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Tuesday, December 7, 2010 I don't like flying, mostly because boarding a big metal bird o' death isn't at the top of my to-do list. But, I'd like to spend Christmas with my family and since driving there really isn't an option, I have to fly. I guess if I had a true fear of flying I'd just drive...or never go anywhere that was far enough to fly to. Look, I just don't like flying, ok! Sorry, flying makes me nervous and now that the airports I'll be flying through have the new "this is what you look like with no clothes on" scanners, I'm even more nervous. I've flown with Blake a lot and have a routine when it comes to making it through security. But that routine allowed me to carry Blake through the metal detector. With these new "hey she's got cottage cheese thighs" scanners, I don't think I'll be able to hold Blake. Whenever I see people going through them they have their hands above their heads. Ummm, I have a baby and he currently doesn't possess the ability to hover in mid air so does that mean I'll have to go through the pat-down procedures? Honestly, I don't think I really care if someone looks at a black and white image of my love handles and other lady bits on a computer screen in a secure room. But, I do care if someone has to do a groin check on me, even if it's a lady. On a recent trip I had to have a full body pat-down because something in my diaper bag... looked suspicious? The question mark is because no one told me why they were patting me down and rifling through my stuff. So a lady gave me the standard pat-down. But that was a few months ago and I think the new "standard" pat-down involves a lot more patting. So I'm thinking the hubs is going to have to take one of the team this time and get the pat-down (if necessary) because I'm flying back by myself with Blake so I know I'll probably be getting one that time around. I shouldn't have to be violated twice at Christmastime, should I? So if you've flown with an infant and had to go through the new "Dang! Baby got back!" scanners, let me know how it worked. Did you have to get a pat-down? I'm referring to the new full body scanners at airports that a lot of people consider an invasion of privacy. Check out the images they produce here. I think they chose 2 really physically fit people for those images because I know my images aren't gonna look like that! Chelsea said... They didn't even ask me to go through the nakey machine, they just made me take off my hoodie, and walk through the normal metal detector holding Kyler out a little bit in front of me. They patted down my sister since she didn't want to go through the nakey machine, but it's not like the were giving her a pap smear! It was just more annoying than anything. I don't think they gave me a hard time because I was flying without Rhet and I think they could tell I was a bit overwhelmed (maybe the swollen red eyes did it since I was crying a few minutes before...major separation anxiety over here!) They just put his milk through a little machine to test it for explosives or what not, but luckily it wasn't too big a deal. Lindsay said... I haven't had to walk through those scanners yet (which, speaking of, how are those even constitutionally sound?), but I'm not looking forward to it. Getting through security with children is hassle enough as it is. I hope it goes smoothly for you. You'll have to let us know how goes. Losing Brownies said... We leave tomorrow and I'm scared to death!! Also, please bestowe apon me your knowledge of flying with an infant! What can/can't I bring in his diaper bag? What do you suggest? The flight is about 4 1/2 hours. I'm terrified! Tori Wilding said... I love all the synonyms you used for the scanner machine!! I also take comfort in the fact that almost 90% of all TSA workers I've seen working in security are overweight. They'll see my scan and think, "Yep! That's my problem area too, girl!!" Whitney said... Good point about the TSA workers. Do you remember Jerry Seinfelds bit about airport security people? Hilarious! Emily said... Ugh. I think those new scanners and the "enhanced" pat downs are a huge step BACKWARD for democracy and freedom and the American Way. Seriously, they p*** me off. But good luck!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Inner, Outer, Upper, Lower - Help! Cape Cod MapHow come the Lower Cape seems to be above the Upper Cape? What's the difference between the Outer Cape and the Lower Cape? Why does Route 28N go due south in Orleans? Is it "east-um" or East-HAM? The answers are a combination of Cape-speak and some twisted history. Check out this cute story from last Sunday's Cape Cod Times. Is it all clear yet? No comments:
Cooking Friends You are not connected. Please login or register Have you seen those ads on TV that try to make you feel guilty for throwing away food? Rant here. Why don't they start telling grocers to stop selling food in bigger quantities than you know you will eat? I needed two ears of corn for a stew I am making today. The store only sold them in packages of four or five. I asked the produce manager if they had any smaller quantities. He said they had some individual ears but the leaves were so brown that they had to throw them out. In other words he was telling me that the corn came pre packaged and they had to sell it like that, and by implication, the few they had to sell in smaller amounts were not fit to sell. Do you believe that? I don't. Permissions in this forum: You cannot reply to topics in this forum
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 Reformation Party Update! I've got a one-track mind these days -- The Reformation Party! Here is a picture of my sister Emily beginning to sketch out the highlands landscape we painted last Saturday. It's not quite done, so I'll wait until it's complete to give you some updated pictures. Here's a quiz I wrote for the kids about the Scottish Reformers. Feel free to use wikipedia or whatever and answer the questions yourself! You can even put the smiley and frowny faces in your comment box by the villains and covenantors. Sorry, I could not control the size or spacing of the quiz. Scottish Covenanters Quiz Kids, you will find the answers to these questions in your Scottish Reformation booklet. Parents, feel free to give aid to children who need it. 1. What did Jenny Gedes throw at the Dean when he began to read from the Book of Common Prayer? a. a pillow b. a rotton tomato c. the Bible d. her stool 2. Who offered to die in the place of George Wishart? (hint: it was his bodyguard) a. Patrick Hamilton b. John Knox c. John Graham of Claverhouse d. King Charles the II Draw a frowny-face next to the villains listed below, and a smile beside the covenantors: a. John Graham of Claverhouse b. James Turner c. Jenny Gedes d. Hugh McKail e. Archbishop James Sharp f. James Renwick What churchyard did Presbyterians gather in to sign the National Covenant and declare their commitment to the Reformed Faith in 1638? a. Greyfriars Churchyard in Edinburgh b. St. Giles Kirk c. Clifton Baptist Church What did some churches do when the King sent young, inexperienced and less-than-holy preachers to take over for the Reformed pastors? Put True or False next to each suggestion a. they threw a big potluck dinner to welcome them _____ b. they boarded up the doors so they couldn’t come in _____ c. they made them climb through the windows to get in _____ d. they liked them better than their old preachers _____ The people could still gather to hear the preaching from their preachers who had been expelled. In what kind of places did they gather? (circle all that apply) a. at night b. in the pouring rain c. in the hills and valleys d. in the king’s house 7. What was the name of the brave young preacher who did not recant his beliefs even under severe torture, and was eventually hanged? a. Richard Cameron b. Hugh McKail c. Samuel Rutherford d. Archibald Campbell 8. The years 1684-1685 were known as: a. The Killing Times b. The Restoration c. The Revolution 9. What were the names of the King and Queen that finally brought peace and religious freedom to Scotland? 1 comment: Martinez Family said... I like your Covenanter quiz! Scottish history, especially Scottish church history is one of my favorite things to study! Great job! Johanna M.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 Jeremiah 17:9: Should you Follow your Heart?? I can't recall how many times I have heard people say, "follow your heart" or ask, "What is your heart telling you?" Our culture sends us many messages...some positive and some negative...and as Christians we have the responsibility to test this worldly wisdom against the standard of Scripture. Many pieces of advice given to us by society may sound great, but if they don't align with the one Truth revealed in God's Word, we must reject them. "Follow your heart" sounds sweet and inspiring, etc...but is it biblical? Unfortunately, it's not. Jeremiah 17:9 reveals to us the true state of our heart. It says: Ouch...not very optimistic news about the state of our hearts. The truth is, our hearts are wicked, and they deceive us. We can't trust in our own fleshly feelings and impulses, because we all have a sin nature. The advice to "follow your heart" is perhaps the most dangerous when it comes to romantic relationships. "If it feels right, do it," seems to be the common worldly philosophy when it comes to love. The world seems to think that when you fall in love with someone, it's all must obey your heart. That may sound good, but what if you're already married? What if the person you fall for is married? What if he's a drug-dealer, an alcoholic, a convicted felon? Do you follow your heart then? Can you see how this is quite dangerous advice to follow? I imagine you won't "fall in love" at age 16 with a drug addict or a married man. But, many of you will fall for boys who you know aren't living for the Lord. You want a boyfriend so bad, and you like a certain guy so much, that you would rather feed that desire than do what is honoring to the Lord. Our hearts continually deceive us into justifying decisions that don't glorify God. We can't trust ourselves! We must put our trust in God alone! I'm currently reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and I am loving it. One reason that I am enjoying it is that it sends such a different message than our culture sends us. In the book (spoiler alert!), Jane falls desperately in love with Mr. Rochester. They seem to be so perfectly suited for each other and their love for one another is passionate and strong. After Mr. Rochester confesses his feelings for Jane and proposes to her, she experiences sheer and total bliss. She is beside herself with happiness and head over heals for her fiance. The only problem occurs on their wedding day, when she finds out that Mr. Rochester has secretly been keeping his insane and uncontrollable wife locked in his attic. After hearing this, Jane is undone. Her feelings for Mr. Rochester remain as strong and fervent as ever before, in fact, she forgives him immediately for deceiving her. However, she quickly decides that she can't compromise her integrity and stay involved with someone who is already married, despite the fact that his wife is demented. Listen to her inner struggle: "I was experiencing an ordeal: a hand of fury iron grasped my vitals. Terrible moment: full of struggle, blackness, burning! Not a human being that ever lived could wish to be loved better than I was loved; and him who thus loved me I absolutely worshipped: and I must renounce love and idol. One dead word comprised my intolerable duty--'Depart!' (321). The easy thing for Jane to do would be to stay with Mr. Rochester, the one man she truly loved and adored. At least, that's what her heart was telling her to do. However, she decided to deny her own emotions and do what she knew to be right. She couldn't stay with someone who was married, not matter how much her heart clung to him. A story like Jane Eyre is practically unheard of today. The advice nowadays would be to let your heart lead you. Following your heart is the easier thing to do, and it will make you temporarily happy as you indulge your feelings. Following God, on the other hand, will be harder. It will mean denying yourself and surrendering your life and desires to Him. But by choosing His way, you will experience the joy, peace, hope, and purpose that you can find no where else. Girls, don't follow your heart...follow God's heart~
Carrie Blake Carrie is a North American Registry of Midwives Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) with a passion for helping ensure that easy-to-understand information about birth is made available to all healthcare providers. Prior to becoming a midwife, Carrie was a writer, editor, and training developer. She has lived in the USA and Sweden and has traveled extensively, including working for a brief time in a clinic in Senegal. Carrie is married to the very patient Sean and has five amazing children who don't know what life would be like without a midwife for a mother. Her contributions to SharingInHealth include:
Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Airport privatisation: another scam in the making? Shesh Narain Singh The government of India has decided to hand over some airports built from public funds to the corporate sector. The government is going ahead with the plan although the department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has put certain objections and they have been assured that the government will not do so. A very senior officer in the Government of India informs that despite having given a solemn assurance to the parliamentary committee, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is going ahead and is in the process of inviting tenders to hand over the airports. For this purpose the government had set up a task force under the planning commission and three inter ministerial groups. These committees had recommended the development and operation of several metro, non-metro, greenfield and non-operational airports by private persons as the AAI finances are limited and there is need to tap revenue potential from ‘non-aeronautical services’ which Airports Authority of India will not be able to do due to its own constraints. Sitaram Yechury is the chairman of the Standing Committee and all the important political parties including Congress and the BJP are represented on it. In its report, the committee does not agree with the government and has taken strong objection to the government’s decision. It has asked the government to take appropriate action to ensure that the loot of public funds is stopped herewith. The committee has cautioned the government to ensure that the Airports Authority of India ( AAI ) is not made a scapegoat and is allowed to function to perform its duty for the public good and is not compelled to work for the benefit of any private organization. The committee was unanimous in this. The recommendations are direct and have put the government in a spot. The Committee does not agree with the Task Force and the Ministry that AAI will not be able to harness the potential for ‘non-aeronautical revenues’ from car parking, cargo facilities, hotels, passenger amenities, shopping etc. “due to its inherent constraints”. The report says that the Committee was neither informed specifically about those constraints, nor about the efforts made by the Government to enable AAI to overcome them. The Government has invested several thousand crores in modernizing these airports and now it is proposed to hand them over to private corporations. The Committee has recommend that instead of privatizing services at these airports, their management should be retained by AAI and a subsidiary of AAI or a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) can be formed for managing these airports. At the first instance AAI be allowed to operate the airports at Chennai and Kolkata and other non-metro airports for a few years. The Committee was dismayed that instead of strengthening the AAI by giving it much needed financial and administrative autonomy to enable it to take its own decisions without being influenced by either the Ministry or the Planning Commission, a decision was taken to give the countries airports on platter to private parties. The report of the Committee says there is no logic behind privatizing all these airports after spending tax payers’ money for modernizing these airports. Public utilities created using public funds cannot be given to private parties for commercial considerations. Officers of the Civil Aviation ministry submitted during the hearings that commercial space in the terminal buildings of both Chennai and Kolkata airports could not be utilized to generate revenue from the available huge space in terminal buildings. Entire blame for this has been laid on the Airports Authority of India and the Ministry had nothing to show for the efforts made by it to help AAI achieve this target. The Committee has noted the argument that large number of sub-optimal service contracts being awarded by AAI could also be eliminated if the operation and maintenance of the entire airport is granted to a single PPP concessionaire. The Committee does not agree with the government that AAI itself cannot be allowed to adopt a ‘single-agency model’ which the Ministry/Planning Commission is visualizing under the PPP mode. The Committee is of the view that construction, operation and maintenance of airports should remain with Airports Authority of India. It should be empowered to take decisions to generate resources rather than handing over the core activities of the airports newly constructed with public money to the private players. The Committee has expressed its surprise on the unusual haste being shown in the process of privatization right from the constitution of Task Force, constitution of three Inter-Ministerial Groups (IMGs) one after another, placing the matter before Cabinet and obtaining its clearance, process of pre-bidding, etc. The Standing Committee has recommended that AAI may be permitted to manage and operate all its airports, including the loss-making ones, with a rider that there should be time bound delivery of world class passenger services in a more efficient and transparent manner, matching with those being rendered by private airport operators. The standing committee of the parliament is a powerful body but their recommendations are not binding. They have power only to recommend. When the committee system was introduced for the functioning of parliament it was assumed that the deliberations in the committee shall be deemed as good as the deliberations in the main chamber of the parliament but over the many years the shine of the standing committee is not the same as it used to be . The chairman of the committee Sitaram Yechury has expressed the hope that after his report the government will take appropriate action in the public and national interest.
01 December 2007 the things I do for my cat We took Isobelle to the vet this week. Poor dear has developed a recurring problem that means we take her every 3-4 months for what we humans might call a colonic. So our vet asks how old Isobelle is, and we say she's just turned 8. The doc explains that now that she's a "senior", we should consider an annual blood and urine test for those old-age diseases that cats get. Well, according to this handy chart, I'd say she's middle-aged. But whatever. We're the kind of idiotic pet owners that treats our cat as though she's our child, so our response is a wide-eyed "of course, let's do the test." Now, just from feeling around Isobelle's nether regions, the vet tells us that she's got a lot of poop in her, but no pee. This means they can still do the blood test, but we'll have to collect urine at home. We're given a small container with crystals, told to empty Isobelle's litter box, put the crystals in so she thinks there's something like litter in there, wait for her to pee, collect the urine, fridge it, and bring to the vet's office within 24 hours. I figure, Saturday morning is the best time to take care of this. At 7am today (no, I did not get up early just to do this -- I'm just an early riser), I empty her box, pour in the crystals (and let me tell ya, there ain't many!) and hope that Isobelle needs to pee before she needs to take a dump. I could kiss my little girl because just as I'm finishing, she strolls in and heads for her box, gets in and pees! BUT... she's all confused by the crystals, so she makes a mess of it. There's pee on and outside of the box. Great. Now I've got to figure out how to get the limited amount of urine back into the container, without getting all the crystals in there, too. Let's just say I had to thoroughly scrub the sink, counter and floor after I finished. The pee's in the fridge and I'm hoping there's enough for this old-age test, because I'm in no hurry to do this again. No comments:
I Can Not Take Anymore Tonight This is the one place I promised myself to be honest at. And it is hard to be this honest with you or myself. If you do not suffer and I do mean suffer from depression and mental illness this wi Clinical DepressionImage by Yuliya Libkina via Flickr ll not make any sense or sound right in any way. If you do...you understand you can not not matter how hard you try to make things right that things do not work that way for you. How do I get this out for what I feel and what is understandable. I am not sure. It is more strain then most understand for me to turn from someone I love and have trusted. To willingly break ties and know I am doing the right thing. But...to at the same time hate myself for it. You see I have told myself (and I don't know why to be sure) that I can only be mad at me. All others I am to forgive and make any sacrifice to have all calm and happy with the world around them. Ok, this is not logical....I got that....I am just say the way I am. Anytime I let go and especially if I feel good about me...then the dread, darkness and the deep despair of myself comes in. Only then can I get myself together. You see, why, oh I don't know and do not want to point fingers either. I feel such guilt when I feel good. And if I feel good and let go of others peoples issues at the same time is almost a certain time bomb. Tonight it has gone off. I am screaming inside myself that I hate me....and that in doing so I can be ok. How stupid is that? Dumb. But it is what holds me together. My own hate keeps me sane. Is there a logic to that. Otherwise the guilt of feeling good...feeling ok...Lord forbid I actually like me lil on love myself come into play that the overwhelming guilt and all hits. I cry. Dry my dear hubby nuts. Wanna die. (no I know better but does not change feelings) Is there anyway I can explain the overwhelming desire to not be here anymore to anyone? It is so much and feels so large that I do not know how to escape. All I have ever learned is to start getting really mad at me. Yell inside...I am fat...ugly....no go....not worth loving.....and repeat it over and over until I am so filled with self loathing that I believe I am not worth much. Only then can I breath, stop crying and feel like I can have some kind of control. BTW--why this today? I let go of someone who did my friend morally wrong. And bit my tongue and did not say a word about it. I suffered also while someone else today maligned my family who is blind and threw us out of their establishment for having a service dog or so they say. I still feel it is more of the fact that it was two men who love each other and are raising a child of a different ethnic race. I had to go and have a second mammogram done today to see if there is something wrong with my breast and of course they do not tell you if they found anything. I taken in all of my self respect and let someone else feel good about their bad deeds even though I hated it because I knew me getting mad would not make it any better. What else? I did all of this on 4 hours sleep and after putting together an event for 100 people single handed. So yes I see where it all stems from....I just do not know how to make it better. Reblog this post [with Zemanta] 1. I am one of many people praying for you right now. It sounds like you are going through some pain right now. Remember, you ARE a Wonderful Person and you will realize that as soon as this down time passes...and it will pass. You have every right to be Proud of who you are and what you have done for others. Please do not let others wrongs keep you from feeling good about yourself. Hang in there, things will get better. Thinking of you, 2. You are not being honest young lady! Think really hard about what happened yesterday. You didn't walk away from her or cut your ties...she did that. She made sure you knew she didn't want you there. Think about that. Now, I know that is sad too, but you have no reason to feel guilty. She is the one who booted you away, you didn't do it and should not feel guilty about anything! 3. Wow, I'm really sorry you're going through this...and your heart is big. I cannot believe in this day and time that would go on, if that was the reason...either way isn't it discrimination??? Whether it was a service animal or the other? It doesn't really matter, I don't guess--just know that you're in my prayers! Hang in there girl. Your heart is so big!! Yippee! You came to talk to me. Thanks. You know how special that makes me feel?
Hol Chan Marine Reserve As translated in Maya as "Little Channel," the Hol Chan Marine Reserve refers to the deep cut or "quebrada" in the barrier reef off Ambergris Caye. This protected zone encompasses a total of 13,632 acres of marine waters, which includes four (4) zones: - Zone A: Coral Reef (640 acres) - Zone B: Sea Grass Beds (5,376) - Zone C: Mangroves (6,336) - Zone D: Shark Ray Alley (1,280) Located approximately four (4) miles south of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, this top snorkeling zone is Belize's first marine reserve legislated in July 1987. Its popularity has been primarily centered on the schools of friendly docile nurse sharks, silver and colorful fishes. This snorkeler haven is also home to a few endangered species of marine life, such as: Loggerhead Turtle, Green Turtle, Nassau Grouper, Star Coral, Staghorn Coral and Elkhorn Coral.
History: E212-R_Ruskin Preview of version: 8 (current) First VersionVersion Assigned: "The Nature of Gothic" from The Stones of Venice (1432-42) and The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century (1443-51). "The Nature of Gothic" 1. What are the three kinds of architectural ornament (1434)? How do those three kinds of ornament encapsulate Ruskin's interpretation of history? 2. Why is Gothic (i.e. "constitutional") ornament best suited to the human spirit? What is the value of imperfection in the products of workers' labor? 3. What responsibility does the Victorian consumer bear towards workers? How, in other words, does the consumer fit into Ruskin's moral framework, his scheme for improving life for British workers? 4. How is Ruskin's analysis of British labor relations similar to Carlyle's? How is it different? 5. On 1440, Ruskin mentions Venetian glass production as an example of the kind of work he wants English workers to engage in. How does Ruskin's description of Venetian glass help him explain what is wrong with the British economy, in moral terms? 6. Explain Ruskin's reference to the foxglove plant — how does this plant serve as a "type" or symbol of human life? "The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century" 10. What are the physical characteristics of the "plague-wind" (1446-47)? 11. Why can't the phenomenon Ruskin describes be measured scientifically? Why does he choose to present his findings in the form of progressive journal entries surrounded by present commentary? 12. Ruskin is one of many prominent Victorian writers (Carlyle among them) who eventually lost his religious faith. What value, then, does the Christian interpretive framework continue to hold for Ruskin in Storm-Cloud? Information Version Html Action Tue 28 Feb, 2006 02:59 PM PST by admin from 8 Thu 26 Jan, 2006 10:41 AM PST by admin from 7 v c d Wed 25 Jan, 2006 04:30 PM PST by admin from 6 v c d Wed 25 Jan, 2006 02:24 PM PST by admin from 5 v c d Wed 25 Jan, 2006 02:23 PM PST by admin from 4 v c d Wed 25 Jan, 2006 02:23 PM PST by admin from 3 v c d Tue 24 Jan, 2006 09:25 AM PST by admin from 2 v c d Archive Menu Magnet Academy Google Search
A Halifax art gallery owner is turning to social media to track down a thief who took off with a painting Tuesday afternoon. The theft happened around 2:30 p.m. at Argyle Fine Art. Adriana Afford, the owner of Argyle Fine Art, said she was chatting with another artist when a man walked out with the work of art. The oil on board painting by Gordon MacDonald depicts Lawrencetown. It's worth about $800. Afford called Halifax Regional Police and turned to Twitter for help. "I never understand when people steal anything, but especially local art, just because it is such a small city," she said. The artist, MacDonald, said he was shocked to hear his painting was snatched from the gallery. He said it means a lot to him and he's hopeful it will turn up. Afford said MacDonald will be paid for the painting even if it's not found.
counter stats Space Jam Does this headline: Astronauts Forced to Improvise in Space Make anyone else think of this: Props to Google Image Search and the Magnetic Lasso Tool for making this a five minute project. Honorable mention to Quickmask Mode for stepping up when things got tricky. Iran Letter Hey, everyone should read this: \|--------------------IMPORTANT DOCUMENT--------------------\| This is the first letter between leaders of Iran and the US since 1979. It's being grossly misrepresented in the media. Read it for yourself. It's important. Hey, check this out. It looks like Japan, famous for, among other things, continuing to whale despite 40 years of international pressure, has managed to take control of the International Whaling Commission, the body that, you know, tells everyone not to whale. Meaning? Get ready to super-size your bacon double whale burger. Spoiler alert: ************************ Whale is kinda tasty, but not that tasty. Solid Gold Again,'s headline editor wins the day. The sportsman Comedians often introduce a piece of hard-to-nelieve news with, "you can't make this up." Well, I've never really understood that line as well as I do today: Cheney shot an eighty year old man with a shotgun. Oh, well...Good then. You stay on that. Ok, so I just checked, and there's no Pulitzer category for headlines (but there is one for poetry. I figure it would get really annoying to explain to everyone, "well, it was published in a newspaper..."). Anyway, If there was a Pulitzer for headlines, the Sunday afternoon editor of would totally deserve one for this. Also, the president deserves a pat on the head and a glass of warm milk. Picture 1 God Bless Our Horrendous Leaders Here's a good exchange from today's White House Press Briefing. The topic being discussed was the CIA's practice of rendering terror suspects to countries outside the United States to conduct interrogations (which lead, basically, to that whole Eastern Europe secret prison thing). Q Then what's the purpose of rendition? Q But you seem to be suggesting that -- MR. McCLELLAN: No, you're -- MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry? Q How do we know they weren't tortured? Q You didn't answer that question, Scott. Q To make sure -- Q I had my question; you haven't responded to it. Q We're not asking on an intelligence matter. MR. McCLELLAN: You've had my response, Bill. For those of you that don't read the White House Press Briefing, it's a good bit of lunchtime fun. New Blog! Come see! So, I guess it's time to start blogging. Please note that my log from South East Asia is still available, here, or on the sidebar to the right. In the mean time, check out my flickr page, and maybe join my new flickr group, Sticks! Here's a preview of one of the great shots you'll see there.
Crop Insurance Math Looks Fairly Positive Extreme weather this year will have insurance paying off on yield and revenue. This weather is stressful. It's hard to look at your field and feel good about your future. We've found that walking farmers through the field of financial reality moves them to a better place. The reality is if they bought good crop insurance at high levels this year, they'll likely do as well as they would have done had the year ended up the way it looked at planting time. When we planted early, the prediction was record yields. The spring price on crop insurance was $5.68 for corn. If the weather had stayed good and we had experienced a bin buster $5.68 would have been an excellent price for 200 bushel corn in a record year. Now corn fields are turning to silage. Emotions are running high. So we start running the numbers. A farmer and his son raise 3,000 acres of corn. They have a fair amount of their crop sold and are worried about having to deliver grain that they won't raise. What we're dealing with right now is unprecedented. We're seeing corn yields below 50 bushels. So much for being saved by drought tolerant hybrids. Those farmers who sold bushels forward are getting that queasy feeling as they think about having to buy those bushels back at elevator prices that are higher now. They're thinking about having to write that check without having a clear understanding of how crop insurance will help. Fear is setting in as farmers don't understand where they're going to end up financially. Here's an example of how it could work. Obviously, some of these numbers still have to be projections. If a farmer has to buy back bushels, they'll use the difference between where they forward contracted the bushels and the fall price if they bought crop insurance with the Harvest Price Option. (If your insurance agent recommended against the Harvest Price Option, we need to talk.) We don't know that price yet, but let's estimate it at $8.00 and say we forward contracted at $5.80. The difference is $2.20/bushel. That's what we owe the elevator. Crop insurance is going to pay out whatever your guaranteed bushels were. Let's say your guaranteed bushels were 150 and you have a yield of 50 bushels. You're going to get paid out 100 bushels/acre times the harvest price of $8.00. You'll get an indemnity of $800/acre. That indemnity is going to let you take care of the grain you have to buy back and your inputs for the year, and it might even show you the level of profit that you may have had if everyone had produced a large crop this year. Crop insurance isn't meant to produce a jackpot, it's meant to reduce risk. But this year in some areas, the historically bad weather is creating atypical payments. If you're stressed out, get with your agent and do the math. Hide comments Plain text • No HTML tags allowed. • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Newcastle United 15/05 vs 5-1 15/05 vs 1-1 Leicester City Louis van Gaal: It was important we closed with a victory Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was delighted to go into the next international break with an important win against Crystal Palace. A Juan Mata goal was enough for the Red Devils who climb up to sixth in the table, much to the delight of the Dutchman. "It was a fantastic goal but it was important also," van Gaal told BBC Sport. "It is always difficult to attack against a defending team, who comes here to defend and not attack. You have two rows of four and we created a lot of possibilities. "I am pleased because we have three points and there is an international break so it was important we closed with a victory. "Juan Mata has played a lot of matches. I have given him the chance, I give other players the chance and at the end we shall see who plays more than the other. It is always like that in football. "They [McNair and Blind in defence] didn't have to defend too much because we always had the ball. "They only had to defend the long balls but that is difficult because Chamakh and Campbell are strong headers of the ball. "Paddy McNair is not injured. It was cramp. It is [recent injury problems] crazy but it is what I have to deal with." Featured in article Louis van Gaal
Fluid Business Coaching No Comments Dramatically increase your business profits with ‘Outside In' marketing I met with a business owner last week who has tried unsuccessfully for some years to break through a turnover figure which he has been desperate to achieve for many years. He has got very close in the last few years, without making that final break through which would bring him the level of success he was looking for. Now there could be a number of reasons for this happening, but the answer he gave was very interesting, he stated that he felt the main reason why they have not broken through that magic barrier was mainly because clients and prospects just did not understand what his business truly did. If I could just have a penny for every time I have heard business owners tell me this, there would be no need for me to write this article. If clients and prospects do not understand what a business truly does, how hard is it for that business to deliver exceptional value? So why is it that some businesses are so misunderstood that clients and prospects struggle to understand what value their product or service really brings to them? Just think to yourself how difficult it must be to create leads or sell the services if even the business owner cannot clearly communicate what it is that the business offers! After years of careful research, we have come to the conclusion that the major reason for this happening is twofold; 1. Most of the marketing is done ‘Inside Out'. 2. Businesses do not truly understand the market place they are in and how their business delivers value to this market place. 1. So what do we mean with ‘Inside Out' marketing? After years of research we have realised that the vast majority of business owners plan and execute their marketing plans on the views and opinions of the people inside the business looking out towards the market. So what is wrong with that? These people have often been providing these products and services for many years and understand how they work best for customers. But this is actually the biggest problem, their knowledge and understanding of the product is so much higher than any customers will ever be and this often causes a communication breakdown. The most important factor to consider is, what are the most important benefits that your product or service brings to customers, from their viewpoint, not yours. In our research we have found many times, that customers purchase a product or service for reasons the supplier has never considered. The only way to find out what these reasons are is by conducting proper market research with the type of customers who will bring you increased profitable sales. And this is what we mean by ‘Inside Out' marketing, the majority of businesses approach the market with their level of understanding and opinions of how the product fits best, only to then find that the results they are getting are considerably lower than their expectations. So where do we start with correcting this process and creating an ‘Outside In' marketing strategy? 2. How do we start to understand our own business? The place to start to understand how your business fits into the market place is with something the majority of business owners neglect to do, proper market research. So what do I mean when I say proper market research? Many businesses do market surveys by sending out a short questionnaire which allows people to rate the various aspects of their business, like service, product availability etc. But how many of these questionnaires delve into the key areas of what makes a person decide to choose your product or service over another? Effective market research is all about getting the understanding around the emotional reasons why somebody makes a decision to choose one company over another and is probably neglected by so many as it is not that easy to do without the necessary training and understanding. Part of this research must also include identifying your ideal client. This is far more than just geography or spending power, it must cover their wants, needs and aspirations so that we attract a customer that buys from us over a long term. Only once we know who we want to attract and what it is they are truly looking for, can we even start thinking about marketing to them. At this point we need to understand what our point of difference is in the market, what we offer that is different to our competitors, and what do we do that is going to attract those ideal clients that will ensure our profitable growth and help us out perform the rest of the market place we are in. This is no longer about creating or finding a niche as it was once thought of, creating a niche is often a time consuming and expensive activity which often gets copied very soon after it is launched. Creating this difference is an interesting process as in many cases the business is already delivering something that makes it different to its competitors, it’s just not aware of it and therefore does not communicate it. The most important thing to remember when marketing is that your target audience measure your message and your business on the perception they create in their mind when they see any of your marketing material. The better your understanding is of what they are looking for and what it means to them, the more positive the perception you will create with them. Creating the right perception with your ideal prospects is one of the key factors that are going to take your business to the next level of success and help you jump ahead of your competitors, but above all, it will relieve some of the price pressure you may be under, increasing your bottom line profits. If you would like your marketing results to take your business ahead of your competitors and to the next level of profitable success, then give us a call and we would be delighted to come and chat with you about what could be done with your marketing.
Friday, October 12, 2012 California Smog Check FAQ's 2012 Find the updated 2013-2014 information here Frequently Asked Questions (Part 1) Question: I have a hybrid vehicle and my DMV renewal notice indicates that a smog inspection is required. Answer: Hybrid vehicles are currently exempt from the smog check program. If you own a hybrid vehicle and your DMV renewal notice indicates that a smog inspection is required, it is most likely because the DMV record has the wrong motive power. To have the motive power on your DMV record corrected, take your vehicle to your local DMV Field Office. Question: My renewal notice says my car needs a Smog Check. But the car is out of state, and will not be back for many months. It's too far to bring it back to California for a smog inspection. Can I get the car smog checked in another state and send the results here? Answer: Do not obtain a smog inspection in another state; it will not be valid here. You need not bring it back to California in order to complete your registration. Simply fill out and sign DMV's " Statement of Facts " form (you need the free Adobe Acrobat reader to download and print this form). The registration tags will be mailed to wherever the car is currently located. Question: How long is a Smog Check certificate valid? Answer: Section 44015 (e) of the California Health and Safety Code states that a Smog Check certificate of compliance or non-compliance is valid for 90 days. Question: Who is responsible for obtaining a Smog Check when a vehicle is sold? Question: I just purchased a vehicle and the seller did not provide a Smog Check certificate. The vehicle needs repairs in order to pass. What should I do? Answer: Go back to the seller, inform them about Vehicle Code section 24007 (b)(2), and try to work things out amicably. If that fails, you have the option to pay for the repairs and the Smog Check yourself, and then take the seller to court to recover your costs. Although the law clearly supports the buyer, collecting on a court judgment can be difficult. The amicable solution is usually best. If the seller is a state-licensed auto dealer, buyers have the additional option of filing a complaint with the DMV, which regulates new- and used-car dealers. Question: I recently obtained a Smog Check certificate for my vehicle; now I'm selling it. Do I need have it Smog Check inspected again? Answer: The California Vehicle Code Section 4000.1 (d)(1), specifies that a Smog Check certificate does not apply if "the initial application for transfer is submitted within the 90-day validity period of a smog certificate...". Therefore, if your vehicle received a Smog Check certificate within the last 90 days, another Smog Check inspection/certificate is NOT required for the transfer of ownership. Question: Why am I being sent to a Test-Only or Gold Shield station? My car has never failed Smog Check. Answer: Your car was most likely selected by the High Emitter Profile. This means that even though it may never have failed before, it has been identified through a computer-based selection process as a vehicle which is more likely than others to be emitting unhealthy levels of harmful pollutants. Another possibility is that it was selected via a 2 % random selection for program evaluation purposes. In either case, your vehicle has been designated as a Directed Vehicle. Question: I have a motor home that is very heavy. Is it safe to use the dynamometer for the Smog Check inspection? What should I do? Answer: Motor homes with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 8,501 pounds or more are excused from dynamometer testing. Your Smog Check technician will be able to give any such vehicle the two-speed idle test. Some motor homes with a GVWR of less than 8,501 pounds still may not be safe for dynamometer testing. If your Smog Check technician decides he or she cannot safely test your motor home on the dynamometer, they should write that on your invoice. A State Referee facility can provide relief in these circumstances. Call the Referee Scheduling Center at 800-622-7733 and make an appointment at a Referee Facility. Take your invoice to the Referee. If the Referee inspector agrees, he or she will test the vehicle using a two speed idle test. Question: What vehicle model years are required to get a biennial smog check? Answer: For gas-powered vehicles the 1976 model year is the earliest model year vehicle required to participate in the biennial Smog Check Program. Vehicles six years old and newer are not required to participate in the biennial Smog Check Program. For diesel-powered vehicles 1998 model year and newer 14,000lbs and less are subject to the biennial Smog Check Pragram. The six year exemption does not apply to diesel vehicles. Question: My 1976 model year vehicle was built in 1975. Why isn't it exempt from Smog Check? Answer: Many 1976 model vehicles were built in 1975; however, the Smog Check exemption is based on model year, not date of manufacture, so these vehicles are not exempt. Question: I have a vehicle that is six model years old or newer. My DMV registration renewal notice says it must have a Smog Check, but I thought it was exempt from the biennial Smog Check requirement. Answer: A gas-powered vehicle is excused from Smog Check until it is seven model years old. DMV computers are designed to recognize the exemption and process your renewal accordingly. Go back the DMV to resolve this problem. If you are unable to resolve the problem with DMV, the State Referee can help. Call the Referee Scheduling Center at 800-622-7733 and make an appointment at the nearest Referee facility. Note: A Smog Check certificate of compliance is required upon transfer of ownership for gas-powered vehicles that are older than four model years. Question: I'm planning to register my vehicle as non-operational this time around. Do I still need a Smog Check? Answer: No, the Smog Check is only for operational vehicles. However, if you miss your biennial Smog Check while the vehicle is non-operational, you will be required to get a smog inspection prior to bringing the vehicle back to operational status. Question: Why can't BAR lower the price of a Smog Check? Answer: The Bureau of Automotive Repair does not set the price of smog inspections. Smog Check stations are privately owned and operated businesses, and as such, determine the fees for their time and expertise based on free-market forces. As with many other things, it pays to shop around for your Smog Check. You can search our list of Active Smog Check stations by city, ZIP code and station type to find a station near you. Question: What is an Enhanced Area? Answer: An Enhanced Area is one which has been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as not in attainment with federal health standards for ozone and are designated as an urbanized area. With some exceptions, vehicles registered in enhanced areas are subject to a loaded mode dynamometer emission test. Question: Why do Smog Check stations use the dynamometer based equipment to conduct the two-speed idle test? Answer: Not all vehicles are compatible with the dynamometer. Vehicles with full-time four wheel drive, with non-disengageable traction control, or with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating 10,000 pounds or greater (motor homes 8501 GVWR or greater), are not tested on the dynamometer. Question: The technician says he cannot perform an ASM (dynamometer) smog test on my vehicle because the tires are worn out. Can he do that? Answer: Yes, anytime the technician feels that the vehicle is not in good enough condition to safely complete a smog inspection, the technician should refuse to test the vehicle. Q: What is a "pre-inspection" and how do I get one? A: Motorists who believe their vehicles may not pass initial smog certification at local Smog Check stations may request that an inspection be conducted before an official smog certification test. This procedure can help vehicle owners avoid their vehicles being designated as "Gross Polluters," requiring final inspection at a Test-Only Center or a Gold Shield station. Smog Check stations may charge for this service only if authorized by the consumer; BAR does not regulate those charges and receives none of the proceeds. Q: What are the elements of a Smog Check? A: In order for your vehicle to receive a Smog Check certificate, it must pass all the following elements of a Smog Check inspection: • visual inspection, in which required emissions control components and systems are identified, and must appear connected and functional. • functional inspection which includes, as applicable, checking the functionality and/or integrity of the emissions control malfunction indicator light ("Check Engine", etc), the ignition timing, the gas cap, and the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system, if the vehicle is so equipped and a Two-Speed Idle (TSI) test is being performed. A Low Pressure Fuel Evaporative Test (LPFET) is performed on all 1995 and older vehicles. A functional check of a vehicle's On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system is also performed on 1996 and newer vehicles. Diagnostic information stored in the vehicle's computer is reported on the Vehicle Inspection Report (VIR) that the motorist receives at the end of the Smog Check inspection. OBD information can save time and money when repairs are required. • tailpipe emissions test, which measures exhaust emissions using a probe inserted into the vehicle's tailpipe during testing. Vehicles pass or fail this part of the Smog Check inspection based on established emission standards, sometimes called cutpoints. Q: What is the "underhood" inspection portion of the Smog Check? Why is it necessary if you pass the tailpipe inspection? A: The tailpipe test alone cannot guarantee that a car is not emitting harmful amounts of pollutants into California's air. In fact, to obtain a Smog Check certificate, a vehicle must pass all three portions of the Smog Check inspection-the visual, functional and tailpipe inspections (see previous question). An "underhood" inspection comprises the visual and functional portions of the Smog Check inspection. The visual inspection ensures that the vehicle has all of the proper equipment and that none of its parts are disconnected or modified. The visual inspection helps prevent evaporative emissions. These occur even when the vehicle is parked, and may be the result of poorly connected or improper equipment. On the old, two-speed idle (TSI) test, the functional inspection ensures that the ignition timing is set to the manufacturer's specifications and that the EGR valve is functioning. The functional portion of the TSI test is especially important because the tailpipe inspection cannot measure oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions-a key precursor to smog. The EGR test is not a part of the new dynamometer test, because that test does measure for NOx. The newest part of the functional test is the fuel cap test, which is used to help prevent evaporative emissions. The visual and functional tests help identify vehicles with tampered emissions control systems. These vehicles may be configured to pass the tailpipe portion of the Smog Check inspection, but altered later to produce more emissions than allowed. This gave the previous program the reputation of passing vehicles which were "clean for a day," rather than clean until the vehicles' next Smog Check. Vehicles which were only "clean for a day" hindered California from meeting its clean air goals. Q: What do I need to know about engine modifications? A: In general, state and federal law prohibit modifications to your vehicle's emission control system. When repairing your vehicle, the emission-related parts used must be original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts or be replacements for the OEM parts, as specified by the part manufacturer. Modifications to your emissions controls are not acceptable unless the parts used are approved/exempted by the California Air Resources Board. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) grants exemptions in cases where the changes do not modify the performance of the emission controls in a way that causes an increase in emissions. CARB assigns the exempted parts an "executive order" (EO) number that may be used to verify acceptability. CARB provides a listing of EO exempted parts on the CARB website. Minor changes that do not affect the connectivity with or operation of other emission controls may be acceptable, for example, the installation of universal replacement hose in place of a preformed hose. Q: Can I change the engine in my vehicle? A: An engine change may not be performed if it degrades the effectiveness of a vehicle's emission control system. For more information, see BAR's Engine Change Guidelines. The following apply to any modifications or deviations from the original emission control configuration: • You must use Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) specification parts for use in your specific year, make, and model of vehicle. • The part must have an Executive Order (EO) number that shows it has been exempted by the California Air Resources Board for use in your vehicle. • The equipment used must be certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for use in your specific year, make, and model of vehicle. Check out the Bureau's "Engine Change Guidelines" brochure on this Web site for additional information. Q: What if I can't afford to repair my vehicle? A: Please see the fact sheet: Consumer Assistance Program Q: Do repairs I make to my vehicle count toward the $450 cost repair minimum? A: The only emissions-related repairs which count toward the $450 minimum are those completed by a licensed smog technician in a licensed smog station. Although BAR does not discourage the home mechanic from making the necessary emissions repairs to his or her vehicle, home repairs do not qualify as credit toward the $450 minimum. Q: Have California vehicle emissions standards changed? A: In 1996, BAR adjusted some standards to increase their fairness. As a result, some standards are slightly more stringent than they were previously and some are slightly more lenient than before. Updated emissions standards categories were created for many of the newer cars; the new groupings take into consideration the dramatic changes in automotive technology which have occurred during the past 15 years. California's emissions standards consider the model year, vehicle type, and gross vehicle weight. Older cars have looser standards than n ewer ones.No vehicle is ever held to a standard intended for a car which is newer or technologically more advanced, and allowance is made for normal wear and tear in a vehicle's emissions control system as it ages. In fact, Smog Check failure rates for all vehicles have decreased since the new guidelines were implemented. Q: How can I be sure a smog technician has had proper training? A: Technicians licensed by the Bureau to conduct emissions testing must meet very stringent requirements for education and experience and must pass a written qualification exam. Continuing education is required and advanced licensing is necessary for those technicians inspecting and repairing vehicles in Enhanced Areas (California's smoggiest urban areas). To be sure the individual inspecting or repairing your car is licensed, look at his or her license posted in the station. The license contains the technician's photograph. Licensing requirements cannot always ensure a technician's work ethic or product. Therefore, the Bureau of Automotive Repair's I/M Field Operations Division strictly monitors technicians and stations for fraudulent activities and takes legal action against those who are involved in such activities, including the revocation of licenses. In addition to licensing information, the Bureau of Automotive Repair issues a monthly newsletter, Auto Repair and Smog Check News, emphasizing technical and legal information about the Smog Check Program. This publication is received by approximately 36,000 individuals, including Smog Check station owners and technicians, and is also available on this Web site's General Information main tab from its Libraries menu item by following the link for Auto Repair and Smog Check News. Q: How can I be sure a Smog Check analyzer machine is accurate? A: All Smog Check inspection equipment must be BAR certified and in doing so meets stringent accuracy standards. Additionally, BAR certified Smog Check equipment requires calibration every three days. If the Smog Check equipment is not calibrated within that period of time, the equipment will not allow further tests until a full calibration is complete. In addition, if the equipment experiences any type of system failure, it will automatically lock out the technician from conducting further tests until a representative of the equipment manufacturer or the Bureau of Automotive Repair has identified and corrected any problems. These procedures apply to all BAR certified Smog Check equipment, whether the equipment is being used at a Smog Check station or at a Referee facility. Q: What if I go to the DMV to register my vehicle and my electronic Smog Certificate is not there? A: If you are going to register your car in person at a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) field office, be sure to bring your Vehicle Inspection Report (VIR) and any notices sent by the DMV with you. When you pay for a smog inspection at a licensed Smog Check station, they are required to give you a copy of the VIR generated by the Smog Check analyzer, which states whether your car passed or failed and the level of pollutants emitted. Located on the VIR is an identification number which will help the DMV track your electronic certificate. Q: I received a "Notice of Incomplete Registration" from the DMV requesting a smog certification. What do I do? A: The DMV sends this notice when it cannot locate a Smog Check certificate for your vehicle. You may do one of two things: • If you have not yet completed a Smog Check inspection, do so. Once DMV receives the electronic transmission, the DMV database will be updated and your registration and sticker will be issued. No further action is required on your part. • If you have already successfully completed a Smog Check inspection and 30 days have elapsed, contact DMV for additional instructions. Q: Is the Smog Check program biased against older vehicles? A: No. While California law requires the Smog Check program to focus on high-polluting vehicles, it does not discriminate based on vehicle age or a specific vehicle make or model. All types and model years of vehicles can be a high emitter, which is based on a comparison of each vehicle with similar makes, models and years. Furthermore, Smog Check does not require owners of "classic" or "older" vehicles to retrofit these vehicles to meet newer standards. BAR's emissions take into consideration the age, make and model of each vehicle. No vehicle is held to a more stringent standard than the standard which applied when the vehicle was new. Q: I am not sure that my smog test was done properly. Who do I call ? A: Call the Referee Scheduling Center at 1-800-622-7733 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to make an appointment. The Referee system assists consumers with concerns about smog test procedures and vehicle emission equipment requirements. In addition, Referees can issue limited parts exemptions and repair cost waivers, inspect vehicles incompatible with testing at smog stations and perform inspections for some Vehicle Code Violations. Q: My vehicle continues to fail inspection after repairs. What can I do? A: California law limits the amount of money required to be spent on repairs needed to pass a biennial Smog Check inspection to $450 minimum. If you have spent at least $450 on repairs at a Smog Check station and your vehicle continues to fail inspection, you may qualify for a Repair Cost Waiver. A Repair Cost Waiver postpones the certificate requirement and allows you to complete the vehicle registration renewal. The Repair Cost Waiver can only be issued by the State Referee. Please note that the repair cost limit only applies to the biennial Smog Check requirement and does not apply to the repair of tampered emission controls. A vehicle receiving a waiver must be fully repaired by the next Smog Check requirement. A waiver may only be issued once to an owner of a particular vehicle and may not be issued if a waiver was issued during the previous biennial inspection. The Consumer Assistance Program provides excellent repair options for low income motorists and motorists whose vehicle are directed to Test-Only stations for inspection. For more information, see the Consumer Assistance Program fact sheet. Q: How do I contact a Referee? A: Call the Referee Scheduling Center at 1-800-622-7733 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to make an appointment. Mondays are typically the busiest days. Some Referee Centers are also open on Saturdays. Q: Where does the money from the Smog Check go? A: There are more than 7,500 privately owned and operated Smog Check stations in California. The inspection and repair fees they charge are neither set nor collected by BAR. Rather, prices are set by market forces. The only money BAR receives is a portion of the $8.25 Smog Check Certificate fee. The $8.25 is an administrative fee for the Smog Check program and is deposited into the Department of Consumer Affairs' Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund. The fee funds research and development operations, engineering, administration, complaint mediation, enforcement, and public education necessary to run the Smog Check program. Q: Are pollution reductions achieved under Smog Check sold to big industry? A: Emissions reductions achieved as a result of the Smog Check program are not eligible for use as mobile source emission reduction credits and cannot be used as offsets for industrial sources of pollution. This is because those emission reductions are required by, and properly attributed to, the Smog Check program, and therefore do not qualify as "surplus" pollution reductions available for trade. Smog Check emissions reductions are required by federal and state law and are an important part of California's overall effort to achieve healthier air. Q: What would be the repercussions if the Enhanced Smog Check Program was repealed? A: This program has been officially approved by the USEPA as meeting federal Clean Air Act requirements. The state's failure to meet federal Clean Air Act requirements would, among other potential penalties, jeopardize California's receipt of billions of dollars in federal funds. As a result of the major public health hazard caused by smog-forming emissions, Congress passed the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and in so doing, required that California enact new laws to further reduce the pollutants in our air, especially those generated from automobile combustion. An advanced vehicle emissions control program is required by the federal government and has been implemented to achieve state and federal clean air objectives. AB 2018 (Katz), SB 521 (Presley), and SB 198 (Kopp) were enacted by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Wilson in 1994, creating California's enhanced emissions inspection and maintenance (Smog Check) program. A primary purpose of Smog Check is to identify and fix the small percentage of vehicles responsible for the vast majority of excess pollution. Source: BAR Website Smog Check Services said... Smog check is really for car lovers, if you care for your car, smog check is big win win. CARB approval is a crock. I can install parts that reduce my tailpipe emissions dramatically, but because those parts do not have a CARB exemption number, I still fail the inspection. That is ridiculous.
A nanostructured gate dielectric may have addressed the most significant obstacle to expanding the use of organic semiconductors for thin-film transistors. The structure, composed of a fluoropolymer layer followed by a nanolaminate made from two metal oxide materials, serves as gate dielectric and protects the organic semiconductor - which had previously been vulnerable to damage from the ambient environment.
Tag Archives: lunch WIAW – Recap Post Hi Guys. I think it was cold out last time I did one of these posts so I thought I’d share with you what I ate yesterday. So, while today is definitely Thursday, we’ll still call it “What I Ate Wednesday,” because it’s actually what I ate on Wednesday 🙂 Boy guys, Wednesday sure was A DAY. Like one of those days that moved so quickly it makes your head spin but moved so slow you constantly found yourself checking what time it was. Wednesday morning actually started out slow. I woke up at 5:05am without an alarm and decided that instead of waiting until 6:15am to go to bootcamp, I’d just go to the gym and take it easy on the elliptical with some good ‘ole Netflix. Currently switching between Grace and Frankie and House of Cards. Who else watches?! Because I went to the gym an hour earlier than normal, I actually had time to cook a breakfast I hadn’t had in what felt like decades…Anne’s Banana Pancake! I never seem to have ground flax when I make it but I had garbanzo bean flour so I gave that a try and it was perfect. I topped my pancake with fresh blueberries, my homemade whole milk yogurt, and peanut butter. Hit. The. Spot. 🙂 Enjoyed with black coffee! By the time I arrived to work, it had been almost 3 hours since I had my pancake and I was craving something sweet. I listened to my body, and treated myself to a donut. No shame at all. Enjoyed with the rest of my coffee. Then I was off to a meeting that would end up being the longest meeting of my life. 2.5 hours later, my body was screaming, feed me! It was lunch time. I like to eat as many veggies at lunch as I can to fill up, and I love that the cafe at our hospital has these amazing veggie salads every day that employees can purchase for .91 cents. Lately, I’ve been bouncing between the broccoli bacon salad or the kale salad. Today was broccoli bacon day! I paired the salad with some leftovers: pulled pork (this recipe + BBQ sauce) + sweet potato + cabbage / spinach salad. So good. I’m a snacker and today was no different. I got hungry multiple times throughout the afternoon. First were these “banana cookies.” Recipe included only 4 ingredients too! Banana, nut butter, chocolate chips, and oats. Definitely more granola-y than cookie like, but it still tasted good. Next was a giant container of blueberries and cherries. Who else loves summer fruit? Still feeling hungry around 4, I had about 10 whole wheat crackers to tide me over. I probably should have spread peanut butter on them… regrets 🙂 Then, a once and a blue moon treat for me, a coke zero. I gave up soda cold turkey a few years ago and rarely crave it now. I usually only want a few sips and that’s what went down here. I put the rest in the fridge and might drink more later in the week. Dinner was late because I work late on Wednesdays. I had to drop off something at my parent’s house so in good fashion, I raided their fridge. Veggie, chicken and feta wrap + chips. And because it’s impossible to end the day without chocolate, chocolate. This dark chocolate and orange bar I bought recently. Chocolate paired with a guilty pleasure of mine, Pretty Little Liars. Anyone else watch? So that was my day. Ever have a day where you can’t seem to stop eating? I eat when I’m hungry and I was hungry far often than normal Tagged , , , , , , , , , %d bloggers like this:
Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The fugue's theme (or subject), presented in musical notation of its first 4 1/2 bars Fugue in G minor, BWV 578, (popularly known as the Little Fugue), is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach during his years at Arnstadt (1703–1707). It is one of Bach's best known fugues and has been arranged for other voices, including an orchestral version by Leopold Stokowski.[1] Early editors of Bach's work attached this title to distinguish it from the later Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, which is longer in duration. The fugue's four-and-a-half measure subject is one of Bach's most recognizable tunes. The fugue is in four voices. During the episodes, Bach uses one of Arcangelo Corelli's most famous techniques: imitation between two voices on an eighth note upbeat figure that first leaps up a fourth and then falls back down one step at a time.[2] 1. ^ Kimberly Marshall, "Bach on the organ", Early Music (2008) 36 (4): 661–664. doi:10.1093/em/can100 2. ^ Schnorr, K. (de) (2001). "Litanei und Ostinato in Bachs Passacaglia c-moll BWV 582." Anuario Musical, 0(56): 163–172, p. 167 External links[edit]
Rupert Murdoch Plans To Hide His Sites From Google, The World Yawns The media today is widely reporting an excerpt from Rupert Murdoch's interview with Sky News Australia, in which he says he plans to make News Corp sites invisible to Google's search engine. While Murdoch has been on the verge of saying that for quite a while now, this is the first time he actually uttered it. But one has to listen to the entire interview to understand that Murdoch is not quite clear about what, exactly, he plans to do, and even if he is, it doesn't make much sense. You can see the interview below, but I'll hightlight several interesting points which show just how imprecise and confusing Murdoch's plans sound. Early in the interview he says the following: "There are no websites, news websites or blog sites anywhere in the world today making any serious money. Some maybe break even, or make a couple of million." This is one rich media mogul talking right there. I don't have to explain it to you, folks: breaking even or making a couple of million is not the same. It's an important sentence because it shows that Murdoch is not only interested in making money; he's interested in making obnoxious amounts of money. And we're supposed to pay for it. He then makes the argument that it's better to have quality audience, willing to pay for their news, than having just everyone coming to their sites, by which he refers to people finding articles on one of his sites via search engines such as Google. "We'd rather have fewer people coming to our websites, but paying." Fair enough. Let us know how that went in a couple of years. It proves that Murdoch is sticking with the old model of how news and information is disseminated, and doesn't plan to change it. The problem is, things don't work the way they used to any more. Sometimes, a visitor will come to a news site or a blog and won't even know where he is; he might think he's still on Facebook or MySpace. And he won't be interested in anything on the site except that tiny bit of information that made him click on the link. Sometimes, the conversation will develop around your article, but not on your site; it may develop on Twitter or Digg. As a site owner, you have to adapt to this. If you plan to just ditch all these visitors, claiming they're all worthless, you might end up with an empty auditorium. Here's the most important bit, in which Murdoch replies to whether he plans to block sites from being seen by search engines: “I think we will. But that’s when we'll start charging. We do it already with the Wall Street Journal. We have a wall, but it’s not right to the ceiling. You can get the first paragraph of any story but if you’re not a paying subscriber to, you get a paragraph and a subscription form.” I honestly can't understand what's his plan here. If he plans to charge for websites, why hide them from the search engines? If you can't actually read the content without paying, then making the content at least partly accessible to Google and other search engines can't hurt? In fact, the WSJ that he mentions as an example isn't hidden from Google's indexes, you can easily find Wall Street Journal articles via Google. This is just one part of the quite lengthy interview, but it all boils down to this: Mr. Murdoch is not ready to accept any of the changes brought forth by the Internet and the social media movement. Moreover, he doesn't seem to understand how some parts of it work. He's got the manpower to announce a war, but I'm afraid his army will be fighting windmills.
Spiritually deaf? What is the number? The total number of human beings who have put faith in Jesus Christ teachings since he walked the Earth? Even a simple google check, or a random internet scholars guess would be a large sum indeed. Now factoring the different variation, total sum, and amount of faith each individual held during their walk on the Earth, is a more daunting equation to take a stab at. Simply looking around us nowaday, it gets very complicated to even try a guess at who still believes in a designer, creator, and giver of life. What percentage of humanity will never believed at all? (John 6:44) How many are in denial of Gods calling within them? Over time, have they simply gotten really good at ignoring their spiritual needs? What are they doing to drown out this call? or How are they attempting to replace it?How many hear the call quite clearly and simply make peace with it being around and no further action is taken on their part,ever? Basically, what hope is there for the spiritually deaf? Many an overzealous Christian would simply dismiss these secular masses with a simple man-made catchphrase such as ‘Each one reach one’ or ‘They aren’t worthy.’ During our walk with Jesus, many of us have learned through experience that this life, as it is, holds many a different season for all of us. We go through seasons in our lives where it almost seems that we are in a literal spiritual paradise and everything around our lives, especially as regards our relationship with God, is as perfect as it can get. The season suddenly and sometimes even violently turns for the worst and we are bucked in place. Occasionally tossed out of that spiritual paradise altogether. Our reaction to these sudden spiritual startlements varies by not only faith, but experience as well. Both our own experience and that shared by others. Now, what if there is NO experience to grasp at? (John 17:3, 1 Timothy 2:3,4) (Romans 12:12) What if all we have is a small grain of faith and hope that, maybe, just maybe, there IS a God that can help, yet we have no clear path to follow? Should the spiritually deaf be left to their own fortune in life? We know full well that there are those invisible agents who delight in just this outcome. Jesus Christ himself cleared up this process called life for us and cleared up exactly what his followers were up against and who would be HIS agents of truth and hope (Matthew 28:19,20) (James 5:20). Let us all prepare ourselves to not only defend our faith, but more importantly share it with all who will listen. Author: My Christian Freedom I am a minister of 31 years and devout Bible student. I believe the message in the Bible is a book that is much shorter and simpler to understand than many best-selling series are, and can be embraced by any and all who properly prepare their heart for the journey of spiritual knowledge. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Five Historical Trends Favoring Trump, Five For Clinton From the 3 in a row to the Friendly Prez to the Locked in the Cabinet to the 3rd party omen, we give everyone something to feel good about and something to feel bad about based on history and past American elections. We look at five historical trends which over American elections favor Trump and those that favor Hillary Clinton.
33 terms 1145 presentations pupil size & shape 1. patient looks at you & you assess size & shape 2. compare to pupil gauge = normal is 2-6 mm Abnormal = mitosis < 2 (eye drops), mydriasis >6 (drops, midbrain lesions, hypoxia, oculomotor damage); oval pupils (head injury, intracranial hemorrhage or pressure); aniscoria=unequal (congenital, medication, SNS or PNS destruction, eye surgery or trauma) Reaction to light/consensual reaction (CN?) 1. dim lights & have them focus across the room 2. move penlight from outer edge of eye & then move into one eye and then the other 3. assess for change in size of both pupils Abnormal = dysfunction of oculomotor nerve CN III or a mass in the brain; fixed or dilated=herniation of the medial temporal lobe Accommodation (CN?) 1. patient focus on something in distance 2. Then patients focus on something close distance = dilation; close = constrict confrontation test 1. patient & nurse hold card over same eye, stand 2-3 feet apart. 2. move finger or pencil from periphery to median & when can patient see it? Normal = 50-90° Abnormal = if they can't see it same as you then peripheral field loss. if 20° or less then legally blind Extraocular Muscle movement (CN?) 1. stand in front of patient 10"-12". have them follow your finger, with their eyes, while moving to 6 points. Abnormal = Nystagmus (involuntary movement of eye) or ptosis (drooping eye lid, caused by abnormal function of CN III) Hirschberg test (corneal reflex test) Test for strabismus (ocular misalignment) 1. patient stares straight ahead, nurse shines light at bridge of nose (12-15") & light should be reflected symmetrically in eyes. Abnormal = asymmetrical --> weak extraocular muscles Rinne test 1. Place vibrating tuning fork on mastoid bone (behind ear). Have patient say when they can no longer hear & then place fork just outside ear and have them say when they can no longer hear Normal = longer air conduction than bone 2:1 Abnormal = BC > AC which means hearing loss. It will be sensorneural loss if AC > BC but less than 2:1 Weber's test 1. place tuning fork on top of head, midline, & ask which ear the sound is heard louder. Normal = heard equally Abnormal = if defective ear hears louder → conductive hearing loss. If unaffected ear hears louder → sensor-neural hear loss on the defective ear Transillumination of the sinus area Test when patient has sinus pain or congestion 1. darken room. shine light patrol to nose & midline to eye & you should see illumination on palate of mouth 2. shine light on supraorbital rim of eye and you should see illumination above eyebrows Abnormal = sinus congestion, tumor or other blockage Sensation of light touch 1. have patient close their eyes and lightly swipe cotton over 3 areas on both sides of the face (anterior scalp, paranasal & jaw) Abnormal = ↓ or unequal sensation which may indicate nerve damage 1. place your finger on the joint & have patient open & close their mouth Abnormal = clicking with pain??? Tinel's sign 1. Tap firmly on palmer surface of the wrist where the median nerve passes thru the carpal tunnel Abnormal = tingling sensation or pain → carpal tunnel syndrome Phalen's test 1. Patient presses dorsal surface of both hands together for 1 minute. Abnormal = numbness, paresthesia or pain → carpal tunnel syndrome goniometer: Elbow joint Purpose: used to measure ROM Abnormal = rheumatoid arthritis; tenderness with pronation or supination or lateral side = tendonitis or epicondylitis (tennis elbow); medial side tenderness = medial tendonitis (golfer's elbow) Romberg's test purpose: cerebellar function 1. patient stands with feet together, arms at their side, eyes open & then closed Abnormal: patient sways with eyes opened & closed. Causes = stroke, parkinson's or inner ear problems Cerebellar function in LE: balance & coordination tests for balance & coordination - patient closes eyes & stands on 1 foot, then the other. S/B able to maintain for 5 seconds. - hop on 1 foot, deep knee bends or walk on toes & heels Coordination: patient is supine & drag heel from knee to ankle Abnormal = cerebellar tumors, stroke, Parkinson's or inner ear problems Two-point discrimination 1. Patient has eye closed & can they distinguish between one point or two, alternate touching Abnormal = impairment of sensory (afferent nerves) or parietal lobe Thomas test Purpose: evaluate flexion contractures of the hip 1. patient is supine, bring flexed knee to chest. other leg should remain on table. Abnormal: other leg lifts → hip flexion contracture. tightness of psoas muscle Straight leg raise test (CN?) Purpose: evaluate for nerve root irritation or lumbar disk herniation 1. patient is supine, raise one leg (keep knee straight), may feel tightness in hamstring but no pain) Abnormal = sciatic nerve impingement, pressure on peripheral nerve. Rapid alternating movements (coordination) Patient rapidly pronates & supinates hands while touching thighs Abnormal = Dysdiadochokinesia, caused by lesions to the cerebellum, MS Achilles reflex 1. Place one hand under the sole & dorsiflex the foot. Then strike the Achilles tendon. Normal = causes plantar flexion of foot (contraction os gastrocnemius muscle) Abnormal: Diabetes, abnormal muscles, sensory neurons, lower motor neurons & neuromuscular junction, Reflex: graded on scale of 0-4 Babinski's reflex Start at lateral aspect of foot (near the heel) and stroke upwards & over to the medial aspect Normal = plantar flexion of all toes Abnormal = dorsiflexion of great toe with fanning of other toes → upper motor neuron, like a spinal cord injury or stroke DTR: Brachioradial reflex (SN?) C5 & C6 Hold arm with hand slightly pronated, tap the brachioradialis tendon 1-2 inches above the wrist. Normal = muscle contraction in the forearm Abnormal = hyperactive → stroke/head injury, Lou Gerhig, MS or hypoactive → trauma to a nerve or herniated disk in the back DTR: Patellar reflex (SN?) L2, L3, L4 tap patellar tendon Normal = contraction of quadriceps muscle DTR: Biceps Reflex (SN?) C5 & C6 hold patient's arm elbow flexed, thumb over biceps Normal: contraction of bicep muscle causing visible or palpable flexion of elbow DTR: Triceps reflex (SN?) C6, C7 & C8 hold patients arm at elbow, with hand hanging freely & strike triceps tendon Normal = contractions of triceps muscle causing visible or palpable extension of elbow McMurray's test Purpose: evaluate the presence of damage to medial or lateral meniscus of the knee 1. Patient is supine, place thumb & index finger on either side of flexed knee. Raise leg parallel to table & rotate knee externally (test lateral) and internally (test medial) Abnormal = damage to medial or lateral meniscus Bulge sign Milk medial aspect & immediately tap lateral side of patella. Abnormal = fluid wave/bulge → accumulation of exudate as part of inflammatory process, such as osteoarthritis Lower Extremities for Vibratory Neuropathy Patient close eyes, strike tuning fork & place on bony area. ask when they 1st feel sensation & when stops Abnormal = unequal sensation or absent sensation → nerve damage, DM, CVA or spinal cord injury Kernig's sign 1. flex patient's legs at hip and knee, then extending the knee, while supine Abnormal = pain along vertebral column → irritation of meninges. meningitis or subarachnoid hemorrhage Brudzinski's sign 1. flex patient's neck toward chest, while supine Abnormal = pain along vertebral column & passively flexes the hip & knee (knees bend reflex) → meningitis or subarachnoid hemorrhage Glasgow coma scale Purpose: documents LOC 1. eye opening response 2. best verbal response 3. best motor response Normal = 15 score Abnormal = 3-8 is coma Cerebellar function: UE (4 tests) 1. Alternating finger movements to thumb 2. Rapid alternating hand pronation/supination 3. Rapid alternating nose touching 4. Rapid movement of index finger from nose to examiner's finger Abnormal = cerebellar tumors, stroke, Parkinson's or inner ear problems
A Perversion of Ethnic Identity Their question was: Óbat alâ nang Poéta Laureádung Kapampángan? “Why aren’t there anymore Kapampangan Poet Laureates?”I counter with another question: Nínu pa uárîng Kapampángan ing kukudtâ kng saríli nang salítâ? “What Kapampangan still writes poetry in his own language?” Or if I should put it more bluntly, my question would be: Atin pa uáring Kapampángan a biásing sumúlat ampong mamásâ kng Amánu nang Sísuan? “Are there still Kapampangans who can still read and write in their own native language?” The sad truth is, there are no new Kapampángan Poet Laureates because for the past thirty years the Kapampángan people have become illiterate in their own language. The younger generation hardly even speak it. The Kapampángan language is not taught in schools within his own homeland. The Kapampangan ethno-linguistic group is probably the most culturally self-repressed of all lowland Philippine groups. What ethnic group in Philippines, and the world for that matter, would be slapped with a fine every time their language is spoken within the learning institutions of their homeland? Kapampangan students pay up to PHP 5.00 every time they speak Kapampangan in schools… What ethnic group would put up a sign in his radio station that reads “No Smoking! No Kapampangan!”? What ethnic group would consider his own language non-intellectual, unsophisticated and uncultured and therefore unfit to be used in the classroom or in the workplace? What married couple, both Kapampángan speakers, would raise a child that speaks a language different from his own parents’? The list of aberrations is endless. How would one expect the new crop of Kapampángans, non-proficient and illiterate as they are in their own language, to suddenly produce from among themselves a literary master in the Amánung Sísuan? Sadly, the list of aberrations is indeed never ending. For their solution to the question as to why there aren’t anymore Poet Laureates in the Amánung Sísuan is, “Let us have a poetry contest and crown the winner Poéta Laureádo!” Let us not discuss their authority to crown a Poet Laureate. Let us not even talk about the criteria that make a Poet Laureate. Let us discuss instead the logic of their answer. If the reason for not having any new literary masters in the Kapampángan language is that the Kapampángan people now are illiterate in it, and that they are illiterate in it because they are cultural repression reign supreme in their homeland, then, what good would a damn poetry contest do to solve this problem? I guess that abominable sign “No Smoking! No Kapampangan!” will be there to stay for all eternity. Siuala ding Meangubie Ligligan para karing Poeta at Deklamador king Amanung Sisuan K [The Kapampangan Magazine], June 2004 ~ by siuala on 2006/08/28. One Response to “A Perversion of Ethnic Identity” 1. Matikding Mike, Pagmaragul na ka ning Balen Kapampangan. Makalista naka king bulung ning istorya ning diwang Kapampangan king pusu mu at kaladwa. Lwid ka king balang parasan mu! Salamat karing miragdag kung belwan king kekatamung Lalawigan. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
This is way random but we had to share. I, myself, have never experienced a VietNamese school life past Kindergarten, but somehow I have this huge white Ao-dai fetish. It’s not so much the attire that gets me but the whole vision of what’s usually associated with the uniform: a group of friends hanging out together under a certain campus tree, leisurely walking home while snacking on street-stall foods, chicken fighting with Hoa Phuong stamens…all that corny stuff one probably wouldn’t appreciate until it has either past or ..well in my case, never getting to personally live through it. However, second-hand experiencing it through Dong Nhi & Baggio in “Thu Ba Hoc Tro” wasn’t so bad either. 😛 Anyway, what I originally wanted to share is some scenic photos of Hanoi school campuses drenched in the symbolic white Hoa Sua (Alstonia angustiloba aka Pulai tree) blossoms from this early Spring. Along with Hoa Giay (Paper flowers/Bougainvillea) and Hoa Phuong (Delonix Regia), Hoa Sua is also commonly associated to the traditional campus sights in VietNam (primarily HaNoi). “Hoa sua” (milk flowers) are to Hanoi what magnolias are to the southern US; their fragrance is quintessential to the city, written about by poets and longed for those who are far from home. Milk flower trees line the city streets and infuse the cool night air with a tart-sweet fragrance when they bloom in mid-fall/spring. (from an online comment by peaseblossom)
Code creator 6 freelancers are bidding on average €176 for this job €275 EUR w ciągu 2 dni (109 Ocen) €155 EUR w ciągu 3 dni (27 Ocen) €177 EUR w ciągu 12 dni (36 Ocen) €34 EUR w ciągu 0 dni (8 Ocen) €200 EUR w ciągu 6 dni (0 Ocen) Greetings from [url removed, login to view]! My name is Aashi Mistry and we are headquartered in California with a strong development team in Bangalore, Toronto, Milan and London. Why Choose us? - We provide free demo fo Więcej €194 EUR w ciągu 7 dni (1 Ocena) Hello, I'm able to create the feature you're looking for (silentaim /pSilent) and many more I've great experience in the field of source engine and sdk Bypassing VAC with ease We can discuss your budget and if Więcej €222 EUR w ciągu 5 dni (0 Ocen)
11/26/2008 05:12 am ET Updated May 25, 2011 GOP Sends Out "Rape" Comic Book Mailer For Coleman AMERICAblog reader JW writes: I got a self-mailer from the NRSC [National Republican Senatorial Committee] today. My wife and I have 3 small boys under 6 years old. So when I saw the cartoon cover that says "Come on in kids..." then talks about rape with a little girl on the opposite page you can guess my utter disgust. How sick are the Republicans? Creating a children's book talking about rape, and then sending it to Minnesota's children, all on behalf of Norm Coleman. So much for Coleman claiming the negative advertising was going to stop. (Then again, Coleman was at a rally last week where Obama was compared to mass murderer Charles Manson.) But making sleazy campaign literature look like a children's book, then sending it unwrapped into Minnesotans' homes so their kids can find it. Not very Senatorial. Read more on Americablog
Examine This Report on Eye Problem: Pink Eyes 3 thirty day period outdated buff orphington pullet began maintaining eyes shut alot but seemed or else good. Would open eyes to try to eat or when she ran into something. … Entropion: Entropion is an issue that causes the eyelid to turn inwards. This is much more popular amongst Syrian and dwarf breeds that have a rex curly haired coat. Each viral and bacterial conjunctivitis can take place coupled with colds or signs of a respiratory infection, like a sore throat. Sporting Get in touch with lenses that are not cleaned correctly or usually are not your individual might cause bacterial conjunctivitis. If you can find some thing Erroneous with the horse's eye, you can normally convey to that some thing bothering him. Should your horse is performing unusually or for those who suspect your horse has an eye fixed trouble, get healthcare focus. Hens are more unlikely to combat, nevertheless it takes place. Within a rooster flock, every time a member turns into sick, weak or wounded, other flock associates from curiosity or survival instincts might peck mercilessly at it, resulting in far more harm, and possible Loss of life. Unsuccessful predator assaults may perhaps end in eye problems. (This suggestion doesn't apply to Ladies who develop gestational diabetes, due to the fact they aren't at risk for retinopathy.) The inward turned eyelid can cause an irritation, reduced eyesight and too much tearing and suffering. This ailment will most likely demand a journey on the vet. Eye drops and ointments like Neobacimyx may be prescribed and often surgery is necessary. Birds can experience many different eye Ailments. They can be due to a watch injuries, or maybe an infection to the area. Occasionally, eye Conditions are indications of another fundamental health care difficulty. Early treatment method might get the tear glands to improve tear generation. If treatment method is not really started off quickly ample, the tear glands will never respond. Then it's important To place artificial tears in the eyes quite a few times a day the remainder of the Pet dog’s life. "Pet dog eye complications are rather popular and can result in signs and symptoms starting from gentle irritation or conjunctivitis to blindness, ocular tumors and eye decline. The highest a few eye health conditions in pet dogs are corneal abrasions, keratoconjunctivitis sicca (canine dry eye) and glaucoma. The cornea will be the outermost layer of the attention, so it's subjected to harm from standard dog behaviors including exploring when outdoors. Bacterial bacterial infections from the conjuncytiva or cornea (conjunctivitis and keratitis respectively) will bring about eye redness, and mucous eye discharge, Canine conjunctivitis may also result in swollen eyelids and too much redness within the eyelid. Nobody knows exactly what number of Youngsters get conjunctivitis on a yearly basis but your physician treats a lot of that have it and may spot it very immediately. The doctor also will inquire you If the eyes have been crimson and itchy recently or In case you have observed any goopy stuff in your eyes. Conjunctivitis, a standard eye problem, is normally attributable to bacteria and will be discovered as purple and swollen eyelids, and will cause photosensitivity (avoidance of sunshine) inside the chook. Conjunctivitis can be a symptom of many other healthcare difficulties, together with respiratory bacterial infections. To begin to see the eye in larger element, the vet will use an ophthalmoscope which has a number of lens to magnify each the area and the further chamber of the attention.[one] To perform a radical eye Test, the vet might require to dilate your horse's eyes. Even use this link nevertheless, this kind of handicapped chicken could possibly be envisioned to be picked on and bullied by other users with the flock. Becoming permitted usage of plenty of food by the remainder of the flock just isn't guaranteed, so ensuring that a partly blind hen isn’t slowly starving to Dying is vital. Leave a Reply
January 20, 2018 Looking for the past He could be found on Elizabeth Mall in the centre of Hobart any weekday afternoon, lost and lonely looking for the past. David Mooney had retired from his position as horse racing writer on the Chronicle a year previously and didn’t know what to do with himself during the afternoons and evenings when the horses were not running at Hobart’s track. Horse racing, in fact, held little interest for him, something he had discovered the day he walked down the stairs of the Chronicle building, never to return. He had not wanted to retire and the move had been forced on him. David Mooney had never been the same since his mother had died a few years previously, the mother he had shared a house with for his entire 63 years up until the time he found her dead in bed. And for most of this time, certainly from the time he started work as a young clerk in the newspaper’s racing department, Mooney had had two homes and two families: the cluttered racing desk, in a cramped corner of the Chronicle newsroom were friends and colleagues came and went day by day, and his mother’s modest, three-bedroomed home in Hobart’s northern suburbs a short bus ride from the Chronicle headquarters. Mooney said he had never wanted a wife and a family of his own. Girls from a romantic point of view held no interest for him, they got in the way of his racing, and his study each evening of the form guide. He had his mother and his family, the newsroom, and that was enough for him. Mooney in the entire 45 years he had worked for the Chronicle had cut a portly, bumbling figure in the style of the American comedian who pre-dated him, W C Fields. He spoke like Fields, too; slow and ponderous like his gait, dishing out wit and puns as he threaded his sentences together. Generations of reporters and sub-editors said he would have made a great husband and father, and grandfather. His avuncular air would have lent itself to being a perfect uncle but he did not have brothers and sisters with children to be an uncle to. David Mooney paced the ElizabethMall most afternoons, strolling its entire pedestrian length until it because the Hobart bus station at its southern end, on the corner near where the grand art deco façade of the Chronicle building stood. In days gone by, David Mooney and those like him wanting to connect with former colleagues from times past would have merely strolled into the office for a chat. But security checks, the issuing of identity cards strung round the neck, made it easy for receptionists to decline entry. Initially David Mooney did not need a card at all, he was known to the receptionist who just waved him through the doors that led to the lift, that in turn led to the first-floor newsroom. Mooney, however, had become a nuisance, had interrupted colleagues who were trying to get on with their work, to edit or write stories. They had no time for chit-chat about the past, because David Mooney did not have a future. His life had been bound inseparably with not so much racing but the life of the Chronicle and the lives of its combined staff. Not only did Mooney have increasing difficulty engaging with staff within the Chronicle building, he now found it increasingly difficult to meet them on the street. He’d say to himself “They must be working hard these days, with no time for coffee breaks and trips to the pub” as he pounded the streets, from end to end of the mall looking for his friends from the past. In truth, the Chronicle staff avoided him. Slowly the good will and bonhomie had evaporated. What’s more Mooney had not just become a bore, recalling time and again events that had happened in the past, of picking winners for the staff, and losers. Also concern about his deteriorating appearance, the soup stains on his once dry-cleaned silk ties, his once impeccably ironed shirts caused disquiet among staff. It was not enough, though, for them to cross to the other side of the street, to feel embarrassed in his company, until David Mooney didn’t bother to dress at all to come into town from the northern suburbs. Increasingly he was seen in pyjamas and slippers looking for his former friends in the ElizabethMall. Finally the staff of the Chronicle stopped going into the mall and took elaborate detours to reach where they were going, the coffee shops and restaurants on adjoining streets. It would not have occurred to David Mooney to look there for his former colleagues. Speak Your Mind
Monday, May 26, 2008 Niagara Butterfly Conservatory was cool I had already been to the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory once a few years ago and it wasn't too memorable. I remember a few neat butterflies but I can't say I was very impressed. I went again an Victoria Day and this time I was very impressed. There were countless butterflies and moths and they were all over the place. Many had very interesting iridescent colours, and some were quite big. It wasn't hard to get close to them, and surprisingly it wasn't even hard to take photos. Plus there was the rainforest with various interesting plants, and a black and seemingly metallic green poison dart frog in a display case. Here are some of my photos: Sunday, May 25, 2008 Birds at Pt. Pelee May brings many birds to Pt. Pelee National Park. The park is a point jutting into Lake Erie and it serves as a natural pathway for migrating birds. The whole forest is then full of birdsong like nowhere else I've been. The birds themselves are somewhat more elusive, but it's still pretty easy to spot many. Lots of people come to photograph birds with tripods and expensive zoom lenses. I just have an Olympus C-770 digicam with 10x optical zoom, and before I felt I couldn't take decent photos of birds. They're too far to fill the frame, they often flee before I can take a photo, and it might be too dim for zoom in the forest. Now I accepted that they wouldn't fill the frame, taking photos even if they were far. I set "drive" to high speed, so I take a quick series of photos, with the hope that some wouldn't be blurred. When I got home I selected the best images and generally just cropped them with Jpegcrop. I used to feel that birdwatching and serious bird photography was kind of weird, intellectualizing something that's simply fun to see, and through that somewhat ruining it. Through doing this and being among birdwatchers, it seems I might have been wrong; it doesn't seem like it makes birds less enjoyable. I guess it might even facilitate longer focus on the enjoyable input and so create more enjoyment of it. Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Why I dislike dogs I can't say I dislike dogs themselves. I've had plenty of good experiences with my cousin's dog for example. However, what dogs are allowed to do in society is entirely unreasonable. At a park or a trail a stranger's dog might stick its nose anywhere it can reach on you or on your belongings. It might even sniff your crotch. It can also try to climb or hump your legs. Yes, it might be called normal but if you think about it without the "dogs are like that" prejudice, it's clearly a very unreasonable invasion of personal space. Imagine the criminal charges and newspaper articles if a person did that. So, why is it acceptable to have a person permit a dog to do that? Even wild animals don't! When I'm with a person who finds this behaviour highly disturbing, that's even worse. Hearing someone I know and care about freaking out because of a dog is unpleasant. However, the dog owners in such situations often don't seem to care, and they sometimes even laugh about it. Dog shit is another issue. Why is it reasonable for dogs to shit on a trail or sidewalk? Again, imagine if you saw a human doing it and note that even wild animals don't generally do that. Can't they do it somewhere humans don't walk all the time? The main problem here is the people who don't clean up after the dog. Nanaimo was the worst; based on what I've seen I could call it the dog shit capital of the world. However, most cities have plenty of dog shit lying around. That stuff is a pain to clean off shoes. Meanwhile, dog owners just get a small fine if they get caught, which is very unlikely. I've actually seen places where littering fines were higher than dog shit fines, which is totally unreasonable when you consider how much worse dog shit is than typical litter. Dogs are even annoying with the noise they make. Some dogs which are stuck in yards can bark loudly for a very long time when someone's passing by on the street. It's pretty much the loudest sound one can hear in a residential area. Once again, the way it's tolerated seems quite unreasonable. Perhaps the most important thing to note is that people have many other pets, and none are quite as annoying to strangers as dogs. Nothing else will regularly approach you while you're outside and bother you or make loud noises as you pass by. Some pets might bother you in someone's house, but that's different.
Saturday, October 15, 2011 Digging down through the layers: Stratigraphy at Parc Safari Week Three for Team Danger was pretty exciting. After locating Magic's remains in a test pit during our second excavation, we arrived at the field eager to see exactly what Group B had been able to uncover. We were not disappointed. After several minutes of bailing foul smelling water out of the elephant pit, we went to work on the task of freeing the skull from the ground. Our first goal of the day was to locate the midpoint of the cranium. After about an hour without success, we started being concerned if we would be able to remove the skull the next week if we hadn't even hit the half way mark yet! Colin was eventually able to expose it, but time was running out. While the midpoint debacle was unfolding, other team members were hard at work expanding the pit and getting as much dirt out of there as possible. Anna and Manu expanded the pit by approximately 50cm so we could uncover the mandible and tusks. Success! As the day was coming to an end, we knew we were not even close to getting the skull ready to be removed, but we had made a considerable amount of progress. By 4:15, most of the team hit a wall of lethargy. Snack time had been scarified because of excitement, and because of time constraints. If there is one lesson to be learned, it is to never skip snack time. As we get deeper into the excavation (pun intended,) we're starting to learn more about other methodological aspects of archaeology. For one, we're looking more closely at stratigraphy. In methodology classes, the common example of stratigraphy is a cross-section of a million years of dirt. The illistrations always show stone tools, ritual artifacts, and several storage pits intruding very clearly into another strata. Our site has none of these exciting features, but stratigraphy can come in very handy. For example, a thick, heavy clay layer that appears to be uninterupted means that we will not find any graves below it. The largest and most common strata we have found is a mixed, dark soil. This can mean that the area has been disturbed from the process of opening and closing graves. The third layer is organic trash that was buried by the zoo. There appear to have been large and small deposits of this material, which are an instant indication that there has been human activity. However, we have learned that organic trash is not an automatic indication of a grave. Layers are more than just an indication of activity, they can tell you a lot about an area - if you're willing to listen. Roskams talks about the kinds of relationships that strata can have. For one, they can relate to their immediate neighbor and indicate changes that happened when one layer ends and the next one starts. Secondly, what he calls the "true stratigraphic relationship," is the chronological order(Roskams, 155).This can show the history of what has occurred and more importantly in what order. The final kind of relationship, is how layers correlate. A layer my have been interrupted or two layers may almost be the exact same, but are not physically connected. Looking at these connections can be informative and crucial to understanding a site. However, as Roskams notes, it can be problematic to make correlations without 100% proof they are connected. In our excavation, we're making connections between patches of organic waste or black soil we find in a persue of graves. The organic waste may have been depositied at different times, but it has the same meaning to us whenever we find it; people dug a hole and deposited it, which mean they may have buried an animal too. Moreover, the clay layer indicates to us that we can probably stop digging there. At the back of Magic's head, a uniform clay area is becoming more exposed on the side wall. Colin has noted this could indicated the extremity of grave, but it could also just be a large clay deposit marbled into the other kinds of soil. Furthermore, when considering stratigraphy, we need to include or exclude certain factors. In human archaeology, there is sometimes an exclusion of any non-human finds (Roskams, 180). In our case, we are doing the opposite. Mountain Dew cans, two-by-fours, and pottery shards are tossed aside to excavate the fauna! Lastly, Roskams, highlights the importance of the "grave complex". Why was the individual buried that why and why? As we continue the excavation, we will learn more about the orientation of Magic's body and other factors, but for now we do know that h/she was in a mass grave because we have found a small scapula near the skull. Why is it there? The plot thickens, and only more excavation will tell us the answers! No comments:
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Benefits of Matcha Tea (Green Tea Powder) Matcha is green tea or more specifically, a powdered green tea, more concentrated than the tea leaf version. For the last few weeks of the growing cycle, the tea is grown without direct sunlight. This causes a tremendous increase in chlorophyll production, a great detoxifier (heavy metals, chemical toxins). It is harvested & steamed quickly to prevent oxidation (retain color, prevent loss of antioxidants). The leaves are dried & made into a powder. Matcha has been consumed for centuries in the Asian culture but has found popularity in the West more recently due to claimed health benefits. The benefits have been researched, with many substantiated (some with only animal studies, and some with limited number of studies). However, overall research results are very promising and positive. Catechins are the most potent and beneficial antioxidants. One called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) makes up 60% of the catechins in Matcha Tea. Out of all the antioxidants, EGCg is the most widely recognized for its cancer fighting properties. Centuries ago & more recently, Samurai, drank Matcha Tea because of the tea’s energizing properties. While green tea naturally contains caffeine, the energy boost received from Matcha is due to its unique combination of nutrients. The increased endurance from a serving of Matcha Tea can last for hours and because of the of L-Theanine, Matcha you won’t experience the negative side-effects of other stimulants such as nervousness and hypertension. Drinking Matcha Tea has also been shown to increase metabolism and help the body burn fat when combined with exercise (up to 4x faster). The antioxidants like catechins can reduce cellular damage and delay muscle fatigue. Furthermore, green tea extract seems to benefit exercise performance, one study found that 14 men who consumed green tea extract for four weeks increased their running distance by 10.9% The catechins in Matcha Tea have been shown to have antibiotic properties which promote overall health. Additionally, just one serving of Matcha Tea provides substantial quantities of Potassium, Vitamins A & C, Iron, Protein, and Calcium. Researchers aren’t entirely certain how Matcha Tea has a positive effect on cholesterol, however studies of different populations have shown that people who drink it on a regular basis have lower levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol while at the same time displaying higher levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. The antioxidants, especially EGCG, have been shown to protect brain cells from oxidative stress. This protection can help reduce brain damage that could lead to mental decline and brain diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and dementia. It’s also been shown to help memory by enhancing the connection between different parts of the brain. Of all the drinks you can choose to consume, why not try something that tastes great and is clearly good for you. You can also add matcha tea powder to smoothies, and juices. We have it available in packets so you can add it to your order or buy it and take it home.
Joan Rivers again I was flipping through the channels. Stopped for a moment on E!. There was Joan Rivers. Making another Helen Keller joke. "HER ASS HAS MORE DENTS IN IT THAN HELEN KELLER'S CAR," she wittily bellowed in her grating, raspy voice. Here's Joan River's problem. All the plastic surgery. She's pushing 80. If she looked 80, her tired old act might be amusing. Watching an incredibly old woman bellowing rude comments into a microphone about historical figures people under 50 have barely heard of might have some freak appeal. She could have been a vulgar, un-cute George Burns. Most Reading
Friday, March 27, 2015 The Mysterious Inga Stone The inga stone is a geological formation from Gneiss (common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks. It is often foliated (composed of layers of sheet-like planar structures). The foliations are characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands, called “gneissic banding”.) The carvings of the Inga Stone remain a mystery but some symbols have been identified and accepted throughout the archaeological community. Some researchers argue that the Inga Stone has a Phoenician origin, but this theory has not been confirmed. Brazilian researcher Gabriele Baraldi has spent great time in studying the encrypted messages at the Inga stone, according to hist theory, the Inga Stone carvings are proof of unknown ancient technology. Even though it is a beautifully designed complex, it is not unique as the geometrical style of the Inga Stone is present in other Brazilian engravings that have a very similar style, but none of them are as famous and interesting as the Inga Stone. Archaeologists state that the engravings on the stone have been performed with incredible precision and the details reveal a superb technique used by very skilled artists who certainly were very gifted and capable of creating these amazing engravings. There are numerous rocks that are found around the Inga Stone, but none of them match nor resemble the style used at the Inga Stone, making it a unique product of ancient craftsmanship. Like many other monuments around the world, the Inga stone has suffered vandalism. Many other stones in the vicinity were destroyed in the 1950’s to pave the streets of the state capital of Paraiba. Weather conditions and other factors are also to blame. The Inga Stone has lost many of its original symbols due to the fact the engravings have lost thickness. These unusual but aesthetically unusual engravings are proof of technically sophisticated methods which has lead researchers to question the origin of these engravings. Researchers suggest that the native Indians lacked metal tools to be able to record the engravings on the stone, some researchers have postulated that the engravings of the Inga stone were created by the Phoenicians or aborigines of Easter Island. Symbols of the Inga stone show a degree of stylistic resemblance to symbols found at Easter Island with both of them representing curved style geometry but according to researchers this is the only similarity found between them. Even though one can find resemblance of geometrical shape between the Inga Stone and other ancient cultures, it does not necessarily point towards a connection between the cultures. Some researchers have even proposed that the Inga Stone is proof of extraterrestrial contact. The Inga stone is related to celestial phenomena due to the fact that several constellations have been depicted on the surface, making it one of the oldest astronomical records found in Brazil. From the study of native tribes of Brazil, researchers have concluded that Brazilian natives were generally related to supernatural animals, the representation of stars and constellations was not a frequent practice by native Brazilians. For the Ticunas from Eastern Amazonia, the celestial phenomena is highly related to the “footprints left by manuals that now inhabit the heavens”. Researchers state that depictions of stars and celestial objects is more connected mythologically than astronomically, but this is a ongoing debate between researchers. by Ivan Petricevic, Ancient Code
by Erik Deckers American Reporter Humor Writer Syracuse, Indiana March 23, 2001 Make My Day Back to home page Printable version of this story SYRACUSE, Ind. -- Sometimes I think we need to have Stupid Jail. I'm sure there are those of you who would argue that all jail isstupid, but you're probably already serving time anyway, so your argument won't carry much weight. No, what I'm talking ab= out is a jail for stupid people. This isa jail where people would have to g= o because they did something reallystupid. I don't mean, "Locked your keys in the car while the car isrunning and your puppy is still inside" stupid. I'm talking about "Blewup your car because you were smoking and filling a g= as can at the sametime" stupid. If someone does something stupid tha= t causes physical harm orproperty damage, they should have to go to a jail built especially forstupid people. And since I'm the self-appointed arbiter of what is stupid, Iget to pick who goes. This week's case i= s "The People vs. The University of WesternSydney" (as in Australia). Earlier this week, the Sydney Daily Telegraph(http://dailytelegraph.com.a= u) broke a story that 10,000 books had beenburied at UWS since 1996, and ar= e presumably still there (I'll let youwrite your own jokes about the books Down Under being a little furtherdown under). According to the story= , because of nearly quadrupled enrollmentover the past 11 years, space and funding has been scarce. So to "solve"the problem, someone at the Uni, as t= hey call it, buried the books in abig hole in the ground. "They got in a bobcat and buried 10,000 books at the back of theuniversity at midnigh= t one night because they didn't have the space anddidn't want to pay for st= orage," said interim vice president DaneyFaddoul. As if burying the books wasn't bad enough, it was also reportedthat many of the books, which were donated by Sydney University, werefirst editions and rare books over 1= 00 years old. It gets worse.According to the story by Kathy Lipari, the boo= ks were also buried by aformer librarian. However, in a Reuters news story,= Universityspokesperson Stephen Matchett said that no one knew who buried t= hebooks, although he referred to that person as "some idiot." Of course,he also called these rare and valuable volumes "surplus books," which islike c= alling Moby Dick "another fish." So let me see if I get this straigh= t. The university didn't haveany money to store 10,000 rare and first editi= on books, books that arevery valuable to begin with. So, rather than sellin= g the books andmaking some money, someone -- a librarian, no less -- decide= d to dig abig hole in the ground, dump the books in, and cover them up, lea= ving them there to this day. Does anyone else see the logic in any of= this? I didn't either. It's like selling your car to pay your car i= nsurance. It's likecutting off your leg so you won't break it. It's like . . . it's like .. . it's like I've run out of things that are incredibly s= tupid. I don'tthink anyone could do anything more stupid and short-sighted,= even on a dare. Why couldn't the University hold a book sale? Why co= uldn't they give the books to students who scored well on exams? Or if they were boring books, why couldn't they give them to students who failed their e= xams? There are so many things they could have done had they just tak= en the time to sit down, think about the problem, and, oh I don't know, thou= ght it through? I can just imagine the thought processes of the goobers who came up with this one. Sheila: Gosh, Bruce, what are we going to do?= Those jerks at Sydney University just gave 10,000 valuable books to us, kno= wing full well we don't know where to store them. Bruce: I don't know= , Sheila. That is a head scratcher. Sheila: I know! Let's bury them!= ! Bruce: That's a great idea! I was either going to donate them toth= e needy, or make a fort out of them, but your way sounds much easier. In other, mostly fictional news, the UWS has been making othercost-cuttin= g measures on campus. To save money in the athleticdepartment, all sports b= alls and uniforms have been fed to wild dogs.Administrators slashed the din= ing services budget by dumping all cookingequipment into the ocean. And the= education budget will get a break nextsemester when all the professors wil= l be fired and the class buildingsburned down. So the books are stil= l there, living with the worms (I'll letyou make your own bookworm jokes). And there are currently no plansunderway to get them back out. And they'll stay there, nourishing thesoil, rather than nourishing the minds of student= s and the community.Almost makes me wish someone had thought to bury a few universityadministrators and a librarian instead. You know, I could become rich and famous if I could find a curefor whatever it is that makes people so clueless as to considersomething like burying books because of a= lack of funds a good idea. Or I could just keep writing about stupi= d people and how I wishI could send them to Stupid Jail. I think tha= Copyright 2016 Joe Shea The American Reporter. All Rights Reserved. Site Meter
Countable Birds? I had some errands to run yesterday. I needed to pick up some seed for Mr. Neil's house and I needed some seed to take onto Showcase Minnesota with me. I went to Cardinal Corner in Newport and decided to take a quick trip over to Point Douglas Park to see if I could find a Barrow's goldeneye. Two had been reported in that area mixed in with some large flocks of common goldeneye, bouncing between the Minnesota and the Wisconsin side of the river. Barrow's is an unusual bird for Minnesota and you can see some great comparisons of the two species over at Bill Schmoker's site. There were oodles of common goldeneye and some trumpeter swans. Note the swan above on the left that is leaning forward? It was trying to break up some of the ice to get through to the other side. It was interest to watch the swan rock back and forth and push its way through. There were some other species mixed in with the common goldeneye, including redheads and a canvasback (and the ever present Canada geese). I wasn't really seeing anything that looked like a Barrow's goldeneye. Local birder Tom Bell said that you watch for a black thumb mark on the side of the bird. I wasn't really trying that hard either. I don't know, we seem to have Barrow's goldeneye reported every year in Minnesota, but it's not a bird that I try for very hard. So, I just decided to focus on some digiscoping and see what kinds of shots I could get. It was warm(ish) day in the 30s, there was sun and I was just happy to be out on a day when we have only eight hours of daylight. When I was going through my images on iPhoto I noticed this photo. There is a merganser, but check out the duck in the top center of the photo. Here's a zoom in: There's a thumb! It's a Barrow's goldeneye! I haven't seen one before and I don't know if I'll count this one. I didn't realize I was seeing it while I was there but found I had it when I came home. However, if this was a bird I didn't know but was trying to id and needed to take the image home to consult some field guides, I would. If you see a bird out in the wild but didn't know it was there, can you count it? I shall ponder this...
Research inequality 'harming women's health' The exclusion of women from clinical trials and other associated medical research is putting the health of millions of women potentially at risk, it has been claimed. According to University College of London academic Anita Holdcroft, sexual discrimination legislation introduced in the 1970s has done little to rectify the "fundamentally-flawed" imbalances in medical research. Acknowledging that traditionally women have not been included in clinical trials due to health concerns, Professor Holdcroft contends that "this prohibition has seen an enormous waste of research money and a neglect of gender research". "Women may have a different drug efficacy or side effect profile to men. Only recently it was reported that eight out of ten prescription drugs were withdrawn from the US market because of women's health issues," she claims in the editorial of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Professor Holdcroft goes on to say that there are "significant barriers" preventing women of child-bearing age from participating in health studies. "With the advent to gender medicine as a specialty, a woman's reproductive status, menstrual cycle and contraceptive history [have] become significant in studying health and disease. In the UK we should seize the opportunity to establish gender specific evidence based guidance," she concludes. Commenting on the editorial, Kamran Abbasi, editor of the journal, described gender imbalances in medical research as "abysmal". "Professor Holdcroft raises fundamental issues not only for researchers and clinicians but also female patients whose care depends on translating relevant research into practice." This sexual discrimination might make the lives of researchers and sponsors of research much easier but it doesn't help patients," the editor explained. track© Adfero Ltd More from Netdoctor: Woman in bed asleep This study says it could help you live longer Woman looking in fridge at night Is this why you always overeat in the evening? It's all down to hormones Tired and ill little girl Why it's so important to know the symptoms of sepsis It could be the difference between life and death Young woman yawning at her desk at work What sort of tired are you? We look at the science behind those energy slumps Woman having water birth 8 ways to feel more in control during pregnancy and birth Feeling comfortable isn't just about pain relief Couple having sex Sexual health This is the most nerve-wracking sex position, apparently We can sort of see why Working woman looking sad Mental Health The 8 different types of depression Colin comparison 2 Backpacking women This is why your cycle gets messed up when you travel Any kind of travel can affect your period Woman jumping for joy in a park 10 ways to boost your happiness levels Don't let 'Blue Monday' get the better of you
Permalink for comment 474105 RE[6]: Sad but inevitable by gilboa on Sat 21st May 2011 10:38 UTC in reply to "RE[5]: Sad but inevitable" Member since: Heh.. that was funny! Wasn't meant to make you lough, but OK, thanks, I guess. So was DOS, Windows 3.11 and Linux kernel 2.2. Like you, I've got far too many years of experience in developing application (and servers) that run on Unix and Linux. And each and every time I had to manually develop some way to handle socket activation and service dependencies. Now, given my very limited experience with systemd I can't really comment on it - but I can say that it's time to kill SysV and friends. As much as I dislike Windows service manager's way of doing things (the management and control interfaces are far too complex and the service registration and logging can easily get damaged leaving you with a dead service with no way of knowing what's wrong) - their dependency tracking is far more suitable to this day-and-age than the ancient runlevel used by SysV. I don't think you fully understand what systemd is trying to achieve. Fast boot is a *minor* part of it. As the uptake of systemd like alternative init systems increases, it's just a matter of time till KDE faces the same problem GNOME is. (For the record, I'm mostly using KDE/Fedora 14 and I reboot my machines [including my netbook]) only when there's a major security fix that requires a new kernel [practically never]) - Gilboa Reply Parent Score: 2
ANT380H5F - Special Topic in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology (SCI) Sister Species: Lessons from the Chimpanzee Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives. In this course we will examine chimpanzee behavior, ecology, morphology, physiology, language, intelligence, and genetics. Through lectures, films, writing assignments and various other forms of assessments, we will get an intimate look at every aspect of chimpanzee biology and behavior. Among questions asked will be: Why do animals use or not use tools? Why are animals aggressive? How does physiology influence what chimpanzees can eat and what's healthy to eat? Can chimpanzees use language? Do chimpanzees use medicine? Just how different are chimpanzee bones, muscles, and brains from our own? Throughout the class we will turn to use chimpanzees as a model to better understand ourselves and our place in nature. ANT202H5 and ANT203H5
Thesis Title Nitrogen Fixation By Azotobacter Species In Mixed Culture John S. Lacy Date of Graduation Spring 1976 Master of Science in Biology Committee Chair Roar Irgens Subject Categories It has been demonstrated that ammonia, the natural endproduct of nitrogen fixation, acts as a corepressor of nitrogenase synthesis. It has also been shown that ammonia will accumulate in the medium of pure cultures of Azotobacter vinelandii until levels become high enough to repress nitrogenase synthesis. A. vinelandii and A. chroococcum were grown in mixed culture with yeasts and bacterial soil isolates in a nitrogen free medium. It was theorized that the yeast or the soil isolates would utilize the excess ammonia produced by Azotobacter, thus keeping ammonia levels low and nitrogenase synthesis active. The amounts of nitrogen fixed in the mixed cultures were compared to the amounts fixed in a pure culture of the Azotobacter sp. tested. The mixed cultures of A. vinelandii did not fix any more nitrogen than A. vinelandii in pure culture. However, the mixed cultures of A. chroococcum did fix a significantly greater amount of nitrogen (164 ug/ml) than the pure culture of A. chroococcum (134 ug/ml). The specific increase in fixed nitrogen appears to be a function of the ability of the added "contaminant" both to utilize ammonia at low concentrations, thereby preventing the Azotobacter nif genes from being corepressed, and to hydrolyze Azotobacter capsular slime for carbon and energy. © John S. Lacy
PerfUG : High Performance Java When we think of performance Java isn’t usually up there with the list of languages you’d choose. Ultimately on a CPU we’d start with assembler and C/C++, not Java, then there are GPUs and FPGA cards, still no Java. The main problems with Java are the way it abstracts the hardware and its very generalised memory management. The result is safe code but not very performant. In fact, in some cases, the now infamous garbage collector can be the death of your application. With a few small changes some of this can be undone. Without compromising the safety, we can achieve huge improvements in performance. John will talk and demonstrate how to take Java down to raw binary, an order of magnitude smaller and faster, even more in a distributed environment. The solution is already in production, implemented primarily with in-memory data grids, analytics and CEP. John will also cover some of the existing use-cases. John Davies is a co-founder and the CTO of C24, an integration company working mainly in the investment banking world. John is a regular speaker on Java performance, and was the host of the low latency trading track at QCon London this year. John nous fera l’honneur de présenter en français ! La session aura lieu le 18 juin dans les locaux d’OCTO Technology. Inscriptions et informations sur Meetup. Cette session sera suivie d’un pot dans les locaux d’Octo. Laisser un commentaire Ce formulaire est protégé par Google Recaptcha
Pointing fingers ends up pointing 3 back at ya It surprises me how often I read comments that Obama supporters write in response to blog posts about the job that Obama is doing. Rather than give links and or facts to counter the post, they point the finger at Bush. It was bugging me that they can’t say anything positive about Obama, but yet still support him. The only thing they can do is to look at the past. I don’t know why, but suddenly it reminded me of a boss I had at one time. I know that everyone has been managed by this type of boss. Let me set the scene for you. You have a good boss, one who appreciates the work you do and runs the department well. The boss leaves for a new position and you get a new boss. This boss jumps in and decides to change everything. The person who has computer skills is told to focus on answering the phone. The person who spends 5 minutes trying to decide between having a turkey or ham sandwich for lunch is given more responsibility. Then, the new boss begins to find fault with everything your previous boss did. You can see that the new boss is doing this as a way to prevent the attention being focused on the fact they can’t do their job. Thus, they change everything because they are clueless how and why the department was run the way it was run. As long as they change everything then there is no chance of failure. Right, yep that always works for a while. Until, things begin to go wrong and they can’t make the focus on the “mistakes” of the previous boss. They changed everything so the mistakes are now their own. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Trump: trumpeting for a war on Iran? By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich Certainly Americans and non-Americans who took comfort in the fact that we would have a more peaceful world believing that ‘Trump would not start a nuclear war with Russia must now have reason to pause. The sad and stark reality is that US foreign policy is continuous. An important part of this continuity is a war that has been waged against Iran for the past 38 years¾unabated. The character of this war has changed over time. From a failed coup which attempted to destroy the Islamic Republic in its early days; to aiding Saddam Hossein with intelligence and weapons of mass destruction to kill Iranians during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war; to helping and promoting the terrorist MEK group; the training and recruiting of the Jundallah terrorist group to launch attacks in Iran; putting special forces on the ground in Iran; the imposition of sanctioned terrorism; the lethal Stuxnet cyber-attack and the list goes on and on, as does the continuity of it. While President Jimmy Carter initiated the Rapid Deployment Force and put boots on the Ground in the Persian Gulf, virtually every US president has threatened Iran with military action. It is hard to remember when the option was not on the table. However, thus far, every US administration has wisely avoided a head on military confrontation with Iran. In early 2000s, the renowned British think tank Chatham House issued one of the first publications that determined African oil would be a good alternate to Persian Gulf energy resources in case of oil disruption. This followed an earlier strategy paper for the US to move toward African oil¾The African White Paper¾that was on the desk of then US Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of energy giant Halliburton. In 2002, the Israeli-based think tank, IASPS, suggested America push toward African oil. In an interesting coincidence, in the same year, the Nigerian terror group, Boko Haram, was “founded”. War on Iran has never been a first option. The neoconservative think tank, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), argued in its 2004 policy paper “The Challenges of US Preventive Military Action” that the ideal situation was (and continues to be) to have a compliant regime in Tehran. Instead of direct conflict, the policy paper called for the assassination of scientists, introducing a malware, covertly provide Iran plans with a design flaw, sabotage, introduce viruses, etc. These suggestions were fully and faithfully executed against Iran. With the policy enacted, much of the world sighed with relief when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,which restricts Iran’s domestic nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on Iran, was signed in the naïve belief that a war with Iran had been alleviated. Obama’s genius was in his execution of US policies which disarmed and disbanded the antiwar movements. But the JCPOA was not about improving relations with Iran, it was about undermining it. As recently as April 2015, as the signing of the JCPOA was drawing near, during a speech at the Army War College Strategy Conference, then Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work elaborated on how the Pentagon plans to counter the three types of wars supposedly being waged by Iran, Russia, and China. As previously planned, the purpose of the JCPOA was to pave the way for a compliant regime in Tehran faithful to Washington, failing that, Washington would be better prepared for war for under the JCPOA, Iran would open itself up to inspections. In other words, the plan would act as a trojan horse to provide America with targets and soft spots. Apparently the plan was not moving forward fast enough to please Obama, or Trump. In direct violation of international law and concepts of state sovereignty, the Obama administration slammed sanctions on Iran for testing missiles. Iran’s missile programme was and is totally separate from the JCPOA and Iran is within its sovereign rights and within the framework of international law to build conventional missiles. And is it any wonder that when on January 28th Trump signed an Executive Order calling for a plan to defeat ISIS in 30 days. The US, the UK, France and Australia ran war games drill in the Persian Gulf that simulated a confrontation with Iran¾ the country that has, itself, been fighting ISIS. When Iran exercised its right, by international law, to test a missile, the United States lied and accused Iran of breaking the JCPOA. Threats and new sanctions ensued. Even though Trump has lashed out at friend and foe, Team Trump has realized that when it comes to attacking a formidable enemy, it cannot do it alone. Although both in his book, ‘Time to Get Tough’, and on his campaign trails he has lashed out at Saudi Arabia. It would appear that someone whispered in Mr. Trump’s ear that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar are fighting America’s dirty war in Yemen and in Syria and killing Yemenis. In fact, the infamous Erik Prince, founder of the notorious Blackwater who is said to be advising Trump from the shadows, received a $120 million contract from the Obama Administration, and for the past several years has been working with Arab countries, the UAE in particular, in the “security” and “training” of militias in the Gulf of Aden, Yemen. Not if sanity prevails. And with Trump and his generals, that is a big “if”. While for many years the foundation has been laid and preparations made for a potential military confrontation with Iran, it has always been a last resort; not because the American political elite did not want war, but because they cannot win this war. For 8 years, Iran fought not just Iraq, but virtually the whole world. America and its allies funded Saddam’s war against Iran, gave it intelligence and weaponry, including weapons of mass destruction. In a period when Iran was reeling from a revolution, its army was in disarray, its population virtually one third of the current population, and its supply of the US provided weapons haltedDespite this, Iran prevailed. Various American administrations have come to the realization that while it may take a village to fight Iran, attacking Iran would destroy the global village. The writer is an independent researcher with a focus on the US foreign policy. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Footie Blues Win On Penalties FOOTBALL: The Blues cap off a perfect season with victory against The Other Place, and Lemar loves it. Lemar once had a top three hit entitled ‘If there’s any justice’. Admittedly, I doubt I could recite a single lyric past the title, but if anything should have been played in the Light Blues post-match celebrations, it was this classic. One man in particular will have been grateful for Lemar’s wise words. Man of the Match Rick Totten scored an own goal which allowed Oxford back into the match, but went on to score the winning penalty which saw the Varsity trophy return to Cambridge. The ultimate act of redemption. Expectations coming into the match was mixed. The sides will have swapped places in the BUCS football pyramid with Cambridge gaining promotion at Oxford’s expense, but recent Varsity results have gone the way of Oxford. However, Cambridge clearly started the game brightly looking to make amends for this. They started with the greater confidence, looking to play the football – Sherif, in particular, looked to stretch the Oxford back four at every opportunity. Sherif nodding the ball on to Kerrigan As the half wore on, Cambridge became increasingly dominant, especially in midfield where Captain Paul Hartley provided the focal point which allowed the dynamos of Totten and Griffiths to venture further up the pitch. Their dominance was soon duly reward as Kerrigan broke the deadlock. A weighted through-ball allowed Kerrigan to bare down on Oxford keeper Haigh and the striker was just able to get enough contact on the ball to squeeze it underneath the keeper’s body. Cambridge were able to build on their advantage in the first by striking again before halftime. Another crisp move allowed the ball to break quickly up field where the ball was cut back to the edge of the box. Hartley found himself in the ideal position and had the time and space to execute his shot into the back of the net. Cambridge were seemingly motoring while Oxford were left treading water. Halftime was an opportunity for Oxford to try and find themselves some traction. Hartley surging forward However, at the start of the second half Cambridge continued to be in gear and went in search of a third. First, Kerrigan went close, but could only scope over from a few yards out. Then, Totten dramatically hit the crossbar causing a goalmouth scramble where Cambridge were unable to bundle the ball home. It was all Light Blue. Oxford decided to gamble by making a triple substitution and the tide started to turn. The substitutes seemed to add greater purpose to Oxford’s game. However, it was a Cambridge own goal which gave the team even greater purpose. Faced with a long ball from a free kick, all Totten could do was head into his own net. It looked as the cruel mistress of football was at work again. It was now all Dark Blue. In particular, substitute Onuchukwu was spearheading the challenge by driving at an increasingly shaky Cambridge defence. One wondered why Oxford hadn’t set out like this. Indeed, it was another substitute who drew them level. Donald was able to take advantage of woeful Cambridge defending as he slammed the ball past keeper Karakashian. In the frantic last stages, neither side could prevent the lottery of penalties. With the scores at 3-3 in the shoot-out, each side having missed one, it meant the consequences of missing another would mean the likely end game. Oxford’s second miss produced such a scenario for Cambridge: Totten’s shot at redemption. Totten didn’t need the invitation, the man calmly swept the ball down the middle to spark wild celebrations. The victorious team with the trophy Captain Paul Hartley had been dreaming of a league and Varsity double, and he got his wish. After his three previous Varsity losses and league near-misses, it was final proof that there is justice in the world. Photographs by David Ponting You can hear commentary of the game again thanks to our partners at Cam FM. University of Cambridge Blues blues win varsity football on penalties Cam FM Cambridge CUAFC cuafc football football light blues michael alhadeff Oxford Varsity varsity football
Tag Archives: quotation How does patience protect you? Leonardo da Vinci understood the power of patience. “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and[…]
Being a rider not only take his board ride it, making some moves and turns. WHAT MATTERS WITH ERIKA LANGMAN Name: Erika Sandra Langman Birthdate: April 15th Hometown: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Sponsors: O’Neill,...
alternative vote definition • noun: • A voting system by which each voter details the candidates to be able of preference. At each phase the candidate aided by the minimum ballots is excluded and their ballots transferred in line with the voters tastes. 29 votes How would you define alternative vote?
Friday, May 12, 2017 Wedding Ceremony - an extravagant affair Wedding ceremonies, especially the traditional Chinese wedding banquet are so overrated and outdated. No offence, but if you have had a wedding ceremony recently, I totally respect your personal decision. I acknowledge the fact that it is probably a mandatory tradition in some families. For me, I am so glad that my dad agrees that wedding ceremony is something additional that we could get rid of. He is totally cool with not having a ceremony if I ever get married in the future (I believe he feels the same for his son and not just daughter). As for my mum, she totally hates the idea of the traditional Chinese wedding. I listened to her old wedding story which she described as "putting on a show for strangers you have never met before". She was so close to turning into a bridezilla being rushed here and there and being demanded to get things done. That night, the guests yumseng all the way and finished countless bottles of liquor. And then that was the end of it. Hard-earned cash spent for nothing. Meaningless. Funny that was the most memorable thing she could recall about the wedding wtf. There is no doubt that she is still feeling bitter about it after all these years. And ironically we all thought wedding is supposed to be a happy moment shared by 2 individuals who devote their lives to each other. Wedding day is never about the guests, but rather, the husband and wife. It is a beautiful day when the couple share their vows and proclaim their love for one another. It is the day when they promise to stay by each other through thick and thin, health and sickness, joy and sorrow, good and bad. It is the beginning of an eternal life living together as one new unit. In the past, people often have their wedding banquet in hopes of earning some profits from the ang pow. I never knew this was possible! They actually still gained after deducting all relevant costs. But times are no longer the same, A decent wedding banquet in the city these days costs a minimum of RM2k per table. Considering that your guest gives you ang pow of RM200 each on average, you could still cover your table cost, But how about your liquor, deco, emcee etc? Those costs make up a significant amount and chances are there is no way you will be able to break even at the end of the day. As millennials, we can barely afford to buy a house. Why should we be splurging our life-time savings for a wedding and invite family's friends, distant relatives, strangers, most of whom we can't even tell the names, and some of whom we are actually meeting for the very first time? We don't need an unnecessary ceremony to prove our love. After all, wedding does not guarantee our lifetime happiness. No comments:
This was written for a writer named Isabeau in the Yuletide 2010 challenge. I'd just watched the movie, and one of her prompts inspired me. Incidentally, the title is nonsense; I was running short of figuring out what to title fics by that point. Songuisendus Anuncemise by Estirose c 2011 Li Shang studied the scroll before him, frowning at it, or at least at the characters inked upon its surface. Just a few years out of their last one, there was another war brewing, and the call to arms had begun. The army was starting to conscript and bring out of retirement its old warriors, and two of them resided in his house. The orders were clear: Li Shang, and his wife Mulan, were to return to duty. As head of the family, he could make a decision about whether his wife went to war or not. He should forbid her to go. But Mulan didn't belong to just him; she belonged to China as its hero, and who was he to deny his country the hope that she brought? Did he have the right to deny them the quick-thinking heroine who had saved them all? She was an asset to the imperial army, and by all rights, belonged there, out in the field. But she was also his wife, the mother of his children. When his father had gone to war, he at least had his mother. If they both went, they'd be leaving their children alone. Clenching his fist, he remembered when he'd discovered the remains of his father's army, just before he himself had nearly been killed - had it not been for Mulan's quick, crazy thinking. He had lost his father that day, and could only grieve afterwards, in private. He had come close to losing Mulan too, abandoning her because there would be no women under his command. But he would not lose her that day. And he did not want to lose her now. She, with the energy of a teenager, even as a wife and mother. She, who trained with him so that they were both fit, because they both knew that a day like this might come, even as they hoped it would never come. Listening to his children run about, he closed his eyes, something inside him telling him he should consult Mulan. But she was a soldier; she would follow orders, even if it meant leaving their children orphans. Mulan was a solder just as she was a mother and a wife; it was what she was meant to be. It was not a woman's work, but it was Mulan's work, and he could not deny her that. Opening his eyes, he went to tell his wife. Mulan fanfics
June 24, 2012 Adding a Switch Box to Model 61 & Older Saw Filers Adding a front-mounted switch box will make your Model 61 and earlier filer easier and safer to operate. The 1725 rpm motors used on saw filers have a tiny space for a toggle switch and wiring. This space is usually too small for a new switch and power cord. However, many motors also have a front knockout sized for ½ inch electrical fittings. This makes it possible to attach a full-sized electrical box with plenty of room for wiring and your choice of a switch. The required parts listed below are readily available: Rectangular steel box with ½ inch knockouts ½ inch box spacer Blank cover 16 or 14 gauge stranded insulated wire rated for 110-120 volts Crimp style terminals Toggle switch of sufficient amperage Grounding screw 16 or 14 gauge 3 wire power cord with oil resistant cover (the cord from an old power strip or surge protector may be ideal and cheap) The steps are: 1. Be certain that you have all required knowledge and skills necessary; otherwise use an electrician. In addition, I recommend that your filer be connected to a GFCI receptacle or breaker at all times. Disconnect the power cord. 2. Drill the center of the blank cover for the switch you selected. Install the switch in the cover. 3. Pry out the knockout on the motor and remove the side cover which holds the old switch. Disconnect the switch and remove the old wiring and power cord, noting which terminals are hot and neutral. Many of the nuts are an odd size, 11/32 inch, so a nut driver this size helps (Sears has them). 3. Remove the nuts from the box spacer and screw it into the motor’s knockout. Do not over-tighten. If your motor lacks female threads, use the nut furnished with the box spacer. 4. Turning to the new box, punch out the rear center knockout and a side knockout for the power cord. Install the grounding screw and a clamp for the power cord. 5. Use the stranded insulated wire and ring terminals to make connections from the switch to the motor. The power cord black wire connects to the switch. Another black wire goes from switch to the motor’s hot terminal. The power cord white wire goes to the motor’s neutral terminal. The power cord’s green wire goes to the ground screw in the box, with another green ground wire going the motor housing (not shown in photos). All connections should be made with ring terminals of the correct size for wire and terminal posts. 6. After double checking everything, assemble the cover to the box, making sure no bare connections are touching each other or a ground. Replace the original cover on the side of the motor. Ideally this hole should be plugged. Notice the plug on the left side of the box I used (the box was already on hand).
Monday, August 11, 2008 Healthcare Advocacy There's been a lot going on here, which means that I haven't had a chance to post lately. Donny's health seems to be even more iffy than usual lately. I'm not sure if there's something going on underneath the surface, or if this is his new good. Two weeks ago I had to take Donny to the doctor for pneumonia. Last week I had him in for his regular monthly appointment. Tomorrow I'm taking him in for a suspected baldder or urinary tract infection. His overall health seems to be worse than normal, but there's no specific symptoms that I can report to a doctor. . I will, however, be letting the doctor know about him passing out yesterday. We had gone for a drive, and Donny was really relaxed and seemed to be enjoying himself. All of a sudden he passed out. I had my hand on his knee and he just slumped forward across my arm. So I'm doing 60 down a backroad, trying to slow down and pull over, while using one arm to get Donny upright so that I can make sure that he's breathing. It took about 4 tries, but I finally got him pushed into an upright position. The jolt of flopping back brought him to, and he seemed okay after a minute. I have no idea what caused it, but it sure scared me. When Donny saw his doctor last week I was talking to him about Donny's insurance and about medications, which caused me to come home and look at all his medicines again. That's when I discovered that, without telling us, the doctor cut one of his medicines in half, but wrote the prescription for a 2 month supply. Since I got the same amount, I didn't look at what the label on the bottle said. For almost a month I gave him the same dose as always. I'm frustrated that nothing was said because it caused a problem with having enough pills. Fortunately, the doctor's office is going to give us samples to get Donny through until his next refill. Next month Donny goes on Medicare. It's good, because it should open doors for seeing specialists, but it's bad because it's going to mess with his medicines again. Since he's getting the part D prescription coverage I'm going to have to figure out what's covered under the nerw formulary so that we know what's going to need changed. It's all such a pain to keep track of, but if I don't do it then there'll be an even bigger headache when it's time to fill prescriptions again. I get so tired of having to be an advocate. There is so much that I simply don't understand about healthcare that I feel like I'm constantly about three steps behind. I hate that feeling, but if I don't do it, then who will? It's up to me to make sure that Donny is getting the care that he needs, but I often feel like I don't have a clue about what he needs. Should I be fighting to get him in to a GI doc who can see him more than once every 6 months? Is there such a thing as a lung specialist? And if so, should I be asking for a referral? Should I be asking for a liver biopsy to be done? Does it matter? Should I be pushing to get him a prescription for a rescue inhaler that makes it so he doesn't run out long before the next one is due? Should I be getting the doctor to teach Donny better management of the rescue inhaler he has? There arte always way more questions than answers. 1 comment: mielikki said... I am thinking about this, and you, Jamie. I just have not come up with a cognizant response yet. It is a struggle, and I admire you for the tenacity you have and the loyalty you are showing your husband.
From Rosetta Code Official website Execution method: Interpreted Type safety: Safe Type strength: Strong (but regular) Type checking: Dynamic Lang tag(s): j See Also: Listed below are all of the tasks on Rosetta Code which have been solved using J. Your Help Needed If you know J, please write code for some of the tasks not implemented in J. The J language[edit] J is a notational programming language designed for interactive use. It is an array language; data is universally structured as rectangular arrays. It is a functional language; creation and composition of functions is emphasized. Object-module and imperative techniques are supported, but not required. The J programming language was designed and developed by Ken Iverson and Roger Hui. It is a closely related successor to APL, also by Iverson which itself was a successor to the notation Ken Iverson used to teach his classes about computers in the 1950s. The notation draws heavily from concepts of Abstract algebra and Tensor calculus, simplified for describing computer architecture and design to a pragmatic business audience. (The ideas themselves are simple, but for some reason the topics scare most teachers.) Reading J[edit] J is meant to be read with the aid of a computer. J sentences are single lines and trying variations and simplifications of an expression is common practice. The first step in understanding any J sentence is to understand the data you started with and the data which resulted. When learning how a J sentence works, you can also try simpler sentences with the same data or perhaps related data. When trying to understand contexts that use large data structures, it can often be wise to investigate small, representative samples until you understand how the code works. Unless you attend an institution which has made a J interpreter available to you through your web browser (or preinstalled on your machine), if you want to see how J works you should probably install a copy of J -- or you can try one of the "try me" links, below. If you want to understand how to experiment with alternative expressions you should probably also be studying some of its documentation. For example, the phrase (+/ % #) finds the average of a list of numbers. (+/ % #) 1 2 3 To understand how this works, you might try working with simpler sentences and their variations. +/ 1 2 3 +/4 5 6 # 1 2 3 # 2 3 4 6 % 3 15 % 3 (+/ % #) 4 5 6 By themselves, these experiments mean nothing, but if you know that +/ was finding the sum of a list and # was finding the length of a list and that % was dividing the two quantities (and looks almost like one of the old school division symbols) then these experiments might help confirm that you have understood things properly. Some Perspective[edit] If you wish to use J you will also have to learn a few grammatical rules (J's parser has 9 reduction rules and "shift" and "accept" - the above examples use four of those rules). J verbs have two definitions - a single argument "monadic" definition and a two argument "dyadic" definition. These terms are borrowed from music and are distinct from Haskell's use of the word "monad". The dyadic definitions are in some sense related to LISP's "cons cell" but are implemented as grammar rather than data structure, and are a pervasive part of the language. Another pervasive feature of the language is rank. The language represents capabilities of hardware. For example, if language did not have an internal stack, a word's definition could not be used during the execution of that word. All current J implementations support recursion, but in some sense this is a convenience, and it's reasonable to imagine J implementations which do not (perhaps in a "compile to silicon" implementation). J on RosettaCode[edit] Discussion of the goals of the J community on RC and general guidelines for presenting J solutions takes place at House Style. Jedi on RosettaCode[edit] Try me[edit] Want to try one of those cryptic J lines you see peppered through RC? Try pasting it into this browser-based implementation of J. If you want to be a bit more interactive, and get some guidance from J gurus, you can join the actual J IRC channel on Freenode, #jsoftware. Buubot and several other J eval bots run there. If you don't have an IRC client you can try freenode's web interface (or just give it a quick spin). More details about the J IRC community is available. If any of that piques your interest, and you want to explore a little more, you can download J and join the J forums. If you have problems executing any of the J code here on Rosetta, please make a note of it either on the task page itself, on the talk page, or on the appropriate J forum, whichever is best. It might be that there's a version dependency that needs to be documented, or you might have found an actual bug. Pages in category "J" The following 881 pages are in this category, out of 881 total.
Thursday, April 28, 2011 Design 1648 - Mustang 17 This 17' centerboard dinghy was developed for Tidewater Boats of Annapolis, primarily as a sailing school boat. In an effort to have a safer boat for beginner sailors, the centerboard is heavily ballasted with 200 lbs of lead. This makes her less susceptible to capsize. It's a clever design wherein the board will always remain extended when capsized (which reportedly makes her "self righting") but allows the board to spring up if it strikes an object such as the bottom. Here are the plans. Here's a brief article from Popular Boating magazine from 1965. And the brochure. Principal Dimensions LOA 17'-0" LWL 15'-6" Beam 6'-6" Draft 5'-0" (board down) Weight 800 lbs Sail Area 170 sq ft (100% fore triangle) 209 sq ft (genoa) 1 comment: 1. Anyone know where I can find the hull identification number on our 17' Mustang?
Tuesday, July 03, 2007 (Too chaotic to have a title) You live like a song inside my head. All loves are not meant for eternity - I have lived you, I have inhaled you like poison till you were nothing but music and sin. Goodbyes are harder. I don't want to hold your hand to the airport, kiss you off to other people's dreams. I will steal you away to the untamed heart of the Bundelkhand, to the red stone ruins of primitive temples, I will mix you with earth and ash till your body blazes like the midland sun. I will chant your name to the rocks and thorny crags, till you are a nascent god. But now, I have returned to the town I was born, to the dead end of the street, the decrepit house of my parents, the familiar stench of whiskey and clutter and tuberose and no love. My days are spent like a stale newspaper. On wasted, hungover mornings, I am a caged animal in pain, when the circus tents are pulled down. Blinded by thirst, I claw and claw through this numbness, till my whole consciousness is only the bass of your voice, the universe folds itself into the shape of your tongue, your words my only I don't even hear the words. It's your voice that fills my fevered brain and lulls me to sleep. I tremble. I cannot remember how far behind I lost you, how long ago. These midnights frighten me. Hold me against your chest till these hallu- cinations pass, hush me when my frenzied words break into terror, terror, I can take no more. Whisper your name in my ears, until faith is reborn. like a song inside my head.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 It's alll over.... My sissy's wedding! That was a whirlwind adventure. I feel like my life was a tornado for the past month. She looked stunning and I am so happy for the both of them. Here are a few pictures from the wedding. Oh, I didn't have my camera during the ceremony )= Boo. Before she was a wife. We're in the limo on they way to the ceremony. Our HOT pink shoes from GoJane! I got sooo many compliments on these shoes that night. And so comfy! First dance with my Dad. He looked so handsome. A photo towards the end of the night. I was pooped. (And there are my famous glowing eyes! Gosh, they ruin pictures). Now the planning for mine begins! 1. wonderful wedding pictures, both of you look fabulous. Yes! the pink shoes are so lovely and bright! Thanks for stopping by friends!
סה"כ צפיות בדף יום שישי, 28 באוגוסט 2015 Islam is a part of America Obama admits that he is a Muslim. Obama bowing before a Muslim king. Obama talking about his Muslim family. Obama quoting from the Koran. Obama defending Islam. Obama visiting a Mosque. And many more clips of Obama and his Muslim connections. Legal Disclaimer: The writers, producers, and editors of this video are not claiming or implying that Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim, or that Obama said he was a Muslim, rather they are only Barack Obama's position on the future of Jerusalem is crystal clear. Of course, there are some people who want it to seem muddied and muddled, among them those embattled leftists (many Jewish) who want him to appear as anti-Israel as they are. It won't work; he is, as I've said many times, a good Zionist, Obama State Department Won't Say If Jerusalem Is The Capital Of Israel In the WH Press Briefing from yesterday, Jay Carney was asked to name the capital of Israel. He gave a nervous laugh and said the position has not changed and very quickly tried to move off the topic. Lester Kinsolving of the WH Press Corps pressed him on it shouting it out multiple times. The question is - What answer would he have given is this were not an election year? I wouldn't be surprised if Jon Voight's opinion blacklist him from Hollywood and gets him shunned by the liberal/terrorist community and he might suffer severe consequences in the long-term. I for one applaud him for being honest and brave instead of falling into lockstep with the liberal boot clickers/neo-Nazis/pink shirts. אין תגובות:
Pilot Scoop: Tea Leoni is CBS' Madam Secretary Tea Leoni Madam SecretaryThat noise you hear is the sound of Tea Leoni brushing up on her foreign affairs. The actress has landed the title role in CBS’ just-ordered drama pilot Madam Secretary, TVLine has learned. The project chronicles the personal and professional life of a maverick female Secretary of State (Leoni) as she drives international diplomacy, wrangles office politics and balances a complex family life. Homeland writer/producer Barbara Hall penned the script and will serve as an EP alongside Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary and Tracy Mercer.
23:0.1 SOLITARY Messengers are the personal and universal corps of the Conjoint Creator; they are the first and senior order of the Higher Personalities of the Infinite Spirit. They represent the initial creative action of the Infinite Spirit in solitary function for the purpose of bringing into existence solitary personality spirits. Neither the Father nor the Son directly participated in this stupendous spiritualization. 23:0.2 These spirit messengers were personalized in a single creative episode, and their number is stationary. Although I have one of these extraordinary beings associated with me on this present mission, I do not know how many such personalities exist in the universe of universes. I only know, from time to time, how many are of registry-record as functioning for the time being within the jurisdiction of our superuniverse. From the last Uversa report I observe that there were almost 7,690 trillion Solitary Messengers then operating within the boundaries of Orvonton; and I conjecture that this is considerably less than one seventh of their total number. 23:1.1 Immediately following the creation of the Seven Spirits of the Havona Circuits the Infinite Spirit brought into being the vast corps of Solitary Messengers. There is no part of the universal creation which is pre-existent to the Solitary Messengers except Paradise and the Havona circuits; they have functioned throughout the grand universe from near eternity. They are fundamental to the divine technique of the Infinite Spirit for self-revelation to, and personal contact with, the far-flung creations of time and space. 23:1.2 Notwithstanding that these messengers are existent from the near times of eternity, they are all aware of a beginning of selfhood. They are conscious of time, being the first of the creation of the Infinite Spirit to possess such a time consciousness. They are the first-born creatures of the Infinite Spirit to be personalized in time and spiritualized in space. 23:1.3 These solitary spirits came forth in the dawn of time as full-fledged and perfectly endowed spirit beings. They are all equal, and there are no classes or subdivisions founded on personal variation. Their classifications are based wholly on the type of work to which they are assigned from time to time. 23:1.4 Mortals start out as well-nigh material beings on the worlds of space and ascend inward towards the Great Centers; these solitary spirits start out at the center of all things and crave assignment to the remote creations, even to the individual worlds of the outermost local universes and even on beyond. 23:1.5 Though denominated Solitary Messengers, they are not lonesome spirits, for they truly like to work alone. They are the only beings in all creation who can and do enjoy a solitary existence, albeit they equally enjoy association with the very few orders of universe intelligence with whom they can fraternize. 23:1.6 Solitary Messengers are not isolated in their service; they are constantly in touch with the wealth of the intellect of all creation as they are capable of "listening in" on all the broadcasts of the realms of their sojourn. They can also intercommunicate with members of their own immediate corps, those beings doing the same kind of work in the same superuniverse. They could communicate with others of their number, but they have been directed by the council of the Seven Master Spirits not to do so, and they are a loyal group; they do not disobey or default. There is no record that a Solitary Messenger ever stumbled into darkness. 23:1.7 The Solitary Messengers, like the Universe Power Directors, are among the very few types of beings operating throughout the realms who are exempt from apprehension or detention by the tribunals of time and space. They could be cited to appear before no one except the Seven Master Spirits, but not in all the annals of the master universe has this Paradise council ever been called upon to adjudicate the case of a Solitary Messenger. 23:1.8 These messengers of solitary assignment are a dependable, self-reliant, versatile, thoroughly spiritual, and broadly sympathetic group of created beings derived from the Third Source and Center; they operate by the authority of the Infinite Spirit resident on the central Isle of Paradise and as personalized on the headquarters spheres of the local universes. They are constant partakers of the direct circuit emanating from the Infinite Spirit, even when they function in the local creations under the immediate influence of the local universe Mother Spirits. 23:1.9 There is a technical reason why these Solitary Messengers must travel and work alone. For short periods and when stationary, they can collaborate in a group, but when thus ensembled, they are altogether cut off from the sustenance and direction of their Paradise circuit; they are wholly isolated. When in transit, or when operating in the circuits of space and the currents of time, if two or more of this order are in close proximity, both or all are thrown out of liaison with the higher circulating forces. They are "short circuited" as you might describe it in illustrative symbols. Therefore they have inherent within them a power of automatic alarm, a warning signal, which unerringly operates to apprise them of approaching conflicts and unfailingly keeps them sufficiently separated as not to interfere with their proper and effective functioning. They also possess inherent and automatic powers which detect and indicate the proximity of both the Inspired Trinity Spirits and the divine Thought Adjusters. 23:1.10 These messengers possess no power of personality extension or reproduction, but there is practically no work of the universes in which they cannot engage, and to which they cannot contribute something essential and helpful. Especially are they the great timesavers for those who are concerned in the administration of universe affairs; and they assist us all, from the highest to the lowest. 23:2.1 Solitary Messengers are not permanently attached to any individual or group of celestial personalities. They are on duty, always by assignment, and during such service they work under the immediate supervision of those who direct the realms of their attachment. Among themselves they have neither organization nor government of any kind; they are Solitary Messengers. 23:2.2 Solitary Messengers are assigned by the Infinite Spirit to the following seven divisions of service: 1. Messengers of the Paradise Trinity. 2. Messengers of the Havona Circuits. 3. Messengers of the Superuniverses. 4. Messengers of the Local Universes. 5. Explorers of Undirected Assignment. 6. Ambassadors and Emissaries of Special Assignment. 7. Revelators of Truth. 23:2.3 These spirit messengers are in every sense interchangeable from one type of service to another; such transfers are constantly taking place. There are no separate orders of Solitary Messengers; they are spiritually alike and in every sense equal. While they are generally designated by number, they are known to the Infinite Spirit by personal names. They are known to the rest of us by the name or number designative of their current assignment. 23:2.4 1. Messengers of the Paradise Trinity. I am not permitted to reveal much of the work of the group of messengers assigned to the Trinity. They are the trusted and secret servants of the Deities, and when intrusted with special messages which involve the unrevealed policies and future conduct of the Gods, they have never been known to divulge a secret or betray the confidence reposed in their order. And all this is related in this connection, not to appear boastful of their perfection, but rather to point out that the Deities can and do create perfect beings. 23:2.6 2. Messengers of the Havona Circuits. Throughout the ascendant career you will be vaguely, but increasingly, able to detect the presence of the Solitary Messengers, but not until you reach Havona will you recognize them unmistakably. The first of the messengers you will see face to face will be those of the Havona circuits. 23:2.7 Solitary Messengers enjoy special relations with the natives of the Havona worlds. These messengers, who are so functionally handicapped when associating with one another, can and do have a very close and personal communion with the Havona natives. But it is quite impossible to convey to human minds the supreme satisfactions consequent upon the contact of the minds of these divinely perfect beings with the spirits of such near-transcendent personalities. 23:2.8 3. Messengers of the Superuniverses. The Ancients of Days, those personalities of Trinity origin who preside over the destinies of the seven superuniverses, those trios of divine power and administrative wisdom, are bountifully supplied with Solitary Messengers. It is only through this order of messengers that the triune rulers of one superuniverse can directly and personally communicate with the rulers of another. Solitary Messengers are the only available type of spirit intelligence -- aside, possibly, from the Inspired Trinity Spirits -- that can be dispatched from the headquarters of one superuniverse directly to the headquarters of another. All other personalities must make such excursions by way of Havona and the executive worlds of the Master Spirits. 23:2.9 There are some kinds of information which cannot be obtained either by Gravity Messengers, reflectivity, or broadcast. And when the Ancients of Days would certainly know these things, they must dispatch a Solitary Messenger to the source of knowledge. Long before the presence of life on Urantia the messenger now associated with me was assigned on a mission out of Uversa to the central universe -- was absent from the roll calls of Orvonton for almost a million years but returned in due time with the desired information. 23:2.10 There is no limitation upon the service of Solitary Messengers in the superuniverses; they may function as executioners of the high tribunals or as intelligence gatherers for the good of the realm. Of all the supercreations they most delight to serve in Orvonton because here the need is greatest and the opportunities for heroic effort are greatly multiplied. In the more needy realms we all enjoy the satisfaction of a more replete function. 23:2.11 4. Messengers of the Local Universes. In the services of a local universe there is no limit upon the functioning of the Solitary Messengers. They are the faithful revealers of the motives and intent of the local universe Mother Spirit, although they are under the full jurisdiction of the reigning Master Son. And this is true of all messengers operating in a local universe, whether they are traveling out directly from universe headquarters, or whether they are acting temporarily in liaison with Constellation Fathers, System Sovereigns, or Planetary Princes. Before the concentration of all power in the hands of a Creator Son at the time of his elevation as sovereign ruler of his universe, these messengers of the local universes function under the general direction of the Ancients of Days and are immediately responsible to their resident representative, the Union of Days. 23:2.12 5. Explorers of Undirected Assignment. When the reserve corps of the Solitary Messengers is overrecruited, there issues from one of the Seven Supreme Power Directors a call for exploration volunteers; and there is never a lack of volunteers, for they delight to be dispatched as free and untrammeled explorers, to experience the thrill of finding the organizing nucleuses of new worlds and universes. 23:2.13 They go forth to investigate the clues furnished by the space contemplators of the realms. Undoubtedly the Paradise Deities know of the existence of these undiscovered energy systems of space, but they never divulge such information. If the Solitary Messengers did not explore and chart these newly organizing energy centers, such phenomena would long remain unnoticed even by the intelligences of adjacent realms. Solitary Messengers, as a class, are highly sensitive to gravity; accordingly they can sometimes detect the probable presence of very small dark planets, the very worlds which are best adapted to life experiments. 23:2.14 These messenger-explorers of undirected assignment patrol the master universe. They are constantly out on exploring expeditions to the uncharted regions of all outer space. Very much of the information which we possess of transactions in the realms of outer space, we owe to the explorations of the Solitary Messengers as they often work and study with the celestial astronomers. 23:2.15 6. Ambassadors and Emissaries of Special Assignment. Local universes situated within the same superuniverse customarily exchange ambassadors selected from their native orders of sonship. But to avoid delay, Solitary Messengers are frequently asked to go as ambassadors from one local creation to another, to represent and interpret one realm to another. For example: When a newly inhabited realm is discovered, it may prove to be so remote in space that a long time will pass before an enseraphimed ambassador can reach this far-distant universe. An enseraphimed being cannot possibly exceed the velocity of 558,840 Urantia miles in one second of your time. Massive stars, crosscurrents, and detours, as well as attraction tangents, will all tend to retard such speed so that on a long journey the velocity will average about 550,000 miles per second. 23:2.16 When it develops that it will require hundreds of years for a native ambassador to reach a far-distant local universe, a Solitary Messenger is often asked to proceed there immediately to act as ambassador ad interim. Solitary Messengers can go in very short order, not independently of time and space as do the Gravity Messengers, but nearly so. They also serve in other circumstances as emissaries of special assignment. 23:2.17 7. Revelators of Truth. The Solitary Messengers regard the assignment to reveal truth as the highest trust of their order. And they function ever and anon in this capacity, from the superuniverses to the individual planets of space. They are frequently attached to commissions which are sent to enlarge the revelation of truth to the worlds and systems. 23:3.1 The Solitary Messengers are the highest type of perfect and confidential personality available in all realms for the quick transmission of important and urgent messages when it is inexpedient to utilize either the broadcast service or the reflectivity mechanism. They serve in an endless variety of assignments, helping out the spiritual and material beings of the realms, particularly where the element of time is involved. Of all orders assigned to the services of the superuniverse domains, they are the highest and most versatile personalized beings who can come so near to defying time and space. 23:3.2 The universe is well supplied with spirits who utilize gravity for purposes of transit; they can go anywhere any time -- instanter -- but they are not persons. Certain other gravity traversers are personal beings, such as Gravity Messengers and Transcendental Recorders, but they are not available to the super- and the local universe administrators. The worlds teem with angels and men and other highly personal beings, but they are handicapped by time and space: The limit of velocity for most nonenseraphimed beings is 186,280 miles of your world per second of your time; the midway creatures and certain others can, often do, attain double velocity -- 372,560 miles per second -- while the seraphim and others can traverse space at triple velocity, about 558,840 miles per second. There are, however, no transit or messenger personalities who function between the instantaneous velocities of the gravity traversers and the comparatively slow speeds of the seraphim, except the Solitary Messengers. 23:3.3 Solitary Messengers are, therefore, generally used for dispatch and service in those situations where personality is essential to the achievement of the assignment, and where it is desired to avoid the loss of time which would be occasioned by the sending of any other readily available type of personal messenger. They are the only definitely personalized beings who can synchronize with the combined universal currents of the grand universe. Their velocity in traversing space is variable, depending on a great variety of interfering influences, but the record shows that on the journey to fulfill this mission my associate messenger proceeded at the rate of 841,621,642,000 of your miles per second of your time. 23:3.4 It is wholly beyond my ability to explain to the material type of mind how a spirit can be a real person and at the same time traverse space at such tremendous velocities. But these very Solitary Messengers actually come to, and go from, Urantia at these incomprehensible speeds; indeed, the whole economy of universal administration would be largely deprived of its personal element were this not a fact. 23:3.5 The Solitary Messengers are able to function as emergency lines of communication throughout remote space regions, realms not embraced within the established circuits of the grand universe. It develops that one messenger, when so functioning, can transmit a message or send an impulse through space to a fellow messenger about one hundred light-years away as Urantia astronomers estimate stellar distances. 23:3.6 Of the myriads of beings who co-operate with us in the conduct of the affairs of the superuniverse, none are more important in practical helpfulness and timesaving assistance. In the universes of space we must reckon with the handicaps of time; hence the great service of the Solitary Messengers, who, by means of their personal prerogatives of communication, are somewhat independent of space and, by virtue of their tremendous transit velocities, are so nearly independent of time. 23:3.7 I am at a loss to explain to Urantia mortals how the Solitary Messengers can be without form and yet possess real and definite personalities. Although they are without that form which would naturally be associated with personality, they do possess a spirit presence which is discernible by all higher types of spirit beings. The Solitary Messengers are the only class of beings who seem to be possessed of well-nigh all the advantages of a formless spirit coupled with all the prerogatives of a full-fledged personality. They are true persons, yet endowed with nearly all of the attributes of impersonal spirit manifestation. 23:3.8 In the seven superuniverses, ordinarily -- but not always -- everything which tends to increase any creature's liberation from the handicaps of time and space proportionately diminishes personality prerogatives. Solitary Messengers are an exception to this general law. They are in their activities all but unrestricted in the utilization of any and all of the limitless avenues of spiritual expression, divine service, personal ministry, and cosmic communication. If you could view these extraordinary beings in the light of my experience in universe administration, you would comprehend how difficult it would be to co-ordinate superuniverse affairs were it not for their versatile co-operation. 23:3.9 No matter how much the universe may enlarge, no more Solitary Messengers will probably ever be created. As the universes grow, the expanded work of administration must be increasingly borne by other types of spirit ministers and by those beings who take origin in these new creations, such as the creatures of the Sovereign Sons and the local universe Mother Spirits. 23:4.1 The Solitary Messengers seem to be personality co-ordinators for all types of spirit beings. Their ministry helps to make all the personalities of the far-flung spiritual world akin. They contribute much to the development, in all spirit beings, of a consciousness of group identity. Every type of spirit being is served by special groups of Solitary Messengers who foster the ability of such beings to understand and fraternize with all other types and orders, however dissimilar. 23:4.2 The Solitary Messengers demonstrate such an amazing ability to co-ordinate all types and orders of finite personality -- even to make contact with the absonite regime of the master universe overcontrollers -- that some of us postulate that the creation of these messengers by the Infinite Spirit is in some manner related to the Conjoint Actor's bestowal of Supreme-Ultimate Mind. 23:4.3 When a finaliter and a Paradise Citizen co-operate in the trinitization of a "child of time and eternity" -- a transaction involving the unrevealed mind potentials of the Supreme-Ultimate -- and when such an unclassified personality is dispatched to Vicegerington, a Solitary Messenger (a conjectured personality repercussion of the bestowal of such deity mind) is always assigned as guardian-companion to such a creature-trinitized son. This messenger accompanies the new son of destiny to the world of his assignment and nevermore leaves Vicegerington. When thus attached to the destinies of a child of time and eternity, a Solitary Messenger is forever transferred to the sole supervision of the Architects of the Master Universe. What the future of such an extraordinary association may be, we do not know. For ages these partnerships of unique personalities have continued to forgather on Vicegerington, but not even a single pair has ever gone forth therefrom. 23:4.4 Solitary Messengers are of stationary numbers, but the trinitization of the sons of destiny is apparently an unlimited technique. Since each trinitized son of destiny has assigned to him a Solitary Messenger, it appears to us that at some time in the remote future the supply of messengers will become exhausted. Who will take up their work in the grand universe? Will their service be assumed by some new development among the Inspired Trinity Spirits? Is the grand universe at some remote period going to be more nearly administered by Trinity-origin beings while the single- and dual-origin creatures move on into the realms of outer space? If the messengers return to their former service, will these sons of destiny accompany them? Will the trinitizations between finaliters and Paradise-Havoners cease when the supply of Solitary Messengers has been absorbed as guardian-companions of these sons of destiny? Are all our efficient Solitary Messengers going to be concentrated on Vicegerington? Are these extraordinary spirit personalities going to be eternally associated with these trinitized sons of unrevealed destiny? What significance should we attach to the fact that these couples forgathering on Vicegerington are under the exclusive direction of those mighty mystery beings, the Architects of the Master Universe? These and many similar questions we ask ourselves, and ask numerous other orders of celestial beings, but we do not know the answers. 23:4.5 This transaction, together with many similar occurrences in universe administration, unmistakably indicates that the personnel of the grand universe, even that of Havona and Paradise, is undergoing a definite and certain reorganization in co-ordination with, and with reference to, the vast energy evolutions now taking place throughout the realms of outer space. 23:4.6 We incline to the belief that the eternal future will witness phenomena of universe evolution which will far transcend all that the eternal past has experienced. And we anticipate such tremendous adventures, even as you should, with keen relish and ever-heightening expectation. 23:4.7 Presented by a Divine Counselor from Uversa. Back to Top Urantia Book News - UBtheNEWS
Sunday, 7 August 2016 Badger! Badger! Badger! We've had badgers visiting our garden for at least 20 years. My Dad saw one back in the 1990s and one of our neighbours saw another (maybe a descendant) a few years ago. Our trap camera shows regular but infrequent visits. This means it was a treat to open up the trap camera and find 3 in one shot. Two are quite a bit smaller than the third, who I'm assuming is their mother. 3 Badgers, 24th June 2016. According to the Collins Fields Guide to Mammals "Young born mid-January usually peaking early Feb". So my young badgers were probably nearly 5 months old. A month later the camera caught the family group again. Two of the badgers are partly obscured by vegetation but they all look roughly the same size. Another visit, 23rd July 2016. This little family also provide a useful pest control service. I had noticed quite a few wasps in the garden. They were not causing any problems, just going from flower-to-flower, collecting pollen. I didn't realise there was a nest until Tuesday the 28th of July. I noticed disturbed earth and went to investigate. The remnants of the wasp nest. Looking closer, I could see a hole about 6 inches (15cm) deep and the same across. There were fragments of greyish 'paper' in and near the hole. A couple of the few remaining wasps (Vespula germanica). Rather foolishly, I took a closer look. It was only when a wasp flew into my hair, I realised what was going on! It took a few moments of very nervous headshaking to extract it. Unfortunately the camera wasn't running on the night that the badgers destroyed the nest but they are the most likely candidates when a wasp nest is dug up. They are known to destroy wasp nests so they can eat the larvae.
Skip to main content Anormalmag Interview It was an incredible honor to be interviewed by ANORMALMAG! Their team is absolutely wonderful! There are a few translation differences, so I've also posted the interview below... hope you like it! Bella, when did you first get interested in photography? It's always been something I found fascinating, but was only until recently that I decided to transform what was seemingly a hobby, into something that resonates. How much of your grandmother´s influence do you have in your work? We have very different aesthetics but I take with me the profound memory and persuasion of her gift. It's become the kind of treasure you keep hidden in your pocket and carry with you no matter where you are. As a child I was surrounded by unwavering creativity which has been vastly influential... but there are times when I don't think I truly comprehended the surreality of her art. Looking back, I wish I would've had a greater sense of her diligence and ability. What´s the most fascinating thing about photography for you? For me it's really about unearthing and immortalizing what the eye beholds. How would you describe your style? I have a difficult time isolating an exact style or creative method simply because it changes with each character I portray in the moment. I've heard some say that it's dark and tends to gravitate towards edgy, while others tell me it captures a romanticism and sensuality. I'd like to think that it's little pieces of each all mingling together. Who or what inspires you in your personal life and work and what message do you want to communicate in your images? I definitely find some amount of inspiration in everything, whether it's a melancholic moment between lovers, folklore or the way the sunlight pours in through my window each morning. A typical day for me is fluid with scattering thoughts, concepts, dreams from the night before and a million things I want to achieve. If I spend too much time concentrating on the message of my work, I find that I quickly become distracted, scrutinize the process, and ultimately lose sight of its purpose. I'm exceptionally self-critical, so I can only hope that the end result will transmit the inner workings of my imagination and let others become a part of the journey. You have a fantastic portrait portfolio. What do you like about portraying people? Portraits open soul windows, and there's such a charismatic embrace and expressionism that a flower simple just can't portray. I feel like the more I work, be it my art or photography, the closer I become to knowing myself. Self-portraiture allows a level of autonomy that I might not experience otherwise, and sometimes I rather enjoy the solitude. There's nothing very alluring about my process that's for sure. I start with a few basic ideas, toil over them, combine pieces of dreams or memories and then set the scene to the best of my ability. I'm a bit of a planner and over thinker but do have a tendency to stray from and abandon ideas when in the moment. What has been your most memorable assignment and why? Any opportunity I'm fortunate enough to receive is rewarding and memorable, but I'm still waiting for the big one! How important is Photoshop (post processing) in your final images? Post processing can definitely play a key role in the moodiness of images, but I've also found that too much can spoil what you started with. Back everything up! I do like to make a few color adjustments, although I have to admit that I've never actually used Photoshop. I currently don't even own any similar software...I'm kinda a fish out of water. What type of cameras and lens do you shoot with? That's the big question that everyone wants to know. Right now I'm using a Canon EOS Rebel and toy Holga. Even though I believe it's about your vision and not necessarily your equipment, I'd love to upgrade. Are you working on any particular projects right now? I have a few upcoming summer shoots that I'm really getting excited about. Popular posts from this blog Triple Goddess Moon Phase Designs by Bella: Vintage Lollipops x Magazzini del Sale Capsule Collection Cyber Monday Sale - Today Only! Cyber Monday Sale! Take 40% off EVERYTHING using HOLIDAY at checkout
« Compostable home decor \| Main \| Living in harmony with nature » Avoiding Goodwill, but where else to donate? A few months ago I learned that Goodwill Industries ships a large percentage of its donated clothing overseas. (More on this here and here.) The clothing is sold in marketplaces, thus displacing native textile workers because residents of these countries prefer the cheaper 'American' clothing. I have a problem with this, so I decided to stop donating our used clothing to Goodwill. It's not limited to Goodwill; I think the Salvation Army and other big thrift stores do the same thing. I don't know what they do with all the other stuff they receive (furniture, household accessories, toys, etc.) -- do they ship it all over the place, too? I know these organizations do provide important services to populations in need, but they are big-money operations. There's a Goodwill drive-thru drop-off about five minutes from my home, and while it is soooo convenient I just can't bring myself to do it. So now I'm faced with tracking down multiple organizations and making several trips. (Oh, poor me. Wah. I'm so inconvenienced because I have so much stuff that I want to get rid of. Where does it come from? Why do we own so much stuff? Being faced with the (seemingly arduous) task of getting rid of it makes me want to stop buying stuff period!) Here are some local organizations that serve people in the Portland area: Community Warehouse (N. Portland): Furniture, kitchenware, mattresses, basic household goods like sheets, towels, blankets, alarm clocks, etc. go directly to people in need in the Portland area community. Portland Impact (SE): Gently used furniture, household items, clothing for children and adults, sheets, towels, blankets. Ninety-nine percent of items donated stay in the community (the other 1% are unusable items). They have a large facility where they store donations for people transitioning out of homelessness. Helping Hands Community Store (SE): Clothing for all ages; strong need for men and women's professional clothing. Provides worksite training to area residents who get to shop for free in the store. Free Geek (SE): This is an easy one: working and non-functional computers and electronics. Trains individuals in need to work on various aspects of refurbishing or recycling computers in exchange for a free computer. Everything they do and stand for is so good. Dress for Success (NE): Women's professional, interview-appropriate clothing and accessories. Helps disadvantaged women prepare for the workplace. I think they are really picky about what they'll accept (extra large sizes seem to be in high demand) so hopefully the donated clothes are going to people in the area. Children's Relief Nursery (N. Portland): Baby and children's clothing (to 5T), baby furniture and gear, toiletries, diapers, books and crafts. (After I dropped off a bunch of stuff here I was told that they don't have much storage and anything they can't use right away gets taken to the Salvation Army. Sigh.) They offer therapy, parenting classes and home visits to at-risk area families. Finally, there's the Web site Donors Resource that matches the items you need to donate with various metro-area organizations. I can't seem to find an organization (beyond Goodwill & Co.) that will take toys and stuffed animals. Do you know of any? Any other charitable organizations you like donating used items to? Homeflow Professional Organizing Products We Like
Bangladesh News Jan 20th Home arrow News arrow International News arrow World leaders to tackle food crisis at Rome summit World leaders to tackle food crisis at Rome summit PDF Print E-mail Monday, 02 June 2008 Rome, June 01 ( - It has been described as a global crisis pushing 100 million people into hunger, threatening to stoke social and political turmoil and set the fight against world poverty back by seven years. Now, the food price crisis will be tackled by world leaders who meet in Rome this week to seek ways of reducing the suffering for the world's poorest people and ensure the Earth can produce more food to sustain an ever growing population. "It's time for action," said Jacques Diouf, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) who called the summit late last year before the full extent of the food price crisis was clear. World Bank President Robert Zoellick underlined the urgency of the problem, announcing $1.2 billion in loans and grant financing for countries struggling with food and fuel costs. "It is crucial that we focus on specific action," he said. "This is not an issue like HIV/AIDS where you need some research breakthrough. People know what to do." A combination of factors, including poor harvests, low stocks and rising demand, have collided over the last one to two years to cause massive, sudden rises in many food commodity prices which very few people saw coming. Food prices will remain high over the next decade even if they fall from current records, the FAO said in a report. Diouf said he expected some 40 heads of state or government at the meeting on Tuesday to Thursday next week. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has set up his own task force, will attend, as will the leaders of France, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Argentina and some African nations. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also expected for his first trip to Western Europe as president and first major appearance in the West since addressing the U.N. in New York last year. Delegates from 151 countries can be expected to make worthy statements on beating poverty, but the talks may reveal divisions on several underlying food and hunger-related issues: free trade, biofuels and genetically modified organisms. "World problems are much more complex than saying something is bad and something is good," Diouf told Reuters when asked whether he expected the summit to criticize the rise of bio-fuels -- usually energy made from foodstuffs -- in the United States and Europe for contributing to food price spikes. "What is sure is that diverting around 100 million tonnes of cereals to biofuel has had an impact on food prices," he added. Diouf has said he wants to get emergency aid to those worst affected, seeds and fertilizers to farmers who can no longer afford them and plough investment into agriculture to ensure poor countries can feed themselves in the future. Josette Sheeran, head of another Rome-based food agency, the World Food Program, had to appeal for an extra $755 million to cover the additional cost of food aid caused by the price hikes. With that shortfall now covered by donor countries, Sheeran said the crisis should be seen as "a wake up call to act now to defeat the plague of hunger once and for all". Future rules on trade in agricultural products are seen as a key part of a long-term strategy to reduce poverty and hunger. Developing countries have long complained about heavily subsidized food from Europe and North America being dumped on their markets, damaging their own farmers. The summit's timing, as the "Doha" world trade talks approach a critical phase, will ensure trade is a hot topic in Rome and the summit may serve to remind trade negotiators of what is at stake in the so-called "development round". hrs. Comments Add New Write comment We don't publish your mail. See privacy policy. < Prev Next >
How JustAnswer Works: • Ask an Expert • Get a Professional Answer • 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Rate the answer you receive. Ask Harris Your Own Question Harris, Law Specialist Category: Law Satisfied Customers: 2851 Type Your Law Question Here... Harris is online now I have a joint morgage with my nana and the relationship is Customer Question Hi i have a joint morgage with my nana and the relationship is broken down she refuses my entry or have any involvment in our home She lives their with her husband he isnt on the morgage and he doesnt pay rent or contribute. This has been ongojng for 4 years now and i have had enough can i charge him rent or remove him from our home and how do i go about it thanks. Submitted: 1 year ago. Category: Law Customer: replied 1 year ago. Email address is*@**.* thanks Expert: Harris replied 1 year ago. -Whose name is *** *** of the property in? -Who is paying the mortgage? -Are you also living in the property? Customer: replied 1 year ago. The property title is myself Craig Sheridan and Majorie Kirkwood we both split the payments of the mortgage. Marjorie Kirkwood and her husband Cameron Bridges are previously living their and have both lived at the property from us taking on the mortgage. Marjorie has barred me entry to our home and will not allow me to have any involvement over a family argument that did not involve myself. Our mortgage is tenancy in common I need legal advice on what my options are as I feel like what is happening with my home is unfair. Please can you give me as much information to what I have discussed I look forward to hearing a reply. Thank You Craig Sheridan. Customer: replied 1 year ago. Hi can let me no when ur responding to my issues plz thank you Expert: Harris replied 1 year ago. Apologies for the delay in replying. As you are named on the title you have a legal interest in the property and will be legally allowed to return, enter and occupy it unless there is a court order in place excluding you from the property. As she lives there with her husband he would have matrimonial home rights to live there and there is no legal requirement for him to pay towards it. However, he would legally only be entitled to seek a claim against her share. You therefore cannot remove either of them from the home unless you apply for an occupation order to court which will remove them both. You may also wish to consider selling your share to them so that you can realise your interest, and if there is no agreement to your proposal you would be entitled to apply to court to force a sale of the property. Expert: Harris replied 1 year ago.
(PECL imagick 0.9.0-0.9.9) Imagick::writeImageWrites an image to the specified filename bool Imagick::writeImage ([ string $filename = NULL ] ) Writes an image to the specified filename. If the filename parameter is NULL, the image is written to the filename set by Imagick::readImage() or Imagick::setImageFilename(). Filename where to write the image. The extension of the filename defines the type of the file. Format can be forced regardless of file extension using format: prefix, for example "jpg:test.png". Liefert TRUE bei Erfolg. add a note add a note User Contributed Notes 4 notes 3 years ago When running Imagick as packaged with the Abyss Web Server, neither this method nor writeImages () works. Instead the format has to be declared and the file saved by using another method or procedure, e.g.: = new Imagick (); $im->newImage (300, 225, "blue"); $im->writeImage ("test_0.jpg"); // fails with no error message $im->setImageFormat ("jpeg"); file_put_contents ("test_1.jpg", $im); // works, or: $im->imageWriteFile (fopen ("test_2.jpg", "wb")); //also works 3 years ago I opened image with Imagick::readImageBlob. When I wanted to save resized image Imagick::writeImage did not work, but Imagick::writeImageFile did. $image = new Imagick(); // $image->writeImage($fileDst) did not work if($f=fopen($fileDst, "w")){ pfz at pfzone dot org 5 years ago With Imagick 3.1.0RC2, PHP4.8 If you plan to overwrite the file you're working on, before doing writeImage, consider clearing the file buffer before the write statement : = new Imagick($your_file); /* some processing */ // or It happened to me that the resulting file size was wrong. This could lead to truncation, as the file is not expanded. This happened while working on JPEG, and PNG. this line worked for me without this hack. ($your_file, $image); Do not rely on getImageLength() for sending your image, especially when keepalive is ON. Content length is then relevant, and must be set. If the wrong size is given, your image will be truncated. Use filesize($your_file_) once written or strlen($image) instead (which renders your image and updates getImageLength() result). icinagle at gmail dot com 6 years ago If you are trying to manipulate a uploaded file and then save the file all in the same request with Apache + mod_dav this will fail. mod_dav puts a lock on the file during the request where the file is uploaded so trying to save the smallest file, e.g. 1kb will fail with a "Failed to allocate memory" error. To Top
Articles about Spirituality Have I Lived Before? Discover Your Past Lives! (Strange But True!) By:Tina Bardo Have I lived a life before this one? And if I have... how can I find out who I was? Interest in past lives is at an all time high these days, and the reason, at least from my perspective is very, very simple! Ordinary people have ALWAYS had extraordinary memories of lives that don't seem to "fit" very with their current existence. Often, people will ignore these memories, or relegate them to dreams, or try NOT to think about them as they challenge their religious beliefs, or just don't want to come off sounding nuts, right? BUT....the good news is, with so many books, tv shows and information being available that past life recall IS a very common phenomena, more and more people are comfortable sharing their experiences with others, and of course, getting VALIDATION that their own memories are real, true and 100% verifiable. Interest in Past life regression has exploded over the last 10 years or so....and I've had this experience myself, and it's very cool! (unfortunately it can also be very time consuming, and costly as well) Past life readings, often offered by local or phone psychics, can be a great and inexpensive way to explore this whole area....without spending a ton of time, money or energy on the experience, until you know that there is good reason to continue. Here are a few simple pointers if you are curious about exploring your OWN past lives, but aren't yet convinced it's a fact: Remember that past lives MAY seem like an odd concept in our traditional Judeo/Christian Western culture... yet, in the vast majority of the world, the idea of reincarnation, and karma, and a soul that continues to grow over many lifetimes is a well accepted truth. Don't "jump" to conclusions based on the opinions of others. This especially means those that tell you something you want to believe, or doesn't jive with your own personal experience or memories. (often a "quack" therapist may tell you that you were a King or Queen or famous celebrity in a past life, or suggest memories that you may NOT have really had, so keep an OPEN mind, but don't allow yourself to be snookered by new age nonsense) Be very careful with expensive regression therapists... and not just because of the money, but because you want to make sure ANYONE who hypnotizes you is qualified, licensed and really qualified to do this type of work. Keep it SIMPLE to Start! A simple 10 or 20 dollar psychic reading for past life recall is often more than enough to stoke your interest, or confirm memories, or get validation that your experience is authentic.
The Flour Series: Coffee Flour First up on The Flour Series is…. Coffee Flour! What is it? Coffee Flour is a new gluten-free flour option making its way into mainstream grocery stores as we speak. As the Trader Joe’s package above states, coffee flour is made from dried and then ground coffee cherry husks and skins. One benefit of this is that this part of the coffee plant is usually thrown away and this new use is allowing the coffee industry to produce less waste, #wasteless! Although I assumed the flour would have that fantastic caffeine-inducing smell to it by which coffee reels me in, it does not. The best way to describe the taste of this flour is somewhere between date and raisin. Not what you would expect. The caffeine content is definitely present but probably won’t give you as much of a kick as you hoped. Claims are that it has about 60mg of caffeine per tablespoon, which sounds like a lot, but most recipes have you replacing less than a quarter cup of flour with coffee flour (or 10-15% substitution) because of the strong flavor. So spread that 240mg of caffeine over an entire pan of brownies and (unless your intent is to eat the entire pan) you are getting a pretty minimal amount. Benefits of coffee flour include 3x more iron than spinach, 5x more fiber than whole grain wheat flour, 38% more antioxidants than pomegranate, 2x more potassium than bananas, 3x more protein than kale and 84% less fat than coconut flour. Dude. One thing to be aware of is that none of the coffee flours I have seen claim to be organic. Coffee is one of the most chemically-treated crops in the world. So regardless of whether you are a strict organic consumer or not, this is a potential concern and you might not want to add this to every dish your making until more research is available. What do you do with it? Because of the harsh, somewhat bitter taste of the flour, most recipes you find on-line are for brownies or something with a lot of chcolate and sugar to help balance the flavor. Check out the photo above and see the coffee flour package has a brownie recipe on the back. For the sheer irony of it, I am looking for a good coffee cake recipe to try using the coffee flour. has some good options I’m considering since I don’t have a tried and true coffee cake recipe of my own yet. Some resources say you can add this flour to other things like smoothies and sauces, but I haven’t tested that personally. What does BTN do with it? Well… I’ve tried a number of recipes, some better than others. Apparently the first round of coffee flour cookies I tried only got published in my Instastories on Instagram… Meaning those photos are gone from posterity. But my initial reaction was that they were very date-y and bitter and I did not want to double up the sugar to make then taste like a cookie. So my next experiment was using the flour to make a morning bar, something you would expect to be more earthy, like trail mix. I did a number of trials trying to get a good bar that people would like… And still the reaction I got from what I consider my “mainstream feedback” was that they were still too earthy. With that said, Nick and I really enjoyed them based on our palate. And even though I won’t be adding them to my order forms, look for a follow up post with the recipe coming soon! One option I did really like was the Mocha Protein Cookies! The addition of a stevia-sweetened protein powder actually made the cookie quite delicious! I will be adding that to my offerings this month! It is packed with protein, low on sugar, includes all the coffee flour benefits, and pretty good for a morning snack! I hope this helps to answer your questions and assumptions on coffee flour! I had a blast testing it this last month and I’ll keep you all in the loop as I continue to understand it’s benefits. Have a cookie, 5 thoughts on “The Flour Series: Coffee Flour • bakedtruenorth I bet it is great in brownies! Although it hasn’t given any of my baked goods a coffee flavor, so I wouldn’t bank on it in brownies either. It likely will fly under the radar in brownies. Let me know if you try it! Liked by 1 person Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Monday, September 12, 2011 It's Never Too Late To Learn Something New (Or To Buy My Punch Bowl--Please!) Over the weekend I was rusticating at my brother's lake house a couple counties downstate. He has a lovely vacation home in Amish Country, and the community there has a twice-yearly garage sale. He told me about it a little over a year ago and urged me to start gathering up things in my house to put in his sale. I go gather up my mother (St. Patsy) as well, jam everything in my car, and spend the weekend at the lake peddling my crap, visiting with St. Patsy and Bob, watching people and making a little wine money. Bonus: a blogpost. Bob and I love to watch what people will buy, how they will try to bargain you down on a fifty-cent item, and try to figure out why, after over a year and three sales now, my brand new punch bowl will not sell, even at the low low price of only five dollars. (I've had it with that goddam thing--I mean it. Next sale, I'm marking that puppy up to ten bucks. Fuck 'em.) We have a goodly amount of Amish customers--Mennonites, too, and here's what we've learned: 1. They will bargain, gently, on items of beauty or luxury, such as my strawberry crockery or faux depression glass; 2. They buy sporting equipment in the spring; 3. They do not generally buy plastic kitchen items; 4. They will buy dishes or silverware in vast quantities. This year, a young Mennonite girl bought a pink plaid skirt from me after looking interestedly at--and touching--my black lace peignoir set. For a long time. Shortly after that, the following occurred: Amish buggy pulls up. Inside are two twentysomething Amish women. One alights and begins browsing. She is either heavy or pregnant. After a time, she chooses one 12"X12" mirrored tile marked $2. She shows it to her companion in the buggy, who nods. Amish shopper: (approaching our cashier table) Would you take less for this? Bob: No. In Home Depot, a store, you would pay at least five dollars for that. Amish shopper: All right. I will take it then. (carefully hands over a one and some change) Bob: Can I wrap that for you? Amish shopper: No. That's okay. Bob: Thank you. Amish shopper leaves. Goes to buggy. Conversation occurs with its occupant. Amish shopper turns back around, clutching mirror, looks unsure. Looks back at us. More conversation. Occupant points to us. Shopper starts back slowly. Patsy: Oh no. Maybe she's not allowed to have that. Maybe she has to return it. Nance: Here she comes. Amish shopper: (looking up at sign above our heads) I would like a...Pepsi. Nance: Oh. Would you like regular or diet? Amish shopper: I...I...(hand to mouth; looks from one of us to the other)...don't know. Which one is best? Bob: Well, the regular Pepsi has a lot of sugar. The Diet has no sugar. Amish Shopper: Well then, the Diet sounds best. Nance: That will be fifty cents, please. With that, she handed over the money and carried both the mirror and the can of Diet Pepsi back to the buggy and her companion as if both were precious treasures. Once inside, she stowed the mirror and opened the can. And as they urged their big brown horse to life, I had a glimpse of the Amish women tipping back that Diet Pepsi inside their buggy. 1. Nance! The second reference to the Amish in 3 days - Whad'Ya Know on saturday was a replay of a Wooster, OH show that featured a fellow from Lehman's Hardware store that specializes in Amish needs (check Also brings back memories of summers long past - once while laboring on a road crew near Kalona, IA (no stranger to hard work myself) we passed a couple kids that couldn't have been older than 6 or 8 plowing corn with a pair of horses infinitely larger than they were! Six hours later on our way back to the garage, they had made it about a quarter of the way across the field. You've got to admire their work ethic - or at least utilizing their child labor! 2. Nobody is buying the punch bowl because we ALL have the exact same one, and none of us ever use it. 3. Poor woman. You KNOW she was dying to have that black lace peignoir set. wicked cackle But, you gotta start simple. Diet Pepsi would be simple. And you can hide the sin, since it's disposable. That was probably the subject of the debate in the buggy. —Dare we? —Oh, let's go for it. We can get rid of the can, and, after all, it isn't exactly ALCOHOL! 4. Once,years ago, I had a three hour delay at Heathrow Airport and was delighted because Heathrow is one of the most interesting places in the World..Nothing can top it for people watching. So, in walks a Sheik and about 6 women. The women are dressed in black,head to toe . The only skin you can see is around their eyes. They sit in the lounge for about an hour never moving or talking. Then the Sheik has to go to the men's room and the action begins. Up come the skirts revealing Reeboks and socks with packs of cigarettes stuck in them. They light up as fast as they can and puff away. One of them runs to the corner to be the lookout while the others inhale as much smoke as they can. Too soon she reports that the Boss is on his way back. Puff,puff,puff again then stomp,stomp,stomp to put the cigarettes out and kick the butts under their chairs. Next they reach into the depths of their black Burqas and pull out packs of chewing gum and frantically put a stick in their mouth to cover up the smell of the It was one of my most rewarding "people Watching" events. The Amish women reminded me of that incident when they had the nerve to flaunt authority and drink a Pepsi. Good post,Nance. Fun read. 5. Nancy--Thank you. And thanks for sharing your experience as well. I'm always heartened by any Female Rebellion--I simply cannot help it--and while I do try to respect anyone's choice to follow his/her faith, I like the idea that, from time to time, there is some veering off The Path. Humanity, you know? Ortizzle--I know! The final scene reminded me of a picture I have someplace of Daniel Day-Lewis on the set of The Crucible. You know, he is so entrenched in The Method that it is legendary. But even he cannot live his character 24/7, a fact he points out to obnoxious interviewers. In the case to which I'm referring, he is dressed as John Proctor, sitting in the shadow of the home HE built AS John Proctor before shooting began...drinking a can of Coke. LOL. So much for 1692 Puritan Salem. Silliyak--Sigh. That is a Possible Truth that I refuse to accept. You know what they say: Cleopatra is not the only Queen of De Nile.... Dean--Our prices are way better than Lehman's. LOL. Where else can you get all jeans for 2$, all tops for 2$, and a bread machine for 15$? And that's just a random sampling! I even have a crystal decanter in there for five bucks. I swear, it's criminal how low our prices are. Regarding the child labor, though, one thing the Amish do not lack is children, it would seem. Almost every Amish woman of childbearing age who we see is pregnant, and I did see a very sweet months-old baby, dressed in miniature gown and apron and bonnet. 6. There is NO WAY I would have sold a DIET pepsi to those women - that's just shameful! If they're going to sin then they should get the REAL THING. Although on the other hand they'll probably not go looking for another... P.S. Since I'm TERRIBLE at responding on my blog I'll respond here. I am trying really really hard to not walk like a duck. I recognize the danger - as well as the potential for ridicule :) 7. Excuse me for making two comments,Nance, but I must tell you why the punch bowl isn't selling. The price is not right! Too low? NO! Not high enough. My neighbor once had a Dachsund named Astro and they were being transferred to a foreign base and could not take her. Another neighbor wanted her and when he asked the price they said he could have her for nothing. He wanted no part of that and said "NO!" A few days later the owner called the potential buyer and raised the price to $60.00. The buyer said,"I'll give you $40.00 and not a penny more." The owner countered with $50.00 for Astro and the buyer said,"Done! $50.00 is a fair price for such a nice dog." Astro was taken for a long walk and never brought back to his own house. He was taken to the buyer's place where the $50.00 was paid and the dog was introduced to his new family which included 3 kids and a cat.The kids were no problem but the cat....ouch! The lesson to be learned here is that you should place more value on the punch bowl. Price it at $40.00 and stand back and watch a bidding war start. If none of this happens, fill the G D Punch Bowl with a bottle of Grey Goose, add a bucket of ice and a 10 oz.bottle of tonic and you,Bob and Patsy enjoy the rest of the day... 8. Nancy--Oh my. I can barely get Patsy to sip some plum wine now and again, and that makes her loopy. She detests the taste of alcohol. Bob drinks only occasionally (I know, how am I related to These People!?), and usually sucks down coffee during the sales because he has been up all night the night before playing poker. But as I said in the post, next sale (in May), that punch bowl is getting prominently displayed on a pedestal and marked up considerably. And I may just fill it, but not with Grey Goose. ;-) Bug--Oh, you and I have a vastly different Soda Philosophy. I don't think there should be any variety other than Diet. The amount of sugar in soda is The Worst Offender in the nation's obesity epidemic among young people. Fountain drinks sold at convenience stores are so cheap and so huge that kids are sucking down 64oz of pure sugar and caffeine. On a lighter note, I know what you mean, though. I got so used to Diet Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper (my fave!) when I was able to drink soda, however, that I really didn't notice a taste difference. 9. I'm with Bug. How often is this girl going to have a soda? Go big or go home. I seriously doubt her access to a real pepsi now and again is going to make her fat. Now me? I drink far more soda than is healthy for anyone, so it's all diet, all the time around here. I had to laugh, because I saw this: "...urged me to start gathering up things in my house to put in his sale. I go gather up my mother..." and I thought maybe you were going to put your mother in his sale. HA! 10. Oh, how much do I hate yard sales. I remember having a woman come by and start loading a bag and a box with tons of my stuff, tons of it! Then she says, "You take checks, right?" I said no. She got into a huff, "ALL the other yard sales take checks!" I told her there was a bank within a half mile. She got all snippy with me and I said, "Hey, I'm sorry. This isn't Wal-Mart." I was confident her check would bounce because she was just loading stuff up and not really looking at it. She wasn't a real buyer, she was a thief! When I was in Oklahoma, I had someone trying to bargain me down from 25 cents on something. It was so ridiculous and annoying. "Will ya take a nickel for it?" Me: "I think I'd rather send it to the landfill. Thanks anyway!" As for the punch bowl, I ask you this, "Who uses punch bowls at home anymore?" Plus, they take up so much room. I think you should put a velvet cushion in it and make it an elegant cat bed. : ) 11. V-grrrl--Holy crap. There is NO WAY my enormous cats could wedge into that punch bowl. And Midwesterners still put out punch bowls at Ladies' Gatherings, like showers and Product Parties, both of which I abhor. Sigh. They are Obligation Things, basically. Anyway, I hear you about sales. Every time some wackadoo wanders in and wants to bargain us down on a 25 or 50 cent item, I handle it, say NO firmly and smilingly, then turn to Bob and Patsy and say grimly, "That Ahole just screwed the next four people who want a deal at this table." Nance does NOT PLAY., hell. I know. Sometimes I simply cannot help my own Little Missions, you know? And Bob as well, who has just lost a bunch of weight and is on a Journey Of Wellness And Dietary Reform, is also trying to Do What He Can. I'm glad you caught me being a little naughty with my diction (i.e. "gathering" Patsy); it was entirely intentional. We often threaten to sell her, the dog Abbi, and lots of things when we get snarky and punchy after a few hours. PUNCHY...get it? ;-) (Someone cyberslap me.) Oh, thank you for joining the fray! Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel More complicated Latin names explained. Plants whose common names start with T-Z Updated on February 23, 2014 The spiky seed heads of the teasel Final article on Latin plant names from T to Z This is the final article on the subject of explaining those complicated Latin plant names. In previous hubs I have reviewed a sample of plant names in an A-Z formula. This the final one in the series reviews a sample of plants whose common names start with the letter T through to Z. We begin our review with the Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum. teasel belongs to the family Asteraceae formerly the Compositae. The common name of Teasel derives from the fact that the flower heads were used to tease wool and cloth. It derives from the Anglo-Saxon word taeson. The specific name of fullonum-fullers were the poeple that worked with wool. The genus name of Dipsacus comes from the Greek, indicating to 'thirst', and refers to the way rain water collects in the cup-like structures that form around the stem and leaves. Tormentil -Potentila erecta belongs to the family Rosaceae { rose family} Tormentil derives from the old French word tormentille via the Latin toermentilla from tormentum, meaning agony, alluding to its medicinal use in relieving pain. Potenitlla the genus name comes from the Latin potens, indicating powerful {potent] and again refers to medicinal uses. The specific name of erecta means standing upright { as opposed to the creeping tormentil} Tormentil Illustration Vipers Bugloss, Echium vulgare-family Boraginaceae The common name of Viper's bugloss derives from the fact that it was thought to cure snake bites and bugloss comes from two Greek words which together indicate Ox-tongue, which alludes to the shape and texture of the leaves. The genus name of Echium comes from the Greek echis meaning a viper. The seeds were said to resemble the shape of a vipers head. The specific name of vulgare means common. Vetch, horse shoe, Hippocrepis comosa. Family Leguminosae {Fabiaceae}. The common name alludes to the shape of the seed pods which have many horse shoe shaped segments. The flower-head also is referred to as being superficially horse shoe shape. The genus name of Hippocrepis derives from two Greek words hippos meaning a horse and krepis meaning a shoe. Comosa the specific name alludes to the covering of white fine hairs on the seed pods. Horse shoe vetch 3.0 Unported license 3.0 Unported license \| Source Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia The Virginia creeper formerly Vitis Hederaceae is now placed in the genus Parthenocissus and given the species name of quinquefolia. The old botanical name for the plant when it was introduced in 1629 was Hedera quinquefolia. It is also called American ivy. Hedera, is the Latin genus name for ivy and other climbers it is supposed to have derived from the Celtic hoedra, meaning a chord, or possibly from the Greek hedra, meaning a seat. { The specific name for the common ivy is helix meaning twisting around. However, some authorities believe it is the name given because ivy is a great harbourer of snails. Helix is a scientific name for a family of snails which alludes to their 'twisting' around shells. Parthenocissus the current genus name derives from the Greek parthenos meaning a virgin and kissos meaning ivy. refers to the common names of Virginia creeper and American ivy. Ivy , the English name of ivy is said to come from iw, meaning green from its evergreen foliage. Yew [tree} is said to come from the same word. quinquefolia means five leaves and refers to the leaflets of the Virginia creeper. Foliage of the Virginia creeper Wormwood Artemisia absinthium Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium belongs to the family Asteraceae formerly the Compositae The common name derives from two a possible sources. Some believe that it came from the old word 'wermuth' which indicates 'preserver of mind' alluding to its medicinal use as a nervine. other authorities say it derives from its one time use as a vermifuge { ridding the body of intestinal worms}. Artemisia the genus name is dedicated to the Greek goddess of chastity Artemis. The specific name of absinthium Indicates to desist from, also alludes to Artmis. Water violet Water violet, Hottonia palustris belongs to the family Primulaceae.{Primrose family} The origin of the common name 'violet' is not known, for this aquatic species is not related to the violets and is in the Primrose family. Hottonia , again there is a division of opinion about the origin of the genus name, some authorities believe it is called after Dr.William Houston, 1695-1733, a British botanist. Others believe it is named after Petrus Hotton an 18th century Dutch professor of Botany. The specific name of palustris means of marshes. The alternative names of featherfoil, water milfoil and water yarrow all allude to the delicate leaves that grow beneath the water's surface. Water Violet Illustration Wood sorrel Wood sorrel , Oxalis acetosella belongs to the family Oxalidaceae. The common name wood sorrel refers to habitat. The word sorrel derives from the old French surelle meaning sour. This species is not a true sorrel which belong to the dock family. Oxalis the genus name alludes to the oxalic acid contained in the leaves, that produces a sour taste. the species name of acetosella derives from the Latin acetum meaning vinegar, again alluding to the sour taste. The three leaflets of the sorrel which are somewhat clover-like have given claim for this palnt to be the shamrock, along with white clover and lesser trefoil. { Did you know there is no such plant as a shamrock. Shamrock comes from a Gaelic word which means a clover like plant.} Yellow rattle Yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor belongs to the family Schrophulariaceae. The common name and another older name for the plant of 'rattle box' refers to the ripe seeds which produce a rattling sound in their pods when shaken. Swedish peasants in days gone by took this sound to be a signal to start mowing their hay. Another name used in the south of England and in particular the region of Somerset was 'hayshackle'. Rhinanthus the genus name alludes to the shape of the petal tube, which resembles the witch's hooked nose, from the Greek rhinos meaning nose and anthos meaning flower. minor -the specific name means smaller differentiating this one from larger species. yellow rattle growing among grasses Yellow water lily Yellow water lily Nupher lutea belongs to the family Nymphaceae { water lily family} Nupher the generic name derives from an Arabic name for aquatic plants. lutea from Latin and indicates the colour yellow. The country titles for this plant is brandy bottle and can dock, both of which allude to the shape of the seed pods. they are superficially like the shape of old type brandy bottle shape. Seed pods are the shape of old type brandy bottles Yellow flag {iris} Yellow flag. Iris psuedacorus. Belong to the Iris family Iridaceae. It is also referred to as the sword flag. Common name-According to legend the first person to wear the iris as a heraldic devise was Clovis, who became the king of the Franks in the late 5th century. He drove the Romans out of northern Gaul, and was converted to christianity. He changed the three toads which adorned his banner for three yellow iris. hence the name of yellow flag{banner} Much later in history the iris was adopted by Louis V11 in the fleur-de-lys, which he wore in the crusades against the Saracens. lys is a corruption of Louis thus fluers-de-lys the flower of Louis. Iris is the Greek name for the rainbow. Alludes to the spectrum of colours among the different species. psuedacorus, means false iris. Sword flag refers to the shape of the leaves that have sharp edges that can easily cut the skin if handled carelessly. Yellow flag {iris} Here we conclude the explanations of Latin names of some familiar flowers. Over the four articles I have tried to give a broad sample of flowers. In my other hubs about the species themselves many more explanations are given. If you would like to know the explanation of the Scientific name of a particular plant, you can get in touch, and if I can help, it will not be problem. Some time in the future I intend to do a hub explaining the Latin names of Fauna such as birds and animals. Thank you for taking the time to read. 0 of 8192 characters used Post Comment • D.A.L. profile image Dave 5 years ago from Lancashire north west England Cat:) thank you for being the first to visit and for leaving your appreciated comments. Best wishes to you. • cat on a soapbox profile image Catherine Tally 5 years ago from Los Angeles Interesting plant facts for those of us who love botany and horticulture. I also enjoyed your photography. You must have had some very nice field outings. Thank you! My best to you, Cat :)
Public Diplomacy and Global Communication 2014b What was the Impact of the Social Media FB & Twitter on Arab Spring? What was the impact of the social media FB & Twitter on Arab Spring? By Kamal Konda The Arab spring was a revolutionary number of protests, some violent some peaceful which took place across various Arab countries. There was protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sudan.The cause of the revolution is said to be the dissatisfaction of citizens with the local governments of the country. Some of the protests were seen to have positive impact, for example resulting in change of government whilst others not so successful, with violent responses by government authorities being received. There has been many claims that this upheaval in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring was highly impacted by the social media such as Facebook and Twitter. [1] The events that took part which are now known as the Arab Spring has created a debate about what the role of social media was during these events. Here is an image of the type of events that took place during the Arab Spring. As you can see there was masses of people involved. The picture of the little boy praying shows that there was a feeling of hope that comes across from the people involved in these revolutionary protests. [2] The question arises whether social media sparked the Arab Springs. Some people believe that social media allowed the younger generations to discuss new ideas and gave them that platform where something can be planned in order to put their ideas across. It is accepted that many activists used social media as a platform to gain support for the events that took place. Facebook, in particular provided information to those that were involved in the Arab Springs which the governments of the countries where the revolutions were taking place could not have control over. The majority of the countries where these protests did take place are known for the high level of control they exercise over their countries and the citizens of it and therefore social media was an aspect that was much out of the control of those running countries. It therefore allowed for events such as protests and demonstrations to be planned without much interference of authorities. [3] Social Media definitely helped the message of the protests spread much quicker, therefore allowing more people to be involved in the protests and the message that was being delivered. Young people are known for their increased use of social media, therefore it arguably gave them an upper hand against governments who use Facebook much less. This is arguable easy to see given that the governments in countries such as Facebook did a lot to try and block access to social Media such as Facebook. This led on to protests with slogans on why Facebook should not be banned. The above would suggest that social media had a significant impact on the Arab Springs. However, others have argued that the events during the Arab Spring was fuelled and spread as a result of the dissent of the people and whether there was social media available or not would not have had such a big impact on how those events unfolded and the widespread nature of them. However, if we look at government action in most countries it would suggest media did have a big impact and was actually seen as a threat by most governments. For example in Libya, the Libyan government tried to influence the people by playing patriotic songs on the radio. This would suggest that the government was aware of how the public was being influenced.[4] There is also the idea that social media was actually also used by the governments whom those protests were aimed against. Without admitting it, it was used tactically be officials to keep themselves in the picture of what was going on. Overall social media definitely had a massive impact on the Arab Spring, from the initial knowledge that those involved in the change protests got from social media, to being used as a tool for planning as well as something that kept all those involved up to date with the events that were taking place. [1] last accessed 20/03/2015 [2] Image at last visited 21/03/2015. [3] Lever,R. Arab Spring: Did social media really spark revolutions? (2013) Washington. [4] last visited 21/03/2015. Single Post Navigation Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
Sunday, November 10, 2013 The New York Times Editorial Board on Parity The New York Times Editorial Board came out with a comment on mental health parity entitled Equal Coverage for the Mentally Ill. Like most sources with no knowledge of how mental health treatment works in this country - their outlook was very rosy. I am sure that is what the authors of the original bill - the late Senator Paul Wellstone and Senator Pete Domenici were hoping for. Let me tell you why that is not going to happen. As I followed the link to who is actually on the Editorial Board it is probably significant that there is nobody with health care expertise. Even if there was the national press has a naive approach to health care and seems to present a distinctly politicized and business friendly viewpoint. I would generally characterize that as a view that is very short on quality and long on cost effectiveness rhetoric. The press seems to uncritically accept that "high quality cost effective" health care is the goal of businesses and governments. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The actual Rule that was published yesterday is a 205 page document. It is written in a style that defies comprehension by anyone who is not a Congressional insider or an attorney. Despite being highly acclaimed by a number of organizations including the American Psychiatric Association (APA) there is a surprising lack of details in why this is some sort of advance. I go into this with thirty years of experience battling managed care in its various forms and needless to say I am no friend to that approach. I know that the real goal is for managed care companies to make money and they make money by denying care and providing low quality care. I also know that governments at all levels are very friendly to the managed care cartel and have bought their theology. Practically all health care legislation is managed care friendly and the PPACA (Obamacare) facilitates super managed care organizations called Accountable Care Organizations. With that backdrop and realizing that like most other people, I lack the legal qualifications to read this document, here are a few of my impressions: 1. Medical necessity - there are 44 references to medical necessity in the document. There is some concern about transparency. It is quite easy for a managed care company to tell a person or their physician, pharmacy, or hospital that they are not covering a service because it is not "medically necessary." This generally means that the company can employ doctors who can arbitrarily deny services. In Minnesota in the 1990s, several psychiatrists were concerned that these companies were discharging people from hospitals prematurely and they insisted on seeing the actual criteria for these decisions. They were advised that they were "proprietary" and not available. The new Rule seems to demand adequate disclosure of these criteria. Even if it did, the disclosure of this information is irrelevant. In fact, there are criteria in use right now that are essentially made up on financial information and they have nothing to do with psychiatric treatment. Unless there is an actual appeal process to a neutral party who has the power to overturn these decisions, managed care companies will continue to do whatever they want. 2. Utilization review - there is one reference to utilization review (UR), a managed care tactic that is basically designed to harass physicians into discharging patients from a hospital based on the financial demands of the managed care company. An example would be serial calls to a physician treating a patient with suicidal ideation. The attending physician who sees the patient every day is concerned that the patient has a significant suicide risk and wants to continue to treat them on an inpatient basis. The reviewer who is an employee of the managed care company, is sitting in a room several states away, and has never seen the patient and has no professional responsibility to them decides the patient is not at high risk and that they should be discharged from the hospital. This leads to a series of unproductive conversations and forces the physician working with the patient to call him every day to justify keeping the patient in the hospital. In many ways dealing with this process is like dealing with a bill collector. The only difference is that you are paying a penalty for doing your work and being responsible to a patient. The rule seems to suggest that the amount of UR done is not a problem as long as it is equally applied across both mental health and general medical surgical services. There are major problems with that idea. The first is a decade long initiative by the managed care industry to internalize utilization review by case managers. They claim these case managers are part of some kind of imaginary patient care team. In fact they are there applying business standards to force physicians to discharge patients. The second problem is that UR is completely unnecessary. Managed care companies have huge financial leverage. They reimburse a set amount per admission/discharge diagnosis that is a discounted rate. The only conceivable uses for UR today are to pressure inpatient physicians and to create an incentive through internal UR to increase profits by managing discounted rates. That happens when a hospital receives a fixed payment for what is probably a 5 day hospitalization and they now have UR by case managers to get physicians to discharge these patients in 3 days instead of 5. There is no major psychiatric condition requiring hospitalization that responds to three days of treatment. 3. Small employer exemption - the Mental Health Parity And Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) does not apply to small employers: "MHPAEA and the regulations under it do not apply to employers with 50 or fewer employees (although, separately, the EHB regulations adopt MHPAEA)." According to the Census that eliminates about 34 million people or about the same number of uninsured that the PPACA purports to cover for the first time. It also defeats the concept of parity. But it turns out there are a lot of exceptions. So who knows the total number of people who will be not even be covered: "MHPAEA requirements do not apply to: • Non-Federal governmental plans that have 100 or fewer employees; • Small private employers who have 50 or fewer employees; • Large group health plans that are exempt from MHPAEA based on their increased cost. Large group health plan sponsors that make changes to comply with MHPAEA and incur an increased cost of at least two percent in the first year that MHPAEA applies to the plan (the first plan year beginning after October 3, 2009) or at least one percent in any subsequent plan year (generally, plan years beginning after October 3, 2010) may apply for an exemption from MHPAEA based on their increased cost. If such a cost is incurred, the plan is exempt from MHPAEA requirements for the plan year following the year the cost was incurred. Subsequently, the plan sponsors must notify the plan beneficiaries that MHPAEA does not apply to their coverage. These exemptions last one year. After that, the plan is required to comply again; however, if the plan incurs an increased cost of at least one percent in that plan year, the plan could claim the exemption for the following plan year. The following set of FAQ’s provide additional information related to the application of MHPAEA. In particular, see Q. 11 for a discussion of the processes by which plans may claim a cost exemption; and • Self-funded non-Federal governmental employers that opt-out of the requirements of MHPAEA. Non-Federal governmental employers that provide self-funded group health plan coverage to their employees (coverage that is not provided through an insurer) may elect to exempt their plan (opt-out) from the requirements of MHPAEA by following the Procedures & Requirements for HIPAA Exemption Election posted on the Self-Funded Non-Federal Governmental Plans webpage (See, then issuing a notice of opt-out to enrollees at the time of enrollment and on an annual basis. Thereafter, the employer must also file the opt-out notification with CMS" 4. This bill will have no impact on gun violence. You can't assess and treat potentially violent and aggressive people in a rationed, low quality system of care that is run by case managers bent on getting people out of the hospital. There are many better suggestions on this blog but they require a system of quality care and professionalism. 5. The bill will not save any money. It should be painfully apparent that delegating the management of health care in the United States to a profit motivated middleman is a recipe for health care inflation. That point is routinely lost on politicians and journalists. The other point that these folks never seem to get is that managed care companies have in many cases acquired the means of production that they had sought to control. This creates an additional conflict of interest. If you now own all of the MRI scanners, you have an interest in seeing them run 24/7 especially when they might be covering a significant part of your hospital costs. That might explain what an MRI of the C-spine is $1,500 in the US and $150 in Japan. 6. The rule is doomed if the Editorial Board is serious about it depending on enforcement by state insurance commissioners. The members of the Board must not have ever filed a complaint with a state insurance commission. In many states it is difficult to find the state agency responsible for taking complaints against managed care companies. Unlike Medical Boards, insurance complaints are often a well kept secret. There are often pro-insurance and pro-managed care statutes in state law and industry insiders on the commission. In my experience, the only hope state residents have against the managed care industry is an activist Attorney General. Activist AGs happen about once a decade. These are all huge deficiencies in a Rule that is supposed to assure parity between mental health and substance use disorders and general medical surgical treatment. Combined with pressure for collaborative care in primary care clinics, it is very easy to imagine that this Rule will not make any difference at all. That is my preliminary take on the Rule with my previously stated qualifiers. I fully expect a business friendly government to continue to be an obstacle to the provision of quality mental health and addiction services largely due to the conflict of interest it creates when it uses private businesses to make money by denying care at several levels. But the New York Times won't be telling you that. George Dawson, MD, DFAPA Final Rule on Mental Health Parity. Federal Register. November 13, 2013. 1. I think we'd have a stronger argument for parity if everything bad that happens in life wasn't a mental disorder. For example, if diagnosis was limited to the original RDC criteria, parity would be noncontroversial (except maybe for drug and alcohol addiction and today most people would accept that). But the APA wants everything by government fiat cost be damned. That's not realistic, and under ACA things are going to get rationed. If it comes down to a kid's cancer treatment vs. something psychiatric, mental health is going to lose that argument. 2. Possibly but managed care has already greatly simplified that for us. The only indication for hospitalization is "dangerousness" or being "suicidal." They don't really give a damn what the diagnosis is or even the fact that their reviewer is essentially saying they can determine dangerousness and suicidality better than the responsible clinician - even though they are sitting in an office several states away. So kids aren't being deprived of cancer treatment, the mentally ill are being deprived of competent care.
Friday, April 10, 2015 Epidemiology and Toxicology of Aircraft Assisted Pilot Suicides I thought I would add a few facts to the speculation about what is really known about the epidemiology and toxicology involved in aircraft assisted suicides. It turns out that there are substantial studies that have been written. If you are a bottom-line kind of person and want to avoid further reading, I can tell you that the events are rare especially events involving commercial aircraft where the incident is ruled a suicide by aviation authorities. The events are so rare that prediction is doubtful. In many cases the descriptions of suicidal statements and behavior occur on the day of the events and there are further extenuating circumstances like the use of alcohol and other intoxicants. If you are really interested in these events, there are numerous places where you can see the analysis of what happened and what the ruling was by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The media reaction is similar to what is seen following mass shootings in the United States. After the initial shock, there is typically a period of speculation about the causes of the disaster of the form: “What motivates a person to do something like this?” There is the invariable dissection of their life in the media. Were they bullied? What was their personality like? What was on their computer? Were there any clues that were missed that suggested that one day they would start shooting people? Were psychiatrists involved? How did they get the firearms? When all of those familiar touchstones are exhausted (and it does not take long), the analysis starts to take on the characteristics of groups with agendas. Gun advocates will suggest that this person was not a typical gun owner and therefore tighter gun laws are not needed. Gun control advocates will provide the counter arguments that usually involve how easy it was for this person to get a gun. There is a political impasse largely due to the power of the gun lobby and some politicians start to talk about “being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Mental health advocates, especially anyone who wants to talk about the real problems of mental illness and violence are as disenfranchised as the gun control advocates. Nothing ever happens. The screening advocates step up and suggest that many of these incidents could be prevented if we just “screened” enough people. Anyone familiar with Bayesian statistics knows why that won’t work and may cause more harm than good. After that impasse, a second wave of speculation starts driven largely by people who ascribe to the theory that psychiatric medications and psychiatric treatment can cause homicidal behavior. There are a couple of schools of thought on that one. The first has to do with medications and the idea that specific medications like SSRIs can lead to homicidal behavior. The other has to do with the fact that seeing a psychiatrist is associated with homicidal behavior and therefore psychiatric treatment must at some level cause homicidal behavior or at the very least the psychiatrist is responsible for not stopping it. As I explored in a previous posts – there is not a shred of evidence that any of that is true. There is however more evidence about pilot safety, pilot use of antidepressants, and incidents ruled pilot suicide than I have seen discussed in the media. Here are a few bits of solid data to ponder during the expected swell of speculation about causes, who is to blame, and possible solutions. 1. The denominator is huge: When the FAA or NTSB looks at all certified pilots in the US that includes a total of roughly 620,000 people per year including classifications for student, recreational, sport, private and commercial. Roughly 1/3 of the FAA certified pilots are classified as commercial. The US government also collects detailed statistics on the total number of passengers flown per year (815.3 million), the total number of flights per year (9.821 million) and a host of associated statistics on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics web site. 2. The numerator is very small: A quick glance at the table below on either antidepressant use by pilots or the total incidents rules as suicide shows that a small proportion of the total deaths are associated with either suicide or antidepressant use. The proportions of the total pilots in the data base is much smaller and the rates of both suicide and antidepressant use are much lower than expected on a population wide basis. Data from the Aviation Safety Network suggests that there were 8 to 10 incidents involving commercial aircraft and pilots since 1976 or about 9 in the last 40 years. 3. The data on pilot use of antidepressants in fatal crashes: Until about 2006, the FAA prohibited the use of antidepressants by commercial pilots. They have since modified their stance to allow for specific antidepressants. The European Aviation Safety Administration has publicly posted information of the safety of pilots and necessary screening for psychiatric disorders as well as prohibitions on certain diagnoses. There have been studies that look at positive toxicology for antidepressants in the cases of fatally injured pilots. These studies have looked for the presence of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in in fatal crashes. Tricyclic antidepressants were the predominant antidepressants prescribed before the approval and release of fluoxetine in 1987. One study by Dulkadir, et al looked at fatal crashes between 1990 and 2012. In this study the researchers received biological samples from 7,037 fatally injured pilots out of a total of 8,429 fatal accidents. 2,664 were positive for drugs on toxicological analysis. Of those positive samples TCAs were found in 31 samples, TCAs alone in 9 and TCAs with other drugs in 22. None of the pilots involved reported TCA use during their aviation medical exam. The authors point out that at the time covered in this study that TCAs were not approved for pilot use and that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants or SSRIs were approved on a case by case basis. That is a prevalence of TCA use in this database is less than 0.5% ( 31/7,037 aviators). That number is much lower than estimates of population wide use of antidepressants. Where the blood levels were determined they clearly indicate that some overdoses had occurred (see Table II and III). Blood concentrations greater that 1,000 ng/ml are usually very consistent with overdoses and that is the case with nortriptyline and imipramine/desipramine in these tables. The authors were able to determine that the TCAs were prescribed for depression in three cases, pain in two cases, and chronic insomnia in one case. Other antidepressants were listed along with opioids, anticonvulsants, cold medications, antihypertensives, benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, diabetes medications and ethanol were detected but the epidemiology was not reported. In both the studies by Akin and Dulkadir “drugs and alcohol and/or a medical condition” was given as “a probable cause or contributing factor in about 1/3 of the accidents where antidepressants were detected. There was an earlier study of the epidemiology of SSRIs in pilot fatalities from 1990-2001 (Akin, et al) that showed they were involved in 61/4,128 pilot fatalities or a total of 1.48%. The available data suggests that pilot suicide by aircraft is very rare and much lower than the pilot suicide rate by all methods. There is also a suggestion that the suicide rate in pilots has actually decreased. Searching the NTSB database yielded 74 fatal accidents using the search term "suicide" dating back to 1966. Explanations given in the article for the fewer pilots taking TCAs was that they are more toxic and less preferred agents. Certainly in the 1990s SSRIs were heavily promoted along with the medical treatment of depression. 4. Intoxicants are found in toxicology specimens – The study by Canfield, et al identified a greater percentage of specimens that were positive for cannabinoids (relative to antidepressants) and additional performance impairing drugs in 38% of the individuals who tested positive to cannabinoids. They also looked at the mean THC concentration in the blood and concluded that during 1997-2001 it was 2.7 ng/ml and for 2002-2006 it was 7.2 ng/ml. The rate of increase in THC levels over those years exceeded the increase in cannabis potency as reported by the National Institute of Drug Use (NIDA) over the same years (2.7 fold as opposed to 1.5 fold). Some authors have concluded that THC levels between 2 and 5 ng/ml represent the lower and upper ranges of significant impairment from cannabis use on performance tests measuring driving skill (see Ramaekers, et al) in recreational cannabis users. The study by Bills, et al looked at the toxicology in a cohort of 36 pilots who committed suicide by aircraft during a 21 year period from 1983 and 2003. Each suicide case was matched against 2 randomly selected control accidents. In this study, the pilot characteristics included positive toxicology for alcohol, prescription drugs, and illegal drugs in 24.3%, 21.6%, and 13.5% of cases respectively. An exhaustive list of drugs found was not available in the paper. The authors were also not able to compare the toxicology of the cases to controls because 84% of the controls survived and their toxicology was unknown. 5. The baseline rate of pilot suicide is low or is it? - Bialik looked at the issue of workplace suicide, the data quality estimates for pilots in the US. One of the key references was a paper by Tiesman, et al that looked at the issue of workers who suicide in the workplace. It used databases from the CDC (National Occupational Mortality Surveillance (NOMS)) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (Census of Fatal Occupational Injury (CFOI)). The NOMS database has no granularity and does given intentional self harm as a search parameter. Unfortunately only "transportation occupations" can be searched grouped by age, race, and sex. I did not find the number of deaths or the PMR (Proportionate Mortality Ratio) to be useful. The NOMS did have granularity with specific occupations and there was a homicide definition but none for suicide or intentional self harm. Bialik concludes that pilots in general may have a slightly higher rate of suicide than the population in general but there are problems with that estimate and he was able to consult with an epidemiologist from the CDC. Another approach to looking at this issue to to find a study with a very well characterized database that looks at the occupational issue. Roberts, et al meets that criterion in a 2013 study of high-risk occupations for suicide. The researchers looked at the numbers of suicides and numbers in all occupations in England and Wales for specific time intervals. They determined the 30 occupations with the highest suicide rates (generally greater than 20/100,000). In comparing the time intervals (1979–80, 1982–83) to (2001–2005) they determined shift in the ranking and discussed possible causes of those changes. Pilots were not listed in the top 30 occupations by suicide rate. The only transportation workers listed were "rail transport operating staff". They noted that suicide rates for professional occupations decreased over the time interval studied while there were sharp increases in the suicide rates for manual occupations. As a comparison the 2013 suicide rate in the US was 12.6 per 100,000. 6. The accident rate due to suicide attempts in commercial aviation is lower than that found in general aviation - These incidents are tracked by the Aviation Safety Network and their web site currently lists intentional incidents and accidents caused by pilots dating back to 1976 in commercial flights. There is a separate list of aircraft accidents caused by pilot suicide and that lists 9 suicides in the same time period but proportionally more associated fatalities. 7. Pilots can already self report substance use problems - There have been some suggestions that screening would be enhanced if pilots could self report problems without the fear of recrimination - the same way that licensed health care professionals are allowed to do in many states. The focus would be on treatment rather than punishment. The health care professional experience demonstrates that this leads to significantly more self reports and that is consistent with the goal of public safety. Since pilot certification occurs at the federal level and health care professional licensing occurs at the state level - there is an opportunity to develop a more standardized approach to the potentially compromised pilot that depends more on self-report than screening. There is currently an "occupational substance abuse treatment program" called HIMS that states at least part of their goal is to preserve careers. A broader focus to include voluntary self- report of psychiatric conditions and suicidal thinking would result in more referrals for treatment and potentially impact the suicide rate. 8. Aviation regulators and the aviation industry collect data that the healthcare industry can only marvel at - Reading through the sheer amount of data and how it is acquired it is evident that anyone involved in aviation has a single-minded focus on safety. The methods of data acquisition through flight recorders and the checks and balances on the ground are far superior to any safety standards in the health care industry in the United States. As a basic thought experiment, can you imagine recording similar outcome data from patients rapidly discharged from hospitals in the US? I am talking about real data and not the survey that the nurse hands a patient after they have coached them on what to check off. I don't have to imagine what that data would look like. I know what that data looks like and it is quite ugly. It is more than a little ironic that health care experts, especially in this case psychiatrists and other behavioral experts are going to rush in and correct what is wrong with the aviation industry. By comparison, health care measurement and incident analysis is all smoke and mirrors. They don't know how to collect relevant data and many of the outcome measures are strictly political and meaningless. If anything we should be bringing in aviation safety experts to run hospitals instead of MBAs. With what I have read, I doubt that there is any possible improvement beyond voluntary reporting and making sure that there is always a second crew member in the cabin on commercial airliners. In some of the commercial aircraft crashes the planes were stolen by staff who were not pilots and crashed. But in the case of air disasters that resulted in multiple passenger deaths a second person in the cabin is a clear safeguard. I am not an expert on how many people are in air crews, but I know that there is also a flight engineer in the cabin in some cases. Given that these incidents are rare by any combination of numerators and denominators that are chosen and the fact that screening for rare events is generally not successful, screening for these rare events is not likely to work. Flight crews currently undergo random urine toxicology to prevent the use of intoxicants that can impair the ability of a pilot. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that is useful, but in the case of addictions there are often attempts to circumvent this intervention or use a drug that is not detectable. The experience of health care professional screening programs would suggest that voluntary reporting can both improve public safety and preserve careers. That seems like a useful approach for pilots. Most importantly, the aviation industry is a model for safety assurance and the investigation of incidents where there were lapses. It holds many lessons for the health care industry. George Dawson, MD, DFAPA Akin A, Chaturvedi AK. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in pilot fatalities of civil aviation accidents, 1990-2001. Aviat Space Environ Med 2003; 74(11):1169–76 Canfield DV, Dubowski KM, Whinnery JE, Lewis RJ, Ritter RM, Rogers PB. Increased cannabinoids concentrations found in specimens from fatal aviation accidents between 1997 and 2006. Forensic Sci Int. 2010 Apr 15;197(1-3):85-8. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.12.060. Epub 2010 Jan 13. PubMed PMID: 20074884. Zeki Dulkadir, Gülhane, Arvind K. Chaturvedi, Kristi J. Craft, Jeffery S. Hickerson, Kacey D. Cliburn. Antidepressants Found in Pilots Fatally Injured in Civil Aviation Accidents. Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Aerospace Medicine, Nov 2014. Lewis RJ, Johnson RD, Whinnery JE, Forster EM. Aircraft-assisted pilot suicides in the United States, 1993-2002. Arch Suicide Res. 2007;11(2):149-61. PubMed PMID: 17453693. Russell J. Lewis, Estrella M. Forster, James E. Whinnery, Nicholas L. Webster. Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the United States, 2003-2012 Civil Aerospace Medical InstituteFederal Aviation Administration. Oklahoma City, OK 73125 February 2014 Ungs TJ. Suicide by use of aircraft in the United States, 1979-1989. Aviat Space Environ Med. 1994 Oct;65(10 Pt 1):953-6. PubMed PMID: 7832739. Bills CB, Grabowski JG, Li G. Suicide by aircraft: a comparative analysis. Aviat Space Environ Med. 2005 Aug;76(8):715-9. PubMed PMID: 16110685. Ramaekers JG, Moeller MR, van Ruitenbeek P, Theunissen EL, Schneider E, Kauert G. Cognition and motor control as a function of Delta9-THC concentration in serum and oral fluid: limits of impairment. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2006 Nov 8;85(2):114-22. Epub 2006 May 24. PubMed PMID: 16723194. Roberts SE, Jaremin B, Lloyd K. High-risk occupations for suicide. Psychol Med. 2013 Jun;43(6):1231-40. doi: 10.1017/S0033291712002024. Epub 2012 Oct 26. PubMed PMID: 23098158; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3642721. Total FAA Certified Pilots: Aviation x Antidepressant Medline Search April 2015: Carl Bialik. We Don't Know How Often Pilots Commit Suicide. FiveThirtyEight (a very sophisticated blog) 1. Agree on two people in the cabin. Also, I wasn't able to find a great deal of information on it, but what do you think of behavioral observation programs like the nuclear power industry? Knowing his girlfriend has stated she observed some issues with him, I wonder why she didn't report it. Or did I miss that she had? 2. I think a better approach is a team approach like the one I employed on inpatient psychiatric units. Regular meetings, esprit de corps, and the understanding that authoritarian approaches have major limitations. Knowing and agreeing why random tox screens need to be done is different than feeling like they are arbitrary and an invasion of privacy. Knowing that your supervisor has an eye toward your safety and career as well as the regulations is also helpful. I think behavioral observations can be useful but they need to be balanced with a knowledge of boundaries is a supervisor who has a lot of self awareness. 3. Eventually the copilot or at least a 2nd copilot will not be on the plane but in an office building monitoring the passenger craft like a drone. So when that plane descends to 20k over the Alps, they take over including the cockpit door. In Japan drones have all but eliminated crop dusters. It's coming to commercial craft although for many reasons I think there will always be two pilots. 1. It will probably not be too long before planes are crash proof in the typical sense. For example when the low altitude warning comes on with instruction to pull up - the plane does it automatically instead of waiting for the pilot and if the pilot or pilots are incapacitated they will be landed remotely. But I think the stats show a very high degree of safety given what could happen and the fallibility of humans. 4. Let us all pat ourselves on the back for the above comments....this article came out today:
Saturday 20 January 2018 Ferguson's will to win the spark - Ferdinand Alex Ferguson. Photo: PA Alex Ferguson. Photo: PA Mark Ogden Rio Ferdinand claims Alex Ferguson's will to win has put Manchester United on the brink of emulating the club's famous Treble winners. United will stretch their unbeaten run in the Premier League to a club record-equalling 29 games if they avoid defeat against Aston Villa tonight. Undefeated in the league since losing to Chelsea at Old Trafford last April, Ferguson's team will match the run between December 1998 to October 1999 if they take a point or more against Gerard Houllier's resurgent Villa. During the record-breaking run in the 90s, United won 20 and drew nine games before Chelsea thumped them 5-0 at Stamford Bridge. United have won 18 and drawn 10 of their league fixtures this time around, but their ability to rescue seemingly lost causes with fightbacks at Villa and Blackpool has been the standout feature. Against both Villa and Blackpool, United overturned a 2-0 deficit late in the game and Ferdinand, who has declared himself fit to return tonight after missing the last three games in all competitions, insists that the determination to sustain the unbeaten run comes directly from Ferguson. "You never lose faith when you play for Manchester United," Ferdinand said." It's in our make-up that the game is not over until the final whistle has blown and, until then, you try your hardest. "It comes from the manager because the manager has got that desire and will to win. He has been here for almost 25 years and if he's still got it, then why haven't players that have only been here for a year, two years, 10 years, whatever? "It comes from him and filters down through the club and that's always the way it has been. "That's why you see, so often, that we can come back from adverse situations and create results like we did against Blackpool. "If you do that week in, week out you get a bit of luck and you get your rewards. "We've done it all season, gone goals behind and come back. We did it at Villa when we were 2-0 down and got a draw. "During the Blackpool game last week, I've never had so many tweets in my life! "People tweeting and saying 'you're this, you're that, you're finished.' But we showed otherwise." United are now 11/1 with bookmakers to emulate Arsenal's Invincibles of 2003-04 by remaining unbeaten in the league for the rest of the season. Leading goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov claims that confidence is growing within the squad that they can rise to the challenge. "I remember Arsenal winning the title without losing a game and it was a tremendous run," Berbatov said. "But I'm confident we can do it too. We know we have some difficult away matches, but I believe we're capable of finishing without a single defeat." Ferguson is expected to restore his first-choice back four to the starting line-up against Villa after making wholesale changes for Saturday's FA Cup victory at Southampton. But the United manager expects Villa, for whom £24m new signing Darren Bent scored on his debut against Manchester City last week, to provide a stern test of his team's unbeaten run. "Whatever you say about Bent, he's certainly got a reasonable goal ratio at all his clubs," said Ferguson. "He cost a lot of money but that will be justified if he gets them into a far better position. "When you are down there in the Premier League it's not easy to get out of it, but two victories can make a difference and they are getting their squad back after injuries." (© Daily Telegraph, London) Irish Independent Promoted Links Sport Newsletter The best sport action straight to your inbox every morning. Promoted Links Editor's Choice Also in Sport
Sunday, November 24, 2013 Probably the most EPIC AD FAIL in history! Yes. It really does say "The penis, mightier than the finger". And what's strange is it actually makes sense. Egyptians are well known for their awful spelling and grammar, but this takes it to a whole new level. The fact that this actually passed through production, marketing, advertising and even government sensors probably makes this one of the most epic ad FAILS in history!! Is it real or fake? Well, according to reliable sources, this is NOT a hoax and is an actual real-life billboard in the district of Helwan in Egypt. Popular Posts
Monday, June 2, 2008 smiley mcsmileface So it's really important for me to blog about something as soon as I think I have something blog-worthy. If I don't I will sit at the computer wondering if I should blog about it, if it's too stupid to blog about, if anyone will be able to relate, or if I should just delete the whole blog itself (which I predicted I would do within a week of creating the blog). Oh, side note: I think it's cute when couples and families have blogs so that their families can keep up with the happenings of their life. I tend to use the phone for that. (but apparently using your cell phone might cause cancer, so I guess blogging is the safer way to keep in touch. Gosh, what doesn't cause cancer these days?! One day the egg is good for you, the next day they're telling you if you so much as look at an egg your eyes will fall out and you'll be dead within seconds. I know, a little dramatic.) Wow, long side note. So as I walked into work this morning, I saw a lady riding her bike and smiling. She wasn't smiling at any particular person...just smiling. I've seen these people before and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: the people who just smile for no reason. I used to be slightly annoyed with these people. Whenever I would see their stupid no-reason smiles I would think, "What the heck are you smilin' at!? Am I missing something? Is there a giant ice cream cone in the sky that you happen to be looking at right now and I just can't see it?" I think I was mostly annoyed because it seemed so fake. And I will say that I have met some fake smiley people and maybe this is where the annoyance came from. Or maybe it's just that I'm not a naturally smiley person. I look really mad when I'm just walking places, or shopping for groceries, or driving. I usually have something on my mind like, "I think my thighs have always rubbed together. There has never been a time when they haven't touched." Ok, I'm not that shallow, but I have things on my mind. So as the smiley lady passed me on her bike I wondered what it would feel like to just smile for no reason. I'm going to try it on my way home today. I'm just gonna smile the whole way home and see if anyone looks at me like I'm deranged. Or maybe I should try to count the number of people who smile when they see me smile. I'll be wearing sunglasses so they won't be able to tell if I'm looking at them or not. That'll fake 'em out nicely because I'll be starin' 'em down and they won't even know it. All the while with a smile on my face. Here's a link that gives the steps to developing your smile...seriously: 1 comment: CEV said... I love that graphic you added. DId you make it yourself?
Social media has not only changed the speed at which people can communicate, it has also changed what people say to each other as they fit it into as few characters as possible. With greater speed and fewer words, one might assume that social media frees up time. It does in some ways, but puts an onus on everyone to learn new languages as well as effective usage. One place where effective usage matters is advertising. People can go from social media platforms to websites to sign up for newsletters from their favorite brands. Customers get impressions of those brands from what they post on social media. Therefore, it’s important that they maintain a consistent brand message. While shopping, customer’s purchasing decisions and even their searches can be used to individualize the types of advertising they see. It can be tailored to them while enforcing the same brand message established using the language of social media. The advantage in learning these things is brand recognition, automatic purchases, and customer retention. Another thing that has changed is that companies can communicate with each other, and even with customers, without anyone commuting. An office isn’t even a requirement. They can have business meetings over Skype or other video conference servicing. This saves money on plane fare and or gas and allows collaboration that would have been impossible before. Companies can talk to customers using the same method rather than having them call a telephone line or come to a physical location. It makes communication easier for everyone and allows problems to be dealt with quicker. Convenience like that keeps customers coming back, telling them that they can trust a company they’ve done business with. The different types of social media can be effective tools for companies looking to grow or maintain their businesses. There is a bit of a learning curve for getting onto a new platform, but none of them are overly complicated. Besides, the returns are worth the time put into learning and using them. A few hours on social media generating likes, gaining followers, having people share content, and getting people to sign up for newsletters can bring huge returns. They can be tracked by how many times those things are done or of course how many new sales are generated. The important thing is to keep the brand message consistent. If the message is always consistent, it will stick in a customer’s mind more easily. A few hours on video conference collaborating with employees and or consultants can save a lot in money, time sending emails back and forth, and frustration. Doing the same with customers can promise keeping the ones social media has gained. It might even increase recommendations. In a lot of ways, social media has made word of mouth advertising far more effective and far-reaching. It is on companies to utilize the tool to their advantage by making sure their brand message is being communicated. Once the message is put out and duplicated on multiple platforms, customers share it amongst countless potential customers.
Sempre Depende de Como se Apresentam os Programas: Como Etapas ou Como Demagogia Promessas utópicas de acabar com a fome, acabar com a pobreza podem atrapalhar. Artigo sobre pobreza na revista Foreign Policy Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Pobreza e Utopia na revista Foreign Policy Um artigo sério sobre pobreza na revista Foreign Policy do economista William Easterly: The Utopian Nightmare. Está sendo divulgado hoje no site da excelente revista. Em resumo: a utopia de acabar com a pobreza só faz atrapalhar; é preciso ter os pés no chão. This year, economists, politicians, and rock stars in rich countries have pleaded for debt relief and aid for the world’s poorest countries. It certainly sounds like the right thing to do. But utopian dreams of alleviating poverty overlook some hard facts. By promising so much, rich-world activists prolong the true nightmare of poverty. The past has prepared all the materials and means in superabundance to well-feed, clothe, lodge, train, educate, employ, amuse, and govern the human race in perpetual progressive prosperity—without war, conflict, or competition between nations or individuals.” These words were not uttered by a hopeful world leader at the most recent Group of 8 (G-8) summit, or by Bono at a rock concert—but they certainly sound familiar. They were written in 1857, when British reformer Robert Owen called upon rich countries, who could “easily induce all the other governments and people to unite with them in practical measures for the general good all through futurity.” Owen was laughed out of town as a utopian. O artigo completo: Um resumo no blog: << Home
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The deadly semantics of NATO bombings By Howard Zinn, 05/28/99 Isn't it time we stopped using the word ''accidental'' to describe the NATO bombing of Yugoslavian hospitals, residential neighborhoods, buses, trains, trucks, and refugees on roads that has killed or maimed at least 1,000 civilians, including children? The word ''accident'' is not an accurate description of the mayhem we have caused in Yugoslavia. True, the world ''deliberate'' does not fit either. It is understandable that Serb leaders would call it ''deliberate,'' just as it is understandable that our leaders would call it an ''accident.'' Both words are propaganda devices that blur a reality more complex than that two-word vocabulary can convey. An accident implies something unforeseen. True, a recent bombing - to take an example of the hospital bombed in Belgrade - may have been unforeseen as a specific consequence of bombing the city. But it was foreseeable, given the magnitude and nature of the bombing, that some hospital, school, village, or bus would at some point be hit, and civilians would die. If I drive my car at 80 miles an hour down a street crowded with children, and 10 of them are killed, I cannot dismiss this as an accident, even if I had not intended to kill these particular children. When an action has inevitable and terrible consequences, it cannot be excused as ''accidental.'' That is an imaginary situation, but let me describe a real one. Just before the end of World War II, flying as a bombardier with the Eighth Air Force, I dropped canisters of napalm on a French town on the Atlantic coast of France. I have no idea how many civilian inhabitants died because of what I did - my target was ''military,'' that is, a bunch of German soldiers waiting for the war to end. But can I claim that the deaths I caused - how many were children I have no way of knowing - were the result of an ''accident''? When Serbian troops in Kosovo kill Albanians, the proper word is ''deliberate.'' But when our planes drop cluster bombs on a residential neighborhood and children are either killed or left in agony because of the steel fragments penetrating their bodies, that should not be passed off as an accident, even if it is not ''deliberate'' in the same sense as Milosevic's evil deeds. Both are war crimes, legally and morally. I am focusing on children as victims because they are true innocents. We are bombing Yugoslavia every night, and citizens there report that their children cannot sleep and live in constant fright. Bombing a city at night is a form of terrorism, because even if the target hit is a ''military'' one, the entire population must live in fear. Indeed, whether in World War II or Vietnam, the terrorizing of the civilian population has always been an objective of bombing, no matter how official propaganda denies it. We can expect NATO and US officials to use language intended to absolve their guilt. But why do reporters, who are not supposed to parrot the propaganda of governments, keep using words like ''accidental'' and ''mistake,'' which suggest an innocence not appropriate to the massive bombing of towns and cities? The attempts by officials to defend the deaths of civilians border on the absurd. In defending an airstrike on a village, the administration said that Kosovars were used as ''human shields.'' Do ordinary civilians not live in villages? Were the patients who died in the devastated hospital forced into their beds? Were the civilians killed on the bombed train deliberately sent on that trip? That explanation brought back the ugliest of memories of My Lai and other Vietnam massacres, justified by ''the Vietnamese babies are concealing hand grenades.'' It also brought Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's response afer Pakistani troops had fired into a crowd of Somali citizens: ''They are using civilians as shields.'' Another explanation used by the administration is that the deaths caused by NATO bombings don't compare to the numbers that Milosevic has killed. Does one horror excuse another? In the simplest of moral mottoes told to all of us as children: Two wrongs do not make a right. For us to react to violence with more violence is especially reprehensible when our violence has no effect in stopping a catastrophe and, indeed, makes it worse, as it is clear our bombing has made things worse for the Kosovars we claim to care about. If we cannot deny culpability in the killing of large numbers of innocent people by claiming ''accident,'' if these deaths are the inevitable result of our policy, the conclusion should be clear: We must stop our bombing. And we must go to the negotiating table - not deliver ultimatums with the arrogance of a superpower - to end the horrors committed by both sides in Yugoslavia. Howard Zinn is professor emeritus at Boston University and author of ''A People's History of the United States.'' This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on 05/28/99. © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company. Back to texts' page Back to index page This page has been visited times.
Saturday, November 1, 2008 Baby tag! - Elijah Anthony 1. Where were you when you first found out you when you found out you were pregnant? our apartment bathroom 2. Who was with you? just me! 3. What was your first reaction? soooooo excited! 4. What was your husband's reaction? soooooexcited! 5. Who was the first person you told? Patrick! 6. Were the pregnancies planned? Elijah was 7. Was everyone happy for you? I think so! 8. What was the sex? boy 9. Did anyone throw a shower for you? yes, my friend gave me one, and my coworkers gave me a super sweet surprise party 10. Did you get any outfits you wouldn't use? a couple 11. How much weight did you gain? 40lbs 12. Did you get stretch marks? yes. :/ 13. Did you crave anything crazy? soy sauce...i HATED soy sauce before I was pregnant 14. Who or what got on your nerves the most? stupid people lol 15. Where were you when you went into labor? at home, i was supposed to be induced the next day but went into labor that night lol 16. Did you have any complications? during the pregnancy his afp test came back elevated, but he was fine... and delivery... he was just huge and "sunny side up", so he was hard to push out and needed the vacuum 17. Did your water break? no they did it for me 18. Who drove you to the hospital? patrick did 19. Did you go early or late? 1 week overdue 20. Who was in the room? patrick, my mom, and a crapload of doctors and nurses (darn stubborn baby lol) 21. Did you video tape it? no thank you! 22. Did you have any pain medication? yes 23. Did you have a c-section or natural? natural 24. What was your reaction to the birth? relieved, excited, surreal 25. How big was the baby? Eli was huge! 9 lbs 1 oz and 21.65 in 26. Did your husband cry? i think so... lol 27. When is the next one coming? AJ decided to come into my uterus 6 months later lol 28. If you could would you do it all over again? OF COURSE! No comments:
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 Meet My Grandson!!! At 8:54 P.M. my daughter gave birth to a healthy baby boy. His name is Dayton and he tipped the scale at 6 lbs. and 6 oz. and is 19" long. Her labor was long and rough but mom is doing fine although extremely sore and tired. So no one guessed the correct time I had left to do my hat and blanket on my #artChain project but 3 people did make a guess prior to me posting this so......surprise! All three of you will be getting a mystery prize. (Nancy, Jean, and Tona please email me your addresses) Monday, February 23, 2015 Nominated to share my projects by Teresa Godines - Day 3 and give-a-way I have been busy lately sewing. I want to share what I made last night. I found this cute pattern and tutorial on making a baby hat here at Zaaberry. It is super easy to make and I wanted to make the knotted one too but thought I would wait until Dayton is born before I make more hats since every time I bought newborn hats for the babies, they never fit. They were always way too big. I am using the same material for the baby blanket but I just haven't decided if I want the baby blanket as a baby blanket or if I should make it into a canopy for the car seat. I may do both since I have bought plenty of material but time is short. Can you guess how long I have to make the blanket and/or car seat cover? The first person to be the lucky guesser will receive a mystery prize. Friday, February 20, 2015 Nominated to share my projects by Teresa Godines - Day 2 I made a card using Stampin Up products. I really had fun doing it and learned a great new technique for making bubbles or water spots. I also learned I was using my stamps wrong. The flower on this card is a Stampin Up 3 part/piece stamp for the flower. I always thought you put your darkest color on first, then layer on the lighter colors. Well, it turned out that I should have done it the other way, lightest to darkest. I know, I know, it don't make sense to me either. It seems to go against logic but I love the way the flower came out. suggestion is to play with your stamps and try them both ways to see which you like. Tuesday, February 17, 2015 Nominated to share my projects by Teresa Godines - Day 1 For those of you who are not on FB I am posting here as well. I was nominated by Teresa Godiness to do a 5 day challenge called an art chain. For 5 days I need to share my 'artsy' projects with you and get to nominate a person to join per day. So for day 1 (one) I was going to share the card I made on Tuesday but seems I can't find the darn thing now that I took all my sewing stuff out. So, looks like I will share what I sewed and hopefully somewhere in this mess I will find my card...LOL. First a little background so you understand the 'why'. (Yes, there is a reason behind my madness.) Back when the year started I wanted to 'unclutter' and that was my New Years Resolution. I started in the basement because once that is done I can move things that don't need to be upstairs into the cellar. I am getting rid of everything I have no use for. I am either donating it, giving it away, or throwing it out. In my quest to go through boxes I came across my chapter coat. I still have my patches and pins on it so I put it aside as I wanted to take them off before I throw the coat out. (Because it had the chapter and organization name on it plus "Sue" and "Army" it really is useless to wait until someone named Sue joined this particular chapter and was in the Army and I couldn't donate it because it is against the 'rules' to do so since the chapter name was on it.) Ok, so I will take my patches/pins off and it gets tossed someday... I put it aside and continued my sorting. Now we get to present time and all our snow. It seems to snow every other day and I hate it but Damien loves it. I in my ultimate wisdom remembered snowsuit and even hat but never got gloves. I can't let him go out without anything on his hands so I put socks on but as you can see, they are not very warm plus do nothing for moisture. They didn't stay on his hands very well either. Solution was of course to buy the child some gloves. Only one problem, stores no longer have gloves, they are already into clothing for spring/summer. I could buy him a bathing suit but not boots or gloves! So....I came up with my own solution. I remember seeing all these posts on FB about making mittens out of sweaters so why can't I make them from a coat? I got that coat I put aside and took all the patches and pins off, then I cut the end of the sleeves off. I used that material for the 'hand part' keeping the elastic that were at the end of the sleeves for his wrists. I cut them in a mitten shape minus the thumb because he hates using the thumb for some reason (I am sure he will outgrow it) and added a nice flannel inside and sewed them together. I sewed the halves together, washed them, and now he has water resistant, warm mittens. Friday, February 6, 2015 Keeping with My Goal to Unclutter! I was so tired of going into my drawer for a charger for one item and have to spend 5 minutes untangling cords so when my new DIY Decor Tape came, my first project with it is to fix this mess. Two different designs of tape to tell adult from child's charging cords at a glance. Update: I just want to add this, I know I did on FB but I didn't say it here. I got this from a post I had seen on FB. I don't know who posted it or what site it was from so I can't give credit to them. Monday, February 2, 2015 Copic Black and White Still working on black... I hate the color of her bow but had a problem with my red so just grabbed a couple of colors that went together....too bad they don't go with the black hair..LOL. Sunday, February 1, 2015 Playing with Copics I was trying to color again (after a year or more) with my Copic Markers. I can tell you first hand, do not stop like I did because now I have to re-learn everything. Ignore the skin, my markers were dry and I had to order the refills. This is my first attempt. I was concentrating on coloring black (Train) where you could see that it is black but still see details. (Yeah, very first time I colored something black I took my black marker and colored it, It turned out like this big black blob that you couldn't tell what it was...LOL) At least this is a tad bit better. Why All the Hoopla Now About Measles? I notice not one of these sites on Yahoo or Facebook or even the news ever seem to tell the other side of the story...the side of what was (and still is in vaccines in most cases). First off, where was the vaccine made? China? US? Does it contain Mercury? Thirmosal? What else? I have seen time and time again an "Expert" saying they don't contain either one yet according to many sites I have seen including FDA, some do. Just a couple of months ago a child dropped a mercury thermometer in my area school and the whole school was evacuated. If that is the procedure to deal with mercury then why is it in a child's vaccine? Keep in mind, they say "no longer" contains... So it did contain it (and they admit it) and they gave it anyways saying it was safe then too. Why isn't the MMR available in single disease/doses? Where in history has any Doctor (or expert) treated a child with Measles, Mumps, and Rubella all at the same time? So somehow it is thought safe to trigger a response of a child's immune system not to one disease, not two, three different ones all at the same time. But mind you, the experts say it is safe. Just as they say Measles was eradicated (even use the term "Eliminate") in the US in 2000.This would make the average person think that they were saying there were NO measles but that is not true. Seems the "experts" have their own language that purposely misleads the masses. There were 86 cases reported to the CDC in the US that year. Just last year there were just under 650 cases reported. So why the big hoopla now? Why is it that there were no deaths from measles 2004 - 2015 (CDC) yet there were 108 deaths (VAERS) due to the vaccine during that time? So maybe, just maybe, these anti-vaxers are on to something. I know I thank each and everyone of them for making the vaccines safer for my grandchildren by them bringing up the questions about 'what is in that". It brings me to the conclusion it is not they (anti-vaxers) who needs to be educated, maybe it is the rest of us who roll up our sleeves and just 'take the word of "experts"' that it is safe like a bunch of blind sheep. (No wonder they use the term "herd" immunity.) Furthermore, I saw a lot of parents who had healthy, normal children until they got vaccinated. Funny how Doctors keep saying there is no proof that vaccines are linked to autism, yet I saw the children and the results. To me, it is living proof. I don't need some "expert study' of it on a piece of paper. Besides, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) wouldn't have paid over $2,857,926,807.60 to families if they weren't injured/died from vaccines. So my real question is why would/should anyone vaccinate a child from a disease that no one died from with a vaccine that over 100 children died from? How lucky do you feel gambling them odds? (Had I have known this years ago, I wouldn't of had my children vaccinated either.)
Theatre Blog An Afternoon With Louise Dearman Written by Thursday, 12 December 2013 Rate this item (0 votes) When I first got the email asking whether I wanted to have an interview with Musical Theatre star Louise Dearman, I was ecstatic. After following her career closely for some time, I had so many questions to ask her. Rather appropriately, we met in the West End at an office just off Leicester Square. As soon as I introduced myself and Musical Theatre Blog as a website intended to be an aid to performing arts students, Louise Dearman immediately started chatting to me about her upcoming book. I am actually writing a book with Mark Evans. It's like an informative but fun book answering questions about people training/performing. Are you manually going through it yourself? Well, our publisher Nick Hern built a website and everyone submitted their questions. We only needed 70 for the book so it was a case of going through 400 questions, seeing which questions we liked or questions we felt we could give some great helpful tips and answers to and then put them into our own chapters. It's quite time consuming, but once we've got the bulk of it done it's a case of writing it. I can't wait to have the book in my hands and say I've written that! Yes, Nick Hern's books are really good. I really enjoy reading them. Yes, really good. Me and Mark, who is on the other side of the world doing The Book of Mormon, are trying to do it over the internet, which is really funny. It's all good, it's all good. I wanted to ask you about Wicked first of all. So you were the first actress to play Glinda and Elphaba in Wicked. Do you think performing as Glinda first of all made you emphasise and understand the character, as well as how you interact, when you are playing the role of Elphaba? Yes, absolutely. When I first got the role of Glinda, I read the book Wicked by Gregory McGuire. I have to admit I found it tough. I really had to take my time reading it. It's much darker than the musical — a quite intense book but wonderful in the same breath. But, of course, after being on the same stage that I played Glinda, I had a real understanding about their friendship. What was very interesting was — because of my role as Elphaba — I went back and read the book again and it made much more sense to me thinking of it through Elphaba's eyes and yes, of course, it did help. I guess in a way it made it more difficult putting my own stamp on Elphaba because I had been on stage with Rachel Tucker, who played her for two years. So the easy thing to do, or the instant thing to do, would be to take on board little things that the actress did. The first time I saw the show was the week before I opened in it, which is kind of odd, but when I got the audition I thought "Go and see it", then said "Don't go and see it because all you are going to do is copy what they do". So it was a bit risky, but all the way through the rehearsal process my Associate Director kept saying "Don't go and see it. Find what you are doing first and then go and see it." So that's what I did. Quite overwhelming to watch this show that you know you are going to be in and try to ignore what the other person is doing. But, yes, it definitely gave me a better understanding to know what the show is about inside out. But I tried as hard as I could to put it in my head that I was starting from scratch. Do you do that with most other projects that you work on? Yes. It's difficult if you have grown up watching the show — you instantly take little bits and pieces on board or you have an idea of what you think the character should be, but you definitely have to sit down and just read through the script — just really think about what you really want to get across. But, of course, it is difficult. Particularly with songs because if you have listened to a certain cover over again, you can't help but sing those inflections and kind of do a carbon copy of what the original actress has done. So that's what I find the most difficult — making a song my own. Within reason of course. When you first landed the role of Elphaba how was you with the height of going up during the song 'Defying Gravity'? About the flying? Actually it was fine because being in the bubble was scarier. You start much higher — you start right up in the gods and I often used to go up and you would be sat up in the bubble for five minutes before the opening of the show. You have the curtain right here, up in your face, and if you look down there to the stage at everyone warming up and getting ready, I found, after flying as Elphaba, that the bubble was scarier. But you know what, you don't have time to think about it as Elphaba. You are in the middle of this incredible scene, this life changing moment and not only do you have to think about that running through your mind, but you have to think about running across stage to get ready to be in the machinery that flies you — and all you are thinking about are the technical elements— get in, put your bag in the right place, get your cloak in the right place, get your voice ready. There was no time to stop and worry. So it was fine, and I am not scared of heights. I don't know if I would jump out of a plane ... but it is actually exhilarating that you feel incredibly safe. How long does it actually take you to get ready? 20 minutes — but I don't do it myself. I have a make-up artist who comes down. Literally 6 o'clock they come down to my room. Make up is done by twenty past, twenty five past. Then I head down to warm-up and then I get into wigs and costumes. So it really isn't long at all. And getting it off I have got that down to a T. I would literally have my little routine. Straight off the stage and I would have to cover myself with this oil that dissolves the paint — then jump in the shower, then I would be at Kings Cross at 11 o'clock. That's the thing — not living in London, I would be screaming "I am sorry, I am sorry" at people at the stage door who are trying to get signed photographs and programmes. It would often be that I would have much longer before the show than after outside. But they would be very understanding. But that's the thing ... if you miss that train you wouldn't be getting home until 12:30/1 o'clock in the morning, which can't happen. The original Wizard of Oz was released in the 1930s — did you study the film before? I didn't. I watched it growing up but when you watch the Wizard of Oz with adult eyes it's very different. But of course Wicked is a parallel universe running alongside the Wizard of Oz. It's what happens before, during and after, if you like. There are so many references to it in Wicked. I think I just wanted to absorb everything about Wicked and the Wizard of Oz before I started. So it was a case of rereading everything again and taking everything in. Elphaba is a different character to what the Wicked Witch of the West is in the Wizard of Oz. She is this young, hopeful school girl. That's what she starts out as Wicked — but she is a real person. The fact she is green doesn't distract from the fact that she is a real girl who has had lots of issues with the colour of her skin. Loads of people go through these issues. It might not be green, but lots of people go through feelings of being different and being left out of the popular circle. And that's why I think lots of people can connect with Elphaba and understand of how she is feeling, and that's why people come back to see it time and time again. I know, I have seen it twice. There's people who come every week and it's amazing. I'm like "don't you get bored?", but they never. They notice the tiny little changes in your performance 'cos trying to keep things fresh you do tiny little changes. And they notice — it's extraordinary. Well, I knew the songs way before I watched the musical as I had the piano music. Lots of people do. Lots of people come and they are desperate to hear 'Defying Gravity', because they have been listening to it before they even came to see the show. And just like tears of joy — it has such a brilliant effect on people. The music is so fantastic that many people would have listened to it and got the CD before they would have even seen the show. The same as me — I was completely aware of the music before I had even seen the show. You have a new album out featuring an orchestra. Is an orchestra coming on tour as well? The album is out 2nd December. And off the back of the album I will be doing a tour next year in venues all across the UK with a band, not an orchestra. The album is with an orchestra, but to take an orchestra on tour would mean huge venues and huge costs. This is about taking the album out on the road with a slight change in the arrangement so the songs suit a smaller venue and has that intimate feel about them. But starting this Sunday I am doing some concerts. I am doing an evening of movies and musicals, which is at the Apollo Victoria, back to where Wicked is, and that's with a 50-piece orchestra, a gospel choir, and I am singing two songs from my album there, plus another material. Then I am off to Swansea next Sunday to do the same show but with Rhydian Roberts, so we have some few extra songs in there, and then I am doing my own Christmas shows, which contain the album material but also has songs from my theatrical past and some little teasers for next year as well. Then I have some James Bond concerts in December in Birmingham and London, and again with an orchestra. And that's thrilling — to be able to sing with an orchestra is a whole new experience. I would of course like to take an orchestra on the road with me but, do you know what, this is my first ever UK tour so it is about building upwards and doing bigger venues with bigger bands with the orchestras. And it's all about just putting myself out there and building that concert career. You are normally on stage with lots of other people. How do you feel about singing on your own? Very, very different but I have done it before with one-off gigs. With my last album I had a concert at the Bush Hall so I quite like to be able to be myself. One thing that scares artists is the chit-chat between songs but actually it's something that I fully embrace and I can't be anyone else except me so I don't like to script it too much — I like to imagine that I am in my own lounge. My songs covers big divas, and I want the show, even though it is small in band size and venue, to still be classy and have a big sound, and have a lovely range of music and songs from different artists, and hopefully all tied together with my style, so I am so eager to get going with it. Yes, it must be so nice to have that input. It's scary of course, but I am much more excited than I am scared. In your second album you had some quite contemporary songs such as Sara Bareilles, which I personally love, but know that she is not that commonly known. Was that a conscious decision? I decided that I wanted an album that had no musical theatre on it. And the reason being, I wanted to bring in some songs that people are very familiar with such as 'Little Bird' by Annie Lennox or 'Uninvited' by Alanis Morisette, and I wanted to mix it with songs that people may not be as familiar with, like 'Gravity' or 'Here Comes The Sun', but give them all a theatrical sound. And that is what I was most proud of — my producer Ben Robbins managed to tie all these songs but turn them into something dramatic and theatrical, and they all worked so well together. The reason for this time, for going back to theatre if you like, is because for so long I have shied away from doing the classics. We decided to collaborate with 'Silver Screens', the record label, and they had a huge back catalogue of classics — 'I Dreamed A Dream', 'What I Did For Love', 'Send In The Clowns' ... all these songs that have never passed my lips. Even through training I was told "Don't go to a Les Misérables audition and sing 'I Dreamed A Dream'. You go in singing a song with a similar style, but never a song from the show". So you kind of just shy away from them and constantly try to find songs that are different and unique. So even though they may be obvious choices, they are not to me. They are very new to me and, because they are in their original format of how they are supposed to sound with this orchestra, it's wonderful to just fully embrace it and say, you know what, musical theatre has been my career, that's what people want to hear. So I just fully embraced it and went all out. It took a long time to decide what songs, but once I had decided I thought "yes, let's go for them". And once I was given the option to add some other songs like 'Home' from The Wiz, 'Astonishing' from Little Woman, and 'A New Life' by Jacqueline Hyde, I balanced it all so you had lots of classics and a few contemporary theatre numbers in there as well. You covered Les Mis 'I dreamed the dream'. Did you see the film? No, I haven't. But I am going next week to see it. I haven't seen it in years. My friend is playing Jean Valjean. If I was a man I would want to play that role, it's incredible. Would you consider doing a Musical Theatre film? Absolutely. There are so many more things that I want to do and want to achieve. If there was a role that I was right for, I'd absolutely grab it with both hands. The success of Les Mis — it was already a successful musical — but now it is packed out every single night, and mainly because of the film. Well, it's amazing that even in the film they had to sing live. That's brilliant because we have to do that night after night. There may be some notes that aren't absolutely perfect, but that's live theatre. So I think giving the film that live element was a genius idea. So we kind of just mentioned about it, but what is your next dream? My next dream is to continue with my recording and concert career and build, build, build on that. To travel the world with my show and sing in different countries and also to pursue a straight-acting career — be it in TV, theatre or film. That is something I would absolutely love to do. So I guess it's a case of keeping all the elements that I do as a performer, but keeping them separately. So I will be able to still sing and act, but also in a completely different genre. I've read before that you've never been to New York — is that still the case? I have been once and it was absolutely a flying visit. It is embarrassing that I haven't been there in such long time. Scott Alan, who is a composer, asked me to go out there to do this concert, The Bird Land. So I literally flew out there one evening — I think I got to my hotel at 12 o'clock, up the next morning, rehearsals for the concert, did the concert that night, straight back to my hotel room then up at 5 o'clock in the morning to get my flight home. But I didn't get to see any of New York other than walking through Time Square and grabbing some lunch. So absolutely need to get back there. What about maybe acting in Broadway? Again, absolutely. I am hoping to go out there next year with some of my own work. I think although I would love to do that, London will always be my theatrical home. I am such a home bod. I love being home, I love London theatres but, yes, to experience that would be wonderful. You are working with Adam Murray for the UK tour, so he will be directing it and doing the choreography. How does it work with the slow songs? Basically when you say choreography, it is much more stage direction, I am not going to be jumping around the stage like Beyoncé in my shows. It is more about linking the songs together so I am not just stood in the centre of the stage with the microphone singing the whole thing. It's all about making a proper show. Adam is a really good friend of mine. He is dance supervisor on Wicked and he has a real understanding of my style, my tastes — we have very similar tastes — so it was really important for me to have the right number of team around me. So Adam was the first choice for someone who gets me and who I know I will be able to work with very easily and create something wonderful. Earlier this year you performed in Covent Garden for the Olivier Awards. How was that? Amazing. The previous year I had presented in Covent Garden The Olivier Awards, the outdoor live event, which I loved. But to go back and perform as part of Wicked was brilliant. There was such a great atmosphere surrounding the Olivier Awards. It's a very glamorous event, lots of hype surrounding it and lots of buzz. It's fantastic. And I love that it is a live event that people can go along to — a free event. Lots of people would love to go along to The Olivier but can't get tickets, it's not just an open invite. So I think it's important that people get to experience it in a different way. You mentioned about your book that was coming out. Do you have a couple of tips that you can provide for our readers looking for some advice? There's so many. A lot of people have been saying "How do you deal with nerves?". Nerves are of huge importance because without them the adrenaline is not there, and if you don't have nerves, it's almost like you don't care what your performance is going to be like. It's being able to curb them and have them bubbling underneath so they don't affect your performance. So for me it's focusing on why you are doing it — you are doing it because you love performing it — and focusing on what you are about to perform rather than how much you feel nervous. Although these things never go away, they do get easier. It's all about experience and practice, practice, practice. What's another thing that people ask me? How would you improve vocal technique? Again, it's all about training and all about practice. There is no point in saying I am no good, my vocal range isn't getting any better, but then you are not going to any singing lessons. We never stop training as performers. It's a constant thing. I still have to train my voice. If I have been on holiday for a week then I come back to the show and I have lost a little bit of muscle memory and technique, so it is constantly about bettering yourself as a performer. As long as you have that in your mind and continue then you will succeed. And if it's overworked, just like an athlete who doesn't warm up properly, it will give up on you. That is something you have to almost expect and embrace, and not panic about. Of course your voice is going to get tired. It's almost as if you were going to a concert, and you were whooping and cheering all night, then you go home with a horse voice. Imagine singing for two hours — it's exactly that. That's why it takes a lot of discipline that people underestimate. They think it's just professional dress up. Ever since I have finished, the pressure has kind of lifted a bit because waking up every day after a show like Wicked, I have to be silent most days. That's challenging for me as I can talk for Britain. Most days I would be in my house — I would even get to the point where I would have to write notes to my boyfriend who's in the house just to say "cup of tea?" — just things like that to completely preserve you for the evening. It's tough — but it is a small price to pay for such a huge role. I just saw on Twitter that you have landed the lead role in Water Babies. That must be really exciting? Yes, Mrs D. Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby. Did you ever read the Charles Kingsley novel, who the show is inspired by, as a child? I didn't, no. When I was going to meetings about the show, I was told not to watch the film because the musical isn't exactly based on the film or the book. It's a slightly different essence of the book and film — it's inspired by them. But it's a brand new production. For starters, Tom is not a little boy, but a teenager. And Elly, who's in it, is a teenager so that immediately gives it a whole new spin. Mrs D appears as different people throughout the musical — but you will know it is her. So she will appear in the Court room, and then she will appear underwater. She is kind of this character that narrates the story and leads Tom through. But, no, I am incredibly excited. It's brand new and I have never been able to create a role from scratch before and the music is fantastic. It's got a contemporary, pop/theatre feel to it, and I have a fabulous big number in there. I was aware of the book but I had never read it. So going back to those — reading the book, watching the film, then trying to find your own place is very exciting. The rehearsal process will be very interesting. Ed Curtis has an excellent reputation so I am excited to get out there and do it. You studied at Laine Theatre Arts. How was meeting Betty Laine? Oh wonderful, she is an amazing woman. Lots of people are scared of her but it's because she wants the very best and she gets the very best. If you go to Laine Theatre Arts you have to be prepared to work, work, work. You don't go there and sit around, or get the opportunity to skive off classes. She is there making sure everyone is making the most of their training, which is important. If you were late, she would be sat there at the front door of the college waiting for late comers. You are pushed to your limits but I wouldn't of had it any other way. She was, and still is, incredibly supportive and I feel it was the best place for me to go to train. Lots of people say that Laine Theatre Arts is all about the dancing. It's not all about the dancing. The dance training is the best, I believe, but so is the singing and acting. You just have to push yourself to go to after-college classes and do everything from opera class to audition technique. It's only three years but it goes really quickly for you to absorb everything you want to achieve and be ready to get out there in a competitive world — so I love Laine Theatre Arts. Do you remember what song you auditioned with for Laine? Yes, it was 'Sun and Moon' by Miss Saigon. I turned it into a solo — it was meant to be a duet obviously. It was a song and dance that I used to do for song festivals and I loved it so much that I did it for my audition. I remember the studio I stood in, the people on the panel. Very, very funny. You have played so many strong female characters. How do you prepare for them? For example is there anyone from your year at Laine that you speak to for advice? I remember when I got Elphaba and texting Kerry — I am really good friends with her as we were in the same year at college — and saying "I am having difficulty, it's really hard". She said to me "Everyone has struggled with this role, it's so tough. Don't underestimate how hard it is. Give it a couple of months. You will be completely in your stride." And she was right. So I think it's nice to have those people around you, who you can turn to give you support — and also it is very difficult as I hate going off sick. Lots of time you are not ill, but you're voice has just gone and you need to rest it. Lots of people won't understand that. They come to see the show and they will be really disappointed and will put on Twitter "I can't believe she's not on". And I feel such guilt that I am not there. But I am already making myself feel bad, I don't need anyone to make me feel worse, so it's nice to have those people who understand and say "It's fine — don't let anyone upset you, you are human, and I was the same". It's really nice to have that network of people around you. I guess with your voice as well you could do more harm than good if you continue. People don't understand that if you don't rest it you could end up with these things called nodules. If you don't act on it straight away, and you notice there is something wrong with your voice and you keep singing then that means an operation, which could affect your vocal range. It could end your career. You have to understand that if it means taking one or two rehearsals off — you can notice the difference in 24 hours. If you have been completely silent — from going one day and missing three/four notes to being silent ¬— you come back and they are back again. It's just giving a little bit of time. But it's very difficult to explain that to people who don't have an understanding about how The Voice works. To them it just means that they are hugely disappointed because they have bought tickets and you aren't there — and I completely get that. But I already feel horrendously awful when I go off so it makes it that much worse. You have played in Evita — which is very historical show — and then gone onto magical shows. What do you think are the main differences? A million worlds apart but I love different types of roles. For example when I started my career, I turned into what was almost a character actress. I knew that wasn't necessary what I wanted to do all the time, as much as I love playing the character roles — playing comedy — it was important to me to be versatile and play as many roles as possible. The best things about it is playing Eva Peron and then playing Glinda means that I am constantly satisfied with what I do. It's a constant challenge physically as an actress, vocally they are worlds apart. But I trained to do that. I trained in opera and then I trained in my belle voice, so I want to use every part of it. First and foremost I am an actress so I need to be able to play lots of different types of roles. They are a million worlds apart. I guess, as well, because it is factual your research will be on stuff that is true. Absolutely, I guess it's slightly easier because the facts are there on paper when you read the books and try to get to know what the person may have been like. But also it's harder, especially with a character like Eva Peron. It's not like that person is not alive. That's difficult to get right, whereas I guess with a fictional character the world is your oyster. You can make that person whatever you like, so in that respect it is slightly easier. You have sung with quite a few X-Factor stars such as Shayne Ward, Gareth Gates, and you are about to sing with Rhydian Roberts ... That's really weird I have never thought of that connection. There's quite a few schools offering courses that prepare students for the X-Factor. Tring Park school has just launched one. Do you think there is a need for these type of courses? That's a hard one. I think I appreciate why people would want to go onto the X-Factor. For a lot of people it's to become famous instantly and that's the wrong reason because as fast as you are thrusted into the limelight you will be dropped. But for lots of other people it's about making a go of being in this industry professionally. It's not working so what other option are you left with? And for those people it's wonderful. Like you said — Shayne, Gareth, Rhydian — they have all done incredibly well and they haven't all won the show. I think it's a case of talent. The cream will rise to the top if you have the talent, and if you are prepared to work hard it will work for you. I am just not sure if the X-Factor, The Voice and things like that are necessary the way to go. They certainly don't harm a lot of people, but they do harm lots of other people. Do you watch the show? I drop in and out. What I find incredibly frustrating is the reasons for choosing people for the live shows or anything like that when you have just seen someone better and you have a programme all about the singing voice. For example The Voice especially is called The Voice. It's not called The Pop Voice, so it does frustrate me when people bring up "you should be in musicals, you aren't right for The Voice". It's called The Voice, and everyone out there likes different types of music. There are classical artists who sell millions of albums, so why shouldn't there be a classical artist on there. It's kind of weird. There should be someone representing every different piece of music on there. I think that would make it a lot more interesting. It's like Rhydian. He was made fun out of on the show but he's got a glorious classical voice — absolutely beautiful — and he's doing really well. He's an artist in his own right. Yes, our band Tenors of Rock was on X-Factor but the boys didn't get through just because of the format of it. Yes — I know them. I know quite a few of the boys. They are doing really well. Well, I think as long as everything is not pinned on that then I don't see a problem with it. It doesn't take away how talented those guys are. Sometimes I watch X-Factor and think I could fill it with all my friends and you would be blown away every single week. I think people from a musical theatre background are almost frowned upon. It's almost like they cannot be stars. Frustrating. Completely agree. You recently performed with Kimberley Walsh — how did that come about? Yes, from Miss Saigon. Kimberley's management approached my management and said they were looking for a female artist for Kimberly to do a song with. She was doing a musical theatre album, and, I think, because at the time I had gone in and played Elphaba having played Glinda and there was a lot of buzz around that, she asked me to do it. I was absolutely thrilled. She is such a lovely, lovely girl. The album is beautiful and I loved the song, so I said absolutely I will do it. So I went into the studio, and it was lovely that she was there and we could do it together — whereas lots of times you won't even see the person you are recording with. So, no, I was very, very thrilled. She was an absolute sweetheart and it was lovely working with her. From the age of three, your passion was dancing. Is dancing still as important to you? It's not as important to me now as was. But I started dancing when I was three and it has definitely helped me. For example, I did Joseph as soon as I left college and then my next job was Grease. I couldn't get an audition for Grease, so I decided to go the open auditions where you had to dance first of all, in a room of like 100 people at a time, so you had to get noticed. And because I could dance, I got picked and was able to sing and do a scene. At that point I got seen. Had I not danced, I wouldn't have got through, wouldn't have got that job and who knows how difficult it would have been to get the next job and next one. 'Kiss Me Kate' — another example — I was a swing so I covered four girl singers and three girl dancers. If I couldn't dance I wouldn't have got that role — and with 'Guys and Dolls' as well. Everything has happened because I could do the singing, dancing and acting. So the triple threat ... It's exactly that. Although you won't be equal in everything — you will be stronger in something — you should never dismiss one element because that time will come when you will have to go in a room and do that thing you are not comfortable with, and it will be the person next to you — who is better at that— who will win the role. So dancing has been incredibly important to me. It was my first love until I discovered that I loved singing, and that I was actually quite good at it and that developed to singing lessons. It was pretty much all about dancing — I used to do it every day after school. Was there a particular genre? Loved tap. Absolutely loved tap. Ballet I was never that great at. I enjoyed ballet but I could never peg my leg up to my ear, but tap and modern tap were definitely my favourite. Well with ballet you have to have certain body shape. Yes and I'm not that build. And it became quite obvious that I wasn't going to be a dancer. But, you know, I am glad that it has worked out the way it has. I have been very, very lucky. You are also into comedy. Who is your favourite comedian? Victoria Wood, absolutely love, Julie Walters, Dawn French. And I also love Miranda. I think she is absolutely hilarious. And I like her little looks to the camera. And I love Jennifer Saunders. Gosh the list goes on. So it's mostly female comedians? Yes actually, that instantly sticks out. I met Victoria Wood a few weeks ago — she came to the theatre — and for the first time in ages I was really star struck. I went and actually asked my dresser to go get my phone because I really wanted a picture, but when it actually came down to it, I couldn't ask her for it, which is a really weird scenario because I don't get like that. I don't get star struck by hugely famous people. It's about people who I grew up watching, who I aspire to, who I massively respect, and comedy is something I would love to develop further. I started to write a sketch show a few years ago with my friend Gareth — we need to get back on that and start to develop that. The two things I would love to do is really great drama and some brilliant comedy on TV. There are so many arts funding cuts nowadays. I know Laine students have been affected too with their housing benefits being taken away due to their courses being reclassified from further education to higher education. Do you think it will affect performers in the future and the quality? It's a massive, massive shame and it shouldn't happen. The arts are so important to us. For people to have a passion for something and desperately want to do it, or for personal development, it's taking that opportunity away and I am hoping it won't affect the quality but it's just giving people fewer options to do it. There's going to be hugely talented people who cannot get their foot in the door because they haven't been able to do the training and it's all very well saying "just continue to go to your local theatre group", but the second you try to get an agent or audition it's not going to work. So it's ridiculous that these cuts have been made because the arts are equally as important as any other industry especially in the current climate. It's pure escapism for people and why shouldn't we have the opportunity to pursue a career in performing. It's almost as if it's not important, it's just a hobby. It's like arts being removed as a GCSE. It's as if everyone has to do exactly the same thing and fewer options. Just as maths is equally important to some people who want to use maths as some form as a career, someone else wants to act as part of their career. It is important, and why should these opportunities be taken away. Talent in one area is equally as important as talent in another area for different people. Some people might not be academically brilliant but have talent in other areas, so removing that is not fair at all. Okay, so I now have a list of random questions for you to answer Sweet or Savoury? Sugar or Spice? What do you want for Christmas? That's a hard one — I haven't thought about this. A big sparkly ring on my hand would be lovely. Hint, hint. Favourite TV programme? Breaking Bad Favourite Song from album? Home from 'The Wiz' Favourite film? The Notebook Tea or coffee? Your favourite social media app? Blonde or brunette? Before I was really blonde, now I am right in between. So do you think blondes have more fun? No, actually I don't know. I am right in between because I have a dip dye but I think I am going to go more blonde. This is even more random. Did you keep your green makeup on for Halloween? No, but I was constantly stepping out being a bit green. I remember when we first had rehearsals and we had the makeup colour test done, I wasn't as good taking it off, so when I went to go to the shops to get a coffee the guy behind the counter went "Oh, you are a bit green" and I said "Yeah, Halloween" and I totally got away with it. But obviously you can't every month of the year. The great thing now is that if I ever need a Halloween costume, I know how to do the green perfectly so I can just be best costume. For more information on Louise Dearman's upcoming tour and concerts visit Read 5498 times Last modified on Thursday, 02 April 2015 Sophia Tremenheere In her free time Sophia plays the french horn and piano, which is where her love for performing arts first stemmed from. Her top three favourite shows are musicals Mamma Mia, Sound of Music and Phantom of the Opera. She also enjoys going to intimate gigs and festivals, particularly watching acts that are just starting out in their career, and regularly meets up with #LDNTheatreBloggers. Leave a comment • 1
all in your head: living with a mood disorder S e l f - I n j u r y warning: this page contains vivd descriptions of self - injury. if this will be triggering for you, please do not read on. 1.28.1998 Self-injury, also know as self-mutilation, also known as cutting is a source of shame for many who do it. Most people who know that I have been very depressed for the past two and a half years do not know that I am a cutter. Sometimes I see people notice my scars. It seems allien to me when they shudder. Even medical personnel shudder sometimes. I had blood taken in the hospital and the person taking it didn't say anything, but I know he saw and was disgusted. It has not been something that I have done for the past several months, but it is very addictive. Once you start numbing yourself in this way, it is very hard to stop. For me, it is a way of negating suicidal impulses, of venting the pain. Causing myself pain is a way to distract myself from the internal pain I sometimes feel inside. It become less and less effective each time that I do it. Sometimes I worry that I won't be able to stop if it doesn't work. It brings me a numbness that has gone away since I have started to get better. I used to feel numb most of the time, all through high school I was emotionally numb. It was how I survived. Maybe I can describe the feeling this way: you know the way you feel after a really good cry? Take away the drained feeling, and you know how I feel after a good cut. Sometimes I do it just to be able to cope. I know that there is something that I need to accomplish, so I cut and I can get through it. main * depression * guestbook * mail
Saturday, July 2, 2011 Jen and Violet Out For Some Swimming In Los Angeles Jennifer Garner took a swimsuit-clad Violet to go swimming in LA on Friday. (July 1) The holiday weekend brought hot weather to southern California, which meant a Thursday lemonade stop for Garner, Violet and a friend and a trip to the pool the following afternoon. Violet is wearing Purple flip-flops, which were bought by Vi with her mom in June 28. She is also wearing Sandcastle One Piece Swimsuit by Roxy ($36.00), Kids Ametista SS11 Sandals by Primigi. (on sale for $59.20; which were first worn on June 28) and Sailor Organic Stripe dress by Entertaining Elephants. Jennifer is carrying Violet's Apple Tote Bag by Bobo Choses ($38.00). 1. Congratulations! It seems you have already found the elephant brand. :P 2. Yes :D... Thanks to Khemy, who contacted me. :) 3. Hey, here's some new pics of the entire family :)
Ephesoft temp folder clean up feature helps to free the disc space consumed by the temporary folders within the Shared Folder of the Ephesoft installation directory created over a period of time. Properties File Configuration • Firstly the following property needs to be uncommented from the applicationContext.xml of the application to initiate the service <import resource=”classpath:/META-INF/applicationContext-tempfolder-cleanup.xml” /> • Secondly the following properties have to be set for running the service. Changes are required to be made in the file dcma-tempfolder-cleanup.properties located at path {EphesoftInstallationDirectory}\ Application \WEB-INF\classes\META-INF\ dcma-tempfolder-cleanup S. No. Property Description Sample 1 tmp_cleanup.deletablefolders A list of folders within Shared folders contents of which are to be deleted. Folder names are separated by semi colon. tmp_cleanup.deletablefolders=web-service-folder;scannedImages;upload-batch-folder;temp; 2 tmp_cleanup.cleanup_age Deletes the files from the specified folders older than the given hours. tmp_cleanup.cleanup_age=24 3 tmp_cleanup.cronjob_expression Cronjob expression to schedule the service. tmp_cleanup.cronjob_expression = 0 0 12 * * ? (runs at 12 pm every day) Non SharedFolders directories These are the temp directories outside SharedFolders: • <Ephesoft>\JavaAppServer\temp • <Ephesoft>\temp For temp directories outside the SharedFolders, cleanup has to be performed manually. For automating this process, customer can write and schedule custom scripts which run periodically (weekly, bi-monthly) in which it: 1. Stops Ephesoft service 2. Cleans all temp directory 3. Starts Ephesoft service <Back\| Release Documentation Was this article helpful to you?
When is Google going to admit the obvious? Google+, the "social spine" of CEO Larry Page's counterattack on Facebook, is a flop. That's according to a detailed analysis of user activity by research firm RJ Metrics for Fast Company. RJ Metrics selected 40,000 Google+ users at random. It then analyzed their public posts. What they found is that a lot of people start sharing on Google+, then stop. 3 out of 10 made a single public post, then never posted again. Even among people who made five posts, 15 percent had stopped posting. RJ Metrics said this "decay rate" was disturbing. Other analysts have found that people spend an average of 3 minutes a month on Google+, versus 7 hours on Facebook. Now, it's possible that many Google+ users are not posting publicly and are sharing privately instead, as Google+ allows. That's Google's timeworn excuse when asked about Google+ engagement. But Google has refused to give clear statistics about activity on Google+. "Google is just refusing to answer the question for its own reasons, which is probably because Google+ has far less activity as a standalone social network than either Facebook or Twitter," wrote Google expert Danny Sullivan recently. Go see the gory details on Fast Company >> Get the latest Google stock price here.
Go back A Path to Social Inclusion in a Multicultural Australia Published 02 Jul 2017 Vivian Rivera With substantial population flows across and between national boundaries and societies, the issue of social inclusion is growing in complexity. Migration trends have posed challenges to states worldwide. States must deal with multidimensional transformations that not only involve demographic change but also change in economic and social structures, identities, behaviours, priorities and lifestyles.[1] As a result, there is an overriding need for states (especially immigrant-receiving countries) to ensure that their policies, practices and institutions, work harmoniously to guarantee equal rights, non-discrimination, participation in economic and political life, and social inclusion.[2] While Australia has a longstanding (albeit contentious) history of dealing with the challenges of cultural diversity through an inclusive social policy framework, there is scope for better outcomes for groups, such as migrant and refugees[3]. There are some key actions, which could be taken to further their social inclusion; that is their access to appropriate education, health, housing, public services, and participation in community decision-making[4] and, ultimately, their ability to contribute to economic growth.[5] Community Capacity Building (CCB) provides a useful framework in which to consider this issue and identify such actions. CCB has a number of important features. First, it fosters recognition of the strengths and abilities of a community to face opportunities and challenges, and to engage actively and collaboratively in social life. Second, CCB enables community members to mobilise their locally available assets and achieve positive social change. Third, CCB promotes greater self-determination, stimulating economic growth and expanding employment opportunities. One important aspect of CCB is its economic focus. Indeed, workforce participation is the primary means by which individuals and communities can avoid social exclusion.[6] Unfortunately, both migrants and refugees remain under-represented in the Australian labour force. These groups face serious challenges in finding gainful employment.[7] This includes lack of local work experience; limited opportunities to create local networks; lack of understanding of the local workplace culture; minimal access to vocational training; and limited English language skills.[8] A number of organisations in Australia are seeking to address this. The African Australian Inclusion Program (AAIP), for example, aims to create pathways to enhance African immigrants’ employability skills and preparedness for Australian workplaces.[9] Drawing on AAIP’s successful initiatives, this article discusses CCB key areas that have the potential to increase social and economic participation by migrant and refugee communities, and contribute to the construction of a more inclusive society. These include: the promotion of work placement programs, comprehensive networking frameworks, cultural training modules for newly arrived job seekers and local industries, and integrated vocational training. These signposts are some of the ways in which active participation by immigrants in the social, political and economic life of host countries can be fostered. 1. Promote work placement programs For many migrants and refugees, particularly those who are newly arrived, the lack of Australian employment experience is a barrier to accessing job opportunities.[10] For employers, there are concerns with recently arrived refugee and immigrant candidates’ local work experience. This seems to play a more decisive role in the selection process than their higher educational achievements and formal credentials. Since newcomers’ mentoring and training in the workplace demand the mobilisation of financial and human resources, most local enterprises are naturally reluctant to take on migrants and refugees with no local job experience, in some cases purely for productivity and cost-benefit reasons.[11] Initiatives that remove barriers preventing migrant and refugee communities from becoming financially independent and productive participants in Australia’s socio-cultural, political and economic life are necessary. The AAIP, for instance, provides direct support to African-Australians through flexible and intermediate labour market options; programs that offer paid employment for a temporary period in which participants can receive work-related training, personal development assistance and coaching to engage in the local labour market. The AAIP works collaboratively with the social and business sectors to overcome barriers to employment and create further opportunities for immigrants and refugees to develop their professional skills and careers.[12] The implementation of comprehensive programs like AAIP with a long-term vision towards building community capacity is critical to achieve greater social inclusion. The promotion of employment opportunities for immigrant communities, especially those who are newly arrived, helps prevent the early onset of social tensions caused by financial uncertainty and economic dependence. It is therefore vital to encourage employers and enterprises to provide financial and instrumental support to programs that set out mechanisms for effective entry pathways and participation in the workforce, and give both migrant and refugee groups the possibility to access learning and experiences to build their job readiness. 1. Comprehensive networking framework Another factor that imposes a barrier to the full participation of newly arrived migrants and refugees in Australia’s labour market is their lack of meaningful networks.[13] Building networks is one of the most effective pathways to accessing and securing a first job in Australia. Social networks have a collective value associated with community co-operation, interconnectedness and mutual benefits and represent a way to gain access to resources such as financial assistance, housing, education and employment. Building social networks involves a reciprocal endeavour where more established communities, organisations, enterprises and governments promote opportunities for newcomers to interact and expand ties within broader society. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommends the creation and maintenance of strong social networks as a key strategy for social inclusion.[14] Among others, the initial benefits of social networks range from labour market activation, creation of small and medium sized enterprises, access to financial capital, facilitation of labour supply, and increased economic growth.[15] Consequently, networks can bring about significant social and economic gains for both newly arrived immigrants and refugees as well as for long-established residents in the host society. Networking is a key aspect of CCB. For immigrants and refugees, establishing new ties and linkages within the host society helps them increase their confidence in their interpersonal, political, and even leadership skills.[16] Networking helps them to create a sense of co-operation and to envisage themselves as drivers of positive change. Some migrant organisations in countries like Norway and Scotland have done a remarkable job in helping new arrivals access basic resources, connect them with social and financial institutions, and build both formal and informal networks.[17] Additionally, one of the elements of the AAIP’s success is its commitment to engaging participants right from the start of the program in social networks and community relationships. The program facilitates the involvement of the participants in social events organised by the company and stakeholders, alongside tailored networking programs designed to help them build networking skills and meet potential employers from a range of different industries.[18] These initiatives should serve as a model for other formal migrant organisations to emulate. It is also important that these organisations enhance their support programs by allocating case managers and mentors that come from the relevant immigrant community. Mentors from the same or a similar background can liaise between the newly arrived immigrant population and their surrounding communities, as well as bridge cultural and linguistic gaps. Both case managers and mentors can act as facilitators to connect job seekers with employers and refer them to relevant service providers.[19] It is clear that gaining employment is a cornerstone of successful social inclusion. For newly arrived immigrants including those from refugee background, it allows them to become productive members of society and gain financial independence from the start. This is underpinned by setting out a comprehensive networking framework to support immigrants’ job search journey and maximise their opportunities for accessing the local job market. It also requires the promotion of formal and informal networking schemes such as: formal contact with employment agencies, career coaches, vocational training advisors, and informal networking through open days, sports events, and career fairs. This type of intervention demands the commitment of governments, enterprises, and local businesses to promote networking events and support more formal employment services. 1. Training modules to bridge cultural barriers in the workforce A challenge for newly arrived immigrants trying to secure effective entry into the Australian labour market is the limited exposure to the local workplace culture. Immigrants trying to find their first job in Australia encounter two important barriers. The first is the lack of a realistic understanding of the local workplaces and the likelihood of being confronted with different employment practices and operations, compared to work practices in their countries of origin. The second is existing misconceptions that may create distrust towards newly arrived job seekers based on their ethnic or cultural background.[20] Overcoming structural and symbolic barriers that prevent newly arrived immigrants from engaging in the local labour force is vital to maximise their potential to contribute to and benefit from the social and economic capital of the host society. A more comprehensive approach to break down those barriers needs to place strong emphasis on developing trust, connectedness, and cooperation through positive socialisation. The promotion of such values complements the process of CCB within workplaces. It fosters the understanding of the assets that immigrant communities bring to the workplace, such as culture, language, knowledge, and leadership. On the other hand, it allows newcomers to have a better understanding of the existing instrumental and human capital available in the host society. Gaining a more realistic understanding of the new workplace culture enables them to engage more effectively in conciliation, planning, and decision making to achieve reciprocal goals. The AAIP has put in place sound strategies to break down symbolic barriers, which are particularly concerned with cultural sensitivities. The program has put forward efforts to develop a genuine understanding of the workplace culture in Australia, whilst simultaneously fostering an interest in, and understanding of, participants’ culture within the workplace. Strategies to support CCB in the workplace must ensure that immigrant and local groups engage in a fuller and more harmonious way. Interventions need to emphasise the recognition of common assets, qualities, and needs among newly arrived job seekers and the mainstream working population. The implementation of cross-cultural modules to bridge cultural barriers in the workplace is a valuable starting point to foster such dynamics in a culturally diverse work environment. It allows newcomers to gain a better understanding of the local workplace culture and mainstream employment practices, while providing local employers and employees with a more nuanced understanding of newly arrived job seekers’ cultural traits, and the barriers they face in finding gainful employment in the host country. 1. Integrated vocational training Studies have shown that most refugees and immigrants who arrive in Australia strive to become productive and economically independent as early as possible.[21] However, for many of them, the lack of local work experience and limited English skills are considerable obstacles to finding employment. The recognition of these barriers has caused newly arrived immigrants to pursue further vocational training in Australia as an alternative pathway to gaining access to the job market.[22] Vocational training in the intended area of work is important to prepare newly arrived immigrants for employment in Australia. It is particularly empowering when combined with civic education, as well as literacy and communication skills training. To achieve this, more formal immigration programs for adults should be in place, and at low or no cost. These programmes should combine language instruction, cross-cultural training, guidance for social and economic integration and job preparedness. As language deficiencies are a considerable barrier to enter the labour market, it is extremely important that there are vocational programs tailored for newly arrived immigrants, which include bilingual support and involve community liaison officers who can bridge cultural and linguistic gaps. The professional-training program, pioneered by the AAIP, has strategically promoted opportunities for participants’ capacity building by enhancing their employability and career prospects.[23] The program provides participants with job-related training modules in the workplace and has delivered tailored English language instruction to develop the language skills and proficiency required in a professional environment.[24] This program could be used as a model for a wider rollout across Australia. Those newly arrived who are ready for work need vocational programs that facilitate understanding of the mainstream labour market practices, foster self-reliance in their own skills and abilities to achieve broader career goals, and prepare them to respond positively and effectively to job opportunities. CCB, as a mechanism for social inclusion, is a way of supporting and working cooperatively with newly arrived immigrants and refugees to overcome the barriers to social and economic participation in the host country. CCB interventions aim to maximise newcomers’ personal and professional skills, knowledge, and experiences in order to enable them to create (and sustain) positive changes in their personal lives, and as members of society. Building a more inclusive society requires tailored measures that close the gaps that prevent immigrants from accessing opportunities and the resources required for a decent life such as: education, housing, social services, political and civic participation and employment. Gaining fair and equal access to the local job market is a condition for the successful settlement and integration of newly arrived immigrants and their families into the broader community. Immigrants and refugees with jobs are not only financially independent, but also better placed to establish social bonds, connect with members of the broader community, access opportunities to learn the host country’s language to a high level, and feel they can collaborate to achieve a stronger collective impact in the host society. [1] Islam, Kamrul & Stephen Castles (2013) “The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World” in Canadian Studies in Population, vol. 40, no. 1-2, pp. 105-106. [2] Valtonen, Kathleen (2009) Social Work and Migration Immigrant and Refugee Settlement and Integration. Ashgate: Farnham, England; Burlington, VT, pp. 68-70. [3] UNHCR (2016) UNHCR viewpoint: ‘Refugee’ or ‘migrant’ – Which is right?, visited May 2017. [4] Scottish Community Development Centre for Learning Connections (2007) Building Community Capacity Resources for Community Learning & Development Practice, Scottish Government,, visited May 2016. [5] Buckmaster, Luke & Matthew Thomas (2009) “Social Inclusion and Social Citizenship – Towards a truly inclusive society”, Research paper no 08 2009-10. Australia: Department of Parliamentary Services. Parliament Library,, visited April 2016. [6] AMES Victoria (2011) Inquiry into Multiculturalism in Australia, Submission to Joint Standing Committee Inquiry into Multiculturalism,, visited May 2016. [7] AMES (2011) Words to Work: Settling in and Finding Work, The experiences of migrant people in the Adult Migrant English Program in Melbourne. Adult Multicultural Education Service, Research & Policy Unit: Melbourne. [8] Froy, Francesca & Lucy Pyne (2011) Ensuring Labour Market Success for Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Youth. Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis: St. Louis. [9] Jesuit Social Services (2016) African-Australian Inclusion Program,, visited June 2017. [10] Koutsogeorgopoulou, Vassiliki (2011) “Enhancing Labour Utilisation in a Socially Inclusive Society in Australia”, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 852. OECD Publishing: Paris. [12] Jesuit Social Services (2016) African-Australian Inclusion Program,, visited June 2017. [13] OECD (2012) Activating jobseekers: how Australia does it. OECD Publishing, Paris. [14] OECD (2007) Gaining from Migration Towards a New Mobility System. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: Paris. [16] Abu-Laban, Yasmeen, Christina Gabriel & Simone Browne (2004) “Selling diversity: Immigration, Multiculturalism, Employment Equity and Globalization” in Resources for Feminist Research, vol. 31, no. 1/2, pp. 35-36. [18] Jesuit Social Services (2013) African Inclusion Program,, visited April 2016. [19] OECD (2012) Activating jobseekers: how Australia does it. OECD Publishing: Paris. [20] AMES (2011) Inquiry into Multiculturalism in Australia, Submission to Joint Standing Committee Inquiry into Multiculturalism,, visited May 2016. [23] Jesuit Social Services (2012) Inquiry of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration: Contribution of Migration to Australian Society., visited May 2016. [24] Jesuit Social Services (2013) African Inclusion Program,, visited May 2016.
Friday, August 25, 2017 What Is A "Democrat"? Democrats, Then and Now \| Power Line: Founded by slave owner and indian fighter Andrew Jackson in 1828, the Democratic party is the party of Slavery and Jim Crow in the United States. One might say that Democrats have never met a form of slavery they don't like, as today they are quite commonly Socialists, and would have elected one Bernie Sanders, an avowed Socialist, as their presidential standard bearer if the Clinton Crime Family had not rigged their own primary. At the moment, the Democrat party seems intent on tearing down the statues of their own Cival War heroes, the bulk of which were erected by Democrats in the Jim Crow south, or it's border states. The current Democrat Minority Leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi's father erected some nice ones in Baltimore that the linked article points out as now being part of Democrat history that they would like to erase. Barack (BO) Obama was president from '09-'16 (the mourning goes on) and from '07-'10, Ms Pelosi was Speaker of the House -- somehow, neither Nancy or BO ever managed to mention that any sort of Civil War statue was worthy of any concern ... let alone being removed. Democrats, which I call "The Party" since much like the old Communist Party in the USSR, they dominate the vast Administrative State where the real government power is at, academia, the proffessions, finance, the wealthy, corporate CEOs, and of course the entire media -- both the admitted fake Hollywood entertainment sort, and the "stealth Fake" supposed left wing "news". Since they are so dominate, their whim of the moment is always made to sound like brilliant wisdom falling from heaven -- or more likely in their case, an official howl from Satan himself, since Democrats are not very oriented to any sort of heavenly words. "Memory", or "consistency" are terms which Democrats simply don't consider of any use --- OK, so they supported slavery, created and presided over Jim Crow, founded the the KKK, put up all the statues honoring confederates in the first place, and up until very recently, they could care less about any of it. So? They suddenly decided it was politically expedient to tear them down. You didn't really expect them to honor any sort of historical memory or consistency did you? What part of "we make the rules and you just kneel" is it that we have failed to understand? Making a "deal" with a Democrat is somewhat the same as making a deal with the Devil -- in fact, I suspect Satan is a tad more reliable. At least you ALWAYS know he is going the evil route -- in the case of Democrats, they will do ANYTHING to gain power -- even the occasional "good deed": The idea that they have suddenly decided that their own statues are "bad" is a great example of how the Democrat mind works -- POWER, POWER, POWER! It really is that simple! 'via Blog this' No comments: Post a Comment
From: (Tony Anderson) Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 00:33:36 GMT The following is a script written as a parody of the TV series "The X-Files". It is called, "The X-Y-Z Files" and is about Agent Moldy and his partner Agent Sullied and their investigation of a UFO landing in a nearby park. Of course a slight miss-communication from Deep Throat sends the investigation off and running! The parody will be filmed (on Hi8 video) at the end of August 1994 and plans are to have it ready by October-November at the latest. Give it a read-through and let us know what you think; anything you think might make a good addittion, let us know, there's still time to work it in! ToNy (August 7, 1994) **************************************************************************** X-Y-Z FILES by Tony Anderson & Lorren Bell X-Y-Z Files - July 19, 1994 - Draft 5 X-Y-Z-FILES Vers. 05 1 (Insert opening teaser scene) 2 CREDIT SEQUENCE 3 INT. - MOLDY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT FADE IN: We pan across an unkept apartment as we hear the film "Invasion of the Silicon Girls" (1978 Vers.) in the background. In particular, the scene where Veronica and Betty fight off the beach ball alien. (Or something similar). Moldy is seated in a chair in front of a television. He holds a remote control in his hand as he sleeps lightly. The PHONE RINGS; Moldy bolts awake and picks up the receiver next to the chair. MOLDY Moldy. DEEP THROAT Agent Moldy? MOLDY Deep Throat? What is it, where are you? DEEP THROAT Are you watching television right now? MOLDY Yes, why? DEEP THROAT Turn it to channel 6. Moldy points the remote at the television and stops on channel 5 instead of channel 6, as instructed. MOLDY Are you still there? (pause) Hello?... Hello? Moldy hangs the phone up realizing Deep Throat has hung up. He gets up out of the chair and moves closer to the television as he watches and listens to a video segment on a UFO crash in a park. MOLDY (to himself) This is incredible. I know where this park is. 4 INT. - SULLIED'S APARTMENT - NIGHT Sullied is sleeping soundly when the phone on the bedside table rings loudly, waking her from a deep sleep. She picks up the receiver after two rings. SULLIED Hello. MOLDY Sullied, get over here quick. SULLIED Moldy, I hope this isn't another moon rock sample. MOLDY No, this is bigger. I can't talk over the phone. SULLIED What monuments on Mars? (hangs up) Sullied gets up and begins to dress quickly. 5 INT. - MOLDY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT Sullied knocks on Moldy's door, half asleep. Moldy opens the door with enthusiasm enough to make anybody sick. MOLDY Sullied, get in here quick, somebody may have been following you. He motions her inside and closes the door. SULLIED Not likely Moldy, they're probably asleep at 3 a.m.. MOLDY I was watching television and the phone rang. We hear "Invasion of the Silicon Girls" has returned to the television. SULLIED I wonder what the odds of that happening are? You answered it? Wasn't it bugged Moldy? MOLDY I thought of that. Sullied rolls her eyes; obviously Moldy didn't get her point. He continues on... MOLDY I picked up the phone and Deep Throat spoke to me. There is a pause as Sullied contemplates. SULLIED Moldy why don't you find some companionship, like maybe a sheep! She starts to leave and he stops her. MOLDY No, no wait a minute, you don't understand. Deep Throat is an anonymous Government contact who has given us leads in the past. SULLIED You mean there's more like you in the Bureau? MOLDY You can't imagine how many people believe..... SULLIED So what did this Mr. Throat tell you. MOLDY It wasn't that he told me anything. It was what he showed me on television. Sullied looks over at the television and sees "Invasion". SULLIED He told you to watch this, how.....educational. MOLDY No, no. He told me to watch a specific channel that was featuring a news story on a nearby UFO crash site. SULLIED And? MOLDY And Sullied, I know where that site is. If I could find even a small fragment of evidence it could blow the lid off all of the cover-ups. 6 EXT. - PARK CRASH SITE - DAY Moldy and Sullied are walking across the grass in the park where the supposed crash site was. MOLDY (Looking at the grass) Look for the ship's landing imprints, Sullied. Feeling ridiculous and a bit embarrassed, Sullied looks at Moldy peering through the grass and decides to take action. She looks down at her foot and looks at the grass. She shrugs and stamps her foot down hard, pressing a small spot down. She walks a few inches away and calls out to Moldy. SULLIED Moldy, I think I found something. Moldy rushes over to her side. MOLDY What is it? She points to the mark she had just made in the grass. He bends down and examines it. SULLIED Is that what we're looking for? MOLDY This is incredible. This is the same configuration of other craft landing gear. Look at the shape of the imprint. As he's looking Sullied smiles to herself. MOLDY Wait. He spots a piece of tin-foil and picks it up. SULLIED What did you find? He stands, holding up the foil. MOLDY I'm not positive, but I think this is a piece of the ship's protective shields. The heat on impact must have been vast, look how this metal bends now. She takes the piece from him and looks at it. SULLIED Moldy, this is tin-foil. MOLDY How can you say that? SULLIED Well as I exhale, my tongue and palate form sounds, these sounds form words, these words form sentences. That Moldy is how I can say that. He takes the piece back. MOLDY I have to get it analyzed back at the lab. SULLIED Moldy, it's foil. You are having a trained technician take his time away from billion-dollar projects to examine a piece of tin-foil? MOLDY We've got to be sure. He turns and continues looking around. SULLIED Oh, Moldy? MOLDY Yes? He turns and sees her lift her right hand, point at him, and make a sound from her throat as her eyes get wide with shock (the warning call in "Invasion") We see the fear in Moldy. She stops and begins to laugh. MOLDY That is not funny. SULLIED Yes it is. MOLDY Come on, maybe we can find some eye witnesses. 7 EXT. - PARK - DAY They walk through the park and see a park bench with a homeless man sleeping. They approach him. SULLIED Moldy, be careful. MOLDY I will. Sullied walks out of camera range while looking for evidence. He starts to lift a newspaper that is covering the homeless man. HOMELESS MAN What? Who is it? MOLDY It's just me sir. Mind if I ask you a few questions? HOMELESS MAN Who are you? MOLDY Agent Moldy FBI. HOMELESS MAN Let me see some ID. Moldy hands the homeless man his wallet. HOMELESS MAN Who's she? MOLDY Agent Sullied FBI. While agent Moldy looks away (at agent Sullied) the homeless man cleans his wallet out. HOMELESS MAN So what do you want agent Mowgli, you looking for that big blue bear? MOLDY Why have you seen one? The homeless man look puzzled at Moldy. Sullied returns, looking mad about wasting her time. MOLDY Have you seen any strange lights in the night sky? HOMELESS MAN That depends on how much I've drank. MOLDY Have you ever seen a UFO? HOMELESS MAN Is there money in seeing that stuff? MOLDY Possibly. Moldy takes out his wallet and finds out he has no money. MOLDY Sullied pay the man $20.00. Sullied looks shocked, but pays homeless man. HOMELESS MAN Oh sure. They come down here in the park all the time. MOLDY When was the last time you saw one land? SULLIED Moldy, come on. He didn't see anything. MOLDY Give him a minute Sullied. When was the last time? HOMELESS MAN Time? Uh..couple nights ago. Damn place looked like it was going to be overrun by those runty little foreigners with big eyes. Moldy considers, then stands up. SULLIED A fool and his money are soon parted. MOLDY Yea I know, the Bureau doesn't reimburse bribes, and you were the one who gave him the money. I have a person who will identify this sample for us. SULLIED Who? MOLDY She's an expert in the field of UFO's, parapsychology, and utilizing Spam for self defense. Her name is Dr. Schnozzendripper. SULLIED Schnozzendripper? MOLDY Look, you head back to the car first. That way we'll spot anybody who might be following us. Sullied shoots him a "you've got to be kidding" look. She realizes he is serious and starts to head back. We see her turn around and stop. She looks across the street from the park and it occurs to her just how small the park really is. SULLIED (to herself) You couldn't land a Buick in this park. She continues on as Moldy starts behind her many yards away. 8 INT. - CAR - DAY Sullied is inside the car as Moldy gets in the drivers side. MOLDY I think we should ask around the local neighborhood to see if anyone's seen or heard anything. SULLIED At least it won't cost me. She shoots Moldy an irritated look. 9 EXT. - HOUSE - DAY Moldy pulls up to a house in a neighborhood community and the two get out and head up to the front door. Moldy rings the bell and they wait. A few moments later the door opens and a man pops his head out. OUTRAGED MAN Not you Jehovah's again, don't you people ever give up? The man slams the door in their faces even before they have a chance to reply. Moldy rings the bell again as they hold up their FBI badges. The door swings open again and the man is now clearly upset. OUTRAGED MAN You don't get it do you? MOLDY We're FBI, this is Agent Sullied and I'm Agent Moldy. OUTRAGED MAN You guys have the answer for everything, even the end of the world! Get lost and take you're fake ID with you! He slams the door again. SULLIED He was far more helpful than the last house. MOLDY Yes, and a cheery disposition too. They turn and head back to the car. 10 EXT. - ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF PARANORMAL/ABNORMAL BEHAVIORAL STUDIES AND CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY (Mon. Wed. Fri) - DAY Moldy and Sullied arrive in the driveway of the country-home-like estate. They pull the car forward and park it next to the building. They both get out and head towards the front door; there a woman in a white lab coat. They approach her. Patient's can be seen doing odd things in the background. They approach her. DR. SCHNOZZENDRIPPER Hello. MOLDY Hello, Dr. Scnozzendripper? She sniffles, wipes her nose with her hand and extends it for a handshake. Moldy pauses, but shakes it anyway, as does Sullied. They both simultaneously wipe their hand on the sides of their clothes. DR. SCNOZZENDRIPPER I was told you were coming by. Let's sit down in the yard, shall we? SULLIED Of course. They follow her down the small path in front of the building and out onto the grass, where a bench is placed. They all sit. MOLDY Doctor, here is the sample of heat- shielding from the Extra-Terrestrial craft. She takes the sample and examines it intensely, she sniffs it and hands it back. DR. SCHNOZZENDRIPPER It's aluminum-based foil, with a slight film coating of crushed peanuts and jellied fruit possibly grape. Also traces of whole wheat product. There is a slight pause. SULLIED You mean it was shielding a peanut- butter and jelly alien? The Doctor and Moldy look at one another, contemplating peanut-butter and jelly based life. The Doctor bites her bottom lip. SULLIED It's a sandwich, wrapped in tin foil. DR. SCHNOZZENDRIPPER That explains the whole wheat. MOLDY I have 20 X-Y-Z files on individuals who have claimed to have been abducted by hovering baked goods in the night sky. DR. SCHNOZZENDRIPPER (Getting excited by the discussion) Eclairs, Bear Claws, Fritters... The doctor starts to fan herself with her labcoat, looking visibly aroused. Moldy shakes his head in agreement. DR. SCHNOZZENDRIPPER The Fritters are the worst, they spray the abducted with a sugar-glaze coating causing instant paralysis. The Doctors hand slips inside her lab coat as she slowly fondles her breasts. SULLIED I can't believe we are discussing diabolical day-old donuts. DR. SCHNOZZENDRIPPER You shouldn't dismiss any possibilities. Have you questioned the surrounding residents of the park? The Doctor now looks suddenly relaxed. MOLDY A few. SULLIED No leads or reliable eye-witnesses. MOLDY We were hoping you might have some valuable information that could help us. SULLIED Here's a stab Moldy, why don't we interview more potential witnesses. A hospital orderly arrives with a message. ORDERLY Dr. Schnozzendripper? Mr. Shatner is here for his 4 o'clock appointment. He says he has an idea for a new Drek War novel. DR. SCHNOZZENDRIPPER Marvelous, I hope it's nothing like the "memoirs" novel. Get me some doughnuts and a stiff drink! EXT - OVERLOOKING MACARTHUR PARK: NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY Moldy and Sullied are once again going door to door looking for possible witnesses. They approach one house and knock. The door yanks open and a head pops out. OWNER Yah, whadda you want? Moldy begins to reach into his briefcase... OWNER Oh no you don't! Don't even bother, you people were here yesterday with those WATCHTOWER magazines! I've had it! He slams the door. SULLIED Weeeeelllll, that was productive, wasn't it? MOLDY Let's try the neighbors. They approach the next house and Sullied knocks. The door opens and another individual is seen. OWNER Yes? Moldy goes for his briefcase but Sullied intercepts him and shows her badge. SULLIED I'm Agent Sullied, this is Moldy. The Owner pulls away from the badge after she says it's "Moldy". OWNER That was pretty fast for a Government Agency. How did you know about her? Moldy looks at Sullied like this will break the case open. OWNER Quickly, come in before you she gets up from her nap. They enter and follow him into the kitchen. They sit. OWNER My wife has been acting strange lately. MOLDY How so? OWNER It occurs almost every month, around the same time. MOLDY What characteristics has she shown? OWNER Irritability, cramping, puffiness, water weight-gain... Sullied now features a look of complete shock over the stupidity of these guys. MOLDY I must have 100 X-Y-Z files based on those exact symptoms. Sullied is now angry. SULLIED Make that 101! The man's wife had now entered the room, looking like hell. WIFE I thought you were supposed to be out mowing the lawn? OWNER Yes, dear. I'm sorry, I have to go now. As they get up to leave Sullied moves closer to wife. SULLIED I can't figure out what's worse. PMS or men? WIFE Men. PMS only comes once a month. EXT. - PARK - DAY As Moldy and Sullied enter the park again they see a man gardening as he talks quietly to himself. MOLDY Sullied, look. He points to the gardener. They head towards him. SULLIED Good afternoon sir. GARDENER Good? MOLDY We need to ask you a few questions about some discoloration in the grass. GARDENER Where abouts? They walk over and look at the grass. MOLDY Over here. GARDENER Well? MOLDY What do you make of these? Moldy points to yellow patches while smirking at Sullied as though he had found the key piece of evidence. GARDENER (Kneeling looking closely at grass) Dog pee pee. Everybody brings their dogs to the park and what do they do? They PEE PEE! A little here, a little there. Killing off my precious grass I raised from seeds. Tending, watering, cutting, trimming, fertilizing, stroking! And all to be used as a huge diaper for doggies! As the gardner is getting more and more ecstatic in his speech, Moldy and Sullied slowly back away... SULLIED Well, that about closes this X-Y-Z file. MOLDY (Depressed) For once you were right. SULLIED Let's put this case to bed. In background Gardener is putting the grass to bed. GARDENER You don't know the pleasure Kentucky Blue Grass can bring a man! EXT. - FBI BUILDING - DAY In office, Moldy is depressed as he's closing file folder, hands it to Sullied who files it. MOLDY This is the worst case I've ever had. Special Asian Cooper enters office and approaches Moldy. COOPER Agent Moldy. MOLDY Yes? COOPER Weren't you supposed to surrender all articles ascertaining to your previous case, Agent Denise. Sullied looks confused. Moldy pulls open desk drawer, hands out dress and red pumps. Cooper, takes them and leaves. SULLIED Who was that? MOLDY Special Asian Cooper, Blue Rose case. SULLIED Agent Denise? MOLDY Well, it was a complex, undercover, rose... top secret. Phone rings. Moldy answers it. MOLDY Agent Moldy here. DEEP THROAT You know who this is? MOLDY Mom? DEEP THROAT NO, Deep Throat you idiot. MOLDY I couldn't find any evidence of a UFO. DEEP THROAT What UFO? MOLDY The crash, the one on T.V. that you told me to watch. DEEP THROAT I told you to turn to Channel 5 so you could catch me and my granddaughter riding in the parade. Moldy hangs up. SULLIED Who was it? MOLDY Deep Throat. SULLIED What did the porno sage have to drop on us this time? MOLDY This entire X-Y-Z file has been a complete waste of time. SULLIED Now, there's a news flash. Moldy puts head down. SULLIED How about I take you out for a drink Moldy? MOLDY Okay, but sometimes I act a little weird when I drink. SULLIED This should be different. MOLDY Just as long as we don't get carried away. SULLIED Right, we can't trust anyone, even ourselves. MOLDY The truth is out there! (Panning out) Sullied and Moldy asleep on bed. We see the back of Sullied. She gets up and goes to bathroom. We see her in silhouette only. POV Sullied's head looks down at her 9-month pregnant tummy. SULLIED Oh my God! Green hands on stomach. Sullied snaps her head up and looks in mirror, seeing her green face. Make up FX. Screams. SULLIED Moldy!!!!!!!!! Fade to black. END INVASION OF THE SILICON GIRLS: FILM PLAYING AT MOLDY'S EXT. - BEACH - DAY Two well proportioned young ladies are seen on the beach wearing bikinis, they bat an alien beach ball back and forth. BETTY Eeek! Don't let the hideous limbless alien get us! VERONICA Okay Betty. The girls giggle as they bat the ball back and forth. (Audio only): VERONICA They're using their evil sunburn ray guns on us. BETTY Quick put on the Ultra SP15 hyper sun block. VERONICA I hope my hair holds out. The girls can be seen stroking their bodies with sun tan lotion. **************************************************************************** Tony Anderson ( -- Tony Anderson is......... "Through the darkness of future past, the mysterious one longs to see, One bonus round, between two players, Fire, don't play with me." ...TWIN PEEKS the parody 1992
Cuban Vice-President visits Bangkok [23.06.2013] The First Vice-president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, paid a brief visit to Bangkok on his return to Cuba after concluding an official tour that took him previously to several nations of Southeast Asia, namely China, Vietnam and Laos. The Cuban dignitary was accompanied by Division Gral. Andollo Valdés, Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra, and Manuel Alomá, Chef de Cabinet of the Vice-president. Of particular relevance was the visit to the Wat Pho, or Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the greatest, oldest and most famous Buddhist sanctuary of the country, due to it being the host of the longest reclining Buddha in the world - 43 mts. long and 15 mts height - cradle of the traditional Thai massage, and first religious university of the nation. The distinguished guest was received at the monastery in a remarkably friendly way by the Head Monk of the institution, Chaokun Suthee Thammamuwat, who pointed out that amongst the personalities that had visited the temple, the Cuban Vice-president was the first of its rank that he had received, at the time that, in a humorous comparison with other dignitaries, including American President Barack Obama, the high Buddhist monk predicted that the fact that the distinguished visitor had been able to stand in front of the most sacred part of the reclining Buddha, his feet, bode a politically splendor future, as much for him as for the Cuban people. At the end of the visit, the Head Monk flattered the Cuban Vice-president with a beautiful collection of books that depicted the history and peculiarities of the temple, and requested him to sign the registry of visitors, in which the Vice-president engraved, for the history of the relations between Cuba and Thailand, his satisfaction with the visit, the deep impression caused by the Wat Pho, and the care received by the Head Monk and his collaborators.
Tort or Penalties Called for, or the Result of Natural Aging Once a pavement is laid it is expected to last a long time. However over time distress will occur at which time there can be a blame game, especially if tort lawyers get involved. Unfortunately the attorneys may team up with “experts” who have only limited understanding of pavement technology and absolutely no understanding of multivariate statistics upon which are based possible penalties where data collected during construction would suggest there would be future distress. In a construction contract there are various contractors involved. One contractor may prepare the subgrade and base while another would lay the pavement. The design engineer may not have built in sufficient strength into the pavement or paid attention to the properties of the paving material with respect to the expected traffic. Also, whether the location is in a city or on a highway will affect judgments. Following are a few types of distress: Residential Streets. 1. There is a sunken “bird bath” in the street. There were separate contractors for the subgrade, base and pavement. There were alligator cracking in the sunken area. The thickness of the pavement is the design thickness. Who’s at fault and what can be done? Usually the paving contractor will be blamed; however the actual problem is an area in the subgrade that was not properly compacted. The pavement has to follow the consolidation that occurs in the subgrade thus the cracking comes from stretching the pavement as it sinks and is not the fault of the paving contractor. To repair it the section may be removed and reconstructed. If the pavement is to be slurry sealed, leveling can be done by the slurry seal contractor. 2. There is loss of matrix, called raveling, in the pavement in areas of continuing flowing water. Wet asphalt pavements are weaker than dry ones. This usually occurs on corners where there is shear stress from the tires. The source of the water needs to be identified and stopped. There are asphalt paving mixes designed for hydraulic structures, however a pavement in a street is not one of them. Another cause is the lack of use of additives to the asphalt that address the loss of wet strength. A discussion of such additives is outside of my goal at this time however it will be addressed later. Main Streets and Highways 1. Longitudinal Crack in the Wheel Path. This usually starts in the right wheel path and later occurs in the left wheel path. This is caused by lack of structural strength. It can be accelerated by lack of proper compaction or lack of anti stripping additives in the asphalt. It isn’t unusual for an agency to mill off two inches and repave. That is like blowing in the wind, as the lack of structural strength continues, and the cracks will soon reappear. The lack of structural strength and stripping are design problems, not construction. 2. Damaged from Studded Tires. In areas in which studded tires are used there will be ruts, whether the pavement in asphalt concrete or portland cement concrete. The width between ruts will be consistent to that of passenger tires. That problem still lacks a solution. Some say that such rutting is caused by trucks, but that is not true for ruts described above. Rutting caused by trucks is a mix design problem that is solvable. In that case the width between ruts is that of truck tires, and the effect of the duals is obvious. This is not caused by poor construction techniques. 3. Traffic Cause Ruts. There is a considerable effort to solve rutting by changing the binder. Adjusting the binder can affect the rate of rutting; however the true solution to rutting is to make sure that the coarse aggregate particles can interlock. Yet the specifications generally allow over-sanded mixes in which a sand asphalt matrix is supposed to stop rutting. I would suggest that both the design engineer and the supplier of the (hot mixed asphalt) HMA are equally at fault. The design engineer specified gradation limits that allow oversanded mixes, and the HMA supplier crushed and blended to a gradation that would cause ruts when in the pavement. 4. Block (Thermal) Cracking. Often called transverse cracking, however it really occurs in blocks if the pavement is wide enough. This cracking occurs when the asphalt in the pavement is too hard to relax thermal stress fast enough. Public agencies or other owners are at fault for not sealing the pavements, which reduces the hardening rate of the asphalt. 5. Water Damage. If the aggregate would prefer being wetted by water rather than asphalt, the asphalt will at least get weak, and probably strip off. The result is raveling. While there are additives to asphalt that helps in this area, there are data that shows that some of the more popular antistrips may lose their ability to prevent stripping over time. Once the pavement loses it strength, fatigue cracking may also be prevalent. The fault here is the design specification that does not specify proper antistrips. Robert L. Dunning,, Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
I got told not to use the word transsexual. It is objectionable. It somehow implies that those who transition should have GRS. The word is “trans”; that includes all of us, and what is between our legs is no-one’s business but ours and our partners’. A girl-cock, a hyperenlarged clitoris, or whatever you call it, is OK. Do you feel less than others? Do you feel a nagging suspicion that real trans women know they are women, and so find the thought of having a penis unbearable? Alternatively, do you feel that you were forced by social pressure into having The Operation by doctors, transsexuals and the general public while you might not have had it, if you had had a completely free choice? Do you feel less than others? Does the existence of another group of people, which appears to share some characteristics with you but be very different in some ways, somehow make you inauthentic or less entitled to be who you are, do what you want- or do you have nagging doubts that might be so? The answer is not to lash out, and say it’s the other group that have got it wrong, they are the ones who should change, or demand that they do not mention their difference from you as they should be ashamed of it. That just divides people. We can be allies. We should be able to sympathise with another’s desires and support their rights, while not feeling the same. I regret the operation. I would like to be able to swive heterosexual women. I suppose being told not to utter the word “transsexual”- or TS- is better than being held up as fool and victim. I wanted it at the time. My path to self-acceptance led through the Operation, and I am not sure “there was another road you did not see”. Though if I were sure of that, it would be sair to thole. It was as it was. I am where I am. The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. You see I have this huge uncertainty. There is another group, like me in some respects, unlike me in others- and I know they have this difference, though I cannot be certain that they have that advantage and I do not know what disadvantages they may have. Producing my own hormones and not using synthetic ones, my emotional lability might be less: so I could ascribe all sorts of imaginary advantages to the door you did not open– while I am at it, I would be in work, the desire to present female would have passed, I would have three children- as always with these fantasies, I would not exist and someone else would be in my place. Guilt, resentment, yearning, shame- I am overwhelmed by these feelings as I always have been, I cast around for ways of escape which instead intensify them. However. I am transsexual. I am not going to keep quiet about that just cos someone tells me to. Blake, the inscription 5 thoughts on “Transsexual 1. I accept the term, although I haven’t transitioned. I refer to myself as a transsexual nevertheless. Not sure what else to call myself. Transgender? It’s kind of a catch-all term that I’m not fond of. I know many disagree with someone using this term who has not transitioned. I have felt female all of my life. I wanted to transition as far back as my early teens. I dressed in my mother’s and sister’s clothes as far back as I can remember. What I am not is a crossdresser. Crossdressing makes no sense doing it in a male body. Window dressing without the window. The core of my problem is what’s below my waist. I do hope you will be alright, Clare. Based on everything I have read from you, you did the right thing by transitioning. Hopefully, things will be better when you finally get that job and a love in your life. Looking at it from the other side, I do have the love in my life, and that includes children. I also have the career. I am frustrated, however. I think about IT every minute of every day of every year. It doesn’t get better, but I stay the course for the sake of my family. I should have transitioned prior to getting married but the support groups were not there then and the internet was just emerging. • I have no problem with you calling yourself transsexual. The feelings and desire make you so. The difficulty is recognising the two discrete groups- trans women who have these desires around their bodies, trans women who wish to remain fertile- and permitting both, valuing both, not seeing one as better or more authentic than the other. Thank you for your prayers. No trans path is easy. How does this make you feel? You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
6 Replies Latest reply on May 2, 2010 11:53 AM by toastieo Browser "Back" arrows do not work with Flash buttons. Just can't seem to get around this problem... I've made several flash buttons for use in my navigation bars. They work great but the "back" arrows on the browser are always grayed out. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of browser I use. The site was made in Dreamweaver and the Flash buttons are imbedded within the pages. I posted the same question on the Dreamweaver forum and got some vague answers. Is there some code I can put into my Flash buttons? If you have an answer please be specific as I'm not an expert. The site is fireonmcginnis.com or just type "Fire on McGinnis" into a search engine. • 1. Re: Browser "Back" arrows do not work with Flash buttons. 370H55V Level 4 Like Nancy O. said when this was asked in the Dreamweaver forum, using Flash buttons is terrible for search engines and for mobile web users. Search engines don't recognize the action scripted links from Flash buttons and therefore will not follow or index your site beyond the first page they hit. Anyone who accesses the page from a mobile phone, Blackberry, or PDA isn't going to even see the navigation buttons, rendering all but the first page they hit absolutely useless. On top of that, it was answered in the previous post that all of your links are set to open a new window or tab (_blank). You need to edit the Action Script for your buttons so that they open in the same page as they are on (_self). Otherwise, when the new page opens there IS no previous page for a back arrow to point to. It IS the first page in the history for that tab or window (#1). There is no zero page so the back arrow will be greyed out. 1 person found this helpful • 2. Re: Browser "Back" arrows do not work with Flash buttons. grr, sorry about this post, no way to delete the post... was just going to say what mac+win=me said • 3. Re: Browser "Back" arrows do not work with Flash buttons. toastieo Level 1 Thank you for the lengthy response. It appears to need I need to add a "(_self)" to my ActionScript code. I don't actually see the "(_blank)" you are referring to but I suffer from male pattern blindness. Sounds like I need to trash the Flash. Do you use Spry for Nav buttons? • 4. Re: Browser "Back" arrows do not work with Flash buttons. 370H55V Level 4 Spry or regular hyperlinks in a list or nav configuration. Either is better than Flash buttons. Thing is, a search bot will read the HTML in those kinds of links (spry or HTML) and index them. That way if you have an event calendar for upcoming shows, or a discography page, it can find them and will be able to make a reference to them in later search engine databases (usually about 72 hours after the indexing). With the Flash buttons there is no code for the bot to find and your upcoming events, or a downloads page if there is one, will never be seen in a search even if people look directly for "fireonmcginnis: schedule", or "music by fireonmcginnis" because to Google, Yahoo, Lycos and the others the pages simply don't exist. Spry is great if you have submenus, and since it can be customized using CSS, you can make it match your site layout. You can also do that with regualr hyperlinks and CSS, but spry has a more appealing look to a lot of web users and the submenus are a little harder with basic HTML. For the record the script should read: getURL ("http://www.site.com/page.html" "_self"); for the buttons. There'a s drop down to select _self, _blank, _parent etc. when you add the getURL script to the button. But... you need to stay away from Flash buttons for navigation or you're really defeating the purpose of putting a band on a website in the first place. It's about exposure and Flash buttons will severely limit that exposure, even if they work properly. • 5. Re: Browser "Back" arrows do not work with Flash buttons. toastieo Level 1 Thanks Winmacme, that's really helpful. I wasn't sure where my problem was when I opened this question. Was it a DW or Flash setting I missed? Was it an ActionScript question? You are right about the importance of exposure. Why have cool site when nobody can find you! I'm imspired by the "Dropkick Murphy's" website. Most of the information is right there on the first page. I like the "Keep It Simple -Stupid!" method. Look for a re-design of the Fire on McGinnis page this summer sans Flash buttons! I'll be back with more questions. Thanks. • 6. Re: Browser "Back" arrows do not work with Flash buttons. toastieo Level 1 Gosh, I hate to belabor this but, it's still not working. I put the "_self" in as you suggested but I get errors and the button is trying to navigate to a place called "http...""_self" So, something is wrong and I hope it's an easy fix. I enclosed the actual Flash code for my "Home" button. If you can help me tease this out further it would be much appreciated. I'll send good karma your way. The code: homebig_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, mouseDownHandler); function mouseDownHandler(event:MouseEvent):void { navigateToURL(new URLRequest ("http://www.fireonmcginnis.com")); I still plan to redo the site but that will take some time. -Toastieo
A clearer refutation of choice-talk. I feel like I haven’t presented as clear of a refutation of choice-talk as I should have in the past (I did write this entry, but it was more specific to refuting the pro-choice position). This seems rather important to me, since choice-talk is so pervasive and widely accepted, and I spend so much time debunking its theoretical consequences. Much nonsense in politics and philosophy is derived from some form of choice-talk and its bastard grandparents, agency-talk, free will-talk and blame-talk. What is a “choice”? The standard definition in choice-talk is that a choice happens when an individual picks one out of many options at a given time. This is usually followed with the assertion that, if the situation was repeated exactly, the individual could pick a different option. The latter assertion is very easy to refute: if the situation was repeated exactly, then there could be no difference in the outcome, as everything moves in accordance with natural law. In short, there’s no free will, which would be a sort of other-dimensional spark (called a “soul”) or a random vibration (depending on who you ask) that makes the brain change itself. If that spark or vibration did change the brain, then we wouldn’t be in the same exact situation anyway. If the spark or vibration could change the brain in a different way, then we’re not in the same exact situation either, because the effect of the spark or vibration is different. Anyway, the whole argument is moot, for a simple reason. If there is an other-dimensional spark or a random vibration changing the brain, it could not be said to be a result of my decision, and therefore it wouldn’t be me “choosing,” it would be the spark or the vibration. So that’s just not a “choice” in the way we routinely use the word. When people say they “choose” something, they don’t mean a spark or vibration made them pick an option, they mean they picked the option. So the whole thing about souls or randomity is just a dirty semantics trick. So what about the picking amongst options business? It may seem very clear, but it’s not clear at all. For one thing, how can we figure out what is or is not an option? Take the standard example, which is some individual who wants to eat a fruit and has to decide between an apple and an orange. Is this “choice” really between only two options, “eating an apple” and “eating an orange”? What about doing nothing? What about eating the apple in a certain way, or another way? What about standing on your head? I am not merely suggesting that we should be careful in how we talk about options, but that the whole notion is entirely arbitrary. If our standard is that an option is a possibility of action, then there is only one option, the action that actually will be undertaken! People have a lot of confusion over the term “possible.” They think anything they can imagine is “possible.” But I can imagine quite a lot of impossible things (for instance, I can imagine that Napoleon was a gardener or a bricklayer, but it’s not actually possible). Possibility is an indication of the limits on our knowledge, but there must be some evidence that the thing is actually possible and not impossible. If the individual ends up eating the apple, then “eating the orange” was never a possible option. The fact that the individual may have considered it, or could have considered it, does not prove that it is possible. All human action is the result of the deterministic interaction between an individual’s mind, body and environment. This is a very general statement, but it debunks the idea that there’s any such thing as a “choice.” There are no more “human choices” than there are “tree choices” or “rock choices.” This has profound political and philosophical implications. For instance, I have talked about how the pro-choice position is fatally flawed because of this. I have also debunked all sorts of voluntaryist and liberal feminist positions, which are heavily based on choice-talk and agency-talk. Choice-talk adds absolutely nothing to any discussion. I want to demonstrate that with some real-life examples. Take our previous example of “I chose to eat an apple instead of an orange.” I can remove the choice-talk and say: “I ate an apple, and there was also an orange available.” The latter is saying exactly the same thing as the former, but without the concept of “choice.” The words “chose” and “instead” add no conceptual content (at least, no conceptual content that is actually true) to the sentence. Now take this typical liberal feminist opinion: “It is argued that most sex workers choose to work in the sex industry and the rights and ability of these individuals to exercise this agency should be supported.” The terms “sex workers” and “sex industry” are invalid and are just loaded terms used to prop up the author’s beliefs. Apart from that, nothing in this sentence is meaningful. No one “chooses” a job (let alone in the “sex industry”); we take jobs because we must do so in order to function in a capitalist system, and the kind of job we take depends on the economic situation, our education, our talents, who we know, and our opportunities, amongst other things. It’s especially ironic to use the term “agency” in relation to any form of work because workplaces in a capitalist system (unless you’re self-employed) are hierarchical in nature and involve very little freedom. Note that I am not talking specifically about “sex work.” My point here really has nothing to do with your position on that issue. But the choice-talk and agency-talk is used here to validate the liberal feminist position, and therefore it becomes part of the “sex work” issue. It appears to them as if they are making a powerful argument for their position, but they are really saying absolutely nothing. We can change the previous sentence to exclude choice-talk and agency-talk while actually saying something meaningful: “The rights and ability of people who work in the ‘sex industry’ should be supported.” This is a meaningful sentence, but it leads us in a rather different direction than that desired by the liberal feminists. Here is a question related to atheism: “On what basis do people choose to be atheists?” Of course, that’s not how reality works. Anyone who knows what it’s like to deconvert from any religion knows that there’s very little “choice” involved, even if you believe in the concept to start with. People are generally compelled to become atheists because some doubt or research made them lose their faith. A better way to phrase the question would be: “Why do people become atheists?” This asks the same thing, while omitting the concept of “choice,” which is a bad way of approaching the subject. Here is one prized by conservatives: “Poor people choose to be poor.” Again, choice-talk is used to appear to validate a position, in this case, political conservatism and hatred of the poor. It’s much easier to hate someone if you believe that their hardships are the result of their own “choice” and not from social conditions. Same for “sex workers”: it’s easier to reject helping prostituted women if you call them “sex workers” and call their “job” a “choice” instead of a consequence. There is no content independent of the choice-talk in this sentence (apart from the existence of poor people), so there’s no way to rephrase it. Poor people are poor for a wide variety of reasons, but fundamental to all these reasons is the capitalist system which demands that our worth (set in monetary value) be evaluated by the kind of job we have. In a society with a guaranteed minimum wage (as was tested in Canada and proposed in Switzerland), poverty can be eliminated, at least for all citizens. This is an issue of political will, not of “choice.” I haven’t talked about blame, so here is a sentence about blame: “The president blames society and guns for crime, and I blame criminals.” The concept of “blame” can only exist where “choice” exists: we cannot blame inanimate objects for anything. We can say “guns cause crime,” but we cannot say “guns are to blame for crime,” at least not literally. But what does it mean to blame society or criminals for crime? We have to make a clear distinction between “criminal action” and “unethical action.” Any given criminal action is only criminal because 1. it has been defined by some legal system as criminal and 2. the legal definition has been enforced. If anything, we should say “I blame politicians and judges for crime.” But even that is not accurate; no one can be “blamed” for anything because it implies that the individual is the cause of the blameworthy action. There is no point in “blaming” someone who is only incidental to the action. But this is true of all of us. But this idea of blaming society brings up another point: my position that there is no such thing as “choice” or “blame” because actions are by and large the result of social conditions may be confused with the position that we should “blame society.” If by “society” one means a collection of loose individuals, as right-wingers define it, then no, one cannot “blame” any number of people. If by “society” one means a complex structure made of institutions and their attendant beliefs, then it would be silly to “blame” such a thing because it is inanimate. It seems to me that, despite the straw men coming from right-wing fanatics, no one really “blames society.” But it’s clear that, if blame is impossible, then “blaming society” must therefore also be impossible. We cannot “blame society” any more than we can blame anyone or anything else. Justice has nothing to do with “blame.” Punishment does, but not justice. The issue is not one of blame but of cause and effect. Institutions impose incentive systems on individuals. Individuals react to those incentive systems based on their personal circumstances, education, and biases, amongst other factors. The issue of subjectivity really has nothing to do with it. 4 thoughts on “A clearer refutation of choice-talk. 1. Aprelle Neal January 3, 2016 at 17:21 Reply Never thought about it that way. You’re right that people’s job prospects are limited, including those of streetwalkers because there are so many factors, including education and talent. 2. […] interesting is “parents who do choose to spank.” Portraying spanking as a choice is not just nonsense, but also hides the fact that physical and sexual abuse usually results from the parents themselves […] 3. chandlerklebs April 27, 2017 at 22:17 Reply This post sums up just about everything I’ve ever tried to say about why choice as most people think of simply does not exist. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
Say Anything I traded Onirim for Say Anything (demo’ed here on TableTop) and that seems to have been a worthwhile trade. Say Anything is an easy to play party game with little embarrassment factor. One player asks a question and everyone else tries to come up with a great answer. The question man or woman will then secretly select their favorite answer, and everyone else bets on what the winning answer will be. 2014-12-28 23.42.24 Sadly a lot of the dry erase markers weren’t working, and we kept on losing the voting tokens, leaving us with a bit more upkeep than we like in a relaxed party game. Though squabbling over who had the working markers was its own kind of fun. We had to buy some replacement markers to keep on playing. As you can imagine, turns can be really entertaining. There’s a ton of question cards and the questions are very varied. You can pick family friendly questions, pop culture questions, lewd questions, personal questions. You can pick “Who was the most influential pop icon of the past 100 years?” or “What’s the worst thing to have in your mouth?”. Whoever made this game was keenly aware of the different environments it would get played in and designed for it. It means you can really pick the tone for the type of game you want to play. Very impressive. It’s quick, easy and very amusing. We played it about three times in the week. Some of the better questions and answers, obviously all very inappropriate: What’s the worst thing to have in your mouth? 2014-12-28 23.41.27 What is the best way to impress a man? 2014-12-30 00.35.26 What is the worst thing to say on a first date? 2014-12-28 23.58.09 I’m not sure if it’ll have a long lifespan, but I think it’s a keeper for a few more years at least. Good trade! 2 thoughts on “Say Anything Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
NYT’s Kristof: Trump Is Scientifically Proven ‘Threat to Democracy’ NewsBusters \| 1/10/2018 \| Staff Click For Photo: https://cdn.newsbusters.org/images/11_7_17_msnbc_live_with_katy_tur_trumpkillsforpolls_0.png On Wednesday, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published a column promoting an upcoming book by Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt arguing that President Trump shows the “four warning signs” of being a “dangerous authoritarian.” The piece opened by outlining their four criteria: Leader - Commitment - Rules 2. He or she denies the legitimacy of opponents. 3. He or she tolerates violence. Kristof - Levitsky - Ziblatt - Criteria - Cause According to Kristof, Levitsky and Ziblatt believe that adhering to “even one of these criteria is cause for concern” and a potential harbinger of authoritarian backsliding in a country. Based on their criteria, the authors came to the conclusion that, apart from Richard Nixon, the only other “major-party presidential candidate [...] over the last century” that displays any of their warning signs of authoritarianism is, of course, Trump. Kristof did not explain exactly how the professors came to the conclusion that only Trump and Nixon met their criteria. More thorough definitions outlining what precise types of behavior fall under their four-sign system surely exist within Levitsky and Ziblatt’s book. However, just from a cursory glance at their points (as re-told by Kristof), it seems a bit inexplicable how none of President Obama’s many scandals involving executive overreach qualified him for exhibiting authoritarian behavior. Example - Americans - Spectrum - Revelations - Obama To borrow one example, Americans across the political spectrum were extremely concerned by revelations in the early 2010s that the Obama administration not only had an explicit policy justifying targeted killings of American citizens living abroad, but had acted upon a “hit-list” of named targets. As many liberals and libertarians argued, this was particularly egregious because American civilians had effectively been executed without any basic provision of due process in a court of law, but rather by an obscure and... (Excerpt) Read more at: NewsBusters 0 other people are viewing this story Wake Up To Breaking News! Governemnt sponsored segratation of America, one household at a time. Sign In or Register to comment.
Episode 36 - Jonathan, Marco, Jonathan, Marco etc... A Podcast about Windows PowerShell. In This Episode We have a great show lined up for you today.Â We'll be talking with Eric Madariaga from /n Software. And of course we have news, tips, resources, and more!Â And be sure to listen till the end when we'll be giving away free commercial licenses for /n Software's Net cmdlets! Thanks to iTripoli for sponsoring this segment. â€œAdmin Script Editor provides a true integrated scripting environment for PowerShell.Â Advanced features include an integrated PowerShell debugger, advanced code generating tools for Active Directory, Databases, XML files and the exclusive PowerShell forms designer.Â Come see for yourselfâ€“ Admin Script Editor v3.5 is availble for a 45 day trial at AdminScriptEditor.com.â€ • There's a new PowerShell podcast in town Get-Scripting ! I guess the rule is you have to have a Jonathan to have a PowerShell podcast (with apologies to the other Jonathan) • If you missed Marco's session on the NetCmdlets don't sweat it. It was postponed until next month • MVP Marco Shaw has posted his plans for future VUG meetings. • PowerGUI 1.5.1 is now out.Â Some new stuff includes: Todayâ€™sÂ interview is brought to you by Quest Software. Tonight, we're talking to Eric Madariaga with /n Software.Â VP of Marketing. 1. Background 1. career 1. been there for 10 years, started as web dev 2. tell us about /n software 1. dev tools 2. components 3. security, encryption, compression 3. current position 1. VP of Marketing 2. NetCmdlets 1. product came out when?Â It was very early 1. Launched at TechEd EMEA 2006 2. v2 is in beta? 1. telnet 2. amazon S3 cmdlet 1. move files 2. simpleDB 3. EC2 3. PowerShell Server (formerly PowerShell Remoting) 1. SSH server with a PowerShell shell 4. PowerShellToys / PowerShellASP 1. IIS filter 2. will be adding related products such as pasp web part for sharepoint 3. PrimalScript integration (see screenshot) 5. Future 1. Sharepoint Server 1. move docs 2. update lists 2. Biztalk 6. Websites: http://nsoftware.com, http://powershelltoys.com We have two copies of Netcmdlets to give away this week.Â Prizes will be awarded roughly two weeks from now on Episode 38.Â All you have to do to win is be one of the first two people to send in a script that uses the Netcmdlets OR a PowerShellASP page.Â You can use their "hobbyist" license to get the job done.Â And don't send in a little single statement one-liner--give us a few lines of code at least.Â :)Â All entries become the property of the PowerScripting Podcast, some rights reserved, do not taunt happy fun ball.Â (Just kidding, we'll publish all entries on the website.Â But seriously--don't taunt happy fun ball.) • email from Glenn S. from Augusta, GA. About the Author Jonathan Walz

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