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We are happy to announce that we are now the exclusive dentist for the Bedford VA Hospital staff and families.
We are happy to announce that we are now the exclusive dentist for the Bedford VA Hospital staff and families.
We hope this letter finds you well and enjoying a pleasant fall.
As the end of the year is quickly approaching, we want to remind you to utilize any unused insurance benefits before they expire. Many of you also participate in Flexible Spending Accounts or Health Savings Plans with your employer. In most cases, any benefits left in these accounts do not roll over each calendar year.
Depending on your individual needs, careful calendar planing will allow you to maximize your time and unused benefits. Our team can assist you in preparing for your dental care by discussing your treatment needs and reserving convenient appointments. Additionally, we offer many payment options with a monthly payment that fits into your budget.
Your health is important to us and we want to make sure you get the care you deserve. If you or a family member needs an appointment or has any questions, please call us today so we may discuss your needs. We look forward to seeing you at your next visit!
With best wishes for continued good health,
Dr Gabriel Schweier
Dental sealants act as a barrier to prevent cavities. They are a plastic material usually applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth (premolars and molars) where decay occurs most often.
Thorough brushing and flossing help remove food particles and plaque from smooth surfaces of teeth. But toothbrush bristles cannot reach all the way into the depressions and grooves to extract food and plaque. Sealants protect these vulnerable areas by "sealing out" plaque and food.
Sealants are easy for your dentist to apply. The sealant is painted onto the tooth enamel, where it bonds directly to the tooth and hardens. This plastic resin bonds into the depressions and grooves (pits and fissures) of the chewing surfaces of back teeth. The sealant acts as a barrier, protecting enamel from plaque and acids. As long as the sealant remains intact, the tooth surface will be protected from decay. Sealants hold up well under the force of normal chewing and may last several years before a reapplication is needed. During your regular dental visits, your dentist will check the condition of the sealants and reapply them when necessary.
The likelihood of developing pit and fissure decay begins early in life, so children and teenagers are obvious candidates. But adults can benefit from sealants as well.
Key ingredients in preventing tooth decay and maintaining a healthy mouth are:
Periodontal disease, commonly referred to as gum disease, is an inflammatory disease that destroys the gums and other supporting structures around the teeth.
Periodontitis (gum disease) is not to be confused with gingivitis (gum inflammation). Gingivitis usually precedes periodontitis. However, it is important to know that not all gingivitis progresses to periodontitis.
In the early stage of gingivitis, bacteria in plaque build up, causing the gums to become inflamed and to easily bleed during tooth brushing. Although the gums may be irritated, the teeth are still firmly planted in their sockets. No irreversible bone or other tissue damage has occurred at this stage.
When gingivitis is left untreated, it can advance to periodontitis. In a person with periodontitis, the inner layer of the gum and bone pull away from the teeth and form pockets. These small spaces between teeth and gums collect debris and can become infected. The body's immune system fights the bacteria as the plaque spreads and grows below the gum line.
Toxins or poisons — produced by the bacteria in plaque as well as the body's "good" enzymes involved in fighting infections — start to break down the bone and connective tissue that hold teeth in place. As the disease progresses, the pockets deepen and more gum tissue and bone are destroyed. When this happens, teeth are no longer anchored in place, they become loose, and tooth loss occurs. Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.
Plaque accumulation due to poor oral care is the primary cause of periodontal disease. Other factors which can contribute to the disease are certain medical illnesses (diabetes and HIV infection), medications (dilantin and certain blood pressure medications), smoking, chewing tobacco and genetics (family history of oral disease).
What are the signs and symptoms of periodontal disease?
Gum disease may progress painlessly, producing few obvious signs.. Even if you don't notice any symptoms, you may still have some degree of gum disease. In some people, gum disease may affect only certain teeth, such as the molars. Only a dentist or a periodontist can recognize and determine the progression of gum disease. Although the symptoms of periodontal disease often are subtle, there are some warning signs to be aware of:
What is the treatment for periodontal disease?
For patients who present with the signs and symptoms of early periodontal disease, our dentists may recommend a "deep cleaning." This procedure is called scaling, root planing and curettage. Scaling is the removal of tartar above the gum line. Root planing is a root surface debridement. Curettage is the removal of diseased soft tissue that abuts the root surface. The goal of scaling, root planing and curettage is pocket elimination. Most early cases respond to this treatment. In more advanced cases surgery may be indicated. Please refer to our patient education page for more information.
Need another reason to floss your teeth at least once a day? Flossing daily helps improve bad breath by effectively removing the food particles and bacteria that contribute to it. That makes flossing one of the easiest ways to prevent and banish bad breath.
Bad breath, also known as halitosis, is more common than many people realize. You may joke about bad breath, whether it's your own or someone else's, but it's an important oral health issue. Bad breath can be more than an embarrassing social problem—it can be a sign of disease or illness.
Saliva is Your Friend
Less saliva means that your mouth is more susceptible to plaque buildup, which can create an unpleasant smell on your breath. Pay extra attention to any of the following circumstances that can reduce the saliva in your mouth and promote bad breath:
If you're dieting and eating less frequently, a mint floss can not only help bad breath by removing bacteria, it may help you with your diet by providing a fresh taste in your mouth that makes you less tempted to snack. People who are following extremely low carbohydrate diets also sometimes report bad breath, but these reports are anecdotal. If you're on a low-carb diet, or any restrictive diet, you may be promoting bad breath. If you must restrict your food intake and eat infrequently, drink plenty of water to help maintain the level of saliva in your mouth to help prevent bad breath in addition to following a good oral care routine.
Other Causes
If you experience chronic bad breath that doesn't seem to improve despite a consistent oral hygiene routine, talk to your dentist and doctor for further evaluation to identify or prevent serious health problems.
Sometimes bad breath can be a sign of a more serious issue. Some serious oral health conditions associated with bad breath include:
In addition, bad breath can be a symptom of a variety of serious non-oral health problems including liver disease, diabetes, HIV, digestive system ailments such as reflux and even lung infections or lung disease.
The Importance of Habit
Research supports a link between lack of flossing (among other poor oral hygiene behaviors) and bad breath. In a study of more than 1,000 adults conducted in Kuwait, never using dental floss was significantly associated with reports of bad breath, as was infrequent tooth brushing, being or having been a smoker.
Your oral care routine to help prevent bad breath should include not only daily flossing, but also brushing the teeth, tongue, gums and roof of your mouth twice each day. Using a mouthwash can provide short-term relief for bad breath, but use it as an addition to (not a substitute for) brushing and flossing.
Energy and sports drinks can damage tooth enamel, boosting the risk of cavities, according to a new study.
"The big misconception is that energy drinks and sports drinks are healthier than soda for oral health," says researcher Poonam Jain, BDS, MPH, associate professor and director of community dentistry at the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. "This study completely disproves that, because they erode or thin out the enamel of the teeth, leaving them more susceptible to decay and sensitivity."
Jain and her team tested 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks for acidity. They tested six drinks for their effects on tooth enamel and found both types caused damage. Energy drinks, however, were twice as bad. Damaged tooth enamel cannot be fixed.
The study is published in the journal General Dentistry.
Sports Drinks, Energy Drinks, and Teeth: Study Details
The drinks are especially popular among teens and young adults. Up to half of U.S. teens and young adults drink energy drinks, and more than half have at least one sports drink a day, according to the researchers.
They tested the acidity levels of all 22 drinks. They found the levels of acidity in the drinks vary between brands and between flavors of the same brands.
Gatorade Blue had the highest acidity among sports drinks. Next was Hydr8. Among the energy drinks with the highest acidity:
MDX had the lowest acidity of the energy drinks.
Energy Drinks, Sports Drinks, and Tooth Enamel
Jain's team immersed enamel samples from extracted human teeth into three sports drinks and three energy drinks. The sports drinks tested were:
The energy drinks tested were:
The enamel samples were immersed in the drinks for 15 minutes. The researchers transferred the enamel to artificial saliva for two hours. This cycle was repeated four times a day for five days. The beverages were replaced with fresh ones every day. The cycle was meant to simulate real life, Jain says, as some teens and young adults drink the beverages every few hours.
Enamel loss was evident after five days of exposure, Jain says.
The average enamel lost with sports drinks was about 1.5%, while the average loss with energy drinks was more than 3%. Jain says she cannot pinpoint what percent of enamel loss would cause problems.
Susceptibility to dental problems depends on personal hygiene, lifestyle, total diet, and genetic makeup, according to the ABA. ABA member companies agree not to offer energy drinks for sale in grades K through 12, and to offer calorie-capped sports drinks in containers of 12 ounces or less only to high schools.
Advice for Sports, Energy Drink Fans
Even one drink a day is potentially harmful, Jain says. "If the consumer is absolutely unable to give them up, the best advice is to minimize [their use] and rinse with water afterwards," she says. "Dilute them," she says. Do not brush immediately after drinking them, she says, as this could spread around the acid. "The mouth takes about 30 minutes to bring the pH back to normal."
Wait an hour after drinking the sports or energy drink, to be safe, then brush, Jain says.
And of course make sure to see your dentist for regular cleanings!
A study observed more than 100,000 people, none of whom had a history of heart attack or stroke at the beginning of the study, over a period of seven years in Taiwan. The study suggested that those people who got their teeth professionally cleaned at least twice or more in two years had significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases like heart attack or a stroke.
The findings which were presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011 stated that people who got their teethed scaled by a dentist had 13 percent less chance of stroke and ran as much as 24 percent lower risk of heart attack, compared to people who never had had a dental cleaning done by a certified dental hygienist or dentist.
The study had included more than 51,000 adults who had undergone teeth scaling partially or fully, at least once a year. The study also included an equal number of adults who had never got their teeth cleaned professionally. The study did not make any adjustments for cardiovascular disease risk factors such as smoking, ethnicity/ race or weight factors.
As per Emily (Zu-Yin) Chen, M.D., cardiology fellow at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, "Protection from heart disease and stroke was more pronounced in participants who got tooth scaling at least once a year. Professional tooth scaling appears to reduce inflammation-causing bacterial growth that can lead to heart disease or stroke."
Another study conducted on approximately 8,000 participants by Dr. Holmlund, dentist researcher at the Centre for Research and Development of the County Council of Gävleborg, Sweden, showed that the type of periodontal (gum) disease is a good predictor of the degree of risk one has of heart attack and heart failure, as well as stroke.
The study went on to give very specific numbers of periodontal bad spots and the probability attached to the numbers, such as:
University of Pennsylvania researchers made a new discovery about the impact of periodontitis.
Periodontitis often causes dysbiosis, which is a two-fold manipulation of the human immune system that diminishes the immune system's effectiveness.
The information appears in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. The periodontal bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis impacts two pathways while eliminating immune cells and maintaining their ability to produce inflammation. This saves the neutral gum bacteria from immune system clearance.
But it also makes way for dysbiosis, producing bone loss and inflammation. The broken down products feed into dysbiosis. The resulting cycle, which is buoyed by the combination of inflammation and dysbiosis, worsens periodontitis.
This bacterium, known as a keystone pathogen, could play a role in irritable bowel disease, colon cancer or other inflammatory diseases. The issue with this bacterium is that it can't cause the disease by itself. It needs other, nonpathogenic bacteria to produce the inflammation.
The goal of this study was to determine why molecules involved in P. gingivalis resulted in disease. Their research concluded that there could be new targets for periodontitis treatment and that a bacterial strategy may be in the mix for other diseases that involve dysbiosis.


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Determined to keep employers expanding in Minnesota, not elsewhere, the state has promised more than $25 million to companies over the past two years.
Trying to make employers more accountable and simplify the economic development process, the state came up with the Minnesota Job Creation Fund (JCF) in 2014. It replaced the "JOBZ" program, which relied on tax exemptions and credits, with an offer of up to $2 million in grants that employers receive after they have fulfilled their promise of both capital spending and job creation. Once those jobs are retained for a year, the money is released.
In its first year, the JCF promised $9 million to 14 companies. In 2015, that more than doubled to $18.6 million to 42 companies. Last year, the companies in the program committed to spending $388.5 million on factory expansions and hiring 2,605 Minnesotans at wages above $12.50 an hour.
While it is too soon to see how many companies actually receive the money — only $2 million has so far been paid out — one state official already is calling it a success.
"It is a pay-for-performance program, and that is why it really works," said Katie Clark Sieben, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). "What is exciting is that awarding $28 million has brought $596 million of private investments into the state of Minnesota, which is a pretty impressive return on investment."
The largest subsidy promised last year was $1.477 million to Andersen Corp. for a $38 million expansion to its Renewal by Andersen plant in Cottage Grove that will result in 200 jobs. The second largest, at $1.1 million, went to Serta Simmons Bedding Manufacturing Co. for a $27.3 million expansion in Lakeville that also promises 200 new jobs.
Other companies receiving the incentives: Arctic Cat, Polaris Industries and Cardiovascular Systems. In January, Clark Sieben said the program was a deciding factor in Japanese company Takeda Pharmaceutical's decision to build a factory in Brooklyn Park.
Andersen also was "very public" that the JCF program was a reason for the Cottage Grove expansion.
"They could have expanded anywhere," Clark Sieben said.
Andersen spokeswoman Susan Roeder said that the company has 15 facilities around the country and that it had weighed the JCF incentives.
The expansion is almost completed, and 72 of the 200 workers have been hired.
The program still has its critics.
"The state has no business picking winners and losers to invest in. What the state is really doing is paying people to be here," said Scott Honour, a 2014 Republican gubernatorial candidate and managing partner of Northern Pacific Group in Wayzata.
When DEED issues rebates, it has to ask, "So, who had to pay more in taxes or move out of state because they didn't get that big windfall deal from the state?" Honour said. "The idea of creating jobs by giving money to companies, to me, is not a good idea at all."
Bill Blazar, a senior vice president at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said it is a matter of course for businesses to ask for aid.
"More often than not, they are well on their way to unveiling an expansion plan or a major new investment when they call us and ask, 'What do I do to get money from the state?' " Blazar said. "I find very few who say, 'Well, if I don't get in the JCF program, then I can't do the expansion.' They are not saying that."
The JCF is one of 23 business incentives programs deployed by DEED to entice businesses to stay and grow right here. There are also smaller incentive programs run by other departments.
The DEED programs represent the strongest tools in the state's arsenal for competing against aggressive states. According to the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, every state has a basket of carrots.
As of last count, the 50 states offered a total of 1,915 business incentive programs, ranging from loans to grants to tax abatements and even equity investments.
"Compared to other states, Minnesota's program portfolio places a strong emphasis on workforce preparation and development and facility/site location improvements," said Kenneth Poole, the center's CEO.
Minnesota ranks among the top three states for all grant and loan programs offered by states in the central core of the country.
When Arctic Cat decided to build a vehicle-painting plant, it set up a bidding war between Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
In the end, the ATV and snowmobile maker decided to build a $26 million addition onto its Thief River Falls plant and received a $950,000 JCF rebate. It also received local tax abatements.
The state aid "was huge" in convincing Arctic Cat to stay in Minnesota, said Thief River Falls Mayor Brian Holmer. "They had a number of other options."
The expansion was huge to Thief River Falls, because if the paint line had gone to another state, the city probably would have lost 150 existing jobs, said Pennington County Economic Development Director Christine Anderson.
"In all honesty, the job retention issue was probably even more important to us than [winning] the 39 new jobs," she said.

subset: commoncrawl


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It's a beautiful object, this carved wooden staircase, but the history living within it is somber. It's on display at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) now, but at one time, this staircase and the surrounding hallway were part of a house in Edenton. Harriet Jacobs lived there, along with Dr. James Norcom, who owned the house — and her.
Jacobs eventually escaped to her grandmother's attic, where she hid for seven years, and then went on to write Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one of the most famous autobiographical accounts of slavery in the American canon.
Jacobs, who could read and write, was able to tell her story in her own words. But for many people living in the South in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries, writing down their experiences was not a priority, and often not a possibility. They were too busy trying to survive in a new, largely unpopulated place. So we remember these ancestors through other sources: the objects they made with their hands and used in their everyday lives.
At MESDA, these objects — ceramics, furniture, silverware, paintings — are displayed together to preserve the artistic and cultural legacy of the early South, which for MESDA's purposes, is Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia.
It's the only museum with that kind of mission. "No other museum combines art, history, and culture with a regional focus" on the South as a whole, says Robert Leath, Old Salem's vice president of collections and research and the chief curator. He's responsible for finding — then filling — gaps in MESDA's telling of the story of the early South.
It's hard work, choosing the best item to tell a piece of our story: Once Leath decides what historical aspect he's missing, he has to figure out what to acquire, and who crafted that item. MESDA has both a Thomas Day dresser and the 1850 bill of sale that proves he made it, but finding a marked item is rare, and identifying a craftsman can be a decades-long process.
"It's a big world out there," Leath says. "There are a lot of cubbyholes."
• • •
The man behind the museum
Telling the whole story of the South wasn't always MESDA's primary mission. When he first started the museum in 1965, antiques dealer Frank Horton hoped to garner respect for the South and its arts and crafts. He and his mother were avid collectors and proud Southerners who wanted to dispel the prejudice that great things were only made in the North.
Leath met Horton while he was working in an antiques shop in the early '90s. The two hit it off, and Leath still remembers what an honor it was when "the great Frank Horton" called him to get his opinion about whether a coat of arms he was thinking about buying was authentic to the Lee family of Virginia. ("It wasn't," Leath says. "I probably saved him a lot of money that day.")
Horton served as director, then director emeritus, of MESDA until his death in 2004. A photo of Horton hangs on the wall opposite Leath's desk, right above Horton's Underwood typewriter. When in need of inspiration, Leath touches the old typewriter and recalls Horton's determination and the strength of his vision.
• • •
Linking past and present
With the South's reputation for beautiful craftsmanship safely affirmed, Leath and the researchers at MESDA continue to expand on Horton's original mission. They're reaching out to new audiences and becoming more mindful of diversity in the South, particularly in the backcountry — areas that were independent from coastal artistic hubs like Charleston, South Carolina, and Baltimore. They've been focusing on bringing in artifacts from Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Piedmont areas of North Carolina and Georgia, as well as those made by black craftsmen.
"The collection is diverse because the South is diverse," Leath says. When you visit MESDA, you'll walk through a room whose woodwork came from the 18th-century home of a middle-class farmer from Somerset County, Maryland, before viewing the bright, but historically accurate, yellow walls of a wealthier family's home from northeastern North Carolina.
You can compare the clean, simple lines of furniture that belonged to the earliest settlers — those whose main objective was survival — with the turnings and intricate detail of the furniture that belonged to families whose wealth allowed them to bring dedicated craftsmen over from England.
You can see the handiwork of 8-year-old Sarah McPhail, whose 1827 needlepoint sampler showed what she was learning in her lessons. You can see the earliest known pottery signed by a female potter: a lead-glazed earthenware crock made by Mary Adam of Hagerstown, Maryland, who took over her late husband's pottery business in order to make a living on her own.
Although the process of researching an artifact can be long and difficult, it's always worth it, Leath says, to witness the human stories within the objects that link us to our past, and to preserve that sense of legacy for the future.
924 South Main Street
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101
(336) 721-7360


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Yes, you can make sweet treats with Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise! These scrumptious mint choc cupcakes use mayo to make up the 'fat' component that you usually find in cake recipes – mayo is a great alternative to oil or butter.
Recipe serves: 12 | Prep Time: 12 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins
Chocolate cupcakes
240g plain flour
100g cocoa powder
200g brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarb soda
2 eggs
1 cup of Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise
200ml full cream milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
Green mint butter cream
250g butter
400g icing sugar, sieved
½ tsp peppermint essence
1 or 2 drops green food colouring (optional)
1 tbs milk
To serve, your choice of toppings
Chocolate sprinkles
Mint choc biscuits
Mint fingers
1. Preheat oven to 175C / 155C fan forced. Line cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together: flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and bicarb soda.
3. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, Hellmann's mayo, milk and vanilla paste.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix for 30 seconds until well combined, remembering to scrape down sides. Doing this by hand will help ensure you don't overwork the batter.
5. Spoon into cupcake cases, filling each ¾ full. Bake for 25-30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from tin and cool completely on a cooling rack.
6. While cupcakes are cooling, make the mint frosting. Whisk the butter until pale, light and fluffy. Gradually add half the icing sugar, then add milk, peppermint essence and green colouring, if using. Add the remaining icing sugar and mix for 5 minutes.
7. Frost cooled cupcakes using a piping bag and top each cup cake with your choice of fun toppings. From adding someone's favourite treat, to Christmas treats, decorations are an easy way to personalise these fun and novel cupcakes.


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Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other caregivers are welcome to join us for a casual night of conversation and fun. DSAW buys appetizers, and drinks are available for purchase. We meet at Cleveland Pub in New Berlin! Join us.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: August 9Southeastern Tween Club
Later Event: August 10Sheboygan Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center Event


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Politics & Government
Critics: GOP bill could leave SC poor looking for help
Lynn Bailey is not optimistic about what the proposed changes to America's health-care law will mean for low-income South Carolinians who depend on government help to pay for insurance.
U.S. House Republicans unveiled their proposed rewrite of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, Monday will a plan that would give consumers tax credits — not federal subsidies — to buy insurance.
Bailey, a Columbia health economist, offered a quick summation of what those changes could mean for almost 200,000 low-income South Carolinians. "Low income folks are screwed."
Another S.C. expert predicted fewer Americans will have insurance under the GOP proposal.
S.C. Democrats ripped the proposal. A S.C. GOP congressman panned the proposal — as "Obamacare Lite" — but added it is just the starting point for negotiation.
In 2020, up to 190,000 South Carolinians could lose the support that they currently get from the federal government to buy health insurance. Instead of federal subsidies to buy insurance, House Republicans would offer tax credits to those South Carolinians.
At the end of January, the latest enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act, 194,440 South Carolinians had signed up to buy insurance on federal health exchanges. Of those, 98 percent qualified for assistance making their insurance payments because of their low income.
Up to 1 million South Carolinians could be affected if the cost and size of the federal-state Medicaid program is capped and, then, cut, as the House Republicans propose.
The GOP proposal also removes the requirement that larger employers offer insurance and individuals buy insurance, a provision — initially proposed by the conservative Heritage Foundation — that is despised by conservatives.
But the GOP proposal, called the American Health Care Act, leaves in some of Obamacare's protections. For example, insurers could not refuse to sell insurance to Americans with pre-existing conditions and adult children — up to age 26 — could remain on their parents' insurance.
"Our bill specifically protects those with pre-existing conditions, allows young adults to remain on their parent's insurance until they are 26, and provides a stable transition to our system of lower costs and increased options," said U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Springdale.
Prices also could come down but for less comprehensive coverage, said Robert Hartwig, professor of risk management and insurance at the University of South Carolina.
Loosening the rules on insurers will allow them to offer a wider variety of plans at a range of prices, something current requirements make difficult, Hartwig said. "Over time, the mandate for what's called 'essential benefits' will be done away with."
Instead, insurers will tailor their offerings to the needs of different clients, Hartwig said, predicting insurers will offer more bare-bones, "catastrophic" coverage.
But Bailey says consumers may end up buying bare-bones plans only to discover later that they don't cover what they need.
"That's how they control costs," Bailey said. "The consumer has to pick up more, which discourages preventative care or maintenance care."
Even as cheaper insurance plans proliferate, Hartwig says the number of insured Americans will go down. "Millions will make the decision not to get coverage" because it no longer would be required, he said.
Democratic supporters of ACA — the crowning accomplishment of Democrat Barack Obama's presidency — quickly blasted the GOP proposal.
"The bill released by House Republicans last night is no more a replacement for the Affordable Care Act than a newspaper is a replacement for an umbrella," said Jaime Harrison, chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party. "If it becomes law, millions of people will lose their health insurance, and millions of others will be forced to pay more for less."
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, said the bill is "a big loser for millions of seniors, low-income citizens and sick people, and is a big winner for insurance companies and very wealthy people.
"In short, under the Republicans' plan, the rich gets richer and the poor gets sicker."
The GOP bill also is getting push back from some conservative Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-Charleston, who say the proposal amounts to "Obamacare Lite."
"I'm concerned from a conservative standpoint with the idea of refundable tax credits," Sanford said. "It seems like a new entitlement, and entitlements are easy to start and difficult to stop."
Sanford wants any proposed legislation to lean on market mechanisms to replace federal subsidies, driving down prices by increasing competition in insurance. Currently, the only health-insurance provider offering individual plans under the Affordable Care Act in South Carolina is BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, he noted.
"Nothing against BlueCross BlueShield," Sanford said. "But if I go down I-95 and there's only one gas station, it's not going to be the most competitive on prices."
Asked if the bill could pass the Republican-controlled House without support from the GOP's most conservative bloc, Sanford borrowed a phrase from President Donald Trump.
"In Trump's words," Sanford said, "this is the opening bid in a negotiation."
Bristow Marchant: 803-771-8405, @bristowathome, @buzzatthestate
ACA and SC
194,440 South Carolinians received health care through Obamacare's federal marketplace in 2016-17
98 Percent received premium assistance because their income was only 400 percent of poverty or less
81 Percent received additional cost assistance because their income was only 250 percent of poverty of less


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The mission of the department is to enhance transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness of government in accordance with the European agenda.
The Justice and Human Rights Department's vision of rule of law is built on the solid grounds of a fair, accessible and predictable justice delivery system, which effectively safeguards fundamental human rights.
The Department develops and implements activities in several areas, crucial for the fulfilment of its vision: Human Rights, Access to Justice, and Criminal Justice.
Media Department's mission: to contribute to the development of an open, participatory, pluralistic and value-based society in Republic of Moldova by organizing, supporting and financing activities aimed at encouraging the development of an independent media sector and improving access to information.
Education Support Project
Justice Program of Soros Foundation-Moldova is launching a contest to support a project that works towards updating and digitalizing the manuals used by community-based paralegals.
Paralegals work within the communities they come from, under the provisions of the Law on state guaranteed legal aid, and the provisions of the Regulations on paralegal activity. Periodically, they take part in trainings that are meant to consolidate their knowledge and practical habits. Currently, 42 community-based paralegals activate in different rural localities throughout the country.
The paralegals' main instruments of work are compiled in three manuals:
The organization may formulate proposals for both the development, editing and deletion of current manual content, as well as addition of new subjects. The concepts on updating the three guides, as well as the final products, will be coordinated and approved by the Foundation.
The work process will involve members of the network of community-based paralegals, representatives of the National Legal Aid Council (NLAC), and Territorial Offices of the NLAC.
Eligibility criteria: Eligible applicants are non-governmental, apolitical, not-for-profit organizations that are legally registered in the Republic of Moldova, with a minimum of 5 years work experience in the field of state guaranteed legal aid.
Project duration: will not exceed 12 months. Activities should be planned starting December 2016.
Budget: maximum requested financing should not exceed $30,000.00.
Complete applications, written in Romanian, should be submitted to the Soros Foundation-Moldova headquarters: 32 Bulgara str., Chisinau, MD-2001, or by email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
The deadline for submitting applications is 10 November 2016, 16:00.
Application files should be addressed to the attention of the Justice Program. Grant contest on Legal Empowerment of the Population. Please make sure to receive a successful submission confirmation. In lack thereof, the Foundation does not bear any responsibility for applications that were submitted, but have not been received.
Applications that are incomplete, or have been submitted past the deadline, will not be considered. Submitted applications will not be returned to applicants, with exception of photos and copies of artistic works, as well as video and audio materials.
Additional details can be inquired with the Program Coordinator, Natalia Camburian, by email at email@example.com, or by phone at 022-270031, 022-274480.
Required documents


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Welcome to Harlequin Teen, a brand-new imprint launching in August 2009, dedicated to showcasing extraordinary young-adult fiction. Featuring a wide range of genres, the program delivers fresh, authentic stories that will engage teens and leave them hungry for more. With a relatively young author base that includes New York Times bestselling authors and talented new voices, Harlequin Teen has something for everyone. From fun and flirty to dark and mysterious and every mood in between, Harlequin Teen books will resonate with readers and be remembered long after the covers are closed.
We're proud to present you with our first two titles. MY SOUL TO TAKE by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent is book one of the Soul Screamers series. The story features a courageous and determined teen banshee heroine who must stop her classmates from dying before their time. Told in Vincent's fast-paced, dramatic style, MY SOUL TO TAKE delivers what bestselling author Melissa Marr calls "a story unlike any other out there. I loved it." We hope you do too!
INTERTWINED by New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter tells the story of Aden Stone, a teen with four human souls trapped inside him. For months, one of those souls has shown him visions of a beautiful girl entering his life—a girl who will either save him or destroy him. And even though he's half in love with her before she ever arrives, he's unprepared for the centuries-old secrets she brings with her.... New York Times bestselling author of the House of Night series P.C. Cast says, "I couldn't put it down!"
Kaylee Cavanaugh just wants to be an average high school girl but it's hard to fit in with everyone else when you're going crazy. After all, what would you call the ability to sense the imminent death of people around you? Whenever she sees a shroud-like substance envelope an individual Kaylee knows that person is going to die—and that's when she's compelled to let out a soul-wrenching, ear-piercing wail.
Kaylee is at her wit's end when she Nash Hudson, the most popular student at school, takes an interest in her. Nash tells her that she is not crazy, that she is in fact a bean sidhe—a banshee. Bean sidhes are an ancient race able to see when people are about to die. Their keening, allows the soul of the recently deceased to make their goodbye's before moving on.
Nash knows because he's a bean sidhe, too. Male bean sidhe, he tells Kaylee have different powers from the more well-known females. They have no eerie lament to make souls linger. Instead they are able to influence and guide souls (and people).
When three perfectly healthy young girls collapse and die over three days for no apparent reason, Kaylee and Nash decide to do something, about it. Kaylee wants them to save the girls—to guide their souls back into their bodies—but Nash warns against it. He says the reapers, the unliving beings who collect the souls of the deceased, wouldn't be happy—and you don't want an angry reaper coming after you. Besides, if you save one soul, another must take its place.
But Kaylee is not convinced. She suspects that the girls—all of them high school age—were not meant to die. What if there is a rogue reaper out there killing people before their time? Nash agrees it's a possibility but there's only one way to know for sure—to ask a reaper.
But dealing with reapers is dangerous. Bean sidhes and reapers are fundamentally on opposite sides of the metaphysical fence. Bean sidhes allow souls to linger while reapers are very officious in whisking them away. And, Nash warns, there are other unspeakable creatures out there for bean sidhes worry about than just reapers.
What if you found out that there was an entire world out there that you had no idea existed? A world full of vampires and zombies and werewolves? And what if you had the strangest powers of all? Powers that seem like a magnet for all those monsters, drawing them closer and closer together? Do you still think you'd get up in time for school in the morning?
People think sixteen-year-old orphan Aden Stone is crazy because he talks to himself all the time but they don't know that he has a good reason ... after all, with four people living inside his head, he can hardly ignore them. But Aden knows he isn't crazy, because each of the four voices also possesses an ability that screws with his life. Julian can raise the dead (watch out for those random zombies). Elijah can see the future. Eve can time-travel into the past and change the future (not always for the better). And Caleb can overtake other bodies. Just one of those abilities is enough to make Aden special. But all four? Aden loves his souls like a family, but most kids can take a break from their family and be normal. Not Aden. Not ever. All he wants is some peace.
So when Aden moves to the new town of Crossroads, Oklahoma, and into the halfway house for wayward teens there, he's hoping for a fresh start. Being the new kid in school is never easy, though, especially when you're surrounded by bullies and jealous boyfriends. But when Aden encounters honors student Mary Ann Gray, he feels a connection to her he's never felt with anyone before. For some reason, whenever she's near, the voices in Aden's head disappear and he knows peace for the first time in his life. Aden's puzzlement grows when he learns that Mary Ann also has a werewolf bodyguard that walks her to and from school every day. But what is her lupine defender protecting her from and why does it hate Aden so much? And why does the wolf always seem to disappear when Aden's only friend at the teen shelter, Shannon, is around?
Things don't improve when Elijah starts having disturbing visions concerning Aden. One of Aden kissing a beautiful vampire princess... a vision that Aden desperately wants to come true. But the other is a death vision of Aden dying on a deserted street with a knife in his heart. If his death really is looming, Aden is desperate to find a way to set the friends in his head free before he dies. But how? Exorcism, spells and prayers don't work. Nothing does. Aden can accept his own death, but he wants his souls to have the life they've always craved.
Things just aren't going Aden's way. As the new kid in school, he's confused and miserable. His teachers don't like him much and he gets picked on at school and at home. Of his only two "real" friends, he can't get near the one who eases his suffering, Mary Ann, because of her werewolf bodyguard. A werewolf who he thinks is actually his only other friend, Shannon. Meanwhile, he's no closer to finding, either the sexy vampire princess or a way to get the souls out of his mind and into bodies of their own. Do other kids have problems like this?


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Ahead of the start of the new Premiership season, ESPN asked several of the league's stars to lift the lid on their teammates and rivals.
From naming the best player in the league to the biggest social media addict, Exeter's Jack Nowell, Northampton's Tom Wood, Bristol's George Smith, Gloucester's Jaco Kriel, Harlequins' Danny Care, Newcastle's Toby Flood and Wasps' Christian Wade reveal all:
Without naming a club teammate, who is the best player in the Premiership is this season?
Nowell: The best opposition player is probably down to people you don't like playing against, so Manu Tuilagi.
Flood: In terms of everything he has achieved, George Smith.
Wood: Charles Piutau.
George Smith: I'm excited to play against Jaco Kriel.
Kriel: George Smith.
Care: Faz [Owen Farrell].
Wade: Telusa Veainu, he's in my dream back-three.
What is your favourite away ground?
Smith: I'm looking forward to going to Harlequins again, I enjoy playing at the Stoop.
Care: Kingsholm, I like playing at Gloucester.
Nowell: Bristol now they're back up because they're only an hour up the road.
Wade: It all depends on the pitch really... if the pitch is too soft you sink in and lose power and speed but if it's too firm you'll hurt the next day. I'll go for Leicester's Welford Road because their pitch is good now.
Flood: Wellford Road, I've got lots of memories there.
Which team will be the surprise package in the Premiership this season?
Nowell: I think Newcastle will surprise people again, and Bristol because they've got some quality players this year.
Flood: It will be really interesting to see how Bristol do.
Wood: Everyone knows about Bristol so I'd perhaps go for Harlequins because they're more of an unknown quantity with Paul Gustard at the helm. They haven't done that well in recent years but could have a surge.
Smith: Sale.
Kriel: Harlequins.
Who's got the best banter at your club?
Wade: We've got a lot of boys with good banter actually. England winger Elliot Daly is quite funny.
Wood: I'd begrudgingly have to say James Haskell. I get on well with him and I've worked with him at England so I know him and knew what to expect. Obviously on the field he's got all the credentials and credibility in the world -- he's been there and done it. Off the field it's more his personality and his character that keeps morale high and keeps people engaged. We needed a bit of that after last season and I'm glad we've got him in.
Smith: Joe Latta.
Care: Dave Ward.
Nowell: Tom O'Flaherty.
Who in the squad has the best social media game?
Kriel: Danny Cipriani.
Wade: Haskell has left now so it's up for grabs. I think it could be Juan De Jongh because he's got a big following being from South Africa and he's on social media a lot.
Smith: I don't have social media but John Afoa is on his phone all the time so probably him.
Care: Can it be yourself? No? Tim Visser, then. He's the best player to follow, very weird posts.
Wood: England under-20s prop Ehren Painter. Funny hashtags, big attitude, big rig.
Who is in charge of the music in the changing room?
Wood: Unfortunately, it has to be Haskell again. He's a self-proclaimed DJ. It's not to my taste necessarily but he does take the reins a little bit, even though he's just arrived.
Care: George Merrick.
Kriel: Paddy McAllister.
Wade: I am! I'm in charge of the aux cable, that's for sure.


text: William Tell 16 Report post Posted January 7, 2013 Yup. Tomorrow i will be in salt lake city, looking at what very well may become my new home and bug out vehicle. Im cleared by the credit union for a loan at the asking price (but hoping to talk him down a bit from it). Here are some pictures of it.[ATTACH=CONFIG]1764[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1765[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1766[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1767[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1768[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1764[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1765[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1766[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1767[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1768[/ATTACH] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Green Technology World Conference: The Future of Green Technology (Roundtable Discussion)
Moderator: Glenn Noga, CIO, Polycom
Louis Columbus, Cincom Systems
Jack Blaeser, BT Conferencing USA
GN: At its most basic level, why is the industry going green now?
JB: They've done more work in Europe. There are more benefits from a taxation point of view. There's more awareness, from people like Gore. And there are companies going more global. There are also things like productivity and cost effectiveness and that interweaves with green tech. I think we're at the forefront of that transformation.
LC: I would add that we're seeing the opportunity to turn green compliances into an advantage, not a drag. It's cutting down on all of the insular expenses. We see companies that are going green getting a more of a competitive advantage. Green is the wakeup call a lot of companies need.
GN: is expense a barrier?
JB: The key here is taking green technology and making a connection to the cost benefits. Example: We're an 80,000-person corporation, and we use conferencing pretty heavily. Based upon the technology, we conservatively estimate that we've reduced 50,000 pounds of carbon and $300 million, using this tech. That's the kind of message we take to our clients.
LC: I don't have much to add to that. Some pretty impressive stats.
GN: what is a virtual contact center?
LC: it's a hosted contact center. The point is being able to let the employees stay in their homes, saving on carbon emissions and commute time. It is the ability for a corporation to reach out to global contacts and deliver more target services. You can tap into the expertise of your company, no matter where it is, without the environmental costs. More than anything else, I think it's initially about economics, but cost often comes with a price. How do you get both. It's all about getting the right people on the right phone, at the right time.
Audience: How do we go from old technologies to new ones?
JB: that's one of the major gaps we have. One example is unified communications: e-mail, phones, et al. It offers tremendous promise in productivity, which parlays into these points. But the problem we have is that it's so hard to deliver and to get end users to use it. We're trying to build solutions for customers. We manage and deploy the technologies for them and add the support. But the most important criteria is driving awareness and behaviors. We've refined the communications of the benefits to users, based on their unique environments. You've got the technology players out there building these things, selling equipment, and doing basic services, but when it comes to really supporting it, they're lacking.
Audience: How do you define green? What is the standard?
LC: In the world of green, there are no ugly babies. I think everyone would have a different answer. Someone's going to pay the price for not having something green, be it the environment, or future generations.
GN: You're putting green tags on things, but I think we've heard people talk about initiatives like Energy Star. I think that's a start. We have more and more initiatives. Organizations are starting to spur change. The hype is the ugly baby, but it's a step in the right direction.
JB: Seeing the forest through trees. In order to be successful, you have to make a connection to the benefits. We're trying to frame green in a way that has an impact to companies. There are always creative ways to pull the right pieces together. You have articulate these values... These aren't necessarily new technologies, but we have to solve challenges, in terms of their adoption.
Audience: There isn't an exact answer, but I think there has to be a standard.
JB: We need to find a way to more effectively communicate to end users. We're doing it for selfish reasons, but it's very synergistic, if you do it right.
LC: 70% of a deployment is education. 30% is the software. Resistance to change is a huge issue. It all starts at the top. When CEOs get behind it, we really start to see the changes. What we've seen in younger companies is, they get it right away. With older companies, there's a problem with it. They have to see people in the office, for whatever reason.
Audience: I think this is further along than you think. I think companies that don't change, will suffer.
GN: It's a generational thing. People coming into the workforce are more in tune. Once the hype is absorbed, green is great, because they see those financial benefits. If you're starting from scratch, why wouldn't you just go green? I'm going to ask the gentlemen where they think the tech will be in the near future.
JB: In five years, we'll have 16 times the awareness, but we'll have tackled 1/16th of the problem. There is a long, hard road ahead.
LC: Two years out, there's going to be a brand-new administration in the White House, and that's going to have global ramifications on green. In two years, the elasticity of energy is going to be less elastic. You'll start to see that change in two years. There will be a wakeup call about energy in ten years. It will be a necessity to be green. Alternative technologies will be the elastic alternatives.


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Meridian specializes in comprehensive managed IT services in DC, Virginia and Maryland for small and mid-sized organizations, as well as supplemental IT support and a la carte helpdesk services for large enterprises in the DMV and beyond.
Our Customized Approach
Whether you need a local technology partner in the DC area to serve as your fully-outsourced IT department, or just wish to take some stress off your IT department through supplemental 24x7x365 helpdesk services and remote support, or nearly anything in between, we've got you covered.
1. Start with a comprehensive IT assessment
We highly recommend you contact us to get a comprehensive IT assessment scheduled.
The amount of information discovered in an assessment is the fastest way to get a comprehensive and objective health check of your environment. You'll own this intelligence and can decide how to move forward with a managed services strategy.
This will also help build the framework for your technology roadmap, including timelines for necessary future upgrades for hardware, software and other systems.
2. Align assessment findings, best practices and your unique business goals with our customizable product & service offerings
Our offerings are vast and can be customized to your environment, needs, and budget. We've got the resources to keep your business functioning, including:
- Network monitoring
- Proactive issue resolution
- Hosting
- Secure Private Cloud services
- 24/7 technology helpdesk support via:
- Phone
- Web-enabled secure chat
- Unlimited escalation to local on-site support, as needed
- Single-Point-of-Contact vendor management
- Virtual CIO (VCIO) consulting
- Network Operations Center (NOC) Services
- Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS)
- Project management
- Professional services
3. Our 3 ongoing goals as your IT Partner:
- Be your reliable, committed and unbiased business partner, to whom you can look for metrics, best practices, advice and direction for technology strategy/planning, budgeting, trends and more
- Offer freedom from costs associated with in-house IT personnel and/or unbudgeted technology expenses
- Allow you and your team to concentrate on your core business
Our IT Services Pricing Model
Here's the bottom line...
We don't believe in nickel-and-diming our partners.
We do believe in fair, predictable technology costs and the mutual benefits that come from properly maintaining your technology so it works the way it should.
We provide your customized IT services on an all-inclusive contract basis for a fixed monthly fee to keep your organization operating at its best state without a ton of unbudgeted, front-loaded expenses. We also offer a variety of options, such as Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS), to help make technology work for you financially.
For more info on how our model is different than many of our competitors, check out our article on the art of predictable IT costs.
Through our Virtual CIO (VCIO) consulting sessions (included in all standard managed IT services packages), we help you identity, budget for, and implement recommended hardware, software and system upgrades in the most cost-effective way possible.
By mapping out timelines and plans to meet current and future needs, your technology expenses are always predictable.
Plus, our expert VCIO team has the unique ability to track the impact of technology trends across different business types, sectors and sizes. Therefore, we're able to help you anticipate potential disruptions and stay ahead of the curve, creating a new strategic advantage for your organization, without wasting money on passing fads.
You may also be interested in: How a VCIO Can Help Businesses in DC, VA and MD Budget Better


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Taking China Seriously: Replacing the Pivot With a Policy That Works
Event Co-sponsors
Webcast Recap
(Courtesy Canberra Times, September 4, 2013)
The Asia Program and the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States invite you to the inaugural lecture in a new series examining the responses of Asian nations to Chinese and American interests in the region, Weighing the Rebalance, 2013 to 2015.
Like other Asia-Pacific nations, Australia is hopeful that the regional interests of its treaty ally, the United States, and its most important trading partner, China, can be balanced to its own long-term advantage. Professor of Strategic Studies at Australian National University Hugh White has been a leading advocate for the view that Australia cannot hope to maintain a neutral distance between the United States and China; it will have to choose between them. His analysis, if correct, holds major implications not only for Australia, China, and the United States, but for every Asia-Pacific nation. Professor White presented his views in a recent article in Foreign Affairs.
Weighing the Rebalance is a Wilson Center initiative that will bring a series of experts to Washington to analyze the Chinese and American roles in the Asia-Pacific from the viewpoints of countries whose futures will be shaped by Sino-U.S. competition and cooperation in the region. Country-focused presentations will be supplemented by programs on trade issues, military affairs, energy and the environment, and soft power. We hope you will join us over the next two years for these discussions and debates. At the close of the public series, the Kissinger Institute and the Asia Program will host a conference on Weighing the Rebalance, which will result in publications and briefings for policymakers in Washington and Beijing.
We hope you will join us and offer your own views on these vital issues.
Hugh WhiteProfessor of Strategic Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University
Robert HathawayGlobal Fellow, Director EmeritusFormer Director, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson Center; Former Public Policy Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center


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Oliver's Fact Sheet 2018
The Restaurant
Wellness & Beauty Clinic
The Area
The Lodge
- 4 Exclusive Standard Rooms
- 1 Exclusive Standard Family Room
- 5 Luxury Rooms
- 2 Executive Suites
All rooms have private verandas/balconies with splendid views over the golf course. They are individually furnished with King-sized beds – twin beds may be requested. The bathrooms are all en-suite with separate showers and baths, heated towel-rails and luxury bathroom amenities. All the rooms are equipped with DSTV, telephone, minibar with snacks, air-conditioning, heater, coffee & tea facilities, safes, hairdryer and bathrobes.
Things to do in the area:
Sight-seeing at:
- Blyde River Canyon
- Bourke's Luck Potholes
- God's Window & Pinnacle
- The Three Rondawels
- Pilgrim's Rest
- Numerous spectacular Waterfalls
- Sabie & Graskop
- Shangana Cultural Village
- Sudwala Caves
- Botanical Garden in Nelspruit
Fun activities such as:
- Helicopter Trips
- White Water Rafting
- Quad & Mountain Biking
- Big Swing in Graskop
- Fishing
- Elephant & Horse Riding
- Micro lighting
Shopping at Riverside Mall, Ilanga Mall and The Grove in Nelspruit with Cinemas, Entertainment and Casino.
Country Shopping at:
- Casterbridge Farm in White River
- Perry's Bridge Trading Post in Hazyview
Distances from major attractions, cities and towns:
- 25 km from Nelspruit
- 7 km from White River
- 35 km from Numbi Gate
- 45 km from Phabeni Gate
- 80 km from Paul Kruger Gate
- On the doorstep of the Panorama Route
- 22 km from Kruger Mpumalanga Airport
- 200 km from Maputo – Mozambique
Luxury Family House
Directions to the Lodge
From KMI Airport: At traffic circle, turn right onto the R538 towards White River, turn left at T-junction. Travel straight for 4.9 km. Turn right at Stop towards White River. Keep straight for 2.5 km. At stop turn right. Go straight through the traffic light and at the T-junction turn right into Tom Lawrence Street. At the second traffic light turn left into Theo Kleynhans Street. Travel for 2.3 km and at traffic circle, take the Phalaborwa (R40) exit. After 2.5 km turn left and Oliver's will be on your left 800m further.
Tel: +27 (0) 13 750 0479 / +27 (0) 13 751 5533
Cell + 27 (0) 82 328 8025


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Yesterday it was such a beautiful Melbourne autumn day, and with the kids at their grandparents for the day, Roh and I decided to spend it in the garden together.
One of the first things on our agenda (after coffee, of course :-P) was to buy either a worm farm or compost bin....we went with the worm farm...
I'm very excited about our plans for the garden. We planted up some herbs and fingers crossed they thrive, or at least start growing. We are trying out a new rockery plant for right by the steps where currently we've had no success in keeping plants alive. I planted a mass of pansies around the base of our baby japanese maple tree, and a few english box hedges went in along the path.
But my next exciting project is two raised vegetable garden beds.
They will be going here...
So as you can see, lots of prep work to get started with...fortunately we are up for a few more sunny days, and hopefully a couple of 2-3 hour naps for Levi, so I can actually get some work done.
I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to gardening, but I enjoy it and that's the main thing!
And I'm sure I'll learn a few things along the way.
And as for the worms - well, the kids finally have some pets - a thousand of them! :-P
Joining up with Make : Grow : Thrift..


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Despite a moderate box office take, the Ocean's Eleven franchise spawned three movies in the 2000s featuring George Clooney, Matt Damon, and a talented team of leading men. Now director Gary Ross (The Hunger Games) is helming a lady-led spinoff called Ocean's Eight, which is currently set for a 2018 release. Sandra Bullock (Gravity) will lead a whole new team of dashing thieves and is rumored to be playing Danny Ocean's sister. Matt Damon is expected to reprise his role from the original trilogy in some capacity, but it is uncertain whether Clooney will return. Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Helena Bonham Carter (Alice in Wonderland), Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Rooney Mara (The Social Network), and Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) will round out the cast.
In August, musician and actress Rihanna was also announced as a member of the team. While Rihanna is better known for her career as a pop star, she continues to break into Hollywood with a series of leading roles. Rihanna starred in the animated Home and also appeared in films like Annie and Battleship. While many details of Ocean's Eight's plot are being kept under wraps, some photos from the set have begun to surface. The latest are sure to give fans of Rihanna a hint of what role she plays in the movie.
People recently revealed new photos of Rihanna assumably undercover. She sports a gray jumpsuit with a tag naming her "Angela," a member of Facility Services. In the first photo, Rihanna is pushing a garbage can around while listening to a pair of headphones. The second photo shows Rihanna sharing lunch and her headphones with Bullock's character. Is it possible that they're not listening to music, but listening in on someone during a mission?
Despite the star power of the female led movie, Ocean's Eight faces an uphill battle at the box office. With a June 8 release date, it will be placed in the Summer 2018 blockbuster box office season against some stiff competition. The original trilogy saw diminishing returns, with the 2001 original as the highest domestically and internationally. The last movie to get the reboot with a female-led cast was 2016's Ghostbusters, which was a box office disappointment factored against its enormous budget. It's possible that Ocean's Eight will be tenable but hopefully has a budget that will position it to be successful.
Check back with Screen Rant for further updates on Rihanna's role in Ocean's Eight.
Source: People
- Ocean's 8/Ocean's Eight (2018) release date: Jun 08, 2018


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Housing Costs, Home Ownership Costs
Housing should take about 25% of your gross pay or 35% of your take-home pay. . a percentage point can make the difference between affording the mortgage .
What Percentage of Income Can You Afford for Mortgage Payments?
Sep 15, 2009 . What Percentage of Income Can You Afford for Mortgage Payments? . Notice that Ramsey says 25 percent of your take-home income while .
Step 1
Don't make yourself house poor
Feb 28, 2002 . Inside: Mortgage calculator | Home equity loan . and mortgage insurance -- should add up to 28 percent to 30 percent of take-home pay.
Step 2
Ratios dictate home mortgage fate
Feb 10, 2010 . Spending 50 percent of your monthly take-home pay on the home mortgage payment is a lot. However, in loan underwriting, lenders look at the .
Step 3
Mortgage+Property tax as percent of paycheck
We are trying to figure how much of my take home pay should be our mortga. . What percentage of your income should go to mortgage totally .
How Much House Can You Afford? - daveramsey.com
Aug 3, 2009. that you should be looking for regarding the "perfect home" or mortgage. . monthly payment to 25% or less of your monthly take-home pay.
Tips & Warnings
What Percentage of Take-Home Pay Should a Mortgage Be? | eHow ...
What Percentage of Take-Home Pay Should a Mortgage Be?. Having a house that wows you every time you pull into the driveway can be personally gratifying.


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Reading Matters
Saunders' debut novel a bean stalk of hilarity and heartbreak
Yes, I'm going to use the B-word. George Saunders' first novel, "Lincoln in the Bardo," is brilliant. Absolutely. It's funny and clever and heart-ripping. That's Lincoln, as in Abraham, and Bardo, as in the Tibetan place where souls go to "mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel and enact bizarre acts of penance."
You'll likely remember that the Lincolns' 11-year-old son Willie died upstairs in the White House of typhoid fever in 1862, and that his bereft father – this is fact – went several times to open the boy's crypt and hold his body. Saunders takes this seed and grows it into a bean stalk of hilarity and heartbreak, casting in bas relief life's sweet fleetingness.
Indeed, the story needs a bit of a snip here and a bit of a whack there. But Saunders weaves in the Civil War dead piling up – "A mountain. Of boys. Someone's boys." – and the fury hurled at the President and the sad fact that Saunders cleverly laces throughout that, "Some last day must arrive. When you will need to get out of this body. Bad enough. Then we bring a baby here. The terms of the trap are compounded. That baby also must depart. All pleasures should be tainted by that knowledge. But hopeful dear us, we forget."
Saunders will speak at CPCC April 5. I may attempt to kiss his feet.


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Ford's Colony Real Estate | Williamsburg Virginia | Tia Stanley Team
The Tia Stanley Team invites you to check out Ford's Colony Real Estate for sale in Williamsburg, Virginia. This is an amenity rich neighborhood. Ford's Colony real estate – Williamsburg Virginia offers a lifestyle community with fine homes for discerning buyers and their families. Enjoy, golf, tennis, junior olympic-size swimming pool, 12 miles of paved walking trails meandering through the 200+ acres of nature preserve where there are more than 200 species of wildlife to observe. There is 3000 acres, of which half is reserved for green space. Located just minutes from shopping, medical care, parks, restaurants and personal services.
A variety of homes and wooded lots make this a unique and enjoyable place to live. Conveniently located with multiple private gated entrances.
Take a look at the active MLS listings in Ford's Colony and allow me to show you these fine homes. I am sure to be able to accommodate your schedule, as a full-time REALTOR.
Thinking of selling your Ford's Colony home? Take advantage of our extraordinary marketing package with a risk-free EASY-EXIT listing guarantee because we are that confident in our marketing system & your satisfaction. Includes HDR photography, custom website, videos, free HWA Platinum home warranty, marketing to a minimum of 70 real estate websites, and you can feel good knowing a portion of the selling fee is donated to Children's Miracle Network.
Ford's Colony Facebook Page where you can see running average stats such as price per square foot and number of pending home sales. Check it out and 'Like' it too.
Take the next step – Lets talk and see what I can offer you. Tia Stanley Cell/Text: 757-243-3245
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Container Cabins and Offices
Do you require a cabin or office container? We are a family run business with a focus on excellent customer service and over 40 years experience in the container industry. Call us today on 01543 373768 for a competitive quote, or complete a quick enquiry form below.


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During some time-wasting channel changing the other night, I happend to catch rouge chef Anthony Bourdain's trip to Namibia where he ate a warthog anus. He declared it "the worst meal of my life." I enjoy Bourdain's culinary globe-trotting escapades, especially this trip to Namibia.
Namibia has probably become best known as one of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's hideaways but I predict this will become one of THE hot destinations in the near future. I was lucky enough to go in 1994 where I got an all-expenses-paid trip in exchange for humiliating myself on national TV as a judge at the Miss Universe contest (held that year in the newly-independant and ironically Marxist-governed African nation). This was before Trump owned the pageant and... well, one day I'll write all about that bizarre episode in that book I keep threatening to write!
Suffice it to say Namibia was one of the most enchanting places I've ever been. We went on a "fly in" safairi on a small plane which transported us to some of the most remote places on the planet! There was a LOT of meat served up but I thankfully avoided having to "make nice" with my hosts and consume a warthog anus. I am in awe of Bourdain's ability to eat anything.
According to his wikipedia entry Bourdain is "famous for consuming sheep testicles in Morocco, ant eggs in Puebla, Mexico, a raw seal eyeball as part of a traditional Inuit seal hunt." There is no YouTube video yet of his warthog anus meal but you can witness Bourdain eating a fetal ducks egg in the clip above. I didn't have the heart to post the video of him eating the cobra's heart in Vietnam (I felt so sorry for the cobra and couldn't even finish watching the clip) but those who enjoy such things can view it here.
Bon Appéit!


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65' Midsize Cruiser
65-Foot Midsize Cruiser Sleeps 10 and Made for Lake Fun
The 65' was recently REMODELED and now has DirecTV.
Sirius XM Radio w/ CD Player
4 Private bedroom
3 Queen, 1 Full
2 Full Baths w/ common shower
Queen Sleeper Sofa
Blankets (No Linens)
Electric Range & Oven
Electric Refrigerator / Freezer
Coffee Maker
Dishes & Silverware
Cooking Utensils
Microwave & Hood
Battery Lights
Monitor w/ DVD Player
Electric Outlets
Clothes Dryer
Central Heat & Air
Hot & Cold Pressure Water
75 HP Mercury Engine
12.5 KW Electric Generator
400 Gallon Fresh Water Tank
Dinette Table & 6 Chairs
2 Deck Tables & 16 Chairs
3 Lounge Chairs
Auxiliary Power Plug
Waste Holding Tank
Top Sundeck w/ Canopy Top
50 Gallon Engine Fuel Tank
50 Gallon Generator Fuel Tank
Coast Guard Safety Equipment
Fire Extinguishers
DEPOSIT: 65' Mid-Size Cruiser Houseboat rental requires a $650 deposit, which will be applied to the balance payment. The deposit is required within seven days of making reservation. The balance payment is due 60 days prior to arrival.
Spring & Fall Season
Before May 24 & After September 2
Discount Season
May 24 – June 13; August 10 – 28
Peak Season
June 14 – August 9; August 29– September 2
Peak Summer rates apply on
July 4th & Labor Day Weekend.
A 3-night minimum stay is required
TAXES: Tennessee State and Local Sales Tax (9.75%) is added to all rentals.
TERMS: All prices are based on payment by cash or check. Credit card payments will incur a 3% service charge. Upon arrival, a signed credit card imprint will be held on file in case of damages.
SMOKING: Tennessee State Law prohibits smoking inside all houseboats.
GASOLINE: Rental fees do not include gas or oil. Portable gasoline and flammable liquid containers are NOT allowed aboard houseboats. Average engine fuel consumption: 2-4 gallons per hour. The average cruise speed is 7-10 miles per hour. Average generator fuel consumption is one gallon per hour.
AGE REQUIREMENT: No watercraft will be rented to anyone under age 21. ID required.
WHAT TO BRING: Download List
CANCELLATION POLICY: This is a very seasonal business with little walk-in traffic which necessitates a firm cancellation policy. Refunds can be given in the event of cancellation with reasonable notice.
- More than 90-day notice: 50% of your deposit will be refunded
- 60- to 90-day notice: 25% of your deposit will be refunded
Less than 60-day notice will result in a forfeit of deposit and balance payment. If Renter cancels less than 60 days prior to arrival date, renter will be obligated to pay ALL RENTAL payments specified, and all monies received will be retained.


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About six weeks ago, my heart hit the floor when I realized that my son, whom we had trusted with a Kindle Fire that was tied to our checking account had… as we have come to call know it around here… "lost his ever loving mind" for 24 hours and cost us over $200. I blogged about it shortly after, feel free to go read about it here if you missed the first go-round.
My husband and I struggled with what would be an appropriate punishment. What is big enough? What is too big? How do you navigate such uncharted territories as a nine-year-old overdrawing a checking account?
We started with the confiscation of the Kindle, of course, and the determination that he would have to pay his father back the money he owed him. We had him sit and figure how many hours his daddy had to work to earn the amount of money he spent on fictional armor for a person in a video game. And then, for every time he pressed "buy" he had to write a sentence of apology.
There was much late night discussion between Jim and I… Zach had been so forthcoming, so honest, so upstanding since the time we realized what he had done. Between us we knew his lesson had been learned… yet we had to follow through with the punishment we set forth. We worried that he would become disillusioned… our family had just instituted a chore chart which enabled the kids to earn a little money every week… at $12 a week it was going to take a LONG time to pay his daddy off. How long would he keep doing the chores without any tangible reward? Were we setting ourselves up for a three month battle to make him do the right thing?
But the most incredible thing happened. The surprise and the pride I experienced in the days immediately after 'the incident' only grew. Zachary not only owned his poor decision to press buy 29 times, but he worked hard to pay off his debt. Week in and week out, he kept tabs on his chore sheet as to how much he owed his daddy. When offered the chance to learn how to mow and earn $10 each time, he jumped at it. Offers to clean out the car for a little extra were enthusiastically embraced. He didn't ask to have his Kindle back a single time. He didn't ask for any extras at the store, not so much as a candy bar. He was gracious and appreciative when he still got to go skating (a Friday night tradition) after a week of restriction from that activity.
I was amazed.
Zach is, to put it lightly, one of the least patient children I have ever met. He gets it from his momma, who also does not function well in the 'wait'. Seeing his sister slide money in her "spend", "save", and "give" envelopes had to be so hard for him. There were times he questioned whether or not he would ever see the end of that $213. But he never, ever stopped working at it. He never once threw a fit, or gave up, or got mad… and the occasional pout was of the most minor variety [truly, who can fault the kid an occasional forlorn look or slow walk into the other room? Consequences suck sometimes.]
A week ago, as school let out, Zach proudly brought his report card to me. All A's… all year. His daddy has always told the kids that if they obtain perfect attendance for an entire school year, he would give them $50 at the end of the year. The result of this offer has been myself making runs to the school at 8:30am to pick up children who didn't tell me they were sick, because they didn't want to miss school! About a year ago, I told Zach on the trip back home that perfect attendance was great, but perfect grades would be even better- all A's and mommy would give him $100. Apparently this kid just needs a goal, because he set out the next school year to get that $100 from me. And he did.
I made that deal with the kids in a moment of frustration, my second trip in a month to pick up a sick kid from school. But God knew. God had a plan for that. He is in the business of grace, and He KNEW that at just a time as this, that little boy was going to need to have a chunk of money he earned FAIR AND SQUARE. He knew that at just this time, a mom and a dad were going to be looking for a way to expedite the paying off of a debt so their son could move into the next phase of giving and saving. He knew just what we were going to need, and over a yea ago, He made a way.
He is so good, isn't He?
And so, Zach had earned $100 that he applied to his debt… bringing it down to $50. Which brought about another late night conversation with his daddy. Jim was worried that Zach would become discouraged working and working with nothing but numbers on a paper to show for it. We agreed that he needed to finish paying us off, but decided to let him keep 50% of his money every week and apply the other 50% to his debt.
I talked to Zach about it the next day. I told him we were really proud of the way he had worked hard to pay us off, and that we wanted him to start having some of his chore money. I told him about the compromise we had come up with the night before… but Zach quickly responded… "I don't want to do that".
I fully expected him to leap for joy to know he would have some spending money for the summer. Instead he went on… "That will take forever to pay off. I just want to keep giving everything to daddy".
I couldn't believe my ears. I didn't even know how to respond for a minute. Finally I said, with tears in my eyes "That was a really wise decision, Zach, a really wise decision." For a moment, I felt like I knew what our Father must feel when He looks upon us with those sweet words "Well done, good and faithful one…" Those words don't come because we never make mistakes, they come because we have a heart that desires to do the right thing and a willingness to turn toward Him when we find ourselves on the wrong path. It's owning up to the decisions we have made, growing through the consequences, and accepting His grace. It comes from our reaching a place where we say "my all for you!"
In that moment, I knew there was room for grace in our growing-our-kids-plan as well. Another late night conversation, and Jim's reaction was the same as mine. Not only had the lesson been learned, but we could see definite growth in our son over the process of walking out of this mistake. We both agreed to forgive the last bit of Zachary's debt (he had done some mowing and other extras to bring it down to below $40). I spoke about it with a few friends to get their input (it takes a village, people), and all agreed with our heart to extend grace to our son.
Zach was subdued when I told him.
Grace is sometimes a difficult gift to receive, isn't it?
He did accept it though. And with this last week's chore & mowing money, he paid his sister back for the portion of her gift card he had also burned through and had $12 to slip into his respective envelopes.
Debt paid, in full.
(He is even getting his Kindle back after living up to our challenge of a week or two ago to make it to June 1st without any more impulsive decisions).
The correlation to the grace we receive from our Heavenly Father is impossible to miss. Yes, Zach paid off his debt… but every penny he paid was originally his daddy's in the first place.
Zach, like us, was powerless to really pay off that debt. So we made a way for him to learn, to be refined, to grow and mature. It was never about the money. It was about the growing.
It's a little like the Law, given by a Father to His people. A system of sacrifice and right-living to pay for the debt of their sin. A debt they could never really pay for. Animals given by the Father, returned to the Father in a ritual that looked a lot like check marks on a chore chart.
And then, in a moment of mind-blowing love… a Son sent to really forgive the debt. To pay the price in full. A sacrifice of self to end all sacrifices. That last $40 forgiven, an overwhelming grace which really and truly forgave the entire debt. Forever. A debt forgiven that somehow ends with a "well done, good and faithful one" from the Master to the debtor.
It's incredible, isn't it??
I could not have imagined six weeks ago that the Kindle-debacle would have ended with a momma's heart swelling with pride for the young man my son is growing into. And my spirit finds such comfort in the knowledge that HE feels the same way about ME. That even in my failures, His love is unwavering... that, in fact, He knows how He will use those failures to His good purposes. That He knows the end from the beginning, and how we will walk through consequence, finding ourselves refined on the other side. That our Daddy God alone knows the path that will lead us to the greatest realization of His love and purpose.
Regardless of where you are now, or where you have been... the Father has a plan and a purpose. He is not disappointed. In foretelling of Israel's deliverance, God says in Isaiah 27:4 "I am not angry". That verse struck my heart the first time I read it, and it rings there to this day. I am not angry. For many years, I related to a God who I felt was mostly mad. Mostly disappointed. Mostly frustrated. But here, in talking to a people who were captives because of their own decisions... people who would could have had peace like a river had they only listened to Him... people who instead had chosen to turn away from Him again and again and again... He says "I am not angry".
I think of that night in our living room, daddy confronting a son who had made a huge mistake. Tears in my eyes as I saw my husband take our son by the hands and start his discussion by saying "I love you so much, buddy". We were taken by surprise, disappointed, confused, hurt... yet if Jim, who is just a failed human parent like the rest of us, knows how to love his son well even in that moment... how much more must our Father in Heaven love us in all of ours?
I don't know where you are tonight, but I know from my own life there are things I am walking through even now that are not easy. Areas that I have made mistakes. Things I am still trying to sort out. What a comfort it is to hear my Daddy say "I am not angry". What a comfort to know that He is using this time to grow and refine, that He is is still proud to call me His child. He feels the same way about you, my friend.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1


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Eric Holder's Proposed New Law: 'Lie Down And Die'
In the wake of the Zimmerman-Martin case, Attorney General and Corrupt Political Hack Eric Holder has taken aim at Stand Your Ground laws because they had nothing to do with the Zimmerman-Martin case but are a distraction from the issue of racism, which also had nothing to do with it. So... that makes sense.
Stand Your Ground laws allow a person to defend himself against attack without evading the attacker, running away, begging for mercy or freeing prisoners from Guantanamo so they can return to the battlefield. Without Stand Your Ground laws if, just for instance, a teenager trained in mixed martial arts techniques and stoned on cough syrup and watermelon soda found himself smashing your head into the pavement for some reason, you would not be allowed to rush to judgement and automatically take this amiss just because the attacker happened to be African American. Instead, you would be required to say something like, "Excuse me, young man. Pardon me. I say, I understand your people have suffered from discrimination, but would you mind terribly not smashing my head into the pavement?" If he refused and went on to kill you, you would then be permitted to come back to life and shoot him.


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How cute is this little Elf on the Shelf idea? This morning we woke up, and our little elf had created an adorable Elf on the Shelf bake sale. So crafty!
I love that our elf used a little box wrapped in wrapping paper. Then, he used two paper straws, some coloured paper and sharpies to make signs.
The donuts made from Cheerios, icing, and sprinkles are a lot of fun too!
Our Elf is taking a lesson from my boys who are always raising money for their favourite charity (Cystic Fibrosis... a disease that their cousin has). I love that our Elf on the Shelf is using fun treats to remind my boys that it is important to give back during the holiday season.
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)