asked a seventh grader to get off the bus and see what it was. When it was learned the something was a gun, the driver asked the student to bring it to him. The driver then took the gun and reported the incident to his superior at Robbinsdale Middle School. The driver reportedly said he was taking the weapon to the bus company’s dispatch office.

It is not known whether the gun was loaded, Clasen said. It was picked up near the intersection of 25th Avenue and Irving Avenue North in Minneapolis.

Robbinsdale Police and the bus company, Minnesota Transportation Network, are investigating the incident. The name of the bus driver was not given, although the bus company said Thursday evening that the driver who discovered the gun is no longer an employee.

In a letter to parents, Robbinsdale Middle School principal John Cook commended the student for being respectful to the driver. After all, the school teaches children to follow the instructions of adults whose job it is to watch over them. However, the letter said “this was not a safe situation” and that the school is working with police and the bus company to address it appropriately.

That’s all he needed to know.

Lehman won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Sunday to become the first player to win the season points title two straight years.

After shooting 68-63-62 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round, Lehman birdied four of the last five holes for a 5-under 65 and a six-stroke victory. He finished at 22-under 258 on Desert Mountain’s Cochise Course to break the tournament mark for lowest score and tie the record for relation to par set by John Cook in 2009 at Sonoma Golf Club in California.

Lehman received a $1 million annuity in the Charles Schwab Cup points competition and earned $440,000 for the tournament victory. The 53-year-old Scottsdale resident also won the Regions Tradition in June in Alabama and has seven victories in 62 career starts on the 50-and-over tour. He won five times on the PGA Tour.

Jay Haas shot a 69 to finish second. Jay Don Blake was third at 14 under after a 66, and Fred Couples and Fred Funk were another stroke back. Couples, a stroke behind Lehman at the start of the round, had a 73, and Funk shot 65.

Bernhard Langer was sixth at 11 under after a 65. He finished second in the season race, 435 points back after entering the week with a 211-point lead, and earned a $500,000 annuity.

The German won twice this year and topped the money list with $2,140,296. Lehman was second on the money list with $1,982,575.

Lehman escaped trouble to birdie the par-14 14th, a day after holing a curving 35-foot par putt from the fringe on the difficult hole.

His drive nestled into thick rough inches past the front lip of a fairway bunker, forcing him to take a stance with his right foot in the bunker and his left about a foot and a half higher in the grass. He choked up on a 7-iron, took a short slash of a swing and advanced the ball about 155 yards, leaving a 12-foot putt.

He pumped his fist in a rare emotional display when the birdie putt tumbled in.

The unlikely birdie gave Lehman a four-stroke cushion, but Haas pulled within three again minutes later with a birdie on the par-5 15th.

Lehman pushed the advantage back to four with a 12-foot birdie putt on 15, and increased the lead to five with yet another 12-footer on the par-4 16th. He also two-putted for one last birdie on par-5 18th.

Tom Watson is the only other player to sweep the tournament and points title, accomplishing the feat in 2005 at Sonoma.

Couples had his lone birdie of the round on the par-5 18th and had four bogeys a day after shooting 62. He was playing his first tournament since a back injury forced him to withdraw during the first round of the Boeing Classic in late August. Before the event, he hadn’t completed a competitive round since winning the Senior British Open in July for his second victory of the year.

….
…by Anura Guruge

Click on pictures to ENLARGE them to full-size.

Best $10 I Have Spent In 2012, Maybe In A Longtime.

Overall a great experience. Lot of fun.
Showcased Meredith to perfection.

Thank YOU. You folks did Great. Take a Bow.

It was Goldilocks weather. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. Perfect for a walking tour of Meredith. They could not have asked for better.

So here is one thing. Me being who I am, I inquired from multiple ‘officials’ what their plan would have been if it was bucketing down with rain. They had none! They left it to chance. That was a bit unsettling. Maybe they will have some contingency plans next year.

Deanna had called up and booked more or less as soon as we read about it in the Laconia Daily Sun. So we were on the 2pm tour. The 1st tour of the day, the 1st tour of the event, the 1st Meredith ‘Trick or Eat’ tour ever. So, they impressed upon the 30 of us, on that 1st tour, that we were on the inaugural tour. That was nice.

Something else. I did not see a laptop insight. They had all the registrations written down on a piece of paper. Typical NH. Shades of the Keene Pumpkin Festival. Exploiting some decades old technology, an old laptop with Excel 2003, is not a cardinal sin. So maybe we might see some technology next year. They also had a very compelling, one sheet color program with a very cute, hand drawn map of Meredith. I liked the map very much. But, they had NO Web presence. Yes, there was two mentions in the program as to who created that map. Yes, I went and checked them out. But, I am NOT going to give them a plug because they let the side down by not creating a Web presence, just pushing their URL. Sorry. I am a hard taskmaster. Yes, I could scan the map and show it to you, but I won’t. Sorry.

From what I heard they had 260 pre-registrations. That is great. I saw some walkins. So they probably had 300 or more.

We had 5 Meredith History stops with ladies in period costumes acting out roles. Nice costumes. Sometimes difficult to hear. Would have been nice if they had some amplification. I learnt some. I knew about 45% of it. There was just a tad too much duplication. So they should coordinate their stories next year. Plus, do MORE about Bob Montana. He is famous and the kids will love the Archie stuff.

Our tour guide, a ‘Home/Building Inspector’. She was very nice. Full of energy. A firecracker. I was remiss. Never got her name. That is the ‘New Horizon Band’. Good elevator music. That was fine.

Me as ever checking the scene, at the Chase House, prior to the tour. No idea who that goblin in the picture is. It was Halloween.

The 10 ‘Eats’ and What We Thought About The Grub:

1. Lago.
OK. Nothing special. Did NOT do themselves proud.

Their ‘Frutti Di Mare‘ (fruits of the sea) seafood ‘gumbo’ with Shrimp, mussels, calamari, little neck clams and fish fillets in fennel-infused tomato broth (but sans the Garlic toasted ciabatta). This is one of their menu items and they charge $22. I don’t think there was any calamari in what we got. It was OK. Did not knock my socks off. I thought it was way too salty (even for a seafood dish). If I had paid $22 for a dish of this, I probably would have choked. I then remembered that I had gone off Lago 8-9 years ago. Don;t get me wrong. In general we are BIG FANS of Alex Ray’s Common Man Restaurants. But, Lago is atypical. Too pretentious; for the upscale tourist. That is fine. I haven’t gone there in 8 years. I much preferred what used to be there before the Lago. That was fun. Had a the best ‘Electric Lemonade’ in the Summer. I lived EXACTLY a mile away, by water, on Mile Point. So I know. [Yes, we know Alex.]

2. Lakeside Deli.
BRILLIANT. Bravo. Out did themselves. Wow. Wow. Wow. THANK YOU.

Turkey Gobblers! Thanksgiving on toast. Turkey, stuffing and cranberry between two slices of toast. It was irresistible. Devanee and I went back for more and then the owner came out and gave us a 3rd piece.

Right through the tour I heard people raving about the Turkey Gobblers. These are ‘new’ owners. I used to ‘frequent’ the place when I lived in Meredith. Now we will go back. This was good PR for the Deli.

3. George’s Diner.
Good, as ever, which is their calling card. Did themselves well. It is WYSIWYG dining with them. Straightforward, decent grub.

Chili and Apple crisp. Both good. Kids liked it.

4. Mame’s.
Very good. Did themselves proud. Bravo. Owner John Cook (which is a great name other than the fact that he is also a commercial pilot) did ALL of the serving and clearing up. Nice touch. Many would not know that this was the legendary John Cook. I just asked him whether he was still flying. He was. He didn’t recognize me. I am 10 years older and haven’t weathered well. Very nice guy. After our visit today, Deanna wants to go there for their Thanksgiving Brunch — as that will be our 10th anniversary of meeting! For Deanna to pick it says tons. I used to visit quite often — again when I lived in Meredith and Gilford. Looks like John has won us back.

Pumpkin Ravioli. Exquisite.

5. Sunshine and Pa’s.
OK. They had 3 options: chili, corn chowder and clam chowder. I had the latter. It was tasteless and cold! Deanna had the corn chowder and liked it. They served small flat breads. Nice folks. Not my cup of tea. Not somewhere I would go to eat. But, seems like a nice place.

6. Giuseppe’s.
Hhhhmmm. Good job we love the joint! They didn’t, in our opinion, do themselves justice. Not any of their signature dishes or pizzas. Just some easy-to-forget mediocre pizza! But, they provided much needed water. That was good. The water was good, very good.

Pizza and water, and by now the water was very WELCOME.

7. Meredith Village Pizza.
Pity that it was pizza back-to-back. This pizza was pretty awful! Enough said. If we want pizza in Meredith we would go, without hesitation, to Giuseppe’s.

8. Phu Jee Chinese.
OK. Not their best, as with Giuseppe’s. These folks, at least when I used to frequent the joint (when I lived on Mile Point, 1996 to 1999), had top notch Chinese. Today’s was passable. I had thought that they had redone the interior. What a shame. The inside continues to be claustrophobic. Somebody needs to help them.

Crab Rangoon and a piece of General Gau/Orange Chicken. Lady next to me wouldn’t eat it. Gave it to me.

9. Frog Rock Tavern.
What were they thinking? They screwed up! I heard people muttering about it for the next 5 minutes.

SPICY Rangoon — cut in half. Kids wouldn’t touch it. Was way too spicy for many. It was fine with me, but it was a ‘nothing’ experience.

10. Kara’s Cafe and Cakery.
It was OK, I think. Didn’t ‘wow’ me in the slightest. Kind of sad. The last two stops of the tour were anti-climactic. Shame.

Pumpkin whoopee pie and a small, whipped drink. I wasn’t thrilled, BUT that the kids didn’t eat theirs tells a tale.

So, that was the tour. On the whole a GREAT success. Wish we could do something like this in Alton — but we only have three and a half restaurants, and one is the McDonald’s!

Thank you organizers. Thank you the eateries. It was a good cause.

The best part of Lago, the Botticelli imitation definitely enhances the time spent in there. Thanks Alex. Nice touch, as with all your restrooms. I miss the Italian lessons at the Farmhouse.

Another nude at Giuseppe’s. Not as nice as the one above the bar. See my prior post of Giuseppe’s which does show that picture. Kids kept on asking me who it was. I have no idea. Not even sure who painted it. It could be a Hodecker. He likes nudes.

“Shetland Team” by John Cook

I saw someone comment on one of John Cook’s paintings on Facebook… and I had to check him out! Wonderful work! I like the way that he applies the paint to his canvas. It has such texture, which is quite nice in a painting that has a lot of texture to it! Those deep shadows and the light on the mane… very nice!

“Juxtapo Chicken” by John Cook

How is this for different and interesting? Nice use of color to catch your eye… and the composition… nothing like a birds eye view, eh? Unusual and fabulous! I have the feeling of being in another country looking out over the city… I guess with the chicken in the window? Ha ha… Check out John’s website as well as the different galleries that he’s in. Very nice!

Read a blip about John from the Whistle Pik Gallery website:

Lewisville, TX – Action and energy permeate the canvases of John Cook. There is a spontaneous nature to his paintings that conveys his need to quickly achieve the essence of light as it dances, pierces, careens and bounces to find its way throughout the subject. By drawing with brush rather than pencil, Cook achieves the loose and free style that characterizes his work. Never belabored, each painting reflects his passion to catch a mood with the interplay of light and shade. 

John was born in Dallas, Texas and attended school at the University of Texas at Arlington and the Art Center School in Los Angeles, where he received a Bachelor of Professional 
Arts Degree. He married his loving and supportive wife, Jean, in 1970 and has two children. John is also a proud “Papa” of three grandchildren. A deeply spiritual and devoted family man, Cook insists, “Painting is not the most important thing, but I consider the ability to pursue painting for a living truly 
a special gift and blessing from God. I regard Jesus, God’s Son, the most important being in my life!”

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Images: WhistlePik.com

Secret collusion between the two parties, funded by corporations, run by lobbyists: all the ingredients are there…

I watched a couple of these presidential Debates, and I couldn’t get interested: Not a single nerve in me got excited. There must be good reasons why  I felt lethargic, even with all my good intention to feeling engaged.

From the hundreds of hot issues to be discussed and vented out to the millions of citizens, how to balance the Federal Budget and grow the economy was the main selected topics to be confronted with…

As if balancing State’s budget is the same as balancing Federal budget!

These balancing gimmicks in Federal budgets have been disposed of six decades ago: Once the federal government want more spending leeway, all it has to do is launch a preemptive war so that Congress and Senate sign to increase the level of budget deficit so that the government can abuse of additional disbursement of tax payers money, and basically, the money printing machines in the Federal Reserve start churning out worthless dollars 24 hours a day.

The only worthy statements in these debates are acknowledgment that the the US sovereign debt has reached $16,000 billion (a number no president in exercise would have admitted), and that no matter who is elected for the next term, the deficit will shoot to $20 trillion. An amount that represents a third of the total federal worth in State property, which will have to be sold in order to pay back the national debt…

Glenn Greenwald published in The Guardian on October 16, 2012 under “The lame rules for presidential debates: a perfect microcosm of US democracy“

President Barack Obama walks past Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during the first presidential debate. Photograph: AP

Page 28 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: 18th century portraits of St Andreans, from behind (ms38799).

Excerpt of page 26 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: 18th century portraits of St Andreans, from behind (ms38799).

Excerpt of page 29 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: 18th century portraits of St Andreans, from behind (ms38799).

Page 25 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: 18th century portraits of St Andreans, from behind (ms38799).

So, why did Cook paint these rear views? Was it just that he couldn’t paint faces? Some of the profiles and full-face paintings which are pasted into the scrapbook do show some strange-looking people, and he does seem to have had particular difficulty with noses!

Page 27 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: 18th century portraits of St Andreans, from behind (ms38799).

I think he just liked looking at things from a different perspective. This view of St Mary’s College must have been done from on top of the wall which extended from the end of the west range across the garden. It shows in sketch the part of the north range which had accommodated the stables and carriage house of the Principal’s House. This was rebuilt in 1828 when the present archway was formed.

Page 11 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: a sketch of St Mary’s College, St Andrews (ms38799).

Excerpt from p. 26 of John Cook’s album, showing the West Sands (ms38799).

Cook also painted views of St Andrews which obviously look unusual to us today, either because the subject of the painting has changed or it contains something out of place to our eyes. This familiar perspective of the town from the West Sands requires a second look (left). Can anyone out there in the blogosphere identify this two-wheeled, single-horse carriage or cart? Is it a gig? Can it be more specifically labelled?

Even this view of St Mary’s (below) requires today’s viewer to remove walls and trees from the foreground to map to make the painting equate to the present quadrangle.

Page 10 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: a sketch of St Mary’s College, St Andrews (ms38799).

So who was this John Cook? There is an inscription in the album, recording its donation to the University Library in 1904, which outlines his career: lived 1771-1824, minister of the parish of Kilmany in Fife 1793-1802, and occupant of two chairs in the University. He studied and taught in the University under the ‘Hill regime’, when the institution was dominated by George Hill, Professor of Greek from 1772, and Principal of St Mary’s College from 1791-1819. Hill was the outstanding Scottish theologian of the day and leader of the Moderate party in the church but his nepotism has become part of University legend. At one time, six of the thirteen posts on the University senate were occupied by members of his family. Psalm 121 was proverbially popular in St Andrews at this time: “I lift mine eyes to the Hills, from whence cometh my help…”

Excerpt from page 3 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: a sketch of St Andrews from the south (ms38799).

Page 14 of John Cook’s album of watercolours: a sketch of St Leonard’s Chapel, St Andrews (ms38799).

John Cook, the painter whose work is featured here, held successively the Chairs of Hebrew (1802-9) and Biblical Criticism (1808-24). He married his cousin Elisabeth, eldest daughter of George Hill, since his mother Janet was George Hill’s sister. His father was another John Cook, Professor of Humanity (1769-73) and Moral Philosophy (1773-1815). His brother George was Professor of Moral Philosophy (1828-45) and his son, yet another John Cook, was Professor of Ecclesiastical History (1860-68).

The Hill-Cook dynasty contained 36 professors over 150 years. The genealogical details are spelled out in an appropriately backwards and upside-down Register full of biographical information about our Professors, which records the births of, and sadly the deaths of some of, the painter’s 12 siblings and 7 children, as well as the 12 children of George Hill.

This nice album is an unusual form of legacy from one of our academic forebears.

-RH

The relevant posts at six of the blogs have been located, but the relevant post at SkS, either no longer exists or never existed. Today’s question: did John Cook destroy all evidence at the SkS site of the existence of his posting the Lewandowsky thread? if so, why? Or are the claims by Cook and Lewandowsky to have posted the link untrue?

This issue was originally raised by Barry Woods and Geoff Chambers, but have not been resolved by either Cook or Lewandowsky.

At the end of July, when Lewandowsky’s article was covered at the Guardian, Barry Woods sought further details on the SkS post from Lewandowsky, who replied as follows:

Hi Barry, the survey was done about 2 years ago, and I don’t have the link to SkS: I worked with John Cook directly at the time and he posted it (and I made a note of it), but I don’t have the actual URL to the survey dating back to the time when he posted it. I suspect he removed it when the survey was closed because then the link would have been dead.

Lewandowsky was indeed working directly with Cook at the time. Indeed, Lewandowsky even participated from time to time in the private SkS forum at the relevant time (Aug-Sep 2010). However, there is no reference in the SkS documents to the Lewandowsky survey (though there is a contemporary discussion of the Bray-von Storch survey.) See comment at BH here where Geoff Chambers observes:

there’s no mention of it at the site, and John Cook (who had developed quite a crush on Lew) can be seen in a private email ten months after the fieldwork mentioning to a colleague the research that his mate Lewandowsky had done, as if it was nothing to do with him.

Chambers unsuccessfully sought further clarification from Cook, who supported Lewandowky’s story about a link at SkS but was unable to locate any documents supporting or proving the existence of the link:

Cook: Hi Geoff, sorry for the delay in replying, very behind in my email correspondence at the moment plus for this email, had to fire up the old machine that I was using back in 2010 to find any email correspondence back then. All I can find is an email from Steve [Lewandowsky] on 28 August 2010 asking for me to link to his survey.

Chambers: Hi John Thanks for the reply. So did you in fact link to his survey? It looks to me that you just forgot and didn’t post the link. So Stephan just assumed you had posted, and put in his paper the reference to eight blogs he’d contacted, including yours and the dormant NZ one. A silly mistake easily corrected. All he has to do is correct the “eight blogs” in his paper to six. Can you confirm that his survey was not in fact linked from Skeptical Science?

Cook: I did provide a link to the survey.

Chambers: Hi John, Any chance of telling us when you put up the link? Sorry to keep pestering you but you are being a bit coy.

Cook: I’ve given you everything I’ve got – I have no records in the blog archives (I searched the database for kwiksurvey, came up empty) so I must’ve either deleted the text link or deleted the blog post once the survey had closed. The only forensic evidence I could find was the email from Stephan asking for me to post a link and my reply that I posted it on the same day.

The claim by Cook and Lewandowsky that SkS had destroyed the record of the survey being posted at SkS (and the related comments) is odd on a number of counts, not least of which is the ability to locate the relevant thread on the blogs less closely connected to Lewandowsky, but not from Lewandowky’s protege and close associate, John Cook (also the maintainer of the University of Western Australia blog.) Further, University of Western Australia research policies require that “data must be held for sufficient time to allow reference.” In the case of an online survey, the records of the survey actually being posted on the 8 blogs are essential data.

Lewandowsky postulated that Cook “removed it when the survey was closed because then the link would have been dead.” But why would Cook do this? It’s highly unusual for blogs to delete old threads. Nor was there any particular reason for Cook to delete this particular thread – none of the other blogs bothered to do so. Deletion would be especially odd given Cook’s association with the University of Western Australia, the policies of which required preservation of documents necessary to verify claims in a research article.

It is, of course, possible and, in my opinion, probable that the survey was never posted at SkS in the first place. As Geoff Chambers has already observed, there is substantial indirect evidence to this effect from the lack of mention in the private SkS forum in which Lewandowsky participated and the lack of mention in Wayback archives of the survey identification in connection with SkS.

In my opinion, the Wayback machine record is overwhelmingly against the Lewandowsky and Cook claims that a link was posted and later destroyed.

Lewandowsky said that he sent an email to Cook on August 28, 2010 (the date of emails to other anti-skeptic blogs) and Cook says that he posted up the same day, confirming this in an email to Lewandowsky. Wayback machine took a screenshot of the SkS home page on August 30, a screenshot which shows all posts for a period bracketing August 28 (from August 24 to August 30), but does not show a posting of the Lewandowsky survey. (Nor does it appear in the screenshot for the following week which shows posts starting on August 31.)

Further, the Wayback machine took at least snapshots of the two documented August 28 SkS posts on the following three days as shown here and here. If there was an SkS post on August 28 linking to the Lewandowsky survey, there is no plausible way that the Wayback machine would not have recorded it as well. Unless, of course, Lewandowsky and Cook believe that the “well-funded” and “well-organized” “denial machine” penetrated the Wayback machine archive to remove evidence of the SkS post. The SkS conspiracy theorists have fertile imaginations e.g. their postulated conspiracy between Mosher and the Heartland Institute to frame Gleick, but surely even the SkS conspiracy theorists don’t believe that the “denial machine” has penetrated the Wayback archive. We’ll see.)

In my opinion, the evidence is overwhelming that SkS never published a link to the Lewandowsky survey. In my opinion, both Cook’s claim to have published a link and Lewandowsky’s claim to have seen it are untrue. But even if Cook did post a link and then destroyed all documentary evidence of its existence, the situation is equally unpalatable.

Update 2: Commenters at Lucia’s have observed that it is possible that the blocking was caused by internet problems en route to Australia (both for her and for me), with Hide My Ass access occurring because it used a different route, not because of IP. Seems not only possible, but likely.

Update: Both Lewandowsky’s University of Western Australia blog shapingtomorrow and John Cook’s skepticalscience blog appear to have blocked me. Other readers report that they can access these sites, but here’s what I get.

Steve: Barry Woods located a tweet by Cook on August 27 (Note: August 27 Eastern – August 28 Australian) here

UPDATE 2: Full video of the debate. My full turn in the debate. Tragically, for those hoping to see my Gangnam Style, it occurred out of shot, so you can hear it but not see it.

UPDATE 1: The People’s Decision: Better off with Citizen Journalism. So, my team did not win, but we had fun and, honestly, I’m rather relieved!

As I said in the report on the debate outcome, ”I think the audience rightly went with hope for better, over fear about current troubles.

“We want citizen journalism because we hope that it gives us all a voice,” said Dr Rintel.

Reports on my dancing Gangnam Style are still unconfirmed by video or images… ;)

ORIGINAL:

I’ll be taking part in the Inaugural UQ Research Week Great Debate. The topic for this debate is: “We are better off with citizen journalists”.

As UQ News says, the topic is “We are better off with citizen journalists”. Four of the six debaters are from the UQ School of Journalism and Communication, joined by team members from the Global Change Institute and the School of Business.

Myself, Skye Doherty, and Amalia Buckerfield, all from SJC will argue the negative: that we are not better off with citizen journalists because the content they create does not meet any professional standards.

John Cook (GCI), Liam Pomfret (Business), and Carl Smith (SJC) will argue the affirmative: that citizen journalists help to democratize the flow of news.”

The negative position will be interesting to argue, as my personal views tend more toward the affirmative. However, researching for the debate has turned up significant complexity to the argument.

The writer is a psycholopgist, which makes it no surprise that he is a paid up member of the Green/Left. So it is also no surprise that he himself does exactly what he says not to do.

For starters, I was amused by this at the head of his article: “John Cook does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.” We also read: “John Cook, Climate Communication Fellow at University of Queensland”. So he is paid to promote Warmism but that does not bias him? Let me guess that if he were to become a skeptic he would be out on his ear in no time flat.

The essence of his article however is that skeptics cherry pick the evidence whereas noble souls like him do not. Let me mention a couple of cherries that he seems to miss.

He regurgitates the totally hokey “97%” claim. See the sidebar here for a dismantling of that. Just by repeating such a flawed claim he reveals himself as unconcerned with the facts.

He quotes all sorts of climate processes that are allegedly going on but fails to look at the bottom line as given in the header of this blog. And note that the header is a copy of a mainstream Warmist graph. It shows a totally trivial warming. If the warming has been so slight over the last century or more what are we worried about? A temperature change of less than one degree Celsius contrasts vividly with the (say) 10 degrees warming we all experience during the course of a single day, to say nothing of seasonal variations. In the context of normal human experience, the warming observed so far over the last 100 years or is so slight as to be almost undetectable.

And the cook-up man fails to mention that to go from the negligible warming actually observed to something alarming, Warmists have to invent all sorts of unproven and dubious “tipping point” processes that are going to befall us in the vaguely specified future. So he misses the biggest “cherry” of all. He ignores the most crucial point in the whole story. Warmism is prophecy, not fact.

It would be great if he would take his own advice and consider ALL the data and leave the prophecies for those with a paranoid spark

In a previous article on The Conversation, Stephan Lewandowsky asked, why do people reject science? I’m going to take a slightly different angle and consider how people are able to reject climate science in the face of strong evidence.

A growing body of research has found that when a person’s worldview is threatened by scientific evidence, they interpret the science in a biased manner. One issue where this influence is strongest is climate change.

For supporters of an unregulated free market, regulating polluting industries to reduce global warming is so unpalatable that they are far more likely to reject that climate change is happening.

The mechanism by which ideology such as this influences our scientific views is confirmation bias. We place greater weight on evidence that confirms our beliefs, while ignoring or resisting conflicting evidence. This can be a challenge when confronted with a convergence of evidence and a scientific consensus, but confirmation bias is up to the task. Let’s look at some examples.

The most common manifestation of confirmation bias is cherry picking, where one carefully selects a small piece of data that paints a friendly picture and overlooks any inconvenient evidence.

How do we spot cherry picking? It’s important to remember that there is no “their evidence” versus “our evidence”. There is only the full body of evidence.

If someone arrives at a conclusion from carefully selected evidence that contradicts the conclusion drawn from the full body of evidence, that’s cherry picking.

Cherry pickers ignore the fact that our planet is currently building up heat at the stunning rate of around 3 Hiroshima bombs per second. Instead, they focus on short periods of the surface temperature record. This record bounces up and down from year to year as the ocean exchanges heat with the atmosphere, meaning that it’s possible to find any short period during a long-term warming trend where temperatures fall briefly. Meanwhile the planet continues to build up heat – around 250 Hiroshima bombs worth since you started reading this article.

Confirmation bias also influences which sources of information we put our trust in. People tend to attribute greater expertise to people who share their values and beliefs. We’re drawn to those who tell us what we want to hear.

So what happens when 97 out of 100 of climate scientists agree that humans are causing global warming?

Those who reject the scientific consensus lavish their attention on the 3% minority, magnifying their significance and turning a blind eye to the 97% of scientific experts.

More HERE