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How To Hit A Draw Part 4: Downswing Master The Lateral Slide To Start Your Downswing Hit A Draw Downswing Photos 1-2Now that the backswing is tidied up we begin our downswing, but what important things need to happen so we can trace our grid and also make a solid strike to hit a draw? We hear a lot about “clearing our hips” in the downswing,” when in fact most golfers who struggle to hit a draw have too much turn in the beginning stages of the swing. The best golfers in the world don't get to the top of their backswing and then immediately start turning the upper body as rapidly as possible, as in Photo 1; they actually move their hips laterally towards the target (Photo 2). When a golfer allows the hips to move laterally in the direction of the target, he is actually making sure the low point of their swing is not behind the ball but rather in front of the ball to ensure a ball-first strike. He also ensures that the path of the club is in-to-out to strike the ball and create a draw, whereas rotating will rapidly shift their path across the ball creating a slice (Photo 3). The best part of this motion is that you aren't eliminating your turn, you are merely slowing it down. The golfer who has the most amount of hip slide forward will tend to have the most in-to-out swing path and the most draw; conversely the golfer with the most turn and least amount of forward slide will have the most out-to-in swing. Hit A Draw Downswing Photos 3-4This drill is a great way to get golfers to feel how much slide is necessary to keep the path of the club moving in to out to generate a draw. 1. Start by grabbing a short to mid iron and setting up a golf ball in the standard address position (Photo 4). 2. Then proceed to make a backswing where you keep BOTH arms nice and straight to about waist height. 3. From here you will push or slide your hips laterally so they feel like they are moving well in front of the golf ball. After feeling this motion repeat this drill but strike your golf ball. Notice how the strike will be ball first on the small swings and the ball should have some small amount of right to left draw on them. Continue doing the drill until you feel confident to make the swing larger. As the swing gets larger you will notice the “turn” or “clearing of the hips” in the downswing is still happening but it's occurring much later than before! How To Hit A Draw Part 1 How To Hit A Draw Part 2 How To Hit A Draw Part 3 How To Hit A Draw Part 5 Leave a Reply
[CDT-L] your reply Earl, while your response that it's been a low snow year in NM is good news for him in one way, it doesn't bode well for NM water sources in general, getting to the Santa Fe and Carson. I don't think WY will be quite like that... Message from the Continental Divide Trail Mailing List To: [email protected]
The Oneworld alliance has gained the support of California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in its application for antitrust immunity status, or ATI. But has the Governator seen this issue from the travelers’ side? During the past year (actually for years), British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, Finnair and Royal Jordanian have been seeking ATI status which would allow the airlines to work more closely together and bypass monopoly laws in the U.S. Should they gain ATI approval, they would be able to work together on scheduling and pricing in a deal that would also involve revenue sharing. While the other alliances, Star and SkyTeam, have alliances already approved, the Oneworld alliance evidently is asking for a bit more antitrust immunity than that given the other players. Not only will they have a stranglehold on London Heathrow, the busiest Europe hub for transatlantic flights, but they want stronger powers to negotiate with suppliers and agents. At least that is what I gather from hearsay remarks. The full details of their application are not publicly known, since their application for ATI has been shrouded in secrecy. During this month of “sunshine” in government, the Oneworld filings with the Department of Transportation (DOT) are still heavily “redacted.” Reporters and consumer advocates are not allowed to view their comments sent along with their request for antitrust immunity. Only lawyers who promise secrecy can take a peek at what AA, BA, Iberia and their friends are are asking for. Schwarzenegger urged the DOT to approve the airlines’ application, which would “allow them to compete with the Star and SkyTeam alliances, which already have broad antitrust immunity for transatlantic flights.” Since he is not a lawyer and his lawyers are not allowed to pass along the information under secrecy provisions imposed by DOT and Oneworld, I can’t imagine how he knows that the immunity requested by Oneworld is the same as that already granted to Star and SkyTeam. His assertions that the alliance antitrust immunity “will positively impact the air travel industry” by offering customers more service, scheduling and pricing options and “will help ensure that they continue to benefit from having three competitive air alliances,” flies in the face of growing concerns at the Department of Justice and the DOT as well as with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Basically, because of the effective creation of an oligolopy through the formation of three main airline alliances, consumers are now getting less choice, higher prices, more difficult baggage transfers, uncertain service, confusing information on airline ticketing and a falloff in competition between not only the different alliances, but between the members of each alliance. All of these improvements are rendered under the guise of more customer service facilitated by antitrust immunity, joint airline club memberships and lots of frequent flier miles spread among alliance partners to make passengers think they are getting a good deal. Arnold, please take another look at these airline alliances and get on the side of the airline passengers and their pocketbooks. Terminate your airline support.
Take the 2-minute tour × We have a "central" git repo containing all sorts of conf files. We have 5 servers that have the repo cloned. I've cloned the repo on my local machine. I want to be able to make changes locally, push to the central repo and then have it automatically push down to the repos on the servers. Iow, make a change locally, commit, push and the change is visible everywhere else. Any ideas? share\|improve this question 1 Answer 1 You can configure the execution of a script that connect to every server and issue a git pull on the post-update hook in the central repository. Or you can simply use cron to do a git pull every 15 minutes on all the servers. share\|improve this answer Your Answer
Part 1 Date: September 18, 1944 Details: American forces reach the Siegfried Line of western Germany two days ago. A special ops team infiltrated a secret underground bunker 5 miles behind the enemy's lines. A number of ranking military officials and top scientists were captured. Operation Clown Face is now returning to Allied held territory. Pvt. Dan Shercom sat atop his recon jeer and stared into the wooded area he had parked the jeep in front of. Major Estmen had told him to be in this spot at midnight and to wait there until he was told to come back. Dan just thought this was punishment for putting a poison berry into Gunner's food. So he had sat there for hours. Dan checked his watch. 2:00am. Damn, how long did he have to stay out here? Dan's gaze suddenly snapped to the woods. Someone was coming through toward him. Dan jumped down behind the jeep, after grabbing his cricket and his Thompson. He clicked the cricket twice, the sign that he was American. He immediately heard another two clicks from the person in the woods. Dan looked over the edge of the jeep. The rustling grew louder and Dan saw something. A figure dressed in complete black clothing bust from the woods at full speed, ran straight for the jeep and jumped behind it beside Dan. The figure removed his helmet. Underneath was a 23 year old man. He looked exhausted, like he had been running for hours. "Water," croaked the man. Dan pulled out his cantin and gave it to the man. The man drank. He finished the whole cantin without stopping for air. When he had finished he looked at Dan. "Get me to your commander, right now." "Yes sir," said Dan. Dan helped the man into the passenger side of the jeep then jumped into the driver seat and started the engine. They drove in silence, save for the drone of the jeep's engine. Dan parked right in front of the barn that served as the Allies' command center. Dan jumped out and helped the man out of his seat and into the building. A young lieutenant sat at the reception desk. "We need to see Major Estmen right away! "shouted Dan. "What's the meaning of this Shercom? The Major is on priority communiqué with Colonel Yets. You'll have to wait." The man in black seemed to regain some of his strength because he shoved Dan away then socked the lieutenant right in the jaw, dropping him to the floor. "Listen you fucking moron, the information I have must get to General Eisenhower now, it could make or brake our war effort," said the man. With that, he kicked the lieutenant in the stomach and marched into the office. Major Estmen was sitting behind his desk talking to someone on a phone, Colonel Yets probably. Major Estmen looked up at the intruder in alarm, then calmed. "Sir, I have an emergence, I'll call you back," said Estmen. Then he hung up the phone and looked at the man. "What news do you have for me Lyell?" said Estmen. "We failed sir."
Far Away, So Close Last year Tag Purvis lost three of his best friends to AIDS-related illnesses. They now appear in one part of Purvis's film installation, Devil or Angel, at the South Florida Art Center's Ground Level Gallery on Lincoln Road: images of two men and one woman projected onto sheets of translucent material that hangs behind three wooden chairs placed on a small white platform. The chairs are visible through the fabric, and the projected film portraits of the artist's departed companions appear to be sitting on them, as Purvis's friends bend and gesture like spirits enjoying a spectral visit. Purvis has written lines from the Tennyson poem "Sweet and Low," about a seafaring man coming home to his family. across the front of the fabric screens. "This whole thing is about acceptance," says Purvis, referring to the piece, which includes two other installations that feature 16mm film images. In the past Purvis, who grew up in Meridian, Mississippi, eating mutton and grits for breakfast and playing in his mother's azalea garden, has focused on the constricting traditions of Southern culture. His short films Peas N Corn and Sweet N Sour were inspired by his Aunt Peggy and other female relatives whose lives revolve around the kitchen and the beauty parlor. More recent Purvis works have explored aspects of growing up gay in the U.S. Last spring, for example, he filmed interviews with homosexual student couples at Harvey Milk High School in New York City. Another project, America the Beautiful -- an eight-minute film loop of two men kissing -- caused controversy on Lincoln Road when Purvis projected it onto the storefront window of his studio. Purvis's films have always been based on personal experience. But for this show, in which he shares the gallery space with multimedia artist Christine Tamblyn, he felt the need to do a piece that was directly autobiographical -- specifically, to create a work about his being HIV-positive. "Maybe there's a reason for this, why I've been here so long," says the 32-year-old Purvis, who found out about his condition eight years ago but has remained healthy nonetheless. "It's time to deal with it in my work." For another element of the piece, two American flags are projected onto another piece of sheer fabric in a continuous film loop; meanwhile "The Star Spangled Banner" plays. As one listens to the music, the sounds of two men having sex become clear in the background. "Accepting this disease meant accepting it on a lot of different levels," explains Purvis. Dressed in jeans and a Tammy Wynette T-shirt, he sits in his current second-floor studio on Lincoln Road. "I've always felt very American. I'm very patriotic and the whole stigma attached to this [AIDS] in this country is very hard. I've also had to accept the way that I got the virus, which was 'the wrong way' -- having sex with a man -- if there is a wrong way. This part of the piece for me was about accepting that you're a gay American with the disease." Elsewhere in the gallery, Purvis projects an image of himself, naked, in a fetal position. Bathed in an orange light that creates a liquidlike effect, his body rotates in a circle, appears to fall, and then bobs back up again. The film is shown on a fabric screen printed with the words "Accept that all things given are a gift to you and part of your learning process." The filmmaker notes, "These embryos sort of represent me as preparing mentally and physically to go. It's a realization that it's all okay." He adds that after the death of his friend Lori in April, he went through what he calls a spiritual awakening and was able to come to terms with the illness, to talk about it: "It was the last bit of oomph. I said it's over with all that avoidance and anger." Now Purvis says he is even thankful for the changes the virus has imposed on him. "When someone finds out about this [being HIV-positive], it sets a lot of changes in place, but often those changes are for the better," he points out. "It seems to me it makes a lot of people's hearts grow." In the back half of the exhibition space, Christine Tamblyn dissects the lives of ten legendary women -- Josephine Baker, Simone de Beauvoir, Catherine the Great, Colette, Marie Curie, Marlene Dietrich, Isadora Duncan, Frida Kahlo, Margaret Mead, and Gertrude Stein -- in Mistaken Identities, an interactive CD-ROM displayed on a Macintosh computer terminal. Each of these popular female role models is introduced via a virtual gallery of photographic portraits. A page of text, illustrated with a Quicktime movie image in the upper lefthand corner, reveals some standard information about the subject A for example, "Josephine Baker became the highest paid chorus girl in the world." This leads to a "room" where any of six sections can be selected by clicking on icons located on a shelf: a TV, a photo album, a book, et cetera. Clicking on a freestanding doll beside the shelf takes the viewer to the next woman's story. Entering the section called "Timeline" reveals a screen with ten chains -- or charm bracelets -- of small bright-colored drawings. Clicking on the pictures on each chain will reveal significant episodes in the lives of each of the ten women. Under the category heads "Birth," "Dilemma," "Career," "Scandal," and "Death," Tamblyn details the subjects' rises and falls, homosexual and heterosexual affairs, tragic accidents, penchant for cross-dressing, nervous breakdowns, drug addictions, "bizarre domestic arrangements," "eccentric eating habits," and so on. These anecdotes, incorporating text and Quicktime movie sequences, can be experienced chronologically, following the life of each woman, or randomly, by making selections from each category. Other sections include "Scrapbook," in which readings from the subjects' autobiographical writings are combined with informal snapshots, and "TV Movies," which offers clips from documentaries and commercial films about the women. In different sections of the program, Tamblyn acts as both narrator and commentator on the women's behavior (in portions of "Timeline," she is seen rolling her eyes or mopping her brow), acknowledging the subjective influence of any biographer on someone else's life story. As the viewer experiences the information relayed on the CD-ROM through text, pictures, and video, the stories of these individuals soon start to overlap and intertwine, establishing representational patterns for the archetypal heroine. What first seems a compendium of biographical notes on these historical, intellectual, and cultural figures ultimately emerges as a commentary on how society has manipulated their images at different points in history. Tamblyn purposefully has chosen women working in traditionally masculine arenas, women who in their day were perceived as "difficult," women later adopted as feminist role models and glorified by the mainstream media. "These women have been made to symbolize certain qualities and to be seen as good girls or bad girls," notes Tamblyn as she demonstrates the CD-ROM in her apartment on South Beach. "I wanted to not necessarily contradict that, but to subvert it and have there be other layers at the same time." Take Marlene Dietrich. "I was interested in showing that the Hollywood studios sort of marketed her as the ideal wife and mother," Tamblyn explains. "She's actually this very ambiguously gendered woman: She had lesbian and heterosexual affairs. There's a lot about cross-dressing and bisexuality throughout this work. Also they were enslaved by a particular man and then they escaped that situation. Like Colette, who was forced to write by her husband, who literally locked her in the apartment and made her produce these novels and didn't give her any royalties. She wanted to get away, but she didn't have any money. So she studied mime and had this alternative career in the theater, and that's how she escaped his control. "Mainly what I tried to show was how these women's strategy for survival was to constantly reinvent themselves," she continues. "In a way, they were trying to resist being stereotyped or being put into constraining roles. They are still role models, but I'm bringing out different lessons that aren't the accepted lessons. Basically they have to do with strategies for survival in an extremely hostile social context." In her work as a performance artist, videomaker, and writer for art magazines and feminist journals since the late Seventies, Tamblyn frequently has dealt with issues of gender politics. Her first CD-ROM, She Loves It/She Loves It Not: Women and Technology (exhibited this past spring at Miami-Dade Community College's Centre Gallery), explores ways in which women have been excluded from gaining technological knowledge. That work, one of the winning entries in the "New Voices, New Visions" digital art contest cosponsored by the New York-based Voyager Corporation, is included on a new CD-ROM produced by Voyager. Tamblyn, who moved to Miami from San Francisco last year, teaches computer art and art theory courses at FIU. She is one of the few Americans currently working with CD-ROMs as an artistic medium. "It's like writing a book -- it's very detail-oriented, organizational, tedious work, which doesn't fit the temperament of a lot of artists," she asserts. "It's difficult because the software is so new there's always bugs in it. It's all trial and error." While Tamblyn admits that Mistaken Identities, which is on sale at the gallery, is best experienced on a one-to-one basis on a home computer, she feels that exhibiting her work on a viewer station in a gallery or museum allows a diverse audience to experience the work, rather than limiting its scope to computer aficionados or owners. "What I like about the gallery situation is that it's more democratic," the artist says. "I think my work can be judged much better within sort of a mainstream art context, because the ideas that go into it are much more ideas that come out of postmodern theory than from Radio Shack or Popular Electronics. Sponsor Content
Take the 2-minute tour × I wanna know that is there's a way, by which we can generate a unique hardware hash of particular machine? The hash should be unique to the machine and hash should be different even two machines are of same configuration. Is it possible? share\|improve this question What do you need this for? – starblue Jul 24 '11 at 13:41 2 Answers 2 You could use the MAC address of eth0 (assuming this exists on each machine). You can get that on its own (there may be a simpler way) with this: ifconfig eth0 \| grep HWaddr \| awk '{ print $NF}' \| sed 's/://g' That will give you something like 6cf04954aaaa. These are supposed to be unique but they're not always. If all your network hardware comes from the same manufacturer, you might find some crossover, so be careful with it. Failing that, you could generate your own unique string and store it in /etc/computer-id (or another path of your choosing). uuidgen -r Will generate something as random as possible eg: 52a85807-35fe-409e-8983-87eb58c02ece uuidgen -t Uses time and eth0's MAC to make something like: eb8280dc-b5ec-11e0-90dd-6cf04954aaaa Both are fairly unique but, as with anything random, there is always the possibility of a clash. Keep a central list to avoid problems like this. share\|improve this answer Although in the case of the randomly-generated UUID, the probability of a clash is so small that it is never going to happen in the foreseeable lifetime of the universe (excepting any major bugs in the random-number implementation). – TooManyKooks Jul 24 '11 at 13:03 @OrbWeaver Well that's the thing about random... It's not sequential. A clash might happen in a hundred years but it might happen the very next run. – Oli Jul 24 '11 at 14:25 Yes, it could happen, but the probability is so low that it is effectively zero for all practical purposes. The entire point of using UUIDs is that they can be generated without a central authoritative list; if you are going to use this anyway you might as well just allocate numbers sequentially from 1. Whether any of this is relevant though depends on the asker's requirements: he might want a hash that is deterministically based on the hardware rather than randomly generated. – TooManyKooks Jul 24 '11 at 16:52 The simplest solution I could think of is: sudo dmidecode -s system-uuid According to the manual page of dmidecode, this data is retrieved from the Desktop Management Interface which has something to do with the BIOS. It cannot be changed. I tested this command on two machines with the same hardware and the result is different as expected from the name system-uuid, so it can actually be used as unique hardware hash. share\|improve this answer This can be similarly wobbly as MAC addresses on their own. My system-UUID is 00000000-0000-0000-0000-6CF04954AAAA (lots of zeros followed by my MAC address). I'm sure some manufacturers do do this better but Gigabyte seem to be idiots at times. If they did this for all their motherboards, there's only ~17Million combinations and I can all but guarantee they've made more motherboards than that - there will be clashes somewhere. – Oli Jul 24 '11 at 12:16 @Oli: now you mention it, on my system it's like 12345678-ABCD-0000-0000-000000000000 (MAC followed by zeroes). – Lekensteyn Jul 24 '11 at 12:19 You wouldn't have thought generating a 128-bit number (it's not even that, as they get the first two bytes generated for them as their manufacturing ID) wouldn't be too hard... They could have even done it sequentially. Can't believe how lazy some are. – Oli Jul 24 '11 at 12:23 For those who are wondering: changing the MAC address does not affect system-uuid. – Lekensteyn Jul 24 '11 at 12:23 @Oli I did, but that can be changed. Randomness is not an unique hardware hash. – Lekensteyn Jul 24 '11 at 12:26 Your Answer
The Official Website of DePaul University Athletics DePaul Men's Tennis Finishes Sixth at BIG EAST Championship Freshman Sten Leusink capped a 3-0 weekend, providing the Blue Demons sole point at third singles. April 21, 2013 SOUTH BEND, Ind. - DePaul men's tennis got another win from freshman Sten Leusink and finished in sixth-place at the BIG EAST Men's Tennis Championship on Sunday, falling 4-1 to St. John's in the tournament's fifth-place match. The Blue Demons (6-18) surpassed their seed, placing sixth after receiving a seven seed to begin the tournament and nearly knocked off eventual runner-up Louisville in the opening round. A win over No. 6 Villanova pushed DePaul into the fifth-place match against No. 9 St. John's. The Red Storm continued their surprising tournament, taking both doubles matches to lock up an early 1-0 lead before going up 3-0 with wins at second and fourth singles. DePaul got a point back at the three, where Leusink remained undefeated (3-0) in his first trip to the BIG EAST Championship. A hard fought three-setter at first singles decided the match, as St. John's clinched the win and fifth-place at the tournament. The Blue Demons also had leads in fifth and sixth singles when play was stopped due to the match-deciding point being won. St. John’s 4, DePaul 1 Apr 21, 2013 at (South Bend Racquet Club) Singles competition 1. Vasko Mladenov (SJU) def. Filip Dzanko (DEP) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 2. Valentin Mihai (SJU) def. Mathias Hambach (DEP) 6-2, 6-1 3. Sten Leusink (DEP) def. Hugo Morth (SJU) 6-7 (0-7), 6-1, 6-3 4. Mike Lampa (SJU) def. Jan-Willem Feilzer (DEP) 6-4, 6-4 5. Kyle Johnson (DEP) vs. Mark Mozer (SJU) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 3-0 DNF 6. Micael-John Every (SJU) vs. Paul John (DEP) 7-5, 4-6, 4-1 DNF Doubles Competition 1. Filip Dzanko/Sten Leusink (DEP) vs. Mike Lampa/Valentin Mihai (SJU) 8-8 DNF 2. Vasko Mladenov/Hugo Morth (SJU) def. Mathias Hambach/Jan-Willem Feilzer (DEP) 8-4 3. Michael-John Every/Mark Mozer (SJU) def. Adam Reinhart/Paul John (DEP) 9-7 Match Notes St. John’s 5-15 DePaul 6-18 Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,4,3,1)
5 Ways You Unintentionally Stress Yourself Out Alt Text: 5 Ways You Make Yourself Stress Out and How to Reduce Stress Title Text: 5 Ways You Unintentionally Stress Yourself Out Every time you experience stress, pressure is put on the adrenal glands, which then pump adrenaline into your bloodstream. The thing is, constant stress can lead to problems like chronic fatigue, weight gain, weakened immunity, and a shorter lifespan. The good thing is that the majority of life's daily stresses can be reduced with proper awareness, practice, and discipline. See what little things you are doing every day that unintentionally stress your body out, and find out how you can relax in these moments. 1. Running late to work: If you hit the snooze button every day, chances are you are scrambling to make up lost time. Hurrying through breakfast or skipping out on it altogether wreaks havoc on your digestive system and blood sugar levels. Rushing to get out the door can leave you frazzled, messy, and forgetful, especially when it comes to the important things like keys, your wallet, or umbrella. How to relax: The night before, put out everything you need for the following day; keep the most important items near the front door. If you are consistently 15 minutes late every morning, set your alarm back the same amount of time. Make sure to sit down for breakfast, allowing yourself 30 minutes to eat. Try these recipes for make-ahead breakfasts. 2. Stressful thinking: Sometimes our thoughts make the world a more stressful place than it is. What is actually a manageable list of tasks can seem unconquerable to the mind. When the noggin starts churning, it's hard to step back and look at the full picture. How to relax: If you find yourself caught in a stressful thought, pay attention to your facial expressions and breathing. Relax your face, close your eyes, and take a long full inhale. Bring yourself back to reality and the present moment and create a plan, mapping out your steps and timeline for completion. 3. A cluttered, messy house: Entering or waking up to a messy house can be exhausting because your mind is subconsciously stressed by the thought of cleaning and organizing it (hence, why we always procrastinate). How to relax: Tidying will help calm you down because once your house is clean, you won't be tied to the mess or feel anxious about it. Rather than putting off your cleaning for weeks (maybe months), tackle it immediately. This will free you to exert energy on other tasks. 4. Avoiding a workout: Sometimes work and other obligations make you pressed for time. The first thing that usually goes is your workout routine. Even a few days of avoiding the gym can make you feel guilty and stressed about not taking care of your body, and can lead to illness. When you are sick, your body shuts down to force you to pay attention to it. How to relax: Find a time during your day that you can commit to 90 percent of the time ‹ even if that means squeezing a 20-minute workout session during your lunch break. People who exercise five times a week or more are 40 percent less likely to catch a cold. 5. No bedtime regime: Often times, frazzled, stressed people try to decompress by drinking wine and sitting in front of the TV all night. Alcohol and technology actually interfere with your body's ability to rest and sleep soundly. You might also toss and turn for a few hours continuing to play over stresses you are currently facing. How to relax: Get offline, turn off the TV, and take the time to decompress organically. Whether your routine includes a warm bath, an hour of reading, or journaling your feelings, spend at least 30 minutes actively prepping your body for sleep. Read More From FitSugar: To Boost Immunity When Stress Is High, Follow These Tips Simple Tips to Reduce Workday Stress 5 Ways to Be Healthy During Your Commute 55 shared this comments powered by Disqus
The Evolution of NATO: the 2010 Strategic Concept and Beyond May 21, 2010 // 9:00am5:00pm Event Co-sponsors: Cold War International History Project History and Public Policy Program The first panel offered views on NATO's mission from both sides of the Atlantic. Former US ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, began by stating that at the end of the Cold War in 1989 this previously successful institution was "shocked" first by the collapse of the bipolar world and subsequently by the September 2001 terrorist attacks. NATO was unprepared to deal with either event. Nevertheless, NATO has been more active since 1995 than it had been since its inception. For the first time, NATO assumed operational roles (beginning with the intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina), built partnerships with non-member countries (such as Georgia, Russia and Ukraine) and accepted twelve new members. Today, leaders must explain and justify the purpose and scope of NATO's activities in new ways. Jamie Shea, director of policy planning in the Office of the NATO Secretary General, pointed out that the group of experts who drafted the new Strategic Concept sought bridge the divides that have appeared within the alliance by re-affirming the core values of NATO, such as the collective defense commitment outlined in Article 5, by emphasizing a continued reliance on a mix on nuclear and conventional forces, by reasserting NATO's "open-door policy," and by confirming existing partnerships with non-member states and other international institutions. He noted that NATO faces a new reality in which it "needs to be a lot more things to a lot more people today to continue to have the commitment of our member states." The second panel addressed a series of non-traditional security challenges facing the alliance. Peter Liotta, of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, led the debate about the new security environment by presenting a series of maps. Dramatic changes in the contours of these maps, due to rapid population growth, urbanization, drastic differences in levels of development, desertification, and the melting of the polar ice caps, create an acute need for a shift in "mental maps," and ways of thinking about risks and vulnerabilities. Current Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow Stacy Closson discussed energy security both as a risk and as an issue that sharpens the divides between NATO allies. Specifically, she explained that while some see Russia as an "energy empire," which is using energy as a weapon, others view Moscow as simply doing business, according to market principles. Her research shows that, despite fears expressed by the Central European and the Baltic states, Russia has not been particularly effective at wielding energy policy as a weapon, and has clear interests in providing an uninterrupted supply of energy to its NATO partners. Furthermore, changes in the market (such as increased use of renewable energy sources, diversification in sources of liquefied natural gas and other alternative energy sources) are weakening Russia's position as the primary energy supplier to Europe. Marko Mihkelson, chair of the EU Affairs Committee and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, discussed the affects of the April 2007 cyber attack on Estonia. He recounted how the cyber attack crippled various aspects of Estonia's infrastructure, including official government websites, banking, and external communication. Mihkelson characterized the attack as having "very precise timing" and being "unusually well-coordinated and [requiring] resources not available to common people." He proposed the following pillars as the foundation for future cyber security policy: increasing awareness of cyber security; determining a common definition of the internet; developing a more unified cyber culture online; and building public-private partnerships at the international level to better defend cyberspace and respond to potential attacks. The final speaker on this panel addressed the issues of nuclear weapons and non-proliferation. Kestutis Paulauskas, lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, noted that NATO today, with respect to nuclear weapons, has almost completely disarmed, compared with the number of weapons and their delivery systems which the alliance possessed during the Cold War. Rapid disarmament, however, has failed to prevent proliferation: although there are now far fewer nuclear weapons, many more countries possess such arms (or are on the brink of acquiring them.) Debates continue regarding the necessity of NATO's nuclear weapons, given that the security climate has changed dramatically since 1999. Paulauskas suggested that NATO's nuclear weapons remain necessary as a deterrent, especially given some countries' tireless pursuit of nuclear weapons. By contrast, the speaker argued, Russia's continued reliance on nuclear weapons does not pose a major threat to its neighbors, but is fed in part by Moscow's desire to "preserve the remnants of their great power feeling." The luncheon speaker, Janis Eichmanis, the Latvian ambassador to NATO, highlighted the fact that the complexity characteristic of the modern world necessitates a comprehensive approach by NATO and other international organizations. To that end, the ambassador praised the renewed leadership role assumed by the United States in the international arena. He also noted that the existing and emerging challenges can be addressed effectively only through collaboration between states. In the speaker's view, various elements should guide NATO's evolution, including: a continued commitment to Article 5; initiatives aimed at augmenting members' defense capabilities; and preventive engagement to counteract fragile and failing states. In short, Ambassador Eichmanis suggested that the alliance become "smarter, more agile, more comprehensive, and more strategic." The keynote speaker, Dr. Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State and chair of the NATO Group of Experts that drafted the 2010 Strategic Concept, explained that the recommendations issued by the Group were guided by NATO's ongoing duty to guarantee the safety and security of its members and by its responsibility to engage with countries outside its borders. While reaffirming the centrality of collective defense to NATO's identity and purpose, the Secretary argued that "these measures are not sufficient" to counter diverse threats the alliance is likely to face through 2020. To this end, the Experts' report contains several recommendations, including the need for NATO to improve its ability to engage in partnerships with other countries. Albright cautioned against NATO "going everywhere and doing everything." Instead, the Group's report suggested that NATO devise criteria for committing resources to operations outside its borders. She also advocated the increased use of consultations among members under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty and improved public diplomacy efforts to ensure the alliance's long-term financial and political viability. The final panel addressed how the Strategic Concept will help to build NATO's institutional capacity as an actor on the world stage. Gulnur Aybet of the University of Kent began by discussing the purpose and challenges encountered by past strategic concepts as well as those likely to be faced by the latest iteration of the document. Aybet argued that while NATO was able to execute effectively early post-Cold War grand strategy, in the aftermath of 9/11 the shift from collective security to collective defense had presented a challenge to the alliance. She identified operationalization as one of the main challenges to implementing the Group of Experts' recommendations, and proposed that NATO take Russia's proposals seriously; clarify the guidelines governing NATO's out-of-area engagement; make better use of Article 4; and focus on public diplomacy in order to ensure strong public support for alliance endeavors. Christopher Chivvis of RAND commented on NATO's future role in the European security architecture. Chivvis posited that the existing security infrastructure ably addresses transnational threats, fragile states in Europe and on its periphery, and the prevention of conventional and nuclear war. However, by doing so, NATO isolates Russia, which limits the international community's ability to deal with the above issues comprehensively. Therefore, Chivvis suggested that the main challenge is to integrate Russia into the present security architecture, which is a proposition not entirely devoid of controversy. Nevertheless, recent developments in Russian foreign policy seem to suggest that Moscow is considering adopting a more benign view of NATO. If true, this has the potential to allow Russia and NATO to address issues of mutual interest in the long term. Igor Zevelev, of the MacArthur Foundation's Moscow office, provided an overview of the recent positive developments in NATO-Russia relations, and suggested steps to improve ties. The recent decision to label Russia a "stakeholder" in European and international security, Moscow's call for a new chapter in NATO-Russia relations, and the Group of Experts' identification of concrete areas of cooperation with Moscow were highlighted as positive steps. The speaker highlighted the construction of a joint air traffic control system as an area of cooperation between Moscow and Brussels. Zevelev expressed concern over the planned deployment of elements of European ballistic missile defense in countries bordering Russia. Thus, although NATO has expressed an interest in improving relations with Russia, Moscow is hesitant to engage pending stylistic and contextual changes in Brussels' approach. The conference was closed by Stephen J. Flanagan, senior vice president and Henry A. Kissinger Chair at CSIS who discussed several recommendations of the Group of Experts' report that dealt with the institutional reform of NATO. Specifically, Flanagan argued that the threats now facing NATO are "gray area threats" that are likely to originate "from the south and the east, from wider global security problems." In order to better address such novel threats, Flanagan recommended that the alliance streamline its decision-making and adopt an integrated civil-military approach to its command and control structures. Echoing the recommendation of the Group of Experts that NATO increase consultations under Article 4, Flanagan suggested the alliance adopt this mechanism in order to stem the security concerns of East European and Baltic states, as well as to augment the alliance's response capabilities to a potential security or environmental challenge. The speaker closed by re-affirming the importance of maintaining existing ties and engaging in new partnerships to NATO's mission of protecting its members and ensuring its interests. Drafted by Elizabeth Zolotukhina, Program Assistant, European Studies Christian Ostermann, Director, European Studies Event Speakers List: • Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, NATO • Samuel Wells // HAPP Scholar Back to top Experts & Staff • Emily R. Buss // Program Assistant Wilson Center Photo Gallery Browse or share photos from the Wilson Center’s events. To Attend an Event Unless otherwise noted:
View Full Version : Powerpoint slowing down my system? 04-05-2004, 02:58 AM Good day everyone, I have a PC running Win98. Sometimes (only sometimes) the system gets slower and slower till it comes to a complete crrraaaawwwl. Not able to take it anymore, I restart the system. Then I get a window that says "powerpoint.exe is still running... blablabla" and it stops there. I have to manually click "End Now" then the PC will continue its rebooting. My question is, why does powerpoint act that way when I have closed the program proper? Ctrl+Alt+Del does not show any powerpoint programs running. And this is always preceeded by a super slowdown in my system performance. Please advise... 04-05-2004, 04:00 AM Sounds Like disk caching Powerpoint is using up so much of your drive space for Virtual memory That your running out of free space 04-05-2004, 04:02 AM Yes sir, I suspect that's what's happening. Can you suggest anything I can do? Or can anyone, for that matter? 04-05-2004, 10:13 AM What programs are running in the background when you press C-A-D? If there's a lot of them, then shut down each one except Explorer and Systray(and also make sure to shut down your AV program). Then, restart the system, open System Monitor, enable 'Unused physical memory' and 'Swapfile in use', write down their values, open PP, recheck the values for UPM and SIU in SM, shut down PP, and recheck the SM values again. If UPM drops to or near zero and SIU shows a value in SM when PP is open, then you may have to install more RAM. How much is installed, BTW? If UPM is at or near zero and SIU shows a value even after PP is shut down, then the system has a memory leak. Uninstall and reinstall PP. If no luck, then see if there's a patch for PP to resolve a memory leak problem. However, if UPM shows a large value and SIU is zero with PP opened, then there may be too many programs running in the background. To prevent these programs from running at startup, go to Start/Run, type msconfig, click OK, click the Startup tab, and uncheck the boxes for all entries except ScanRegistry, System Tray, and a firewall(assuming you use one). I know that many people feel uncomfortable if their AV program is not running all of the time. But you can be virus free if you just excercise caution when opening e-mail attachments, and using floppies and burned CD's from others, and by updating your AV program with the latest files and doing a manual virus check every few days.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 The following essay is from Nguyen of Vietnam. The essay discusses about the problems of change and how to solve them. People naturally resist making changes in their lives. What kind of problems can this cause? What solutions can you suggest? One of the characteristics of the modern life is the change. However, there is a large part of people who are afraid of making changes in their lives. This could cause some problems. Firstly, most people who don’t like having many changes in their lives are old people. An obvious example is the old people mostly can not adapt to the rapid changes in contemporary life. As the result, they decide to follow the traditional methods in spite of the modern ones. That could cause problems because some of old methods, for example in medical treatment, are not effective anymore and it could harm their health. Secondly, people who have been living or working in a certain environment for a long time hardly adapt to changes. The reason is they are afraid that the new changes in habits, cultures, languages could make their lives worse than it was. Some people worry that they don’t have enough experience for new requirements or they could not make friend with people at work. Consequently, it might keep them from demonstrating their best abilities in either their work or their lives. In my opinion, for old people, the younger members in the family should spend more time helping them using the new techniques or modern tools. By doing these, the elders would feel easier to adapt to the changes. For people who have to change their living or working environment, they should concentrate on their work or spend time learning new language, get acquainted with their new neighbors and so on. In summary, life always changes so everyone should learn to adapt and make their lives better and better. You were able to explain the problems with changes as well as solutions related to this. You gave concrete examples which support your main points. The structure of the essay is clear and organized. You have made use of a variety of transition words. Your ideas are coherent. Vocabulary is varied and appropriate language was used. Meaning is clear but avoid one sentence paragraphs. Tenses are consistent and subject-verb agreement are correct. Just revise "can not" to "cannot" and "as the result" to "as a result." Do you like the IELTS Writing Makeover? For more updates and information, visit here and subscribe to my feeds. :) For Further Reading, IELTS, writing IELTS Writing Samples on October 3, 2011 at 10:50 AM said... Your writing has a very good structure. All the main ideas are placed in the topic sentences and followed by supporting sentences. Keep up with the good work. Woman Behind A Teacher's Odyssey
Sink With Disposer Sink With Disposer A clogged sink with a disposer presents a couple of problems. To use a plunger you must compress a large volume -- the amount in the disposer -- and you have to keep the pressure from simply escaping out the dishwasher drain hose. The method shown here will take care of the second problem. You can't remedy the first one. Clamping the dishwasher hose creates an imperfect seal and can crack the hose. Then you're left with a plugged drain plus the need to replace the hose. The easiest and least time-consuming method is to remove the P-trap, the probable location of the clog. But removing the trap is a little messy, and the other methods may forestall this necessity. If you don't want to go to the trouble of plugging the dishwasher nipple, go straight to the section about removing the trap. Step 1 Using the appropriate size straight or phillips screwdriver, loosen the dishwasher hose clamp and remove the dishwasher hose. Plug the hose with a rag to absorb the small amount of remaining water it might contain. Step 2 Insert a 3/4-inch cork or rubber plug (from a hardware store) into the dishwasher nipple with enough force to seal it but not so much as to crack it. Secure the plug with a 3/4-inch x 2-foot length of duct tape to keep it in place when you plunge. Step 3 Fill each side of a double sink with about 4 inches of water, leaving the drain on the disposal side open and plugging the other drain with the rubber sink stopper. Have a helper hold the rubber stopper firmly in place. Set the plunger on the drain opening at an angle and put pressure on the plunger to expel the air from under it. Keep the plunger flange firmly seated on the drain opening and work the plunger vigorously up and down, pulling the plunger up sharply after several strokes. Repeat until the clog is free or try another method. Clearing a Jammed Disposer: Step 1 A clogged disposer can be made worse by something jammed in the blades. If the disposer hums but won't run, it's jammed. Turn off the power to the unit, insert an impeller wrench into the square hole at the bottom, and work the wrench back and forth to try to dislodge the jammed article. Clearing a Jammed Disposer: Step 2 Turn the power on and reset the machine (see Step 3). If the motor still hums, shut the power off and push a piece of old broomstick (about 2 feet long) into the drain until it contacts the bottom of the disposer. Holding the stick against the side of the drain, push it in a circle to turn the impeller. Clearing a Jammed Disposer: Step 3 If the broomstick spins the impeller, remove the object with tongs, a magnetic wand, or a piece of duct tape stuck in reverse on the end of the stick. Don't try to get the object with your hands. Reset the disposer. If this method doesn't unjam the unit, it's time to call a pro. What If...The drain is still clogged? If none of your attempts to unclog the drain is successful, set a bucket under the P-trap and remove the trap. Remove the waste clogging the trap and reassemble the trap. If the unit still does not drain freely, remove the trap and extension pipe and try working a hand auger into the clogged area within the pipe in the wall space. Comments (2) jamunadas005 wrote: We take care of your broken appliances. Our Burnaby Appliance Repair crews are licensed and trained to serve you the best. For more details: 6/29/2011 02:25:02 AM Report Abuse Add your comment Find a Pro Get free quotes from prescreened professionals in your area.
Quantifiers / Determiners Quantifiers state precisely or suggest approximately the amount or the number of a noun. They can be grouped by the noun types they quantify. These expressions are mainly “some, any, many, much, a lot of, a little, a few …etc. Also See: Determiners Practice Quantifiers Quizzes Quantifiers Exercises Some & Any “Some and any” are determiners and they express an indefinite quantity or number. “Some and Any” are used when it is not easy, necessary or important to say exactly how many / how much we want to mean. They are both used with countable and countable nouns. “Some” is often used in affirmative statements. 1. SOME + COUNTABLE NOUNS : In this case, “some” means “ a few”. There are some postcards in my bag. There are some students in the class. There are some cherries in the basket. There are some mistakes in the list. There is some dust on the floor / There is some cheese in the fridge. There is some fruit in the basket /There is some fish on the plate. “Any” is often used in negative sentences and questions. There aren’t any people on the moon. There aren’t any skyscrapers in our town. There are not any empty chairs for the guests. Are there any doctors in your family? Yes, there are some doctors in my family. No, there aren’t any doctors in my family. There isn’t any milk in the bottle / There isn’t any honey at home. There isn’t any cold water here / Is there any bread on the table? Yes, there is some bread on the table. No, there isn’t any bread on the table. In a negative sentence, we can use “no” in place of “not any”; However, “no” can also be used with countable singular nouns. When “no” is used, the verb is always positive. There aren’t any wild animals in the forest. There are no wild animals in the forest. There isn’t any milk at home. There is no milk at home. Some is also used in offers and requests. Would you like some cake? Could you do some typing for me? "Many and much" express a large quantity Examples: (+) I have many postcards. She has got much influence on you. There are many students in the class. There is much orange juice in the glass. Examples: (-) There isn’t much sugar in the kitchen. There aren’t many people in the streets. He doesn’t have much time. There isn’t much fun here. Examples: (?) Is there much rain in Istanbul? Has Eric got much cash? Are there many books in your bag? Do you have many CDs? “too much” and “too many” indicate an excess and are used in affirmative sentences. There is too much noise in big cities. There are too many people at the party. We use "How many" with plural nouns. We use How much with uncountable nouns. How many eggs? How many sisters? How many countries? How many apples? How much flour? How much butter? How much butter? How much money? Differences Between A FEW / FEW & A LITTLE / LITTLE A few” expresses a small quantity. “Few” implies that something is not many, not enough or almost none. It expresses a negative idea. I have a few close friends in town, and we have a very good time together. I have few friends in town, so I feel lonely from time to time. A little” expresses a small quantity. “Little” implies that something is not much, not enough or almost none. It expresses a negative idea. We have a little make. Let’s make a cake. We have little milk. We can’t make a cake. Let's go and have a drink. We've got a little time before the train leaves. (a little time = some time, enough time to have a drink) 'Do you speak English?' 'A little.' (So we can talk a bit) There is little sugar in my coffee. Could I have some more? Quantifier "a lot of" is used in all forms. Instead of A lot of, we can use lots of. Lots of is an informal form of a lot of. Example sentences: There are a lot of bus stops in Bornova. I have got lots of story books. Are there a lot of people in the queue? Yes, there are. There is a lot of milk in the jug. There isn’t a lot of honey in the hive. Do you know a lot of people there? She has lots of oxen on the farm. More on Quantifiers 1-Quantifiers Used With Singular Count Nouns • Every: You make me laugh every time you lie. • Each: I will talk to each person invidually. • Either: Shevchenko could shoot very well with his either foot. • Neither: He is lucky, neither foot showed anything wrong. 2-Quantifiers Used With Plural Count Nouns • A Few: I gave him a few candies. • Fewer: Fewer shops accept checks nowadays. • Many: They got married many years ago. • Great Many: Both sides had great many casualties in that war. • Several: Several buildings were damaged in the earthquake. • A Number of: A number of students failed the class. • plenty of: We have plenty of hot dogs, it should be enough. • a lot of / lots of: I've got a lot of candies. • enough: We have enough hot dogs but we need more buns. • any: Did you buy any hot dogs? Yes, five of them. • some: She needs to buy some books. 3-Quantifiers Used With Non-Count Nouns • plenty of: We have plenty of gas, it should be enough. • a lot of / lots of: I've got a lot of cash on me. • enough: We have enough gas, you don't have to worry. • any: Did you spend any cash? No, I didn't spend any. • some: She needs some fater advice. • a little: Give me a little money before you go. • less / more: You spend less time and lose more weight. • much: We don't have so much water in the tank. • a bit of: Can I have a bit of your chocolate?
Sacred Texts Native American Southwest Index Previous Next Bear and Lion had a contest to see who was the strongest. The queen of the animals wanted a man frightened who was always disobedient to his people. She wished him put back into the right road. She asked all of the animals which one of them would be willing to take the risk of frightening this man in order to put him back on the right road. Grizzly Bear said, "I will take the risk of frightening this man in order to put him back on the right road." The queen said, "I am afraid of you because you are so fierce. I am afraid that you will do him harm, and not just put him on the right road." But at last she consented. Grizzly Bear set out for the mountains. He was not to do the man any harm but only frighten him. The bear found him, and he went against him, but instead of just frightening him he killed the man. He took word back to the queen. He said, "I have done as you told me." "How did you frighten him?" "I killed him." "What did I tell you! I told you that was what you would do, and I told you not to kill him. Now you will be punished for this." "Well, if anyone is stronger than I am and can punish me, let it be so!" So the queen called the Lion and told him that he was to kill the Grizzly Bear. They started off for the mountains. The power the Bear had was taken from him and given to the Lion. They fought. The Lion roped the Bear with his tail and climbed up the pine tree with him. The Lion split the pine tree as he climbed up and put the Bear in the split tree to dry up. So the Lion killed the Bear. Lion took the dead Bear back to the queen and she was very thankful, because the Bear had no control over himself when he was angry. In the mountains the lions and bears had a contest to see which was the strongest. Grizzly Bear refused to come to the council and the Bear Chief said, "Go tell him if he doesn't want to come to say so, so that we won't have to send for him again." They went p. 143 to him saying, "We will see what we will do if you are determined to refuse." But he would not come. Bear Chief said to the Lion, "Tomorrow go to Grizzly; attack him and kill him." "All right. I will do what you tell me to do." Bear Chief said, "Tomorrow, early, watch the sun, and just as soon as it comes up, attack him." As soon as the sun appeared, they jumped to fight each other. They fought and fought. Lion killed Bear and split him down the median line. Bear Chief told Lion who had killed Grizzly Bear to hang the carcass on a pine tree. He said, "Nobody shall eat him. He was a bad bear, he did not do right." The animals went hunting down by the Painted Cave. They held a council to decide on the next day's hunt. They stationed Lion at the mouth of the canyon, in the rocks, so that he could catch the deer the hunters drove toward him. He heard the hunters coming. They shouted, "There it's going! There! Here!" Lion had a watcher. He said to him, "When the deer comes up, don't let him get by. Shoot with your bow and arrow." The people called, "There! There!" Lion said to his watcher, "There is a deer coming. Don't be afraid to shoot at him." He got nearly to them and the watcher shot his bow and the deer fell right before him. In the evening all came together in the camp. Lion's watcher brought the deer in. They quartered the deer, cooked, and ate it. They held a council and planned the hunt for the next day. They said, "We will hunt a bear." One of them said (to the ceremonial leader of the party), "Father, you didn't bring your medicine bundle 'that which always tells me' with you." He answered, "I left it in the fireplace." In the morning he went to the house of the old man, and found him sitting outside. He sat down. Presently he called out, "Boys, come over here. Here's a rabbit sitting here." As soon as they got up to catch the rabbit he grabbed the medicine bundle that was in the fireplace and cried, "See, there is no rabbit. I fooled you!" He went off taking the bundle. He made medicine for the bear hunt. They went out hunting for bear. He was leading one side and another man was leading the other. The leaders were ahead hollering for them to make the circle for they saw the bear lying under a tree. He (the bear) ran up the canyon. They followed in pursuit. They called, "Which way?" "This way!" "Here!" "Be careful! Don't get near! He will kill you!" They shot at him from powder guns with arrow points set in corn cobs (stuffed with rag padding) and ran on him with spears. They killed the bear and took it to camp. They put p. 144 little pieces of meat on the points of arrows and spears and marched in with them singing, Bear, bear we killed, Bear, bear we killed. [paragraph continues] They were singing for the bear. The women came out and joined in the singing, screaming and shouting. They took the bear, shouting and praying, to the house of the man who killed it. 8 "(The man who first touches the bear gets the bear, but whoever kills him is initiated into the Warrior Society, Ompe.) 142:1 Informant 1. Notes, p. 238. 142:7 Informant 3. 144:8 An obviously deleted account of the bringing in of the bear, which is equivalent to the bringing in of a scalp. Next: Coyote Sings for the Prairie Dogs
Need evidence to defend the King's throne? USA TODAY's Jerry Shriver plays DJ. Wise men say only fools rush in to a debate on Elvis' oeuvre. The man could, and did, sing just about anything. Including the phone book (cue up Memphis, Tennessee). Elvis Presley adopted Mario Lanza-inspired romantic pieces, Arthur "Big Boy'' Crudup's down-and-dirty blues, pop tunes from Brill Building wiseacres Leiber and Stoller, Jackie Wilson-style R&B and several shades of country — and spit them out as rock 'n' roll. Along the way, there would be cool Christmas songs, blue-eyed soul, soundtrack snoozers and enough schlock to make you Do the Clam. Plus, he knew gospel, chapter and verse. Lord, could Elvis sing gospel. He was Americana before we knew the word. That's why, when assessing the more than 750 songs Elvis recorded, it's more useful to appreciate his mastery of multiple styles rather than quibble over whether How Great Thou Art was, well, greater than Hound Dog. So put your suspicious minds at ease and savor this survey of the best of his breadth, from the Sun sessions to the sunset years: 20 essential Elvis songs and the moments in them that make you turn your head (and pelvis) toward the speakers. USA TODAY's Elvis Presley special edition celebrates the 60th anniversary of his first recording, a $4 acetate of 'My Happiness' that he cut as a gift for his mother. The 48-page keepsake, on newsstands July 9, covers the King of Rock 'n' Roll's influence on music and society. Story Highlights: * Why quibble whether 'How Great Thou Art' was greater than 'Hound Dog'? * The King of Rock 'n' Roll recorded more than 750 * USA TODAY's special Elvis edition is on newsstands July 9 Recorded in 1954 'That's All Right' Bill Black's slap-back bass establishes a souped-up tempo, and Scotty Moore chimes in with his bee-sting guitar, sending a jolt to radio listeners in Memphis - and soon around the world. By all accounts, the song sort of fell together as Elvis Presley and mates banged around in the studio, but producer Sam Phillips knew thunder when he heard it. Together, they transformed Arthur Crudup's 1946 blues song into their first commercial single - and a cultural milestone. 'Baby, Let's Play House' Here we get an early taste of the sexual and slightly menacing Elvis as he takes an Arthur Gunter blues song recorded a year earlier and transforms it into a percolating, horn-dog classic. He pants out "baby" 15 times in the opening chorus alone, and his rendering of "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man" was so nervy that John Lennon later stole it for his own purposes. Best of all, Elvis tweaked the lyrics to introduce us to his "pink Cadillac." 'Mystery Train' When Elvis adopts that slight hiccuppy vocal affectation on "16 coaches long," you immediately grasp his fear and desperation that his baby has left the station and may never return. This is a blues classic by Junior Parker to which guitarist Scotty Moore gives a country feel, and the result is one of the greatest rockabilly performances ever. 'Heartbreak Hotel' Elvis got a rare songwriting co-credit (with Mae Axton and Tommy Durden) on his first smash hit after moving from tiny Sun Records to major-league label RCA. But it's the alchemy of guitarists Scotty Moore and Chet Atkins, bassist Bill Black, drummer D.J. Fontana and pianist Floyd Cramer all the way through that sets the tone for this searing blues about a despondent down-and-outer. 'Hound Dog' D.J. Fontana's furious drum roll between the verses caught listeners' ears, but it was Elvis' hip-thrusting gyrations during live performances of the song that caused the destruction of American civilization as we then knew it. It hardly mattered that his version was a goofy (and lyric-mangling) reworking of "Big Mama" Thornton's original 1952 R&B stomper, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. 'Love Me Tender' On the second verse, Elvis ups the intensity and kicks into a full creamy croon, making even musicologists forget momentarily that this song was based on Civil War ballad Aura Lee. He gets another co-writing credit, though (with Vera Matson, George Poulton and Ken Darby). Elvis sang this on The Ed Sullivan Show before the single and movie of the same name were released, and more than a million advance orders for the single poured in to RCA. Better yet, the single succeeded Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel at No. 1. '(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (for Me)' From the opening "Well, I'm tired and so weary, but I must go along," Elvis never sounded more natural and at ease, as he fronted The Jordanaires on the Thomas Dorsey standard. It was as though he had been singing gospel all his life - which he had. 'Jailhouse Rock' The opening two-chord riff and drum beat presage the rock riot to come in the Leiber and Stoller-penned soundtrack hit, which spent seven weeks at No. 1. No wonder millions of parents went "Ye gads! He's a juvenile delinquent!'' And there probably wasn't a better staged performance caught on film until Michael Jackson came along. 'Santa Claus Is Back in Town' What's he packing in that bag? Whether he's "coming down your chimney tonight" or cruising through the snow in "a big black Cadillac," the King serves notice that your holiday traditions are about to come unwrapped. Hide the children. Mae West herself tried to out-swagger Elvis with a 1967 version of the lascivious Leiber and Stoller R&B ditty - and failed 'Reconsider Baby' The wimpy Are You Lonesome Tonight? (a song that Elvis himself would eventually parody in concert) and the slightly over-the-top It's Now or Never signaled that he was back commercially after his Army stint. But this gritty cover of Lowell Fulson's 1954 blues standard showed that he and his backing team were as musically sharp as ever. Listen to how Boots Randolph's sax breaks heighten the intensity of Elvis' 'Can't Help Falling in Love "Take my hand, take my whole life, too." Sigh. And it's based on an 18th-century French love song, yet. Elvis was in full swoon-inducing splendor, and The Jordanaires gave it their all in the background, but the single was blocked from the No. 1 slot by Joey Dee & the Starliters' Peppermint Twist. 'Viva Las Vegas' The jittery Latin beat and swinging delivery on this movie title track captured the Cheez Whiz-with-an-edge allure of the "bright light city" in a way the Rat Pack never did. Elvis never rolled the dice and sang this Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman song live, and it stalled out at No. 29 on the Hot 100. However, this is a rare example of an Elvis song that continued to gain in popularity long after he crapped out - more than 30 artists have covered it, from Bruce Springsteen to the Dead Kennedys and, perhaps most memorably, Shawn Colvin. 'Run On' When Elvis hits the refrain "God almighty gonna cut you down," you sense that he's washed in gospel from both white and black traditions. This traditional spiritual from the How Great Thou Art album is arranged and sung in the jubilee style. If it moves you as it moved him, check out Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho or Swing Down Sweet Chariot (singles from the 1960 His Hand in Mine album). 'If I Can Dream' With its gospel fervor and direct quotations from Martin Luther King Jr., who had been assassinated in Memphis two months before the song was recorded, Dream is a far more inspirational piece of social commentary than In the Ghetto. When Elvis cries out, "We're caught in a cloud with too much rain," he captures the despair of the time. The public first heard this as the finale to his 1968 NBC concert Elvis, commonly called the "Comeback Special." 'Suspicious Minds' The first blast of the horn section and the fervent backup singers signaled that a soul revival - and an Elvis career comeback - were afoot, courtesy of producer Chips Moman at American Sound Studio in Memphis. That just-fakin' fade out/fade in section toward the end seemed a bit daring at the time, as did the lyrics about dysfunctional love. Curiously, the studio version of the song, recorded in January, didn't make it onto the stellar From Elvis in Memphis album, whose songs were recorded around the same time. (It did make it onto 1998 and 2008 reissues.) Nevertheless, it became his 17th - and final - No. 1 single in the USA. 'Long Black Limousine' The irony of Elvis singing this cautionary tale about excess crystallized after his death, of course. But at the time he recorded it, for the From Elvis in Memphis album, he seemed wholly invested in putting a tense R&B spin on what was a basic country tune. Listen to how his voice sounds a little raw on the line "the party, the party and the fatal crash that night.'' And by the time he hits "a chauffeur, a chauffeur at the wheel dressed up so fine,'' he was approaching hysteria. 'The Wonder of You' Elvis never recorded this in a studio, but it was a staple of his concerts later in his career. This version, captured at a Feb. 18, 1970, date in Las Vegas and released as a single in April (the studio B-side Mama Liked the Roses is an underappreciated sentimental gem), was a showstopper. When he climbs the scale at the very end, repeating the song title, the words were what every woman wanted to hear. 'Burning Love' Those final "just a hunk a hunk'' lines were dynamic, sexy and thoroughly convincing (though open to parody by lesser beings), but they invite the question: Why were this and 1973's Promised Land the last of the elite Elvis rockers? He would never again hit the top 10 on the domestic charts (Burning Love went to No. 2, behind Chuck Berry's My Ding-a-Ling, of all things), and the recording sessions over the final five years of his life were mostly devoted to ballads. That's a burning, burning bummer. 'An American Trilogy' The song's final word is just two letters long but Elvis, sometimes kneeling onstage, could stretch "on'' to a half-dozen syllables as he belted it to the rafters. Over the top? Sure. But he was a military veteran, a patriot and a son of the South, and this mashup of Dixie,All My Trials and The Battle Hymn of the Republic created by Mickey Newbury was right in the King's wheelhouse. Elvis recorded live versions several times, the first from a 1972 Las Vegas show; a 1973 version from the just-reissued Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite is particularly fine. 'Way Down' When backup singer and gospel legend J.D. Sumner sings the phrase "Way on down'' at the end of each chorus, he's digging deep for a sound that's three octaves below middle C, one of the lowest notes ever recorded by a human voice. The last single released before Elvis' death shows that his voice was still compelling - "feel it, feel it, feeeel it'' - up to the very end. 20 Essential Elvis songs Savor this survey of the best of his breadth, from the Sun sessions to the sunset years.
Col. Reese on a Quick Withdrawal The NYT on Friday published a memo from Col. Timothy R. Reese, Chief, Baghdad Operations Command Advisory Team, MND-B, Baghdad, Iraq, in which he argued for a more or less immediate departure of US troops from Iraq. AP notes that most US officers in Iraq do not agree with Reese. Some believe he is being defeatist, others are not as sure as he is that the new Iraqi military is able to go it alone. And the Obama administration has decided that the timetable for withdrawal into which the Mahdi Army and the Iraqi parliament forced W. is good enough for them, and is moreover politically safe. They have their eye on 2012, and want to be able to campaign on a successful withdrawal from Iraq that did not damage US security. A slower withdrawal might suit them. The last thing they want is for the US military to draw down quickly, for all hell to break loose at the head of the Persian Gulf, and for them to be drawn right back into Iraq on the eve of the election. While AP makes some fair points, they are clustered at two ends of the argument, on whether US officers on patrol with Iraqi troops think they could go it alone, and on what the White House is possibly thinking. I think the opposition to Reese’s argument will mainly come from command officers on strategic grounds. Reese is arguing tactically. What Reese says is: 1. The new Iraqi army, despite its extensive deficiencies including massive corruption, sloth, Soviet-style rigidity, etc., can now nevertheless patrol on its own and can face down Sunni guerrillas and Shiite militias. It is just all right for internal security. The US military can now leave that task to the Iraqis. 2. The main US military mission now appears to be further training of the Iraqi army, which is not necessary, at least on the scale contemplated, because that army is already just all right and is unlikely to get much better than that, despite further training, any time soon. 3. Because of an aggressive interpretation of the Status of Forces Agreement by the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, US troops are now increasingly sitting ducks. There is a significant danger of them being attacked in a way aimed at ruining US-Iraqi relations if they are kept as sitting ducks, and which might force an ignominious US withdrawal harmful to US prestige. 4. There is little political progress in Iraq, which is extremely corrupt and factious, and there is not likely to be any political progress any time soon, so if that is why the US military is remaining on this scale, it may as well leave now. 5. The very US military presence is generating the terrorist attacks that the Americans are attempting to curb. Such terrorism against the US military in Iraq is now instrumental and a way for local forces to jockey with one another for relative power. Although Col. Reese at one point portrays his memo as concerned with strategy rather than tactics, for the most part it remains tactical. The question for him is, what is the military mission and how (tactically) to accomplish it? He examines the possible missions and lists them as 1. further training of the Iraqi Army to make it self-sufficient, and 2. helping the Iraqi government resolve ethno-sectarian disputes. He concludes that neither of those goals is necessary or realistic. On the negative side, US troops are now, he implies, somewhat in the same position they were in Lebanon in fall of 1983, when the Marine barracks was bombed by Islamic Amal. But what if there are other strategic goals to which the commanding officers in Iraq are attached? Foremost among them appears to be having the sort of presence and influence through the January parliamentary elections to forestall a big surge of Iranian influence through manipulation of the elections. That appears to be what is on the mind of Gen. Ray Odierno. It could be replied that the US military is not actually any longer in a position to block Iran, either. As for Odierno’s worry that Iran-trained guerrillas are becoming disruptive again, it should be remembered that the Iraqi army is probably only as good as Reese says it is because al-Maliki inducted large numbers of Badr Corps Shiite paramilitary elements into it. They in turn had been trained by, and continue to have favorable views of, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. That is, the cow of Iranian influence is already out of the barn. But if the high officers and the NSC think there is some chance of blocking Iran in Iraq through 2011, and possibly of helping broker an Arab-Kurdish accord within the country, that might be enough impetus for them to risk the Reese scenario, of a big attack on the dwindling US troops that weakened the US posture for decades, as Beirut 1983 did. It is Iran strategy and possibly to some extent Kurdistan strategy that will drive US military presence in Iraq for the next year and a half. And maybe, as AP says, just general nervousness in Washington about a rush for the door. In Reese’s favor is the Iraqi security forces’ attack on Camp Ashraf of the Iranian “Islamic Marxist” dissident movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (People’s Holy Warriors or MEK). The Iraqi government knew that the US did not want them to enter the camp in this way, but they did it anyway, and during the visit of Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. The assault left between 8 and 11 Iranians dead and hundreds wounded, as well as some 17 members of the Iraqi security forces dead. If the Iraqi state is willing to act so brutally against persons designated as refugees by the United Nations when it is clear that the US wants them protected, then it is not trustworthy on a whole host of other issues, including putting pressure on Iran. Apparently against Reese is Friday’s frightful harvest of 28 dead in bombings targeting 5 Shiite mosques in Baghdad and other targets elsewhere. But, such bombings routinely occurred when US troops were able to patrol the streets, and it is too early to tell if anything really has changed. Likely the Sunni Arab guerrillas wil go on engaging in protest terrorism for some time to come. Aljazeera English reports on Friday’s mosque bombings: End/ (Not Continued)
(1993) Terence McKenna w/Spacetime Continuum - Alien Dreamtime [Text] Group Content For: Terence McKenna w/Spacetime Continuum Alien Dreamtime Terence McKenna w/Spacetime Continuum Alien Dreamtime - See more at: http://www.lightforcenetwork.com/group-content/1993-terence-mckenna-wspa... Alien Dreamtime was a multi media event recorded live on February 26th/27th 1993 at the Transmission theater, San Francisco, CA. A video of this event produced by Rose-X media house is available through City of Tribes Communications 63 Fountain St, SF, CA 94114. The didgeridoo is played with the greatest respect for all the aboriginal people of Australia and the spirit of all first world people. All tracks published by Space Monkey. * * * All right... tonight, for your edification and amusement... three raves, two interregnums. Visions by Rose X. Didgeredoo, Stephen Kent. And sound by Space Time. Words and ideas by Terence McKenna. Rap one: The Archaic Revival History is ending, because the dominator culture has led the human species into a blind alley. And as the inevitable chaostrophe approaches, people look for metaphors and answers. Every time a culture gets into trouble, it casts itself back into the past looking for the last sane moment it ever knew. And the last sane moment we ever knew was on the plains of Africa, 15,000 years ago, rocked in cradle of the great horned mushroom goddess before history. Before standing armies, before slavery and property, before warfare and phonetic alphabets and monotheism. Before, before, before. And this is where the future is taking us. Because the secret faith of the 20th century is not modernism. The secret faith of the 20th century is nostalgia for the archaic, nostalgia for the Paleolithic, and that gives us body piercing, abstract expressionism, surrealism, jazz, rock and roll, and Catastrophe Theory. The 20th century mind is nostalgic for the paradise that once existed on the mushroom-dotted plains of Africa, where the plant-human symbiosis occurred that pulled us out of the animal body and into the tool-using, culture-making, imagination-exploring creature that we are. And why does this matter? It matters because it chose that the way out is back, and that the future is a forward escape into the past. This is what the psychedelic experience means. Its a doorway out of history and into the wiring under the board in eternity. And I tell you this because if the community understands what it is that holds it together, the community will be better able to streamline itself for flight into hyperspace. Because what we need is a new myth. What we need is a new true story that tells us where were going in the universe. And that true story is that the ego is a product of pathology and that when psilocybin is regularly part of the human experience, the ego is suppressed. And the suppression of the ego means the defeat of the dominators, the materialists, the product peddlers. Psychedelics return us to the inner worth of the self, to the importance of feeling immediate experience. And nobody can sell that to you and nobody can buy it from you, so the dominator culture is not interested in the felt presence of immediate experience. But that's what holds the community together. And as we break out of the silly myths of science and the infantile obsessions of the marketplace, what we discover through the psychedelic experience is that in the body-- in the body-- there are Niagaras of beauty, alien beauty, alien dimensions that are part of the self, the richest part of life. I think of going to the grave without having a psychedelic experience, like going to the grave without having sex. It means that you never figured out what it was all about. The mystery is in the body, and the way the body works itself into nature. What the archaic revival means is shamanism, ecstasy, orgiastic sexuality, and the defeat of the three enemies of the people, and the three enemies of the people are monotheism, monogamy, and monotony. And if you get them on the run, you have the dominators sweating, folks. Because that means that youre getting it all reconnected, and get it all reconnected means putting aside the idea of separateness and self-definition through thing fetish. Getting it all connected means tapping into the Gaian mind. And the Gaian mind is what were calling the psychedelic experience. Its an experience of the living fact of the entelechy of the planet, and without that experience we wander in a desert of bogus ideologies, but with that experience, the compass of the self can be set. And thats the idea, that were figuring out how to reset the compass of the self, through community, through ecstatic dance, through psychedelics, intelligence-- intelligence... this is what we have to have to make the forward escape into hyperspace. I'm gonna take five here, and uh, well be back and chat some more. Alien Love Hello... so, that was like an introduction, ha ha! Now for some preaching to the choir on the subject of: How come it is that the further in you go, the bigger it gets? I remember the very, very first time I smoked DMT. It was sort of a benchmark, you might say. And I remember that this friend of mine that always got there first, visited me with this little glass pipe, and this stuff which looked like orange mothballs. And since I was a graduate of Dr. Hofmann's, I figured there were no surprises. So the only question I asked was how long does it last? And he said, About five minutes. So, I did it. And... There was uh, something like a flower. Like a chrysanthemum in orange and yellow that sort of spinning. Spinning. And then, it was like I was pushed from behind and I fell through the chrysanthemum into another place that didn't seem like a state of mind. It seemed like another place. And what was going on in this place (aside from the tastefully soffited indirect lighting and the crawling hallucinations along the domed wall), what was happening was that there were a lot of beings in there, a lot of what I call self-transforming machine elves. Sort of like jeweled basketballs all dribbling their way toward me. And if they had faces they would've been grinning at me, but they didn't have faces. And they assured me that they loved me, and they told me not to be amazed, not to give way to astonishment. And so I watched them, even though I wondered if maybe I hadn't really done it this time! And what they were doing, was they were making objects come into existence by singing them into existence. Objects which looked like Faberge eggs from Mars, morphing themselves with Mandaean alphabetical structures. They looked like the concrescence of linguistic intentionality put through a kind of hyperdimensional transform into three-dimensional space. And these little machines offered themselves to me. And I realized when I looked at them, that if I could bring just one of these little trinkets back, nothing would ever be quite the same again. And I wondered where am I? And what is going on? And it occurred to me that these must be holographic viral projections from an autonomous continuum that was somehow intersecting my own. And then I thought, a more elegant explanation would be to take it at face value, and realize that I had broken into an ecology of souls, and that somehow I was getting a peek over the other side. Somehow, I was finding out that thing, that you cheerfully assume you can't find out... but it felt like I was finding out. And it felt... and then I can't remember what it felt like because the little self-transforming tikes interrupted me and said, Don't think about it. Don't think about who we are-- think about doing what were doing. Do it! Do it now. Do it! Speaking in Tongues And what they meant was: use your voice to make an object. And as I understood I felt a bubble kind of grow inside of me. And I watched these little elf tikes jumping in and out of my chest (they liked to do that to reassure you), and they said, Do it! And I felt language rise up in me that was unhooked from English and I began to speak like this: Eeeoo ded hwauopsy mectoph, mectagin dupwoxin, moi phoi wops eppepepekin gitto phepsy demego doi aga din a doich demoi aga donc heedey obectdee doohueana. (Or words to that effect). And I wondered then what it all meant, and why it felt so good (if it didn't mean anything). And I thought about it a few years, actually, and I decided, you know, that meaning and language are two different things. And that what the alien voice in the psychedelic experience wants to reveal is the syntactical nature of reality. That the real secret of magic, is that the world is made of words, and that if you know the words that the world is made of, you make of it, whatever you wish! Eh moi dea doi phegenheggo... And one of the things that I learned about DMT, was that, if you ever had it, even just once, then you can have a dream. And in this dream somebody will pull out a little glass pipe, and then it will happen. It will happen just like the real thing. Because theres a button somewhere inside each and every one of us that gives you a look into the other side. And thats the button that resets the compass that tells you where you want to sail. Good luck! Timewave Zero Hello, all right. Have you ever noticed how, um, there's this quality to reality, which comes and goes and kind of, ebbs and flows. And nobody ever mentions it, or has a name for it. Except that some people call it a bad hair day or they say, Things are really weird recently. And I think we never notice it and we never talk about it because were embedded in a culture that expects us to believe that all times are the same, and that your bank account doesn't fluctuate, except according to the vicissitudes of your own existence. In other words, every moment is expected to be the same, and yet this isn't what we experience. And so what I noticed was that, running through reality is the ebb and flow of novelty. And some days, and some years, and some centuries are very novel indeed. And some ain't. And they come and go on all scales, differently, interweaving, resonantly. And this is what time seems to be. And science has overlooked this, this most salient of facts about nature, that nature is a novelty-conserving engine. And that from the very first moments of that most improbable Big Bang, novelty has been conserved, because in the very beginning there was only an ocean of energy pouring into the universe. There were no planets, no stars, no molecules, no atoms, no magnetic fields. There was only an ocean of free electrons. And then, time passed. And the universe cooled. And novel structures crystallized out of disorder. First, atoms. Atoms of hydrogen and helium. Aggregating into stars. And at the center of those stars, the temperature and the pressure created something which had never been seen before, which was: fusion. And fusion, cooking in the hearts of stars, brought forth more novelty. Heavy elements, iron, carbon, forvalent carbon. And as time passed, there not only then, elemental systems, but because of the presence of carbon and the lower temperatures in the universe, molecular structures and out of molecules come simple subsets of organisms, the genetic machinery for transcripting information, aggregating into membranes, always binding novelty, always condensing time, always building and conserving upon complexity and always faster and faster and faster... and then, we come to ourselves. And where do we fit into all of this? Five million years ago, we were an animal of some sort. Where will we be five million years from tonight? What we represent is not a sideshow, or an epiphenomenon, or an ancillary something-or-other on the edge of nowhere. What we represent is the nexus of concressent novelty that has been moving itself together, complexifying itself, folding itself in upon itself, for billions and billions of years. There is, so far as we know, nothing more advanced than what is sitting behind your eyes. The human neocortex is the most densely ramified and complexified structure in the known universe. We are the cutting edge of organismic transformation of matter in this cosmos. And this has been going on for awhile. Since the discovery of fire, since the discovery of language, but now, and by now, I mean for the last 10,000 years, weve been into something new: not genetic information, not genetic mutation, not natural selection, but epigenetic activity. Writing, theatre, poetry, dance, art, tattooing, body-piercing, and philosophy. And these things have accelerated the ingression into novelty so that we have become an idea-excreting force in nature that builds temples, builds cities, builds machines, social engines, plans, and spreads over the earth, into space; into the microphysical domain; into the macrophysical domain. We, who five million years were animals, can kindle in our deserts and if necessary upon the cities of our enemies, the very energy which lights the stars at night. Now, something peculiar is going on here. Something is calling us out of nature and sculpting us in its own image. And the confrontation with this something is now not so far away. This is what the impending apparent end of everything actually means. It means that the denouement of human history is about to occur and is about to be revealed as a universal process of concressing and expressing novelty that is now going to become so intensified that it is going to flow over into another dimension. You can feel it. You can feel it in your own dreams. You can feel it in your own trips. You can feel that were approaching the cusp of a catastrophe, and that beyond that cusp, we are unrecognizable to ourselves. The wave of novelty that has rolled unbroken since the birth of the universe has now focused and coalesced itself in our species. And if it seems unlikely to you that the world is about to transform itself, then think of it this way: Think of a pond and think of how, if the surface of the pond begins to boil, thats the signal that some enormous protean form is about to break the surface of the pond and reveal itself. Human history is the boiling of the pond surface of ordinary biology. We are flesh, which has been caught in the grip of some kind of an attractor that lies ahead of us in time, and that is sculpting to its ends. Speaking to us, through psychedelics, through visions, through culture and technology. Consciousness, the language-forming capacity in our species is propelling itself forward, as though it were going to shed the monkey body and leap into some extra-surreal space that surrounds, but that we cannot currently see. Even the people who run the planet, the World Bank, the IMF, you name it, they know that history is ending. They know by the reports which cross their desks, that the disappearance of the ozone hole, the toxification of the ocean, the clearing of the rainforests, what this means is that the womb of the planet has reached its finite limits, and that the human species has now, without choice, begun the descent down the birth canal of collective transformation toward something right around the corner, and nearly completely unimaginable. And this is where the psychedelic shaman comes in. Because I believe that what we really contact through psychedelics is a kind of hyperspace, and from that hyperspace, we look down on both the past and the future and we anticipate the end. And a shaman is someone who has seen the end. And therefore is a trickster, because you don't worry if youve seen the end. If you know how it comes out, you go back and you take your place in the play and you let it all roll on without anxiety. This is what boundary dissolution means; it means nothing less than the anticipation of the end-state of human history. A return to the archaic mode, a rediscovery of the orgiastic freedom of the African grasslands of 20,000 years ago. A techno-escape into a future that looks more like the past than the future, because materialism, consumerism, product fetishism, all of these things will be eliminated and technology will become nanotechnology and disappear from our physical presence. If-- if-- we have the dream. If we allow the wave of novelty to propel us toward the creativity that is inimicable to the human condition. This is what were talking about here-- psychedelics as a catalyst to the human imagination, psychedelics as a catalyst for language, because what cannot be said, cannot be created by the community. So that we need then, is the forced evolution of language, and the way to do that is to go back to agents that created language in the very first place. And that means, the psychedelic plants, the Gaian Logos, and the mysterious beckoning extraterrestrial minds beyond. Hooking ourselves back up, into the chakras of the hierarchy of nature, turning ourselves over to the mind of the Totally Other that created us and brought us forth out of animal organization. We are somehow part of the planetary destiny. How well we do determines how well the experiment of life on earth does. Because we have become the cutting edge of that experiment. We define it, and we hold in our hands the power to make or to break it. This is not a dress rehearsal for the apocalypse. This is not a pseudo-millennium. This is the real thing, folks. This is not a test. This is the last chance before things become so dissipated that there is no chance for cohesiveness. We can use the calendar as a club. We can make the millennium an occasion for establishing an authentic human civilization, overcoming the dominator paradigm, dissolving boundaries through psychedelics, recreating a sexuality not based on monotheism, monogamy, and monotony. All these things are possible. If we can understand the overarching metaphor which holds it all together, which is the celebration of mind as play, the celebration of love as a genuine social value in the community. This is what they have suppressed so long, this is why they are so afraid of the psychedelics, because they understand that once you touch the inner core of your own and someone elses being, you can't be led into thing fetishism and consumerism. The message of psychedelics is that culture can be reengineered as a set of emotional values, rather than products. This is terrifying news. And if we are able to make this point, we can pull back, we can pull back and we can transcend. Nine times in the last million years, the ice has ground south from the poles, pushing human populations ahead of it, and those people didn't fuck up. Why should we, then? We are all survivors. We are the inheritors of a million years of striving for the Unspeakable. And now, with the engines of technology in our hands, we ought to be able to reach out and actually exteriorize the human soul at the end of time, invoke it into existence like a UFO, and open the violent doorway into hyperspace and walk through it, out of profane history and into the world beyond the grave, beyond shamanism, beyond the end of history, into the galactic millennium that has beckoned to us for millions of years across space and time. This is the moment. A planet brings forth an opportunity like this only once in its lifetime. And we are ready, and we are poised, and as a community we are ready to move into it, to claim it, to make it our own. Its there-- go for it! And thank you! * * * Transcript Source: This page was last updated July 16th, 2013.
Previous 21 - 30 Next When I read the headline, I wondered why Mick Jagger et al would want to write an absurd anti-gun article. Reading the body of the story, I am comforted to find that, drug-addled though they may have been, they did not perpetrate this particular foolishness. Apparently, Rolling Stone is also the name of some sort of publication. I had no idea chickens were so noble! You should probably watch an episode of John Stossel's show before declaring him a flaming closet liberal. You should probably also not listen to Democrats who declare themselves to be libertarian. You can't believe in government programs to fix everything from hurt feelings to hurricanes, and actually be a libertarian. I don't see how it is possible to be socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Socially liberal means you want to expand government spending for social programs. Fiscally conservative means you want to limit government spending to reduce and eliminate the federal debt. The only way it is possible to support both of these mutually exclusive views is to be a tax-and-spend politician, but there is no way to ever raise enough taxes to support the spending these social programs would involve. As I said, you outnumber us, so you are right, the point is moot. I admit that freedom is terrifying, and life without Social Security, Medicare, and a justice department that can detain and search you at will looks a lot like anarchy these days. As long as you people keep calling the political system that took less than 150 years to build a handful of scattered settlements into a continent-spanning nation who led the world in power and prosperity a "wierd offshoot of ultra-right individualist anarchism," there is nothing I can do for you. See what I mean? Don't want to hear it, so lie about it. I give up. Liberals appear to believe that government power should be expanded until it can enforce safety and prosperity upon every person it can control. Conservatives appear to believe that government power should be expanded until it can enforce its approved brand of freedom upon every person it can control. Libertarians believe that it is impossible for government to enforce safety, prosperity, or freedom, and it should get out of the way so the people can maintain all of those conditions for themselves. Both liberals and conservatives appear to believe that as long as there are a group of people claiming to be the Government of the United States, those people are the sole embodiment of the United States, and may do as they please. Libertarians believe that the citizens of the United States, mutually agreeing to live and work togetherunder the guidance of the Constitution of the United States, are the embodiment of the United States of America. Libertarians further believe that the government is the hired help who do the dirty work of maintaining courts and armed forces, and dealing with those who are not citizens of the United States of America, under the supervision of the people of the United States of America, and in accordance with its Constitution. Since most people who style themselves "Americans" have forgotten what life under the Constitution was like, neither conservative nor liberal Americans want to hear from libertarians, so you make stuff up so you can ignore us. Since you all outnumber us by quite a margin, it doesn't really matter anyway. We wish you luck with your bloated, meddlesome government, but remember that we told you so. We also wish we didn't have to go down with the ship, but there it is. Everything Heretic said is true, but only if you substitute "liberal" for every instance of "libertarian." I seriously doubt that either Heretic, or Ransom, has ever met an actual libertarian. The similarity in the sound of the names is the only point of confluence between these polar opposites. For such an intelligent man, Ransom can say some incredibly stupid things. Please, somebody, tell me he doesn't really think libertarian is just another name for liberal. Please, I beg you, give me some hope that he can see the difference between choosing our fights and hiding under the bed! In response to: Spending and Morality Steven668 Wrote: Jul 09, 2014 10:37 AM Mr. Boehner is Speaker of the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives exists primarily to control the spending of the federal government. Look it up, it is in the Constitution. If Mr. Boehner is negotiating spending with the President, then he, or the House of which he is Speaker, is dodging responsibility. The President may request spending, but if there is already a spending problem, it is up to the House of Representatives to say, "No!" until there is no longer a spending problem. That is not happening, for one of two reasons. Either the House of Representatives is too lazy, or it is too cowardly, to do its job. Apparently, Mr. Tanner has never been stopped for a traffic infraction. If he had, he would know that we are already a country where the first thing a police officer demands is to "see your papers." Previous 21 - 30 Next
Clarity: 1. Clarity Reader Toolbox Log in for more tools 1. Clarity Bilbo Baggins had found a tranquil spot in which to spend the daylight hours at Rivendell. His writing table had been set up on a sheltered terrace. Flowering vines, which breathed a delicate sweetness, covered the surrounding walls. This setting had lent him greater calm of spirit and clarity of mind, and his book of memoirs had progressed splendidly, until it was almost complete. Rivendell had seemed to the fragile Hobbit the embodiment of security, beauty and peace: the solid stonework of the house behind, the valley of the Bruinen spread below, and the ceaseless energy of the falls a restful susurration around his thoughts. Transcribing his adventures, he had been living in memory. Mirkwood; the Long Lake; the slopes of the Lonely Mountain. His Dwarf companions, somehow as feisty wandering, starved, as they were when drinking and hard fighting. And, of course, Gandalf, whose gentle yet somehow inexorable influence had first shaken Bilbo from his comfortable routine and shown him some of the world's myriad pathways. The pull of the Ring had alternately ebbed and sharpened during his time at Rivendell. The task of writing absorbed much of his energy, and he was influenced, too, by the relative calm of the Elves, whose desires lack the urgency of those of mortals. Yet, while writing he also relived a host of memories concerning the Ring. He recalled with bright clarity the circumstances of his finding it, and how that discovery had by chance saved him in Gollum's deadly game of riddles. Clearer still, he remembered using the Ring's gift of invisibility to free his comrades from the dungeons of the Elven king of Mirkwood. He remembered the pride of that moment, the feeling, even, of being the first Hobbit of consequence in the world. The Ring. For decades, Bilbo had thought of the thing as a useful tool, a magical trinket that had come unexpectedly into his life and that could be enjoyed as a gift from fate. When his settled life at Bag End had resumed, and he no longer had need to hide from enemies, he had on occasion turned himself invisible as a light-hearted party trick. Only at parting had he realized how deep and knotted his attachment to the Ring had become. His struggle to leave it behind was beyond addiction; it was like trying to discard some piece of himself that made him uniquely Bilbo. Now there were no more illusions about the Ring, and his hunger for it lay exposed not as some aberrant impulse of greed but as a desire that skated along the borders of evil. He had been working as usual when Frodo had been borne into the house, that terrible freezing wound upon his cousin's breast and his hands clawed and stiff as if in death. That abrupt awakening had been shattering. Even after his fear for Frodo's life had given way to joy at his recovery, Bilbo remained in a state of agitation, scarcely able to grasp the burden he had inadvertently placed on his unworldly younger kinsman. The One Ring. He had held the One Ring in his hand, had his mind wound about by its silken call, carried unwittingly an engine of tyrannical power. And by bequeathing it to Frodo, he had sent murder at his cousin's heels. Now Frodo, still fragile, was to risk his life again of his own will, on a journey more fraught with traps than any Bilbo had undertaken. Perhaps the most terrible part of these revelations was that they affected Bilbo's craving for the Ring not at all. He sat on the terrace, drawing some comfort from its view of lucid sunlight and tumbling water. Preparations were underway throughout Rivendell for the newly minted Fellowship's expedition to Mordor. Aside from visits to Frodo and the other Hobbits, Bilbo remained largely apart from the bustle, choosing to spend the days alone with his thoughts. Sometimes he wondered whether he was escaping troubles or punishing himself by this solitude. As he gazed out, an Elven figure appeared on the path below the terrace. Bilbo recognized the envoy from Mirkwood, Legolas, who was to be one of Frodo's companions on the journey to destroy the Ring. The slender prince was dressed in travelling clothes and bore a longbow and quiver on his back. He had been practising his aim, Bilbo guessed, among the trees that bordered the river. The Elf turned his head, as if hearing the soft rustle of linen as Bilbo sat up straighter, even above the tumult of the falls. "Good day, Mr Baggins," he said, and bowed. "I congratulate you; you seem to have found the most peaceful nook in Imladris in which to work." "Actually, my work is almost done," said Bilbo. He smiled and paused, as if expecting the Elf to pass onward. But the sight of Legolas was reawakening memories of Mirkwood, memories that Bilbo could share with few others, and Bilbo abruptly no longer wanted to be alone. "Is the house so frantic?" he added. "Only nine in the Ringbearer's party, but turmoil enough for thrice that number," Legolas smiled. "Such is the way, sir, when Hobbits are about," Bilbo said. "We may cause little stir in the world without, but a great deal within." He chuckled. "Your kin may yet cause much stir in the world," said the Elf. "Besides," he continued, "this turmoil is not only the doing of Hobbits. Lord Elrond readies his people to stand against Shadow." "Yes," Bilbo murmured. For a moment he felt that he could hear the Ring calling to its master through the walls of Rivendell, even as it called to him. Legolas stepped lightly up to the terrace and sat beside Bilbo, laying down his bow. "You are troubled," he said. "What would aid you?" Bilbo stared at the falls before replying, his hands clenched on his cane. "I am an old Hobbit," he said finally. "So much of this is due to my mistake, and I am too old now to help to put it right. Frodo pays in my stead." "For what do you blame yourself?" "I had the Ring," said Bilbo. "I found it. I should have known." "But you did not." The Elf looked steadily into Bilbo's eyes. "It may become a legend among my people, that the One Ring passed unknown through Mirkwood. Some may wonder, just as you, what might have happened had it been recognized sooner. But such wondering serves naught." "If I had never picked it up – " Bilbo said. "Then it might have been found by one who used it for evil," said Legolas. "Remember Mithrandir," he added with a smile, "who maintains that there is purpose in all events." "I did use it," Bilbo said, "for some things that seemed good. I used it to help my friends. They were – " He broke off, and blushed. "This week has certainly solved one mystery," said Legolas, smiling, "concerning the escape from Mirkwood of certain intrepid Dwarves." Bilbo chuckled, hesitantly, in response. "I suppose it's quite a funny story, looking back," he said. "Never imagined the Elves would find it funny, though." "Not the elders of Mirkwood," Legolas said, "nor, I fear, the Dwarves. But all tales of daring should be applauded, even if they end with the whisking of prisoners from under one's own nose." "I wanted to visit Mirkwood again," said Bilbo. "But I am too old. If I made it that far, I would probably end up breakfast for a spider." "The spiders are still numerous," said Legolas, "especially in the outlying stretches of the forest. The worst affliction, though, is Orcs. They have become ever thicker since Shadow is re-arisen, and raid ever deeper into our lands." "Life must be perilous," said Bilbo. "It can be," agreed the Elf. "Yet even that has its advantage. Danger hones the skills of our archers and spearmen. If Mordor assails the free peoples, Mirkwood will be ready to help bear the assault." "My friends, the Dwarves, were captured by Elven bowmen," said Bilbo. "I remember that the Wood-Elves came on us silently, and that their hands and eyes never wavered. They must be formidable warriors." Legolas nodded. With deft hands, he took up his bow and began to unstring it. "Elves fight well," he said; "the Valar gave us many gifts that aid in war. Yet remember that a Hobbit bested them still." His voice dipped with meaning. Bilbo understood that he was meant to take comfort, and did so. Frodo too was a Hobbit, with whatever qualities that implied, and, like Bilbo, he would have sturdy companions for his adventure. " I suppose a Hobbit might be able to best anyone," he said. He gazed across at the Elf, at his calm, intent face and the economical movements of his hands as he tended to the bow. "All the same, I'm glad that you are going with him." "Thank you," said Legolas. "I will do everything to protect the Ringbearer that it lies in my power to do." The Elf rose and swung his bow and quiver on to his back. "Do not be troubled unduly," he said. "Whatever actions you have done or wish undone, your path has also led you to the peace of Imladris. Your rest from strife is earned." Bilbo settled back in his seat. He was silent for some long moments, while the Elf waited, poised to move on. "I could never have accompanied him," he said at last. "Even when I was younger and stronger. The Ring – it cries out to me. I never heard its voice when I possessed it, but it's been in my heart and in my dreams every night since I left the Shire. If I was with Frodo on his journey, I know I would not last five minutes. I might betray the company; I might hurt my dear boy." Legolas touched the Hobbit gently on the shoulder. "It is good to recognize your weaknesses, as well as your strengths," he said. "You may do many things that others cannot. But this is something Frodo may do. His lacks strength in arms, but there is," he laughed lightly, "sufficient muscle in our party as it stands. His strength is in his courage and his will. His resistance to the Ring has already been remarked upon by many. You must know these qualities, for you helped shape them. Do not torment yourself by fearing him frail. So are we all, in differing ways." "So we are," Bilbo said. He paused. "I should get back to work." "I will cease to disturb you," said the Elf. "Fare you well, Mr Baggins. May we meet again, in your home if not in mine. I only regret that you cannot visit Mirkwood again, and experience the hospitality we give outside its dungeons." Bilbo grinned. "The first visit, looking back, is not an experience I would wish away." "I am glad," said Legolas. "I, too, hope to see the trees once more." The Elf walked into the house. Left alone, Bilbo picked up his manuscript and turned to the chapters concerning Mirkwood. They would have to be amended, he noticed. The Ring, central to the story of his and the Dwarves' flight, was yet only a fortuitously found trinket. It would it be more accurate to restore it to its true identity. And yet… the tale had a pleasing shape, a circular path summed up in its title, There and Back Again. To introduce the One Ring would ruin that no end, since in no manner could its history be resolved within the scope of Bilbo's book. It would be an impossible complication. I will let it go, Bilbo thought. My own travels are only a small chapter in this adventure. Frodo will live the rest, and someone else will write it. The Ring still wails at me, and it might well drive me mad. But I must stop thinking of it as mine to dispose of. Over the next few hours, he wrote the final paragraphs of his book. The last page was sealed with an ornate divider motif and, below that, his signature. Bilbo took a deep breath. Slowly, he closed the pages. There was still much blank paper on the table, and almost half a bottle of ink. He intended to make another copy, which he would present to Lord Elrond, as thanks for his hospitality. Bilbo leaned back, drowsily. The falls of the Bruinen continued to churn water into light. Story Information Author: Wild Iris Status: Reviewed Completion: Complete Era: 3rd Age - Ring War Genre: General Rating: General Last Updated: 09/19/02 Original Post: 09/18/02 Go to Clarity overview Comments are hidden to prevent spoilers. Click header to view comments Talk to Wild Iris Reader Toolbox Log in for more tools
April 5th, 2010 \| by The Thermals Music \| Posted In: Columns, Tour Diary, Tour Diary The Thermals Tour Diary: They Have Gravity in China, Too (Part One of Three) Thermals to the Streetz!Thermals frontman Hutch Harris was rad enough to take us up on our offer to keep a diary while touring China last month. It will appear in three parts this week. Disclaimer: This journal is my personal account of The Thermals' recent trip to China. It is in no way intended to be a historical or political lesson about China. Certain information has been censored for your protection. — Hutch Harris Monday, March 15 Wake up at 4 am and take a cab to PDX. 4 am, what the fuck! Why is it so easy to stay up till 4 am, and so hard to GET UP at 4 am? I meet my fellow Thermals Kathy Foster (bass) and Westin Glass (drums), and Anna Lockwood (our sound engineer) at the airport. The crew for this trip is just the four of us, plus our guide/translator who we'll meet in Beijing. We take a two hour flight to San Francisco. From SF we fly twelve hours to Beijing. The flight is actually pretty easy, a lot better than most flights to Europe I've been on. This might have something to do with the three "razzleberries" (lorazepam) I popped at the beginning of the flight. I get so high that when I watch Precious that I think it's in 3-D. Tuesday, March 16 What the hell happened to Monday? We get off the plane and it's Tuesday afternoon. We're met by Simon, a cute chubby-faced Chinese boy who is to be our guide and translator for the entire trip. He speaks pretty fluent English with a slight British accent that he learned from his father. Westin and I will probably have him searching for weed within a day or so. As we grab our bags, a woman introduces herself to us, her name is Christina Li. She was on our plane from SF. She gives us our business card and tells us to call her if we need anything. She says we are her guest in China. She tells us Chinese people are very hospitable, and the food here is not as sweet as the Chinese food in the US. We shall see, Christina! We shall see... We take a (private) bus into Beijing and check into The Hanting Hotel. Simon takes us for a walk through the DongCheng district, with lots of small bars, restaurants and indie-style boutiques. Anna splits from us to find something vegan to eat. We didn't think it would be easy for her to eat vegan over here but it turns out not to be a problem. Simon takes the rest of us to a restaurant where we eat beef skewers and kung pao chicken, it's actually pretty sweet! Take that, Christina Li! We drink large cold beers (they can be ordered warm or cold) and gorge ourselves on the best Chinese food I've ever tasted. At the table next to us, a young couple sits in silence—the girl cries softly into a large bowl of dumplings. A huge pile of fancy shopping bags is propped up at her chair. It's 7:30 pm and we are fucking exhausted. But not too exhausted for one more drink. Simon heads out and we find a tiny bar by our hotel. Westin and I drink another beer each, and Kathy orders a cocktail called a "Barbara". It's something like a White Russian in a martini glass. We talk until we've solved most of the world's problems, then head back to the hotel to try and kill our jet lag. Thermals on a bus Thermals and Friend Wednesday, March 17 8 am Westin and I wake and eat Chinese leftovers in our underwear. I know, fuckin' SEXY! And Chinese leftovers are even better in China. The shower is huge in the our hotel room, and there's a sign in it that says "Caution: Wet Floor." Culture shock! They have gravity in China, too. Westin and I take a short walk around Beijing, stopping only to buy pastries and "Beijing" brand cigarettes (because we're in Beijing) before meeting up with the ladies. We visit the Jingshan Park and The Forbidden City, both in the center of Beijing. Jingshan is a beautiful forest of a park, The Forbidden City an ancient moated Emperor's city turned massive tourist trap. Cynical kidding aside, The Forbidden city is amazing, like nothing I've ever seen before. We stuff our faces with skewered meat, tofu, corn on the cob, yams and fresh fruit before returning to the hotel to meet Simon at 4 pm. Forbidden City! We find Beijing to be not unlike some cities in Europe, in the sense that it is unlike the US in the same way Europe is. Does that make sense? Whatever. My jet lag is kicking in at this point and I am ready to crash HARD. But just like touring Europe, you know that when your jet lag kicks in, it's time to GET TO WORK. So get to work we do. We head to the club to sound check. The club is called MAO LIVE, and there is a huge silhouette of Mao behind the drum riser. Soundcheck is like any other we've done. If you've ever sound checked, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you're not missing a damn thing. If you're familiar with the story of Chairman Mao, you know his dream of being immortalized on the walls of a dingy rock club has finally been realized. We eat dinner at the same restaurant as the night before, and uh, order almost the exact same thing. Sorry, but the kung pao and green beans are just too fucking delicious! The show goes well except for one thing, the audience is filled with WHITE PEOPLE! Students, ex-pats, hot girls from Seattle, what the fuck? The audience is a quarter Chinese at most. We're told it can be normal for a relatively unknown band playing China to attract mostly Americans. Dude, I did not travel 6,000 whatever miles to play for a room full of English speaking people, but what the hell, they bought their tickets. We (somewhat sloppily) rock their white asses and scramble back to the hotel. It's midnight and we have to wake up at 4 FUCKING AM! for a flight to Shanghai at 7 am tomorrow. If I ever come back to China, it will be only to kill whoever booked our domestic flights here. (To Be Continued...) More Photos: Thermals and new friends Thermals to the Streetz! The Thermals! The ThermalSpace! (where you can hear the band's hot new record store day single, "Separate"! The Thermals on Twitter! Photos courtesy of Hutch Harris and the Thermals • Currently 3.5/5 Stars. • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 comments powered by Disqus Web Design for magazines
Micro Gaming Appealing to Some? by caseysea01 - 3/20/13 4:34 PM In Reply to: MicroATX Computer Case by R. Proffitt Moderator I thought that gaming in a small form factor computer might be appealing to some people. Also this isn't meant to be some sick computer that I plan on keeping for 7 years. I'm selling it for profit. I don't care what happens to it after I sell it lol...
Timing is everything when making a fondant au chocolat, as the results can vary greatly if you don’t pay attention... When chef Michel Bras perfected the original recipe for biscuit de chocolat coulant in 1981, little did he know that within a couple of decades his runny-centred cake would usurp classics such as crme brle or chocolate mousse. Not only has this cake also known less accurately as fondant au chocolat or moelleux au chocolat become a ubiquitous dessert in French restaurants, it can also be bought frozen to pop into the microwave at home. Its easy to understand the popularity of a cake that collapses under the fork to release a pool of molten chocolate, enhanced by a melting scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is French comfort food at its best, an ending that is hard to resist even after a rich meal (particularly if you order one for two people). Yet, if the coulant au chocolat is nearly always satisfying, only rarely is it sublime. This makes sense when you consider that Bras, a star chef at his eponymous restaurant at Laguiole in the Aveyron dpartement, spent two years developing his recipe, in which he inserts a cork-shaped piece of frozen ganache into a chocolate cake batter lightened with frothy egg whites. He then freezes the whole thing before baking it until the outside is cooked but the interior is still liquid. Bras uses short lengths of garden hose to shape his ganache, something that few home cooks, or many other restaurant chefs for that matter, are likely to copy. Thus, the quick version of coulant au chocolat was born: a cake batter unabashedly rich in butter and chocolate that remains runny inside when baked briefly in a hot oven. Though this version is much easier to prepare, it also has a greater risk of going wrong: an inaccurate oven temperature or a few minutes inattention can transform it into a brownie. Though I had eaten my share of coulants over the years, I had an epiphany while making a guest chef appearance at the bistro La Table de Claire in eastern Paris. Not used to the gruelling hours of restaurant service, I felt depleted after three days and nights in front of the stove preparing labour-intensive specialities from Nice. Claire Seban, the restaurants chef at that time, pointed to a tray of chocolate fondant cakes that had just emerged from the oven. Help yourself, she said. Standing in the kitchen spooning chocolate cake straight off the baking tray, I had never encountered such a perfect balance of crunchy and smooth, sweet and bitter though Ill admit that hunger and fatigue may have enhanced the experience. Even the requisite scoop of ice cream didnt seem necessary. Claires secret, apart from a well-designed recipe and perfect timing, was the quality of her chocolate. Many of the best French chefs work with Valrhona, choosing from pure-origin baking chocolates such as Manjari from Madagascar or Guanaja from the Caribbean. Because the coulant contains very little flour, the character of the chocolate makes all the difference. If you cant get your hands on Valrhona (a good source is the pastry supply shop Detou in Paris, tel: (Fr) 1 42 36 54 67), it is worth experimenting with high-quality chocolates from the supermarket. Once you have selected your chocolate, the key is to try the recipe once or twice to get the timing just right. Because the coulant appears barely cooked when the timer goes off, the temptation is always to leave it in too long. Remember that it will continue to cook for a few minutes once out of the oven and that during this time the liquid interior will thicken slightly. At that point, the only challenge is to stop yourself from lapping it up before serving it to your guests. Fondant au chocolat recipe from La Table de Claire With black-and-white floor tiles, a Formica bar, modern light fixtures and a sunny terrace, this is the little bistro everyone dreams of having around the corner. La Table de Claire in the 11th arrondissement made its name thanks to the chef dun soir nights, in which amateur chefs would take over the restaurant. Chef Claire Seban has moved on to other projects, but the current chef/owner, Lofti Sioud, continues to serve a spontaneous cuisine inspired  by his travels and by seasonal produce. Because so many customers had a soft spot for Claires fondant au chocolat, it often appears on the menu. Serves 8. 220g dark chocolate, the best you can afford 200g butter 100g white sugar 5 eggs 1 level tbsp flour A little butter for the mould 1. Preheat the oven to 180C. 2. In a heavy saucepan, melt the dark chocolate and butter together over a low heat. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm and add the eggs one by one. Finally, fold in the flour. 3. Pour the batter into eight buttered ring moulds placed on  a baking sheet, or eight buttered shallow dishes (crme brle dishes would work well). Bake for eight minutes. 4. Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla or caramel ice cream. La Table de Claire 30 Rue mile Lepeu 75011 Paris Tel: (Fr) 1 43 70 59 84 Article by France Magazine France Magazine Our magazines Popular sections
With all due respect to my esteemed colleague Elisabeth Rappe, geeks are not the only ones who learned important lessons from watching movies this summer. Herewith is my personal, arthouse summer school summary. Werner Herzog cast a disapproving eye on the ugliness he discovered at Antarctica's McMurdo Station ("they even have a yoga studio and an ATM!") and was skeptical about the sanity of some of the real-life characters he met, which is partly why Encounters at the End of the World was so entrancing. What I learned: Evidence for gay penguins is skimpy, but they have been known to have threesomes. The Wackness (pictured) didn't became the breakout hit that some had hoped for, but it did showcase the talents of rising star Olivia Thirlby and director Jonathan Levine. What I learned: Never kiss Ben Kingsley in a telephone booth. Nanette Burstein's filmmaking techniques were much more off-putting than her ultimately winning subjects in American Teen, another would-be smash that didn't live up to box office expectations. What I learned: Never break up with your girlfriend via text message, especially when a documentary filmmaker is interviewing her. Unexpectedly, Tell No One became the breakout limited-release mystery thrill ride of the summer, and Man on Wire proved that impassioned high wire walkers can make dreams come true and enthrall audiences to boot. What I learned: It's good to be French. Now it's your turn, all you indie-loving, doc-devoted, world cinema aficionados: what did you learn from the movies this summer?
Academic Preparedness The Academic Assessment tool used at Parkland College is called COMPASS. This placement and diagnostic test is created by the ACT organization. The primary purpose of the assessment is to identify which students are ready for college-level courses and which students can benefit from preparatory coursework. The secondary purpose of the assessment is to place students into the appropriate academic course. The COMPASS test is taken on a computer and the test is untimed--there is not time limit and you can work at your own pace. Reading Assessment For the Reading Placement Test, students are presented with a short, content-specific, reading passage. Then, students are asked questions relating to the passage. The format of the questions is multiple-choice. The questions fall into two categories: referring and reasoning. Referring questions ask about material explicitly stated in the passage. Reasoning questions require students to make reasonable inferences about the text and unfamiliar words in the text. For example, a content-specific passage might focus on agricultural habits in the Northeast. A referring question might ask about the main idea or the author's purpose. A reasoning question might ask about the meaning of words or a reasonable conclusion to be draw from the information in the passage. Writing Assessment For the Writing Placement Test students are presented with one or more passages containing several errors. When students find an error in a passage, they must click on that section of the passage. Clicking on the passage will bring up multiple versions of the same passage. Students must select the passage that is correct in terms of grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, organization, and style. For example, a passage might be missing a comma and have a verb tense problem. When the section of the passage is clicked on, the option that has the comma properly placed and the correct verb tense should be selected. Math Assessment Parkland College is committed to helping students achieve success in their course work. In this effort, the college has designed a mathematics assessment program to aid students in selecting the most appropriate mathematics course while taking into account wide and varied backgrounds. Assessment or credit in the listed prerequisite course is required prior to registering in any mathematics course. Assessment scores are valid for only two years; thereafter, the student must be reassessed.Students with transfer credit in mathematics are not required to take the assessment, but can be placed on the basis of mathematics credits earned within the last five years (after a review of transcripts). For additional information on placement testing, please visit the Assessment Center website. © Parkland College
Join 237,000 weekly readers and receive practical marketing advice for FREE. No thanks, take me to MarketingSherpa First Name: Last Name: Mar 08, 2004 How To How Patagonia Uses Word of Mouth Marketing (Instead of Traditional Campaigns): Seven Steps SUMMARY: Instead of spending big bucks on traditional media to spread the word, outdoor gear retailer Patagonia relies on its own customers. When you depend on word of mouth for growth, you have to be darn good at eliciting it. We asked Patagonia's ecommerce Director to detail the seven key steps for growing word of mouth, including: Learn where your word of mouth (WOM) comes from Develop ROI models that reflect cross-channel interactions Refocus communications from the transaction to the relationship Especially useful for marketers who want to make a stronger brand statement with their site: Outdoor gear supplier Patagonia has some self-imposed limitations when it comes to marketing their products. "We're not going to partner with companies that don't have environmental activism as part of their values, as part of their behavior." says Craig Wilson. And many traditional marketing vehicles - like TV, radio and print ads - are out, too, "...we don't philosophically go there and we don't go there financially either." Instead, Wilson says it's customer loyalty and word of mouth that drives the business. Here are the Patagonia's seven steps to supporting WOM-based growth: Step #1. Learn where your word of mouth (WOM) comes from Wilson's team used online and email surveys to understand customer behavior and opinion. They learnt, for example, that just over half of their customers eventually go out and recommend the brand to friends and family. In fact, WOM is so influential that Wilson sees it as perhaps the most important success metric for the company. But they also learned that it took longer than the industry average for customers to actually start recommending Patagonia. Why? Two reasons: a. The quality of Patagonia brand gear drives loyalty and WOM, but " takes a long time for you to realize that (the product) lasts a long time." b. With low-key marketing and a limited retail presence (17 stores in the USA), Patagonia wasn't reaching customers often enough. The team also discovered that visitors who read the environmental and similar information at the website go on to become the best online customers. The logical conclusion; "The thing that really tips the scale for our customer to become a loyal customer are more and more interactions with us." In other words, both sales and customer advocacy depends on getting people to interact more frequently with the company and learn more about its core values and activism. So how did Wilson and his colleagues respond? Step #2. Develop cross-channel customer visibility Previously, Patagonia's distribution channels (including own retail, wholesale, catalog and online) each operated on a standalone basis. Wilson's team are now integrating customer data across all channels, so that communication is more coordinated. He explains, "Any communication that goes out of our retail, or anytime a customer goes into a retail store or anytime they go on the internet or they receive a catalog or receive an email - we need to have visibility over all those transactions or interactions with Patagonia." Step #3. Encourage cross-channel interaction With this visibility, Wilson's team can identify obvious gaps in customer communication. They found, for example, great catalog customers living near a retail store, but who'd never bought from that store. Wilson recollects, "We've been sending them catalogs but we hadn't been inspiring them to go into a retail store. And we had people shopping in retail stores that we were not sending catalogs to." Now, for example, they're targeting retail store catchment areas with catalog mailings. Step #4. Develop ROI models that reflect channel interactions Of course, once you start to also see a channel as a marketing vehicle for other channels, there are the usual organizational conflicts. Wilson says the solution is in the way you measure channel success. Based on their own research and experience, Wilson's team built revenue allocation formulas. So, for example, when a catalog goes out, the dollar sales per book figure used to evaluate the ROI goes beyond direct telephone sales to include a dollar figure for the likely contribution to local retail store revenues and internet sales. Step #5. Refocus communications from the transaction to the relationship Cross-channel interaction also means the customer communications within each channel no longer have to tell the whole Patagonia brand story. In pre-Internet years, customers might have learnt everything about Patagonia and its products from the catalog alone. Wilson explains, "Everything that you absolutely knew about the brand was captured in that catalog and in whatever product you've purchased." Now the catalog isn't under the same pressure to "carry" the brand. Instead, it can present selected products in more detail and drive customers to, for example, the website for a fuller Patagonia "experience." This website itself reflects the WOM-inspired relationship focus. For example: -- The press room features organic cotton brochures and child care information, rather than sales records and product announcements. -- The homepage has as many links to information on the company and its environmental initiatives as it does commercial links to store pages. -- Product descriptions often incorporate relevant anecdotes or stories from the field. -- the "About" pages are extensive and focus almost entirely on environmental issues and campaigns, and company culture and philosophy. It's this kind of information that Wilson knows drives sales, loyalty and WOM. And the team are working on ways of making it even more accessible to visitors. He says, "The problem is that we have not done a great job of prioritizing what those stories are and making certain that they are very high up, so that any paths through the website that a customer takes, they can be exposed to that information." Step #6. Avoid basic site problems through usability studies Of course, access to website information presupposes a functional website. Wilson's team conducts usability studies before any significant website changes, plus an annual total site usability audit. Of the various techniques they employ, Wilson says the most insightful is to pull customers out of a retail store, sit them down in front of a PC and give them a gift certificate. Then watch them shop online. "They're in a more normal mode when they're going to spend some money. That was a gift to them basically for their time...but they really act as though that's not free money. They spend it very much the way they would normally spend a hundred bucks out of their pocket." He also notes that you don't need a lot of people to identify problems. He explains, "You really discover the issues very quickly looking over the shoulder of somebody...We don't have to run 50 people through it. We can find out what's wrong with about 5-10 people." Step #7. Avoid explicit solicitations and over saturation One obvious question - what specific tools or communications are Patagonia giving customers to facilitate this WOM? Wilson's answer - nothing. He explains, "Just trying to make a good product...that's more our style - not to be proactive or push or incentivize people to do things." This trickles over into email marketing. The in-house list gets an average of just one or two emails a month, mainly highlighting new products, but with environmental information included, too. Wilson explains, "We're not desperate to have emails drive sales. We more want to utilize them to maintain a presence with our customer and let them know what's going on." Needless to say, he's keen to avoid any spam taint. "We've pulled back a little on our emails in the last few months...We're pretty aware of what's going on industry-wide and we for sure don't want to be a company that's looked at in that way!" Post a Comment (a) relate to the topic at hand, (b) do not contain offensive content, and To help us prevent spam, please type the numbers (including dashes) you see in the image below.* Invalid entry - please re-enter *Please Note: Your comment will not appear immediately -- article comments are approved by a moderator.
Google PopTub By: Going Like Sixty - Published: • References: techradar Google, as usual, has snuck something new into the marketplace that could shake things up drastically. PopTub is a web celebrity news show produced by the creator of Who Wants To be A Millionaire. "Poptub is intended as an Entertainment Tonight for the YouTube set that will yield thousands of episodes, not to mention a more curated point of entry to YouTube, which it has been criticized for lacking," says. PopTub is a YouTube resident. As Google's PopTub creates content rather than just providing access to content other people created, it gives them full control over ad serving. "The Google Content Network (GCN) will be used to propagate the shows across many sites, and provide the targeted advertising which will decide if the venture is a commercial success," Techradar says. "Of course, should Google make a success of this type of show, it could become a key threat for major broadcasters. Holding around two thirds of the global search market means that Google potentially holds the keys to the kingdom in terms of online broadcasts, should it leverage its dominance."
Comedian Mike Lukas has been described as a one-man improv act. That's not surprising when you consider he is an alumni of the renowned Second City sketch/improv company. The Cleveland native has performed with the troupe in Chicago, as well as with various road companies. He also did a hitch in S.C.'s Las Vegas edition. In his standup act he uses characters, odd voices, and even sound effects to bring his jokes to life. He covers everything from relationships to urban legends. "Have you heard about the guy losing his head on Space Mountain in Disneyland?" he asks an audience. "How does that happen? 'Wha-hoo no hands!' Boom! No head! Show-off. What if you're working that ride? Some people take it very seriously. Someone loses their head on your ride, it's a bad day at work." Lukas actually had a job at Disney World, doing in-house television work before heading to New York. Big Apple audiences weren't always welcoming. "The Midwest sensibility and humor wasn't appreciated," he says. "'You're goofy, why aren't you angrier?'" He ended up in L.A., co-hosting a successful radio show with his wife, Gretchen Massey. Next stop: Cleveland? "We had a baby in September, so we brought her back to Cleveland to raise her around family," he says. "Imagine trying to talk your wife from Texas into living in Ohio with the winters. You kind of have to gloss over that... More >>>
Gamasutra: The Art & Business of Making Gamesspacer View All RSS August 21, 2014 arrowPress Releases August 21, 2014 PR Newswire View All GFH: Neils Clark On Moving Beyond 'Game Addiction' GFH: Neils Clark On Moving Beyond 'Game Addiction' May 9, 2008 \| By Kyle Orland, Staff May 9, 2008 \| By Kyle Orland, Staff Post A Comment More: Console/PC Following his Gamasutra feature on the subject, writer and researcher Neils Clark spoke at the ongoing Games for Health conference in Baltimore on game addiction. In his talk at the conference, he covered the perceived problems, a run-down on why people might get addicted, and some proactive measures that developers can use to combat addictive behavior in the future. "You could say that game addiction is all a joke... or at least based on one," said Clark. In 1995, he explained, internet addiction disorder (IAD) became "official," and that eight item criteria written 13 years ago is now the standard for online game addiction understanding. The Problem Clark pointed out that there's no differentiation in many studies between adults and children, though pathologies differ between children and adults, saying that studies in the future need to realize this. Games aren't without problems, he admitted, adding that most in the audience probably knows someone who has 'problems' with World of Warcraft now and again, but says the way we understand those problems currently is really 'interim.' That's a good word for the situation, said Clark, one that can be used with medical people to explain that the debate on the subject between what happens in a game and whether the IAD criteria really measure it hasn't been settled, and keeps the conversation dynamic. The Elements Clark broke down three key elements to help understand what exactly makes up game addiction. The first of these was 'immersion' - "the way the brain handles taking in the experience of the game itself." "When I put my mom and her brain in front of a game like [BioWare's Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic], her brain has no idea how to process that. Her brain shuts down," he said. But, put her in front of Solitaire, Clark continued, and the immersion is much more slick. The second of Clark's elements was 'culture,' or how the world works, as he referenced Tolkien on the brain's ability to get sucked into literature, on how amazing stories create texture that hold us in worlds that exist only in our minds. These secondary worlds have different structures and a culture all their own, and, he said, researchers need to look at how these two worlds relate when they study addiction. For instance, in Korea there's a real-world concept known as Wang-tta -- which roughly translates to the concept of the 'low man on gaming totem pole' -- which might explain play habits, pulling Korean gamers in more deftly than elsewhere. Finally, Clark said his third element was "simply how people interact with games" -- is gaming pathological, he wondered, and really causing a problem, or are players just having fun? Does immersion actually cause time loss, he asked, or just part of getting locked into the world because of friendships, culture, and various other things people get out of playing the game? People don't go into [virtual world] Whyville for nefarious reasons, said Clark - instead they have friends, agency, validation, and in-game rewards. When people study that interaction, they get a clearer idea of why a player goes into any given game. Researchers, he said, should create a model for how a patient is interacting with a game. The Real World Relationship Pathologies tend to affect both the primary and in-game worlds, continued Clark. For instance, insomnia in the real world could be correlated with obsessive level grinding in World of Warcraft. Play that meets the definition of 'internet addiction disorder' isn't necessarily pathological excess, as the IAD-type definition conflates healthy with therapeutic or harmless uses. A preoccupation with a game like World of Warcraft isn't necessarily bad, said Clark. People have in-game friendships and real-world pressures, and taking away games might take away the good things that go with it. Researchers, he suggested, "need a more robust way of looking at the problem." The Solutions So what can developers do to combat the problem? Clark said they should be more pro-active, by providing functional tools that help people monitor their own play, send timed messages to remind players to 'go do real world stuff,' or employ voluntary lock-out systems. In the long term, the industry needs a critical design discussion to talk about how immersion, culture, and interactions come together to cause this perceived addiction, Clark suggested. The Sims developers have been talking about immersion in their game for years, for instance, and the desire to make sure it's not harmful. At the same time, Clark concluded, researchers need to connect with each other and work together to ensure they're up on the latest research, and "move outside the internet addiction criteria to get a handle on what's actually happening." The current criteria are attractive, with a simple checklist to figure out an addiction "percentage," but the real problem, said Clark, is much harder. Related Jobs YAGER Development GmbH YAGER Development GmbH — Berlin, Germany Senior Graphics Programmer (f/m) Infinity Ward / Activision Infinity Ward / Activision — woodland hills, California, United States Build Engineer-Infinity Ward Disney Consumer Products Disney Consumer Products — Glendale, California, United States Contract Game Programmer Cloud Imperium Games Cloud Imperium Games — Austin, Texas, United States Lead Network Engineer
VIDEO REPORT: Republican Candidates for U.S. Senate Talk Healthcare By: Rachelle Baillon Email By: Rachelle Baillon Email Tuesday, August 7th, 2012--1:35p.m. MADISON--Healthcare. It's a topic likely to frame this fall's elections--and candidates everywhere are drawing battle lines on the issue. This race is no exception: all four Republicans: Mark Neumann, Tommy Thompson, Eric Hovde and Jeff Fitzgerald--say if elected, they'd vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare by right-leaning politicos. However, Healthcare remains a major issue in this country. So, we asked each of them to outline what they'd propose in place of the Affordable Care Act to deal with the situation. "I don't trust the government or insurance companies to make health care decisions on behalf of me or my family," said Jeff Fitzgerald. "I trust myself. So we need a more market-driven approach, a more wellness put into healthcare and that's what I think should happen." Some of the candidates' plans include: allowing for insurance purchases across state lines and utilizing health savings accounts. Health Savings Accounts are something Mark Neumann says his business has used very effectively. "We put $3,000 into a savings account, that's their money," said Neumann. "So they now have virtually full coverage, but instead of just insurance like we're used to it they're looking at that $3,000 every time they go to the doctor to decide what and how they're going to buy their medicine. So it brings the free market back into the system." Eric Hovde proposes using a premium support system to help those struggling economically to purchase their insurance. "I think we can deal with, you know, those catastrophic or end-of-life care events with a premium support system to allow them to buy insurance to prevent against those events," said Hovde. "Otherwise we have to drive people to be more tied into the cost of their healthcare so they start caring for themselves." Tommy Thompson also suggests changing the litigation system. "So doctors don't spend ungodly amount of money protecting themselves from lawsuits," said Thompson. "You know they spend so much money in practicing defensive medicine, let's allow it if you go into the hospital ugly, more than likely you're going to come out ugly and you shouldn't sue because you're not beautiful, should you?" powered by Disqus
Zomm bills itself as a "wireless leash" for your phone. Obviously, that's nonsense, so what is it real-person language? It's a little Bluetooth dongle you attach to your keys (or your belt, with the included clip) that acts as a handsfree speaker, an alert to tell you've forgotten your phone, and a safety device. The main feature is probably the alarm that goes off if you wander too far from your mobile. Zomm makes a point of saying that you can customise the distance before it starts vibrating, flashing and making noise, but actually the options are basically 'short' and 'long'. We wish you could change the 'leash' length using a switch or button on the device itself, because you might not be bothered about wandering quite far from your phone in your office building, but don't want to get too far from a restaurant before you realise you've forgotten it. Regardless of that, it works. Stray too far from your mobile and you'll know about. As a tool to avoid forgetfulness, we can't really fault it. We think it would be even more useful if it could work both ways (so if you'd left your keys, your phone went off in your pocket), but that doesn't change the fact that it does exactly what it says it will. When you get a call, the Zomm will vibrate, flash and make noise. You can answer by pressing the Z button, turning the unit into a little handsfree kit. We found that it picked up voices really well, though they could become a little distorted. The speaker also suffers from some distortion, especially if you're on a weak line, and we found that it was easily drowned out. You can change the volume using your phone's volume options, but by the time you're holding your phone, you might as well just use that to take the call. The safety part of the Zomm worked well, too. Holding the button for a few seconds gets you a nice buzz, which indicates that you're about to get into alarm territory. Sure enough, an alarm will soon sound, and if you keep holding, it'll dial the emergency services. At £80, the Zomm is pretty expensive. However, panic alarms that can dial out in emergencies can easily cost that on their own, so when you factor in its call-answering capabilities and the 'wireless leash' feature, it's not too bad comparitively. Plus, if it saves your life, or even just stops you losing an expensive phone, it might start to look like a bargain. With all the ice and snow around currently, we can imagine Zomm would bring some peace of mind to older people especially, but it's still too much to spend for us to recommend it for everyone.
Innocent people may have been framed for bugs? A couple of years ago, a 28-year-old man ran into trouble in the scenic Brenta River near Padova, Italy. Witnesses saw him struggling in the water; soon after, he drowned. When Stefano Vanin, a forensic scientist at the University of Huddersfield in Great Britain, analyzed the body, the unfortunate man showed no signs of injury on the body but for some small abrasions around the eye. Vanin, who's studied entomology, realized that the marks were caused by an eyeless crustacean called Niphargus elegans that had started eating away at the corpse. But a less careful analyst might have concluded they were signs of injury, and that the man's death involved foul play. Vanin has been studying cases like this in an attempt to figure out all of the ways in which little critters can affect a crime scene and throw off an investigation. Ants, for instance, can apparently leave marks on a corpse's face that look like a punch. Forensic scientists apparently have a lot more to learn: Vanin and his colleague report that their study of the drowning victim, published in Forensic Science International last year, was the first to look at post-mortem lesions caused freshwater organisms. Hopefully investigators will heed the new findings and make sure that bugs don't get any more people convicted for crimes they didn't commit. Image: Dm_Cherry/Shutterstock
10 Compelling Reasons You Can Never Trust The Mainstream Media truther 3 Sophie McAdam, True Activist A poll last year showed that trust in the mainstream media is increasing, which should worry all of us who value truth, integrity and press freedom. Why? Here are 10 disturbing things everyone needs to know about the global media giants who control our supply of information, wielding immense power over the people- and even over the government. 1. Mainstream media exists solely to make profit 10 Compelling Reasons You Can Never Trust The Mainstream Media Murdoch: Evil wizard Image Credit: ♥ photofairy What´s the purpose of the mainstream media? Saying that the press exists to inform, educate or entertain is like saying Apple corporation´s primary function is to make technology which will enrich our lives. Actually, the mass media industry is the same as any other in a capitalist society: it exists to make profit. Medialens, a British campaigning site which critiques mainstream (or corporate) journalism, quoted business journalist Marjorie Kelly as saying that all corporations, including those dealing with media, exist only to maximize returns to their shareholders. This is, she said, ´the law of the land…universally accepted as a kind of divine, unchallengeable truth´. Without pleasing shareholders and a board of directors, mass media enterprises simply would not exist. And once you understand this, you´ll never watch the news in the same way again. Flicr / WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick ´journalist´ Andrew Ross Sorkin and the Goldman Sachs connection Flickr / WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick 2. Advertisers dictate content So how does the pursuit of profit affect the news we consume? Media corporations make the vast majority (typically around 75%) of their profit from advertising, meaning it´s advertisers themselves that dictate content- not journalists, and certainly not consumers. Imagine you are editor of a successful newspaper or TV channel with high circulation or viewing figures. You attract revenue from big brands and multinational corporations such as BP, Monsanto and UAE airlines. How could you then tackle important topics such as climate change, GM food or disastrous oil spills in a way that is both honest to your audience and favorable to your clients? The simple answer is you can´t. This might explain why Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times- sponsored by Goldman Sachs- is so keen to defend the crooked corporation. Andrew Marr, a political correspondent for the BBC, sums up the dilemma in his autobiography: ´The biggest question is whether advertising limits and reshapes the news agenda. It does, of course. It’s hard to make the sums add up when you are kicking the people who write the cheques.´ Enough said… 3. Billionaire tycoons & media monopolies threaten real journalism Image Credit - Flickr / Mike Licht Image Credit – Flickr / Mike Licht The monopolization of the press (fewer individuals or organizations controlling increasing shares of the mass media) is growing year by year, and this is a grave danger to press ethics and diversity. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch´s neo-liberal personal politics are reflected in his 175 newspapers and endorsed by pundits (see Fox news) on the 123 TV channels he owns in the USA alone. Anyone who isn´t worried by this one man´s view of the world being consumed by millions of people across the globe- from the USA to the UK, New Zealand to Asia, Europe to Australia- isn´t thinking hard enough about the consequences. It´s a grotesquely all-encompassing monopoly, leaving no doubt that Murdoch is one of the most powerful men in the world. But as the News International phone hacking scandal showed, he´s certainly not the most honorable or ethical. Neither is Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB spy and politician who bought British newspaper The Independent in 2010. With Lebedev´s fingers in so many pies (the billionaire oligarch is into everything from investment banking to airlines), can we really expect news coverage from this once well-respected publication to continue in the same vein? Obviously not: the paper had always carried a banner on its front page declaring itself ´free from party political bias, free from proprietorial influence´, but interestingly this was dropped in September 2011. 4. Corporate press is in bed with the government Photo: Dafydd Jones (telegraph.co.uk) British Prime Minister David Cameron partying with Rebekah Brooks Photo: Dafydd Jones (telegraph.co.uk) Aside from the obvious, one of the most disturbing facts to emerge from Murdoch´s News International phone hacking scandal (background information here ) was the exposure of shady connections between top government officials and press tycoons. During the scandal, and throughout the subsequent Leveson inquiry into British press ethics (or lack of them), we learned of secret meetings, threats by Murdoch to politicians who didn´t do as he wanted, and that Prime Minister David Cameron has a very close friendship with The Sun´s then editor-in-chief (and CEO of News International) Rebekah Brooks. How can journalists do their job of holding politicians to account when they are vacationing together or rubbing shoulders at private dinner parties? Clearly, they don´t intend to. But the support works both ways- Cameron´s government tried to help Murdoch´s son win a bid for BSkyB, while bizarrely, warmongering ex Prime Minister Tony Blair is godfather to Murdoch´s daughter Grace. As well as ensuring an overwhelming bias in news coverage and election campaigns, flooding newspapers with cheap and easy articles from unquestioned government sources, and gagging writers from criticizing those in power, these secret connections also account for much of the corporate media´s incessant peddling of the patriotism lie- especially in the lead-up to attacks on other countries. Here´s an interesting analysis of The New York Times´s coverage of the current Syria situation for example, demonstrating how corporate journalists are failing to reflect public feeling on the issue of a full-scale attack on Assad by the US and its allies. Image Credit: heavy.com Image Credit: heavy.com 5. Important stories are overshadowed by trivia You could be forgiven for assuming that the most interesting part of Edward Snowden´s status as a whistleblower was his plane ride from Hong Kong to Russia, or his lengthy stint waiting in Moscow airport for someone- anyone- to offer him asylum. Because with the exception of The Guardian who published the leaks (read them in full here), the media has generally preferred not to focus on Snowden´s damning revelations about freedom and tyranny, but rather on banal trivia – his personality and background, whether his girlfriend misses him, whether he is actually a Chinese spy, and ahhh, didn´t he remind us all of Where´s Waldo as he flitted across the globe as a wanted fugitive? The same could be said of Bradley Manning´s gender re-assignment, which conveniently overshadowed the enormous injustice of his sentence. And what of Julian Assange? His profile on the globally-respected BBC is dedicated almost entirely to a subtle smearing of character, rather than detailing Wikileaks´s profound impact on our view of the world. In every case, the principal stories are forgotten as our attention, lost in a sea of trivia, is expertly diverted from the real issues at hand: those which invariably, the government wants us to forget. 6. Mainstream media doesn´t ask questions Image Credit / web.archive.org Image Credit / web.archive.org ´Check your sources, check your facts´ are golden rules in journalism 101, but you wouldn´t guess that from reading the mainstream press or watching corporate TV channels. At the time of writing, Obama is beating the war drums over Syria. Following accusations by the US and Britain that Assad was responsible for a nerve gas attack on his own civilians last month, most mainstream newspapers- like the afore-mentioned New York Times- have failed to demand evidence or call for restraint on a full-scale attack. But there are several good reasons why journalists should question the official story. Firstly, British right-wing newspaper The Daily Mail actually ran a news piece back in January this year, publishing leaked emails from a British arms company showing the US was planning a false flag chemical attack on Syria´s civilians. They would then blame it on Assad to gain public support for a subsequent full-scale invasion. The article was hastily deleted but a cached version still exists. Other recent evidence lends support to the unthinkable. It has emerged that the chemicals used to make the nerve gas were indeed shipped from Britain, and German intelligence insists Assad was not responsible for the chemical attack. Meanwhile, a hacktivist has come forward with alleged evidence of US intelligence agencies´ involvement in the massacre (download it for yourself here ), with a growing body of evidence suggesting this vile plot was hatched by Western powers. Never overlook the corporate media´s ties to big business and big government before accepting what you are told- because if journalism is dead, you have a right and a duty to ask your own questions. 7. Corporate journalists hate real journalists Michael Grunwald, senior national correspondent of Time, tweeted that he ´can´t wait to write a defense of the drone that takes out Julian Assange.´ Salon writer David Image Credit / intellectualrevolution.tv Image Credit / intellectualrevolution.tv Sirota rightly points out the irony of this: ´Here we have a reporter expressing excitement at the prospect of the government executing the publisher of information that became the basis for some of the most important journalism in the last decade.´ Sirota goes on to note various examples of what he calls the ´Journalists against Journalism club´, and gives several examples of how The Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald has been attacked by the corporate press for publishing Snowden´s leaks. The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin called for Greenwald’s arrest, while NBC’s David Gregory´s declared that Greenwald has ´aided and abetted Snowden´. As for the question of whether journalists can indeed be outspoken, Sirota accurately notes that it all depends on whether their opinions serve or challenge the status quo, and goes on to list the hypocrisy of Greenwald´s critics in depth: ´Grunwald has saber-rattling opinions that proudly support the government’s drone strikes and surveillance. Sorkin’s opinions promote Wall Street’s interests. (The Washington Post´s David) Broder had opinions that supported, among other things, the government’s corporate-serving “free” trade agenda. (The Washington Post´s Bob) Woodward has opinions backing an ever-bigger Pentagon budget that enriches defense contractors. (The Atlantic´s Jeffrey) Goldberg promotes the Military-Industrial Complex’s generally pro-war opinions. (The New York Times´s Thomas) Friedman is all of them combined, promoting both “free” trade and “suck on this” militarism. Because these voices loyally promote the unstated assumptions that serve the power structure and that dominate American politics, all of their particular opinions aren’t even typically portrayed as opinions; they are usually portrayed as noncontroversial objectivity.´ 8. Bad news sells, good news is censored, and celebrity gossip trumps important issues Justin Bieber - Image Credit / Wikimedia Justin Bieber – Image Credit / Wikimedia It´s sad but true: bad news really does sell more newspapers. But why? Are we really so pessimistic? Do we relish the suffering of others? Are we secretly glad that something terrible happened to someone else, not us? Reading the corporate press as an alien visiting Earth you might assume so. Generally, news coverage is sensationalist and depressing as hell, with so many pages dedicated to murder, rape and pedophilia and yet none to the billions of good deeds and amazingly inspirational movements taking place every minute of every day all over the planet. But the reasons we consume bad news are perfectly logical. In times of harmony and peace, people simply don´t feel the need to educate themselves as much as they do in times of crises. That´s good news for anyone beginning to despair that humans are apathetic, hateful and dumb, and it could even be argued that this sobering and simple fact is a great incentive for the mass media industry to do something worthwhile. They could start offering the positive and hopeful angle for a change. They could use dark periods of increased public interest to convey a message of peace and justice. They could reflect humanity´s desire for solutions and our urgent concerns for the environment. They could act as the voice of a global population who has had enough of violence and lies to campaign for transparency, equality, freedom, truth, and real democracy. Would that sell newspapers? I think so. They could even hold a few politicians to account on behalf of the people, wouldn´t that be something? But for the foreseeable future, it´s likely the corporate press will just distract our attention with another picture of Rhianna´s butt, another rumor about Justin Bieber´s coke habit, or another article about Kim Kardashian (who is she again?) wearing perspex heels with swollen ankles while pregnant. Who cares about the missing $21 trillion, what was she thinking? 9. Whoever controls language controls the population Flickr / Jason Ilagan Flickr / Jason Ilagan Have you read George Orwell´s classic novel 1984 yet? It´s become a clichéd reference in today´s dystopia, that´s true, but with good reason. There are many- too many- parallels between Orwell´s dark imaginary future and our current reality, but one important part of his vision concerned language. Orwell coined the word ´Newspeak´ to describe a simplistic version of the English language with the aim of limiting free thought on issues that would challenge the status quo (creativity, peace, and individualism for example). The concept of Newspeak includes what Orwell called ´DoubleThink´- how language is made ambiguous or even inverted to convey the opposite of what is true. In his book, the Ministry of War is known as the Ministry of Love, for example, while the Ministry of Truth deals with propaganda and entertainment. Sound familiar yet? Another book that delves into this topic deeper is Unspeak, a must-read for anyone interested in language and power and specifically how words are distorted for political ends. Terms such as ´peace keeping missiles´, ´extremists´ and ´no-fly zones´, weapons being referred to as ´assets´, or misleading business euphemisms such as ´downsizing´ for redundancy and ´sunset´ for termination- these, and hundreds of other examples, demonstrate how powerful language can be. In a world of growing corporate media monopolization, those who wield this power can manipulate words and therefore public reaction, to encourage compliance, uphold the status quo, or provoke fear. 10. Freedom of the press no longer exists Flickr / watchingfrogsboil Flickr / watchingfrogsboil The only press that is currently free (at least for now) is the independent publication with no corporate advertisers, board of directors, shareholders or CEOs. Details of how the state has redefined journalism are noted here and are mentioned in #7, but the best recent example would be the government´s treatment of The Guardian over its publication of the Snowden leaks. As a side note, it´s possible this paper plays us as well as any other- The Guardian Media Group isn´t small fry, after all. But on the other hand- bearing in mind points 1 to 9- why should we find it hard to believe that after the NSA files were published, editor Alan Rusbridge was told by the powers that be ´you´ve had your fun, now return the files´, that government officials stormed his newsroom and smashed up hard drives, or that Greenwald´s partner David Miranda was detained for 9 hours in a London airport under the Terrorism Act as he delivered documents related to the columnist´s story? Journalism, Alan Rusbridge lamented, ´may be facing a kind of existential threat.´ As CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather wrote: ‘We have few princes and earls today, but we surely have their modern-day equivalents in the very wealthy who seek to manage the news, make unsavory facts disappear and elect representatives who are in service to their own economic and social agenda… The “free press” is no longer a check on power. It has instead become part of the power apparatus itself.’ Support Pakalert to keep alive Related Articles: Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress. Enter Your Mail Address Add To The Conversation Using Facebook Comments 1. 5 War Veteran January 18, 2014 at 3:23 am - Reply OK the Zionists own the Media, and the Banks, and the bought politicians, I get it. Now what do you want to do about it? • John Cook January 18, 2014 at 8:18 am - Reply Most people don’t realise that Murdock is a Jew. His mother is a Jew and that is the definition of Jewishness. So add his empire to the list of Zionist “Chosen Ones” controlled media. Do about it? Inter them all like was done (with much less justification) to Japanese during the second world war. They are enemy aliens and virtually all of them have a Zionist agenda – the essential conflict of interest should at least make them inelegible for any government or media roles especially lobbyists. • HII January 18, 2014 at 12:11 pm - Reply Businesses have been at wars ever since ; don’t you guys notice ??_ just realize that; media is one thing _ currencies wars are more critical; so what about the wars mechanics, the nuke wmd weapons have not exploded as yet _ in more details ?? the scopes of the wars have been redefined; physical as the WW II ?? _ they are in the past _ so the means of the nuke explosion will be the last resorts; everybody _ the ZIONIST USA, Europe, China, Russia, India , Pakistan etc _ they are using the media only _ BLUFFING out loud _ don’t you guys notice these again ?? why ?? because they themselves are scared to death too _ OK ?? so will attempt to not needing the NUKE hence avoid ; but the currencies to pay the cost already expended; who were paying the cost ?? the govs _ military ?? NO they don’t have the money; you guys were the lived moneys; were paying the cost by your labors, lives, poverty and suffering to famines vs open taxes ( >> 30% pluses ) _ hidden taxes ( >> 2000% pluses ) _ imbeded in and through World Inflationary Indexes _ OK ?? Mean time other forms of wars have been taking places and progressing _ without even you guys noticing that _ you guys all have been made half a sleep or entirely DRUNK _ in orgy parties _ admit that, got that guys ?? sound very SCARY _ does not that ??; the wars ( business world wars III ) now had been redefined in the UN AGENDA 21 199x_ check them out _ you guys will soon understand the scopes _ OK ?? so the media wars _ are just the SHITS WARS at the tip of the ice bergs; even the tip of the ice bergs are really very bad that purposely had sank the titanic as well; and more titanics to come to sink _ OK ?? one of them was the WTC 2003 _ more false flag attacks _ don’t need to surface as physical; the Syrian False Flag was getting caught in record as one amongst the ZIONIST failures _ and they are staging more replacement _ more attacks to come _ be ready _ see the suicidal bombing Ukraine _ that was the dirts they were planting; but faked by the misled names Islamic jihad murders again and again _ do you guys see the patterns of the ZIONIST wars scenarios ?? the ZIONIST war patterns are throwing GRENADES _ hiding their hands _ OK ?? these wars have nothing to do with the YEWS of ISRAEL _ don’t get wrong; there are good vs bad yews in ISRAEL as well YEWS around the world ; same as there are good vs bad ordinary vs super USAs in the USA as well around the world _ OK ?? The media MURDOCHs ?? they are among ts the PARASITES vs KILLER WORMS in the economy you guys are IN; back to your questions _ WHAT TO DO ?? may be not much _ are you going MAD ?? to who ? but yourselves ?? check these out _ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwpZBtlUx3M ; presentations of the david icke in melbourne 2009 _ explained that you guys unless getting in the acts now _ very soon you guys will regret yourselves _ as noted _ OK ? you are going mad but to yourself _ at that point ? you guys are already help less _ bad news ; these media MURDCHs issues _ just present the case: what to do _ stay away from the media _ but you can’t _ they are all around you to date ?? answer either DO NOTHING _ or you guys actions NOW _ Revolts _ you need lots of guns ( so stay away from USA 201x illegitimate laws of gun confiscations _ OK ?? )_ big ones _ not just small rifles _ and get organized _ can you ?? >> perhaps NOT _ you guys are doomed _ OK !! that is the fact _ and the UN Agenda 21 are way ahead they know these have been the case a head of the time 199x !! what to do again ?? final resorts _ will your Jesus come to rescue _ as the Bible would have said _ the answer now _ thence it will be time for you guys to pray even though some of you guys are atheists vs non believers _ there would be time all non believers _ convert themselves automatically _ disbelieve ?? time will tell _ the time is now coming ?? guys _ Get ready with in your own way of reasoning vs preparations better late now than never _ OK ?? 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Memory Alpha 36,856pages on this wiki Back to page \| < User talk:FleetCaptain Why does it say "Shakespeare and Star Trek"? Edit Under "See Also"? What's the connection? Did Shakespeare "meet the Army"? -unsigned anon user 3/27/08 The inappropriateness of this article to be on Memory Alpha was also applied to the Shakespeare article but, unlike this one, that article didn't come under such heavy fire. -FC 18:47, 27 March 2008 (UTC) yeah but the subjects are not related in any way. Not in-universe, and not in the real world either. Why would someone reading the article want to "see shakespeare"? it's like putting "see also: San Francisco" on the New Orleans page because you have a personal opinion about one of those cities and you also happen to have an opinion about the other city too - maybe not even the same opinion. But it's a close enough connection, so, the next thing is that somebody goes to see the San Francisco page, reads it top to bottom, and says "Why the hell did I see this page, now? It doesn't say anything about New Orleans." Who cares that there's not any information about New Orleans in the San Francisco article? They ought to be cross-referenced because some Wiki contributor knows somebody from Boston, so, "See also: some other page I was talking to some other contributor about one time, I think." -unsigned anon user 3/27/08 Thanks for your...opinion. Since this is an article on my user page which isnt ever going to be on Memory Alpha, I think we don't need to discuss this anymore. -FC 02:25, 28 March 2008 (UTC) Around Wikia's network Random Wiki
nude pics, photos of nude woman and models Sometimes when I have posted an discussion about pornography (like last week), I will get a letter or two which asks: "why do you keep defending Domai like this? Just do your thing." It is a good sentiment, but it is a misunderstanding. First, I am not against porn. B, nobody ever writes and tells me Domai is porn. and 3: nothing in the letters is talking about Domai, usually. These are simply discussion of matter of tangential interest. After all, there is only so much you can say about pretty girls, ain't there? :) So we talk about vaguely related things, like nudism (as this week), art, beauty, money, photography, gender issues, pornography, etc. I tend to keep the site on the pleasant site of things. Occasionally though some subject will be important, and I go a little bit deeper. If you don't like that, well, there is always the pictures. :) (Become a member and get over 10,000 of them.) Eolake Stobblehouse Letters to Domai Dear Domai I was in the midst of a major life transition. After years of searching, I had finally found the courage to follow my bliss. I was going to live life the way I wanted to live it -- not my parent's way, or my wife's way, or the church's, or society's -- mine. I remember vividly the day I stood in my closet and realized that I didn't like any of my clothes. I didn't care for the house I lived in or even the town. I also disliked my job and was unhappy in my marriage. "So why am I here?" I thought. "This is insane." I vowed to myself that I would be authentic. I would live a life true to my inner knowing. This required a complete metamorphosis -- an end to my marriage, a new career, a different home, a new life. I wanted time to assess everything before taking the plunge, so I took a trip that I had always wanted to take -- to the giant redwood forest of California. I wanted also to push myself out of my comfort zone and have a glimpse of the life I envisioned having, so I made plans to spend a few days at a "clothing optional" retreat in the California wine country. This was the first time in my entire life that I had ever vacationed alone. It was a time of deep introspection and reflection and it was profound. Three days of hiking among some of the world's oldest and tallest trees was rejuvenating. I became more connected to who I really was and was able to make peace with my past and embrace my new path. Then I went to the retreat, wondering all the while if I could actually walk my talk. I didn't really know what to expect. I had never been nude in public. Intellectually and morally I didn't have a problem with it and I couldn't understand why so many people did. However, like many uninitiated, I worried that my body wasn't the best, or even worse that I might become aroused in the company of attractive females and embarrass myself. But despite my worries, I was determined to have the experience. I knew it was something I needed to do. Thus, I checked in and made my way to the heated natural springs that were the focal point of the retreat. I entered the co-ed dressing room to find all manner of people in various stages of dress -- young, old, short, tall, thin, fat, fit, and every shade in between. Not one of them seemed to care that others were seeing them naked. That alone was encouraging and liberating. I knew at that moment that these people weren't like the ones I had grown up with. They weren't prudes. They weren't offended by nudity and didn't see it as "wrong" or "dirty" or "shameful." I was among people of like-mind. I took off my clothes and stepped outside to the refreshing chill of the late afternoon air. I was naked in public for the first time and to my pleasant surprise it felt like the most natural thing in the world. I sat and soaked in the natural hot springs for some time -- watching those around me and feeling the profound sense of peace that was radiating from within. I felt at home in my own skin for the first time in a long time. During my stay I did encounter many attractive young women (who could all be models for DOMAI) and discovered that my fears about sexual arousal were completely misplaced. Instead of seeing them as sexual objects, I saw them as people -- beautiful people. One encounter in particular changed me in a profound way. I was in one of the smaller pools soaking up the warm afternoon sun in the company of about six others when two women came over and got in. One was a brunette and kept a towel around her until she was close enough to slide into the water. The other had sandy blonde hair and a firm lithe body that she clearly had no hang ups about. She carried her towel at her side, dropped it on a bench some distance from the pool and walked nonchalantly to the water's edge. She was completely at ease with herself. I found her demeanor -- her confidence and self-assuredness -- just as attractive as her body, perhaps more so (and she had a great body). From that moment, I knew I wanted to talk to her, to get to know her, but her mere presence brought up so much "stuff" within me that I could not approach her just then. Women don't fully understand how they affect men. They have the power to completely short-circuit us. We loose the ability to think clearly, much less form coherent sentences. That is why otherwise confident men come off as babbling idiots when making first contact with an attractive woman. So I sat and felt and processed and got comfortable with me and who I was and where I was. I sat for almost an hour and listened to my inner voice -- and to the conversations she was having with others in the pool. In time I regained my senses and it happened. I heard her mention the word "permaculture" which stands for permanent agriculture, a sustainable form of growing food crops that I had spent four years studying but which almost no one in my hometown of Dallas, Texas ever heard of. I spoke up and within moments we were standing face to face talking about ecologically sustainable development -- while completely naked in a pool in the middle of the afternoon. It was surreal. The conversation continued and I learned that she was a dancer and a masseuse and had lived on an eco-farm in Central America for seven years. I was intrigued. The more I learned about her the more I wanted to know, but it was not to be. We talked for only fifteen minutes and then she had to leave as she and her friend were driving home that very evening (damn my luck). I watched her exit the pool and stared at her incredible being as she walked away. She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I saw her one last time an hour later as she was walking to her car. (I had since put on my clothes and was going to dinner.) I spoke to her and wished her a safe trip. That's when I realized what it was about her that captivated me so. It was her inner beauty. When you are naked and everyone around you is naked there are no clothes to hide behind, no projections of an image you want the world to see, no facades. Sure, you might still have your psychological armor on, but one major barrier to getting to know someone has been removed. In short order you stop "checking out" their bodies. You notice them in total. You note the shape, the muscle tone, the tattoos, piercings, or scars, then you being to focus on their eyes. When you look into someone's eyes you begin to truly see them. You connect. Men are visual. We process the world eyes to heart. Women are just the opposite. They process the world heart to eyes. Women are the most appealing form to men. A woman's body with its curves, lines, firmness and softness is every bit as beautiful as the most amazing sunset or the most magnificent landscape or the prettiest flower. That is why men have been attempting to capture the image in art since the dawn of time. We love to look at their bodies because it stirs something within us and allows us to connect with a different, deeper part of ourselves. Men do the same for women but in a different way. A woman is more likely to be moved by a man's confidence or caring, but the result is the same -- a connection with something within, something that can only be felt via the opposite sex. Unfortunately our culture has conditioned men to feel bad about being men. We are taught that we aren't supposed to appreciate the beauty of women openly and honestly even though in our gut we know that goes against our nature. This same culture then uses sex to sell everything. This dichotomy -- the constant presentation of women as sex objects juxtaposed with cultural prejudice against appreciating the female form -- makes for a very frustrating existence that is unfair to both sexes. This need not be the case. Men aren't as base as we've been made out to be and women are so much more than their bodies. That is why DOMAI has struck a chord with so many. We seek something more than just sex. We seek beauty. That is what I discovered during my brief encounter that day in the pool last April. Yes, there was an element of sexual attraction involved, but it lasted only a moment. It wasn't a sexual situation so the sexual energy/impulse quickly transmuted into something higher -- an appreciation and awareness of beauty. That all-too-short encounter changed me because it allowed me to experience something very important about myself, about men and women, about life, about beauty and about the nature humanity and the universe. That may sound overly dramatic but I know I felt it and will be forever grateful for the understanding that came with it. (I suspect that many fellow DOMAI readers know exactly what I'm talking about.) I realized to what extent we are living in a madhouse of sorts. Our world is so-often out of sync with our higher nature. That is both profoundly sad and enlightening. What I experienced that day should be the norm, not the exception. I only wish I had spoken up sooner and we had talked longer. But I'll always have the memory. Sincerely, Tim W Newsletter archive "I have been enjoying your Beauty of the Day and weekly newsletter for a few weeks or months now, and I finally decided to go ahead and buy a full membership. I'm just a poor college guy so I don't have a lot of money, but I decided I came to this site often enough that paying $30 for a membership would be worth it. As I pulled up the membership page, I noticed that a membership was only $15, not $30... what a pleasant surprise! But better was your site's content. For $15 a month I got more than I could ever hope for from one of the gigantic porn mega-sites, and all those have is unrealistic depictions of smut and filth. And they're $30 or $40 per month! I just don't understand how those places stay in business when there are such great alternatives. Your site is definitely the best of its kind I have seen." - Luca R <> nude photos of models (You book fans will recognize Pia from the cover of our book Natural Beauties) These are brand new samples from the members' section. Join now membership price list
Fusion reactors, here we come! Comments Threshold RE: Doesn't the Sun By shecknoscopy on 5/26/2006 6:58:25 PM , Rating: 2 So, a synthesis that doesn't yield free neutrons effectively eliminates the neutron-caused radioactive waste that's casually mentioned in the other posts here. Namely, that starting with non-radioactive materials, free neutrons (which can't be controlled with electric or magnetic fields, owing to their lack of charge or manipulable dipole) would irradiate the walls of the reactor. Small fluxes are bad enough, but prolonged exposure to intense neutron radiation would begin to decay the very nuclear structure of the materials lining the reactor itself, converting harmless building materials into nuclear waste. This is, as many people have pointed out, of substantially lower ecological impact than the type of waste generated by fission reactors. And, as a political side-note - and considering the embroiled debate surrounding Iran's nuclear program - I'll add that another benefit of these fusion reactors is that they are distinctly removed in imput materials, design and output than are fusion bombs. Hence there would be no debate as to the ultimate directive of a given facility: weapon or energy-production. Another plus there. However, the low-or-no neutron flux reactions outlined here require the enrichment and isolation of either various lithium or Boron isotopes, or a stable proton source. While not making the reactor radioactive (or as radioactive - there's still the pesky gamma and x-ray problem), it adds the difficulties of needing to purify less abundant, and more dangerous fuel sources. One of the beauties of the D+T reaction is that it requries little purification to make the original fuels, and at least one of the reaction products is totally harmless. This is no longer the case for the Li or B reactions, and now requires extensively waste-producing processes to make the fuel in the first place. We're not quite back at Square One, but we're closer. BUT the big problem is that all of this is really moot. The problem so far with fusion is that, though the reaction ultimately produces energy, the energetic barrier to starting this reaction - the so-called activation energy - has, to date, been higher than the amount of energy produced. That is, a Tokomak reactor, operating for 10 hours, would produce enough energy to run Tokyo for a day. But in order to run it for 10 hours, we needed to put in 1.05 day's worth of Tokyo-energy (a standard SI unit, I assure you), to get the reaction started. So, we're in the hole. Seriously; until someone can get a reactor that actually yields a net profit on energy production, all of this debate is purely academic. For the moment, we've not found the would-be "methedone" for our "oil addiction." I like to inhale the oil, myself. Get skeeved out by needles. RE: Doesn't the Sun By beemercer on 5/27/2006 1:52:23 PM , Rating: 3 Good job summing it up
I have had a western digital 400gig external drive for some time now. And was wondering why is it when I want to access stuff on the PC do I have to wait for the external one to wake up and start, when the files are not on there? Is there a work around for this?
Personal Makeover Goals Video Women discuss their personal makeover goals for style, home, and finances A makeover for mom can be more than just new clothes, fancy makeup, and a beautiful home. So, we sat down with a group of everyday moms and listed to what they wanted to make over in their own lives and got good advice from Good Housekeeping experts. </p> <p>Tina, what would you like to do to make over your life this year? </p> <p>I think try to get a little bit more organized with the way my life is going financially. I feel like I'm entering the next phase in my life. I'll be having a daughter going into college come September yet I still have 3 little ones and try to set goals as far as financially you know, can we afford to send her to school at the cost? The college costs now are astronomical, and thinking about my husband and I because one day the kids will all be gone and are we going to have enough to enjoy our lives. </p> <p>People save all kinds of money for their kids' college education and some people are putting aside their retirement savings so they can save enough money for college. But you can borrow money for college. You're not going to be able to borrow money for your retirement. So it's important to make sure you're not short changing your 401K savings, your IRA savings so that your child can go to Princeton. </p> <p>Last month our financial plan and without our house and he wants me to gather up for us everything. I mean, the-- he says what about your budget? I'm like, budget. Okay. I mean, how many-- not many people-- I remember my mother having the envelope and when the money ran out, then no more food was bought for the money. You know, I mean-- </p> <p>Right. </p> <p>But you know, I mean, that's how it was. And he wanted to budget. He wants everything. Insurance policies, accidental death and dismember-- every single thing that we have. </p> <p>If you've got term life insurance and it's more than several years old, it's really gonna be worth your while to go back and see how much it costs now. Because life insurance competition has made the prices go way down and so even though you're older, if you haven't had any major health hiccups, you can probably find the same amount of coverage for less money. For instance, a 45 year old female who's a nonsmoker can pay less than $45 a month for half a million dollars of coverage for 20 years. </p> <p>What are some things that you guys would like to make over in your life right now? </p> <p>I wish I could change my eating habits. I think that I've been really frustrated with my eating habits and trying to better them, eat more vegetables, eat more fruits. I'm bad with sugar, I'm bad with chocolate, I'm bad with carbs, and if I could really do something with my eating habits, to eat healthier-- </p> <p>It's important when you're home to have healthy snacks available for those times when you want snacks. Otherwise, you're gonna be looking for something, can't find anything good, so you're just going to eat whatever is there. And that's not a good idea. Some of the things that we suggest doing would be, pack your refrigerator with yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks are good. There's little soups that you can have that are already in individual sized portions. So if you eat mini meals between your regular meals, you won't be so hungry and that'll help you eat less when you have your regular breakfast, lunch and dinner. </p> <p>So it sounds like we're all very busy, kids, whatever it is. We're rushing, rushing, rushing. How many of you are prompt all the time? </p> <p>I am the constant late person. I can't even put my finger on it. I've been really trying recently to have things laid out and packed to the boys backpacks, packed up ahead of time and you know, the lunch boxes out so that I can be a little more on time, figure out the night before what I'm gonna wear. I feel awful. It gives me stress inside. It's not at all a relaxing way to live. </p> <p>And I think it's so important to feel the things that others might be feeling waiting for you. So if you know that you're somebody who tends to be chronically late, try just to imagine to sit down and think what they might be feeling on the eleventh occasion that they've waited for you and also remind yourself if it is anxiety provoking, 'cause it is for a lot of people. When you're late, you feel this you know, need to rush. You have a sense of pressure. Remind yourself of that. </p> <p>To help you save a little time around the house, the Good Housekeeping Research Institute has picked some favorite gadgets that can hurry up household chores. </p> <p>Every house has hard to clean nooks and crannies and this looks like a regular mop and it works great. We've tested it here at the institute. It's a great mop for cleaning floors but what's really terrific and surprising about the OXO Under Duster is that the special hinge in the handle allows you to bend it 90 degrees, so now you can get under bookcases, the sofa, all the places you probably never dusted before. Another great duster is this microfiber ceiling fan duster from Casabella. The pole extends so you can really clean high areas that are very difficult to reach. Certainly areas up on top, bookcases, and the best part is for ceiling fans, it's split in the middle. So you slide the blades inside and you could clean the top and bottom of the blade at one time. Doing laundry is time consuming and that's supposed to save some time and work and eliminate some ironing, we recommend a wrinkle releaser spray like this one from Niagra. They're easy to use when your clothes come out of the dryer. Simply give them a light misting. If you've got some really tough set of wrinkles, you can put on a little bit more. Just give the fabric a light tug, smooth it out. The softeners in the product will help relax and release the wrinkles. It'll be a little bit damp and then just hang it up to dry. The way to save time and work when you're washing your dishes is to make sure they come out clean the first time. To do that, you gotta load your dishwasher properly. Never put the glasses over the prongs, always put them behind them. If you put them over the prongs, you can get water spots and breakage. Make sure that your bowls and your plates always stays inside. The soiled surfaces should face the water spray so you get the best cleaning. If you don't, you could come out with spots and leftover residue. Make sure your flatware is all loaded, some up and some down. You don't want the forks or the spoons to nest 'cause they won't get cleaned, and never put a large platter or a pan in the front of the bottom rack. If you do, it could block the detergent dispenser and then when you go to close the door, the detergent won't mix with the water and you won't get good cleaning. This is a green product we've tested and really like because it's concentrated. Now it comes in a spray bottle so you could use it full strength, but it's best to dilute it. You can dilute it 1 to 10 for heavy duty uses like greasy stove tops and range hoods. So you're actually getting 10 bottles of cleaner out of 1 bottle. For even lighter applications like window blinds or just lightly soiled appliances and counter tops, you can dilute it 1 to 30, 30 bottles out of 1 cleaner. So it's a real money saver. </p> <p>For more time saving tips around the house, look for the Good Housekeeping complete household handbook on sale now. This Is A Developing Story Special Offer Special Offers
Staff Picks: Books Staff-recommended reading from the KPL catalog. How a Reporter Lost His Religion This is the most honest book on faith I've read in a while. Whether you are a person of faith or not, you will appreciate this book. The author openly, candidly and honestly tells the story of how he began reporting on inspiring stories, on people of faith who gave up everything to help the poor. As the author was becoming a Catholic, the priest sex scandal hit, which he reported on. This became a "body blow" to his faith, leading to a steady decline until he realized he wasn't going to church, wasn't praying, wasn't reading the Bible anymore--in short, he woke up one day and realized he could never go back. The way he explains his loss of faith is what I found interesting and original. He argues that it wasn't a choice, but an organic, slow, and steady series of natural events that led to where he is now: "Spiritual suicide infers that people make a conscious decision to abandon their faith. Yet it isn't simply a matter of will. Many people want desperately to believe, but just can't. They may feel tortured that their faith has evaporated, but they can't will it back into existence. If an autopsy could be would be natural causes--the organic death of a belief system that collapsed under the weight of experience and reason" (141). I especially like the beginning and end of the book, but almost the entire middle is filled with the detials of the Catholic molestation sex scandal that he exposed and reported on--which I thought was too long and didn't fit well with the memoir aspect of the book. Losing My Religion Share RSS
The Bookseller's Daughter by Pam Rosenthal, historical (2004) Brava, $14.00, ISBN 0-7582-0445-0 Pam Rosenthal is really bitten hard by the sophomore effort bug in this, her second book The Bookseller's Daughter. I understand that this book is actually her first romance novel, but all empathy aside, this story is still readable until the heroine begins doing some really shockingly stupid things to make herself even more of a victim. Set ten years before thimbling in front of the Guillotine becomes France's favorite past time, this story concerns the heroine Marie-Laure Vernet, a bookseller's daughter that is forced to work as a scullery maid in what seems to be the Household From Hell after her father's death. Her father was a bookworm scholar, and you know how darling fathers tend to be in stories like this one. Anywhere, when she's not fending off men bent on raping her luscious body, she's being abused verbally and physically by her employers. Then one day the household receives a visitor - Joseph d'Auvers-Raimond, a Vicomte that smuggled books to her father's store before. Joseph learns of poor Marie-Laure's plight and offers to pretend to be her lover. They meet as often as they can in his room at nights where they talk about books (really, that's what they do). The attraction that was formed when Marie-Laure tended an injured Joseph the first time they met kindles alight. These two soon become intimate. But alas, the financially crippled Joseph needs to marry money so they aren't really meant to be. Still, he offers Marie-Laure a very obvious and logical solution out of her problems, and all Marie-Laure has to do is to take the opportunity and leave the Household from Hell. What do you think she does? Well, if she has done something smart, that is, something a typically dumb romance heroine would not do, this book would be viewed by me in a more favorable light. I think Marie-Laure is the only one surprised when she realizes that without Joseph to protect her, things are far from looking up for her. What happens subsequently involves plenty of melodramatic heroine-in-distress scenarios, but I can never forget that Marie-Laure is in trouble because in one stupid moment, she decides to become a textbook case of a dumb romance heroine with no sense of priorities. I still enjoy Ms Rosenthal's writing and the quiet scenes between Marie-Laure and Joseph ring with wonderful romanticism. The author also manages to bring to life the atmosphere and what it is like to be involved in bookselling at that time. But when the book gets busy - and set in a tumultous time, this book can really get quite busy - The Bookseller's Daughter comes off like an overly dramatic rescue fantasy. While Marie-Laure probably cannot help being in the circumstances that she is in, I wish that she will stop being so helpless and passive and actually do something to help herself, even if this something in question may not be wrapped in heart-shaped bows. Joseph is a better character in that at least he seems to be able to evaluate a situation and propose an appropriate action for that situation. As for the cartoon villains, they seem very unworthy for someone that writes so evocatively like Ms Rosenthal. So while I manage to enjoy some aspects of this story, The Bookseller's Daughter falls short of my expectations of what this author can offer. Here's hoping that she can rebound nicely in her next book. Rating: 70 My Favorite Pages This book at This book at Amazon UK Search for more reviews of works by this author: My Guestbook Return to Romance Novel Central Email
Breads and Baked Goods - Salads and Stuff - Soups Vegetables - Main Dishes - Desserts Eggplant Parmesan 3 large eggs 3 tablespoons water 3/4-cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices 3 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese 3 cups tomato-based pasta sauce Whisk together eggs and 3 tablespoons water until blended. Combine bread crumbs and two tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Dip eggplant slices into egg mixture, then dredge in bread crumb mixture. Cook eggplant, in three batches, in 1 tablespoon hot oil (per batch) in a large skillet over medium heat for four minutes on each side or until tender. Arrange one-third of the eggplant in a single layer in a greased 11-by-7-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice. Spoon 3 cups pasta sauce over top. Bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake eight minutes more until cheese melts.
carnegie logo Babylon & Beyond Observations from Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Arab world and beyond « Previous \| Babylon & Beyond Home \| Next » IRAN: Pet-product advertising banned as dog owners come under fire Iranian authorities are cracking down, but this time their target isn't political dissidents or drug traffickers. It's dogs. Or rather, pets in general. This week, Ayatollah Nasser Makkarem Shirazi, a powerful cleric, issued a fatwa that was later passed into law banning any advertisements about pets or alluding to the buying, selling or keeping of pets, according to the Mehr news agency. The fatwa was issued in response to a question by the country's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which serves as Iran's censor. The ministry's Advertisement and Information Dissemination Office vowed to crack down on ads promoting pet foods, especially for cats and dogs. In June, Shirazi issued a fatwa against keeping dogs as pets, although that ruling was not made into law. At the time, Shirazi slammed dog owners for "blindly imitating the West," which, he said, would result in "evil outcomes." "Many people in the West love their dogs more than their wives and children," he said. The fatwa cites Islamic tradition, which dictates dogs are unclean based on testimonies from the followers of the prophet Mohammad known as hadith. Keeping dogs as pets has become fashionable among Iranians in recent years, especially among well-to-do urban families. Although pet dogs are not technically illegal, walking a dog in a public place like a park can earn the owner a hefty fine. A report on Shirazi's fatwa against pet dogs that appeared in the Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper speculated that the crackdown on pets may have more to do with class politics than Islamic law. The ruling conservative party has traditionally championed the working class while painting opposition activists as frivolous, corrupt cosmopolitans. “The authorities can’t stop people from buying expensive cars or clothes and jewelery,” an unnamed analyst in Tehran told the paper. “But they can prevent them from displaying their wealth by keeping pet dogs on the grounds that they are unclean.” But rather than discourage people from buying dogs, one pet-shop owner reported an increase in the sale of small dogs that are easy to hide. -- Meris Lutz in Beirut Photo: Pet owners at a veterinary clinic in Isfahan. Credit: Mehr News Comments () \| Archives (76) If dog's are forbidden in Islam because they are "unclean" and "harmful" for people's health, the air Tehranis breath, the alchemical people eat in their foods, the chemicals people wash their windows and floors, etc etc are way more harmful for health (forget about smoking, driving carelessly, not wearing sunglasses and suncream, etc)...I wonder if Islam is so concerned about the health of people, why it does not ban the use of these harmful substances/activities????? It sounds like those that issue the fatwas are the ones who are unclean. As I understand their religion, no one should come between the individual and Allah (God) but just like the Catholic church, a whole hierarchy has been put into place as an intermediary between the individual and God. Being a the child of a immigrant, I respect other countries' laws no matter how weird they seem. However, with this law, I just don't understand the reasoning. Referring to Mike D \| August 26, 2010 at 08:20 AM: "Wouldn't using nuclear power and weapons also be "blindly imitating the West?" In the 50's when the US and Britain thought they have the control of Iran's natural resources, and did not want to share it with the Iranians, the US convinced(forced) the Shah to start a nuclear program in Iran. The existing 5 MWe Iranian nuclear research reactor (TNRC) was sold to Tehran by the US in 1965. And as for to the "blindly imitating the US(The U.S. is the first and only country ever to use nuclear weapons. Washington has never shown regret for the bombings nor apologized for causing such monumental destruction and devastation of human life)", Iran has a loooong way to go. Nothing so far compares to the US destruction throughout the world. ... dog have to go underground but they can't images what all the fuss is about over the 9/11 mosque site. Go Figure. Anyone who has grown up with dogs as pets knows that they are indeed mans' best friend. This law is disgusting and cruel. Dogs have helped elderly people with depression, they sniff out bombs --can humans do that? They help the police solve crimes, they never expect anything in return except and are always there to keep us company. Iran is living in the dark ages and it is horrible. Everyone should read the book, "Animals Make Us Human". I am surprised at the comments below that applaud the action of Iran's government. Despicable! Just because your neighbor's dog barks a lot is no need to support a ban on dogs. Babies cry a lot, people complain a lot, cats meow a lot--do we ban them? Just why????? Beyond silly...again, the power of a theocracy is crazy!!!!! I thank the Times and other main scream media for the decades-long, non-stop demonizing of Iran. It won't be long before the majority of us want to kill all Iranians as a final solution to their inhumanity. Keep hate alive. @ Ricky I totally agree. Those Tea Party people are scary. ""Many people in the West love their dogs more than their wives and children," he said." And this is from an area of the world where many guys still blow their nose in their fingers, refuse to wear deodorant under their bacteria ridden/stinky armpits, and treat the women and young girls in their lives as though they were property. I've got news for them, most dogs are no dirtier than many, if not most, people. Let this religion of one heck-of-a weird kind of peace show some tolerance and common sense. And for the person who posted negatively about the "white people" who treat their dogs like children. You're the one who seems “sad,” and judgmental. You don't know that the babied pets are the ones dumped in shelters. You sound like the religious loon in the article who magically knows that folks in the west treat their dogs better than their wife and kids. And, this may shock you, but many people of color have pets that they love and baby. Look at Barry Bonds and his Yorkie, or Bill Cosby and his terriers. Chinese royalty traditionally kept pampered lap dogs in their sleeves, and many middle class Asians have beloved dogs in their homes, today. And I've known many Latinas with lap dogs that they refer to, and treat, as their babies. So what? It doesn't mean that they're hurting anyone--- canine or human. If I correct, this so-called prophet Mohammad was a cat lover, in fact, he was said to have several cats as pets, so if this is correct, what's the deal with saying that dogs are dirty and should therefore be banned altogether? I don't understand these religious nuts and their rules and regulations. Like I've said before . . . "religion, oppressing mankind for over 2000 years" I'm so tired of religious leaders of any faith trying to dictate what people can and cannot do and what they can own or not own. Although I'm not an Islamic expert, isn't a dog one of God's creatures? What "evil outcome" could possibly come from owning a dog? The ignorance of some people is absolutely galling.... I agree with the Ayatollah whats his face, my dog is filthy, sheds everywhere, and drools. Its AWESOME! Really, if the middle east was turned into a giant nuclear dust bowl would anyone lose any sleep what so ever? Sure there are people here with loved ones there but everyone can't be saved from themselves and their primitive culture. Now railing against pets because it imitates the west? Guess what ab-whatever, we use electricity and running water too. Better shut that off in your precious homeland. All religion is evil, trying to control the masses and turn a buck. Wow! people in this country are really mad. When I first read this story in the Tehran Times, I couldn't stop smiling for an hour. And we can all learn from this. Look at the picture. Broaden your horizons. Did you know that all the Iranians carried their dogs everywhere. I didn't. Or that they had adapted the Google Street View license plate blurrer to human faces? Or that pet food from the Great Satan was getting through the sanctions. The CIA needs to assign a team to this, before it is too late. Hey Iran, we are over here trying to stop the war mongers from attacking you and we all have dogs. Get some brains, okay.... fatwa? Evil from dogs ? What planet are theese idiots from? This is because Ayatollah Nasser Makkarem Shirazi prefers to eat dogs and is afraid that private ownership will erode his ability to get dinner for free off the street. 1 2 3 4 \| » Recommended on Facebook In Case You Missed It... Recent News About the Contributors
Skip to: Content Skip to: Site Navigation Skip to: Search Gifts From a Central America Beach By Ellen Kattwinkel Wilson / September 23, 1992 THE Costa Rican Guanacaste Beach was empty except for our group from the United States and, far away at the water's edge, a man and a boy lifting three giant ray fish from a dugout canoe, its prow pulled up on the sand. Skip to next paragraph On the low dune above the beach rested small houses facing the sea. The front doors stood open. Windows, empty of glass, revealed nothing inside. Unpainted, the houses did not contrast with the dune, the sand, and the sea. They were part of it. No things lay about the houses, no toys or machinery, no scraps of anything, not even grass. Around the houses the ground was bare, swept smooth by the warm, constant Guanacaste wind. A pink sow nuzzled the ground by one of the houses. Three piglets, their baby skins clean and pink like their mother's, kept close to her. People were by the houses - several men, women, and children moving about, but no noise came from there. We walked closer and watched the man and boy placing the dark, wet rays, large as wagon wheels, on the sand just at the water's edge. We stood looking at the giant fish. A Costa Rican man appeared behind us, dressed for business with white shirt and tie. One man in our group spoke enough Spanish to ask him what the man and boy were going to do with the fish. Our man translated for us what the Costa Rican said: This is an unsanitary and unhealthy business. We others could hear the disapproval in the Spanish, even though we could not understand the words. The Costa Rican businessman looked competent, and his voice spoke with authority. As it was a situation that we knew nothing about, no one chose to ask further questions. Presently, our group continued on down the beach. I lagged behind, curious about the man and boy and the strange fish lying on the beach and not convinced about the unhealthy label. I just wanted to understand Costa Rica. For two weeks I had been intrigued. Why was the University of Peace here, not elsewhere? Why was this place a quiet center in a turbulent global region? Why did the museum in San Jose display no weapons or power symbols, only ancient carved figurines of droll animals and birds or human figures playing on pipes? Why is the largest religious painting there of Joseph, not Mary, nurturing the child? What use had been those giant balls of stone adorning the entry? I wanted to understand the simple homes, the lack of clutter, the generous smiles, and the spotless clothes. How did the children have such clean, white shirts? What pride? What value? I walked slowly, picking up shells that lay abundantly, admiring their shapes and patterns. Their foreignness intrigued me. And shell-seeking allowed me to linger. MY group became small dots in the distance, far down the beach. The man and the boy went up the beach to the houses on the dune. Then the boy reappeared, carrying a sharp machete, the all-purpose Costa Rican tool. He knelt down by the first of the big rays and plunged his knife into the ray just beside the ridged back bone. I sat on the sand about half way between the houses on the dunes and the boy at the water's edge and watched. Just offshore, white pelicans and sea gulls flapped strongly in the air just above the water, then settled on its surface waiting.
Real names only, please Sue Daugherty Mar 23, 2010 My previous blog, "My thoughts about angry bloggers and why they exist," seems to have resonated with quite a few people — pro and con. I enjoyed the largely respectful discourse, but I'd like to experiment with one of the points made by the readers. Some bloggers contend that if the person commenting had to put their name to the words they wrote, the comments would be more respectful and less harmful and hurtful. I'd like to make a request. If you are going to comment on this week's blog use your real first name and your real last name. True, I am trusting people will honor the "honor system" and yes, I do recognize that the unscrupulous will play the imposter. But for the sake of the spirit and intent of this blogging experiment, let's give a sincere try at being honest and public with our comments. OK, here is this week's blog. The high cost of gasoline, home heating and electricity is putting a real clamp on the American economy. Our economy is a mess. Albert Einstein said something like, "The thinking that got us into this problem, is not the thinking that will get us out of it." So I propose that we Americans change how we make decisions about consuming. What would happen if we did away with the typical American consumer mentality and stopped buying based on price alone? What if we bought based on the value of putting an American back to work in addition to the price? Not just one or the other, but both. It means that instead of having 20 pairs of pants or shirts in our closet, we might only own 7. How would you respond? Would you be willing to do that? Maybe our current economic condition will provoke a new type of consumer mentality. Maybe U.S. citizens will start to understand that consuming doesn't mean you can have it all now and worry about paying for it tomorrow. Because the reality is you can't. We complain about the global race to the bottom and how we have to compete against workers in other parts of the world making pennies a day. But as Americans we are responsible for this. We ourselves chase the cheapest price we can pay. Do those who are out of work, and we consumers, finally understand that a microwave actually costs more than $69 to make? If we want to put Americans back to work, then we need to accept the fact that microwaves would cost more to manufacture "locally." Would the consumer be willing to pay more if it means putting our neighbors back to work? If Americans would make this choice — the operative word is "choice" — I believe we would be well on our way to reviving our economy while at the same time not having so much "stuff" for the sake of having "stuff" ( I realize that this means the typical American closet would have 7 shirts rather than 20, and each of those 7 shirt would cost much more. But the added benefit is your neighbor now has a job. So what do you think? Would you change your consumer habits to change our economy for the better? I welcome your comments — only with your real name, please. is like the Bushes - they all smell. I only keep coming back because I think she is the hottest reporter at the SR. Well, the hottest besides Westerhold. There's no question that we need more refineries and newer refineries, but don't blame big oil for their "failure" to build. Unfortunately, refineries require government permission, and the government hasn't been granting it. Same goes for one of the cleanest (and safest) power sources available, nuclear. Hasn't been a new nuclear plant built in forever, either, because the government won't allow it. In fairness to the government (I can't believe I just said that), its refusal is all too often based on the clamor of people who WANT these things, but "not in MY backyard!" By its very definition, democracy means the people get the government they deserve. And as H.L. Mencken added, they deserve to get it good and hard. Looks like we are. Everyday on the news we hear about people going on my space or some other web site and giving out to much info on themselves. Now we have Sue telling us to get on here and give our real name. Okay so anyone that wants to go off on Sue can google here home phone number and if you want to pay a little fee you can get her cell phone also. This will make it easy to go off on her 24 hours a day. She doesn't mind being woke up. Also you can go to and see where she lives and a picture of her house and how much taxes she pays. Then you can go to a home show at the mall and put her name and address and phone nr. on all kinds of businesses running drawing which she won't win but they will send her junk mail for the next few years. This is just a start so keep those real names a coming and if I don't like your comment I will give you a call when I get off work at midnight. So what's the reasoning behind the government not allowing the oil companies to build refineries. Please don't try to convince me it's because the people don't want it. I've never seen an administration who could care less what the people wanted and I've seen 7 administrations that I could be counted in as a voting citizen. with all these changes how are we to see the daily log The reasoning behind the government not permitting new refineries is usually couched in environmental terms. That's true whether or not improved technology actually represents any kind of appreciable risk(s). The federal government isn't as much in charge of these issues (although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is a federal agency) as are state governments. The best example of the failure to increase infrastructure (and then crying about it) is California. But if you want to look at something closer to home, consider our local dump. Erie County Commissioners actually used their heads for once and talked about selling methane (a natural byproduct of decay), and some local folks went NUTS to avoid that happening. Let's see: Capture the gas that none of us really want. Sell it so that landfill costs can stay down and maybe we can even make a few extra bucks. And protest it all the way. Sheesh! What Ms. Daugherty suggests is neither feasible nor wise under current conditions: 1. While items themselves must be marked by country of origin, neither catalogs nor websites are currently required to carry this information. 2. Many items are simply not made in the US. The last American TV manufacturer, for example, folded in the 1980's. 3. Her plan would give identical treatment to Canada, one of our closest allies, China, a totalitarian state with an abysmal human-rights record, and Russia, which appears to be making an honest effort to overcome its own totalitarian past and become a true democracy. I say give consumers full and accurate information and let us decide who we want to do business with. Sue Just wanted to let you know I am still driving the Escort. It has 220,000 miles on it. Not so pretty since I tangled with a deer last winter, still going. Faith and Norb's, I call him Mr. Majic, keep me on the road. You were a blessing when I bought it, and I wanted you to know. I try to buy American, and often do without when unable to. It is difficult on a limited buget. I agree completely, Andrew. The problem is that some people are too stupid to make a good decision, even with all of the pertinent information at hand. While I believe that sort of thing is best solved in the school of hard knocks, the GOVERNMENT believes two different things: 1. EVERYbody is too stupid to make a good decision, and 2. therefore the government must decide for us all. There's not a problem in this city, county, state, or country that couldn't be solved with the across-the-board application of two things: 1. Personal responsibility, and 2. the Free Market Without a problem, Sue and people like her would lose all purpose to their existence (the fact that much of the government would also go away is icing on the cake). Solving the problem is a threat, and for that reason alone will never really happen. hi sue, how have you been? yes i agree we are entitled to our opinions,buthave the cajones to use your name. i use my real name on all,not my last name since i have my opinion that there are a large group of people here and on the reflector blogs taht are mental midget's.and some times the truth may hurt when expressing opinion that some of these may try and take it a step further if they know who you are. well ive said enough,btw great rthings you have been doing with the senior's in our area. take care Wow! I have read every blog up to my own. What an array of opinions and expressions!I realize my opinion is just that, an opinion. It may matter to none,one, or some. The point of expressing an opinion is to find out if someone else agrees or disagrees with our own. It's always important to know that, I'm not the only one & what I think actually could matter or make a difference. For this reason I don't mind giving my real name. If my opinion could matter or make a difference, then I most certainly want to take responsibility or rather credit for it. With that said, and this is MY opinion, those who were offended or bothered by the fact that Sue even suggested such a thing as to give your real name and didn't, that of course is your choice; but a true sign of adult maturity is taking responsibility for what we say, good, bad, or indifferent. Like Sue herself said, it was an experiment, it was a request, not a demand. Personal attacks against Sue or anyone else who has said something that is disagreeable to our own opinions,in my opinion, is not an adult mature way to respond. Grow up! Now to the real root of the blog: To reiterate the question: So what do you think? Would you change your consumer habits to change our economy for the better? Although I am not that up on politics or the economy, I know enough to form an intelligent opinion. And my opinion is this; I agree with John Mavros. His opinions are intelligent, articulate, knowledgable, and well thought out. I could not have said it better. Kudos to John and Sue! Sue is suppose to help our seniors from fraud, and one of the biggest scams is people getting to know a little about the person and then coning them over the phone out of there life saving. Sue was doing a great job a year ago but now she seems to becoming more of a politician. Seems to me it should be one or the other because I'm getting older everyday and hopefully someone who has there heart into there job will be working for SOS. When I google your name it comes up with and gives all sort of info on you and even a picture. But this is probably another Ellyn Clark from Norwalk High. "Later Jim S."
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Compatibility of Neuroscience and Free Will? - a further discussion Because several people have mentioned a recent NYTimes piece on neuroscience and free will to me, I've decided to pass on its basic points here, given that MindBlog has done frequent posts on the issue of free will (most recently for example, see here, here, and here). The recent article by Nahmias starts with reference to Wegner's book "The Illusion of Conscious Will," whose arguments are a central part of my "I-Illusion" web lecture you can see the MindBlog column to your left. Nahmias argues that the debate is usually mis-framed as being between scientific materialism and Cartesian dualism, and further that it does not take account of the more extended time frames involved in deliberation of alternative courses of action. The sciences of the mind do give us good reasons to think that our minds are made of matter. But to conclude that consciousness or free will is thereby an illusion is too quick. It is like inferring from discoveries in organic chemistry that life is an illusion just because living organisms are made up of non-living stuff. Much of the progress in science comes precisely from understanding wholes in terms of their parts, without this suggesting the disappearance of the wholes. There’s no reason to define the mind or free will in a way that begins by cutting off this possibility for progress. ...people sometimes misunderstand determinism to mean that we are somehow cut out of the causal chain leading to our actions. People are threatened by a possibility I call “bypassing” — the idea that our actions are caused in ways that bypass our conscious deliberations and decisions. So, if people mistakenly take causal determinism to mean that everything that happens is inevitable no matter what you think or try to do, then they conclude that we have no free will. ...As long as people understand that discoveries about how our brains work do not mean that what we think or try to do makes no difference to what happens, then their belief in free will is preserved. What matters to people is that we have the capacities for conscious deliberation and self-control that I’ve suggested we identify with free will. ...None of the evidence marshaled by neuroscientists and psychologists suggests that those neural processes involved in the conscious aspects of such complex, temporally extended decision-making are in fact causal dead ends. It would be almost unbelievable if such evidence turned up. It would mean that whatever processes in the brain are involved in conscious deliberation and self-control — and the substantial energy these processes use — were as useless as our appendix, that they evolved only to observe what we do after the fact, rather than to improve our decision-making and behavior. No doubt these conscious brain processes move too slowly to be involved in each finger flex as I type, but as long as they play their part in what I do down the road — such as considering what ideas to type up — then my conscious self is not a dead end, and it is a mistake to say my free will is bypassed by what my brain does. So, does neuroscience mean the death of free will? Well, it could if it somehow demonstrated that conscious deliberation and rational self-control did not really exist or that they worked in a sheltered corner of the brain that has no influence on our actions. But neither of these possibilities is likely. True, the mind sciences will continue to show that consciousness does not work in just the ways we thought, and they already suggest significant limitations on the extent of our rationality, self-knowledge, and self-control. Such discoveries suggest that most of us possess less free will than we tend to think, and they may inform debates about our degrees of responsibility. But they do not show that free will is an illusion. If we put aside the misleading idea that free will depends on supernatural souls rather than our quite miraculous brains, and if we put aside the mistaken idea that our conscious thinking matters most in the milliseconds before movement, then neuroscience does not kill free will. Rather, it can help to explain our capacities to control our actions in such a way that we are responsible for them. It can help us rediscover free will. In response to numerous comments on his article Nahmias notes: One point I did not have time to develop, but many comments raise, is that we do not possess as much free will as we tend to think...Psychology indeed suggests that we are often unaware of what motivates us, we often rationalize our actions after we act, and we often are influenced by external factors that we'd prefer not to be influenced by... because I understand free will as a set of naturalistic capacities, I believe that empirical discoveries can illuminate not only how it works, but also limitations to it. This also means we are sometimes less praiseworthy or blameworthy than we tend to think...Conversely, I do not think that free and responsible action always requires conscious or rational deliberation. As Aristotle taught us, we are responsible not only for these sorts of choices but also for our habits and character traits that derive from these choices, though again, it largely remains to be discovered what degrees of freedom and responsibility we possess. 1. What if free will was just a social construct, fully internalized? Free will could exist pretty much to the extend that "responsibility" exists, which is "a lot", how would our society work without it? That's because responsibility requires free will and society requires responsibility as a mean to regulate behaviors. Hence, assuming society is somehow regulated, there exists some free will, but of course it is not what we generally believe it is. Everyone knows how much "freedom" there is in so called "free will", it's called "will power" and I suspect I'm not the only one struggling with it... The good news is that "happiness" could very well be a social construct too. If this were the case, true freedom would be about liberating yourself from these social constructs. That's pretty much what traditional wisdom teaches all over the world. 2. Honestly I haven't seen much wisdom in traditional wisdom beyond that of living the life you want to live regardless of whether you have free will over the process or not. It certainly seems like we do (or at least I do, heh) - and so it behooves me to take personal responsibility for my happiness.
Skip to main content jump to navigation The Official Site of Minor League Baseball Below is an advertisement. Prospect Pitch: Cingrani goes all out Reds hurler relies on fastball, changeup, developing slider 06/13/2012 10:25 AM ET Tony Cingrani is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two starts for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Tony Cingrani is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two starts for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. (Chris Nelson) Tony Cingrani was always a starter not a finisher until he could no longer finish what he was starting. That was the case in March 2010 when Cingrani, a junior college transfer in his senior season at Rice University, made the shift from the rotation to the bullpen because he lacked command of his secondary pitches. Before transitioning him into a relief role, pitching coach David Pierce shortened (and therefore quickened) his arm path to the plate, and manager Wayne Graham raised his glove hand (for added deception). "Similar to an Andy Pettite on the glove-side the way he really throws the glove into the hitter's view," Pierce said of the latter adjustment (which is demonstrated in the video below). What Cingrani really learned, however, as the Owls' reliable late-inning option -- he compiled a 1.74 in 34 games and recorded a team-high 12 saves -- was much less mechanical. "Basically, he had this attitude that, 'I'm going to throw the fastball through the knees,'" Pierce said. "He probably threw 90 percent fastballs in college." "Throw it as hard as I can -- that's my philosophy whenever I try to throw anything, because if I try to slow down, everything stops working," Cingrani himself said. "Becoming a closer, it made me have that mentality." That, plus the development of his changeup and slider, has paid off. In 25 Minor League appearances, all starts, since Cincinnati made Cingrani its third-round Draft pick in 2011, he has gone 6-1 with a 1.42 and 165 strikeouts against 23 walks. The Reds had told Cingrani, their 11th-ranked prospect, that he was staying put in the Cal League, where he led his peers in ERA (1.11) and WHIP (0.92), until the July All-Star break, but that changed with his June 2 promotion to the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Does he expect to finally be challenged now that he's in the seemingly tougher Southern League? "I hope so," the 22-year-old lefty said, two starts in and no worse for the wear. asked Cingrani to describe and grade each of the three pitches he employs. (His grade is based on a scout's traditional 20-80 scale, 50 being the Major League average.) Here is Cingrani, in his own words. Pitch one: Four-seam fastball Purpose: To throw it as hard as possible and just hit my spots with it. There's no real thought when I throw it; it's just my mechanics, and then I throw it. Grip: Index and middle fingers are spread apart, and my thumb is right underneath the ball. Speed: Usually sits 90-93 mph. I threw about 86 miles an hour in high school but just developed and got stronger. Speed at Rice: "He was 90 to 94 every time out. He would touch a 95, touch a 96." Grade: The speed is better than average and my command is pretty good, so 60. Pitch two: Changeup Origin: My coach my junior year at Lincoln-Way Central High School showed me how he held it, and then I missed around with a circle-change. My fastball and changeup, that's pretty much how I got through games. I'd turn my arm over on it so much that is was kind of like a right-handed slider. Purpose: I face a lot right-handed hitters, and it keeps them off my fastball. I throw it for strikes for the most part, just changing speeds on 'em. Grip: I cage the ball in with my index finger and my pinky finger, and then I hold a four-seam grip. Then, with my middle finger, the bottom of that first knuckle, I put on the seam. That's what I throw it off of; I try to take my middle finger and pull down on the ball. Speed: It usually comes in about 83, 84. Grade: 50-55. Pitch three: Slider Origin: I threw the curveball until my junior year in college and then started throwing the slider 'cause the curveball doesn't really go with how I throw right now. If I had a slider, then I could throw a curveball, but I don't have a consistent slider. If I have a curveball, hitters can sit back on it, hit it, because it would be so much slower. I'm trying to get that harder power pitch, and the slider is more of a power pitch. I was messing with grips and I just kind of stumbled upon it when I went to Rice. I finally found a grip that I am comfortable with. David Pierce was my pitching coach at Rice and helped me with it. I didn't really throw it in college -- I just threw my fastball and changeup -- because I was a closer. I need it a little bit more here, obviously, because I am starting; I need more than two pitches. Purpose: I try to throw it as an out-pitch to righties and to lefties, and I usually don't throw an 0-0 slider to a righty; I try to throw it to lefties, but the command is just not there. I usually don't get too many strikes with it. I am trying to build it back up in bullpens and on my side days and hopefully it'll get there. Improvement: After striking out nine over six shutout innings to earn his first Double-A win on Friday, Cingrani relayed to's Robert Emrich helpful slider-related advice he received from Pensacola's pitching coach. "[Tom] Brown said one phrase to me and it made my slider start working how it's supposed to work," Cingrani said. "'Come across my face when I throw it.' It was crazy. I've never had command of my slider and today, I didn't throw it in the zone for a strike, but it had the action. It was a good two-strike pitch." Grip: My index and middle fingers aren't together when I hold it. I try to get on top of the ball and pull down. Speed: Anywhere from 78 to 82. I try to get it up to about 84, but I am still working on it. Grade: 40. It's good. I just have no idea where it's going. Today on
flat space a: flat space ~ b: stuff magnet "I don't think it matters how much you have, flat space is like a magnet for stuff. I have lots of shelving and lots of flat surfaces, yet when I need to use a flat surface I can't find any to actually use. The tanker desks are neat, but they are awkward at best. I took mine apart and stacked the two side drawers on top of each other, made a pretty neat cabinet that was way more useful than the desk." Writer: Strouty Date: Nov 29 2014 11:10 AM Green Venn Diagram
Click "Sleep" for a dark background. Click "sleep" again if text isn't dark. Counterpoint: Functional Blind Spots A functional blind spot is a space in a video game relative to the player that is difficult to interact with due to a combination of the player's mechanics/abilities and the level design (arrangement of level/enemy elements). A functional blind spot is very different from a perspective blind spot. Perspective blind spots are created from a lack of a clear view of a situation. Due to the nature of 3D, viewing a 3D environment or object from any fixed perspective creates perspective blind spots. This is an inherent quality of 3D spaces that we're all used to. However, a functional blind spot has nothing to do with perspective and everything to do with design. In fact, functional blind spots usually occur when the player has a complete view of a game space. When enemies are designed to create contrary motion within functional blind spots, the result are usually pretty similar. Functional blind spot enemies are always annoying, tricky, and/or dangerous. For these enemies, it's not that they do a lot of damage or attack in great numbers. Simply existing in these awkward, almost non interactive spaces is enough to make players feel like they're powerless thus creating a high amounts of tension. The best part of designing such enemies is that what makes them more unique and threatening than normal enemies is the dynamics of space whether 2D side scrolling, top down, or 3D. Functional Blind Spots matter most when used to design enemy or level elements for the purpose of creating contrary motion and tension. In other words, functional blind spots are designed around the player character, shaped through stage design, and accented using enemy design. In this way, recognizing and understanding an example of a functional blind spot requires a thorough understanding of a gameplay scenario based on several design layers. This in itself makes functional blind spots an advance subject under counterpoint. The best way to understand functional blind spots is through examples. • Lakitu, Bullet Bills, and Bloopers: Super Mario Brothers. Lakitu hangs out at the top of the screen at an altitude that is much higher than Mario can reach from the ground. Without any blocks nearby to platform off of, Mario can't reach this enemy that pressures the situation by throwing Spiny enemies down to the ground. • In the same way, a Bullet Bill traveling at a height just above Mario's maximum JUMP height is one of the most dangerous zones for a Bullet Bill to travel in. At that height Mario can't jump on top of the Bullet Bill from the ground to eliminate it. Therefore, the Bullet Bill functions as a platforming threat. • Like underwater Mario, Bloopers can move quickly going up, horizontally, and float downward slowly. Without the fire flower powerup, Mario cannot defeat enemies underwater. Maneuvering around these enemies can be very complicated. Mario's vertical and horizontal speed/control are diminished underwater. This, in addition to the Blooper's ability to move through level elements and follow Mario, can easily create dangerous traps. Even with the fire flower power up, if the Bloopers approach above Mario, he's still in trouble. • Bats: Mega Man X. These enemies fly at about a 45 degree angle toward Mega Man. Because Mega Man can only fire straight ahead of him and he can only jump so high, these flying enemies exist right inside a functional blind spot. Players often back up or circle around these enemies in attempt to force the bats to drop down low enough so they can be shot. With the right kind of level design, these slow moving enemies can become a terror. Notice in the image above how the blind spots/boxes are relative to Mega Man's position. • Bats, the Ghost, and Shopkeepers: Spelunky. The bats in Spelunky are nearly identical to the bats in Mega Man X. They hang upside from the ceiling and drop down flying at a 45 degree angle when approached. If you don't have a rock or some other object to throw up at it, these enemies can really force you to back up until you can WHIP it at a safe distance. • In the same way that the Bloopers can become quite dangerous when they pass through walls and other level elements, the Ghost that sometimes appears in Spelunky is hindered by nothing. The only strategy for dealing with this spirit is to run away. The way it moves through space ignoring solid level elements makes it hard to deal with. • The Shopkeeper may be easily upset and he may wield a dangerous shot gun, but even enemies have blind spots. Fortunately for all of us law breaking cave divers, Shopkeepers have a huge blind spot directly above their heads. If you throw a rope up and drop a bomb from the top of his shop, he won't be able to harm you. Or, if you manage to trap him in a web, you can JUMP on his head until he falls. • Bats: Zelda (NES). In a side scroller, flying enemies generally exist in functional blind spots simply because they can fly/hover in the air while the player is bound by gravity forced to run around along the ground. But in a 2D top down game, vertical height is more of an interpretation than a gameplay dynamic. Even without verticality, the bats in the NES Zelda are still evasive, and hard to hit. In this game, Link doesn't move around very quickly or smoothly as he's force to move in one of four cardinal directions at a time. Furthermore, instead of swinging his sword in a wide arc, Link stabs directly forward. For these reasons, when the bats fly around Link and about the screen, they can be very hard to hit. Link's quad-directional offensive and mobility drawbacks coupled with the bats high speed, small size, and circular movement patterns create the functional blind spots. • Crows: Boktai. The crows in this game are the nearly identical to the bats in Zelda in how they create a functional blind spot by flying around the player character who has limited offensive range and limited mobility. • Spin Cutter: Mega Man 9. This small enemy will float down from the top of the screen in a wave like path like a leaf falling out of a tree. When it hits the ground, it spins and travels in the player's direction for an attack. When moving along the ground in this way, this enemy is so small that it passes underneath Mega Man's shots. Because Mega Man can't duck and shoot, this enemy effectively travels inside of Mega Man's functional blind spot. If you don't have powers that can hit this enemy on the ground or are unwilling to use them, then the only strategy left is to jump. • Homing Rockets: Perfect Dark. In the multiplayer mode of this game, when another player locks on to you with the homing rocket the best counter strategy is to run away and turn sharp corners to force the rocket to collide with something other than yourself. If you're ever in a situation where the nearest exits are doors that are slow to open or if you're in a wide open space, running away simply won't work. Fortunately, rockets slow down to make sharp turns. So, if you run around backwards in a tight circle, you can effectively run away from a homing rocket indefinitely. Of course, a strategy like this won't last forever. It won't be long before an enemy finds you and takes advantage of the situation. So, if you're a sharp shooter, you can try and shoot the rocket out of mid air with any gun as it's following you. The part about this scenario that creates a functional blind spot is that Perfect Dark is an FPS that (for the default controls) doesn't allow players to move and aim at the same time. To freely aim, you must stop moving. In this scenario, if you stop moving, you'll risk a collision with the rocket. If you keep moving, you won't be able to line up your shots to explode the rocket. So unless you're really fast on the draw, you're stuck trapped by time, space, and the limitation of the aiming design. • Tiny Spinner (the pink ones): Geometry Wars. In this retro evolved series, most of the enemies home in on the player (especially in the first versions of GeoWars). But when you shoot the Spinner (large pink squares) they explode into 3 smaller squares. These smaller enemies can naturally avoid shots more easily. But what makes them the most dangerous is that they don't home the player. Instead, they float around moving in tiny little circles. So when the screen is filled with 25+ enemies all homing in on you, the one small yet equally deadly enemy that does its own thing can be almost invisible. Even when you see it in time and shoot at it, your oscillating bullet spread can easily miss these tiny targets. Seasoned GeoWars players know how dangerous the "pinks" can be. • Knights: Chess. This piece moves in an "L" shape and can only capture other pieces where it lands (see the small black squares above). Because of this design, a single Knight can only threaten other pieces that are in a specific zone around the Knight. For this reason, the Knight is no threat to any of the other pieces on the board. In fact, you can move right up next to a Knight with your King, and never worry about being captured by the knight that piece. The advantages the Knight gains in mobility (the ability to jump other pieces) are trade offs with these functional blind spots. • Artillery, Rockets, etc: Advance Wars. In the same way that the Knight in Chess is balanced with functional blind spots at close proximity, the long range units in the Advance Wars series have close range functional blind spots as well. Not only can these long range units not fire on enemies once they enter inside of their functional blind spots, but they can't even return fire when engaged by enemy units. These two limitations are what help balance what would otherwise be overpowered units in Advance Wars. On a side note, I still can't understand how the Anti-tank unit is balanced. It's like an armored artillery unit that can fire back on direct attacking enemies and it doesn't have a function blind spot. • Kirby (Super Smash Brothers Melee), Yoda (Soul Calibur 4), Akamaru (Naruto: Clash of the Ninja 2). Each of these characters are playable characters in various fighting games. They all have in common a very small size. Because of their small stature, these characters can be very hard to fight against because many many standard attacks will simply go over their heads. While Kirby is in no way broken, the last I heard, Akamaru is a game breaker because of how much all the other characters have very few attacks that will even hit him. Look out for all the attacks Sasuke misses in this video. Look here for Yoda. • Many encounters in Henry Hatsworth. Like Mega Man, Henry can best attack targets that are on the same horizontal plane as him. This means that any enemies positioned above or below Henry are more difficult to deal with. When enemies are put in scenarios where players must continually climb by Wall jumping, defeating them can be incredibly frustrating. At these times, the limitation of Henry's offensive abilities become apparent. Even though he can combo enemies with his fancy sword attacks, all of that means nothing if he can't even land a single blow. « Counterpoint: The Depth of Interplay pt.1 \| Main \| Exploit: Hackers Unite! » Reader Comments (2) In spelunky you can ignore the blind zone with bats by turning around in midair before you whip. the first frame of the whip animation is actually a very useful weapon. August 5, 2010 \| Unregistered CommenterNefaroth @ Nefaroth Very interesting. Sounds like an advanced technique to me. But what if there are 2 bats flying at you from both sides? Or a large spider coming down on you that needs 2 whip hits left? lol Good comment. PostPost a New Comment Enter your information below to add a new comment. My response is on my own website » Author Email (optional): Author URL (optional):
Is It Illegal for a Felon to Marry Another Felon? - Legally Weird Legally Weird - The FindLaw Legal Curiosities Blog Is It Illegal for a Felon to Marry Another Felon? Okay, it may seem like a silly question. But in some circles, it's a completely serious and valid inquiry. In fact, a user recently asked this very question over on FindLaw Answers. That woman -- a convicted felon -- wanted to know if she can legally marry another felon. Her probation officer said no. Was he right? Is it illegal for a felon to marry another felon? Possibly -- but only when at least one of the felons is currently on probation or parole. Parolees and probationers are subject to a long list of conditions imposed by a court or parole board. Those conditions commonly include an order to stay away from other convicted felons. Such a mandate ordinarily forbids any sort of association, socialization, cohabitation and romantic involvement with other felons. It's thus unlikely that a felon can marry another felon while one of them is on probation or parole. Dating alone would probably land a supervised party back in jail. But what if the felons were dating before prison? Or if they were married before release? Do the terms of parole or probation still apply? The supervised felon(s) would have to ask the judge or parole board to alter the terms of release. Laws vary, but a prior marriage would probably be more likely to earn an exception than prior dating. However, if no exception is granted, the terms of release still apply. Remember that the above only applies to those on probation or parole. Once absolved of all release-related obligations, a felon can marry another felon -- well, as long as there is no obscure state law. Related Resources:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Breweries in the Social Media Age I started writing about beer back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and ink was actually applied to papers and distributed throughout a city. In those olden days, breweries had very few options for promoting themselves. They could either take out ad space or try to attract the attention of slack-jawed (and fairly easily bribed) freelancers to write stories about their beer. The latter choice was considered FAR superior, because readers tend to trust (even slack-jawed) freelancers more than ads. This system held sway until really just a few years ago. Bloggers were the first to arrive, but I will confess that we had little influence overall. Then came MySpace, which turned out not to be so hot, but it was followed quickly by Twitter and Facebook as well as apps like Taplister. These latter innovations, particularly when combined with each other, have been game changers. I don't want to be too breathless about this, because social media advocates always over-estimate their own influence, but I believe social media may ultimately become the most valuable tool breweries have in their communications arsenal. The reasons vary depending on the nature of the brewery, but whether a company is turning out 500 or 500,000 barrels, social networking plays a key role. Small Breweries - Getting Information Out Last week Coalition Brewing threw open their doors, knowing they'd have a pretty decent crowd. True, it was only the second sunny day we'd had this year, but mainly, they knew it because they've been counting down the days on their Facebook page. They have a regular web page--but it's effectively a digital yellow-pages listing. The Facebook page is where they actually communicate with their 600 fans. They've been posting pictures, answering questions, and adding links. It has made the launch far less scary and may save them a slow ramp-up. Social media also helps small breweries find their customers and promote their beer. Take the example of Gilgamesh, a small brewery in the even smaller town of Turner. In an earlier era, the physical barriers for a brewery like Gilgamesh might have put it on the thinnest of ice. But Gilgamesh has become nearly ubiquitous online--I get updates for all their releases and events and know more about what they're up to than I do the Lucky Lab, which is about a mile from my house. The small-bore promotion breweries manage through their own social media is magnified when they coordinate with other establishments--beer stores, pubs--to stage events and releases. I've watched Double Mountain release beers at Belmont Station, Eastburn, Apex, Fire on the Mountain, Saraveza--and those are just off the top of my head. (They do similar releases in other cities.) Most also promote their events through social networking, doubling the volume of the announcement. Social networking is huge for small breweries. Large Breweries - Getting Information Back Promoting small breweries is sort of a no-brainer. Getting the word out for free makes a lot of sense. But what about the big breweries? Some have been way out in front on social networking--Widmer and Deschutes, for example. Both have active Facebook pages and tweet regularly, and Deschutes has their own blog. That's cool for someone like me, but these breweries have business models that depend on selling to more huge numbers of people--far more than they can reach via social networking. It seems like a tweet blast about cheap pints at the Gasthaus (which I've seen), can't possibly affect their bottom line. But that's not how big breweries use social media. For them, it's a way to get feedback about what they're doing. Here's Rob Widmer: "Facebook and Twitter have given us opportunities to have conversations with and give instant answers to consumers and fans. Our growing fan base on Facebook has provided us with good insight to consumer thoughts, it's given us a great outlet to announce new products (as have the blogs), and helped us put a personality to the brewery name for some people who may have never had the chance to meet Kurt or me or anyone from the brewery, for that matter" I think this is exactly right. Selling beer is always going to have an element of personal connection. In the past, breweries concocted ad campaigns to give themselves personalities, but now they can actually behave like people. They don't need to talk to every single customer to know how they're doing--staying connected with ten thousand Facebook fans is adequate. My guess is that the breweries that succeed in the decades to come will be those that are most responsive to the actual interests of their customers. Blogs and Amateur Media The last big change is the rise of blogs and the simultaneous collapse of coverage by newspapers. The Oregonian is quite rare in continuing to pay someone to work the beer beat; mostly, news is now carried forward by buzz created at the blog/ratings-site level. This cadre of amateur and semi-pro fans puts by far the most print into cyberspace and, on the internet, no one knows the review was written by someone in his jammies. Do a search on "Russian River Pliny the Elder," and not a single review pops up on the front page from a dead-tree source. All the reviews that appear are from blogs and amateurs doing video. If a brewery's not reaching out to bloggers, it's really limiting the coverage it gets. For special releases, the proportion tilts even more toward bloggers. This is why Gary Fish describes us as "directional beacons." "The other thing is that practitioners of social media (bloggers, etc.) tend to be among our core customers. You are not “small fry” in the sense you are pathfinders and trendsetters. As a group you tend to put yourselves out ahead of the crowd and, as a result, become valuable directional beacons in a very crowded, noisy marketplace." If you think of the world of chatter as a great big hive mind, having directional beacons is an important way to try to shape the conversation. You want to make sure that someone's talking about your beer, creating the opportunity for the entire hive to look your way. And I think it even goes a little further than that. A few years ago, movie studios used to have art house divisions that they would use to burnish the company's brand during rewards season. It's similar with breweries. Deschutes is going to continue to make its bones with Mirror Pond and Black Butte, but their specialty lines serve a purpose beyond just a profit margin: they provide an aura of quality to the entire line. People chat, they ask what's good. They tend to put credence in the word of fanatics, so the reputation of Deschutes is magnified when a blogger recommends the brewery to a casual fan. Breweries will only get more dependent on social media in the future (the smart ones, anyway). We are rapidly moving away from the bottleneck of the past. I've been thinking about it for awhile, and there only seems to be upside here. It allows niche breweries to get their message directly to their fans, allows big breweries to stay in touch, and gives customers far more information than they've ever had. In all ways, the brave new world looks pretty good. Update. In comments, someone noted that it was surprising I didn't mention Ninkasi, one of the earliest adopters of social media and the most active. The official website started out on MySpace, and now most of the action seems to be on Twitter and Facebook (though they do now have an actual webpage, too). Others I'd single out for mention are Oakshire, Boundary Bay, Rogue, and Allagash. That last one gets special mention for the use of travel pictures posted via Twitter. Nick and Block 15 and Alex at Upright have done some nice blogs themselves, which opens up the inner workings of a brewery in ways not possible a decade ago. In comments, Jack also mentions the Beer Mapping project. Like Taplister, it's a great resource that incorporate new technology. I should also give a shout out to Barfly, which is a pretty indispensable resource for Portland bar-hoppers. I assume other cool projects are happening in other cities, too. What'd I miss? 1. Thought you would mention Ninkasi at least... 2. Interesting analysis. The collaborative Beer Mapping Project, beermapping.com, merits mention; albeit, it does not fit your categories. 3. Anon and Jack--good points. Updated text to reflect them. 4. Further, about brewery websites. Bear Republic website has a most comprehensive reporting of tasting notes and IBU and ABV value I have encountered. A now departed Bear Republic employee, Kirsten, deserves credit for collecting and post these details for all their beer, past and present, up to March 2010. It surprises me that so few breweries provide technical information about their beers. [I mention this knowing many brewery monitor your blog for direction / insight.]
Heart Rates: Why are they important to know? There are many things that can affect the heart rate and are important to consider if you are a heart patient. Heart rate vary as the body’s need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during, exercise or physical activity, sleep or illness. The normal human heart rate is between 60-80 beats per minute at rest. Slow Heart rates Exercise implications of a low heart rate can indicate a problem when the heart rate does not increase sufficiently with exertion, creating increased fatigue, shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, or EKG changes. It is important for heart patients to observe how the heart rate responds to exercise. Does it increase and by how much? Medications known as beta blockers frequently lower resting heart rates to upper 40-60 range. That isn’t always considered a problem. If there are no symptoms of compromise such as shortness of breath, chest discomfort, fainting, overwhelming fatigue or cognitive changes and the treatment is tolerated, there is not usually concern. When the rates start to get into the low 40’s there is more concern. When you sleep the heart rate usually drops another 10 beats per minute, and heart rates in the 30’s are not able to adequately get enough circulating oxygen in the bloodstream to nourish the organs. You might not notice it thus might be found in sleep studies, or if on remote monitoring with holter monitor studies. If you are on beta blockers the the heart rates are quiet a bit lower than traditional heart rate posters. Many people on beta blockers have a very blunted heart rate response to activity. On beta blockers your heart rate ranges are usually set 10-20 points lower than the traditional age predicted heart rate ranges or are often prescribed at 50 -70% of age predicted values (see chart below). This doesn’t mean you don’t get the benefits from exercise. The benefits are not directly linked to the heart rates. Exercise conditions the muscles to be efficient at utilizing the oxygenated blood and thus takes demand off the heart to work harder to provide the blood flow to the working muscle. So the heart doesn’t have to pump as fast. Think of the muscles as a secondary pump that extracts the oxygen and pushes the blood back to the lungs for re oxygenation. Commonly prescribed Beta Blockers are usedd to treat the following conditions • HTN is Hyperension • Angina =Chest Discomfort • Arrhy=arrhythmia or irregular heart rhythm • MI = Myocardial Infarction meaning heart attack • CHF = Congestive Heart Failure – Shortness of breath and fluid retention in abdomen, legs, weakness of the heart, low ejection fraction • Acebutolol -Sectral • Atenolol – Tenormin • Betaxolol – Kerlone • Bisoprolol – Zebeta, also sold as Ziac • Carteolol -Cartrol • Carvedilol -Coreg • Labetalol – Normodyne, also sold as Trandate • Metoprolol – Lopressor, also sold as Toprol • Nadolol – Corgard • Penbutolol – Levatol • Propranolol – Inderal, Inderal LA • Timolol – Blocadren This is a question for you and your healthcare professional. What should my target heart rate range be at given my being on beta blockers? It is up to you to determine how you will measure and track your rates. Here are some methods and tools to monitor. The Beltless Heart Rate Monitor To monitor the heart rate you should measure the rate for 60 second to determine the rate. It is also useful to note if it is regular. Fitness plays a role here. The more fit you are the lower the resting heart rate. If the heart is efficient and the muscle are strong there is less demand for the heart to go faster to meet the supply and demand of the muscles. Most symptoms of this are shortness of breath, fatigue, exercise intolerance. Then exercise is progressed more on tolerance than by the goal of getting the heart rate elevated to a higher percentage but a rate between 50 and 85% of age predicted target heart rate range. Exercise elevates the heart rate. How high is too high? Most frequently the Karvonen target heart rate is method to determine the age adjusted threshold which is 220 – minus age = Maximal Heart Rate range at which one should not try to achieve when exercising a heart that has had cardiovascular health issues. A percentage between these ranges is often prescribed by your healthcare practitioner. It is a range!!!! Not an I have to hit the top of this to benefit my heart range. The goal is to be somewhere in that range, we all have good days and bad especially when struggling with heart issues. If you are in the low end of the range that is just as good as the upper end when it comes to exercise, and there are times when the upper range is too high and it is better to be in the lower range. Again there is an art versus science of target heart rate ranges the best advise is be active at a level for which you are free of symptoms, yet the effort feels fairly light to somewhat hard and does not feel physically hard to perform for several minutes. Some heart patients may find a fast resting heart rate if medications are off, or if complications are developing such as the heart rhythm abnormalities or changes. If the rate is faster than normal and in the recommended exercise levels when resting do not exercise instead contact your healthcare provider ASAP. Wall motion, blood pressure, heart rhythm, exercise intolerance, pacemaker or ICD programming must be discussed to really understand the extent of your target heart rates for exercise. Because of such complexity, initially starting to increase activity on a regular basis that elevates the heart rates some and remaining free of symptoms, being able to talk while exercising is an important assessment tool of how well one is tolerating exercise. Make sure to include this discussion at your cardiology or primary care appointment. Discuss safe heart rate ranges for activity, and how your medications and heart condition will influence it. What are your medical concerns? Heart patients are not instructed to exercise at age predicted maximum heart rate ranges. Below is a standard chart your healthcare staff uses to prescribes a ranges for safe activity. For heart patients there may be ranges where there are ischemic changes meaning there is a change in the EKG noted while in Cardiac Rehabilitation or with stress testing. Theoretically one could monitor their own for issues through use of the new Ipod apps for heart rhythm monitoring, or small handheld electronic devices like those shown above. Most exercise is initially prescribed light following a heart issue and gradually increased to meet daily living needs including work, physical, and activity/exercise needs. Maximum HR 50 percent 75 percent 85 percent If you have cardiovascular issues such as angina, poor heart wall motion due to the injury to the heart from a heart attack or cardiomopathy, inadequate blood pressure responses, EKG electrical changes, then the target heart rate ranges are established by your physician to a safe level. This target heart rate range is your individual level based on your medications, your heart issues, and your fitness goals. Most rehabilitation of the heart is done in lighter zones initially, then progresses gradually too higher heart rates to meet daily living needs including work, physical, and activity/exercise needs. Many are able to do high levels of physical exertion when trained including returning to jogging, cross country skiing, or strenuous job requirements. Rehabilitation programs are beginning to work select patients to higher target heart rate ranges with interval training. Sometimes the art of exercise prescription outweighs the science of it when balancing a complex medical history of cardiovascular disease. About these ads 7 thoughts on “Heart Rates: Why are they important to know? 1. Pingback: Heart Rates: Why are they important to know? \| Heart diseases and Heart Conditions \| Scoop.it 2. I used my Polar heart monitor (normally used for exercise) to verify that something was wrong with my heart rate once. I ended up calling the ambulance and being rushed to hospital with a taccacardia. (I don’t know how to spell it but my heart went into a fast and irregular beat that would not go away without medical intervention.) Before I called 911, I used my heart monitor and my blood pressure machine to check the heart rate. In case you’re curious it went up to 185 beats per minute when I was laying on the couch!! Emerg got it back down to my normal rate of 60 beats per minute at rest. • Smart to use the watch. Just the opposite I have had patients who were sure something was wrong because their early version polar monitors picked up electrical interference from phones or high power lines and report their heart rates were two hundred and forty. When asked how the felt reported they felt fine. We would clarify with them a heart rate that fast feels lime a jackhammer in the chest and feels terrible short of breath or lime going to pass out. • In my case I felt fine except for the jack-hammer heart rate. I know my body well though. I was scared my defibrillator was going to go off but the doctor said it wasn’t a rhythm I would get a shock for. Thank God!! • I am glad you did the right thing and called EMS. Defibrillators are programmed to go off at certain rates sometimes however they get tripped up with attial fibrillation and fire when they should not. Do you know of vagal manuevers? This is bearing down like you are having a bowel movement or coughing hard. We try these to break out of a fast heart rhythm while waiting for EMS. Have you ever had a shock? 3. The Emerg team made me try vagal maneuvers before they gave me a medication but it didn’t work. They put my head lower than my feet and made me bear down really hard. I nearly passed out because we tried it for a long time but it didn’t work for me. If it ever happens at home again I will try them as it would be amazing to curtail the situation before it gets too scary. No, I have never got a shock. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Pediatric Urology Clinics: Reddish Urine Stain in the Diaper of a 3-Week-Old Boy A mother brought in her 3-week-old son on the day she discovered a reddish urine stain in the baby's diaper. There was no stool in the diaper. The boy had been circumcised on the second day of life, and the mother was concerned that her son might have experienced a complication of the procedure. The infant was delivered vaginally at term after an uncomplicated pregnancy. His Apgar scores were 8 and 9. He weighed 7 lb 5 oz at birth and was 20 inches long. The baby was discharged along with his mother on the day he was circumcised. He was fed exclusively with breast milk and had been gaining weight satisfactorily. Physicalexamination revealed a healthy- appearing infant in no distress with a well-healed circumcision. The urethral meatus looked elliptical and of normal caliber and was not inflamed. The kidneys and bladder were normal to palpation. The systolic blood pressure in the right upper arm while the baby was supine and quiet was 80 mm Hg. The peripheral perfusion was normal. There were no signs of dehydration. Results of the physical examination were otherwise normal. A. Prescribe an antibiotic for presumed urinary tract infection. B. Obtain a urine specimen for dipstick and microscopic urinalysis. C. Order ultrasonography of the kidneys and D. Order a voiding cystourethrogram. Loading comments...
police shooting6 share this post Police shoot and kill unarmed man running to them for help after he wrecked his car Posted by Austin Petersen • 15 Sep 2013 You used to be able to call them for help… Jonathan Ferrell is dead from multiple gunshot wounds after a car wreck that had him stumbling around the neighborhood frantically looking for help. After crashing his car, Ferrell ran to the nearest house trying to get assistance when a woman called 911 after he banged on her door. Officer Kerrick has been placed in jail on a $50,000 bond Police arrived and when Ferrell began limping in their direction they predictably began to deploy their tasers, which malfunctioned. Another officer then reacted by pulling out his weapon and killing him. All three police involved have been put on paid leave including Randall Kerrick who has been charged with a felony, voluntary manslaughter. • Glenn Green American Law Enforcement is so worried about their own safety to the point were they are worthless to the average American citizen. America was founded to be different than any other country , a place where the Liberty of every citizen is supposed to be the primary purpose of the Government. Instead we have literally millions of Laws that control and limit our personal Liberty to the point where it doesn’t exist anymore. All law enforcement needs to be disarmed until they understand shooting people and their pets for any reason is not an option. The safety and well being of the American citizen is paramount = treating citizens like enemy combatants is un Constitutional and cannot be allowed in any form = any Cop that thinks it is alright to command citizens to lay face down in the dirt needs to be removed from that position. Cops shoot Americans every day with impunity and get a paid vacation after every incident . Any American that tries to defend themselves against out of control law enforcement is either immediately shot and/or branded a felon and imprisoned for decades. A cop can walk on to my property and shoot me or my dog immediately if they feel threatened and no action will usually be taken against them = if I feel threatened by the police and their dogs I am not allowed to defend myself = something is fundamentally wrong with this. This is not what our founding fathers had in mind when they created this Democratic Republic. • Mike This man needs to be in prison. You don’t shoot someone who is stumbling towards you. The libs want gun Control? LEARN TO CONTROL THE POLICE FIRST. Then call a Constitutional Convention. But STOP trying to take my rights because of your fear!
Aunt Celia by Jane Gillespie (out of print) Review by Linda Waldemar, 1997 The main characters are Celia Weston, 18, who is the only daughter of Mr. Weston and "poor Miss Taylor" (her name was Anna in Emma), and her niece, Stella Churchill, 16, eldest daughter of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. The other characters from Emma that are present are: Mr. Weston (Mrs. Weston has died), Frank Churchill, Miss Bates, Jane Fairfax Churchill (mentioned occasionally and appears less). The Churchills have moved, temporarily, to Donwell Abbey because Enscombe is having extensive repairs. It is mentioned that the Knightleys still live at Hartfield with Mr. Woodhouse, who is now over 80. Mr. Weston is in character, still friendly and garrulous, but he, in his grief has become very dependent upon his daughter and never considers that she may marry and leave him. Celia, in turn, declares that she will never marry and leave her father. Miss Bates is still excessively talkative. When Mrs. Bates died soon after Jane was married, Miss Bates went to live with her niece and family. Frank Churchill is easily annoyed and often out of spirits. He and Jane have six children. The adventures of Celia and Stella are not very interesting. The writing is so-so and is nowhere near the style of JA. This is not a dreadful book, but not very good. I would not recommend that you buy it nor actively search for it, but if you should come across it, give it a try. Review byLynn Lamy, December 16, 1997 This is a second sequel to Emma by Jane Gillespie. It has nothing whatever to do with her other one, Truth and Rumour, but is as almost as enjoyable. It takes place 18 years after the action of Emma and deals with the daughter of the Westons, Mrs. Weston having recently died, and the children of Frank and Jane Churchill. Celia Weston is really Stella Churchill's half aunt, but being close in age, they are naturally drawn to one another when the Churchills come to spend a summer at Donwell Abbey (Mr.Woodhouse lives on, so the Knightley's continue to reside at Hartfield) while major repairs are being done to their home at Enscombe. Stella's brothers' tutor and the son of Celia's companion throw some twists into the two girls' plans for the summer. James Aske, the boys' tutor, is writing an epic poem, and the girls are not sure of his family, but find him to be a nice sort of person. Henry Petteril is between jobs, as we would call it now, and finds a way to make fun of Mr. Aske and undermine his authority with his pupils. Stella inadvertently causes Celia trouble with her father, and in remorse seeks to run away. Mr. Petteril, with no money or prospects, is willing to assist her to London, but how his plan goes awry I will leave you to discover. As usual, the characters Ms. Gillespie creates are not deep, but believable. I liked Celia, Mr. Weston acted much as you would expect, and Stella was innocent yet wanting to grow up. It was a fun read, as are the other Gillespie sequels I've read, and I recommend it as light entertainment for any who come across it.
Monday, May 2, 2011 Political Propaganda in the Media and Conclusion Is this just a Typo? Mainstream media and politics are interrelated. Some television, newspapers and radio stations are labeled as either left wing or right wing advocates. There are still a handful of sensitive issues in this country that are argued along political lines. Examples are abortion, gun control, taxes and racism. Both the GOP and the Democratic Party vehemently claim to oppose racism and discrimination but there are still factions in both camps that indulge in racism and discrimination towards minorities, females and homosexuals. Public opinion suggests MSNBC is the democratic media and Fox news is the media of the GOP. Both stations tend to focus on issues that demonize their opposition party. The election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States was definitely a game changer in race relations. Blacks have been and still continue to be portrayed as sub species in this country but the emergence and election of an eloquent African American politician shocked many racist individuals in this country. Politics is a nasty game therefore I expect the opposition to constantly criticize the president but I think they cross the line when they start to covertly attack the president on racial issues. Covertly racist individuals like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck use their programs to create propaganda that questions the presidents patriotism and loyalty simply because he is not white. Every single president of this country has been a male Caucasian and none of them had their citizenship or beliefs on democracy questioned but Barack Obama has been labeled a socialist and an opponent of democracy and capitalism. Donald Trump led a recent campaign by birthers who strongly believed the president was not born in the sate of Hawaii even though his birth was announced in local newspapers in Hawaii. This campaign attracted a lot of attention from all media outlets and a recent poll showed a significant of Americans believed the president was not born on American soil. Would there be the questions about the president’s citizenship if he were white? I truly doubt people would even raise questions about a white president’s citizenship. Barack Obama recently released a full birth certificate to extinguish these rumors but now Donald Trump is calling for the release of his academic records because him and other prejudice people believe he was not smart enough to be accepted into Harvard law school but rather he was a beneficiary of Affirmative action. Affirmative action is a federal program used by schools and employers to help promote diversity by accepting a number of minorities. This controversial program has been scrutinized by white America because they claim its reverse racism but I believe after 400 years of slavery and suppression of minority groups, programs like these are required to even the playing field. Questioning his academic records echoes stereotypes such as Blacks are not as smart as whites or Asians. Mainstream media is picking up on this issue and there will be some sects of the population who will believe this theory. This is a never-ending cycle; mainstream media initiates a ridiculous propaganda or rumor that has racial undertones and then some unstable sensitive individuals pick it up and promote racism and discrimination Affirmative action has been called as reverse racism The power of the modern mainstream media is enormous. They influence almost every aspect of our lives. They tell us what to eat, how to look and even what to buy. I am not against the media or what they represent. This is a capitalist and mainstream media generates a great amount of income that supports our economy. On the other hand, racism and discrimination still exists and the media has and continues to contribute to the rising incidents of racist events and discrimination against minorities, females and homosexuals. The media can alter and eradicate the prejudice white America has towards certain ethnic groups by eliminating all the negative stereotypes and representations they feed to the public. Fair reporting on minority issues can also help reduce racism rather than predetermined bias portrayal of minorities that tends to enforce stereotypes. Politics will be politics but the media can resist the blunt hate rhetoric some politicians have in their messages. Lack of support and recognition for inappropriate racist messages by the media will ultimately promote a peaceful and loving society. Tuesday, April 19, 2011 Demography and Mainstream Media The level of attention a group/person attracts from the media somehow depends on the ethnicity and status. Americans are obsessed with celebrities and their Lifestyle. Celebrities attract almost all the attention from the media because that is what the public is desperate to hear. Mainstream media tends to focus on the negativity and instability that exists in ethnic communities. The crime rates in minority communities are obviously higher due to higher unemployment rates and the appalling conditions but the media focuses on the crimes that are committed by blacks and Hispanics. The issue of illegal immigration comes up anytime an undocumented worker is arrested for a crime. By doing this, the media encourages animosity and hatred towards immigrants and also instills fear in the public. The hard work that these people are made to do for lower than minimum wages are ignored; instead the media sometimes blames them for the current status of the economy.By constantly showing this to their audience, it enforces stereotypes against minorities. In the video below, ABC news shows the response the public has towards a black man and a white man committing a similar crime.The white offender receives very little confrontation and even makes it away with the bike but the black guy is immediately confronted and the by standers call the police. The middle class and upper middle class tend to also get more attention from the media. Historically crimes that have white middle class a the victims tend to spark a media frenzy. Such cases stay on TV until the case is solved if possible. A very good example is the case of JonBennet Ramsey. The unfortunate murder of this adorable little girl shocked America and received extensive media coverage. Although this case is still unsolved, it still received a great amount of media coverage 10 years after the incident when a mentally unstable man confessed to the murder. John Karr was later released when his DNA did not match the one that was found on the scene. The media is capable of influencing public opinion. They have the power to tell America what to believe, who to hate and even what to care about. Wednesday, April 13, 2011 The number of people who use the television as a source of entertainment easily outnumbers the number of people who use it as a primary source of news. The success of a TV station depends heavily on ratings. Television stations with the most ratings have entertainment shows that appeal to a wide spectrum of their audience. Entertainment shows include reality shows, game shows, sitcoms and drama series. Our addiction to shows meaningless shows like Jersey shore, Teen Mom and Real world has made MTV and VH1 the most viewed networks. Sex sells in America. Advertising moguls have adopted this method to promote products like GODADDY.COM by using almost naked images of famous stars like Danica Patrick. Using racy images of females to market products widens the gender inequality gap that already exists in society. It also limits the capability of women in society. Moreover shows like The Bachelor and the music videos constantly degrade women by depicting them as sex objects. There are also shows on TV that promote minority groups as being ignorant, lazy and promiscuous. One thing comes to mind when I think about the Flavor of Love show on VH1, and that is ignorance. Some televisions shows about black people promote buffoonery and illiteracy in the black community. I was a big fan of the Chappelle show but there is no doubts that show was very stereotypical and sometimes even racist. Even though a black comedian hosted the show, the producers and writes of the show regularly supplied him with racial jokes. Despite the shows huge success, Dave Chappelle had enough of the racism he was being made to feed to the public so he walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract. Using a person of color, as a vessel for racial jokes in the media is very common in mainstream media and by doing so, some people find it acceptable to make racial jokes. Others also make judgments about based on the stereotypes they see on TV. Mainstream media has a huge influence on race relations in this country. Lack of diversity in some parts of the country causes white people in such places to resort to the media for information about minorities. Tuesday, April 12, 2011 The Headlines Game In a world where the newspapers business is declining at an alarming rate, an effective way of getting the public to pick newspapers or clicking on a link is by having a captivating headline. Like most of America, I fall for this technique too. We tend to skip boring and simple headlines that do not grab our attention. The headlines that readers usually skip are the ones that summarize the whole article in the headlines. This is the type of headline that i would NOT be interested in because I can predict the whole content of the article On the other hand, we fall for attention seeking headlines that tells a quarter of the story. A story doesn’t have to be necessarily important but a catchy headline will attract a lot of attention. The media is aware of our weaknesses and exploit it in extreme ways by printing such headlines in bold on the front page. This headline grabs my attention because it tis about a sensitive issue and Jimmy Cater's words were taken out of context There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this technique because its principle for a business to make profit. The only issue is when there is a bias against some ethnic groups in our society. Outside sports, most of the press time that minorities receive is often for negative acts. The mainstream media concentrates on stories that depicts minorities in a negative way. Progress has definitely been made when it comes to race relations in this country but also we cannot overlook the fact that a solid amount of bigotry and prejudice still exists amongst us. Remnants of the people who opposed the civil rights movement still exist and promote racism and division among people. A typical example of this media bias was very evident in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The devastation made life conditions merely unbearable therefore both black and whites resorted to looting abandoned grocery stores for food and water. Unfortunately, the media singled out black as looters and white people as finders. Even though America is the most diverse country on this planet, there are certain expectations that are set for minorities in this country. The media plays to these social expectations by demonizing minority groups and by doing so, they maintain the existing social hierarchy. A constant portrayal of a state of instability and chaos among minority groups also promotes prejudice and racism. A headline blaming blacks for the increase in social vices and also enforcing stereotypes. Thursday, March 31, 2011 According to the Constitution of the Land, the President, Congress and the Judicial system is the most powerful entity in the union. Thanks to technology, a greater and more influential entity known as the Mass Media has emerged. The primary function of the media was to report news and also to entertain the public. The new Mass Media consists of television stations, radio stations, and most importantly the Internet. The combination of these giant bodies allows the general public to have around the clock access to news, sports and entertainment. Comparable to other powerful and influential things in society, there is a lack of checks and balances in the mass media industry, which leads to the abuse of power. Individuals and groups who deem necessary to sometimes blatantly promote racism and discrimination for political or financial reasons mostly control the Mass Media. The first amendment is what sets the United States apart from other countries but sometimes the Mass Media uses its influence to represent minorities and women in a degrading manner. News organizations are very aware that Headlines are all that matter in this present world. A large number of newsreaders proceed to read the entire article depending on how catchy the headline is. There is a bias in the media when reporting on different ethnic groups in our society. Headlines from a AP during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina showing the bias in reporting We live a world where entertainment shows like Jersey Shore and have higher ratings than even the election coverage. TV stations play to this appeal by depicting certain people in a stereotypical way or any means possible to boost revenue. Flava Flav had a reality TV show on VH1 to pick a single girlfriend from a group of 20 females The media gives different levels of attention on issues based on demography, social class or status and also the victim or perpetrator. The media is quick to make judgments on some issues depending on who is involved. Some media outlets are mainly involved in promoting propaganda for certain political parties and also to create or enforce a negative image for specific groups or individuals for their audience. This is an anti-Obama comparing him to socialist Adolph Hitler
Contact me at [email protected] Thursday, January 20, 2011 Sharon's White Chili Sharon's White Chili 1 pint of dried white Northern Beans 2 qts water 4 turkey necks (or chicken necks and backs sans skin) 1 chopped onion 3 peeled and sliced carrots Salt and Pepper Rinse your dried beans and put in crock pot with water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put the onions, carrots and turkey necks in. I put the crock pot on high for 4 hours. Remove the turkey necks and let the vegetables continue cooking on high. Put the turkey necks in the refrigerator for an hour. Pull all the meat off the cooled turkey necks and put it in the crockpot with the beans. Let them simmer until the beans are soft. To serve, ladle into a bowl and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Also serve with cornbread or slices of avocado and sour cream. Fresh cilantro is wonderful added on top. Source: Me! James W. and Agness M. Quinn James W. Quinn married Agness M. ? and they had a daughter, Susan Ann Quinn (aka Susanah Quinn) married Zadoc Coan and they had a son, William Edward Coan and he married Kathryn Kelly and they had a daughter, Mabel Louise Cohen and she married Clyde Harris and they had a son, William Clyde Harris and he married Peggy Annette Prince and they had James. W. Quinn was born 9/27/1824 in SC. I don't know his parents right now. He married Agness M. ? . Agness was born 8/16/1820 in SC. I don't know her last name right now or her parents. They got married about 1845 in SC. Her tombstone has her as "Agness M. Quinn". Is the "M." her middle initial or her maiden name initial. There are a lot of McAbees buried there and close to them. Is it possible that she was Agness McAbee. 1850 U.S. Census of Subdivision 23, Choctaw County, Mississippi; Roll: M432_370; Page: 88A; Image: 182, Lines 3-10, "J.W. Quinn", taken 11/11/1850 by David Holland J.W. Quinn, 30 yrs old (DOB 1820), M(ale), W(hite), Farmer, $600 Real Esatate Value, Born in SC Agness Quinn (sic), 28 yrs old (DOB 1822), F, W, Born in Ala(bama) Mary Quinn, 9 yrs old (DOB 1841), F, W, Born in MS (Mississippi) Amanda Quinn, 7 yrs old (DOB 1843), F, W, Born in MS Sarah Quinn, 5 yrs old (DOB 1845), F, W, Born in MS Harter Quinn (looks like Horton Quinn to me but Ancestry.com has him indexed as "Harter Quinn"), 3 yrs old (DOB 1847), M, W, Born in MS William Quinn, 7/12 mos old (DOB 4/1850), M, W, Born in MS Is this the James W. and Agness Quinn that I'm looking for? All of my information AFTER 1850 tells me it's not but I haven't been able to find them anywhere else in 1850 at this time. Here's the reasoning: What I know is their first child, that I know of, (before 1850) was (Susanna, Susana, Susannah) Susan Ann Quinn born 5/22/1845 according to her death certificate or was born 5/1848 according to 1900 Census (which listed age, month and year of census). The informant for the death certificate could have made a mistake and some women lied about their age in vanity or whoever gave the census taker the information could have made a mistake. Her tombstone reflects the 5/22/1845 date of birth. Every source I have, so far, always lists her as "Susan, Susan A., Susan Ann, Susana, Susanna, Susannah" and NEVER as "Sarah", which is what the girl in the 1850 census, who would be Susan's age, is listed as. That could have been the census taker's mistake or I've seen where they were called by a middle name or nickname when they were young children. Susan Quinn was definitely born in SC although this 1850 census listed all the children as being born in Mississippi. Agnes Quinn was born 8/16/1820 according to her tombstone which is 2 yrs different from the 1850 census although there could be reasons for this (see my note above). The 1900 Census has her DOB as 10/1820 (different month but same year as her tombstone). James W. Quinn was born 9/24/1824 according to his tombstone and the 1900 census. This is 4 years different from the 1850 census which has him listed as being born in 1820. I don't currently have Mary, Sarah, Horton (Hartin), or William as James W. and Agnes Quinn's children although, by 1860, these 4 may have been married or dead. 1860 U.S. Census of Northern Division, Spartanburg Township, Spartanburg County, SC, taken 6/6/1860, Lines 3-12, Dwelling 22, Family 22, "Jas W. Quinn" Jas W. Quinn, 36 yrs old, Male, White, Farmer, Real estate vaule of $1,000, Personal estate value $175, Born in SC Agnes M. Quinn, 38, F, W, Born in SC Susan A. Quinn, 16, F, W, Born in SC DOB would have been 1845 Littleberry B. Quinn, 12, m, W, Born in SC DOB would have been 1848 Robert R. Quinn, 11, M, W, Born in SC DOB would have been 1849 James W. Quinn, 9, M, W, Born in SC DOB would have been 1851 Thomas P. (or J.) Quinn, 7, M, W, Born in SC DOB would have been 1853 J? C. Quinn, 5, M, W, Born in SC (Ancestry.com has him indexed as Jennis C. Quinn) DOB would have been 1855 Mary J. Quinn, 3, F, W, Born in SC DOB would have been 1857 Nancy A. Quinn, 2, F, W, Born in SC" DOB would have been 1858 This Quinn family lived near Zade Coan and his new wife, Susan Quinn Coan. 1870 U.S, Census Spartanburg Township, Post Office Spartanburg C.H. (Court House?), written page 53, Series M593, Roll 1508, Pg 587, "James Quinn", Lines 26-31, Dwelling 357, Family 391 James Quinn, 44 years old, M, W, Farmer, Born in SC Agnes Quinn, 44 years old, F, W, Keeps House, Born in SC Thomas, 15, M, W, Farm Laborer, Born in SC Janie, 14 years od, F, W, At Home, Born in SC DOB would have been 1856 Mary, 12 years old, F, W, At Home, Born in SC DOB would have been 1858 Nancy, 9 years old, F, W, At Home, Born in SC" DOB would have been 1861 but in the 1860 census her DOB would have been 1858 1880 U.S. Census Spartanburg Township, Spartanburg County, SC, ED 144, written page 38, Series T9, Roll 1240, Pg 400, Lines 34-36, "James W. Quinn" James W. Quinn, W, M, 56 years old, Head, Occupation "Farming", Born in SC, Both parents born in Virginia Agnes Quinn, W, F, 56 years old, Wife, Keeping House, Born in SC, Father born in Virginia, Mother born in SC "? D. Quinn, W, F, 15 years old, Daughter, At Home, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC (DOB would have been about 1865. This name is illegible but according to the age it doesn't match any of the children listed in the 1860 Census. Nancy would have been born about 1858 and Mary would have been born about 1857. So this is probably a later child and I can't read the name.) 1900 U.S. Census Spartanburg Township, Spartanburg County, SC, ED 102, Sheet 9, Series T623, Roll 1542, Pg 140, "James Quinn", Lines 19-20, Dwelling 130, Family 130 James W. Quinn, Head, W, M, Born September, 1824, 75 years od, Married 50 years, Born in SC, Both parents born in VA, Can read and write and speak English, Rents Home (not a farm)"Agnes M. Quinn, Wife, W, F, Born October, 1820, 79 years old, Married 50 years, 8 children and 8 still living, Born in SC, Both parents born in VA" James Quinn and Agnes had 8 children that I'm aware of: 1) Susan Ann Quinn (aka Susanah Quinn), DOB 5/22/1848 in SC. Susan Quinn married Zadok Coan (DOB: 1845; DOD: 12/15/1884 in Spartanburg, SC) , Israel Fowler (DOB: 1/1840 in Union County, SC; DOD: 5/28/1918 in Spartanburg, SC) and M. Littlejohn (DOB: ? in ? ; DOD: ? in Spartanburg, SC). 2) Littleberry B. Quinn, DOB 1848-1852 in SC. He was in the 1st Battalion State Troops in the Confederate Army. He married Polly Gilbert. He died 11/22/1920 in Spartanburg County, SC. 3) Robert R. Quinn, DOB About 1849 in SC. He married ? . His DOD: ? in ?. 4) John Russell Quinn, DOB 11/18/1851 in SC. He married Elizabeth ? (DOB 2/1870 in SC; DOD 1902-1910 in SC). 5) Thomas J. Quinn (aka J.T. Quinn, Tom, Thomas M. Quinn, Thomas P. Quinn), DOB 1853-1855 in SC, DOD ? in ?. He married Bessie ? (DOB About 1847 in SC, DOD ? in ? ) 6) James Wofford Quinn, Jr., DOB 12/25/1854 in SC. He married Mahala Jane McAbee (DOB 11/1855 in SC; DOD ? in ? ) He died 10/10/1936 in Spartanburg County, SC. He is buried at Cannon's Campground Methodist Church. 6) Junius C. Quinn (Uncertain on name and sex, it could be Jonias, Janie, Jennis, Jonas Quinn), DOB About 1855 in SC. He married Corina ? (DOB ? in ? ; DOD ? in ? ). He died ? in ? . 7) Mary J. Quinn, DOB About 1857 in SC. She married Thomas Tilman Linder (DOB ? in ? ; DOD ? in ? ). She died ? in ? . 8) Nancy A. Quinn (Nan Quinn), DOB About 1858 in SC. She married a Morrow (DOB ? in ? ; DOD ? in ? ). She died ? in ? . J.W. Quinn died sometime after 1902. He and Agness are buried at Zion Hill Baptist Church cemetery, 2817 E. Main St (Hwy 29), Spartanburg, SC, 29307. There is one marker for both of them. Her's is engraved with both birth and death dates but his only has his birth date. Agnes Quinn died 7/23/1902 in Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, SC. From Harris Genealogy Photos From Harris Genealogy Photos Here are my sources: 1900 U.S. Census of Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T623_1542; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 102, Lines 19-20, Dwelling 130, Family 130, "Quinn, Junius T." (sic) and Dwelling 133, Family 133, "Quinn, James W." (See above transcript) J.W. Quinn is listed as a State's Witness in a case of the State vs. Allen Kirby on August 1, 1846. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865, Ancestry.com, Original http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/, Film M381 Roll 26, James W. Quinn, Private/Sergeant Co. H, Palmetto Sharp Shooters, 1st Palmetto, SC, Jenkins; Private Co C, 7th Regiment SC Reserves (90 days 1862-1864) There is a deed in 1904 referring to the J.W.Quinn estate, conveyance to Emma Cash signed by J.T., J.R., T.P., J.W. Quinn and W.P.Willis,, M.J.Linder and L.B.Quinn. Zion Hill Baptist Church, East Main St, Hwy 29, Spartanburg, SC SC Death Certificate #18730, Registration District #4008, Registered #133, Mrs. Susan A. Littlejohn, DOD: 11/27/1939 in Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, SC Usual Residence: Route 2, Cowpens, SC Female, White, Widowed, Deceased Spouse: Mr. M. Littlejohn DOB: 5/22/1845 in SC, 94 yrs old, 6 mos, 5 days old Father: J.W. Quinn, born in SC Mother: Agness Quinn, born in SC Informant: John Cohn, Union, SC (I believe this is John "Bud" Cohen who would be her son by her first husband.) DOD: 11/27/1939 Cause of death: Flu, Lobar Pneumonia Burial: 11/29/1939 in Zion Hill (Zion Hill Baptist Church, Hwy 29 E. Main St, Spartanburg, SC) James W. Quinn (this James W. Quinn was the son of James W. and Agness M. Quinn and brother of John Russell Quinn) there is a grave site at Cannon's Camp Ground Methodist Church. for Rev. James W. Quinn, born December 25, 1855 and dec'd Oct. 10, 1936. His obituary states that he lived in Cherokee Springs. He was not a member of Cannon's Camp Ground and I cannot read the name of the church he belonged to. He was survived by his wife, Jane McAbee Quinn and children: C.W. Quinn, Travelers Rest; Claude Quinn, Cross Anchor; W. C. Quinn, Cross Anchor; B.E. Quinn and Mrs. C.B. Huggins, Spartanburg, S.C. also, Mrs. J.D. O'Sullivan of Cherokee Springs He had three sisters: Mrs. Molly Linder Wallace of Cherokee Springs Mrs. Susan Littlejohn of Cowpens Mrs. Nan Morrow of Gaffney It states he had 48 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren. Following grandsons were pallbearers: Grady Quinn Zeb Quinn Paul Quinn Dorrus Quinn Jerry O'Sullivan Ernest O'Sullivan 1870 U.S. Census, Spartanburg Township, Post Office Spartanburg C. H. (Court House?), Spartanburg County, SC, Series M593, Roll 1508, Pg 586, Lines 4-5, "Zadop Coan", Dwelling 334, Family 368 Zadop Coan, 23 years old, M, W, Farmer, Born in SC, Cannot read or write Susan Coan, 24 years old, F, W, Keeping House, Cannot read or write 1880 U.S. Census, Enumeration 149, Spartanburg Township, Sheet 38, Line 13, "Zade Coan" Zade Coan, W, M, 35 years old, Head, Farming, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC Susan, W, F, 35 years old, Wife, Keeping House, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC Talula, W, F, 9 years old, Daughter, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC Mary E., W, F, 8 years old, Daughter, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC Nancy J., W, F, 3 years old, Daughter, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC John W., W, M, 2 years old, Son, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC Susanna, W, F, 1 year old, Daughter, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC 1900 U.S. Census, Spartanburg Township, Glendale Village, Spartanburg County, SC, ED 100, Series T623, Roll 1542, Page 111, Lines 27-28, "Israel Fowler", Dwelling 160, Family 163 Dwelling 160, Family 163, Israel Fowler, Head, W, M, Born Jan 1840, 60 years old, Married 5 years, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC, Occupation "Lay up roping", can't read or write, speaks English S.A. Fowler, Wife, W, F, Born May 1848, 52 years old, Married 5 years, 7 children with 5 still living, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC, can read and write, speaks English 1910 U.S. Census, Pacolet Township, Spartanburg County, SC, ED 83, Series T624, Roll 1473, Pg 49, "Israel Fowler", Lines 83-84, Dwelling 75, Family 77 (They were living beside her son, William E. Cohen) Israel Fowler, Head, M, W, 66 years old, Married 19 years, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC, speaks English, Occupation Farmer of General Farm Susan Fowler, Wife, F, W, 63 years old, Married 19 years, 7 children with 5 still living, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC, speaks English 1920 U.S. Census, Spartanburg Township, Spartanburg County, SC, ED 102, Sheet 1813, Series T625, Roll 1710, Pg 210, Lines 78-81, "William Hodge", Dwelling 341, Family 366 William Hodge, Head, Home owned free of mortgage, M, W, 47 years old, Married, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC, Occupation "weaver in cotton mill" Lula Hodge, Wife, F, W, 43 years old, Married, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC S.A. Fowler, Mother-in-law, F, W, 74 years old, Widowed, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC John Ball, Boarder, M, W, 70 years old, Widowed, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC Carolina Spartan, 12/17/1884 "Zadoc Coan, a good, quiet citizen was working in an old stable on Mr. John Archer's farm near town Monday, when the house tumbled down and crushed him to death. He was buried Tuesday." 1910 U.S. Census of Reidville Township, Spartanburg County, SC, Toll Y735_1473, Pg 13A, ED 86, Image 142, Lines 8-10, Dwelling 221, Family 230, "Quinn, L.B." Quinn, L.B., Head, M(ale), W(hite), 62 yrs old, Married 11 yrs, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Paint Odd, for Wages, Can read and write, Rents home Quinn, Mary, Wife, F, W, 40 yrs old, Married, 3 children with 2 living, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Farm Laborer, for wages, Can read and write Quinn, Aldridge, Son, M, W, 8 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, mother born in SC, Speak English, Cannot read or write, not attending school 1920 U.S. Census of Cherokee, District 85, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T625_1710, pg 27B, ED 85, Image, 674, Lines 95-96, Dwelling 290, Family 290, "Quinn, Littleberry B." Quinn, Littleberry B., Head, Rents home, M(ale), W(hite), 70 yrs old, Widowed, Can read and write, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, farmer of general farm Audrie, Son, M, W, 16 yrs old, Single, In school, Can read and write, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC SC Death Certificate #21114, Registration District #4002B, Registered #28, L.B. Quinn, DOD 11/22/1920, Cherokee Township, Spartanburg County, SC Male, White, Widowed, DOB 1852 in SC, 68 yrs old Father: J.W. Quinn born in SC Mothe:r DK (Don't Know) born in DK (Don't Know) Informant: T.P. Quinn of Converse #1 DOD 11/22/1920 "Saw dead body about half hour after death. Death, according to history, was due to valvular 90 heart disease" Physician: H.T. Scott of Cowpens, SC Place of Burial: Spartanburg, on 11/24/1920 Undertaker: J.F. Floyd of Spartanburg, SC 1900 U.S. Census of Cherokee Springs, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T623-1541, Pg 8A, ED 84, Lines 16-21, Family 142, Dwelling 142, "Quinn, J.R." Quinn, J.R., Head, W(hite), M(ale), Born Feb, 1848, 52 yrs old, Married 15 yrs, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Farmer, Cannot read or write, Rents Farm Quinn, Elisabeth, Wife, W, F, Born Feb, 1870, 30 yrs old, Married 15 yrs, 5 children with 4 still living, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Can read and write Quinn, A. (or H.) Elis, Daughter, W, F, Born June, 1884, 14 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Can read and write Quinn, Robbert C. (sic), Son, W, M, Born Dec, 1891, 8 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, Viola, Daughter, W, F, Born Nov, 1898, 1 yrs old, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, Sarah J., Daughter, W, F, Born May, 1900, 0/12 mos old, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC 1910 U.S. Census of Spartanburg, District 87, Spartanburg County, SC, Rp;; T625-1472, Pg 20A, ED 87, Image 764, Lines 43-48, Dwelling 167, "Quinn, John R." Quinn, John R., Head, M(ale), W(hite), 50 yrs old, Widowed, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Farming general farm, can read and write Quinn, Robert P., Son, M, W, 18 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, speaks English, Farm Laborer on home Farm, Can read and write Quinn, Viola, Daughter, F, W, 10 yrs old, born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Cannot read or write Quinn, Davis, Daughter, F, W, 8 yrs old, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English Quinn, Benjamin T., Grandson, M, W, 6 yrs old, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC 1920 U.S. Census of Cherokee Springs, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T625-1710, Pg 13B, ED 102, Image 998, Lines 69-73, Dwelling 245, Family 268, "Quinn, J.R." Quinn, J.R., Head, Rents, M(ale), W(hite), 66 yrs old, Married, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Can read and write, Farmer of general farm Quinn, Nannie, Wife, F, W, 32 yrs old, Married, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Can read and write Quinn, Viola, Daughter, F, W, 21 yrs old, Single, Cannot read or write, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, Charles, Grandson, M, W, 3/12 mos old, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, Ben, Grandson, M, W, 15 yrs old, Single, Cannot read or write, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC SC Death Certificate Stamped 12678, Registration District 40-A, Registered #376, DOD: 8/11/1935, J.Russell Quinn, 107 Myrtle Ave, Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, SC Male, White, Widowed Spouse: Nannie Bradley DOB: 11/18/1851 in Spartanburg, SC, 84 yrs old Tenant Farmer for 40 yrs, last time worked 1929 Father: James Quinn born in unknown Mother: Agnes Quinn born in unknown Informant: Mrs. Viola Alexander or 107 Myrtle Ave, Spartanburg, SC Buried in County Cemetery, 8/12/1935 Undertaker: J.F. Floyd DOD 8/11/1935 Physician attended deceased from 8/1/1935, last seen alive on 8/11/1835 Died of Hypertension, arteriosclerosis, acute cardiac diliation Physician J.C. Josey of Spartanburg 1910 U.S. Census of Pacolet, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T624_1473, Pg 8B, ED 83, Image 638, Lines 53-57, Dwelling 140, Family 143, "Quinn, Tom M." Quinn, Tom M., Head, M(ale), W(hite), 43 yrs old, 2nd Marriage 1 yr, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Farmer of General Farm, Cannot read and write, Rents farm Quinn, Bessie, Wife, F, W, 23 yrs old, 1st Marriage 1 yr, 1 child with 1 child living, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Farm Laborer on home farm, cannot read and write Quinn, Monroe T. , Son, M, W, 10/12 mos, born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, James W., Father, M, W, 75 yrs old, Widowed, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Farm Laborer on home farm, Can read and write Thornton, Mary, Mother-In-Law, F, W 39 yrs old, Widowed, 2 children with 1 still living, Borni n SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Cannot read and write 1900 U.S. Census of Cherokee, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T623_1541, Pg 1B, ED 85, Lines 58-66, Dwelling 10, Family 10, "Quinn, James W." Quinn, James W., Head, W(hite), M(ale), Born Dec, 1854, 45 yrs old, Married at age 25, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Farmer, Can read and write, Owns Farm Quinn, Mahaley J., Wife, W, F, Born in Nov, 1855, 44 yrs old, Married at age 25, 7 children with 5 still living (a "+" sign which may mean she was pregnant at the time of the census on 6/1/1900), Born in GA, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, Della, Daughter, W, F, born Nov, 1882, 17 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in GA Quinn, Willie, Son, W, F, Born July, 1885, 14 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, Broadus, Son, W, M, Born Aug, 1887, 12 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in GA Quinn, Claud, Son, W, M, Born June 1889, 10 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in GA Quinn, Hattie, Daughter, W, F, Born Oct, 1891, 8 yrs old, Born in SC, Father born in Sc, Mother born in GA Quinn, Charley W., Head, W, M, Born Aug, 1876, 23 yrs old, Married 0 yrs, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in GA Quinn, Lillie M., Wife, W, F, Born July, 1881, 18 yrs old, Married 0 yrs, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC 1910 U.S. Census of Cherokee Township, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T624_1472, Pg 9B, ED 75, Image 558, Lines 91-100, Dwelling 168, Family 175, "File, Laura E." (Head) and "Quinn, James W." (Head) File, Laura E., Head, F(emale), W(hite), 62 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Own Income Quinn, James W., Head, M, W, 53 yrs old, 1st Marriage 31 years, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Farmer general farmer, Can read and write, Owns farm Quinn, Jane, Wife, F, W, 49 yrs old, 1st Marriage 31 years, Bron in GA, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Can read and write Quinn, Hattie, Daughter, F, W, 17 yrs old, Single, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in GA, Speaks English, Can read and write, attends school Quinn, Broadus, (Son) Head, M, W, 22 yrs old, 1st marriage 1 yr, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in GA, Speaks English, Farmer on general farm, rents farm, can and write Quinn, Stella, Wife, F, W, 19 yrs old, 1st marriage 1 yr, Bron in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Can read and write Quinn, Claud W. (looks like Cloud), Head, M, W, 20 yrs old, 1st marriage 2 yrs, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Farmer on General farm, Can read and write, rents farm Quinn, Ollie, Wife, F, W, 19 yrs old, 1st marriage 2 yrs, 1 child with 1 still living, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, Speaks English, Cannot read and write Quinn, Inez, Daughter, F, W, 8/12 mos old, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC 1900 U.S. Census of Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, SC, Roll T623_1542, Pg 9A, ED 102, Lines 19-20, Dwelling 139, Family 130, "Quinn, Junius T." and Lines 28-29, "Quinn, James W." Quinn, Junius T., Head, W(hite), M(ale), Born Mary, 1854, 48 yrs old, Married 15 yrs, Born in SC, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC, No occupation listed Quinn, Corina A., Wife, W, F, Born Apr, 1865, 35 yrs old, Married 15 yrs, 1 child with 1 still living, Born in Sc, Father born in SC, Mother born in SC Quinn, James W., Head, W, M, Born Sept, 1824, 75 yrs old, Married 50 yrs, Born in SC, Father born in VA, Mother born in VA, Farmer, Rents farm, Can read and write Quinn, Agnes M., Wife, W, F, Born Oct, 1820, 79 yrs old, Married 50 yrs, 8 children with 8 still living, Born in SC, Father born in VA, Mother born in VA, Cannot read and write Animal Hoarding Animal Hoarding Photos are from a Google search on "animal hoarding" From the American Veterinary Medical Association Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow Homer & Langley by E. L. Doctorow The chair Homer was found sitting in. The Most Famous Hoarders Photos from a Google search on "hoarding" Tuesday, January 18, 2011 Preserving A Family Bible If you have possession of a Family Bible with important family documentation in it, you want to keep it as safely as you can. Southern Oregon Stories gave me some good tips on preserving a Family Bible. Keep a Bible at room temperature 68 to 72 degrees. Maintain humidity as close to 50 percent as possible. Do not subject the Bible to extreme temperatures. So don't leave it in a car or store it in an attic or unfinished basement. Store a Bible flat, but kept so that its form is not canted. Do not store it upright. Some people might want to leave it open on a Bible stand but that is not a good idea. Don't leave it open. Preserve the Bible in an archival box. You can do a Google search on "archival boxes" to find what you need. They aren't overly expensive. Store the Bible in the center of a closet (not the floor in case of flood and not on top in case of fire). Keep the Bible family records on a separate note on acid free/lignen free paper inside the front cover with recognizable names. Some time ago, I did a post on hoarding and another one on animal hoarding. It will soon be the time of year to do your Spring Cleaning and I wanted to remind you of how out-of-control we can get if we don't take the time to de-clutter and clean up. You may need to do a Clean Sweep of your own! Clean Sweep is just one of the TV shows that motivates you to really let go and get rid of it! Other TV shows about hoarding are popular right now. These kind of shows can be good kick-in-the-butt motivators. If you are disabled in some way, it is understandable that things can get out of control. Maybe you can't take out your own garbage or use the vacuum cleaner or bend over a bathtub to clean it. It's getting harder for me to do it too. But, I hope you can afford to pay someone to come in once a week to take your trash out, clean your bathrooms, change your sheets, do some laundry, do a dusting and run the vacuum cleaner for you. There are many people out there who can afford it but are too tight with their money to spend on paying a housecleaner. And, yet, they are incapacitated enough to be unable to do for themselves. If this is you, I encourage you to re-think your priorities. A clean environment is necessary for your health, wellbeing and peace of mind. For those of you who can't afford to pay for a weekly cleaning service, consider paying for help during your Spring Cleaning. Sometimes there are teenagers who want to make some cash and are willing to help you. It's a good way to train them how to clean at the same time. Check with your teenager's friends or a church youth group. I have used kids that I taught in Sunday School and have known their families for years so I felt comfortable with having them in my home. I worked right along with them and I made sure to pay them a fair price. I would make lunch, provide drinks and make sure that I paid them an extra hour for their gas. There are people who just aren't interested in cleaning and organizing. Sometimes it's laziness, sometimes it's busy-ness, sometimes it's a mind block that results in constant procrastination, and, sometimes, it's because you grew up in a mess and don't know of any other way to live. I'm not trying to judge anyone... but I would suggest that you hire a housecleaner to come in once a week. This dreaded job can be placed on a professional and you can stop worrying about it. If you can't afford it, then there's no way around it, you are going to have to do it. There are many websites that can give you tips on how to organize, clean, make routines that help you do it in little bits each day, suggestions, etc. Check them out by doing a Google search on "organizing your home", "clean your home", "cleaning tips", "household tips", etc. There are very logical reasons why this kind of clutter is bad for you and your family! 1) In case of emergency like a fire, tornado warning, etc you have too many obstacles for you and your family to make it out of the house quickly. Doors and windows may be totally blocked by junk and it could cost you your life! Such tiny walkways through stacks of junk could result in someone getting hurt or dying! Do a Google search on "Hoarding" and you will find stories of hoarders who literally died by being crushed, suffocated by falling detritus; or, dying from some other cause but couldn't get out of the house or find the phone to call for help; or, caregivers/neighbors/paramedics couldn't get in the house and find them fast enough before they died. 2) You can imagine how rodents and bugs could live freely in messes like this. I certainly wouldn't want to eat/sleep/live in a place infested with rodents, bugs, spiders and their waste. You could catch diseases. I've read of bugs crawling in children's ears and becoming cemented in their with ear wax. Thinking the children were deaf, doctors were able to open their ears by removing the bug and ear wax and the child could hear. 3) Mold and mildew. It's very easy for mold and mildew to grow in conditions like this. People are very concerned with the mold/mildew issues in their homes and what it does to their health and allergies. Having a mess like this is asking for mold/mildew and then you breath in those spores. The dust would play havoc on allergies. 4) A waste of your money. If you are so concerned with money that you won't hire help to clean your house, why would you waste money by acquiring stuff you can't use. Some people buy just to be buying and have clothes stuffed in closets that still have price tags on them because they haven't had time to wear them. I saw a TV documentary on hoarding and the woman hoarded food. She had refrigerators and freezers full of rotted food she had bought and they hadn't eaten. She resorted to putting food in plastic bags on the porch to keep it in winter months. A waste of money! She purchased extra refrigerators and freezers, the electricity to run all that besides all the food, and it was such a waste of money. And, even though, she recognized that the food was inedible, she wouldn't throw it away! 6) In a mess like this you lose important things like birth certificates, wedding rings and certificates, vaccination records, warranty manuals, receipts, income tax stuff, the gift you bought for your husband's birthday, gift cards, etc. 7) You are passing on your bad example to your children. They won't learn essential life skills such as how to clean, how to organize, how to live your life without living in a rat's nest. You may very well pass your bad habits or idiosyncracies or OCD behavior to them. You are the parent and it's up to you to teach them how to clean a bathroom, how to properly wash the laundry, how to pick up after themselves, etc. If you don't teach them, no one will and they will live the life thereof. There is no excuse for ignorance any more. With public libraries (free books), book stores, Internet, magazines, TV shows, you have all kinds of ways to learn how to do things properly and we have no end of cleaning supplies and tools available to us in America. Even if all you can afford is a shop vac and some vinegar...you can clean almost anything. I realize that there are people who seemingly have no control over OCD behaviors that result in the messes that you see in the photographs. But those people are probably fewer and far between than you might think. Most of us have more control over ourselves and can do something about the mess we (and our untrained family) leave behind. This could be the year of change for you. Your family may not like it, they may grumble, complain, pitch a hissy fit, cry...but you can, and should, stick to your guns and get everyone involved. It really teaches them a lot!!! It's worth the headache they give you. Monday, January 17, 2011 Extreme Couponing Do you use coupons? Or are coupons using you? Coupons, used right, are great ways to save some money. In this economy, people are trying to save money any way they can and that includes couponing. But a new TV show on TLC called "Extreme Couponing" sheds some light on those who take coupons to the extreme. I watched the first show and was both disgusted and inspired. Let me explain why I was disgusted. One woman's story was about how she spent approximately 70 hours a week couponing and comparison shopping and, finally, purchasing. The TV show followed her into her home where the entire upstairs had been made into a warehouse for all the food and toiletries that she buys. She is hoarding food and sundries. She stockpiles by using coupons. The show said that her cache of toilet paper would last an average couple 42 YEARS!! They followed her as she showed how she not only clips coupons but pays for coupon clipping services so she can get hundreds of coupons. Then she goes all over town comparison shopping and spends hours checking sale papers so that she can use her coupons to the best advantage. For instance if Ingles has a sale on ketchup for $1.99 and Ingles doubles their coupons on Thursday and she has a coupon for $1.00 ... then she gets a bottle of catsup for nothing. All of this sounds virtuous until you watch her at work. The TV crew followed her and her husband to the grocery store where they spent 3 hours pulling everything off the shelves and filling shopping carts full of stuff. Dozens of boxes of pasta dinners, cases of candy bars, etc. It took her hours to check out and get bagged as well as commanding the help of at least 6 store staff. By the time she was checking out she was whining about how much time it was taking to check out and her husband was in a slow boil about wasting a whole day at the grocery store. She purchased over $1,000 and actually paid about $57. Then they went home and her husband had to unload all those bags and carry them up the stairs for her and she has to put it all on her shelves. This woman is seriously out of balance. She is hoarding. The only good thing she can say is that it's not taking all her savings. (On these hoarding shows I always wonder where they get the money to buy all the crap that fills their houses.) Hoarding: Acquiring and accumulating a supply stored for future use. Stockpiling, storing a cache or stash. Pathological or compulsive hoarding is a specific type of behavior characterized by: • Acquiring and failing to throw out a large number of items Hoarding of food is a natural behavior in certain species of animals such as larder hoarding which is the collection of large amounts of food in a single place. A hamster does this. And, scatter hoarding, the formation of a large number of small hoards or caches of nuts and other seeds. Squirrels do this. For humans, one type of hoarding is triggered as a response to perceived or predicted shortages of specific goods. Another type of hoarding is saving items, even if the items are worthless, hazardous, unsanitary, considered trash by normal people. When you read the definition of hoarding you start to get the picture of someone who is obsessed, consumed, out of control, idolatrous, selfish, even greedy. Yes, I said "idolatrous" and "greedy". Idolatry: The worship of a physical object as a god. Blind or excessive devotion to something. An idol is anything that replaces the one, true God. Serving the idol is idolatrous. Idols are impotent, and their power exists only in the minds of the worshipers. They are looking to material objects for what only God can give them: a sense of worth and value. Idolatry is the sin of giving someone or something a place of preeminence above the Lord God. Greed: Excessive desire to possess money or goods with the intention to keep it for one's self. Greed - like lust and gluttony - is a sin of excess. When you spend all your time, energy, effort, skill, talent and thought on something, it has become your god. If this story is true, then this woman is spending all her time, energy, effort, skill, talent and thoughts on couponing and shopping for material goods. What is she worshipping? What is the false god here? Basically she's worshipping herself. Like all idolaters, you are really worshipping yourself. Whatever your lust is for, it's all about fulfilling YOUR desires, needs, lusts. Some people think they are not only the center of the universe but the only thing in the universe. It's all about them and that's how they live. I'm not describing an attractive person am I? Selfishness, greed and idolatry are not attractive traits. Someone who hoards is selfish, greedy and idolatrous because they put material things into the position of a false god in their life. In those hoarding TV shows I watch those people struggle to let go of a literal piece of trash, it's very sad. How could pieces of trash take the place of the true and living Jehovah God? But, lest I sound too harsh, all of us do this at some time in our life. It's so easy to slip into selfishness and idolatry. Let's pause to think of some very common forms of idolatry in our society today. For teens there are friends, school, cell phones, texting, boyfriend/girlfriends, clothes, brand names, parties, etc. All these things can become all consuming. For men there are sports, sports teams, careers, sex, vehicles, hobbies, etc. All these can become all consuming. For women there are families, careers, organizations, homes, etc. All these can become all consuming. Remember, if it takes all your time, money, effort, skills, talents, energy, thought - then it's become your idol. Watching this story on the TV program, "Extreme Couponing", I thought about how greedy she was being. For instance, she didn't just want enough candy bars to give her something sweet every day for a week. She had to buy all the candy bars in the store. It's not exactly like they are discontinuing the making of candy bars. They aren't of any nutritional value. Why did she feel the need to buy all of them? And, what about other people who would like to have a candy bar? Other shoppers deserve to be able to purchase candy bars and they deserve to be served by the staff without her commanding all the attention. Every week, I take my few coupons into my grocery store hoping to buy some of the sale items and, guess what? The shelves are picked clean of the sale and coupon items by the time I get there. I've learned not to depend on coupon and sale items for my week's menus but if you did plan your week's menu around sale and coupon items, this inconveniences you and you wind up having to totally re-do your menu plans. One of two things have happened, either one person has gone in and cleaned them out (like the people in the TV show) or many people are using the sales and coupons and I just happened to be at the end of the line. If you go in and strip the store of the sale and coupon items, that's not fair to the other customers who are also looking to save some money. It shows greed and selfishness. How many candy bars do you need? How much detergent can you use? How many cans of corn is enough for you? When you plan your shopping or come up on sales, ask yourself, "How much do I really need?" I'm blessed to live within a 1/2 mile of our grocery store. I like to have enough stuff to last me for a week but why should I take up valuable real estate in my home to store things when the store can do it for me. The store is my warehouse, I don't have to warehouse 25 boxes of detergent in my home. There will be future coupons and future sales so I don't have to grab 100 coupons for pasta dinners and use them all today to buy 100 boxes of pasta dinners. That's silly. Use a couple of coupons and get 2 boxes of pasta dinners. You have enough for a couple of dinners over the next 2 weeks and then begin looking for another coupon and sale. I use Tide detergent and just about the time I've worked my way through a box, Tide has another coupon run. Unless you are the family with 20 children, you don't really need 150 jars of spaghetti sauce. Unless you are Kate with eight, you probably don't need 53 bottles of shampoo. Be real! How much is enough? Where do you stop? Maybe you are one of those survivalists who stockpile food against a disaster. I understand your thoughts but I had to ask myself, "If there is a disaster, could I really feed my family and be able to ignore the needs of others?" How selfish would it be to keep you and yours fed and watch others die? I'd just as soon go out with the first wave of disaster than to struggle with those kind of questions. Maybe you live way out from town and have to keep a little more in your pantry to get you between trips to town. That's understandable. But I know it's not 42 YEARS between trips to the store so you don't need 42 years worth of toilet paper. So, ask yourself, "How much is enough? How much is reasonable? Where is the balance?" God is in the balance. Use commonsense, self control, self discipline, wisdom. Cultivate a generous spirit by letting others have a chance to enjoy bargains. There were some inspiring stories too. One man used extreme couponing and donated stuff to a food pantry. He sacrificed his time, effort, skill to purchase something that could help others. He could have kept all those bargains but he deliberately chose to sacrifice his purchases which cultivates a generous spirit. Then there was a single black woman who was a nurse (retired now) and raised her children with the help of couponing. She daily walks 7 miles to check with her neighbors and neighborhood businesses for coupons that they aren't using. This gives her exercise and she's developed relationships. If a single mother with a career can do it, I can wisely use coupons. Before things got hard with the economy, I didn't use coupons. It was a hassle that I didn't think was worth it. But now, I am looking for ways to be thrifty and frugal and coupons can be helpful. But we must use commonsense and balance. Sunday, January 16, 2011 History of Union, SC Both Union and Union County received their names from the old Union Church that stood a short distance from Monarch Mill. Union Church served both the Presbyterian and Episcopal congregations in the area. The church was erected in 1765 near the present day town of Union, the county seat. Union County was created as a part of the Ninety Six District in 1785. It was part of Pinckney District from 1791 to 1800 and became a separate district when Pinckney was dissolved in 1800. The upper part of the county later went to form Cherokee County in 1897. When the town of Union was first founded, Union was known as Unionville; later it was shortened to Union. The county’s first white settlers came from Virginia in 1749. There was a lot of Scotch-Irish settlement in the area. Union County’s population grew the fastest between 1762 and the start of the Revolutionary War. Settlers built log cabins and cultivated tobacco, flax, corn and wheat. Union was one of the first towns settled in the area and was untouched during the Civil War because the Broad River flooded and turned Sherman’s troops away from the town. Pinckneyville - When Pinckney District was created in 1791, it comprised the counties of Union, Spartanburg, York, and Chester. Three commissioners appointed by the Legislature selected a place in the northern part of Union county for the new court house town to be established. Pinkneyville is one of the earliest settlements in the South Carolina backcountry. It reflects the spread of justice throughout the state in the early years and the beginnings of representative government beyond the border of Charleston. As early as 1752 it was an important trading post. It is found on the confluence of the Pacolet River and the Broad River. Once they chose Pinckneyville to be the county seat and a court and jail were begun there was a heavy rain storm in May, 1792 which caused the rivers to flood the town. So the commissioners decided to move the location of Pinckneyville to higher place and on the southwest side of the Broad River. It was named after Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and was possibly laid out by a Charleston surveyor with street names that mimicked street names of Charleston. It was envisioned to become an upstate metropolis. A one roomed brick jail was built with 18" thick walls and was 14' x 20'. It was plastered inside and had 2 doors and 2 windows and the doors were double planked and the windows were shuttered with double planked shutters. There was a fireplace on one end and the jail cells were planked walls and the criminals were literally lowered into them from the top. There was a post office by 1795. It was a stage coach stop, about a mile from the Pacolet Ferry. There was a log school house but no church in the town. There was another brick building which may have been the courthouse. The town was abandoned and the countyseat became the town of Union. The Pinckneyville site is very remote today and is not safe to go to alone. There was a mere pile of bricks left of the old jail and nothing else. It looked like it was a party place because of the graffiti and trash. Rose Hill Plantation - is on the Tyger River, Union, Union County, SC. Located at 2677 Sardis Road off US 176. The illegitimate son of a Charleston merchant, William H. Gist rose from modest beginnings to be elected governor of South Carolina in 185. He also was a reputed duelist. William Henry Gist (August 22, 1807 – September 30, 1874) was a Democrat. Gist was the illegitimate child of merchant Francis Fincher Gist and Mary Boyden. He moved with his father to Union County in 1811 and came under the guardianship of his uncle, Nathaniel Gist, upon the death of his father in 1819. His uncle legally obtained the Gist last name for William Henry and sent him to study law at South Carolina College. He passed the bar and returned to Union and began to build Rose Hill Plantation. Between 1828-1832 a Federalist-style house was built by William H. Gist. It became a cotton plantation employing about 100 slaves. By 1865 it consisted of over 2700 acres. By 1870, it was down to 1350 acres and today, the site is part of the Sumter National Forest in the Northern part of the state and only has 44 acres left. Bricks were imported from Switzerland to construct the three story mansion. Gist won election to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1840 as a strong supporter of state rights and was elected to the South Carolina Senate in 1844. He served three terms in the state Senate before being elected by the General Assembly as the 68th Governor of South Carolina. William H. Gist was Governor of SC at the time of secession and was called a Fire-Eater. After Abraham Lincoln was elected President, and receiving assurances from the governors of Florida and Mississippi that they would follow South Carolina's lead, Gist called for a secession convention to be held in Columbia on December 17. The convention was moved to Charleston because of a smallpox outbreak in Columbia and Gist was one of the signers of the Ordinance of Secession on December 20. The creation of the South Carolina Executive Council in 1861 provided Gist an opportunity to participate in the state's wartime activities of the Civil War. He was in charge of the Department of Treasury and Finance and later the Department of Construction and Manufactures, but the dissolution of the South Carolina Executive Council in September 1862 ended his involvement in the politics of the state. After the war in 1865, Gist took an oath of allegiance in Greenville and received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson. He remained on his plantation at Rose Hill, which had lost all of its grandeur, and rented out the land to sharecroppers. Gist developed a case of appendicitis and died at Rose Hill on September 30, 1874. His cousin, States Rights Gist (September 3, 1831 — November 30, 1864), was also a lawyer, a militia general in South Carolina, and a Confederate Army general during the War. Gist was born in Union, South Carolina, to Nathaniel Gist and Elizabeth Lewis McDaniel. He graduated from South Carolina College and attended Harvard Law School for a year without graduating, before moving home to Union to practice law. In 1863, Gist married Jane Margaret Adams, whose father was James Hopkins Adams, governor of South Carolina from 1854 until 1856. In 1858, Gist's cousin, William Henry Gist, became governor. Both were active in the secession movement. Gist was shot in the chest while leading his brigade in a charge against Federal fortifications at the Battle of Franklin in November 1864. He died of his wounds soon after at a field hospital in Franklin, Tennessee. David Johnson Plantation - David Johnson (October 3, 1782 – January 7, 1855) was an antebellum Democrat and Governor of South Carolina from 1846 to 1848. Born in Louisa County, Virginia, Johnson was educated in York County, but moved with his family to Chester District in 1789. He studied law in South Carolina and became a solicitor of the Union District in 1812 as well as being elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. Excelling in law, Johnson was made a circuit judge in 1815, a judge of the Court of Appeals in 1824, a presiding judge of the Court of Appeals in 1830 and a chancellor in 1835. The General Assembly elected Johnson as Governor of South Carolina in 1846 for a two-year term. The Mexican–American War occurred during his administration and the state aptly supported the cause. After his term as governor, Johnson returned to the Upstate where he died on January 7, 1855. 1826 – A canal was built around Lockhart Shoals on the Broad River and part of its route went through David Johnson's plantation. The lock-keeper was paid a salary for maintaining the lock, and Johnson was paid this salary although one of his slaves did the work. David Johnson was absent most of the time so he left his son, Edward Coke Johnson, in charge of running the place. It is located on the Broad River, Lockhart, Union County, SC. Original plantation lands were located near Lockhart Shoals on the Broad River. Hillside Plantation - In 1791 James Hill was given the land by his father. He married in 1806 and he and his wife moved to Union. They lived in a log home. Between 1820-1832 he built his home there. It's an upcountry Federal with central halls on both floors with 2 rooms on each side off the hallways. There is an 1850's addition which includes the dining room, enclosed back porch, rear stairs and a room that became the kitchen. This addition on one side gave it an "L" shape. Hill was a planter and, by 1840, he owned about 60 slaves. By 1860 he owned 3300 acres with 1300 "improved". Hill died in 1854 leaving the plantation to his wife and then, after her death, to his son, George Hill. The sculptured granite gate posts were carved by J.E. Sherman, a convalescing Union soldier left behind just prior to the War. Hillside is located in Carlisle, Union County, SC. Located north of the Town of Carlisle off SC 215. It is a private residence. Cross Keys Plantation - A post office was established in 1809 at Cross Keys, S.C. In 1812-1814, Barrum Bobo (or Barham Bobo) erected this house at the intersection of the Piedmont Stage Road and the Old Buncombe Road. Mr. Bobo was a prosperous merchant of an influential Union County family. (Barrum Bobo is said to have been a ship's purser. The Cross Keys House is a fine example of a Georgian Colonial in common bond brickwork. The gables of the building contain the cross keys insignia and the dates of the construction. Located on a knoll, the tall house with two full stories plus attic and basement is an area landmark. There is much beautiful carving in wainscoting, molding, and mantel. Gabled roof with identical pairs of end chimneys, five symmetrically spaced unshuttered windows on either side of the double doors which are protected by massive, raised first-story portico. White Tuscan columns at front and engaged columns at rear support portico and triangular pediment. Between each pairs of end chimneys, a date stone is placed beneath the gable. On one of these is carved the date of house's completion (1814), original owner's initials (B.B.), and crossed keys thought to be the insignia of the builder. During the ante-bellum period, it was the center of a properous plantation. Two old milestones indicating distance to Union "12 m" and Columbia "68 m" remain in front of house as evidence of early highway system. On April 30, 1865, during the retreat from Richmond, Virginia, Jefferson Davis passed through Cross Keys, S.C., accompanied by the Confederate cabinet and his military escort of five brigades. Mrs. Mary Whitmire Davis, who owned the Cross Keys House at that time, afterwards related to her descendants the story of President Davis's luncheon at the house. It was privately owned until 2006, when Cross Keys was purchased by the Union County Historical Society. Fairforest Plantation - is on Fairforest Creek (a branch of the Tyger River), Ninety Six District, Union County. Located southwest of the City of Union where SC 49 crosses over Fairforest Creek. Fairforest or Fletchall's Plantation - The house at Fair Forest was probably built by Colonel Thomas Fletchall, a gentleman farmer. It was located on the south side of Fairforest Creek (a tributary to the Tyger River) on 365 acres. On the north bank of the creek he owned 250 acres where he operated a saw mill and at least two grist mills. Colonel Fletchall was a Loyalist, and on December 9 he was arrested for breaking the Treaty of Ninety Six. The Patriots found him hiding in a large sycamore tree downstream from his mills and arrested him. Colonel Fletchall was released from prison, and upon returning to his plantation he found it looted. His family along with their slaves proceeded to rebuild the place but on October 10 Colonel Fletchall fled to Charleston for the safety of himself and his family. He left with his wife, five children, and fourteen slaves. He never returned to his plantation. Colonel Fletchall and his family and slaves left for Jamaica on December 1. His property was confiscated and sold at auction the same year. Colonel Thomas Brandon, a local hero, purchased most of Fletchall's property. Colonel Brandon died in 1902. Orange Hall - Goshen Hill, Union County, SC. Original plantation lands were located south of SC 72 off Maybinton Road close to the Newberry County line. In 1774, John Rogers built a house on the property. In the 1820's another John Rogers owned the plantation and began to grow cotton. He also operated a general store on the property for smaller farmers in the area. In the 1860's J.E. Sherman carved a fountain from the granite-lined spring that provided water to the plantation. The spring became known as Jew's Harp Spring because the shape resembled that of a Jew's harp. Sherman was a Union soldier who was convalescing in the area. House was destroyed by a tornado in 1929. Only scattered bricks remain visible today. My Most Popular Posts Total Pageviews Contact Me To contact me, email me at [email protected]
'Hagit, You're Dead' By Jeffrey Goldberg I spent part of the day driving around East Jerusalem and environs with Hagit Ofran, the head of the Settlement Watch operation of the left-wing Israeli group Peace Now. Hagit is charged with keeping track of settlement growth, and she's fastidious in her work, and she's also become well-known, at least among a certain set of people who would like to see her dead. When we met up she very calmly told me that her phone might be ringing more than usual today, because she discovered grafitti this morning near her apartment that read, "Kahane was right," a reference to the late racist rabbi Meir Kahane. Then a neighbor told her he found another painted slogan on a wall that read, "Hagit, you're dead." The press was interested in this, she said, in part because it's the third time she's been threatened this way in the past 10 months. The first time, the vandals wrote, "Peace Now, the end is near!!!," and the second time, Ofran came downstairs to find "Rabin is waiting for you," a reference to the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by a pro-settler extremist. As we were driving, the police called: They hadn't found the perpetrators, but they were on the case. The vandals in the first two incidents have yet to be caught, as well. Hagit seemed pleased with the police response so far, and she didn't even seem mildly perturbed by the incident. It's just part of the job of monitoring extremists. Later in the day, after I tweeted out news of this latest round of vandalism, I received an e-mail from a self-identified settler who wrote, "Which side are you on, the Jewish side or the enemies of the Jews side, like Peace Now?" Hagit Ofran, I would only point out, is a self-descrbied Zionist who seeks to preserve Israel's Jewish majority, and its democracy and at that the same time afford the Palestinian people some dignity, dignity being a Jewish value, of course. I would also note that a handful of settlers tweeted back, inviting her to their homes to show her that not all settlers are lunatics. I took this to be an encouraging sign, but what would be more encouraging would be for the police to catch the people who do this and for the courts to punish them. This article available online at:
Night Patrol Teacher Cont. 【夜回り先生】・【The Night Patrol Teacher】 Sorry that I have not posted more translations from his book recently. I am going to blame my fellow ALT for lending me the Twilight series that I became obsessed with and read in my free time…more than once. Anyway, I have translated three chapters to post today. I know that sounds impressive, but the chapters were significantly shorter than previous chapters. ღ .:･ﾟ♡ﾟ･:.ღ .♡.ღ .:･ﾟ♡ﾟ･:.ღ .♡.ღ .:･ﾟ♡ﾟ･:.ღღ .:･ﾟ♡ﾟ･:.ღ .♡.ღ .:･ﾟ♡ﾟ･:.ღ .♡.ღ .:･ﾟ♡ﾟ･:.ღ Chapter 6: My Life’s History In this world there is no human being who is born because they wanted to be born. We are all born into this world as if we were violently tossed into it. The environment we are born into, All of these things we cannot decide for ourselves. The children who are born with good luck are inherently promised happiness as they grow. They are rich with a loving family and always wrapped in big smiles as they mature. However, those children who are born with bad luck are born into the burden of bearing unhappiness. Those who cannot oppose the unhappiness suffer as they grow. It is then up to adults’ convenience if that happiness is strongly felt or not by their child. Those adults who exile children who then become engulfed by sorrow and turn to the kingdom of the night I cannot forgive. I was also a child sent into the world feeling happiness. I have no image of my father. As long as I can remember my father was never there. I have never seen my father’s face or figure and any pictures there were of him my mother had disposed of. I lived with my mother in Kanmura in Yamagata Prefecture. Our home was so decrepit that when it became winter snow would fall through the cracks in the ceiling and walls. Regarding the cold, my only memories are of my mother holding me tightly as I slept. My mother became a teacher in Yokohama and was separated from me, her only son. As a mother I know the choice was hard, but even with her salary we couldn’t make a life together. It really was a pitiable lifestyle and not just because I was poor. What made it worse was that I felt lonely without my parents. With a loneliness that was intolerable, I always sought to feel like I belonged and admitted to my loneliness. Even at the smallest opportunity I would search for other’s faces. I reached out desperately for affection. However, as mysterious as it seems, the more I tried the more I became lonely. As I tried with all my might to get attention, people would avoid me. As a child who suffered more than one complex, there was not a single person who I could call my friend. The only thing that supported my heart was a swing located in a plaza in town. When I think about it now, it was only some rope and a board hanging from a tree. But, for someone like me who had no friends, it was the best playmate in the world. Being poor, having no parents, none of these were my fault. None of them I wanted. So why, even though I did not have these desires, was I born into a world where I had to live in a very painful environment? As I swung with all my might on that swing, I held grudges against many things. Against a poor family life, against parents who left me, against a city’s people who made my unhappiness, and against a loneliness feed by Yamagata’s unforgiving climate. Even after all this, I still wanted to see my mother. Always thinking of my far away mother, I imagined myself flying to her side in Yokohama as I swung on my swing. Even now I can’t forget just how strong my loneliness was. This is why I, who had wounds in my childhood, want to meet more of the children who share the same pain. They become delinquents, but they don’t become them because they want to. They have no desire for such a life and maintain a fierce loneliness that they do not know how to endure. To help erase their pain from loneliness, I entered the night and there I try to save as many children from becoming damned. Before they suffer too much I want them to meet someone who cares. Chapter 7: Kenji Yokohama – In a park on a hill where you can see the port I encountered a second year junior high school student named Kenji. Kenji was different from other boys his age. He wore a woman’s blouse and skirt and even stockings as he skipped around the park in the middle of the night. It was the type of scene where even someone like me is hesitant to call out to him. Up to this point I had encountered many types of children, but someone like Kenji was entirely new to me. Just as I expected, when I made an attempt to communicate with him and listen to his situation, I could not effectively do that. Whenever I strengthened my voice, even just a little, Kenji would shout words and phrases I could not understand and make like he was going to run away. Only he was allowed into the safe world he had created and put himself in. All intruders were pushed away and denied entry. Having no idea what to do, I decided to try and invite him to get something to eat. “Are you hungry? Shall we go get something to eat?” As I said this, Kenji’s face burst into a smile. No matter what world we create for ourselves, food is always an acceptable means of entry for others. Kenji’s stomach was bottomless. I took him to a family restaurant where he ate spaghetti, hamburger steak, steak, cake…order after order until he had devoured away for two hours. When I looked at him, I was suddenly reminded of myself when I was very poor. Now, happiness comes in many forms for me and it can be difficult to figure out what brings me the most happiness, but when I was younger food was the only thing that brought me any happiness. The restaurant’s customers were all starring with curiosity. Besides Kenji’s bottomless stomach, of course their stares were because I had escorted a cross-dressing junior high school boy to a family restaurant in the middle of the night. To avoids everyone’s awkward gazes, we left the restaurant. I took Kenji back to his home and was shocked at what I saw when I entered his room. Adult videos and empty bottles of shochu covered the floors and the kitchen area showed no signs of usage under a thick layer of dust. A futon given to him by his father lay in the corner of the room. There was no way for Kenji to live a stable life in this environment. The me who passed this judgment talked with Kenji’s father and we agreed that he should be left in the care of an institution. However, this was probably all just in my mind. Afterwards, I went to visit Kenji at the institution and I found in tears as he hit me over and over again. He was silent, but it was clear what his reason was for being angry with me. I was the evil person who had robbed him of his irreplaceable father. The next time I went to visit, I tried desperately to have my reasons understood. I did not put him here because I hated him. I really liked him. I just wanted to give him a healthy and stable lifestyle. He might be separated from his father right now, but the day would come when they could live together again. So, until that time I wanted him to show a little patience. Conversely, two years later Kenji’s father passed away. I was, and still am, very troubled by this. Was I really right in separating Kenji from his father? Would it have been better if they had lived together for those two years? These questions still remain unanswered. Now, Kenji works at an annex of the institution where he scales electric wires and works on an assembly line. When I go to visit him he presents me with a mixed face, but he still runs to greet me. It will take time, but I believe that someday he will understand why I did what I did. I cherish that belief. Chapter 8: Poverty When I was in elementary school, I hated field trips. In the home I grew up in in Yamagata, we could not afford to make and put side dishes in a bento. All we could afford was one small salt or miso flavored onigiri. Bringing such a thing on a school trip was too embarrassing for me, so I always lied to my grandfather by saying, “I don’t need to bring a bento on my school’s field trip.” At that time, it was my norm and I expected to always have an empty stomach. If I ate until my belly was full, it meant that my grandfather was unable to eat. This is why my family always put on a face that said, “I’m full,” while we ate so as not to make each other worry. But, it is because of all that pretending that my only real happiness was when I had a full stomach. The annual school sport’s festival always made me happy. The sport’s festival was a festival for the whole town, so adults always prepared large bentos filled with delicious food and socialized while drinking beer and cheering on the children. Of course, my grandfather did the impossible and made tamagoyaki, stewed dishes, and roll sushi for me. My lunch did not have salmon or beef like the other children, but those lunches my grandfather made were the best type of luxury to me. If you constantly pick apart my childhood and compare it (to others) it becomes a very sad one, but my improvised childhood was by no means something completely unhappy. This is something that I only slightly realized when I was a child. Humans are born and all they can do is live. But, even in that I believe there is happiness. I am really glad that he wrote about himself in these chapters. I have not mentioned this before, but apparently Mizutani-sensei has a form of cancer and has been very sick for a long time. Despite illness, and I can only assume doctors telling him to take it easy, he still stays out all night to protect the children that society neglects or has given up on. Vatican, you need to saint this guy. About these ads Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s Get every new post delivered to your Inbox. Join 28 other followers %d bloggers like this:
Take the 2-minute tour × I am planning to visit Northern Poland and then Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. I am thinking of going into the Russian state of Kaliningrad as well. I've read that compared to Russia proper it is easier to get a three day tourist visa for Kaliningrad. You don't need an invitation like for main land Russia. I have a German passport and will leave from Berlin in the next few days. Is it possible to get a Kaliningrad visa in Gdansk or Vilnius in a day? share\|improve this question 2 Answers 2 up vote 9 down vote accepted From quick search, I found out, that (as EU citizen) you can get 72-hours visa to Kaliningrad at the border. You can get 72 hours visa only at 3 points: - Kaliningrad airport, if you arrive by plane - Russian-Polish border (Bagrationovsk and Mamonovo). Another way is to get your visa in Poland is in consulate in Warsaw, but that may take longer. share\|improve this answer If you are departing from Berlin, you can use the Mamonovo post to get this visa right there, with no need to wait, as @Tschareck said. There is new road opened, more information is in our older question here: "Is it difficult to do a car border crossing in Kaliningrad Oblast?" share\|improve this answer Your Answer
Readers' letters \| Quacking, Cummings column, GOP plan, correcting the corrector 8:06 PM, Dec. 26, 2013 \| Comments Quacks like a duck If I hear one more Republican jump to the defense of Phil Robertson's homophobic rant, I may literally "quack up." Whenever one mixes gay rights and the Bible and encounters criticism, the ducks come waddling out to declare their defense of the Constitution and free speech. I don't recall Sarah Palin defending Martin Bashir's right to free expression when he resigned his MSNBC post due to his insulting remarks concerning her. And when Bobby Jindal defends Mr. Robertson, who is a representative of Louisiana culture, perhaps the governor should first consider what he wishes his state to represent; Roberston's views are not simply homophobic, but racist, sexist, and xenophobic - hopefully, not a picture of the Louisiana people. Free speech does not come without consequence. Roberston did not merely air his religious and personal views, but he knowingly insulted the gay community which has worked diligently to overcome such stereotyping, bullying and discrimination, and he did so from a national pulpit. He chose to enter into the political arena, and that comes with repercussions that we all should pause to consider. In this season of brotherhood and renewal, it might do the Republicans well to focus on Jesus' message of love and forgiveness instead of turning to "Duck Dynasty" for its moral message. If it walks like a Duck and quacks like a Duck, it's a Duck, folks! Brandenburg, Ky. 40108 - Haynie material? Brad Cummings' Dec. 25 column is a gem, and not just for the sublime irony of invoking the "spirit of Christmas" to wish for a Republican majority in the coming year. (Henceforth, maybe we can label the pensive giftgiver in our favorite Hugh Haynie cartoon with Mr. Cummings' name.) No, the best part, and most hopeful sign, is his desire for "a clearly communicated Republican health care plan to replace Obamacare." Since the ACA already contains most of the ideas formerly championed by the right, including the Heritage Foundation's individual mandate, this will be a difficult task indeed. However, the mental and rhetorical gymnastics they demonstrated in opposition to what they once proposed suggest they are up to it. Is it possible that in 2014, the Republican Party will unite in favor of single-payer? Louisville 40211 - GOP for single-payer? As I don't watch Fox News, I have to admit I am curious about their opinions on something. While the right has lambasted everything and everyone who likes the Affordable Care Act, in light of the hacking of Target's customer information, do they have any sense of awkwardness when comparing the two? To me the brazen theft of millions of items of financial data is a vastly bigger issue than a brand new website that was overloaded and had some design flaws. For the record I had no problem with the kynect system. Louisville 40222 - Good, not well Regarding the gentleman's letter printed Dec. 19 correcting the use of "nauseous" when "nauseated" was what was meant to describe an ill athlete and lamenting often-observed malapropisms in print, his letter contained one! He referred to Michael Jordan as not feeling well. I doubt Jordan's nausea affected his sense of touch; he just didn't feel good. Louisville 40205 - Things To Do Real Deals
• Text size • Send this article to a friend • Print this article Scottish sports stars and fans launch Yes vote campaign Scots athletes and sports fans have launched their own campaign for a Yes vote. Sport for Yes will bring together current and former Scottish sportsmen and women and sports fans who back plans for an independent Scotland. The group's members include boxer Alex Arthur, Judo Scotland team member Connie Ramsay and karate and Kick-boxing champion Samera Ashraf. It is headed by former Hearts captain Michael Stewart, who started his career at Manchester United and has been capped for Scotland four times. The group also welcomed the findings of the McLeish report which have paves the way for a Scottish Olympic team at Rio 2016. Speaking at the launch Stewart said: "'It's great to see the McLeish report published and highlighting the pathway for Scotland to join other nations on the global sporting stage. I firmly believe a Yes vote in September will lead to a huge upsurge in self-belief and confidence for our country - two crucial components in sport linked to performance and achieving your goals. 'My sport already competes as a nation in our own right and I was fortunate to pull on the dark blue strip to compete, but not everyone has had the chance. A Yes vote means more opportunity for people from all walks of life, but especially for sport." Shona Robison MSP, cabinet secretary for Commonwealth Games, sport, equalities and pensioners' rights, said: "Sport for Yes is a new and exciting part of the grassroots Yes movement bringing together athletes, former athletes, sports men and women, and fans of sport. "Scotland already competes as a nation in a number of sports, such as football, cricket and rugby, but with independence we can represent ourselves across all sports bringing tremendous opportunity to our athletes. It will also enable us to have our own team at the Olympics and Para Olympics, in the same way as we have Team Scotland in the Commonwealth Games." Boxer Alex Arthur, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and former European Boxing Union (EBU) and WBO super- featherweight champion said: "My career highlight was wining gold at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. To win that gold medal for my country and myself was definitely my greatest achievement. As an independent nation we will be competing for ourselves which brings more opportunity for our athletes to compete. "To see one of my sons competing in the Olympics Games for Scotland would be a victory for me because it's something I was never able to achieve." Connie Ramsay, a key member of Judo Scotland's team who is both the Scottish and UK Number One in the under 57-kg class, said: "I'd like to see Scotland as an independent country - we can definitely run our own affairs and make a better job of it ourselves. "We see other smaller countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway and they all manage much better than the UK does, so why can't we? If everyone gets behind Scotland we can make it work, and make a better go of it. And giving more athletes in Scotland an international platform can only be a good thing." Samera Ashraf, Scotland's top Asian sportswoman who is a karate and kick-boxing champion, said: "By voting Yes, Scotland has the opportunity to build on its sporting abilities and have a far bigger platform. "As an Asian woman breaking barriers in a physical contact sport, it is equally important to go one step further and support the country in gaining independence. I believe independence will be more inclusive, especially when it comes to sport and there will be a new wave of new sporting talent emerge which is an exciting prospect." The Tartan Army rock band, the Tartan Specials, said: "The first Scotland football match as an independent country will be a special moment in our history. In many other sports it will deliver greater opportunities for a greater number of athletes. In football it will deliver too but in a more subtle way - greater self-confidence, belief and sense of belonging. "It stands to reason - Croatia came third in the World Cup soon after gaining independence, and if we had been independent in 1978 Ally McLeod would definitely have brought home the World Cup from Argentina!" Contextual targeting label: Commenting & Moderation
Take the 2-minute tour × I did a Google search on the the sentence, "We grew warmer and warmer," and it only came up with a few hits, not even one page worth. So is this grammatically incorrect? Is there a better way to put this? share\|improve this question What are you trying to say? Context would be very helpful, as the sentence, while grammatically correct, does not make much sense. – snumpy Mar 28 '11 at 19:59 I'm trying to make a sentence like this: "We embraced, growing warmer and warmer." Basically two people embrace each other tightly during a winter night, and their tight embrace warms each other up more and more. – language hacker Mar 28 '11 at 20:04 2 Answers 2 up vote 5 down vote accepted The phrase works absolutely fine in the context you describe. share\|improve this answer It' grammatically correct. Perhaps the reason you received so few results from Google has something to do with the phrase being rather bland. share\|improve this answer Your Answer
Best of Inhabitat: 6 Super-Cool Floating Homes and Habitats It used to be that rising tides due to climate change were just a far-off fear - now they're a present-day reality. But we all know that humans are a race of survivors, and some of the best designs come out of the necessity to adapt to environmental changes and challenges. So while we're working on actually mitigating global warming, architects, designers and visionaries are one step ahead, imagining homes, buildings and entire cities situated above or even beneath the surface of the world's oceans. Check out our favorites that we've seen "floating" around. + This crazy-looking tentacled underwater skyscraper is a self-sufficient floating city that can harvest renewable energy and grow its own food. + If you've been following news about the Maldives, you know that the island nation is being threatened by rising sea levels caused by climate change. But they aren't going out without a fight. Just last week, the government signed an agreement to develop several mini floating islands! + This floating home designed with San Francisco's dockside communities in mind is so beautiful and modern that it pains us for anyone to call it a mere "houseboat." + Okay, so technically this isn't a home or habitat, but it's definitely something you want to check out if you're interested in how we can make wind power more of a viable option. Installing offshore wind farms currently involves a lot of problems from underwater soil erosion and disruption of marine life to extravagant maintenance costs, and Hexicon's platform alleviates many of these issues. + As if taking a trip to the spa wasn't luxurious enough already, what if it were located on a private floating sanctuary? This lush garden island has baths, saunas, and treatment rooms all wrapped in a verdant shell of greenery designed by vertical garden mastermind Patrick Blanc. + Plunging to depths of about the same height as the Empire State Building, the Gyre is a full-fledged underwater city that is powered completely by the sun, wind and ocean. —Written by Yuka Yoneda Inhabitat is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future. Follow us on Twitter @inhabitat or join us on Facebook. Tags: Architecture \| Buildings
Mr. T and the Pope Who tweeted it: Mr. T or the Pope? As we approach Easter, a time that many people will be spending with their family and thus in great need of distraction, we decided to create a quiz that sees you answering the age-old question: Who tweeted it, Mr. T or the Pope? These two social media icons, one adorned in devotional jewellery and sharing inspirational messages to his faithful followers, the other being the Pope, have much in common. For proof, just scroll through their Twitter feeds. Think you know your Mr. Ts from your Mr. Ps? Take our quiz and check below to see how many you got right. 1) “You are a divine work of art by the Master Artist” 2) “We are all called to be friends with Jesus. Don’t be afraid to love the Lord.” 3) “God’s forgiveness is stronger than any sin.” Pope gif 4) “I have sinned and more than likely, I will sin again. But I still believe and pray to GOD.” 5) "War never again! Never again war!” 6) "He is risen! Thank you Jesus. Happy Easter.” Mr. T gif 7) "Get well soon, Queen Elizabeth. God Save the Queen. Glad you are out of the hospital and back at home.” 8) "Support your priests with your love and prayers, that they may always be shepherds after Christ’s heart” 9) "I miss my van.” Pope gif 2 10) "Please pray for me.” 11) "Sunday is a great day! A day of prayer, meditation and rest. I Thank God!” 12) "My speech is ready! Hand written from my heart to capture the essence of my Mother. NO speech writer here FOOL!” Answer key: 1) Mr. T; 2) the Pope; 3) the Pope; 4) Mr. T; 5) the Pope; 6) Mr. T; 7) Mr. T; 8) the Pope; 9) Mr. T; 10) the Pope; 11) Mr. T; 12) Mr. T Photo by Casa Rosada \| Remix by Jason Reed (CC BY SA 2.0)
Letters to the Editor Letters from the week of 4/24/2008 Westword, April 10 Snark Attack For many years now, I have been coming across variations on the word "snark" in journalistic pieces, used by scribes writing for a wide variety of publications, ranging from Newsweek to Westword. Most recently, in the April 10 edition of Westword, Michael Roberts uses it in his Message column as an adjective in "set the tone for the snarky session that followed," and in the cover story, Alan Prendergast uses it as a verb in "...snarking about his nature-boy persona." My challenge to these writers, and to the editor, is to define and defend this word, or cease using it. What can it possibly mean? As far as I can recall, "snark" was a noun invented by Lewis Carroll for an imaginary creature. Bruce Kaufman Bar Back, Jon Solomon, April 10 Widespread Wonder Thank you for the read. It put a smile on my face, as I have sat at Moon Time Bar & Grill a few times and looked in wonder at the bumperstickers on the beer coolers. May you find your inner Panic this summer as the band rolls into Red Rocks. P.S.: My favorite shows are the small theaters the band is still playing. Mark Costlow Indianapolis, Indiana Ask a Mexican, Gustavo Arellano Borderline Personality Disorder I am filing a complaint. It is utterly ridiculous and repugnant what Gustavo Arellano writes about people who are of Hispanic descent, who respect and value American border policy and want to retain the sovereignty of the United States. Furthermore, his bashing of Lou Dobbs as a racist is just utterly and entirely sickening. Mr. Arellano fails to acknowledge our failing medical systems, as well as many other civil services that go towards people who do not pay into a tax system to support these same systems that they are draining. He can't acknowledge facts, and I find it irresponsible of Mr. Arellano to support this sort of ridiculous, truly inane reporting, even if it is tongue-in-cheek — and it looks like it is. I just had to get that off my chest. I doubt that anyone cares, but thank you for hearing my concerns. Name withheld on request I enjoy the Mexican's column and would like to try to explain some of the conservative viewpoints about illegal immigration. The last terrorists who struck our country came from Yemen and Saudi Arabia (World Trade Center, 2001). The ones before that came from Oklahoma and Indiana (Oklahoma City bombing, 1995) and the previous ones from Saudi Arabia (World Trade Center, 1993). Our manufacturing jobs are going to China, our computer programming and help-desk jobs are going to India, and North Korea is developing nuclear bombs. The U.S. is creating thousands of Osama bin Ladens every day in the Middle East. Therefore, all Mexican illegal immigrants are dangerous. The ironic thing about the current fear of illegal immigrants from Mexico is that the vast majority of them are of Native American descent; they aren't Spanish. Most of the Spanish in Mexico are doing well enough that they don't feel the need to risk their lives to earn meager wages in the U.S. The "Indians" lived in North, Central and South America for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. Upon arrival, the Europeans (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, etc.) proceeded to label all natives "savages" and to annihilate as many as they could aim their weapons at so that they could take their land. Talk about "breaking and entering" — try breaking, entering and murdering! The other irony is that the western U.S. used to belong to Mexico. In the mid-1800s, the U.S. took this land from Mexico by killing several thousand Mexican troops. One of the American generals later wrote that this was "not a proud day in American history." Once again, breaking, entering, murdering and theft! A thinking person might ask himself how we attained the moral high ground in this immigration debate. Those people who complain bitterly about illegal immigration need to read their history books and get a clue. If there is a God, we Americans should be asking "May God forgive America" — not "May God bless America." Any God who could bless this country, with its checkered past, is not one that I would care to worship. Jesse Collette Colorado Springs My Voice Nation Help
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Chewin’ It with Kevin and Steve: Pets As they drive around L.A., Kevin and Steve share stories about pets: the pets they had in their childhood, the pets they had as adults, and their general take on pets. Bonus: Learn all you ever wanted to know about cats, i.e., why you never feed a cat tinsel, why cats don’t wear watches, and what happens when a drunk human pisses in a litter box. Chew it! Follow @HeffernanRules and @SteveLemme on Twitter!
Can't We All Just Get Along? The Flo Fanatics meld gangsta lyrics and noise-rock productions St. Louis has become a hotbed for hip-hop in the past couple of years, producing several chart-topping acts and garnering all sorts of national notoriety. It seems perfectly logical that Cristal dreams and Escalade wishes would dance in the heads of aspiring MCs in the Lou. Open mic nights are filled with rappers hoping to become the next Nelly, though most veer closer to becoming the next guy to get booed offstage. Into this fracas steps Killergram Records, just one of the multitudes of developing labels chasing the brass ring of bling bling. What makes Killergram and its flagship group, the Flo Fanatics, remarkable is the unique synthesis that brought them to life. Brothers Patrick, Codey and Matthew Taylor and half brother Charles Billups (later known by noms du rap Lyricol P, Ray Loc, Mysterious and Myzery) went into a neighborhood studio looking to record some tracks. Even though hip-hop was not their specialty, the producers recognized talent when they heard it and agreed to work with the brothers. The brothers became the Flo Fanatics, and new gangster-rap label Killergram Records set up shop at the Penny Studio, run by producer Chris Deckard and engineer Jason Rook. This is unusual because Deckard and Rook are quite possibly the whitest white men on the planet. The Flo Fanatics can't find their spending money. Can you? Jennifer Silverberg The Flo Fanatics can't find their spending money. Can you? Rook is a member of rock combo Wormwood Scrubs, the backing band for singer/songwriter Larissa Dalle. A carefree, talkative person, Rook will engage in conversation with anybody, even at the most inappropriate moments. He rides around town on his rebuilt 125cc Vespa scooter, proudly proclaiming how he "bored it out to 133cc," and takes any and all mocking or criticism with good-natured aplomb. More of the mad-scientist type, Deckard is one of the few people in St. Louis who truly follows his own vision -- even if it is, at times, incredibly eccentric. He is the kind of person who shows up to social events wearing chain mail, leather and feathers, pink fuzzy hats and other outré items. He builds custom electronics and can get lost in sound for hours, trying to get something to feel just right. The more erudite of the two, Deckard measures his words carefully. To say these two don't have a degree in Thuganomics, Pimpology or Playanometry would be an understatement. Known for producing mostly fringe rock, experimental noise and general weirdness out of their hand-constructed Penny Studio, the pair are unlikely rap moguls. Imagine Sean "P. Diddy" Combs collaborating with Japanese noise punks the Boredoms, or Dr. Dre deciding to quit messing with those fools Eminem and 50 Cent and then recording country tunes with his homies Alabama, and you'll get a picture of the level of mismatch involved in the Killergram genetic makeup. The Flo Fanatics were born on the south side of St. Louis and live right around the corner from the Lemp-based Penny Studio. They range in age from seventeen to twenty, and those who know them describe them as hard-working and industrious. They describe themselves on record as "two Bloods, a thug, and a Crip." Possessing hyper-kinetic energy and a desire to make it big, the Fanatics put in as much time as the studio has available to work on new tracks. Though they rap about riches and cars, they have the presence of hungry kids, fronting to have something they plan to get eventually. Standing on the corner selling their CDs, borrowing bicycles from friends to track down absent group members and always stopping to flirt with the neighborhood girls, they are fully immersed in the streets they represent. Of their improbable production team, Myzery only offers an enigmatic "They're cool." So if the talent is from the streets, but the production team is more Superchunk than super-crunk, how do the collaborators manage to come together in the studio? "I don't listen to a lot of rap," says Deckard. "I don't really know what I'm doing." To watch the mechanics of this unlikely setup illustrates this point. The Fanatics will bring in a beat, or sometimes even the idea of a beat, and bang it out on whatever's available for Deckard, who then applies his 'more is more,' sonically dense production philosophy to the idea. The rappers will offer editing suggestions, and they then collectively pare down the whole thing into something that sounds like a saleable product. Through all of this, it seems that these two groups of people come from such different backgrounds that they speak different languages. But music is their means of communication, providing a bridge to understanding each other. Though the music treads the fine line between hip-hop and overblown electro, the lyrics are strictly criminal. The end result is music that doesn't compromise anyone's style or desires. The Flo Fanatics' new EP, Hot as a Lamp (an expanded version of their original single), features the club track "Friday Night," a song with all the excitement of a drunken stumble through a house party, as well as "Thug Love," which spotlights the softer side of the group. Through it all, though, the production team still retains its own voice. Next Page » My Voice Nation Help Sort: Newest \| Oldest Concert Calendar • April • Thu • Fri • Sat • Sun • Mon • Tue • Wed St. Louis Event Tickets
• Machine Foreign Language Translation Systems Bridge Gap Between Soldiers, Locals Brandon Pollachek Obtaining information, providing assistance, and forging relationships are very tough to do when first meeting people, but are even tougher when you are in a combat environment and don’t speak the local language. That was the scenario many U.S. forces were faced with as they began to work with local citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide assistance, gain intelligence, and build situational awareness for force protection. There were few ways to communicate accurately, especially with a shortage of qualified linguists. The initial solution was to field a quick reaction capability (QRC) that could meet the immediate need while a more robust program of record (POR) known as the Machine Foreign Language Translation System was being developed. The earliest devices used to bridge the language gap had prescripted words, phrases, and simple expressions such as “Get out of the car,” “What is your brother’s name?,” and “Do you have a bomb?” A Soldier could touch that phrase on the device and it would come out in the other language, letting the native speaker know what the Soldier wanted. “Unfortunately, there aren’t enough linguists to go around, and not all of them can put on a rucksack and go up and down mountains in Afghanistan and follow troops around. So we have to fill that capability gap with these devices,” said Mike Beaulieu, Product Director Machine Foreign Language Translation Systems (PD MFLTS) within Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors (PEO IEW&S). QRC Solutions The list of QRCs that were fielded includes the Foreign Media Monitoring (FMM) System, which offers real-time automatic machine translation, search, and alerting capability across multiple media and languages, providing rapid insight into emerging events. FMM allows for the correlation of open-source information and the development of intelligence products for strategic or tactical use. PD MFLTS also fielded a Translator Laptop System that provides a two-way, speech-to-speech machine translation capability; and the Voice Response Translator, which provides hands-free, eyes-free, and voice-activated one-way phrase-based capability. Additionally, the organization fielded the Phraselator P2, which provides voice- and touch-activated, one-way phrase-based capability. Machine foreign language translation systems are providing Soldiers in the field a greater ability to communicate with local populaces when linguists are not available. (U.S. Army photo.) PD MFLTS’ most recent activities included responding to an urgent operational needs request from theater for more than 100 two-way speech-to-speech devices that are housed on an Android-based smartphone. Early this year, the systems went to two battalions within the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division that are currently deployed to Afghanistan. “Right now the systems are there on an operational assessment, and they will be there until the beginning of September. During this deployment, we will gather information to improve the product and to inform a decision as to how to do a follow-on product, because eventually we will have a theater-wide product out there,” Beaulieu said. PD MFLTS worked with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Capability Manager Biometrics and Forensics to field systems that could meet the 101st’s needs. The unit wanted a two-way device that accepted free speech instead of being phrase-based. Additionally, the organization required a handheld device that would speak two of the main languages in Afghanistan, Pashtu, and Dari. Building on Success PD MFLTS will build on the success of previous versions of language translation systems and lessons learned from current efforts such as the smartphones fielded to the 101st, using the collected feedback to inform the POR. “The POR device is going to be software, but it could be that the software we provide is an application, and it resides on a smartphone that someone else owns, “said Beaulieu. MFLTS will be designed to operate in several different configurations to include: a portable configuration (a handheld device), a mobile configuration such as a laptop, and a net-enabled configuration. Ultimately, there will be a configuration form factor that would allow people to talk one-on-one in the field. Eventually MFLTS will offer Soldiers in the field a software capability that can translate any language needed and will be embedded in other major Army programs such as the Distributed Common Ground System-Army, Prophet Enhanced, and the U.S. Army Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Automated Reporting and Collection System, serving as the translation portion of those intelligence-gathering and analysis systems. In addition to having a speech-to-speech capability, the system will be able to perform text-to-text translation. Looking to the future, Beaulieu reflected on the sheer potential of MFLTS. “It has been recognized that language and linguistic capabilities are one of the seven key cornerstones for success in the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, so this is pretty important stuff. If you can’t talk to the people that you are trying to win the hearts and minds of, it is kind of hard to win a counterinsurgency.” • BRANDON POLLACHEK is the PEO IEW&S Public Affairs Officer, Fort Monmouth, NJ. He holds a B.S. in political science from Cazenovia College and has more than 10 years’ experience in writing about military systems. Share Post
CW Xbox 360 app enables viewers to catch the latest shows shortly after airing CW Xbox 360 The CW Network has released an app for the Xbox 360, which enables consumers to check out favourite shows, including full episodes, previews and interviews. Next-day episodes are also available for free with an Xbox Live Gold subscription, ignoring any cable or membership subscription costs. If you're a fan of the US network, you'll want to have this app pinned to the dashboard. What's more is the CW app takes full advantage of Xbox SmartGlass (hello there, Windows Phone) to create a rich, interactive and integrated experience. Viewers can use their Windows tablets or Windows Phones to receive additional content not available to consumers on other platforms. This is a unique feature that should offer an incentive to at least consider the Windows ecosystem should the CW app be frequently accessed. Major Nelson reports the following as available in the SmartGlass experience for the show The Vampire Diaries: • A map that follows the characters through town, revealing events throughout the town's history • Biographies of each character • Legends and lore of New Orleans and the world of The Vampire Diaries That's not a bad list, especially if we're to see SmartGlass support expanded to multiple shows offered by the network. If all this wasn't enough, Major Nelson states there will be an Xbox 360 console giveaway on Facebook. Lucky winners will be able to walk away with a custom The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural consoles. Source / image: Major Nelson There are 36 comments. Sign in to comment carlosrdd says: When's the official CW app coming to WP8.... jcagga says: Exactly what I thought. carlosrdd says: The thing that hurts wp8 is not having those apps. They make it look like WP as a platform is beneath Apple and Android. For example i was watching the Yankee's game and a commercial for the MLB app comes up and it says it's only for ios and android and it's the same for so many apps. Until that doesn't change I can't see wp8 getting to 10% or more. jcagga says: I completely agree. Even some apps that support wp8 doesn't mention WP. Lol. I'm glad that I'm not an app whore and use my phone for communication and a music device. carlosrdd says: I'm not an app whore either but I do see that the common consumer only sees two platforms and I don't think Microsoft is doing anything significant to change this. It's not just apps either go to best buy for example and look at 3rd party speakers, cases or even screen protectors for phones. They are only compatible with ios and android I know I sound like broken record but it's so obvious this has to change and change fast! If WP is to be successful. jcagga says: No you are absolutely right! Microsoft gotta act fast They should just advertise WP and Windows everywhere and pay incentives to salesmen and 3rd party suppliers or something. One thing they are doing right is advertising through movie trailers but that alone isn't enough. inteller says: well this should make the Teen Spirit demographic happy. Hopefully this will push other real channels to do the same. SyFy has been squandering this opportunity. Tsyokiss says: Is this US only.. ? Cant find it on the marketplace.. Netherlands here.. Rich Edmonds says: Affirmative, AFAIK. dkp23 says: Haven't watched CW since Smallville, i like this. Would love to get more channels to do this, would be awesome. jrnag24 says: Now if only ABC will do this ABC Player world be great on the 360 I haven't been able to get it to work. It just freezes up my Xbox on the CW splash screen. My controller and power button on my Xbox do nothing, I actually have to unplug my Xbox to turn it off. Is it like Vudu, where it freezes your Xbox unless you take off widescreen settings? I hope not, that gets so annoying! I've had the same issue from the start. Seems as though everyone's accessing through Windows Phone or PC. Montpbm says: Also if it worked like that on W8 RT.. Ronnet says: The Xbox brand has a lot of potential as an all round entertainment brand. However it all starts with the popular Xbox console and as long as these (third party app) services remain exclusive to Xbox Gold the Xbox brand will not be succesful for movies and music. Even Netflix revealed that its PS3 app is more popular. I have no doubt on my mind that Xbox would blast past Playstation if all those Xbox Silver members had acces. jacob114489 says: +10000000000000000000000000000 It doesn't cost MS that much to let silver members have access. Wael Hasno says: Would be a lot better if they let us Europeans and whatnot access those apps. XBL is a great service but I shouldn't have to pay the same full subscription with an American if I'm not having the same benefits.. KLinCHI says: Agreed! I have no reason to use my Xbox for stuff like Netflix that requires Xbox Gold, when I can get it for free via my DVD player. Microsoft should consider lifting the subscription requirements for things like Netflix and tv channel apps. NaterBater says: So you get online on your Xbox but don't have a gold subscription? What can you do on it without gold? Microsoft isn't going to lift the restriction on this current system I can guarantee that. Ronnet says: What can you do? Not a lot which is something many casual gamers are finding out the hard way. I think Microsoft should provide some access for online play. More than half of the Xbox gamers has a silver account or doesnt always have gold. PS4 is getting very attractive to them of Sony does offer free online play. But at the very least Microsoft could provide access to third party apps on Xbox. These services are currently more popular on PS3 despite Xbox having more gamers and Microsoft's partners are noticing. Especially for those that sometimes have a gold membership its very annoying. One moment you can use them the next you can't. So you can't become a permanent member of any of these services. And having constant access to movies and music is very important so they have to look elsewhere for a service that is always available to them. And Microsoft is missing out. I do hope nextgen will be different. I love my Surface and my WP but I would consider PS4 if nothing changes. Zeeshan360 says: There are many apps which are just exclusive to Xbox 360 like the ESPN , WWE and now this one inteller says: please, STFU. Gold membership is $35 a year if you look hard enough. That's the average price of ONE GAME. Ronnet says: Really? Shut the F up? Is that a normal response where you're from?? First of all most people aren't going to look hard. They'll look at the prices at the average retailer and its 50 to 55 euros for 12 months at most of them. Secondly, they''ll compare prices. Even if it was 30 euros for 12 months it would stil be more then 0 euros forever on PS4. Thirdly, you might say that the average Xbox 360 owners buys 12 games but the same study also showed that there is a huge standard deviation. Many only purchase 3 to 6 games in the X360's lifetime. For example casual gamers who buy the new FIFA + 3 months of Xbox Live Gold to play with friends. While they're on Xbox they might try out some of its other services. They might buy some movies and music and really like the service. But when they come back after their 3 months of gold are up they will find out they can no longer use the service. So they'll look elsewhere for a service that they can permanently use. If Sony offers such a service then that's a superb competitive advantage. iamoniwaban says: Available to Canada? Quin 2013 says: I wonder if this is just a premise to an xfinity exclusive cable tv that Xbox is planning to offer in the near future. I'm hoping Xbox doesn't screw over their gold subscribers by only limiting cable through Xbox to just xfinity. Shambels says: Is this a precursor to the Xbox tv rumor? I cancelled my gold membership yesterday and until Xbox offer more than the free psn I'll pass (also I'm waiting for the new Xbox to be announced). If they get more apps like this for gold only I can see the potential for getting a gold membership. ...future..bye Dish,Direct,Time Warner,Comcast,Charter,ECT Microsoft is gonna take over all that with Xbox bet that TonyDedrick says: Cool app for those who don't already subscribe to Hulu Plus jcagga says: Still no Hulu app on wp8 inteller says: if enough channels offer their own custom apps Hulu will go extinct. jcagga says: That's still going to take time so meanwhile its lacking! glassadam says: Side note: downloaded this app yesterday, watched an episode of "Arrow", and I swear to god it was like an hour long MS w8/wp8 infomercial. :) AriesDog says: Take note Foxworld app, TheCW doesn't require you to login with your cable ID. Nor should it BECAUSE YOU'RE BROADCASTING OVER PUBLIC AIRWAVES! tbonenga says: Yes now I can watch Arrow pimp the Windows Phones and Computers.
Take the 2-minute tour × Let $f_1$ and $f_2$ be arbitrary self-mappings on $C([0,1])$ with $f_2 > f_1$. Define set $F = \{f \in (C[0,1])\| f_1 \leq f \leq f_2 \mbox{ and } f \mbox{ is increasing}\}$. Is it true that every continuous self-mapping $\Phi: F \rightarrow F$ has a fixed point? For concreteness one could set $f_1(x) = 0.5x$ and $f_2(x) = 0.5 + 0.5x$. P.S.: Note that $F$ is not compact and therefore I could not apply Schauder's fixed point theorem. In the same time I was not able to construct a mapping $\Phi$ that does not have a fixed point for the case when $f_1(x) = 0.5x$ and $f_2(x) = 0.5 + 0.5x$. share\|improve this question Incidentally, any closed convex non-compact subset of a Banach space admits a continuous self-map with no fixed points (check the references in this similar question mathoverflow.net/questions/145032/… ) – Pietro Majer Nov 4 '13 at 11:04 add comment 2 Answers up vote 4 down vote accepted I think the following is an example of a map $\Phi$ that does not have a fixed point. For arbitrary $f_1<f_2$ and $f \in F$ define $$ \Phi(f)(x) = \begin{cases} \cos(\pi x)f_1(x) + (1-\cos(\pi x)) f(x) &{\rm for\;} x \le 1/2,\\ \cos(\pi (1-x))f_2(x) + (1-\cos(\pi (1-x)))f(x) &{\rm for\;} x \ge 1/2. \end{cases} $$ This function pointwise in $x$ takes a weigthed average of $f$ and $f_1$ for $x<1/2$ and of $f$ and $f_2$ for $x>1/2$. Hence a fixed point $f$ must satisfy $f=f_1$ for $x<1/2$ and $f=f_2$ for $x<1/2$, which is clearly not continuous. share\|improve this answer What if I add the requirement for all functions in $F$ to be increasing? – Sergii Nov 3 '13 at 1:08 My example would work just as well: (by coincidence) I chose the function $f$ to converge to the smaller $f_1$ on the first half of the interval $[0,1]$. – Jaap Eldering Nov 3 '13 at 21:00 add comment I will give an idea similar to that of Jaap Eldering. However, I find the "retraction to $[0,\infty)$" approach quite useful in general, so I decided to post this answer. Consider the family $\{g_t\}_{t\in [2,\infty)}$ given by: • $g_t(x)=f_1(x)$ for $t\leq 0.5-\frac{1}{t}$, • $g_t(x)=f_2(x)$ for $t\geq 0.5+\frac{1}{t}$, • $g_t(x)$ linear on $[0.5-\frac{1}{t},0.5+\frac{1}{t}]$. This family should form (correct me if I am wrong) a closed subset in $C([0,1])$ that is homeomorphic to the half-line $[0,\infty)$. Since $[0,\infty)$ is an AR (absolute retract), the subset $\{g_t\}_{t\in [2,\infty)}$ is a retract of $C([0,1])$. But $[0,\infty)$ does not have the fixed point property, so $C([0,1])$ also does not have this property. share\|improve this answer add comment Your Answer
ebooks ebooks ebooks ebooks ebooks new titles Top Stories Home support Advanced Search ebooks ebooks Alternate History Classic Literature Dark Fantasy Historical Fiction Science Fiction Young Adult Personal Finance Self Improvement True Crime Secure eReaderebooks New eBooks Series List Short Stories About Us Author Info Publisher Info HACKER SAFE certified sites prevent over 99% of hacker crime. Click on image to enlarge. Killer Cows [MultiFormat] eBook by D.M. Anderson eBook Category: Young Adult/Science Fiction eBook Description: Killer cows! They're big! They're angry! They smell bad! They're coming! The only thing standing in their way is a lonely 14-year-old, whether he's ready or not... Randy Meyer is the new kid in Satus Creek, a tiny farm town where nothing ever happens, and his days are filled with tedium. Then one summer afternoon, a meteor crashes nearby. It's just the first in a series of events that will not only change his life, but threaten the entire planet. Soon after, vicious cows are on the rampage all over the country, and they're not of this Earth! Armed with a newly-discovered flying saucer he doesn't know how to fly, and a misfit group of new friends he doesn't entirely trust, Randy is forced to grow up fast if he's going to make decisions that will not only help him fit-in with his new peers, but save the world from a fate worse than death! eBook Publisher: Echelon Press/Quake, Published: 2010, 2010 Fictionwise Release Date: March 2010 1 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor The planet was once a paradise, Grandfather used to say, a lush world with forests of the crispest green, seas of the deepest blue. William could only imagine how it once looked from pictures in history books. A muddy brown ball floated below, an ugly, dying world he should have been glad to leave behind. But it was home. He turned away from the viewscreen, unable to look any longer. From his seat at the center of the bridge, he checked the computer monitor built into his armrest. The other ships drew near. In a matter of minutes they would converge at the rendezvous point and shortly after, leave their home's orbit never to return. A gentle hand squeezed his shoulder. William glanced to Nadine, his wife, who smiled, but the sadness in her face reflected how he felt. How they all felt. They were the lucky ones, leaving behind millions of people who'd live the rest of their lives in slavery while the planet slowly expired. Nadine brushed away a stray tear from his face. The other ships slowly maneuvered into position. One by one, the captain of each vessel announced they were ready. William said, "You better take your seat, dear. It's just about time." She took one last, longing look at the planet below, then gazed back at her husband. "What do you think our chances are?" She asked the same question countless times, but he didn't mind. He responded with the same answer he always gave. "We have maybe ten years...that's when the groceries run out. I dunno...sixteen different convoys heading in different directions... There's a small chance one of us may succeed. In any case, if we do find a new world, it can't possibly smell worse than this one." Hearing such long odds eased the guilt and sorrow she expressed about leaving behind those with no chance of survival. Their chances of finding a new world weren't much better. She took a nearby seat and strapped in. William stared grimly ahead, then nodded to his helmsman. "Standard speed until we're in open space." Confirming the order, the helmsman nodded obediently and the ship's engines increased in pitch, gathering speed. William hit the reverse-view button on his console. He stared in solemn silence at the screen, his home slowly shrinking as they pulled out of orbit. "Goodbye, Grandpa," he whispered. * * * * Chapter 1 They moved only twenty miles away from Portland, Oregon, but for Randy Meyer, Satus Creek might as well have been on the moon. Fourteen-year-olds couldn't just jump in a car and visit old friends whenever they wanted. Old friends. He grimaced. That's a laugh. He'd only known them for a few months before they moved again. They hardly qualified as old friends. "For my new job," his mom told him. "A better job." Same old story...a new job, a better job. If every new job was so much better, she should be the President, not waiting tables at Hefty's Truck Stop. Satus Creek was the worst place yet. Surrounded by dairy farms, the town constantly stunk of cows. Who knew one animal could smell so bad? The bat cage at the Oregon Zoo smelled like roses in comparison. He never thought he'd miss stepping in one of Murphy's land mines, back when they had a yard...and a dog. The locals assured him he'd get used to the stench, but it didn't mean he wanted to. And talk about boring... There was a mini-mall and fast food joint, and he'd heard a local speedway ran stock car races on Saturday nights. Mostly though, Satus Creek was a dot on the map surrounded by endless fields of cows. Lots of cows. There were probably more cows here than actual people. A prisoner, sentenced to the dullest place on Earth. Nothing ever happened. A month after the move, he still hadn't met anyone his own age. Everything was so spread out that even going to the nearest 7-Eleven for a Big Gulp took twenty minutes on foot. Mom always said when summer ended and school started, he'd make a whole batch of new friends. What was the point, since she'd probably find a "better" job somewhere else? Pausing along the same stretch of empty road he traveled every afternoon, Randy looked up from his worn sneakers to see how much further he had to walk. Downtown loomed in the distance. Beyond that, the stadium lights of Satus Creek High School, where he'd begin his freshman year. He felt as empty as the road before him. A nearby moo snapped him out of his funk. To his right stood a small herd of cows, their chocolate brown bodies dotted with splashes of vanilla. Square-jawed with fat flanks and ropy tails, they slowly chewed their cud and stared at him from behind a rusty wire fence. They seemed to regard him with cautious interest. He took two playful steps forward and their heads followed. Taking two steps backward, he chuckled when they continued to track him. "Am I friend or foe?" He stepped forward again; their big square heads swung in unison. He jumped, as did the cow's heads. Aside from a bowlegged one shaking the flies off its hide, the herd only moved when he did. This is all you fellas have to do with your time? And I thought I had it bad. "BOO," he roared, spastically waving his arms as he leaped straight up. Startled from their trance, they scampered away, retreating several yards before stopping to gaze at him from a safer distance. Cows. Funny critters, even if they really stink. He brushed sweaty blonde bangs from his eyes and marched on, leaving the cows to ponder the mysterious stranger who scared the crap out of them. Icon explanations: Discounted eBook; added within the last 7 days. eBook was added within the last 30 days. eBook is in our best seller list. eBook is in our highest rated list. Fictionwise (TM) is the trademark of Fictionwise LLC. A Barnes & Noble Company Bookshelf \| For Authors \| Privacy \| Support \| Terms of Use eBook Resources at Barnes & Noble
Watch Anime Episode Online Heartcatch Precure! Heartcatch Precure! Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Plot Summary: Tsubomi Hanasaki is a 2nd year middle school student who loves flowers and plants. One day, she dreams of a mysterious flowering tree that wilted, causing the sprites to disappear. When she transfers to Myodou Academy, the sprites that she saw in that dream appeared before her. The sprites begged Tsubomi to become Pretty Cure to protect the Great Tree, but she refuses. However, a sudden attack from a mysterious enemy came, and the Heart Seed of her new classmate, Erika Kurumi, is stolen. To save Erika's heart, she had no choice but to become a Pretty Cure and fight Watch Heartcatch Precure! Episodes
Global Politics So what's next for Edward Snowden after leaking NSA secrets? Apparently, a job Credit: Reuters TV Edward Snowden is seen in front of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in central Moscow in this image taken from video footage shown on Russian television channel Rossiya 24 on Oct. 31, 2013. Edward Snowden is apparently pretty popular in Russia, the country that has granted him asylum. And now, he reportedly has a job there. Player utilities "The assumption is that he'll be working for Vkontakte, which is essentially a copy of Facebook," says Charles Maynes, an independent journalist based in Moscow. "When he first took asylum here in Russia, the owner and found of Vkontakte offered Snowden a job publicly." And the type of job? Security, of course. Vkontakte's founder, Pavel Durov, said he would be happy to have Snowden on his team to secure users' privacy data. Of course, this is all speculation. No information has been released on Snowden. "He's been basically invisible," says journalist Maynes. Maynes isn't sure if Snowden needs a job. "Certainly the Russians are taking care of him," he says. He says Snowden has been portrayed as a hero and a freedom fighter. "He is also portrayed constantly as someone who is under extreme threat from American security interests... a target for assassination or something else by the Americans." Maynes says there is some gloating by the Russians "over the fact that Snowden leaked all this information about the American surveillance system, the one called Prism, by the NSA." He points out that the gloating is a bit disingenuous "because the Russians have their own version of this. It's called SORM. It’s a massive interception surveillance system that was dreamed up by the KGB in the 1980s … in a lot of ways, it’s very similar."
tutorStudy Options Vocabulary Quiz romantic comedy • recently • bridesmaid non-fiction • biographies 1. He has about almost all the presidents. 2. I'm in the mood to watch a . 3. How did you talk to him? 4. She will be a in my wedding next year. 5. Do you enjoy reading or do you only read fiction novels? Comprehension Quiz Answer the following questions about the interview. Audio Links Download this MP3 (right click and save) Buy this MP3 +1300 more MP3 and PDF 918 Mari's Media Choices Mari talks about the various types of media she prefers to use and why. • Transcript • Audio Notes romantic comedies I like to watch comedies - romantic comedies. A romantic comedy is a funny movie about love and relationships. Notice the following: 1. Romanitc comedies are popular around Valentine's Day. 2. I hate romantic comedies. They always have the same ending. A movie that I watched recently is called "27 Dresses". We use recently to talk about the near past; maybe a week or a month ago. Notice the following: 1. He recently gave up smoking so he is very moody. 2. I have not seen Joe recently. Is he sick? It is about a woman who is a bridesmaid. Before a woman gets married she chooses a bridesmaid, usually her best friend, to help her during the marriage ceremony. Notice the following: 1. All the sisters will be bridesmaids at the wedding. 2. The bridesmaid is suppposed to pay for her own dress, even though the bride chooses it for her. I like to read non-fiction usually. Non-fiction is a true story that really happened. Notice the following: 1. I stopped reading fiction in college. I just read non-fiction, mainly business books now. 2. I like reading non-fiction because the topics are real. I like to read biographies of people. Biographies are books about the lives of interesting or famous people. Notice the following: 1. I just read a great biography of Elvis Presley. 2. The biography showed a different image of the him than he was portrayed in real life.
Title: Break-Ups and Bumbling Boyfriends Summary: "Taichou, don't you know what giving a diamond ring to a woman means?" In which Karin attempts to give love advice, and Kenpachi is desperate enough to follow it. Main Characters: Karin, Kenpachi, Unohana, brief appearances by Ikkaku, Yumichika, Toushiro, and Isane; mentions of Yachiru Pairings: Kenpachi x Unohana, brief HitsuKarin Note: This chapter is dedicated to Evil-Chibi-Tiffy, who requested this a long time ago. I checked with her first to make sure the Kenpachi x Unohana pairing was okay, and I already knew she was a fan of HitsuKarin, so this was written mostly for her as a thank you for requesting a fic/character ^^ If anyone else has a character or plot they want to read, just let me know and I'll try my best! Zaraki Kenpachi had gotten himself into quite a pickle. And really, just the idea of him using the word 'pickle' to describe his dilemma was an indicator of how serious the situation was. The tough and brutish captain of the bloodthirsty eleventh squad had...well, pissed off his girlfriend. Now, many might not think this would be a big deal. Surely the Zaraki Kenpachi was capable of handling such a situation without making such a big deal about it? Just a slap here or there, and maybe a bit of deranged furniture smashing to show off his power and scare the woman back into her place, and everything would be solved, right? Wrong. Because, despite his thirst for blood, gore, and battle, the overbearing man knew how to treat women. He might have no problem with knocking his men around during a few bouts of friendly sparring (though their broken extremities suggested they thought otherwise), but he would never, ever even think of laying a hand on his woman. Well, not in that way, at least. So this was what presented the aforementioned 'pickle.' How did he go about getting back into her good graces? The truth was (and he would never admit this to anyone)...she kind of set him on edge. That perfectly fixed smile and poise always had him wondering what she was really thinking behind the mask. Of course, when she was angry – and boy, had she been angry it wasn't very hard to figure out what was running through her mind. And the way that creepy smile had widened ever so slightly and her reiatsu had sparked around her menacingly told him he was in deep, deep shit. And yet he couldn't fathom why. They'd been having such a lovely conversation in her barracks, her setting the tea as he relaxed from a hard day's training schedule. She had been concerned for his health, and so she had insisted he kick off his sandals and lay back with ease. And then, as abruptly as a bullet train, he had found himself on the other side of her front door, face-to-face with her fixed yet furious smile and being handed his sandals and zanpakutou in a not-so-gentle manner. She had told him to go on home, because surely his squad was worried about where he was. And when he had bent down for a kiss – he didn't show affection very often, but at the time, not realizing she was angry, he had thought she looked so sexy with fire blazing in her eyes – she had pushed him away, claiming she didn't feel well. And now, whenever he tried sending a Hell Butterfly to her division to inquire about her health, he only got messages from her fukutaichou claiming that her taichou couldn't spare time right now to talk. He just didn't get it. And he knew better than to ask her because, though she didn't complain much, he knew his insensitivity was a touchy issue for her. What he needed was some sort of interpreter or something. Someone who could tell him just what the hell was going on inside his woman's head. But who? There weren't many people he could trust to give him advice on women, or people he knew would keep the situation under wraps. Soul Society had lots of gossip whores, after all. And God forbid he turned to Yachiru. .. ღ .. "Kami, taichou, what's gotten into you recently?" Kenpachi looked up from his bowl of rice to see Karin and Ikkaku both watching him carefully and Yumichika listening in as he picked at his fish. They were all seated cross-legged at the eleventh division dining hall, having themselves a large dinner after all the sparring they had done today. All the other members were too busy with their own meals and chatter to pay attention to them. Yachiru, after yawning widely and nearly dozing off in the middle of the grounds, had already been put to bed. Kenpachi, having been so keyed up about the issue with his girlfriend, hadn't been able to lie down for his afternoon nap and, therefore, had forgotten to put her down for hers. "You've been acting really weird," Karin continued, returning to her own bowl. "Yeah," Ikkaku chimed in. "Ya never forget to put the little bugger down for her nap. Ya know how she gets." Kenpachi only grunted, returning to his meal and not bothering to offer any explanation. It was none of their goddamn business. "Something up with you?" Karin asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. Their taichou never bothered keeping secrets from them before – he never really had any, being such a straightforward man. "We can help, ya know," Ikkaku offered, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so, unused to showing concern, no matter how subtle. But this was his beloved taichou! "I'm afraid your help is most likely to make the situation worse, if anything," Yumichika drawled. The third seat glared heatedly at him. "You tryin' to start somethin'?" he demanded menacingly. Karin rolled her eyes at his quick temper, but Yumichika remained unaffected. "No, I'm trying to fix something," he remarked, a superior grin on his face indicating he knew something they didn't. When Ikkaku only looked at him in confusion, he smirked. "Taichou needs the help of someone who can give him good advice on his private matters...unless you've got some sort of experience in love I don't know about." Kenpachi froze mid bite, and all three subordinates swerved to look at him. "This has something to do with Unohana-taichou?" Karin speculated. "Rumor has it that taichou's in a bit of hot water with his girlfriend," Yumichika supplied, flicking his hair coolly as he did so. "What rumors?" Kenpachi demanded. "Who's spreadin' these rumors!" "What did you do, taichou?" Ikkaku immediately asked. Kenpachi glared at him for the assumption. "Nothin'," he grunted. "She went off on me for no damn reason." Karin rolled her eyes. "Right, because Unohana-taichou's totally the type to do that," she remarked sarcastically, waving her chopsticks at him. "Come on, taichou. We're all eleventh squad members here; you can be honest with us. So tell us, what did you do?" She looked completely unaffected by the evil eye the much larger man was giving her, so he sighed roughly. "Look, I have no fuckin' idea what happened. One minute, she's askin' me my division plans for the month, and the next, she's givin' me that creepy smile of hers that always means she's mad and basically kickin' me out." "Ah-ha!" Yumichika said, snapping his fingers and looking like he had just discovered the meaning of life. "So it's not what you did but what you said." "Right," Karin chimed in. "What did you say when she asked you your plans for this month?" Kenpachi gazed at them all blankly for a second before shrugging. "I told her we hadta cancel our annual battle royal," he recalled, "on accounta Yachiru wantin' to celebrate Easter after Karin told her 'bout all the chocolate she could get...an' then I told her she should be happy 'cause it meant a break for her division..." The rest of the group – even Ikkaku – groaned collectively. Karin even slapped her forehead with her palm in exasperation. "Don't you see, taichou?" she reprimanded. "You basically just told her that her division doesn't do anything...besides clean up after yours." "Ya know how pissy – I-I mean, defensive," Ikkaku corrected himself when catching sight of Kenpachi's glower, "she gets when someone makes fun of her squad." "And if even Ikkaku understands that," Karin continued, "then you know you're in the wrong." "Hey, what's that supposed ta mean?!" The two argued, but Kenpachi wasn't listening anymore. Was that true? Was she really just angry because she'd misunderstood his words? Couldn't she just have told him that and saved him all this worry and trouble? 'Women,' he thought irritably, digging into his plate once again and planning a visit to the fourth in the morning. 'Always so emotional.' .. ღ .. Knock! Knock! Karin yawned widely as she headed for the door to her quarters, running a hand sloppily through her unruly bed head. "Who the hell is knocking so freaking ear – taichou?" Her grumbles changed to a tone of surprise when she came face-to-face with her superior. "What the hell happened to you?" "Unohana," was his only gruff reply. He was covered head-to-toe in water, his clothes sopping wet and hanging heavily off his body, his spiky hair drooping slightly at the ends as the rigid texture softened. He trudged inside when she stepped aside to allow him entry and waited by the door as she ran off to her bathroom to get a towel. Upon her return, she threw the drying cloth at him – he caught it with ease. "Now, you wanna tell me what happened exactly?" she suggested, folding her arms across her chest as she watched him dry his face. "I went ta talk ta her; she was waterin' her gardens." He paused here, as if expecting her to get it by just that, but she simply stared at him blankly. "'Fore I even said anythin', she sprayed me with that damn thing from the human world – a hose? Claimed she hadn't known I was there – liar; she can sense reiatsu a helluva lot better than me – and when I tried talkin' to her anyway, she all but kicked me out 'gain, sayin' I would catch a cold if I didn't dry off. She was real cheeky 'bout it, too," he grunted, glaring at the towel in his hand as if it had caused the problems. And then, he continued on to quote her, though he didn't bother to imitate her voice, "'I just got a break from work, what with your members not gettin' hurt this month. I'd like ta enjoy my time off, dear.' And ta think I was gonna 'pologize! I bet she didn't even mean it when she called me dear!" Karin patted his bulky arm sympathetically, pursing her lips to keep from laughing. "Well, taichou," she said, "you did hurt her feelings. You can't expect her to forgive you so easily." "Then what do I do?" he questioned. She was slightly taken aback at the question, her mouth slackening in surprise before she cleared her throat awkwardly. "I don't know if I'm the best person to ask for help with this -" she began. "What?" he demanded, glaring down at her. "You tellin' me you an' that ice midget you screw 'round with don't get inta fights?" "We're not -" But she cut herself off, knowing how ridiculous that sounded, especially when Kenpachi had raised an eyebrow at her sleep wear, which consisted of only a small shirt with the tenth division emblem printed right above her left breast. "Fine," she grumbled, flushing. "But, no, we don't get into fights. He doesn't talk enough for us to get into arguments, and I like that he's a quiet guy, so it's not like I'll pick a fight about no communication or some shit like that." "Ya sayin' ya don't fight at all?" he grunted with incredulity. "Hmm, there was one," she remembered. "He missed one of my soccer games after he promised to be there, and I got really pissed." "So how'd ya solve it?" he wanted to know. She smirked. "We pretty much just sparred until I got all my anger out. But Unohana-taichou's never been one for fighting, so that's not gonna solve your problem." He groaned, rubbing the towel against his hair as he thought. "So, then, what will solve my problem?" he asked, sounding slightly pained. Her mouth pursed in a soft 'o' before she grimaced. "Did you actually come to me for love advice?" When he nodded, looking down at her seriously, she sighed. "Look, taichou, I'm flattered and all that you want my advice, but I'm not your gal. Maybe Yumichika – wait, that came out wrong." "You're the only woman on the squad," he grunted, his eyes glinting as he looked down at her. Yachiru was still considered only a 'girl.' "But I'm not exactly the womanly type," she pointed out. "Me and Unohana-taichou are completely different, so the things I like might not apply to her." "Worth a shot." Karin sighed, running her hand through the tangled mess that was her hair, stuck in a dilemma. She wanted to help her taichou, but she was afraid that her advice would only lose him his girlfriend forever. And she really didn't want to be on his hit list for the next century. Then again, refusing might do the same, so what did she have to waste in this lose-lose situation? "Fine, taichou," she agreed with a heavy sigh. "I guess I could try to help, though don't blame me if anything goes wrong." "We'll see 'bout that when somethin' goes wrong," he said with a dark chuckle. She tried to look unaffected as he tossed her towel back. "I should get goin' 'fore Yachiru wakes up. We'll figure this out later." "Sure, sure," she agreed absentmindedly, practically shoving him out her door in her hurry to get rid of him. When he was finally gone, she leaned against the door, sighing very deeply. Oh, great – what had she gotten herself into? How the hell was she supposed to go about saving Kenpachi's relationship, which had been completely implausible to begin with? This was not her forte. Really, maybe she should talk to Yuzu, or Matsumoto, or Yumichika. They would surely have some good advice since they lived for this kind of gossip and drama. Yeah, that could work. She smiled as she reassured herself. "Is he gone?" an icy voice asked from the hallway, pulling her out of her thoughts. She smirked as she looked over to see the face of her scowling boyfriend and nodded. "Che, good," he muttered. "Where does he get off calling me an 'ice midget?'" She laughed, not caring that the wet towel in her hand fell to the floor as she sauntered over to him, knowing what would make him feel better. And indeed, his scowl instantly dropped when she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked down at him slyly. "Come on," she whispered. "There's no way I can go back to sleep now, and there's still an hour left before work." He nodded and took one of her hands in his own, cradling it gently as he led her to the bedroom. Kenpachi grimaced as he ran off to his own quarters. Though inept at sensing reiatsu, as close as he was to Karin's quarters, even he couldn't miss the intertwining of two very familiar spiritual pressures into one. .. ღ .. "Don't tell anyone else," was the first thing Kenpachi said to her when they met again in his office. She froze in shock and then groaned. There went her security blanket. "I don't need all of Soul Society knowin' 'bout my problems," he grunted, narrowing his one visible eye at her. "Got it?" "Yes," she deadpanned. "Good. Now, tell me what ta do," he ordered. She froze. "No," was the immediate reply. "Uh..." Putting her hand to her chin, she tilted her head back, thinking. "Have you tried...giving her something to show her you're sorry? Girls like romantic gifts, I think." It was something she'd seen happen in one of the dramas Yumichika watched so much, in which the main character had cheesily presented his girlfriend with expensive yet useless gifts in an attempt to please her. It had seemed to work for him, and the two characters had shared a deep kiss moments later – she could never understand how actors could perform such sexual acts on national television for the world to see. "What do ya have in mind?" her taichou asked, thinking over the plan and looking a little uncomfortable at the idea of romance. She rolled her eyes. "She's your girlfriend," she said. When he looked a little lost, she sighed. He was hopeless. "How about flowers?" she suggested. "I think roses are customary –" "Allergic," he grunted, shaking his head. "Mmm...how about chocolates?" "Hates sweets," he denied. "Somethin' 'bout keepin' healthy." Karin nodded – that definitely sounded like the committed leader of a medical group. "Some tea?" she offered desperately. Unohana-taichou did love tea. "She's already got herself a closet full," he said. "What would me givin' 'er more do?" Karin groaned. Why was this so hard? You'd think a soft, gentle woman like Unohana-taichou would be easy to shop for. They'd already gone through practically every romantic thing she could think of. "Oh, wait!" she remembered. "What about jewelry? Girls like that crap, right?" "Could work," he grumbled. "What kind?" "Really, taichou?" she asked in frustration. "You're asking me when she's your girlfriend. Don't you think you should at least try to put some thought into this?" He glared down at her menacingly but still nodded. "Fine." With a furious glower shrouding his face, Zaraki Kenpachi set out to find himself a jewelry store for the first time. .. ღ .. "What the hell is that?" Those were the first words out of Karin's mouth as she gaped at the square, black case in her taichou's hand. "It's what ya told me ta get," he grunted, opening his palm to hold it out to her. She wouldn't take it. "I told you to get a small trinket to show Unohana-taichou that you're sorry – not that," she said, looking down at the box in shock. "What's the big deal? The guy at the shop said all women love this," Kenpachi argued, and then grumbled in a lower voice, "An' they better, for the arm an' leg it cost me." Karin groaned. "And there's a reason for that," she said with a sigh. "Taichou, don't you know what giving a diamond ring to a woman means?" He shrugged. She slapped the heel of her palm against her forehead. "It means marriage," she explained pointedly. A beat of silence passed between them. Kenpachi looked down at the case in his hand with a blank gaze. And then he sighed gruffly and stalked over to the door. "I'll go return this, then." .. ღ .. Since the jewelry was a failure – well, it wouldn't have been if Kenpachi had just gotten something else for his girlfriend, but he had absolutely refused after the ring fiasco, for which the shop owner paid for dearly in the form of multiple bruises – Karin had to come up with another plan for her sulking taichou. "Let's see," she mumbled from her place by the dojo's doors, tapping her chin in thought as she watched her taichou pumble several members in his growing anger with his problem. "What would Unohana-taichou like? What does any girl like?" "Perfume?" a voice offered from behind her. She jumped and swerved to find Yumichika behind her shoulder, gazing down at her meaningfully. She let out a breath of relief before waving a hand at him. "Nah," Karin dismissed. "Unohana-taichou doesn't like perfume, especially since it can irritate a lot of her patients, like Ukitake-taichou with his respiratory problems. Besides, she always smells good anyway, like her lilac soaps." "An' what are you suddenly givin' Unohana-taichou gifts for?" Ikkaku questioned, popping up behind her other shoulder. "Can't say," she replied, turning away. "She's obviously helping taichou," Yumichika observed in a bored voice. "And by his maniacal tirades on all the newbies during practice today, I'm guessing it's not going well." He flipped his hair. "Taichou should have come to meI'm obviously the more beautiful one." Karin ignored him. "I can't believe she's so hard to give gifts to," she complained. "You'd think someone as womanly as her would be easy." "How about clothes?" the fifth seat offered, sniffing as if he was giving the advice against his better judgment – he probably wanted to get the credit for helping Kenpachi. "Women love new clothes." "Like what?" Karin asked. "She's always in her shinigami uniform when I see her, and we hardly have any reason to dress up around here. And if we were to get her anything, she would probably only want practical clothes, but she has a closet full of those. Besides, can you even imagine taichou trying to pick out a cute dress?" Ikkaku and Yumichika grumbled in agreement. "Aren't ya goin' about this the wrong way?" Ikkaku spoke up, scrubbing his head. "If she's mad, what're gifts gonna do? Love can't be bought." The other two gaped at him, and he looked away in embarrassment. "That was...unexpected of you, Ikkaku," Yumichika offered. "Oh, shut up!" Ikaku growled. "No, no, you're right," Karin cut in. "We're completely going at this the wrong way. Unohana-taichou's not even the type to like expensive gifts. We need some way to show he means it." "And what would that be?" the two asked in unison. She blushed. "I'm working on it!" she cried, and stomped away. .. ღ .. She had it. She finally had The Perfect Way for her taichou to for sure win back his girlfriend. Kenpachi, however, wasn't too excited to go along with it and had almost refused point blank until she reminded him that this was Unohana-taichou they were talking about, and that if he actually succeeded, they would probably never, ever break up again ever. Ever. "Now, you get the plan?" she asked him one last time. The two were on the Tenth Squad training ground, which was luckily empty as it was evening and everyone was heading back to their quarters to end the day. "Yeah, yeah," he growled, looking dangerous. He might have finally agreed to do this, but that didn't mean he was any happier about it. "Good. You're a strong guy – you can handle it. Now, Toushiro's agreed to help us with this, so he's gonna come at you, and you can't hit back. Understand?" She glared at him firmly, comepletely serious. "I got it already," her taichou snapped. She ran across the grounds to her awaiting boyfriend, who was eyeing Kenpachi with distaste and fingering the hilt of his zanpakutou. "Go easy on him, would you?" she murmured in his ear once she reached him. She knew exactly why he had agreed to help with this. "I know the guy called you an 'ice midget,' but he's just going through a hard time." "...All right," Toushiro finally agreed, though his expression soured as if he was disappointed. Karin rolled her eyes. "Okay!" she called across the field. "Ready, taichou!" Kenpachi stood up straighter, gritting his teeth. "Get set." Toushiro pulled out his zanpakutou, bending his knees and preparing for an attack. "Go!" On her command, Toushiro leaped forward gracefully, jumping through the air and whipping back Hyourinmaru. Kenpachi's eyes were crazed as he awaited the strike, and his knuckles turned into white fists as he restrained himself. There was a flash of silver, and Toushiro's blade collided with Kenpachi's shoulder, cutting through it easily and creating a sizable gash. The eleventh squad taichou roared out in response, not from the pain, but from his rapidly forming blood lust, which was demanding that he pumble the ice midget to the ground immediately and win. Toushiro stepped back, admiring his handy-work with a self-satisfied smirk. Karin jogged over to them. "Great!" she called out enthusiastically. "Now, there's only one thing to do!" .. ღ .. Unohana-taichou was delicately sipping tea in her office when Isane-fukutaichou came stumbling in. "Taichou," she said breathlessly. "Zaraki-taichou is here to see you." "I thought we established that I'm busy," the gently healer reminded her softly, still preoccupied with her cup. She blew on some steam. "Yes, but he's here as a patient," Isane explained. Something flashed through Unohana's eyes, and she paused to look up at her sharply. "He's...hurt?" she asked in a small, concerned voice. Isane nodded. "And it's a rule that only you attend to his injuries, so none of the other officers will see to him. Plus, most of them are too scared." She suddenly looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, taichou. I would go, but I was just about to go visit Ukitake-taichou for his monthly check-up. But if you would like to switch -" "No, Isane-san," Unohana cut her off, finally getting up and setting her steaming cup down. "You have your own duties, and I have mine. We must be professional about this." And so she marched down to the patients' rooms, passing harried-looking officers and sickly-looking visitors, in too much of a haste to pause for a greeting. When she reached her desired room, she slid open the door to find Kenpachi seated on one of the tiny beds, looking monstrous in size in comparison to it. Karin stood to his side, looking bored. They both looked up when she entered. "Unohana-taichou," Karin said hurriedly, bowing low in respect. "Unohana," Kenpachi grunted. She acknowledged the girl with a nod before setting her sights on her boyfriend. He had a scowl on his irritated face, looking a little impatient for her diagnosis. So, she looked closely and found that there was a deep gash on his right shoulder, dripping blood that mixed in with the dark color of his uniform. "How did this happen?" she asked quietly, professionally. She kept her eyes on the wound, refusing to meet his gaze. "He was sparring with Toush – I mean, Hitsugaya-taichou," Karin quickly answered for him. "He didn't see the attack and got hit." Kenpachi snorted, though he didn't say anything to deny that statement. Unohana nodded primly. "I would have thought someone with nurse training such as yourself could have healed him immediately, Kurosaki-san," she said to her, watching in amusement as she chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, well, I didn't wanna screw up taichou's fighting arm, so I thought it would be best to leave it to you." And then she nudged her captain forcefully. "Right..." he grunted. "'Sides, no one's as good as healin' as you...Retsu." He practically choked out her first name, as if it physically pained him; even though they had begun dating, he still referred to her as 'Unohana,' never having been one for endearments. Karin, at least, was pleased with him for managing it. "Yes, well, it's rather difficult not to excel at the one thing you do," she replied cheekily. Kenpachi glared at the ground, and Karin could only look back and forth between them awkwardly. Unohana pretended not to notice and instead began to inspect Kenpachi's shoulder. It was a deep wound but, otherwise, not too bad. It wouldn't take much to fix it. Even Kenpachi hardly seemed to notice it was there, which was why it was curious that he had even bothered to come at all – he was usually bloodied up a lot more. "This is a fairly minor wound," she reported to them. And as she said this, she easily hovered her hands over it, letting her hands glow green. They were all showered with the glow of her kidou, and soon the blood seeping from the injury trickled to a stop as it healed. "That should do it," she said in satisfaction. "Let me just clean that for you and you may head back." As she wandered over to the room's basin in search of a wet rag, Karin nudged Kenpachi impatiently. "Taichou," she hissed in warning out of the corner of her mouth. "Your line." "Uh...right," he said. Looking over to his girlfriend's back, he cleared his throat. "Retsu, you, uh...healed me?" He scratched his head in thought as both women stared at him incredulously. "Yes, I suppose I did," Unohana-taichou agreed, looking extremely confused. However, her eyes hardened once again as she turned back to her search. Karin took the opportunity to smack his arm. "That was completely wrong," she whispered. "You made a total idiot of yourself, taichou! We went over this." He looked pained. "I forgot it, all right?" he growled under his breath. "Then, use your cheat sheet," she ordered, suddenly irritated. "That's what it's for." With a lot of irritated shuffling, he pulled out a small piece of notebook paper from inside his sleeve. "Y-ya did a wonder...good job, Retsu," he complimented her. It came out in a deadpanned tone as he just read off his little piece of paper Karin had written for him, though he improvised the words he thought just looked plain ridiculous. "Your division's so...handy." "Is that right?" she asked with raised eyebrows. There was a calm smile on her face as she soaked a small rag under the sink, and then she scrubbed at his bloodied arm. "Yeah," he grunted, trying his best to remember his lines without using them for help. "We, uh..." He looked up helplessly at Karin, who had been trying to blend in with the wall behind her. She rolled her eyes and starting mouthing words to him. "We wouldn't be...nowhere...without ya...around," Kenpachi stated, still gazing fixedly at her lips. Karin made swinging motions with her hand, gesturing to him with the other. 'Cup her cheek!' He, however, completely misunderstood, and instead started petting the woman's head like he did with Yachiru – more like thumping it heavily with his huge, clumsy hands. "Zaraki-tiachou, what are you doing?" Unohana questioned, looking flustered. When he pulled his hand away, her hair was severely disheveled. 'Oh, shit. I'm gonna die,' Karin thought fearfully, trying to avoid the deadly glare Kenpachi was directing at her. It wasn't her fault! She was only trying to remember what Toushiro liked to do when he wanted to placate her – he used his actions more than his words, and she was sure he had cupped her cheek onceat least. 'Sorry,' she mouthed, hoping to save herself. Apparently, her taichou was still miffed, so she made a rolling motion with her hand. 'Keep going!' "Retsu, thanks fer the great job ya did," he continued on her command. "No one can keep me in fightin' condition like you can." "If you stayed out of fights for longer than an hour, then I would be grateful for a chance to relax every day," she shot back, her smile turning brittle at the ends. Kenpachi felt his face twitch. "Well," he went on, sounding like he was trying to keep calm, "I appreciate ya all the same, Retsu. It's good ta know I have ya on my side." Karin beamed brightly at him. He was keeping his cool and seemed to be getting the knack of complimenting her civilly; they were the entire basis of the plan, after all. And it was going so well! At this rate, the two might just get back together by sunset. But then Unohana dealt the final blow. "Well, it's also good to know you consider me on your side," she quipped back. "After all, my division is not one for fighting, and I know some people might consider that useless in Soul Society." She met his eyes dead on, glaring at him. "I detest people like that the most." There was silence in the room after her declaration. Both women kept wary eyes on the eleventh squad taichou, who took a moment to process those words that were obviously directed at him. Finally, a deep rumbling started in his chest as he gritted his teeth. His spiritual pressure spiked dangerously, and they both gaped at him, startled. "Ah, that's it!" he finally let loose, turning red in the face. With an irritated growl, he grabbed Unohana's hand, pulling it away from his own. She looked up at him calmly, not at all bothered by his tight grip. "Look here, Unohana," he said gruffly, "'nough is 'nough. You're outta line now." Her eyes flashed, and that deadly smile creeped, ever so slowly, across her lips. "Zaraki-taichou," she said with a lethal calm, "please let go of my hand. How else can I do my job properly? I wouldn't want to become useless now." "That!" he snarled, his own eyes sparking. "That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Now you listen, woman," he said menacingly. "Your fits ain't doin' no one no good." Karin, standing off in the corner, slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand in complete horror as she witnessed her taichou finally lose it. There went her plan... Unohana's eyes flashed dangerously once again. "Zaraki-taichou," she said, still refusing to wipe that smile off her face. "Please refrain from raising your voice. You'll upset my patients. Whatever is happening between you and me does not need to be broadcasted across Soul Society." "There shouldn't be anythin' like this happenin' between us!" Kenpachi yelled, completely disregarding her request. "I don' know what your problem is, but ya don't need ta take it this far." "Z-Zaraki-taichou," Unohana stuttered as his grip tightened and his eyes narrowed. She tried to push away, but he held on. "I assure you, I have no idea what you're talking abou -" "Oh, really?" he huffed. "Sprayin' me with water, kickin' me out, avoidin' me – that ring any bells?" The healer blushed furiously at his list. "You're simply blowing things out of proportion," she tried to excuse herself, leaning back and looking away from his intense gaze. "Am I?" he said, and he roughly grabbed her chin to make her look him in the eye. "Z-Zaraki -" "It was a mistake, 'kay?" he growled, glaring down at his stubborn girlfriend. "I don't know what ya heard when I said your division's gettin' a break, but whatever it was, you were wrong." Still keeping her hand in his grip, he whipped off the table and stepped closer to her until there was no more space between them, looking more intimidating when she had to look up at him. "I only meant that ya work too damn hard, and I want ya to relax. Nothin' else. Got it?" A beat of silence passed between them, and when Unohana didn't reply – now looking at the floor rather than at him – his patience snapped. "Now you listen!" he bellowed, wrapping an arm around her waist and yanking her flush against his chest. "You're my woman, woman, but I don't need ya blowin' a fuse every time I open my stupid mouth! I don't know what women want ta hear, so I'll be sayin' whatever thought that pops up in my head, and don't ya take it to heart!" Karin was rhythmically banging her head against the wall, trying to drown out the sound of her taichou's love life going up in flames – and also trying to maybe kill herself with a head injury before her taichou pointed his zanpakutou at her after all this. But, rather than spit venom at him, Unohana just slowly lifted her head. The smile was – thankfullyno longer on her face. Instead, she looked up at him curiously. "It was...really a mistake?" she asked quietly, her eyes saddening. He clenched his teeth and nodded. "A misunderstandin'," he added. "Ya didn't give me a chance ta explain." She looked thoughtful. "...You're right," she finally admitted, looking slightly ashamed. "I-I just assumed that..." "That I thought yer division's full o' pansies?" he suggested. She nodded, and he snorted. "Well, they are. But yer not." She frowned slightly, apparently trying to decide whether she was angry that he had insulted her subordinates or happy that he thought so highly of her. Finally, she settled for happiness – why make the situation worse? "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I don't know what came over me." Nervously, she fidgeted with her hair, trying to smooth it out after he had ruffled it up. "There's something to be admired 'bout a woman who'll stick up fer her division like that," he tried to reassure her, looking a little awkward about giving the compliment. "And ya can stop that. Ya look...pretty already." She blushed furiously as she looked up at him. "Yer special ta me!" he finally spat out, almost looking...shy, "and I don't like it when ya don't talk ta me. I didn't mean ta hurt ya." "Oh, Zaraki-taichou," she crooned, biting her lip and looking up him with red still sprinkled across her cheeks. Her eyes were a little wet. "You're special to me too." With a determined gleam in his eyes, he swooped down, picked her off the ground, and kissed her hotly while swinging her around. She closed her eyes and happily returned it. And all was right with the world. Except that Karin still stood in the corner, watching with her eyes popped out in complete terror as Kenpachi and Unohana-taichou attacked each other's lips furiously. Oh, Kami! She didn't want to see this! She clapped a hand over her eyes and bolted from the room, completely traumatized. At least her taichou was happy again. After all, it had been a plan meant to get them back together. And they did. It had been a plan to ensure that they never break up again ever. And they didn't. They stayed together throughout years after that, much to Karin's relief and sanity. Of course, they fought, but neither wanted to go through such trouble again, so they always forgave each other before the day was over. And they never, ever broke up again ever. Ever. Turns out, Kenpachi kept that ring. Just in case he needed a back-up plan. I've been working on this since the last update, if you can believe that. These one-shots keep getting progressively longer. At least I'm finally done. The hardest part to write was the scene when Kenpachi was getting patched up in Fourth Division. I still think it's horrible, but I figured I owed you guys an update.
Quantcast Reading Guide on King's Oak from HarperCollins Publishers Reading Guide \| \| More King's Oak By Anne Rivers Siddons Browse Inside King's Oak King's Oak Plot Summary Fleeing a disastrous marriage and an abusive husband, Andy Calhoun and her frightened young daughter, Hillary, head for the small town of Pemberton, Georgia, "in search of banality" and calm. Instead, she finds herself caught up in the intrigues of the elite old families of Pemberton. Just as she begins to assimilate to her new world of horse racing and society dinners, she meets Tom Dabney, the wild prodigal son of Pemberton society who lives in a magical house out in the woods. An exuberant poet who worships the wilderness, Tom both fascinates and repels Andy. Rumors about Tom's strange pagan rites hint at possible madness, and Andy resolves to keep herself and her daughter away from him. Nevertheless, against her better judgment, Andy finds herself becoming immersed in his life and his strange, mystical world. He and his house at Goat's Creek prove to have a profound healing effect on the traumatized Hillary, who longs to learn all the ways of the forest from Tom. As Hillary develops into a woodland nymph, adept at deer tracking and archery, her mother, Andy, is slowly pulled into Tom's charismatic orbit. But when the fauna of Goat's Creek begin to suddenly develop mysterious tumors, however, Tom truly becomes a madman. When he discovers his precious woods are being threatened by the wastes from a nearby nuclear power plant Tom declares open war on the enemy and Andy must choose between her life with Tom and the more sane one she left behind, if Pemberton society will take her back. Topics for Discussion 1. How does Tom's system of thous and its manifest itself in his daily life? To what extent do Hillary and Andy adopt it for themselves? Is it a practical way of living life? How might his system run into conflict with Pemberton society and the world at large? 2. Is Tom a saint, a madman, or a criminal? Is there a way of being one without the other? Does his status change through the course of the novel? What is it about Tom's 'absolutes' that attracts Andy? How do absolutes frighten her and threaten her world? 3. The men of Goat's Creek tell Andy, "we believe that you have gifts we would like to add to our arsenal, if you will." What gifts do you think they are referring to? What role does she play in the eventual cleansing of the woods? What role do the woods play in the cleansing of her life? About Anne Rivers Siddons Peachtree Road Peachtree Road Downtown Downtown Hill Towns Hill Towns
Bigfoot Encounters William Stage writes about the Missouri Momo Monster © The River Front Times Online Archives Louisiana, Mo., is a sleepy Mississippi River town about 25 miles southeast of Hannibal, but 26 years ago this month the town gained national attention as documented reports of a wild-and-woolly man-creature - the Midwest's answer to Bigfoot - began to surface. The press jocularly dubbed the elusive and rank-smelling critter "Momo," for "Missouri Monster."The first sighting was on the afternoon of July 11, 1972. The Harrison boys - Terry, 8, and Walley, 5 - were playing near their home at the base of Marzolf Hill, a ridge that runs the length of the town. At some point, Terry felt an unease. He glanced up and saw something staring at him. It was big and hulking and ominous. Its face was obscured by a mat of long hair. Terry screamed. In the house, 15-year-old sister Doris, hearing their screams, ran to the window. "It was right by the trees," she would later tell reporters, "6 or 7 feet tall, black and hairy. It stood like a man, but it didn't look like one to me." Now, this was 1972, and, true, there were hirsute hippies roaming the forests. And at times there would be seen lumbering through town some scruffy barge hand who might prompt a double-take, but it seemed this was a new species. Both Terry and Doris said the creature seemed to have no neck, and it was carrying under its arm what looked like a dead dog flecked with blood. Edgar Harrison came home from work and found no monster, but near the tree where his excited children said the thing had stood he found faint footprints in the dust and black hairs stuck to some twigs. Harrison tried to reassure them that what they had seen was probably a hobo who by now was long gone from the area. Harrison was a deacon in the Pentecostal church, and that Friday, July 14, there was a prayer meeting at his home. Later, as the group socialized on the porch, they heard a series of growls and shrieks coming from the water reservoir atop Marzolf Hill. The harrowing sound got louder and louder as it drew nearer. The neighbors, too, came out to see what manner of beast was making such a racket. One of them yelled, "Here it comes!" In a panic they one and all fled, away from the awful screams. According to the Louisiana Press-Journal, by the time police arrived on the scene, all was quiet once more. Others began seeing Momo. About 5 the next morning, Louisiana resident Pat Howard saw a manlike creature cross the road near Marzolf Hill. He described it only as a "dark object" running like a man. On the river road that runs northward out of town, Ellis Minor, then 63, sat alone in front of his cabin. Around 10 p.m., his bird dog began to growl. Minor got his big flashlight and shined it out toward the road. "It was standing there," Minor told a UPI reporter. "I couldn't see its eyes or face - it had hair down 'bout to its hindparts. As soon as I threw the light on it, it whirled and took off thataway."On July 19, Louisiana police chief Shelby Ward organized a 20-man posse to search Marzolf Hill. Spread out with walkie-talkies, they combed the ridge from end to end. On one of the paths they saw that an old dump had been recently disturbed, rubbish dug up and strewn about. They also discovered two disinterred dog graves with bones scattered about. It was getting weirder and weirder.The Harrison home had become a staging area for Momo seekers. Edgar took Richard Crowe from Chicago's Irish Times up on Marzolf Hill. Crowe would write, "As we walked up the path, we found a set of tracks. They looked like large human footprints. Even with the heel impression incomplete, it measured 10 inches long and five inches wide. There had been no rain for 10 days and we estimated that more than 200 pounds of pressure would have been necessary to make prints in the hard soil." The intrepid party then located "a vacant shack that might serve as a sleeping place for the monster. A pile of leaves and debris in one corner may have been its bed or nest." They prowled around the shack for awhile, "then we smelled an overwhelming stench that only can be described as resembling rotten flesh or foul stagnant water. 'That's him boys,' announced Harrison. 'He's around here somewhere.'" But, again, nothing came of it. Reporters weren't the only outside investigators converging on the town. Hayden Hewes and Daniel Garcia of the International Unidentified Flying Object Bureau in Oklahoma City arrived and camped out in Harrison's backyard. They collected statements from witnesses and made plaster casts of the two tracks on Marzolf Hill. Hewes theorized that the monster was a "giant, hairy biped" left by a UFO. He said the descriptions matched some 300 other sightings he had collected, including two the previous year from Washington and the Florida Everglades. Meanwhile, there were Momo sightings up and down the Mississippi, from St. Charles County to Hannibal. A DJ on a country-music station in nearby Bowling Green recorded a song, "Momo the Missouri Monster," and that did more to fuel the legend than anything else. For several years after the scare, the town of Louisiana held Momo Days, with the residents walking around wearing wigs with the tresses in front. But the bottom line is he's still out there, spooking horses, stealing dogs - just for a snack, mind you - and still smelling as funky as the river itself. For Bigfoot Encounters courtesy Marlene Trask... Back to Creatures? Back to What's New? Back to Newspaper & Magazine Articles?
Crock-Pot Sweet Brussel Sprouts Crock-Pot Sweet Brussel Sprouts 1 6 Ounce Package of Brussel Sprouts (or About 15) 1/4 Cup of Brown Sugar Olive Oil 1. Coat your hands with olive oil and then rub the brussel sprouts with the oil. 2. Using a piece of foil large enough to hold the brussel sprouts, place the sprouts in the middle of the foil. 3. Add a pinch of salt to the sprouts. 4. Add 1/4 Cup of brown sugar in the middle of the sprouts. 5. Fold the foil up and make a “foil pouch”. 6. Place the foil pouch on the bottom of the crock-pot. 7. Cook on high for 3 hours. Unfortunately, the foil will not keep the juices inside the foil. Some of the sugar will leak out and get on the bottom of your crock-pot. I made the brussel sprouts and the Chicken Salsa in the same 5qt oval crock-pot.
Egypt's Brotherhood raises stakes by excluding IMF Khairat el-Shater (2nd-L), the presidential candidate of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, speaks during a press conference in Cairo on April 9, 2012. (AFP PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI) CAIRO: In all but ruling out an early agreement on an IMF loan, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has dramatically raised the stakes in its struggle with the army-led administration for control of a country still reeling from a year of political turmoil. The Brotherhood's candidate for president, Khairat al-Shater, said this week the group would not accept an International Monetary Fund loan unless its terms were changed or a new government was formed to monitor how it is spent, demands that almost certainly won't be met. Even without a loan before the presidential election in May and June, whoever comes to power will be forced, sooner or later, to impose hugely unpopular taxes and cuts in government spending to reduce budget and balance of payments deficits inflated by a year of political and economic turmoil. But any delay in securing a loan brings closer the prospect of a fully fledged fiscal crisis that would mean a jump in consumer prices and interest rates, a sharp devaluation and huge pressure on banks. It's a game of brinkmanship in which the Brotherhood might be first to yield to avoid inheriting an economy in tatters, fearing it will end up taking the blame for painful measures that the current government has repeatedly delayed. The country's transition to civilian rule will culminate at the end of June, when the military hands power to a newly elected president for whom the economy will be a top priority. In the 14 months since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's army-backed government has been supporting the economy largely by drawing down reserves and borrowing from domestic banks, with interest rates having risen to historic highs as funds grow tighter. The government has spent more than $20 billion in foreign reserves to prop up the currency since last year's uprising. Reserves fell by another $600 million in March to $15.12 billion, equivalent to less than three months worth of imports. Economists warn that with foreign reserves running low, the country risks a disorderly devaluation of the currency unless it secures new sources of funding. A political or economic shock could increase pressure on the pound if it prompted people to switch funds out of pounds and into dollars. "If the IMF deal falls through, then the likelihood of foreign capital returning to Egypt will diminish and there will be no let-up in the pressure on the currency," said HSBC economist Simon Williams. Barring shocks, the country should have a big enough financial cushion to see it through for at least three months, until an elected government is installed with a popular mandate to push through an IMF agreement. The IMF, however, has demanded broad political support before it signs any agreement, in particular from the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party won nearly half the seats in the new parliament. Shater said he was not opposed to a deal in principle, but only to the plan to disburse part of it while the army-backed transitional government remained in power. He said the Brotherhood might accept an IMF deal if the loan's first installment was reduced to $500 million from the current plan of paying out more than $1 billion immediately upon signing. Economists say the central bank still has enough foreign reserves to hold on well past the presidential election without having to devalue the pound. "Capital flight has already taken place, and that's going to leave the central bank having to cover a shortfall of around $600-750 million a month from here on," said Williams, who estimated the government could hold out for another six months. But other economists warn that an outbreak of political violence could provoke capital flight and disrupt tourism, which has yet to recover since last year's uprising. Similarly, a spike in oil prices could drive up the cost of imported fuel. The next three months hold potential political minefields, including the increasingly polarized presidential election, a heated battle over the wording of a new constitution and the verdict in the politically charged trial of Mubarak, which is due to be read out on June 2. Any resulting drain on dollars could exhaust the ability of the central bank to defend the pound, which it has allowed to weaken by only 3.5 percent against the U.S. dollar since the uprising. "Failure to secure help from the IMF would make a disorderly devaluation more likely. In this scenario, the pound could overshoot, falling by perhaps 50 percent or more against the U.S. dollar," Said Hirsh of Capital Economics wrote in an April 5 research note. "The costs to the economy would be severe. This is likely to lead to a spike in inflation, sharp hikes in interest rates, a potential banking crisis and rapid fall in asset prices." The government has been searching for ways to earn foreign exchange to take the pressure off its reserves. In November it began selling one-year treasury bills denominated in U.S. dollars, an instruments that has now raised a total $4.75 billion, and on March 24 it began selling parcels of residential land to Egyptians living abroad, a measure it hopes will eventually earn it $2.5 billion. It also wants to sell $1 billion in certificates of deposit to Egyptians living abroad, but the plan has been delayed by technical problems over their issue in one Gulf country, the planning minister said last week. Another option would be to implement capital controls to block major shifts in funds. One currency trader said rising concerns that the currency is headed toward a devaluation has dried up the trade in Egyptian non-deliverable forwards (NDFs). "The NDF market is totally broken. Hardly anything trades now," said the trader said. "There is no confidence in a remedy or timing of it, so no one is providing liquidity." "The large majority of players believe that it's all but inevitable that the currency will go unless there is a serious action plan, so why bother selling U.S. dollars further than three months?" Your feedback is important to us! comments powered by Disqus Interested in knowing more about this story? Click here
Saffi Karina Age: 25 Job: Model and aspiring TV presenter Drink of choice: Mojito. “Because I’m part Cuban” Ideal holiday: Anywhere tropical Movie: The Lost Boys Miraculously, you managed to persuade Saffi to go on a date whilst she was buying a frappucino. Now you've been going steady for six months. Just don't annoy her dad... Can you describe how we met? I’m quite shy, so you had to come up to me in Starbucks. Wasn’t it odd, me coming up in a coffee shop? No. Guys approach girls all the time, don’t they? What did I say? Was I funny? You said something stupid that made me laugh. That was the dealbreaker. How soon was our first date? About a week later. We went to Alton Towers. Alton Towers? I’m not made of money! Yeah, but I wanted to see how much of a man you really were. Was I sick? Yeah, you were a bit, but it was more nerves. Nerves because I was on a date with you? Ha! Yeah! So it must have been fairly successful? We had fun. We went on all the rides. Some you were a bit reluctant to go on though. What was it that you actually liked about me? You’re funny, you made me laugh. I like men that make me laugh, but you’ve got to be a looker. Tall, dark and handsome. I know people say looks aren’t important, but I think they do help. How long was it before we slept together? Piss off. A lady never tells! Could you give a score out of ten? How was it? What, your performance? Oh gosh, okay. Well, you’re going out with me so I’d have to say nine and a half out of ten. So, room for improvement? Yeah, always room for improvement. How do I get on with the rest of your family? You’re a bit wary of my Dad. Is that because he’s a mentalist? Yeah, he’s Irish. My family is Irish, Cuban and Filipino. Christ, what’s dinner like at your house? Oh, it’s wicked. There’s all sorts because my Dad is quite a good cook. If I came home with some expensive lingerie that you didn’t like would you tell me? I would tell you to change it. I am very upfront. But you’d wear it for me if I got it right? Yes, if it’s nice lingerie. What was the last argument we had? Something to do with you being messy. I can’t tolerate mess. So if you left something on the floor or didn’t clean up after yourself. I cook, but I’m really untidy. Is that a fair compromise? Yeah. If you can cook then you have won me over. What do you get jealous about? Probably watching too much sport. Or if you’re always playing computer games, that might piss me off. So it’s not jealousy, more a lack of attention? Yeah, but I’m really easy going, honest! And what do you think? Are we going to go the distance? Maybe. You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?
Articles + Multimedia More languages Take Vitamin D To Lose Fat & Gain Muscle 12/11/2012 3:45:12 PM Vitamin DOne of the simplest things you can do to lose fat and improve body composition is to make sure you are getting enough vitamin D. Over and over again, research shows that if you have low vitamin D, you will be more likely to be overweight, have less muscle mass, and be at higher risk of a long list of diseases. What is concerning is that even though vitamin D deficiency is SO easy to solve, it is SO widespread! Surveys estimate that anywhere between 40 and 90 percent of the population is deficient depending on ethnicity and season. In the hope of convincing you to attend to your vitamin D status, here are ten things you should know about vitamin D if you want to be lean, strong, and healthy: 1) Vitamin D is produced in the body in response to direct sunlight. In order to maintain vitamin D levels from sun exposure, scientists suggest you need to be in direct sunlight for at least 20 minutes every day between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm. 2) Wearing sunscreen or sunglasses, or having dark skin color will significantly impede your body’s ability to produce vitamin D. For example, a 2010 survey of Americans found that 70 percent of whites but 93 percent of blacks were deficient in vitamin D. A second study comparing the relationship between belly fat percentage and vitamin D status in white Europeans and South Asians found that the South Asians had much lower vitamin D levels (the average level was 21 ng/ml, which is just above “deficient” status). Lower vitamin D was associated with greater belly fat and total body fat percentage. If you are a person of color or wear sunscreen and sunglasses, you need to supplement with vitamin D even if you are in the sun daily. 3) Low vitamin D is associated with greater fat mass in all ages, races, and both genders. For instance, a new study of overweight women found that those who took vitamin D for 12 weeks lost 2.7 kg of fat compared to a placebo group that lost nothing. They didn’t even modify diet or weight train. If you are still not convinced, separate surveys of children, men, and women showed that those with lower vitamin D had more body fat, and more belly fat. Out of 237 children, the majority were deficient in vitamin D (73 percent of blacks and 40 percent of whites were deficient) and vitamin D levels were inversely associated with belly fat and total fat percentages. 4) Since low D leads to fat storage, it “produces a toxic milieu by initiating metabolic and inflammatory cascades,” writes one research group. They go on to explain that this cascade increases fat storage rates and worsens the inflammatory state in the body. Low vitamin D also decreases pancreatic cell function and affects insulin sensitivity because there are vitamin D receptors on insulin cells. Therefore, in addition to increasing the amount of fat you have, low D puts you at risk for continual fat gain and diabetes. 5) The inflammatory state associated with vitamin D compromises muscle function and leads to fat accumulation in muscle. For example, a study of collegiate women in Southern California found that vitamin D status was inversely correlated with the amount of fat they had in their muscle. Researchers were alarmed since the population was young, fit, and living in a sunny climate. Twenty-four percent of the women were deficient (below 20 ng/ml) and 35 percent had insufficient (between 20 and 30 ng/ml) vitamin D. The mechanism behind this is that vitamin D mediates protein synthesis and energy use. This leads to muscle and strength development, or the unfortunate effect of fat accumulation in muscle. 6) Because of the role vitamin D plays on muscle and strength, lack of vitamin D will increase injury risk. Vitamin D enhances the immune system, while low D increases chance of illness. For example, in a study of professional football players, the average vitamin D level of those who experienced an injury was 19.9 ng/ml. The black players on the team were more likely to be deficient and more likely to be injured. 7) Vitamin D levels are associated with muscular power. Adequate vitamin D has been found to increase size and strength of type II muscle fibers in a variety of populations. A recent study found that overweight adults who took vitamin D in conjunction with doing a strength training program increased their explosive power significantly more than a group that didn’t take vitamin D. 8) Low vitamin D is associated with low testosterone and poor fertility in men. Research found that men with adequate vitamin D (above 30 ng/ml) had higher testosterone levels, the leanest body composition, a greater percentage of lean mass, and better overall health than men with insufficient D. Supplementing with vitamin D can help men lose weight. A study found that giving men with low testosterone and vitamin D deficiency 3,332 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year raised their free testosterone levels by 20 percent. They also lost 6 kg over the course of the study! Vitamin D is thought to inhibit aromatization of testosterone to estrogen. There are also vitamin D receptors on cells throughout the reproductive tract, making availability of this vitamin essential for fertility. 9) Women need vitamin D for reproduction, hormone balance, and body composition as well. Just as vitamin D affects testosterone in men, it influences sex hormone levels in women too. In addition, mothers who have adequate vitamin D have leaner offspring. Research suggests that vitamin D affects genetic signaling pathways linked to metabolism in a developing fetus. Low vitamin D has also been associated with greater risk of gestational diabetes and diabetes in offspring during childhood. Another study showed that pregnant women who were given 4,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a month from 12 to 16 weeks of pregnancy had healthier babies and lower rates of pre-term labor than women who took a lower dose of vitamin D. 10) Low vitamin D is a performance-limiting factor in athletes. On the otherhand, when your levels are optimal, vitamin D is considered a performance-enhancing substance. Naturally, since it affects the production of hormones like testosterone and estrogen, it will influence strength and power, but it also enables the action of calcium and magnesium, which are necessary for powerful muscle contractions. Surveys of athletes show that performance is significantly enhanced during summer months when vitamin D levels are naturally higher. Performance drops off over the winter, reaching a low point in March or April, and injury and illness rates increase over the winter season as vitamin D levels naturally drop. The take away is that if you are not attending to your vitamin D level, you are not going to be as lean and strong as you could be. The solution is SO simple: Take vitamin D and lose fat. Take vitamin D and get better results from training. Ensure optimal vitamin D levels and improve athletic performance. For 25 more reasons why you should take vitamin D this winter, read 25 Excellent Reasons to Take Vitamin D. Back to top Online Store Green Tea Excellence 2.0 An ultra pure Green Tea formula that is rich in polyphenols BCAA Excellence 2.0 Carnitine Synergy D3 Excellence Softgels More products » Online Store Omega 3 6:1 More products »
Take the 2-minute tour × I've been reading that Starcraft 2 has facebook integration. But how do I actually connect my accounts? share\|improve this question 3 Answers 3 up vote 12 down vote accepted If you log onto battle.net, go to your "Home" page by clicking the little house button. As you can see there, is a button which says "Import Friends" next to the Facebook icon. Select this, and enter in your Facebook credentials. If the broadcast has expired, select your friends: enter image description here Click "add friends": Select "add Facebook Friends." share\|improve this answer My recent broadcasts window is empty. – FigBug Aug 11 '10 at 18:22 +1 for the pretty pictures :) – Torpesh Aug 11 '10 at 20:06 As of January 2013, Facebook integration has been removed by Blizzard because Facebook [...] changed their API usage policy and decided to prevent third-party games like StarCraft II from utilizing their network to make social connections. share\|improve this answer Click the friends list button at the lower right hand of the task bar (left of the clock/mic) there will be a button for 'add friend' Click that and you will see a button for facebook. share\|improve this answer Your Answer
Monday, February 15, 2010 No Excuse Some readers want to know my take on the Amy Bishop Anderson tenure-denial mass murder, but I don't think there is much here that speaks to any general academic issues, not even those related to the anxieties of tenure denial or the travails of a female science professor (and mother of four children) or the 'pressure-cooker' environment of biotechnology (about which I know nothing). I think this was the tragic action of an insane person. This has been my opinion since I first heard the news, and has only been strengthened as more details emerged. The initial news reports were incomplete and/or misleading. Some made it sound as if Dr. Bishop had just found out that moment in the faculty meeting that she had been denied tenure. I doubted that. It doesn't work that way. Then reports were that she had been denied tenure the year before and had, earlier on the day of the murders, learned that she had lost her appeal to reverse the decision. Clearly this was a woman who had been under a lot of stress for a long time, but to shoot up a faculty meeting, including some people who clearly had no vote in her tenure decision, is insane and/or evil. Even if the tenure denial had been extraordinarily unfair, reeking of sexism or anti-Harvardism or the petty dislike of an outspoken and difficult colleague, there is of course no justification for these murders. Even if the department chair had sprung the news on her in the faculty meeting, he didn't deserve to die. None of them did. Even after losing the appeal, she could have sued, she could have done a number of things besides get a gun. Then I heard that she had shot her brother to death in 1986, allegedly by accident, but apparently during an argument. She has a history with rage and guns. Insanity. The media coverage of this sad event has thus far followed the usual formula in the wake of such tragedies. Did anyone see this coming or was the murderer just a normal hockey-and-soccer mom until she snapped? . (NY Times, 2/14/10) Was the murderer one of the scary quiet types? She was a very outspoken person,” Mr. Reeves said, “and outspoken people don’t bottle things up." (NY Times, 2/14/10) And that is a good thing? But there have also been some unusual aspects of the coverage, owing to the fact that Bishop was a professor. For example, soon after the shootings, some websites/blogs reprinted Bishop's evaluations. I suppose it makes sense to look for any information possible to try to figure out what kind of person would have done such a thing, but can the twisted personality of a murderer be discerned from teaching evaluations? Horrible teacher! She is an excellent professor! And these: All she does is read information from the book. She is smart, talks about more stuff than just the book. She reads straight from the book. Well, which one is it? Are these students talking about the same professor? Of course they are; these are typical evaluations. The New York Times and various bloggers writing about the incident decided to mention only the she-reads-from-the-book type evaluations, as if this shows there was something wrong with her. There was something very wrong with Amy Bishop, but this is not evident in her teaching evaluations nor in other reports of student complaints about her teaching. No, we can't use teaching evaluations to predict who among us is capable of killing, but perhaps there were other signs, including what happened in 1986, and perhaps there is a way (though I doubt there is a will) to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Anonymous said... it is very disturbing. Also disturbing is the insinuation (or is it fact?) that her husband was complicit in the shootings and/or in her 1993 pipe-bomb attempt on a previous supervisor. It is one thing for an individual to be seriously mentally disturbed, but for a family member to be aware of this AND enable their violent actions, that is even less comprehensible. gnuma said... CPP uncovered this: Who knows if she was responsible, but adds another layer of sketch to her personality... This case has captivated me, I think because I am new faculty and pre-tenure and thinking about the possibility that the grant money won't come through given the economy (although I will do everything I can to get funding!). I am mystified that one could take their job so seriously, and insanity seems like the most parsimonious explanation... Comrade PhysioProf said... Apparently, she was also a suspect in the attempted letter-bombing of a faculty member at Harvard who she suspected was going to render an unfavorable opinion of her PhD dissertation research, although no charges were filed in that case. Anonymous said... Thanks for your post. I have been reading your blog for a few months and have commented a few times. I am a tenure-track faculty member at UAH. I'm not in the college of science, but my department shares an interdisciplinary PhD program with the biology and chemistry departments. I knew all of those involved, including Amy Bishop. She was very upset about her tenure decision, and according to her colleagues, was convinced that her appeal was going to succeed. She was a difficult person to talk to and deal with, and it only got worse after she was initially denied tenure last April. But no one thought she would do something like this, one reason being she has 4 children. I've spoken with survivors, and they are convinced she would have shot everyone one in the room. But, when she stopped to reload, one person crawled under the table, grabbed her, and ultimately forced her out of the room. They are all amazing people, and I was very fond of all those who died. It's just such a terrible tragedy, and if you could keep the victims, survivors, and their families in your thoughts or prayers, I know it will be felt. Anonymous said... Yes, I agree, an obviously insane person - nothing to be gained from analyzing this case. A normal person considers the impact of their actions (at least on themselves) before the act. To do this, with four children... Anonymous said... Completely agree that this was insanity. Though not the type of insanity as in "insanity defense." She clearly knew what she was doing. Additional insanity: In Arizona our State Legislature is moving toward allowing Professors to carry guns. But, not those Administrators. They're not allowed to carry guns. Well, unless they're teaching a class. They'd be able to carry guns then. But, only when they're teaching, not when they're 'administrating.' HELP!! Anonymous said... What about the seeming abudance of psychologically tenuous people within academia? I sometimes wonder if it is a refuge for the brilliant but crazy. Anonymous said... What is supposed to be so bad about teaching "straight from the book" anyway? The book is written by an expert in the field that presumably (based on the fact that we're using their book instead of other options) has a good sense of how to organize and present the material. Do the students want the professor to proclaim greater knowledge of the subject than the author? John V said... To me as a scientist, it looks like a probabilistic situation, not a deterministic one. In this realization of the the world, she flipped out and killed some faculty. In the vast majority of cases indistinguishable from hers, the person would vent in a less destructive way. I see no give-away that the violence was coming, only that she was a hothead. The shooting of her brother was ancient history, back during their adolescence. If anything, she probably appeared, and perhaps was, less likely to go nuclear than several now around me do. Maybe more facts will emerge to render my view wrong, and I sort of hope it is. A single case like this should not drive people to worry, just one among 100,000s of faculty. Kate said... This, combined with a recent murder of an Anthropology professor by his grad student, certainly does make me nervous. However in both cases it was quite obviously a case of complete insanity. CPP has already mentioned that in addition to the "accidental" shooting of her brother (can three shots be accidental?) she was likely the culprit of the pipe-bomb and it is increasingly looking like the Braintree MA police covered it up for some reason. Bishop was insane and killed three coworkers. TWICE before that there were chances for someone to put her in jail or rehabilitate her or get her help. I'm angry that she wasn't caught before, because this is likely at least the third violent attack she has perpetrated. Also, I wonder... how often does workplace violence occur? What are we missing? The Bishop case is remarkable because it's in higher ed and the perpetrator is a mother of four. So what about all the other folks who have been hurt that the media doesn't bother making into a national news story? Anonymous said... I agree with many of the commenters that she was insane. Unfortunately what I think will remain undiscussed is the pressure cooker of the tenure-track. The system is inhumane and when there are not successful outcomes, we leave those folks hanging and many times being shunned when they most need the support and are the most vulnerable. This in no way excuses Bishop's actions, but I think, in general, we can be more humane when tenure outcomes are not positive. John V said... The most dangerous professions, fishing, timber, pilots, mountain guides, have on-the-job fatality rates of 100+ per 100,000 per year. So far as I can tell, the danger for profs is <1. Being a prof is hardly nerve-wracking, and calling the tenure system inhumane surprising, given the far greater rate of uncertainty and firings (and going postal, I would guess) in almost all other industries. Here's a typical compilation: This case is fascinating but not a major problem for academia. Alex said... First, she suffered a major professional setback. Lots of people in lots of walks of life suffer those every day, and a very tiny fraction of them will snap and do something horrible in response. I don't think there's much we can infer about academia from this. Second, regarding the bomb in 1993, my understanding is that she was cleared. High profile life science researchers receive these things from time to time, sadly, because there are all sorts of ideologues who hate them for one reason or another. When that happens, anyone and everyone with any connection to them will be questioned. Likewise, whatever might be said about the 1986 incident, it may look fishy but we weren't there and we don't know why it was deemed an accident. Why am I downplaying the accusation in the past? Because I've seen too many instances where the mere act of being accused of a crime is confused with being guilty, and it has all sorts of horrible consequences that range from destruction of a reputation up to our current "Trials? We don't need no stinking trials!" approach to terrorism. The bottom line is that there's an incident in the present, and there appears to be more than enough evidence in the present to ascertain guilt or innocence in this case. Moreover, there are lots of people who have had complicated pasts but were cleared of whatever they were accused of and have since lived normal, productive lives. Second guessing everyone's past is a recipe for disaster. If somebody wants to argue that the 1986 of 1993 incidents should have been handled differently, that argument should be made based on what happened in 1986 or 1993. If you want to base the argument on what happened in 2010, keep in mind that there are lots more people who had a nasty situation in the past but were found innocent and have since done great things with their lives. What happened in 1986 or 1993 has to be evaluated based on what happened then, not what happened now. Anonymous said... Certainly, Bishop handled her situation in the worst possible way. As FSP indicated, there were other avenues through which she could have sought recourse. I do not support the way in which Bishop handled her situation (I think it is disgusting, self-centered, and horrific), but I do think it's worth mentioning that many, many news articles about the case refer to her as "Ms. Bishop" and not "Dr. Bishop." What does this mean, if anything? Does your training as a scientist no longer deserve mention once you do something as crazy as killing several of your colleagues? Or was the lack of recognition of her credentials one of the many things (including her lack of sanity) that culminated in her murdering her colleagues? Would a similar case involving a male professor result in news coverage that solely referred to him as a "Mr." and not a "Dr?" Anonymous said... Just as an example: "Yes, I agree, an obviously insane person - nothing to be gained from analyzing this case." Why are most of the people commenting on this event very quick to label Dr Bishop as insane? Over the internet diagnosis being inexact. Would those of a religious nature be calling her evil? The insane label doesn't help us understand this anymore than labelling her evil or the devil did it. Furthermore, mental illness is not synonymous with violence. The Ms./Dr, issue: My understanding is that US news media regularly abjure the use of Dr when the person is not an MD and are not Martin Luther King. You'd think though that they could use her professorial title, perhaps? But then again mass murderers are seldom given much respect in the news media are they? I suppose Ted Kaczynski might be a male exemplar of the academic mass murderer. Did he get deferential treatment? I've never heard of the university this happened at before yesterday, but I'd have to agree with CPP. She hasn't published anywhere near enough stuff for somebody at her career stage- which is perhaps a symptom that nobody could stand to work with her?. That coupled with the least collegial display of behaviour perhaps ever recorded... The whole situation is so totally FUBAR to me that it's difficult to be coherent. Foreign and Female in Science said... What Dr. Bishop did should be condemned. It is inexcusable. But am I the only one who finds that at a research university getting more funding, making new progress on a horrible disease and developing a new technique are no longer enough for tenure? What is??? Ms.PhD said... Interesting discussion. Seems irrational to me that everyone seems to equate having children with making one incapable of violence or crime. Those two things have nothing to do with each other. Cloud said... MsPhD- I agree. Certainly, parents are capable of committing crimes and being violent. There are many examples. But... I think I understand where that sentiment comes from. I have to confess that the part of the entire story that I am having the hardest time getting my head around is the fact that she has children, some of whom are still quite young. The thought of trying to explain why Mommy won't be coming home to a 9 year old breaks my heart, and I'm not even related to the kid. I simply cannot fathom doing something that would put my children in that position. Of course, I can't really imagine being distraught enough to do what she did, children or no. But for some reason, the thought of my husband trying to explain it all to my children is even more horrifying. The part where I think "no professional or personal setback is sufficient to warrant such an action" is a cerebral reaction. The part about the kids, I feel in my gut. (And yes, I know- at least one of the victims had children, too, and I feel sick for them, too.) Anonymous said... It really seems as if she had a mental break of some kind, given the statement she gave right after the event: "It didn't happen. There's no way." "There's no way. They're still alive." It seems she blacked out the event. That is not something that could happen "probabalistically" to anyone just becuase they're pissed about tenure. That is something that can happen to someone who has a psychological break. Obviously that doens't excuse her actions, but I think it's clearly the case that she had some mental issues (was insane). John V said... @4:12pm anon The test for insanity would be what she said BEFORE trying to gun down the entire faculty, not after. I could imagine anyone might be incoherent afterwards, no matter their initial condition. Anonymous said... FFS: ironically, by going on a rampage and killing her colleagues she has now made the strongest case possible for being denied tenure. research university getting more funding, making new progress on a horrible disease and developing a new technique are no longer enough for tenure? What is??? How about: doing all that and being sufficiently collegial that your fellow professors need not fear for their lives when you are around? To be clear, I have no doubts that her case was perhaps handled incorrectly, but the killings strongly suggest that the reservations from her department were not wholly unfounded. Anonymous said... in every profession there will be people who fall outside the range of "normal" behavior and go off the deep end or become violent when upset. it is just so sad that in all those cases including this one, that there were no warning signs (or at least none that were perceived by others as such) that the individual was about to become violent. some other similar incidents you read about in the news, the perpetrator had given signs such as writing or saying stuff to other people privately or even publicly like on on blogs or internet forums, in the days or weeks leading up to the event. But then again how seriously does one take such comments, or what if the individual is highly intelligent (like a harvard trained professor) and can self-censor to hide any giveaway signs. Anonymous said... This is anonymous #4 again. Keep watching the news and following the story. I think more is going to come out about her research "accomplishments." It's already been established that her husband was a coauthor on almost every paper she published. But, her minor chidren were also coauthors on several papers. I have also heard that her husband did "work" at UAH, but only because she hired him as a lab tech using her start-up funds. Not sure how she was able to do that, since I and others are not even able to hire GRAs with start-up funds. Anyway, my point is, it's possible she engaged in years of deception, manipulation, or distortion of her research accomplishments. Spiny Norman said... At the new York times it would. Their style guide generally does not allow titles and specifies that most peoples' names should begin with Mr. or Ms. Thus you get wonderful silliness like "Mr. Eminem." Anonymous said... @Anon7>34:"I have also heard that her husband did "work" at UAH, but only because she hired him as a lab tech using her start-up funds." there was a discussion on this blog very recently about spousal hires at academic institutions. I had thought it was unethical but the general consensus among the readership here seemed to say it was perfectly fine and necessary. In other words, what you point out (if it's true) about Bishop's husband working in her lab as her lab tech, is not uncommon in academia. Anonymous said... Hiring your spouse as a lab tech may not be uncommon in academia, but at UAH, start up funds are not supposed to be spent on personnel. I am employed there, and I and other faculty cannot use start up funds to hire GRAs or post docs. The only exception is that they can be used to hire undergraduates at an hour salary, with no benefits. Anonymous said... Apparently she also assaulted a woman at an IHOP in Massachusetts while she was at Boston Children's Hospital. Kimmy said... Not being a scholar, or anyone with any psychological degrees I feel unqualified to post my gut feeling that she was a sociopath, and not insane. Based on some of the students commenting about her being a great teacher, along with her behavior points that she was able to charm/convince several students into believing she was smarter than she actually was. The fact that she wasn't able to fool everyone, and didn't get her tenure tells me that not only she was unstable, but she blamed others for what she lacked! In turn, her behavior was consistent to that of a sociopath. She acted out in violence.
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Boisduval's Blue (Icaricia icarioides) (Boisduval, 1852) Diagnosis: The upperside in the male is bright blue with dark wing margins, wider on the forewing. In the female it varies from dark brown to blue with wide dark margins. Males usually lack any trace of a dark discal spot at the end of the cell on both wings, and usually have only a trace of dark marginal spots on the hindwing. The underside is pale grey with two irregular rows of white-ringed black spots, much larger on the forewing, with the outer row a series of tiny black dots; on the hindwing the black in both rows is often so reduced that the spots are white, with or without a tiny black centre. Wingspan: 21 to 32 mm. Subspecies: There are about a dozen subspecies, but only three occur in Canada. Subspecies pembina is found from the Prairies to eastern British Columbia; subspecies montis occurs at high elevations in the interior of British Columbia; and subspecies blackmorei is found on the west coast and Vancouver Island. Range: Icaricia icarioides ranges throughout the western U.S., reaching Canada from southern Saskatchewan to Vancouver Island, north to Lake Louise in Alberta and Wells Grey Provincial Park in British Columbia. Specimen collection data Similar Species: The Greenish Blue (Plebejus saepiolus) and the Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus). [compare images] Early Stages: The eggs are laid singly on any part of the plant. Larvae eat leaves, but transfer later to flowers and fruits. They hibernate in the second instar, and then eat the fresh new shoots of the foodplant in the spring. Larvae are reddish purple, or green with purplish dorsal stripes and white diagonal stripes on the sides. Foodplants are many different species of lupines (Lupinus spp.), although densely hairy species are preferred to less hairy ones (Scott, 1986). Abundance: Boisduval's Blue is abundant within colonies, scarce between them; it seems that there is relatively little travel between colonies. Flight Season: Adults are on the wing from mid-June to early September, with two generations per year. Habits: Boisduval's Blue is found in prairie, sagebrush and woodland clearings, usually in localized colonies.
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Fence for single bed on the floor? (2 Posts) cathan Tue 11-Jun-13 10:03:23 I think that if you have the space for the cot, you'd be better off sticking with it, especially with only 5 weeks to go to the new baby. Your DD may be unsettled by the baby and any changes now may make matters worse. Also, having an enclosed place where you can be sure she's safe will be very useful. I was certainly very glad to have my older DD still sleeping in her cot after my DS was born. Good luck! scrittrice Mon 10-Jun-13 21:05:49 I am expecting my 2nd baby in 5 weeks and my DD is 13 months old. She is not an amazing sleeper in general, and loves playing with my hair/sleeping with me, but she does sleep in her own bed mostly. We've been debating whether to get her a cot bed, and while on holiday have found that putting her on a single bed with someone reading/lying next to her works pretty well. The only thing is that she is little enough that I would like her to be fenced in a bit, rather than being able to get up and out of bed whenever she wants to. Is there any sort of invention that is basically like a fence around a single bed on the floor? Or is it just a cot bed or a single bed with a rail? Join the discussion Join the discussion Register now
Thursday , October 13 2016 Home / News / Politics / CPI (M) urges Parliament to pass resolution condemning intolerance CPI (M) urges Parliament to pass resolution condemning intolerance New Delhi, Nov. 25 : Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who attended the all-party meeting ahead of the Winter Session, on Wednesday, urged the Parliament to condemn growing intolerance in the country and direct the government to ensure that communal polarization is brought to an end. Yechury said that he has submitted a notice to the House in this regard. “On the question of rising intolerance and communal polarization, I had given a notice which has been accepted by the chairman. It has been bulletined and therefore that has to be taken up. It is for the house to pass a resolution condemning intolerance and calling upon the government to implement the law of the land to ensure that such hate speeches and polarization is put to an end. It is a one line resolution that has been accepted by the chairman,” Yechury told the media persons here. Parties including the Congress and the JD (U) have already submitted their notices for adjournment motions, demanding a debate on the issue of intolerance and passage of a resolution condemning such incidents. Meanwhile, the government will look to reach out to the opposition parties to ensure smooth business in both Houses amid anticipation that the session could be stormy with the opposition planning to corner the government on various issues. The Winter Session of the Parliament is set to begin from tomorrow. During nearly month-long session, around 30 bills, including GST and Real Estate regulation Bills, are slated to be taken up for consideration and passing. In the Monsoon Session, Congress-led opposition had disrupted the Monsoon session of the Parliament over the Lalit Modi row and the Vyapam scam. (ANI) Read Also Cong asks Modi to “tame” belligerent Parrikar
Pain Relief Complications Pain Relief: What Can Go Wrong? What Is Chronic Pain? Sensations of pain are meant as the body’s protective mechanism. From drawing the hand back from a hot stove to resting a sprained ankle, pain can let you know your body’s limits to prevent further injury. While pain can be acute or short-lived, chronic pain also exists. This occurs when the body’s nerve endings are in overdrive and continue to hurt long after an injury has healed or as an illness or condition progresses. Chronic pain is a condition that affects the physical body and can lead to mental health effects. Examples of conditions that can cause chronic pain include arthritis, stroke, and cancer. Sometimes doctors may not be able to identify or cure chronic pain causes. This can further impact a chronic pain patient’s quality of life and cause a number of unexpected complications. Doctors and pain medicine specialists can work to manage a patient’s chronic pain and minimize the following chronic pain complications. Depression and chronic pain share several common symptoms. These include body aches, fatigue, and appetite loss. Those with chronic pain may feel anxious, sad, or hopeless. Researchers haven’t found the exact medical connection between depression and chronic pain. However, theories do exist. One is that depression causes the body to release proteins called cytokines. These proteins cause inflammation in the body that can lead to pain. According to Harvard Health Publications, an estimated 50 percent of major depressive disorder patients report pain on a regular basis to their doctors. Physicians and psychiatric specialists use medications, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and physical therapy to help patients find relief. Sleep Loss According to the National Sleep Foundation, two-thirds of people with chronic pain report sleep loss or poor-quality sleep. Chronic pain can be so severe it keeps a person up at night. Also, medications doctors prescribe to treat chronic pain can cause poor-quality sleep. Examples include morphine and codeine. The following chronic pain conditions are more likely to cause sleep loss: • abdominal pain • back pain • fibromyalgia • headache pain • temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome According to the National Sleep Foundation, patients who awaken two to three times per night due to pain should seek medical help. Medication Dependence According to an article in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners, as much as 50 percent of chronic pain is undertreated. A careful balance must be struck between taking medications to relieve pain and reducing risks for physical or psychological dependence. While dependence is relatively rare, people with chronic pain can develop unhealthy addictions with pain-relieving medications or other substances. Substance dependence signs include: • craving a particular substance • increasing tolerance to medication dose (when the same medication dose stops offering relief) • overuse • preoccupation with obtaining a medication or substance • withdrawals if a dose is missed or late Chronic pain patients shouldn’t stop taking their pain medicine because they are afraid of medication dependence. If they can’t find pain relief, this can result in greater complications. Lost Workdays According to the American Chronic Pain Association, chronic pain costs an estimated $61.2 billion annually to American companies and workers due to medical costs and affected performance while at work. Chronic pain can make thinking clearly difficult. The pain can affect a person’s ability to perform standard physical tasks associated with working, such as lifting boxes, using a computer keyboard, or sitting at a desk. Workers may also have to miss work due to physical therapy or doctor’s appointments. If the pain becomes too much, a person with chronic pain may not be able to work. Chronic pain can be a source of anxiety and fear. Even if a person’s pain is managed, they may live in fear the pain will return. This can lead to anxiety that may change a person’s behavior. A person may be too fearful to try some activities, such as exercising, for fear they will cause pain. Impacted Relationships Chronic pain can create strained relationships between the person experiencing the pain and a spouse, friend, or co-worker. Chronic pain can be difficult to express to others, which can cause misconceptions and misunderstanding. Increased incidences of anxiety and depression can also strain a partnership, making maintaining a healthy relationship difficult. Read This Next Acetaminophen Overdose: What You Need to Know Aleve and Alcohol: Are They Safe to Use Together? Ibuprofen vs. Acetaminophen: How Are They Different? Ibuprofen vs. Naproxen: Which One Should I Use? Dilaudid vs. Morphine: How Are They Different?
Latest in Gaming Image credit: Sony Australia: Wii "a bit pricey" Kyle Orland "For what it specifically does as a video games machine [it] is a bit pricey." No, this quote isn't from yet another analyst bemoaning the PS3's high price point; it's from Sony Computer Entertainment Australia Managing Director Michael Ephraim, talking about the Wii's AU$400 price point in an interview with a blog associated with Australia's Age newspaper. Ephraim also mentioned that the Xbox 360 "appeals only to a very core group" and, at a little over AU$600, is "still pricey." Ephraim was not asked what he thought about the PlayStation 3's AU$1,000 price point, but I think it's fair to guess the word "pricey" wouldn't be anywhere near his answer. Seriously, when many analysts and consumers consider a high price point to be your system's major weakness, you shouldn't be talking smack about the affordability of the competition. [Via Aussie-Nintendo, thanks Ignatius] From around the web ear iconeye icontext file
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Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Pissaladieres Recipe- French Onion and Anchovy Pizzas, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Paleo Option photo pissaladieres_zps16l8xd9v.jpg A while back I got a huge amount of cans of anchovies for free, and to be honest, I haven't had much of an idea what to do with them, since growing up, I only ever ate anchovies on pizza. Yet doing this pantry challenge, these cans of anchovies have just been staring me in the face, shouting out at me to use them up already. My friend Allison suggested I look into pissaladieres, French onion and anchovy "pizzas" (though pizza is the wrong name, in my opinion, as they have neither tomato nor cheese, but I digress). They seemed totally up my alley, and something I could easily make gluten free and dairy free, and so I got to work. There are so many recipes out there for pissaladieres, but every one seemed to have some basic components- sauted onions, anchovies, thyme, and olives. Some had some vinegar and sugar added to it, so I decided to use that as well. For my pizza crust I used my quinoa pizza crust, but this works with any pizza crust, so I am going to try making it next time with this Paleo pizza crust recipe (and going to try to use flax egg in place of the egg there), but feel free to use your favorite pizza crust recipe for it, whether a paleo pizza crust, gluten free pizza crust, or glutinous pizza crust. I made mine into mini bite sized pizzas, which was really delicious and perfect. I really enjoyed them as did my husband and oldest son (my younger son hates fish with a passion, so there was no way he'd eat anything anchovy). I can't wait to make these again- I just need more olives and then this'll go right back on the menu. The biggest issue with them? They are absolutely addicting. I had a hard time not eating the whole batch when I made them. (Ok, I lied- other than giving one mini pizza each to my husband and son, I did eat the entire batch. True story.) Go ahead and make them! That is if you can get your hands on anchovies without breaking the bank... 1 batch pizza crust, quinoa pizza crust or any other 1 1/2 medium onions or one extra large onion 1 tablespoon oil (olive or coconut oil) 2 teaspoons-1 tablespoon sweetener (coconut sugar, white sugar, honey, date syrup, jaggery, etc...) 2 pinches dried thyme 2 tablespoons wine vinegar 2-3 tablespoons water 1 can anchovies (or less) 10-15 green olives 1. Make your pizza crust, either as a large pizza or as mini pizzas or as tiny bite sized pizzas. 2. Chop your onions, then saute them in oil in a low flame until starting to brown slightly. 3. Add the water and vinegar, thyme, and sweetener to the onions, and cook covered until the liquid is nearly all absorbed and the onions softened. 4. Spread the onion mixture out over the pizzas, then add anchovies- either fillet or mashed up- as much as you like. I like mine saltier so I add more, but use less if you're not a fan of salt. 5. Top each pizza with some olives. 6. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Ever hear of pissaladieres before? Ever have any or make any? Does this look like a recipe you'd try? What is your favorite recipe using anchovies? 1. Never tried anchovies but your picture has gotten me drooling! 1. That's really exciting to hear! If you're a fan of fish and a fan of salty, you may like it. :-D 2. My recipe for tapenade uses anchovies. 3. I've been trying desperately to recreate an anchovy paste based Greek salad dressing. Do you know of any? It was lemon, garlic, olive oil, anchovy paste, and some sort of magical ingredients. Anyway, you seemed like the person to ask haha :) Share This
Explore BrainMass Production Planning and Quality Management for Manychip Manychip, Inc., is a specialty memory chip manufacturer located in Southern California with manufacturing plants located in the United States, Europe, Singapore, and Japan. Additionally, Manychip has branch sales offices located in major metropolitan areas across the globe. The market for Manychip's six key products included original equipment manufacturers of personal computers, cellular telephone manufacturers, electronics distributors, and government organizations. The market environment for Manychip's products is extremely volatile, with fluctuating demand and rapidly changing prices. The company uses short term contracts (less than one month) and spot pricing for irregular customers. Internally, the operation is capital-intensive, with depreciation running approximately $1.2 million per day (depreciation has an impact on revenue streams). The six key products had further specialized components, making the possible line mix total 24 distinct products. Further, the manufacturing process required high manufacturing lead times and various product yields. In the high technology memory arena, product life cycles were dramatically shortened because of rapid obsolescence. To coordinate the manufacturing activity, Manychip has an established process and system that helped optimize resource utilization, improve shop floor efficiencies, and manage customer demand. Manychip is experiencing 10-15% growth in revenues and volume, primarily tied to increased worldwide demand, product type, and market variables. Most significantly, the company received a major pre-order for a new cellular phone memory chip that's schedule to come out in three months. This pre-order is scaled for up to 10 million units and management is concerned the existing process and system may not be suitably optimized for this order. Additionally, the forecast in sales figures for all six key product lines is higher than it has been in the past. With the increase in volume, management is concerned about the quality management process as well-can the existing processes maintain the highest degree of quality needed? 1) Should Manychip use an ERP package or specific manufacturing production planning utilities? Solution Preview In my opinion, for a large organization like Manychip which is experiencing tremendous growth in all its business segments/product lines and needs to gear up to meet future demand, a comprehensive ERP software especially designed for manufacturing organizations like Manychip and covering various aspects of the business such as production planning, supply chain management and accounting should be chosen instead of specific manufacturing production planning utilities. The primary advantage of choosing such comprehensive ERP package for the entire organization is that it will be able to resolve all the interrelated issues and problems of Manychip and will be able to provide tremendous boost to coordination, efficiency, productivity, quality and cost-cutting measures within the organization. It will eliminate or at least minimize all the chaos associated with such tremendous growth in demand. If the specific manufacturing planing production utilities will be chosen, it will not be able to integrate the various elements of the company and will require lot more coordination and efforts in the long run to sustain such individual planning tools. On the other hand, the comprehensive ERP tool will standardize all the activities in the organization by providing a common tool to each department and employee in the ... Solution Summary In my opinion, a comprehensive ERP software especially designed for manufacturing organizations like Manychip should be chosen for specific manufacturing production planning utilities. This solution discusses the benefits to firms from implementing an ERP package, identifies some of the drawbacks, and lists and discusses several software options for the company. 770 words.
Create your own awesome maps Even on the go with our free apps for iPhone, iPad and Android Get Started Already have an account? Log In Animal Cell by Mind Map: Animal Cell 0.0 stars - reviews range from 0 to 5 Animal Cell Membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. 0.5-10 micrometers long Power House, Produces ATP ( adenosine triphosphate ) that is used as a source of chemical energy by the cell Storage of Calcium Ions, Contributes to the cell's homeostasis of Calcium by rapidly taking in and storing the calcium ions Other Metabolic Processes, 1. Regulation of the membrane potential 2. Apoptosis-programmed cell death 3. Calcium signaling (including calcium-evoked apoptosis) 4. Cellular proliferation regulation 5. Regulation of cellular metabolism 6. Certain heme synthesis reactions 7. Steroid synthesis 8. Controlling of cell growth + cell cycle Golgi Apparatus Forms part of the endomembrane system Synthesis a large number of different macromolecules, Process and package macromolecules (E.g Proteins, Lipids) after their synthesis and before they make their way to their destination, Modifies, sort and package these macromolecules for cell secretion (exocytosis) or use within the cell Create lysosomes, Add carbohydrate or phosphates to substances to modify them into lysosomes Organelle found in most eukaryotic cells Membrane-enclosed organelle found in Eukaryotic cells Contains most of the cell genetic material, Genetic materials are organized in long linear DNA Molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins Control activities within the cell by regulating gene expression Mediate the replication of DNA during the cell cycle and maintain integrity of genes Cell Membrane Also known as the Plasma Membrane Surrounds all type of cells Contains wide variety of biological molecules, primarily Proteins and Lipids Controls the movement in and out of the cells, Facilitates the transport of materials needed for survival, Passive Transport: Occurring without the input of cellular energy, Active Transport: Requires the cell to expend energy in moving the substances Separates interior cell from the external environment Serves as the attachment point for the intracellular cytoskeleton and, if present, the extracellular cell wall. Spherical Oraganelles Found in animal cells only 0.1-1.2 micrometers big Break up food to facilitate digestion Engulf viruses and bacteria Digest excess or worn out organelles, Digests macromolecules from phagocytosis (ingestion of other dying cells or larger extracellular material, like foreign invading microbes) Only works at 4.5pH Clear-Jelly like Material Fills most of the cells Consists of cytosol and the cellular organelles, with the exception of the nucleus, The cytosol is made up of water, salts and organic molecules and many enzymes that catalyze reactions. It is found within the plasma membrane of a cell and surrounds the nuclear envelope and the cytoplasmic organelles., Mitochondria Plays a Mechanical role, Maintain the shape, the consistency of the cell, Serves as Molecular Soup, Organelles are suspended and held together by fatty membrane A storage place for chemical substances indispensable to life, Anaerobic glycolysis, Protein synthesis.
Main Page \| See live article \| Alphabetical index John Cabot John Cabot (Italian Giovanni Caboto) was an Italian navigator and explorer. He was born Giovanni Caboto, but later made England his base of operations and is best known as John Cabot for his explorations made under the British flag. Most notably, in 1497, he set sail from Bristol on his ship the Mathew looking for a sea route to Asia. He ended up in North America, he and his men being the first Europeans since the Vikings verifiably known to have done so. Cabot was born in Genoa, around 1451, but moved to Venice in his youth, and later became a Venetian citizen. It was probably on hearing of Columbus's discovery of 'the Indies' that he decided to find a route to the west for himself. He went with his plans to England, because: 1. He incorrectly thought spices were coming from northern Asia 2. A degree of longitude is shorter the further one is from the equator, so the voyage from western Europe to eastern Asia would be shorter at higher latitudes. King Henry VII of England gave him a grant "full and free authoritie, leave, and power, to sayle to all partes, countreys, and seas, of the East, of the West, and of the North, under our banners and ensignes, with five ships ... and as many mariners or men as they will have in saide ships, upon their own proper costes and charges, to seeke out, discover, and finde, whatsoever iles, countreyes, regions or provinces of the heathen and infidelles, whatsoever they bee, and in what part of the world soever they be, whiche before this time have beene unknowen to all Christians." Cabot went to Bristol to make the preparations for his voyage. Bristol by then was the second-largest seaport in England, and during the years from 1480 onwards several expeditions had been sent out to look for Hy-Brasil, an island that would lie somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean according to Celtic legends. Some people think Newfoundland may have been found on (one of) these voyages. Cabot left with only one vessel, the Matthew, a small ship (50 tons), but fast and able. The crew consisted of only 18 people. He departed on either 2 May or 20 May, 1497 (he had also made a voyage in 1496, but got no further than Iceland). He sailed to Dursey Head, Ireland, from where he sailed due west to Asia - or so he thought. He landed on the American east coast at 24 June, 1497. His precise landing-place is a matter of much controversy. He went ashore to take possession of the land, and explored the coast for some time, probably departing on 20 July. On the homeward voyage his sailors thought they were going too far north, so Cabot sailed a more southerly course, reaching Brittany instead of England. On 6 August he arrived back in Bristol. The location of Cabot's first landfall is still unknown, because of lack of evidence. Many experts think it was on Cape Breton Island or Nova Scotia, but others look for it in Newfoundland, Labrador or Maine. We might never know the truth. His men may have been the first Europeans on either American continent since the Vikings: Christopher Columbus did not find it until his thirth voyage, in 1498, and letters referring to a voyage by Amerigo Vespucci in 1497 are generally believed to have been forgeries or fabrications. Back in England, Cabot was well rewarded (a pension of 20 pounds a year), and a patent was written for a new voyage. The next year, 1498, he departed again, with 5 ships this time. Except for one of the ships, that soon after departure made for an Irish port because of distress, nothing was heard from the expedition, or of John Cabot, ever since. John's son Sebastian Cabot later made a voyage to North America, looking for the Northwest Passage (1508), and one to repeat Magellan's voyage around the world, which ended up looking for silver along the River Plate (1525-8). In 1498-1500 a few Portuguese travelers, Miguel and Gaspar Corte-Real being the most famous participants, visited Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland. In 1501-1505 an English syndicate, consisting of 3 Azoreans and 2 English traders, made voyages to Newfoundland. From 1504, if not before, Breton, Basque, Portuguese and English fishermen crossed the ocean to catch fish on the Newfoundland banks. The Cabot Tower in the centre of Bristol, England. Cabot is remembered in Bristol by the Cabot Tower, a 30m tall red sandstone tower of 1897 (the 400th anniversary of the landing) on Brandon Hill near the city centre, and by a replica of the Matthew which is moored in the city docks. External links and references
Part of the Computing fundamentals glossary: Bytecode is computer object code that is processed by a program, usually referred to as a virtual machine, rather than by the "real" computer machine, the hardware processor. The virtual machine converts each generalized machine instruction into a specific machine instruction or instructions that this computer's processor will understand. Bytecode is the result of compiling source code written in a language that supports this approach. Most computer languages, such as C and C++, require a separate compiler for each computer platform - that is, for each computer operating system and the hardware set of instructions that it is built on. Windows and the Intel line of microprocessor architectures are one platform; Apple and the PowerPC processors are another. Using a language that comes with a virtual machine for each platform, your source language statements need to be compiled only once and will then run on any platform. The best-known language today that uses the bytecode and virtual machine approach is Java. The LISP language, used in artificial intelligence applications, is an earlier language that compiled bytecode. Other languages that use bytecode or a similar approach include Icon and Prolog. Rather than being interpreted one instruction at a time, Java bytecode can be recompiled at each particular system platform by a just-in-time compiler. Usually, this will enable the Java program to run faster. In Java, bytecode is contained in a binary file with a .CLASS suffix. This was last updated in September 2005 Posted by: Margaret Rouse Related Terms • cryptography • cache memory • raster graphics • Computing fundamentals • Internet applications Ask a Question. Find an Answer.Powered by Ask An IT Question Get answers from your peers on your most technical challenges Ask Question • JAVA! Isn't effort saved spent elsewhere? JVM or Java Virtual Machine is an in-built mechanism of modern OS. and it is found also in browser or later may configure it. In my case, it is not necessary to write jvm for each platform ! Tech TalkComment Contribute to the conversation
Skip to Content Skip to Main Navigation Skip to Archives Skip to Sub Content Main Content May. 27, 2010 Driving the Conversation: What would you ask President Obama? Send to a friendWhat would you ask President Obama? • Please enter your e-mail Invalid e-mail • Please enter a valid e-mail Invalid e-mail • close Alvin S. Felzenberg Did a member of your staff promise Joe Sestak a job in exchange foe dropping out of the Senate race? Is he lying when he says someone in your employ did? Are you not concerned about the appearance that bribery may have been committed? What did you know about this at the time? Please be specific? Was it a mistake for Congress to have established a director of national intelligence? Why is Admiral Blair leaving? Most in the know say he was forced out. Should presidents be attending political fundraisers when so much of the nation is suffering the effects of the disaster taking place in the Gulf? How does he respond to James Carville's criticisms of POTUS? The president obviously feels that the press treats him unfairly. Why? Will he agree to holding on average one press conference a month? How does he respond to assertions that the U.S. is losing influence in the world? Will Iran be a nuclear power by the end of Obama's presidency? Is he not bothered that two U.S. allies, Brazil and Turkey have publicly embraced the Iranian leader? Why do we ignore increasing Russian intimidation of its neighbors and negotiate while its troops remain in Georgia and it uses it control of the oil supply to coerce Ukraine into renewing Russia's naval base in that country? Should the head of EPA be attending political fundraisers? What grade would he assign himself on his capacity to unify the country - a pledge he made during the campaign? Sub Content Ongoing Arenas Recent Arenas Arena Referees Arena Players Current and Former Elected Officials Strategists, Scholars and Authors About the Arena Frequently Asked Questions
1. Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum! 2. "Muppets Most Wanted" Fan Reactions 3. "Muppets Most Wanted" Original Soundtrack Tough Pigs? 1. Zack the Dog Zack the Dog Active Member a late arival by Zack,but hey what's new?? Well, my name does beging with the last letter of the Alphabet...What!?! Enough of that Zack!... Well anyways, i'll share my thought's as well, I find Danny a low down, stingey and poorly dressed guy! Wait! That's a "guessed" Miss Piggy line from MCC. I'm just kidding, Danny's a great guy! I actulay met him in a fight, ??? well i mean it was kinda an arguement...kinda? well, well, i really don't know "how" to put it. But I remember when he was first starting Tough Pigs (don't we all?) and he invited me in to the opeing chat, he even stated to me that there will be a lot of "adult humor intened, and he knew i wasn't really "an Adult humor kinda guy" but i was welcome to come back to TP anytime...Danny put it in a more haliorus way, but man reading his "my week's" and contests and so on, are such a HOOT! Zack)Rowlf the, Hoot with a capital Q...well, whatever that mean's???Dog. 2. Jackie Jackie New Member Nothing wrong with adult humor. It's more childish if you ask me. We're all still children at heart anyways :) 3. Joggy Joggy Member Yep, and we're all still *******s. 4. FellowWLover FellowWLover Member Did he just call me an ***? 5. Joggy Joggy Member (geez, I can still say that here!) 6. Jackie Jackie New Member I think he called me an ***** too! 7. Joggy Joggy Member Uhm... gulp Jackie, Jes, no hard feelings... I mean, I'm an ***** too... It's not too bad being a ***. Heh heh heh. Yeah. gulp. 8. Crazy Harry Crazy Harry New Member I've always thought of myself as more of a ** then a ***, but that's just a difference of opinion. 9. Joggy Joggy Member Well okay then. You are a ***. The others are all just plain ****s. Top of the ****** to you. Share This Page Visit the Sesame Street Store Today!

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