WASHINGTON-Today, President Obama nominated Mae A. D’Agostino and Judge R. Brooke Jackson to seats on the United States District Court.
 
“Throughout their careers these individuals have shown a dedication to justice,” said President Obama. “I am proud to nominate them to serve the American people from the district court bench.”
 
Mae A. D’Agostino:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
Mae A. D’Agostino is a partner in the law firm of D’Agostino, Krackeler, Maguire & Cardona, P.C. in Menands, New York, where she concentrates in civil defense litigation.  Prior to co-founding her current firm in 1997, she worked at the law firm of Maynard, O’Connor & Smith, where she served as an associate from 1981 to 1984, and as a partner from 1985 to 1997.  Since 1991, she also has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School. D’Agostino received her J.D. in 1980 from Syracuse University College of Law, and her B.A. magna cum laude in 1977 from Siena College.  

Judge R. Brooke Jackson:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Judge R. Brooke Jackson is the Chief Judge of the First Judicial District in Colorado, which covers Jefferson and Gilpin Counties in the Denver area.  He was appointed to the bench in 1998, and named Chief Judge in 2003.  Previously, Judge Jackson spent 26 years practicing at the law firm of Holland & Hart LLP, as an associate from 1972 to 1978 and a partner from 1978 to 1998, where he specialized in environmental, tort, and insurance litigation.  Throughout that time he was based at the firm’s Denver office, except for a two-year period from 1979 to 1981 when he temporarily relocated to open the firm’s office in Washington, D.C.  Judge Jackson received his J.D. in 1972 from Harvard Law School and his A.B. in 1969 from Dartmouth College.

Boston (EE.UU.).- La Universidad de Harvard (Massachusetts, EE.UU.) abre mañana sus puertas a la alta cocina española que, de la mano de Ferrán Adriá y otros grandes chefs, mostrará a los alumnos los secretos culinarios y los procesos químicos que se producen entre fogones.

Adriá será el encargado de inaugurar, con una clase, el curso "Ciencia y cocina. De la alta cocina a la materia condensada blanda", una propuesta de Harvard en colaboración con la Fundación Alicia, que preside el chef catalán junto al cardiólogo Valentí Fuster.

La institución académica, considerada la más prestigiosa del mundo, presenta el programa a sus alumnos como un camino para descubrir, entre fogones y aromas, la complejidad de los fenómenos químicos y físicos.

O en palabras de Adrià, "si hablas de física y de chocolate, la gente lo entiende mejor", señaló a EFE.

Acompañado del profesor de física David A. WeitzWeitz, y su amigo y otrora discípulo, el cocinero afincado en EE.UU. José Andrés, el catalán mostrará sus pioneras técnicas culinarias basadas en la experimentación científica, que le han valido un puesto en la historia de la cocina de vanguardia.

Las enseñanzas continuarán a lo largo de cuatro meses con una comitiva culinaria española, que incluirá a cocineros como Joan Roca y Carme Ruscalleda.

Bajo un estructurado temario que incluye espumas, emulsiones y hasta la física de freír, desglosarán los misterios de sus platos en clases, junto a cerebros científicos de Harvard y expertos gastronómicos de EE.UU. como Bill Yosses, el repostero de la Casa Blanca, y Dan Barber, chef del reconocido restaurante neoyorquino Blue Hill.

La aportación española se completará el miércoles con un debate con el título "La gastronomía del siglo XXI: una materia multidisciplinaria" y el subtítulo "España: Un caso de estudio".

Este evento servirá de foro a Adrià y a otros expertos españoles para exponer sus ideas sobre el mañana de la industria y arte de la cocina.

Pero la visita dará para más. El chef se reunirá con decanos y profesores, y se entrevistará con la presidenta de Harvard, Drew Gilpin Faust, para formalizar colaboraciones futuras.

"Esto es grande", aseguró un Adrià entusiasmado.

La influyente universidad volvió a ser este año la primera en el ránking de universidades de EE.UU., por tercer año consecutivo. Su historia y elitismo la han convertido también en la escuela superior con mayor presupuesto del mundo y el lugar donde ocho presidentes estadounidenses se han educado.

Su reciente interés por la gastronomía española coincide con el avance cada vez más disciplinado de la cocina en el mundo universitario y el hecho de que se una a esta tendencia tendrá, según Adrià, repercusiones.

"Todas la universidades miran a Harvard", apunta.

A nivel personal es un "sueño" y en lo profesional "el primer proyecto" de la nueva etapa de su carrera.

Ese punto de inflexión llegó con el anuncio de que su célebre restaurante, El Bulli, cerrará en 2011 y volverá en 2014 como una fundación con objetivos más allá de la hostelería, una especie de laboratorio del saber gastronómico. Harvard forma parte de ese plan.

"Esto va más allá de la cocina. La cocina es, entre comillas, el hilo conductor", precisa.

En sus contactos con las autoridades de la universidad, el "embajador" de la cocina española les propondrá sus ideas sobre el papel de la educación y la salud en la alimentación del futuro, una de sus mayores inquietudes.

Adrià confiesa que no busca aprender nuevas fórmulas químicas, sino aprender de la actitud de profesionales que identifica con las aspiraciones de su carrera y el fundamento de su cocina.

"Aceptan el fracaso y aman el riesgo. Y eso es algo que tenemos que aprender de ellos", señala.

¿Y qué busca Harvard en él? "Como ellos trabajamos con la creatividad, investigación, innovación. Quieren ver nuestro modo de trabajo, nuestros modelos creativos", explica.

Tanto Harvard como el público estadounidense se han dejado conquistar fácilmente por la cocina española y Adrià. En 2008, una conferencia del cocinero puso el punto y final a un curso de física en esa universidad con una sala abarrotada y un policía en la puerta.

"Se quedaron sorprendidos por la expectación", señaló y al día siguiente ya había un acuerdo para el curso que mañana empieza y que se acompañará de otra demostración pública de su cocina en un auditorio de la escuela. Las entradas ya están agotadas.

Last week there was some grumbling that I didn't answer enough Friday questions. So this week I'm devoting two days to your questions. More answered manana.

Jeff gets it started.

We are big Frasier fans, but we just watch whatever show comes on cable. I never read about Roz - although we like her character a lot. Any stories there?

First off, Peri Gilpin is the sweetest human being on the planet. That has nothing to do with the story but I wanted to say it anyway. One day during the first season after a runthrough I said she looked very comfortable behind that control board. She said, “Well, my dad was in radio.” Being an old radio guy myself I asked who he was. She was sure I had never heard of him. He died quite a few years ago. Still, I wanted to know.

Jim O’Brien.

I was floored. I did know Jim O’Brien. He was program director of KHJ in 1969 and I did an audio documentary for college on the station and spent a day interviewing him. He was a great guy. After KHJ he moved to Philadelphia where in addition to radio he started doing TV weather. He died tragically young in a sky diving accident saving a fellow diver whose chute didn’t open.

One day on KHJ he filled in on the air and I happened to tape the show. I dug up the tape – it was an old musty reel-to-reel, and gave it to Peri the next day. I knew the sound department could figure a way for her to hear it. She was very touched. A couple of days later at runthrough she thanked me again and said it was the first time she had ever actually heard her father on the radio. She was very little when he died.

I have other Peri stories but that’s my favorite.

Dan Brown asks:

What kind of priority was reality in your scripts? How much emphasis was there in keeping things plausible? My biggest pet peeve now with sitcoms is that even some good shows, such as The Office, defy believability. The other night, Dwight punched out Pam's window and tore up the house with a sledgehammer when asked to retrieve an iPod. Uh, sure.) Even in comedy, shouldn't writers ask themselves: Would this really happen?

I can’t speak for that OFFICE episode but personally I think it’s crucial to keep it real (Jesus, I sound like Randy Jackson). On MASH we had medical advisers, on-set nurses, and military advisers just to make sure everything was plausible. And on CHEERS we drank.

But the best comedy comes from reality. If you can believe or better yet, identify with behavior the better your chances of laughing. Characters can act irrational, crazy, weird – anything you want, as long as it’s justified. We joke about actors always needing to know their “motivation” but they do. Rachel Roberts, a wonderful actress on the old TONY RANDALL SHOW once said to us after a scene in rehearsal: “So what’s my motivation? I’m an out patient?” Yo, dawg, keep it real. Know what I'm sayin'?

What’s your question? I try to get to as many as I can. Honest. Really. No, I mean it.

Hank Gilpin: Exploring the American Forest - Fine Woodworking

Serendipity is a word I’d like to use in this sentence (stolen from Dave Barry…). But that’s how the idea for this blog post came out…

Ok so I joined the Fine Woodworking website cuz they have some great content, how-to’s and gobs of other great stuff, like the link above.

I checked it out and was just floored with what Mr Gilpin does and has done with “plain ole” American hardwoods. I like what he said about any wood; that “there is no bad wood”. Any wood is good wood. I also like that he’s made his career out of using native woods in his work; that’s something I’m going to try to do too. Up here in the Evergreen State, we’ve Fir and Pine out the ying yang, but I also know there’s some sweet hardwoods here. Like the incredible quilt and curly maple I keep getting from this wonderful shop in Port Townsend – Forest Gems. I love rummaging thru the cut-offs and rough cut boards he has there (and had no clue before validating their link that he has ANOTHER cache of wood! No FAIR!!!).

This brings up two points. 1 – I need to find a local sawmill (like that’ll be hard here!) and get to know them and what they have. My neighbor works in the forestry biz so I need to pick his brain as to where I can find some local hardwoods. Hemlock, the state tree, is really a soft wood (pretty sure of that, it’s a Fir…) but I wouldn’t mind making some country pine projects/furniture out of that. Or the Shaker style dressers (from Norm Abram’s New Yankee Workshop) I want to make for the boys, that I hope will one day be heirlooms they pass along.

And 2 – Serendipity. After watching Mr Gilpin’s slideshow, I went down into the garage to work on some risers for getting projects up off the workbench during assembly. I had this “nasty” 2×4 that was basically missing two of it’s 4 corners along the length of the board. So I cut off three 2 ft pieces for the risers (planning on cutting on in half to stack on the other two), shaved a 1/4 in off of each side to take them down to 3×1 1/2, but mostly to remove the rounded corners on all dimensional lumber. AND since I just plunked a chunk of my annual bonus from work down on a Rigid planer, I figured I’d try to take the boards down to 1 1/4 in thick. WELL! Got thru the first one and WOW! What beautiful piece of pine that “nasty” 2×4 turned into! I almost don’t want to use it for the risers…but I will. Won’t paint them tho. I have some Tung Oil left from when I built the workbench, so I’ll use that to show off the wood.

So, ya. I’m a Native wood woodworker, and I doubt there will be even a stack of fire wood I won’t walk by and see something I want to take home and work :)

The following five news stories are the ones that I felt were the most talked and written about in 2009. I didn't do any sort of formal poll or research to come up with these results--I just chose the ones that I heard the most about over the course of the year. For a more technically-chosen list, check out the top 10 stories of the year chosen by the AP.

5. Billy Gillispie / John Calipari

UK fans certainly talked a lot at the end of the basketball season about the firing of Billy Gillispie and hiring of John Calipari as his replacement. The fact that this and the Pitino scandal are at the top of the list of news stories in 2009 shows just how much we love basketball here in Kentucky.

4. Slots at Churchill Downs

In 2009, we tried to get slot machines into Churchill Downs, again. This time the rumor was that the track was going to go under if the bill didn't pass. Of course, that didn't happen. Instead, Churchill Downs came up with a new way to get people to come out and wager on the horses--Downs after Dark.

3. The Jason Stinson Trial

Though Max Gilpin died in 2008, Jason Stinson wasn't arraigned until January of 2009. Thus, Stinson's trial was definitely one of the most reported upon local events of the year. The trial was one that really affected members of our community, with passionate feelings on both sides of the guilty/not guilty table.

2. More Natural Disasters

It seems we've had an abundance of natural disasters in Louisville over the last two years. Last year it was an earthquake and a hurricane, and this year we had an ice storm in January and a flood in August. Maybe 2010 will bring mild weather to Kentuckiana.

1. Rick Pitino / Karen Sypher

Of course number one has to be the Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher debacle. It seems like the gossip and reporting on this topic went on every day for the entire year. After a while, it started to feel like the city was more concerned about Pitino and Sypher's relationship than Pitino's wife was.

Read More:
Top 10 New Louisville Attractions of the Decade

Louisville's Top News Stories of 2009 originally appeared on About.com Louisville on Monday, December 28th, 2009 at 12:09:57.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University's law school will stop offering a year of free tuition to students who go into public service law after graduation, Law School Dean Martha Minow announced this week.

Minow said in an e-mail Monday to staff, students and faculty that the school will suspend its Public Service Initiative for future incoming classes.

The university suffered investment losses while also seeing more students than expected look for public service jobs, school officials said.

"We remain committed to this program for current students despite the economic downturn, but we are not likely to extend it to future incoming classes," Minow wrote.

Currently enrolled students remain eligible for the program, she said.

Launched in 2008, the program waived tuition for third-year law students who agreed to work in public interest law for five years after graduation. Official said the program forgave part of students' tuition during the program's first two years, and is scheduled to forgive the full $40,000 in tuition during its final two years.

It served about 80 third-year students each year, official said.

Lonnie Powers, executive director of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp., which funds legal aid programs for low-income Massachusetts residents, called the suspension "another blow" for organizations that provide legal assistance.

"It's unfortunate. This decision, however understanding it might be, will affect legal aid groups," said Powers. "It was a way to get students interested in public interest law."

Powers said some Harvard Law students also might have considered public interest law because big law firms have cut back on hiring students or postponed their start dates.

According to a recent American Lawyer survey of the nation's top 200 law firms, 40 percent had reduced starting pay for their associates, and 44 percent are considering cuts next year.

Minow also announced that the school will cut per-student funding for summer public interest work but will expand loan repayment assistance for students and alumni. She said she has appointed a task force to investigate other ways the school could promote public interest law to future incoming classes.

The school's funding adjustments come after the dean of Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced last month that he would reduce the number of professors to help balance a $110 million deficit.

Harvard has slashed about 275 jobs and made other cost-cutting moves this year.

Harvard's largest-in-the-nation endowment shrunk nearly $11 billion in fiscal 2009 from a high of $36.9 billion.

Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust has said that 38 percent of the Harvard budget is drawn from endowment income, so its $11 billion loss this past fiscal year had broad impact on the school's finances.